{"collection":"scripture-revelation","full_text_available":true,"graph_url":"https://unchartedknowledge.5gfusion.net/v2/api/page/gutenberg_15251/graph","html_url":"https://unchartedknowledge.5gfusion.net/v2/page/gutenberg_15251","id":"gutenberg_15251","license":"Public Domain (US)","rights_basis":"gutenberg_metadata_copyright_false","source":"gutenberg","source_url":"https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/15251","summary":null,"tags":["Category: Biographies","Category: History - British","Category: Religion/Spirituality","Church of Scotland -- Clergy -- Biography","M'Cheyne, Robert Murray, 1813-1843","Presbyterian Church -- Scotland -- Clergy -- Biography"],"text":"Produced by Juliet Sutherland, Keren Vergon, and the PG Online\nDistributed Proofreading Team at www.pgdp.net.\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n               The Biography of\n\n\n             Robert Murray M'Cheyne\n\n\n\n[Illustration: Robert Murray M'Cheyne with Signature]\n\n\n       *       *       *       *       *\n\n\n\n\n               The Biography of\n\n             Robert Murray M'Cheyne\n\n\n                      BY\n\n               ANDREW A. BONAR\n\n\n\n\n          ZONDERVAN PUBLISHING HOUSE\n            GRAND RAPIDS, MICHIGAN\n\n       *       *       *       *       *\n\n\n\n\nPUBLISHER'S PREFACE\n\n\nThe telling of the deeply spiritual life story of the young minister\nof the Gospel of St. Peters Church, Dundee, Scotland, Robert Murray\nM'Cheyne, has been used of God to bring challenge, blessing and\ninspiration to hundreds of thousands down through the years since his\ndeath in 1843 at the early age of 30. Few men have lived a life filled\nwith such power and blessing in such a short span of years.\n\nDr. Andrew A. Bonar's biography of this stalwart young man of God has\nbeen the standard recognized work on the life of this prince among\nmen. This biography is from the larger _Memoirs and Remains of the Rev.\nRobert Murray M'Cheyne_ with just the memoirs--or biography--reprinted.\nThe \"remains,\" letters and sermons of M'Cheyne have been recently\nrepublished in the Wyckliffe Series issued by the Moody Press, but we\nare presenting in the pages of this volume Bonar's soul-stirring\nbiography of this young man who was so completely and wholly\nsurrendered to the will of God. Dr. Wilbur M. Smith, in his\n\"Profitable Bible Study,\" says, \"Every minister, of whatever\ndenomination, should have this marvelous work.\"\n\nThe publishers of this unabridged edition send it forth once again\nwith the earnest prayer that God will continue to use it to the\ninspiration and challenge of young and old alike to realize what can\nbe done with a life completely and absolutely dedicated to Him.\n\n       *       *       *       *       *\n\n\n\n\n                    MEMOIR.\n\n\n\n\n       *       *       *       *       *\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER I.\n\nHIS YOUTH, AND PREPARATION FOR THE MINISTRY\n\n   \"_Many shall rejoice at his birth; for he shall be great in the\n   sight of the Lord_\"--Luke 1:14.\n\n\nIn the midst of the restless activity of such a day as ours, it will\nbe felt by ministers of Christ to be useful in no common degree, to\ntrace the steps of one who but lately left us, and who, during the\nlast years of his short life, walked calmly in almost unbroken\nfellowship with the FATHER and the SON.\n\nThe date of his birth was May 21, 1813. About that time, as is now\nevident to us who can look back on the past, the Great Head had a\npurpose of blessing for the Church of Scotland. Eminent men of God\nappeared to plead the cause of Christ. The Cross was lifted up boldly\nin the midst of Church Courts which had long been ashamed of the\ngospel of Christ. More spirituality and deeper seriousness began a few\nyears onward to prevail among the youth of our divinity halls. In the\nmidst of such events, whereby the Lord was secretly preparing a rich\nblessing for souls in all our Borders, the subject of this Memoir was\nborn. \"Many were to rejoice at his birth;\" for he was one of the\nblessings which were beginning to be dropped down upon Scotland,\nthough none then knew that one was born whom hundreds would look up to\nas their spiritual father.\n\nThe place of his birth was Edinburgh, where his parents resided. He\nwas the youngest child of the family, and was called ROBERT MURRAY,\nafter the name of some of his kindred.\n\nFrom his infancy his sweet and affectionate temper was remarked by all\nwho knew him. His mind was quick in its attainments; he was easily\ntaught the common lessons of youth, and some of his peculiar\nendowments began early to appear. At the age of four, while recovering\nfrom some illness, he selected as his recreation the study of the\nGreek alphabet, and was able to name all the letters, and write them\nin a rude way upon a slate. A year after, he made rapid progress in\nthe English class, and at an early period became somewhat eminent\namong his schoolfellows for his melodious voice and powers of\nrecitation. There were at that time catechetical exercises held in the\nTron Church, in the interval between sermons; and some friends\nremember the interest often excited in the hearers by his correct and\nsweet recitation of the Psalms and passages of Scripture. But as yet\nhe knew not the Lord, he lived to himself, \"having no hope, and\nwithout God in the world.\" Eph. 2:12.\n\nIn October 1821 he entered the High School, where he continued his\nliterary studies during the usual period of six years. He maintained a\nhigh place in his classes, and in the Rector's class distinguished\nhimself by eminence in geography and recitation. It was during the\nlast year of his attendance at the High School that he first ventured\non poetical composition, the subject being \"Greece, but living Greece\nno more.\" The lines are characterized chiefly by enthusiasm for\nliberty and Grecian heroism, for in these days his soul had never\nsoared to a higher region. His companions speak of him as one who had\neven then peculiarities that drew attention: of a light, tall\nform--full of elasticity and vigor--ambitious, yet noble in his\ndispositions, disdaining everything like meanness or deceit. Some\nwould have been apt to regard him as exhibiting many traits of a\nChristian character; but his susceptible mind had not, at that time, a\nrelish for any higher joy than the refined gaieties of society, and\nfor such pleasures as the song and the dance could yield. He himself\nregarded these as days of ungodliness--days wherein he cherished a\npure morality, but lived in heart a Pharisee. I have heard him say\nthat there was a correctness and propriety in his demeanor at times of\ndevotion, and in public worship, which some, who knew not his heart,\nwere ready to put to the account of real feeling. And this experience\nof his own heart made him look with jealousy on the mere outward signs\nof devotion in dealing with souls. He had learnt in his own case how\nmuch a soul, unawakened to a sense of guilt, may have satisfaction in\nperforming from the proud consciousness of integrity towards man, and\na sentimental devotedness of mind that chastens the feelings without\nchanging the heart.\n\nHe had great delight in rural scenery. Most of his summer vacations\nused to be spent in Dumfriesshire, and his friends in the parish of\nRuthwell and its vicinity retain a vivid remembrance of his youthful\ndays. His poetic temperament led him to visit whatever scenes were\nfitted to stir the soul. At all periods of his life, also, he had a\nlove of enterprise. During the summer months he occasionally made\nexcursions with his brother, or some intimate friend, to visit the\nlakes and hills of our Highlands, cherishing thereby, unawares, a\nfondness for travel, that was most useful to him in after days. In one\nof these excursions, a somewhat romantic occurrence befell the\ntravellers, such as we might rather have expected to meet with in the\nrecords of his Eastern journey. He and his friends had set out on foot\nto explore, at their leisure, Dunkeld, and the highlands in its\nvicinity. They spent a day at Dunkeld, and about sunset set out again\nwith the view of crossing the hills to Strathardle. A dense mist\nspread over the hills soon after they began to climb. They pressed on,\nbut lost the track that might have guided them safely to the glen.\nThey knew not how to direct their steps to any dwelling. Night came\non, and they had no resource but to couch among the heath, with no\nother covering than the clothes they wore. They felt hungry and cold;\nand, awaking at midnight, the awful stillness of the lonely mountains\nspread a strange fear over them. But, drawing close together, they\nagain lay down to rest, and slept soundly till the cry of some wild\nbirds and the morning dawn aroused them.\n\nEntering the Edinburgh University in November 1827, he gained some\nprize in all the various classes he attended. In private he studied\nthe modern languages; and gymnastic exercises at that time gave him\nunbounded delight. He used his pencil with much success, and then it\nwas that his hand was prepared for sketching the scenes of the Holy\nLand. He had a very considerable knowledge of music, and himself sang\ncorrectly and beautifully. This, too, was a gift which was used to the\nglory of the Lord in after days,--wonderfully enlivening his secret\ndevotions, and enabling him to lead the song of praise in the\ncongregation wherever occasion required. Poetry also was a\nnever-failing recreation; and his taste in this department drew the\nattention of Professor Wilson, who adjudged him the prize in the Moral\nPhilosophy class for a poem, \"On the Covenanters.\"\n\nIn the winter of 1831 he commenced his studies in the Divinity Hall\nunder Dr. Chalmers, and the study of Church History under Dr. Welsh.\nIt may be naturally asked, What led him to wish to preach salvation to\nhis fellow-sinners? Could he say, like Robert Bruce, \"_I was first\ncalled to my grace, before I obeyed my calling to the ministry?_\" Few\nquestions are more interesting than this; and our answer to it will\nopen up some of the wonderful ways of Him \"whose path is in the great\nwaters, and whose footsteps are not known,\" Psalm 77:19; for the same\nevent that awakened his soul to a true sense of sin and misery, led\nhim to the ministry.\n\nDuring his attendance at the literary and philosophical classes he\nfelt occasional impressions, none of them perhaps of much depth. There\ncan be no doubt that he himself looked upon the death of his eldest\nbrother, David, as the event which awoke him from the sleep of nature,\nand brought the first beam of divine light into his soul. By that\nprovidence the Lord was calling one soul to enjoy the treasures of\ngrace, while He took the other into the possession of glory.\n\nIn this brother, who was his senior by eight or nine years, the light\nof divine grace shone before men with rare and solemn loveliness. His\nclassical attainments were very high; and, after the usual preliminary\nstudies, he had been admitted Writer to the Signet. One distinguishing\nquality of his character was his sensitive truthfulness. In a moment\nwould the shadow flit across his brow, if any incident were related\nwherein there was the slightest exaggeration; or even when nothing but\ntruth was spoken, if only the deliverer seemed to take up a false or\nexaggerated view. He must not merely speak the whole truth himself,\nbut he must have the hearer also to apprehend the whole truth. He\nspent much of his leisure hours in attending to the younger members of\nthe family. Tender and affectionate, his grieved look when they vexed\nhim by resisting his counsels, had (it is said) something in it so\npersuasive that it never failed in the end to prevail on those with\nwhom his words had not succeeded. His youngest brother, at a time when\nhe lived according to the course of this world, was the subject of\nmany of his fervent prayers. But a deep melancholy, in a great degree\nthe effect of bodily ailments, settled down on David's soul. Many\nweary months did he spend in awful gloom, till the trouble of his soul\nwasted away his body: but the light broke in before his death; joy\nfrom the face of a fully reconciled Father above lighted up his face;\nand the peace of his last days was the sweet consolation left to his\nafflicted friends, when, 8th July 1851, he fell asleep in Jesus.\n\nThe death of this brother, with all its circumstances, was used by the\nHoly Spirit to produce a deep impression on Robert's soul. In many\nrespects--even in the gifts of a poetic mind--there had been a\ncongeniality between him and David. The vivacity of Robert's ever\nactive and lively mind was the chief point of difference. This\nvivacity admirably fitted him for public life; it needed only to be\nchastened and solemnized, and the event that had now occurred wrought\nthis effect. A few months before, the happy family circle had been\nbroken up by the departure of the second brother for India, in the\nBengal Medical Service; but when, in the course of the summer, David\nwas removed from them forever, there were impressions left such as\ncould never be effaced, at least from the mind of Robert. Naturally of\nan intensely affectionate disposition, this stroke moved his whole\nsoul. His quiet hours seem to have been often spent in thoughts of him\nwho was now gone to glory. There are some lines remaining in which his\npoetic mind has most touchingly, and with uncommon vigor, painted him\nwhom he had lost,--lines all the more interesting, because the\ndelineation of character and form which they contain cannot fail to\ncall up to those who knew him the image of the author himself. Some\ntime after his brother's death he had tried to preserve the features\nof his well-remembered form, by attempting a portrait from memory; but\nthrowing aside the pencil in despair, he took up the pen, and poured\nout the fulness of his heart.\n\n\nON PAINTING THE MINIATURE LIKENESS OF ONE DEPARTED.\n\n      ALAS! not perfect yet--another touch,\n      And still another, and another still,\n      Till those dull lips breathe life, and yonder eye\n      Lose its lack lustre hue, and be lit up\n      With the warm glance of living feeling. No--\n      It never can be! Ah, poor, powerless art!\n      Most vaunting, yet most impotent, thou seek'st\n      To trace the thousand, thousand shades and lights\n      That glowed conspicuous on the blessed face\n      Of him thou fain wouldst imitate--to bind\n      Down to the fragile canvas the wild play\n      Of thought and mild affection, which were wont\n      To dwell in the serious eye, and play around\n      The placid mouth. Thou seek'st to give again\n      That which the burning soul, inhabiting\n      Its clay-built tenement, alone can give--\n      To leave on cold dead matter the impress\n      Of living mind--to bid a line, a shade,\n      Speak forth, not words, but the soft intercourse\n      Which the immortal spirit, while on earth\n      It tabernacles, breathes from every pore--\n      Thoughts not converted into words, and hopes,\n      And fears, and hidden joys, and griefs, unborn\n      Into the world of sound, but beaming forth\n      In that expression which no words, or work\n      Of cunning artist, can express. In vain,\n      Alas! in vain!\n                    Come hither, Painter; come,\n      Take up once more thine instruments--thy brush\n      And palette--if thy haughty art be, as thou say'st,\n      Omnipotent, and if thy hand can dare\n      To wield creative power. Renew thy toil,\n      And let my memory, vivified by love,\n      Which Death's cold separation has but warmed\n      And rendered sacred dictate to thy skill,\n      And guide thy pencil. From the jetty hair\n      Take off that gaudy lustre that but mocks\n      The true original; and let the dry,\n      Soft, gentle-turning locks, appear instead.\n      What though to fashion's garish eye they seem\n      Untutored and ungainly? still to me,\n      Than folly's foppish head-gear, lovelier far\n      Are they, because bespeaking mental toil,\n      Labor assiduous, through the golden days\n      (Golden if so improved) of guileless youth,\n      Unwearied mining in the precious stores\n      Of classic lore--and better, nobler still,\n      In God's own holy writ. And scatter here\n      And there a thread of grey, to mark the grief\n      That prematurely checked the bounding flow\n      Of the warm current in his veins, and shed\n      An early twilight o'er so bright a dawn.\n      No wrinkle sits upon that brow!--and thus\n      It ever was. The angry strife and cares\n      Of avaricious miser did not leave\n      Their base memorial on so fair a page.\n      The eyebrows next draw closer down, and throw\n      A softening shade o'er the mild orbs below.\n      Let the full eyelid, drooping, half conceal\n      The back-retiring eye; and point to earth\n      The long brown lashes that bespeak a soul\n      Like his who said, \"I am not worthy, Lord!\"\n      From underneath these lowly turning lids,\n      Let not shine forth the gaily sparkling light\n      Which dazzles oft, and oft deceives; nor yet\n      The dull unmeaning lustre that can gaze\n      Alike on all the world. But paint an eye\n      In whose half-hidden, steady light I read\n      A truth-inquiring mind; a fancy, too,\n      That could array in sweet poetic garb\n      The truth he found; while on his artless harp\n      He touched the gentlest feelings, which the blaze\n      Of winter's hearth warms in the homely heart.\n      And oh! recall the look of faith sincere,\n      With which that eye would scrutinize the page\n      That tells us of offended God appeased\n      By awful sacrifice upon the cross\n      Of Calvary--that bids us leave a world\n      Immersed in darkness and in death, and seek\n      A better country. Ah! how oft that eye\n      Would turn on me, with pity's tenderest look,\n      And, only half-upbraiding, bid me flee\n      From the vain idols of my boyish heart!\n\nIt was about the same time, while still feeling the sadness of this\nbereavement, that he wrote the fragment entitled\n\n\n\"THE RIGHTEOUS PERISHETH, AND NO MAN LAYETH IT TO HEART.\"\n\n      A grave I know\n      Where earthly show\n      Is not--a mound\n      Whose gentle round\n      Sustains the load\n      Of a fresh sod.\n      Its shape is rude,\n      And weeds intrude\n      Their yellow flowers--\n      In gayer bowers\n      Unknown. The grass,\n      A tufted mass,\n      Is rank and strong,\n      Unsmoothed and long.\n      No rosebud there\n      Embalms the air;\n      No lily chaste\n      Adorns the waste,\n      Nor daisy's head\n      Bedecks the bed.\n      No myrtles wave\n      Above that grave;\n      Nor heather-bell\n      Is there to tell\n      Of gentle friend\n      Who sought to lend\n      A sweeter sleep\n      To him who deep\n      Beneath the ground\n      Repose has found.\n      No stone of woe\n      Is there to show\n      The name, or tell\n      How passing well\n      He loved his God,\n      And how he trod\n      The humble road\n      That leads through sorrow\n      To a bright morrow\n      Unknown in life,\n      And far from strife,\n      He lived:--and though\n      The magic flow\n      Of genius played\n      Around his head,\n      And he could weave\n      \"The song at eve,\"\n      And touch the heart,\n      With gentlest art;\n      Or care beguile,\n      And draw the smile\n      Of peace from those\n      Who wept their woes\n      Yet when the love\n      Of Christ above\n      To guilty men\n      Was shown him--then\n      He left the joys\n      Of worldly noise,\n      And humbly laid\n      His drooping head\n      Upon the cross;\n      And thought the loss\n      Of all that earth\n      Contained--of mirth,\n      Of loves, and fame,\n      And pleasures' name--\n      No sacrifice\n      To win the prize,\n      Which Christ secured,\n      When He endured\n      For us the load--\n      The wrath of God!\n      With many a tear,\n      And many a fear,\n      With many a sigh\n      And heart-wrung cry\n      Of timid faith,\n      He sought the breath:\n      But which can give\n      The power to live--\n      Whose word alone\n      Can melt the stone,\n      Bid tumult cease,\n      And all be peace!\n      He sought not now\n      To wreathe his brow\n      With laurel bough.\n      He sought no more\n      To gather store\n      Of earthly lore,\n      Nor vainly strove\n      To share the love\n      Of heaven above,\n      With aught below\n      That earth can show\n      The smile forsook\n      His cheek--his look\n      Was cold and sad;\n      And even the glad\n      Return of morn,\n      When the ripe corn\n      Waves o'er the plains,\n      And simple swains\n      With joy prepare\n      The toil to share\n      Of harvest, brought\n      No lively thought\n      To him.\n\n      And spring adorns\n      The sunny morns\n      With opening flowers;\n\t  And beauty showers\n\t  O'er lawn and mead;\n      Its virgin head\n      The snowdrop steeps\n      In dew, and peeps\n      The crocus forth,\n      Nor dreads the north.\n      But even the spring\n      No smile can bring\n      To him, whose eye\n      Sought in the sky\n      For brighter scenes,\n      Where intervenes\n      No darkening cloud\n      Of sin to shroud\n      The gazer's view.\n      Thus sadly flew\n      The merry spring;\n      And gaily sing\n      The birds their loves\n      In summer groves.\n      But not for him\n      Their notes they trim.\n      His ear is cold--\n      His tale is told.\n      Above his grave\n      The grass may wave--\n\n      The crowd pass by\n      Without a sigh\n      Above the spot.\n      They knew him not--\n      They could not know;\n      And even though,\n      Why should they shed\n      Above the dead\n      Who slumbers here\n      A single tear?\n      I cannot weep,\n      Though in my sleep\n      I sometimes clasp\n      With love's fond grasp\n      His gentle hand,\n      And see him stand\n      Beside my bed,\n      And lean his head\n      Upon my breast,\n      And bid me rest\n      Nor night nor day\n      Till I can say\n      That I have found\n      The holy ground\n      In which there lies\n      The Pearl of Price--\n      Till all the ties\n      The soul that bind,\n      And all the lies\n      The soul that blind,\n      Be ...\n\nNothing could more fully prove the deep impression which the event\nmade than these verses. But it was not a transient regret, nor was it\nthe \"sorrow of the world.\" He was in his eighteenth year when his\nbrother died; and if this was not the year of his new birth, at least\nit was the year when the first streaks of dawn appeared in his soul.\nFrom that day forward his friends observed a change. His poetry was\npervaded with serious thought, and all his pursuits began to be\nfollowed out in another spirit. He engaged in the labors of a Sabbath\nschool, and began to seek God to his soul, in the diligent reading of\nthe word, and attendance on a faithful ministry.\n\nHow important this period of his life appeared in his own view, may be\ngathered from his allusions to it in later days. A year after, he\nwrites in his diary: \"On this morning last year came the first\noverwhelming blow to my worldliness; how blessed to me, Thou, O God,\nonly knowest, who hast made it so.\" Every year he marked this day as\none to be remembered, and occasionally its recollections seem to have\ncome in like a flood. In a letter to a friend (8th July 1842), upon a\nmatter entirely local, he concludes by a postscript: \"This day eleven\nyears ago, my holy brother David entered into his rest, aged 26.\" And\non that same day, writing a note to one of his flock in Dundee (who\nhad asked him to furnish a preface to a work printed 1740, _Letters on\nSpiritual Subjects_), he commends the book, and adds: \"Pray for me,\nthat I may be made holier and wiser--less like myself, and more like\nmy heavenly Master; that I may not regard my life, if so be I may\nfinish my course with joy. This day eleven years ago, I lost my loved\nand loving brother, and began to seek a Brother who cannot die.\"\n\nIt was to companions who could sympathize in his feelings that he\nunbosomed himself. At that period it was not common for inquiring\nsouls to carry their case to their pastor. A conventional reserve upon\ntheses subjects prevailed even among lively believers. It almost\nseemed as if they were ashamed of the Son of man. This reserve\nappeared to him very sinful; and he felt it to be so great an evil,\nthat in after days he was careful to encourage anxious souls to\nconverse with him freely. The nature of his experience, however, we\nhave some means of knowing. On one occasion, a few of us who had\nstudied together were reviewing the Lord's dealings with our souls,\nand how He had brought us to himself all very nearly at the same time,\nthough without any special instrumentality. He stated that there was\nnothing sudden in his case, and that he was led to Christ through deep\nand ever-abiding, but not awful or distracting, convictions. In this\nwe see the Lord's sovereignty. In bringing a soul to the Saviour, the\nHoly Spirit invariably leads it to very deep consciousness of sin; but\nthen He causes this consciousness of sin to be more distressing and\nintolerable to some than to others. But in one point does the\nexperience of all believing sinners agree in this matter, viz. their\nsoul presented to their view nothing but an abyss of sin, when the\ngrace of God that bringeth salvation appeared.\n\nThe Holy Spirit carried on his work in the subject of this Memoir, by\ncontinuing to deepen in him the conviction of his ungodliness, and the\npollution of his whole nature. And all his life long, he viewed\n_original sin_, not as an excuse for his actual sins, but as an\naggravation of them all. In this view he was of the mind of David,\ntaught by the unerring Spirit of Truth. See Psalm 51:4, 5.\n\nAt first light dawned slowly; so slowly, that for a considerable time\nhe still relished an occasional plunge into scenes of gaiety. Even\nafter entering the Divinity Hall, he could be persuaded to indulge in\nlighter pursuits, at least during the two first years of his\nattendance; but it was with growing alarm. When hurried away by such\nworldly joys, I find him writing thus:--\"_Sept. 14._--May there be few\nsuch records as this in my biography.\" Then, \"_Dec. 9._--A thorn in my\nside--much torment.\" As the unholiness of his pleasures became more\napparent, he writes:--\"_March 10, 1832._--I hope never to play cards\nagain.\" \"_March 25._--Never visit on a Sunday evening again.\" \"_April\n10._--Absented myself from the dance; upbraidings ill to bear. But I\nmust try to bear the cross.\" It seems to be in reference to the\nreceding tide, which thus for a season repeatedly drew him back to the\nworld, that on July 8, 1836, he records: \"This morning five years ago,\nmy dear brother David died, and my heart for the first time knew true\nbereavement. Truly it was all well. Let me be dumb, for Thou didst it:\nand it was good for me that I was afflicted. I know not that any\nprovidence was ever more abused by man than that was by me; and yet,\nLord, what mountains Thou comest over! none was ever more blessed to\nme.\" To us who can look at the results, it appears probable that the\nLord permitted him thus to try many broken cisterns, and to taste the\nwormwood of many earthly streams, in order that in after days, by the\nside of the fountain of living waters, he might point to the world he\nhad forever left, and testify the surpassing preciousness of what he\nhad now found.\n\nMr. Alexander Somerville (afterwards minister of Anderston Church,\nGlasgow) was his familiar friend and companion in the gay scenes of\nhis youth. And he, too, about this time, having been brought to taste\nthe powers of the world to come, they united their efforts for each\nother's welfare. They met together for the study of the Bible, and\nused to exercise themselves in the Septuagint Greek and the Hebrew\noriginal. But oftener still they met for prayer and solemn converse;\nand carrying on all their studies in the same spirit, watched each\nother's steps in the narrow way.\n\nHe thought himself much profited, at this period, by investigating the\nsubject of Election and the Free Grace of God. But it was the reading\nof _The Sum of Saving Knowledge_, generally appended to our Confession\nof Faith, that brought him to a clear understanding of the way of\nacceptance with God. Those who are acquainted with its admirable\nstatements of truth, will see how well fitted it was to direct an\ninquiring soul. I find him some years afterwards recording:--\"_March\n11, 1834._--Read in the _Sum of Saving Knowledge_, the work which I\nthink first of all wrought a saving change in me. How gladly would I\nrenew the reading of it, if that change might be carried on to\nperfection!\" It will be observed that he never reckoned his soul\nsaved, notwithstanding all his convictions and views of sins, until\nhe really went into the Holiest of all on the warrant of the\nRedeemer's work; for assuredly a sinner is still under wrath, until he\nhas actually availed himself of the way to the Father opened up by\nJesus. All his knowledge of his sinfulness, and all his sad feeling of\nhis own need and danger, cannot place him one step farther off from\nthe lake of fire. It is \"he that comes to Christ\" that is saved.\n\nBefore this period he had received a bias towards the ministry from\nhis brother David, who used to speak of the ministry as the most\nblessed work on earth, and often expressed the greatest delight in the\nhope that his younger brother might one day become a minister of\nChrist. And now, with altered views,--with an eye that could gaze on\nheaven and hell, and a heart that felt the love of a reconciled\nGod,--he sought to become a herald of salvation.\n\nHe had begun to keep a register of his studies, and the manner in\nwhich his time slipped away, some months before his brother's death.\nFor a considerable time this register contains almost nothing but the\nbare incidents of the diary, and on Sabbaths the texts of the sermons\nhe had heard. There is one gleam of serious thought--but it is the\nonly one--during that period. On occasion of Dr. Andrew Thomson's\nfuneral, he records the deep and universal grief that pervaded the\ntown, and then subjoins: \"Pleasing to see so much public feeling\nexcited on the decease of so worthy a man. How much are the times\nchanged within these eighteen centuries, since the time when Joseph\nbesought _the body_ in secret, and when he and Nicodemus were the only\nones found to bear the body to the tomb!\"\n\nIt is in the end of the year that evidences of a change appear. From\nthat period and ever onward his dry register of every-day incidents is\nvaried with such passages as the following:--\n\n\"_Nov. 12._--Reading H. Martyn's Memoirs. Would I could imitate him,\ngiving up father, mother, country, house, health, life, all--for\nChrist. And yet, what hinders? Lord, purify me, and give me strength\nto dedicate myself, my all, to Thee!\"\n\n\"_Dec. 4._--Reading Legh Richmond's Life. Poetentia profunda, non\nsine lacrymis. Nunquam me ipsum, tam vilem, tam inutilem, tam\npauperim, et pr\u00e6cipue tam ingratum, adhuc vidi. Sint lacrym\u00e6\ndedicationis me\u00e6 pignora!'\" [\"Deep penitence, not unmixed with\ntears. I never before saw myself so vile, so useless, so poor, and,\nabove all, so ungrateful. May these tears be the pledges of my\nself-dedication!\"] There is frequently at this period a sentence in\nLatin occurring like the above in the midst of other matter,\napparently with the view of giving freer expression to his feelings\nregarding himself.\n\n\"_Dec. 9._--Heard a street-preacher: foreign voice. Seems really in\nearnest. He quoted the striking passage, 'The Spirit and the bride\nsay, Come, _and let him that heareth say, Come!'_ From this he seems\nto derive his authority. Let me learn from this man to be in earnest\nfor the truth, and to despise the scoffing of the world.\"\n\n_Dec. 18._--After spending an evening too lightly, he writes: \"My\nheart must break off from all these things. What right have I to steal\nand abuse my Master's time? 'Redeem it,' He is crying to me.\"\n\n\"_Dec. 25._--My mind not yet calmly fixed on the Rock of Ages.\"\n\n\"_Jan._ 12, 1832.--Cor non pacem habet. Quare? Peccatum apud fores\nmanet.\" [\"My heart has not peace. Why? Sin lieth at my door.\"]\n\n\"_Jan. 25._--A lovely day. Eighty-four cases of cholera at\nMusselburgh, How it creeps nearer and nearer like a snake! Who will be\nthe first victim here? Let thine everlasting arms be around us, and we\nshall be safe.\"\n\n\"_Jan. 29_, Sabbath.--Afternoon heard Mr. Bruce (then minister of the\nNew North Church, Edinburgh) on Malachi 1:1-6. It constitutes the very\ngravamen of the charge against the unrenewed man, that he has\naffection for his earthly parent, and reverence for his earthly\nmaster, but none for God! Most noble discourse.\"\n\n\"_Feb. 2_.--Not a trait worth remembering! And yet these\nfour-and-twenty hours must be accounted for.\"\n\n_Feb. 5_, Sabbath.--In the afternoon, having heard the late Mr. Martin\nof St. George's,[1] he writes, on returning home: \"O quam humilem, sed\nquam diligentissimum; quam dejectum, sed quam vigilem, quam die\nnoctuque precantem, decet me esse quum tales viros aspicio. Juva,\nPater, Fili, et Spiritus!\" [\"Oh! how humble, yet how diligent, how\nlowly, yet how watchful, how prayerful night and day it becomes me to\nbe, when I see such men. Help, Father, Son, and Spirit!\"]\n\n     [1] He says of him on another occasion, _June 8, 1834_: \"A man\n     greatly beloved of whom the world was not worthy.\" \"An apostolic\n     man.\" His own calm deep holiness, resembled in many respects Mr.\n     Martin's daily walk.\n\nFrom this date he seems to have sat, along with his friend Mr.\nSomerville, almost entirely under Mr. Bruce's ministry. He took\ncopious notes of his lectures and sermons, which still remain among\nhis papers.\n\n\"_Feb. 28._--Sober conversation. Fain would I turn to the most\ninteresting of all subjects. Cowardly backwardness: 'For whosoever is\nashamed of me and my words,'\" etc.\n\nAt this time, hearing, concerning a friend of the family, that she had\nsaid, \"_That she was determined to keep by the world,_\" he penned the\nfollowing lines on her melancholy decision:--\n\n      She has chosen the world,\n        And its paltry crowd;\n      She has chosen the world,\n        And an endless shroud!\n      She has chosen the world\n        With its misnamed pleasures;\n      She has chosen the world,\n        Before heaven's own treasures.\n\n      She hath launched her boat\n        On life's giddy sea,\n      And her all is afloat\n        For eternity.\n      But Bethlehem's star\n      Is not in her view;\n      And her aim is far\n        From the harbor true.\n\n      When the storm descends\n        From an angry sky,\n      Ah! where from the winds\n        Shall the vessel fly?\n      [Away, then--oh, fly\n        From the joys of earth!\n      Her smile is a lie--\n        There's a sting in her mirth.]*\n\n      When stars are concealed,\n        And rudder gone,\n      And heaven is sealed\n        To the wandering one\n\n      The whirlpool opes\n        For the gallant prize;\n      And, with all her hopes,\n        To the deep she hies!\n      But who may tell\n        Of the place of woe,\n      Where the wicked dwell,\n        Where the worldlings go?\n\n      For the human heart\n        Can ne'er conceive\n      What joys are the part\n        Of them who believe;\n      Nor can justly think\n        Of the cup of death,\n      Which all must drink\n        Who despise the faith.\n\n      *Come, leave the dreams\n        Of this transient night,\n      And bask in the beams\n        Of an endless light.\n\n    *TRANSCRIBER'S NOTE: In the original \"Memoirs and Remains of\n     the Reverend Robert Murray McCheyne\", the passage in brackets\n     was the first half of the last, eight-line stanza, and the\n     following quartet was part of the eight-line stanza beginning\n     \"When the storm descends\".\n\n\n\"_March 6._--Wild wind and rain all day long. Hebrew class--Psalms.\nNew beauty in the original every time I read. Dr. Welsh--lecture on\nPliny's letter about the Christians of Bithynia. Professor Jameson on\nquartz. Dr. Chalmers grappling with Hume's arguments. Evening--Notes,\nand little else. Mind and body dull.\" This is a specimen of his\nregister of daily study.\n\n_March 20._--After a few sentences in Latin, concluding with \"In meam\nanimam veni, Domine Deus omnipotens,\" he writes, \"Leaning on a staff\nof my own devising, it betrayed me, and broke under me. It was not thy\nstaff. Resolving to be a god, Thou showedst me that I was but a man.\nBut my own staff being broken, why may I not lay hold of thine?--Read\npart of the Life of Jonathan Edwards. How feeble does my spark of\nChristianity appear beside such a sun! But even his was a borrowed\nlight, and the same source is still open to enlighten me.\"\n\n\"_April 8._--Have found much rest in Him who bore all our burdens for\nus.\"\n\n\"April 26.--To-night I ventured to break the ice of unchristian\nsilence. Why should not selfishness be buried beneath the Atlantic in\nmatters so sacred?\"\n\n_May 6_, Saturday evening.--This was the evening previous to the\nCommunion; and in prospect of again declaring himself the Lord's at\nhis table, he enters into a brief review of his state. He had partaken\nof the ordinance in May of the year before for the first time; but he\nwas then living at ease, and saw not the solemn nature of the step he\ntook. He now sits down and reviews the past:--\n\n\"What a mass of corruption have I been! How great a portion of my life\nhave I spent wholly without God in the world, given up to sense and\nthe perishing things around me! Naturally of a feeling and sentimental\ndisposition, how much of my religion has been, and to this day is,\ntinged with these colors of earth! Restrained from open vice by\neducational views and the fear of man, how much ungodliness has\nreigned within me! How often has it broken through all restraints, and\ncome out in the shape of lust and anger, mad ambitions, and unhallowed\nwords! Though my vice was always refined, yet how subtile and how\nawfully prevalent it was! How complete a test was the Sabbath--spent\nin weariness, as much of it as was given to God's service! How I\npolluted it by my hypocrisies, my self-conceits, my worldly thoughts,\nand worldly friends! How formally and unheedingly the Bible was\nread,--how little was read,--so little that even now I have not read\nit all! How unboundedly was the wild impulse of the heart obeyed! How\nmuch more was the creature loved than the Creator!--O great God, that\ndidst suffer me to live whilst I so dishonored Thee, Thou knowest the\nwhole; and it was thy hand alone that could awaken me from the death\nin which I was, and was contented to be. Gladly would I have escaped\nfrom the Shepherd that sought me as I strayed; but He took me up in\nhis arms and carried me back; and yet He took me not for anything that\nwas in me. I was no more fit for his service than the Australian, and\nno more worthy to be called and chosen. Yet why should I doubt? not\nthat God is unwilling, not that He is unable--of both I am assured.\nBut perhaps my old sins are too fearful, and my unbelief too glaring?\nNay; I come to Christ, not _although_ I am a sinner, but just\n_because_ I am a sinner, even the chief.\" He then adds, \"And though\nsentiment and constitutional enthusiasm may have a great effect on\nme, still I believe that my soul is in sincerity desirous and earnest\nabout having all its concerns at rest with God and Christ,--that his\nkingdom occupies the most part of all my thoughts, and even of my\nlong-polluted affections. Not unto me, not unto me, be the shadow of\npraise or of merit ascribed, but let all glory be given to thy most\nholy name! As surely as Thou didst make the mouth with which I pray,\nso surely dost Thou prompt every prayer of faith which I utter. Thou\nhast made me all that I am, and given me all that I have.\"\n\nNext day, after communicating, he writes: \"I well remember when I was\nan enemy, and especially abhorred this ordinance as binding me down;\nbut if I be bound to Christ in heart, I shall not dread any bands that\ncan draw me close to Him.\" Evening--\"Much peace. Look back, my soul,\nand view the mind that belonged to thee but twelve months ago. My\nsoul, thy place is in the dust!\"\n\n\"_May 19._--Thought with more comfort than usual of being a witness\nfor Jesus in a foreign land.\"\n\n\"June 4.--Walking with A. Somerville by Craigleith. Conversing on\nmissions. If I am to go to the heathen to speak of the unsearchable\nriches of Christ, this one thing must be given me, to be out of the\nreach of the baneful influence of esteem or contempt. If worldly\nmotives go with me, I shall never convert a soul, and shall lose my\nown in the labor.\"\n\n\"_June 22._--Variety of studies. Septuagint translation of Exodus and\nVulgate. Bought Edwards' works. Drawing--Truly there was nothing in me\nthat should have induced Him to choose me. I was but as the other\nbrands upon whom the fire is already kindled, which shall burn for\nevermore! And as soon could the billet leap from the hearth and become\na green tree, as my soul could have sprung to newness of life.\"\n\n_June 25._--In reference to the office of the holy ministry; \"How apt\nare we to lose our hours in the vainest babblings, as do the world!\nHow can this be with those chosen for the mighty office?\nfellow-workers with God? heralds of His Son? evangelists? men set\napart to the work, chosen out of the chosen, as it were the very pick\nof the flocks, who are to shine as the stars forever and ever? Alas,\nalas! my soul, where shall thou appear? O Lord God, I am a little\nchild! But Thou wilt send an angel with a live coal from off the\naltar, and touch my unclean lips, and put a tongue within my dry\nmouth, so that I shall say with Isaiah, 'Here am I, send me.'\" Then,\nafter reading a little of Edwards' works: \"Oh that heart and\nunderstanding may grow together, like brother and sister, leaning on\none another!\"\n\n\"_June 27._--Life of David Brainerd. Most wonderful man! What\nconflicts, what depressions, desertions, strength, advancement,\nvictories, within thy torn bosom! I cannot express what I think when I\nthink of thee. To-night, more set upon missionary enterprise than\never.\"\n\n\"_June 28._--Oh for Brainerd's humility and sin-loathing\ndispositions!\"\n\n\"_June 30._--Much carelessness, sin, and sorrow. 'Oh wretched man than\nI am, who shall deliver me from this body of sin and death?' Enter\nthou, my soul, into the rock, and hide thee in the dust for fear of\nthe Lord and the glory of his majesty.\" And then he writes a few\nverses, of which the following are some stanzas:--\n\n      I will arise and seek my God,\n       And, bowed down beneath my load,\n      Lay all my sins before Him;\n       Then He will wash my soul from sin,\n      And put a new heart me within,\n       And teach me to adore Him.\n\n      O ye that fain would find the joy--\n      The only one that wants alloy--\n        Which never is deceiving;\n      Come to the Well of Life with me,\n      And drink, as it is proffered, free,\n        The gospel draught receiving.\n\n      I come to Christ, because I know\n      The very worst are called to go;\n        And when in faith I find Him,\n      I'll walk in Him, and lean on Him,\n      Because I cannot move a limb\n        Until He say, \"Unbind him.\"\n\n\"_July 3._--This last bitter root of worldliness that has so often\nbetrayed me has this night so grossly, that I cannot but regard it as\nGod's chosen way to make me loathe and forsake it forever. I would\nvow; but it is much more like a weakly worm to pray. Sit in the dust,\nO my soul!\" I believe he was enabled to keep his resolution. Once\nonly, in the end of this year, was he again led back to gaiety; but it\nwas the last time.\n\n\"_July 7_, Saturday.--After finishing my usual studies, tried to fast\na little, with much prayer and earnest seeking of God's face,\nremembering what occurred this night last year.\" (Alluding to his\nbrother's death.)\n\n\"_July 22._--Had this evening a more complete understanding of that\nself-emptying and abasement with which it is necessary to come to\nChrist,--a denying of self, trampling it under foot,--a recognizing of\nthe complete righteousness and justice of God, that could do nothing\nelse with us but condemn us utterly, and thrust us down to lowest\nhell,--a feeling that, even in hell, we _should_ rejoice in his\nsovereignty, and say that all was rightly done.\"\n\n\"_Aug. 15._--Little done, and as little suffered. Awfully important\nquestion, Am I redeeming the time?\"\n\n\"_Aug. 18._--Heard of the death of James Somerville[2] by fever,\ninduced by cholera. O God, thy ways and thoughts are not as ours! He\nhad preached his first sermon. I saw him last on Friday, 27th July, at\nthe College gate; shook hands, and little thought I was to see him no\nmore on earth.\"\n\n     [2] Son of the minister of Drumelzier,--very promising and very\n     amiable.\n\n\"_Sept. 2_, Sabbath evening.--Reading. Too much engrossed, and too\nlittle devotional. Preparation for a fall. Warning. We may be too\nengrossed with the shell even of heavenly things.\"\n\n\"_Sept. 9._--Oh for true, unfeigned humility! I know I have cause to\nbe humble; and yet I do not know one-half of that cause. I know I am\nproud; and yet I do not know the half of that pride.\"\n\n\"_Sept. 30._--Somewhat straitened by loose Sabbath observance. Best\nway is to be explicit and manly.\"\n\n\"_Nov. 1._--More abundant longings for the work of the ministry. Oh\nthat Christ would but count me faithful, that a dispensation of the\ngospel might be committed to me!\" And then he adds, \"Much peace.\n_Peaceful, because believing_.\"\n\n_Dec. 2._--Hitherto he used to spend much of the Sabbath evening in\nextending his notes of Mr. Bruce's sermons, but now, \"Determined to be\nbrief with these, for the sake of a more practical, meditative,\nresting, sabbatical evening.\"\n\n\"_Dec. 11._--Mind quite unfitted for devotion. Prayerless prayer.\"\n\n\"_Dec. 31._--God has in this past year introduced me to the\npreparation of the ministry,--I bless Him for that. He has helped me\nto give up much of my shame to name his name, and be on his side,\nespecially before particular friends,--I bless Him for that. He has\ntaken conclusively away friends that might have been a snare,--must\nhave been a stumbling-block,--I bless Him for that. He has introduced\nme to one Christian friend, and sealed more and more my amity with\nanother,--I bless Him for that.\"\n\n_Jan. 27_, 1833.--On this day it had been the custom of his brother\nDavid to write a \"Carmen Natale\" on their father's birth-day. Robert\ntook up the domestic song this year; and in doing so, makes some\nbeautiful and tender allusions.\n\n      Ah! where is the harp that was strung to thy praise,\n      So oft and so sweetly in happier days?\n      When the tears that we shed were the tears of our joy,\n      And the pleasures of home were unmixed with alloy?\n      The harp is now mute--its last breathings are spoken--\n      And the cord, though 'twas threefold, is now, alas, broken!\n      Yet why should we murmur, short-sighted and vain,\n      Since death to that loved one was undying gain?\n      Ah, fools! shall we grieve that he left this poor scene,\n      To dwell in the realms that are ever serene?\n      Through he sparkled the gem in our circle of love,\n      He is even more prized in the circles above.\n      And though sweetly he sung of his father on earth,\n      When this day would inspire him with tenderest mirth,\n      Yet a holier tone to his harp is now given,\n      _As he sings to his unborn Father in heaven_.\n\nFeb. 3.--Writing to a medical friend of his brother William's, he\nsays, \"I remember long ago a remark you once made to William, which\nhas somehow or other stuck in my head, viz. that medical men ought to\nmake a distinct study of the Bible, purely for the sake of\nadministering conviction and consolation to their patients. I think\nyou also said that you had actually begun with that view. Such a\ndetermination, though formed in youth, is one which I trust riper\nyears will not make you blush to own.\"\n\n\"_Feb. 11._--Somewhat overcome. Let me see: there is a creeping defect\nhere. Humble purpose-like reading of the word omitted. What plant can\nbe unwatered and not wither?\"\n\n\"_Feb. 16._--Walk to Corstorphine Hill. Exquisite clear view,--blue\nwater, and brown fields, and green firs. Many thoughts on the follies\nof my youth. How many, O Lord, may they be? Summed up in\none--ungodliness!\"\n\n\"_Feb. 21._--Am I as willing as ever to preach to the lost heathen?\"\n\n\"_March 8._--Biblical criticism. This must not supersede heart-work.\nHow apt it is!\"\n\n\"_March 12._--Oh for activity, activity, activity!\"\n\n\"_March 29._--To-day my second session (at the Divinity Hall) ends. I\nam now in the middle of my career. God hold me on with a steady pace!\"\n\n\"_March 31._--The bull tosses in the net! How should the Christian\nimitate the anxieties of the worldling!\"\n\n_April 17._--He heard of the death of one whom many friends had\nesteemed much and lamented deeply. This led him to touch the strings\nof his harp again, in a measure somewhat irregular, yet sad and sweet.\n\n\n      \"WE ALL DO FADE AS A LEAF.\"\n\n      SHE LIVED--\n\n          So dying-like and frail,\n          That every bitter gale\n        Of winter seemed to blow\n          Only to lay her low!\n          She lived to show how He,\n          Who stills the stormy sea,\n        Can overrule the winter's power,\n        And keep alive the tiniest flower--\n          Can bear the young lamb in his arms\n          And shelter it from death's alarms.\n\n      SHE DIED--\n\n        When spring, with brightest flowers,\n        Was fresh'ning all the bowers.\n        The linnet sung her choicest lay,\n        When her sweet voice was hush'd for aye\n        The snowdrop rose above the ground\n        When she beneath her pillow found,\n          Both cold, and white, and fair,--\n          She, fairest of the fair,\n          She died to teach us all\n          The loveliest must fall.\n        A curse is written on the brow\n        Of beauty; and the lover's vow\n        Cannot retain the flitting breath,\n        Nor save from all-devouring death.\n\n      SHE LIVES--\n\n          The spirit left the earth;\n          And he who gave her birth\n        Has called her to his dread abode,\n        To meet her Saviour and her God.\n          She lives, to tell how blest\n          Is the everlasting rest\n        Of those who, in the Lamb's blood laved,\n        Are chosen, sanctified, and saved!\n          How fearful is their doom\n          Who drop into the tomb\n        Without a covert from the ire\n        Of Him who is consuming fire!\n\n      SHE SHALL LIVE--\n\n          The grave shall yield his prize,\n          When, from the rending skies,\n        Christ shall with shouting angels come\n        To wake the slumberers of the tomb.\n          And many more shall rise\n          Before our longing eyes.\n        Oh! may we all together meet,\n        Embracing the Redeemer's feet!\n\n\"_May 20._--General Assembly. The motion regarding Chapels of Ease\nlost by 106 to 103. Every shock of the ram is heavier and stronger,\ntill all shall give way.\"\n\n\"_June 4._--Evening almost lost. Music will not sanctify, though it\nmake feminine the heart.\"\n\n\"_June 22._--Omissions make way for commissions. Could I but take\neffective warning! A world's wealth would not make up for that saying,\n'If any man sin, we have an Advocate with the Father.' But how shall\nwe that are dead to sin live any longer therein?\"\n\n\"_June 30._--Self-examination. Why is a missionary life so often an\nobject of my thoughts? Is it simply for the love I bear to souls?\nThen, why do I not show it more where I am? Souls are as precious here\nas in Burmah. Does the romance of the business not weigh anything with\nme?--the interest and esteem I would carry with me?--the nice journals\nand letters I should write and receive? Why would I so much rather go\nto the East than to the West Indies? Am I wholly deceiving my own\nheart? and have I not a spark of true missionary zeal? Lord, give me\nto understand and imitate the spirit of those unearthly words of thy\ndear Son: 'It is enough for the disciple that he be as his Master, and\nthe servant as his Lord.' 'He that loveth father or mother more than\nme, is not worthy of me.' _Gloria in excelsis Deo!_\n\n\"_Aug. 13._--Clear conviction of sin is the only true origin of\ndependence on another's righteousness, and therefore (strange to say!)\nof the Christian's peace of mind and cheerfulness.\"\n\n\"_Sept. 8._--Reading _Adams' Private Thoughts_. Oh for his\nheart-searching humility! Ah me! on what mountains of pride must I be\nwandering, when all I do is tinctured with the very sins this man so\ndeplores; yet where are my wailings, where my tears, over my love of\npraise?\"\n\n\"_Nov. 14._--Composition--a pleasant kind of labor. I fear the love of\napplause or effect goes a great way. May God keep me from preaching\nmyself instead of Christ crucified.\"\n\n\"_Jan. 15_, 1834.--Heard of the death of J.S., off the Cape of Good\nHope. O God! how Thou breakest into families! Must not the disease be\ndangerous, when a tender-hearted surgeon cuts deep into the flesh? How\nmuch more when God is the operator, 'who afflicteth not _from his\nheart_ [[Hebrew: meilivo]], nor grieveth the children of men!' Lam.\n3:33.\"\n\n\"_Feb. 23_, Sabbath.--Rose early to seek God, and found Him whom my\nsoul loveth. Who would not rise early to meet such company? The rains\nare over and gone. They that sow in tears shall reap in joy.\"\n\n_Feb. 24._--He writes a letter to one who, he feared, was only\nsentimental, and not really under a sense of sin. \"Is it possible,\nthink you, for a person to be conceited of his miseries? May there not\nbe a deep leaven of pride in telling how desolate and how unfeeling we\nare?--in brooding over our unearthly pains?--in our being excluded\nfrom the unsympathetic world?--in our being the invalids of Christ's\nhospital?\" He had himself been taught by the Spirit that it is more\nhumbling for us to _take what grace offers_, than to bewail our wants\nand worthlessness.\n\nTwo days after, he records, with thankful astonishment, that for the\nfirst time in his life he had been blest to awaken a soul. All who\nfind Christ for themselves are impelled, by the holy necessity of\nconstraining love, to seek the salvation of others. Andrew findeth his\nbrother Peter, and Philip findeth his friend Nathanael. So was it in\nthe case before us. He no sooner knew Christ's righteousness as his\nown covering, than he longed to see others clothed in the same\nspotless robe. And it is peculiarly interesting to read the feelings\nof one who was yet to be blest in plucking so many brands from the\nfire, when, for the first time, he saw the Lord graciously employing\nhim in this more than angelic work. We have his own testimony. \"_Feb.\n26._--After sermon. The precious tidings that a soul has been melted\ndown by the grace of the Saviour. How blessed an answer to prayer, if\nit be really so! 'Can these dry bones live? Lord, Thou knowest.' What\na blessed thing it is to see the first grievings of the awakened\nspirit, when it cries, 'I cannot see myself a sinner; I cannot pray,\nfor my vile heart wanders!' It has refreshed me more than a thousand\nsermons. I know not how to thank and admire God sufficiently for this\nincipient work. Lord, perfect that which Thou hast begun!\" A few days\nafter: \"Lord, I thank Thee that Thou hast shown me this marvellous\nworking, though I was but an adoring spectator rather than an\ninstrument.\"\n\nIt is scarcely less interesting, in the case of one so gifted for the\nwork of visiting the careless, and so singularly skilled in\nministering the word by the bedside of the dying, to find a record of\nthe occasion when the Lord led him forth to take his first survey of\nthis field of labor. There existed at that time, among some of the\nstudents attending the Divinity Hall, a society, the sole object of\nwhich was to stir up each other to set apart an hour or two every week\nfor visiting the careless and needy in the most neglected portions of\nthe town. Our rule was, not to subtract anything from our times of\nstudy, but to devote to this work an occasional hour in the intervals\nbetween different classes, or an hour that might otherwise have been\ngiven to recreation. All of us felt the work to be trying to the flesh\nat the outset; but none ever repented of persevering in it. One\nSaturday forenoon, at the close of the usual prayer-meeting, which met\nin Dr. Chalmers' vestry, we went up together to a district in the\nCastle Hill. It was Robert's first near view of the heathenism of his\nnative city, and the effect was enduring.\n\n\"_March 3._--Accompanied A.B. in one of his rounds through some of the\nmost miserable habitations I ever beheld. Such scenes I never before\ndreamed of. Ah! why am I such a stranger to the poor of my native\ntown? I have passed their doors thousands of times; I have admired the\nhuge black piles of building, with their lofty chimneys breaking the\nsun's rays,--why have I never ventured within? How dwelleth the love\nof God in me? How cordial is the welcome even of the poorest and most\nloathsome to the voice of Christian sympathy! What imbedded masses of\nhuman beings are huddled together, unvisited by friend or minister!\n'No man careth for our souls' is written over every forehead. Awake,\nmy soul! Why should I give hours and days any longer to the vain\nworld, when there is such a world of misery at my very door? Lord, put\nthine own strength in me; confirm every good resolution; forgive my\npast long life of uselessness and folly.\"\n\nHe forthwith became one of the society's most steady members,\ncultivating a district in the Canongate, teaching a Sabbath school,\nand distributing the Monthly Visitor, along with Mr. Somerville. His\nexperience there was fitted to give him insight into the sinner's\ndepravity in all its forms. His first visit in his district is thus\nnoticed: \"_March 24._--Visited two families with tolerable success.\nGod grant a blessing may go with us! Began in fear and weakness, and\nin much trembling. May the power be of God.\" Soon after, he narrates\nthe following scene:--\"Entered the house of ----. Heard her swearing\nas I came up the stair. Found her storming at three little\ngrandchildren, whom her daughter had left with her. She is a seared,\nhard-hearted wretch. Read Ezekiel 33. Interrupted by the entrance of\nher second daughter, furiously demanding her marriage lines. Became\nmore discreet. Promised to come back--never came. Her father-in-law\nentered, a hideous spectacle of an aged drunkard, demanding money.\nLeft the house with warnings.\" Another case he particularly mentions\nof a sick woman, who, though careless before, suddenly seemed to float\ninto a sea of joy, without being able to give any scriptural account\nof the change. She continued, I believe, to her death in this state;\nbut he feared it was a subtile delusion of Satan as an angel of light.\nOne soul, however, was, to all appearance, brought truly to the Rock\nof Ages during his and his friend's prayerful visitations. These were\nfirst-fruits.\n\nHe continues his diary, though often considerable intervals occur in\nthe register of his spiritual state.\n\n\"_May 9._--How kindly has God thwarted me in every instance where I\nsought to en lave myself! I will learn at least to glory in\ndisappointments.\"\n\n\"_May 10._--At the Communion. Felt less use for the minister than\never. Let the Master of the feast alone speak to my heart.\" He felt at\nsuch times, as many of the Lord's people have always done, that it is\nnot the addresses of the ministers in serving the table, but the\n_Supper itself_, that ought to \"satiate their souls with fatness.\"\n\n_May 21._--It is affecting to us to read the following entry:--\"This\nday I attained my twenty-first year. Oh! how long and how worthlessly\nI have lived, Thou only knowest. _Neff_ died in his thirty-first year;\nwhen shall I?\"[3]\n\n     [3] It is worthy of notice how often the Lord has done much work\n     by a few years of holy labor. In our Church, G. Gillespie and J.\n     Durham died at thirty-six; Hugh Binning at twenty-six; Andrew\n     Gray when scarcely at twenty-two. Of our witnesses, Patrick\n     Hamilton was cut off at twenty-four, and Hugh M'Kail at\n     twenty-six. In other churches we might mention many, such as John\n     Janeway at twenty-three, David Brainerd at thirty, and Henry\n     Martyn at thirty-two. Theirs was a short life, filled up with\n     usefulness, and crowned with glory. Oh to be as they!\n\n_May 29._--He this day wrote very faithfully, yet very kindly, to one\nwho seemed to him not a believer, and who nevertheless appropriated to\nherself the _promises_ of God. \"If you are wholly unassured of your\nbeing a believer, is it not a contradiction in terms to say, that you\nare sure the believers' promises belong to you? Are you _an assured\nbeliever_? If so, rejoice in your heirship; and yet rejoice with\ntrembling; for that is the very character of God's heirs. But are you\n_unassured_--nay, _wholly unassured_? then what mad presumption to say\nto your soul, that these promises, being in the Bible, must belong\nindiscriminately to all! It is too gross a contradiction for you to\ncompass, except in word.\" He then shows that _Christ's free offer_\nmust be accepted by the sinner, and so the _promises_ become his.\n\"This sinner complies with the call or offer, 'Come unto me;' and\nthereafter, but not before, can claim the annexed _promise_ as his: 'I\nwill give thee rest.'\"\n\n\"_Aug. 14._--Partial fast, and seeking God's face by prayer. This day\nthirty years, my late dear brother was born. Oh for more love, and\nthen will come more peace!\" That same evening he wrote the hymn, \"_The\nBarren Fig-tree_.\"\n\n\"_Oct. 17._--Private meditation exchanged for conversation. Here is\nthe root of the evil,--forsake God, and He forsakes us.\"\n\nSome evening this month he had been reading _Baxter's Call to the\nUnconverted_. Deeply impressed with the affectionate and awfully\nsolemn urgency of the man of God, he wrote--\n\n      Though Baxter's lips have long in silence hung,\n      And death long hush'd that sinner-wakening tongue,\n      Yet still, though dead, he speaks aloud to all,\n      And from the grave still issues forth his \"Call:\"\n      Like some loud angel-voice from Zion hill,\n      The mighty echo rolls and rumbles still.\n      Oh grant that we, when sleeping in the dust,\n      May thus speak forth the wisdom of the just!\n\nMr. M'Cheyne was peculiarly subject to attacks of fever, and by one of\nthese was he laid down on a sick-bed on November 15th. However, this\nattack was of short duration. On the 21st he writes: \"Bless the Lord,\nO my soul, and forget not all his benefits. Learned more and more of\nthe value of _Jehovah Tzidkenu_.\" He had, three days before, written\nhis well-known hymn, \"_I once was a stranger_,\" etc., entitled\n_Jehovah Tzidkenu, the Watchword of the Reformers_. It was the fruit\nof a slight illness which had tried his soul, by setting it more\nimmediately in view of the judgment-seat of Christ; and the hymn which\nhe so sweetly sung reveals the sure and solid confidence of his soul.\nIn reference to that same illness, he seems to have penned the\nfollowing lines. November 24th:--\n\n      He tenderly binds up the broken in heart,\n        The soul bowed down He will raise:\n      For mourning, the ointment of joy will impart:\n        For heaviness, garments of praise.\n\n      Ah, come, then, and sing to the praise of our God,\n        Who giveth and taketh away;\n      Who first by his kindness, and then by his rod,\n        Would teach us, poor sinners, to pray.\n\n      For in the assembly of Jesus' first-born,\n        Who anthems of gratitude raise,\n      Each heart has by great tribulation been torn,\n        Each voice turned from wailing to praise.\n\n\"_Nov. 9._--Heard of Edward Irving's death. I look back upon him with\nawe, as on the saints and martyrs of old. A holy man in spite of all\nhis delusions and errors. He is now with his God and Saviour, whom he\nwronged so much, yet, I am persuaded, loved so sincerely. How should\nwe lean for wisdom, not on ourselves, but on the God of all grace!\"\n\n\"_Nov. 21._--If nothing else will do to sever me from my sins, Lord\nsend me such sore and trying calamities as shall awake me from earthly\nslumbers. It must always be best to be alive to Thee, whatever be the\nquickening instrument. I tremble as I write, for oh! on every hand do\nI see too likely occasions for sore afflictions.\"\n\n\"_Feb._ 15, 1835.--To-morrow I undergo my trials before the\nPresbytery. May God give me courage in the hour of need. What should I\nfear? If God see meet to put me into the ministry, who shall keep me\nback? If I be not meet, why should I be thrust forward? To thy service\nI desire to dedicate myself over and over again.\"\n\n\"_March 1._--Bodily service. What change is there in the heart! Wild,\nearthly affections there are here; strong, coarse passions; bands both\nof iron and silk. But I thank Thee, O my God, that they make me cry,\n'Oh wretched man!' Bodily weakness, too, depresses me.\"\n\n\"_March 29._--College finished on Friday last. My last appearance\nthere. Life itself is vanishing fast. Make haste for eternity.\"\n\nIn such records as these, we read God's dealings with his soul up to\nthe time when he was licensed to preach the gospel. His preparatory\ndiscipline, both of heart and of intellect, had been directed by the\nGreat Head of the Church in a way that remarkably qualified him for\nthe work he was to perform in the vineyard.\n\nHis soul was prepared for the awful work of the ministry by much\nprayer, and much study of the word of God; by affliction in his\nperson; by inward trials and sore temptations; by experience of the\ndepth of corruption in his own heart, and by discoveries of the\nSaviour's fulness of grace. He learned experimentally to ask, \"Who is\nhe that overcometh the world, but he that believeth that Jesus is the\nSon of God!\" I John 5:5. During the four years that followed his\nawakening, he was oftentimes under the many waters, but was ever\nraised again by the same divine hand that had drawn him out at the\nfirst; till at length, though still often violently tossed, the vessel\nwas able steadily to keep the summit of the wave. It appears that he\nlearned the way of salvation experimentally, ere he knew it accurately\nby theory and system; and thus no doubt it was that his whole ministry\nwas little else than a giving out of his own inward life.\n\nThe Visiting Society noticed above was much blessed to the culture of\nhis soul, and not less so the Missionary Association and the Prayer\nMeeting connected with it. None were more regular at the hour of\nprayer than he, and none more frequently led up our praises to the\nthrone. He was for some time Secretary to the Association, and\ninterested himself deeply in details of missionary labors. Indeed, to\nthe last day of his life, his thoughts often turned to foreign lands;\nand one of the last notes he wrote was to the Secretary of the\nAssociation in Edinburgh, expressing his unabated interest in their\nprosperity.\n\nDuring the first years of his college course, his studies did not\nabsorb his whole attention; but no sooner was the change on his soul\nbegun, than his studies shared in the results. A deeper sense of\nresponsibility led him to occupy his talents for the service of Him\nwho bestowed them. There have been few who, along with a devotedness\nof spirit that sought to be ever directly engaged in the Lord's work,\nhave nevertheless retained such continued and undecaying esteem for\nthe advantages of study. While attending the usual literary and\nphilosophical classes, he found time to turn his attention to Geology\nand Natural History. And often in his days of most successful\npreaching, when, next to his own soul, his parish and his flock were\nhis only care, he has been known to express a regret that he had not\nlaid up in former days more stores of all useful knowledge; for he\nfound himself able to use the jewels of the Egyptians in the service\nof Christ. His previous studies would sometimes flash into his mind\nsome happy illustration of divine truth, at the very moment when he\nwas most solemnly applying the glorious gospel to the most ignorant\nand vile.\n\nHis own words will best show his estimate of study, and at the same\ntime the prayerful manner in which he felt it should be carried on.\n\"Do get on with your studies,\" he wrote to a young student in 1840.\n\"Remember you are now forming the character of your future ministry in\ngreat measure, if God spare you. If you acquire slovenly or sleepy\nhabits of study now, you will never get the better of it. Do\neverything in its own time. Do everything in earnest; if it is worth\ndoing, then do it with all your might. Above all, keep much in the\npresence of God. Never see the face of man till you have seen his face\nwho is our life, our all. Pray for others; pray for your teachers,\nfellow-students,\" etc. To another he wrote: \"Beware of the atmosphere\nof the classics. It is pernicious indeed; and you need much of the\nsouth wind breathing over the Scriptures to counteract it. True, we\nought to know them; but only as chemists handle poisons--to discover\ntheir qualities, not to infect their blood with them.\" And again:\n\"Pray that the Holy Spirit would not only make you a believing and\nholy lad, but make you wise in your studies also. A ray of divine\nlight in the soul sometimes clears up a mathematical problem\nwonderfully. The smile of God calms the spirit, and the left hand of\nJesus holds up the fainting head, and his Holy Spirit quickens the\naffection, so that even natural studies go on a million times more\neasily and comfortably.\"\n\nBefore entering the Divinity Hall, he had attended a private class for\nthe study of Hebrew; and having afterwards attended the two sessions\nof Dr. Brunton's college class, he made much progress in that\nlanguage. He could consult the Hebrew original of the Old Testament\nwith as much ease as most of our ministers are able to consult the\nGreek of the New.\n\nIt was about the time of his first year's attendance at the Hall that\nI began to know him as an intimate friend. During the summer\nvacations,--that we might redeem the time,--some of us who remained in\ntown, when most of our fellow-students were gone to the country, used\nto meet once every week in the forenoon, for the purpose of\ninvestigating some point of _Systematic Divinity_, and stating to each\nother the amount and result of our private reading. At another time we\nmet in a similar way, till we had overtaken the chief points of the\n_Popish controversy_. Advancement in our acquaintance with the Greek\nand Hebrew Scriptures also brought us together; and one summer the\nstudy of _Unfulfilled Prophecy_ assembled a few of us once a week, at\nan early morning hour, when, though our views differed much on\nparticular points, we never failed to get food to our souls in the\nScriptures we explored. But no society of this kind was more useful\nand pleasant to us than one which, from its object, received the name\nof _Exegetical_. It met during the session of the Theological classes\nevery Saturday morning at half-past six. The study of Biblical\ncriticism, and whatever might cast light on the word of God, was our\naim; and these meetings were kept up regularly during four sessions.\nMr. M'Cheyne spoke of himself as indebted to this society for much of\nthat discipline of mind on Jewish literature and Scripture geography\nwhich was found to be so useful in the Mission of Inquiry to the Jews\nin after days.[4]\n\n     [4] The members of this Society were--Rev. _William Laughton_,\n     now Minister of St Thomas's, Greenock, in connection with the\n     Free Church; _Thomas Brown,_ Free Church, Kinneff; _William\n     Wilson_, Free Church, Carmyllie; _Horatius Bonar_, Free Church,\n     Kelso; _Andrew A. Bonar_, Free Church, Collace; _Robert M.\n     M'Cheyne; Alexander Somerville_, Free Church, Anderston, Glasgow;\n     _John Thomson_, Mariners' Free Church, Leith; _Robert K.\n     Hamilton_, Madras; _John Burne_, for some time at Madeira;\n     _Patrick Borrowman_, Free Church, Glencairn; _Walter Wood_, Free\n     Church, Westruther; _Henry Moncrieff_, Free Church, Kilbride;\n     _James Cochrane_, Established Church, Cupar; _John Miller_,\n     Secretary to Free Church Special Commission; _G. Smeaton_, Free\n     Church, Auchterarder; _Robert Kinnear_, Free Church, Moffat; and\n     _W.B. Clarke_, Free Church, Half-Morton. Every meeting was opened\n     and closed with prayer. Minutes of the discussions were kept; and\n     the essays read were preserved in volumes. A very characteristic\n     essay of Mr. M'Cheyne's is \"Lebanon and its Scenery\" (inserted in\n     the _Remains_), wherein he adduces the evidence of travellers for\n     facts and customs which he himself was afterwards to see. Often,\n     in 1839, pleasant remembrances of these days of youthful study\n     were suggested by what we actually witnessed; and in the essay\n     referred to I find an interesting coincidence. He writes: \"What a\n     refreshing sight to his eye, yet undimmed with age, after resting\n     forty years on the monotonous scenery of the desert, now to rest\n     on Zion's olive-clad hills, and Lebanon, with its vine-clad base\n     and overhanging forests, and towering peaks of snow!\" This was\n     the very impression on our minds when we ourselves came up from\n     the wilderness as expressed in the _Narrative_, chap. 2--\"May 29.\n     Next morning we saw at a distance a range of hills, running north\n     and south, called by the Arabs _Djebel Khalie_. After wandering\n     so many days in the wilderness, with its vast monotonous plains\n     of level sand, the sight of these distant mountains was a\n     pleasant relief to the eye; and we thought we could understand a\n     little of the feeling with which Moses, after being forty years\n     in the desert, would pray, 'I pray Thee let me go over,'\" Deut.\n     3:25.\n\nBut these helps in study were all the while no more than\nsupplementary. The regular systematic studies of the Hall furnished\nthe main provision for his mental culture. Under Dr. Chalmers for\nDivinity, and under Dr. Welsh for Church History, a course of four\nyears afforded no ordinary advantages for enlarging the understanding.\nNew fields of thought were daily opened up. His notes and his diary\ntestify that he endeavored to retain what he heard, and that he used\nto read as much of the books recommended by the professors as his time\nenabled him to overtake. Many years after, he thankfully called to\nmind lessons that had been taught in these classes. Riding one day\nwith Mr. Hamilton (now of Regent Square, London) from Abernyte to\nDundee, they were led to speak of the best mode of dividing a sermon.\n\"I used,\" said he, \"to despise Dr. Welsh's rules at the time I heard\nhim; but now I feel I _must use_ them, for nothing is more needful for\nmaking a sermon memorable and impressive than a logical arrangement.\"\n\nHis intellectual powers were of a high order: clear and distinct\napprehension of his subject, and felicitous illustration,\ncharacterized him among all his companions. To an eager desire for\nwide acquaintance with truth in all its departments, and a memory\nstrong and accurate in retaining what he found, there was added a\nremarkable candor in examining what claimed to be the truth. He had\nalso an ingenious and enterprising mind--a mind that could carry out\nwhat was suggested, when it did not strike out new light for itself.\nHe possessed great powers of analysis; often his judgment discovered\nsingular discrimination. His imagination seldom sought out object of\ngrandeur; for, as a friend has truly said of him, \"he had a kind and\nquiet eye, which found out the living and beautiful in nature, rather\nthan the majestic and sublime.\"\n\nHe might have risen to high eminence in the circles of taste and\nliterature, but denied himself all such hopes, that he might win\nsouls. With such peculiar talents as he possessed, his ministry might\nhave, in any circumstances, attracted many; but these attractions were\nall made subsidiary to the single desire of awakening the dead in\ntrespasses and sins. Nor would he have expected to be blessed to the\nsalvation of souls unless he had himself been a monument of sovereign\ngrace. In his esteem, \"_to be in Christ before being in the ministry_\"\nwas a thing indispensable. He often pointed to those solemn words of\nJeremiah (23:21): \"_I have not sent these prophets, yet they ran; I\nhave not spoken to them, yet they prophesied. But if they had stood in\nmy counsel, and caused my people to hear my words, then they should\nhave turned them from their evil way, and from the evil of their\ndoings._\"\n\nIt was with faith already in his heart that he went forward to the\nholy office of the ministry, receiving from his Lord the rod by which\nhe was to do signs, and which, when it had opened rocks and made\nwaters gush out, he never failed to replace upon the ark whence it was\ntaken, giving glory to God! He knew not the way by which God was\nleading him; but even then he was under the guidance of the\npillar-cloud. At this very period he wrote that hymn, _They sing the\nsong of Moses_. His course was then about to begin; but now that it\nhas ended, we can look back and plainly see that the faith he therein\nexpressed was not in vain.\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER II\n\nHIS LABORS IN THE VINEYARD BEFORE ORDINATION.\n\n   \"_He that goeth forth and weepeth, bearing precious seed, shall\n   doubtless come again with rejoicing, bringing his sheaves with\n   him._\"--Ps. 126:6.\n\n\nWhile he was still only undergoing a student's usual examinations\nbefore the Presbytery, in the spring and summer of 1835, several\napplications were made to him by ministers in the Church, who desired\nto secure his services for their part of the vineyard. He was\nespecially urged to consider the field of labor at Larbert and\nDunipace, near Stirling, under Mr. John Bonar, the pastor of these\nunited parishes. This circumstance led him (as is often done in such\ncases) to ask the Presbytery of Edinburgh, under whose superintendence\nhe had hitherto carried on his studies, to transfer the remainder of\nhis public trials to another Presbytery, where there would be less\npress of business to occasion delay. This request being readily\ngranted, his connection with Dumfriesshire led him to the Presbytery\nof Annan, who licensed him to preach the gospel on 1st July 1835. His\nfeelings at the moment appear from a record of his own in the evening\nof the day: \"Preached three probationary discourses in Annan Church,\nand, after an examination in Hebrew, was solemnly licensed to preach\nthe gospel by Mr. Monylaws, the moderator. 'Bless the Lord, O my soul;\nand all that is within me, be stirred up to praise and magnify his\nholy name!' What I have so long desired as the highest honor of man,\nThou at length givest me--me who dare scarcely use the words of Paul:\n'Unto me who am less than the least of all saints is this grace given,\nthat I should preach the unsearchable riches of Christ.' Felt somewhat\nsolemnized, though unable to feel my unworthiness as I ought. Be\nclothed with humility.\"\n\nAn event occurred the week before which cast a solemnizing influence\non him, and on his after fellow-traveller and brother in the gospel,\nwho was licensed by another Presbytery that same day. This event was\nthe lamented death of the Rev. John Brown Patterson of Falkirk--one\nwhom the Lord had gifted with preeminent eloquence and learning, and\nwho was using all for his Lord, when cut off by fever. He had spoken\nmuch before his death of the awfulness of a pastor's charge, and his\nearly death sent home the lesson to many, with the warning that the\npastor's account of souls might be suddenly required of him.\n\nOn the following Sabbath, Mr. M'Cheyne preached for the first time in\nRuthwell Church, near Dumfries, on \"the Pool of Bethesda;\" and in the\nafternoon on \"the Strait Gate.\" He writes that evening in his diary:\n\"Found it a more awfully solemn thing than I had imagined to announce\nChrist authoritatively; yet a glorious privilege!\" The week after\n(Saturday, July 11): \"Lord, put me into thy service when and where\nThou pleasest. In thy hand all my qualities will be put to their\nappropriate end. Let me, then, have no anxieties.\" Next day, also,\nafter preaching in St. John's Church, Leith: \"Remembered, before going\ninto the pulpit, the confession which says,[5] 'We have been more\nanxious about the messenger than the message.'\" In preaching that day,\nhe states, \"It came across me in the pulpit, that if spared to be a\nminster, I might enjoy sweet flashes of communion with God in that\nsituation. The mind is entirely wrought up to speak for God. It is\npossible, then, that more vivid acts of faith may be gone through\nthen, than in quieter and sleepier moments.\"\n\n     [5] He here refers to the _Full and Candid Acknowledgment of\n     Sin_, for Students and Ministers, drawn up by the Commission of\n     Assembly in 1651, and often reprinted since.\n\nIt was not till the 7th of November that he began his labors at\nLarbert. In the interval he preached in various places, and many began\nto perceive the peculiar sweetness of the word in his lips. In\naccepting the invitation to labor in the sphere proposed, he wrote:\n\"It has always been my aim, and it is my prayer, to have _no plans_\nwith regard to myself, well assured as I am, that the place where the\nSaviour sees meet to place me must ever be the best place for me.\"\n\nThe parish to which he had come was very large, containing six\nthousand souls. The parish church is at Larbert; but through the\nexertions of Mr. Bonar, many years ago, a second church was erected\nfor the people of Dunipace. Mr. Hanna, afterwards minister of\nSkirling, had preceded M'Cheyne in the duties of assistant in his\nfield of labor; and Mr. M'Cheyne now entered on it with a fully\ndevoted and zealous heart, although in a weak state of health. As\nassistant, it was his part to preach every alternate Sabbath at\nLarbert and Dunipace, and during the week to visit among the\npopulation of both these districts, according as he felt himself\nenabled in body and soul. There was a marked difference between the\ntwo districts in their general features of character; but equal labor\nwas bestowed on both by the minister and his assistant; and often did\ntheir prayer ascend that the windows of heaven might be opened over\nthe two sanctuaries. Souls have been saved there. Often, however, did\nthe faithful pastor mingle his tears with those of his younger\nfellow-soldier, complaining, \"Lord, who hath believed our report?\"\nThere was much sowing in faith; nor was this sowing abandoned even\nwhen the returns seemed most inadequate.\n\nMr. M'Cheyne had great delight in remembering that Larbert was one of\nthe places where, in other days, that holy man of God, Robert Bruce,\nhad labored and prayed. Writing at an after period from the Holy Land,\nhe expressed the wish, \"May the Spirit be poured upon Larbert as in\nBruce's days.\" But more than all associations, the souls of the\npeople, whose salvation he longed for, were ever present to his mind.\nA letter to Mr. Bonar, in 1837, from Dundee, shows us his yearnings\nover them. \"What an interest I feel in Larbert and Dunipace! It is\nlike the land of my birth. Will the Sun of Righteousness ever rise\nupon it, making its hills and valleys bright with the light of the\nknowledge of Jesus?\"\n\nNo sooner was he settled in his chamber here, than he commenced his\nwork. With him, the commencement of all labor invariably consisted in\nthe preparation of his own soul. The forerunner of each day's\nvisitations was a calm season of private devotion during morning\nhours. The walls of his chamber were witnesses of his prayerfulness,--I\nbelieve of his tears as well as of his cries. The pleasant sound of\npsalms often issued from his room at an early hour. Then followed the\nreading of the word for his own sanctification; and few have so fully\nrealized the blessing of the first Psalm. His leaf did not wither, for\nhis roots were in the waters. It was here, too, that he began to study\nso closely the works of Jonathan Edwards,--reckoning them a mine to be\nwrought, and if wrought, sure to repay the toil. Along with this\nauthor, the _Letters of Samuel Rutherford_ were often in his hand.\nBooks of general knowledge he occasionally perused; but now it was\ndone with the steady purpose of finding in them some illustration of\nspiritual truth. He rose from reading _Insect Architecture_, with the\nobservation, \"God reigns in a community of ants and ichneumons, as\nvisibly as among living men or mighty seraphim!\"\n\nHis desire to grow in acquaintance with Scripture was very intense;\nand both Old and New Testament were his regular study. He loved to\nrange over the wide revelation of God. \"He would be a sorry student of\nthis world,\" said he to a friend, \"who should forever confine his gaze\nto the fruitful fields and well-watered gardens of this cultivated\nearth. He could have no true idea of what the world was, unless he had\nstood upon the rocks of our mountains, and seen the bleak muirs and\nmosses of our barren land; unless he had paced the quarter-deck when\nthe vessel was out of sight of land, and seen the waste of waters\nwithout any shore upon the horizon. Just so, he would be a sorry\nstudent of the Bible who would not know all that God has inspired; who\nwould not examine into the most barren chapters to collect the good\nfor which they were intended; who would not strive to understand all\nthe bloody battles which are chronicled, that he might find 'bread out\nof the eater, and honey out of the lion.'\"--(June 1836.)\n\nHis anxiety to have every possible help to holiness led him to notice\nwhat are the disadvantages of those who are not daily stirred up by\nthe fellowship of more advanced believers. \"I have found, by some\nexperience, that in the country here my watch does not go so well as\nit used to do in town. By small and gradual changes I find it either\ngains or loses, and I am surprised to find myself different in time\nfrom all the world, and, what is worse, from the sun. The simple\nexplanation is, that in town I met with a steeple in every street, and\na good-going clock upon it; and so any aberrations in my watch were\nsoon noticed and easily corrected. And just so I sometimes think it\nmay be with that inner watch, whose hands point not to time but to\neternity. By gradual and slow changes the wheels of my soul lag\nbehind, or the springs of passions become too powerful; and I have no\nliving timepiece with which I may compare, and by which I may amend my\ngoing. You will say that I may always have the sun: And so it should\nbe; but we have many clouds which obscure the sun from our weak\neyes.\"--(_Letter to Rev. H. Bonar, Kelso._)\n\nFrom the first he fed others by what he himself was feeding upon. His\npreaching was in a manner the development of his soul's experience. It\nwas a giving out of the inward life. He loved to come up from the\npastures wherein the Chief Shepherd had met him--to lead the flock\nentrusted to his care to the spots where he found nourishment.\n\nIn the field of his labor he found enough of work to overwhelm his\nspirit. The several collieries and the Carron Ironworks furnish a\npopulation who are, for the most part, either sunk in deep\nindifference to the truth, or are opposed to it in the spirit of\ninfidelity. Mr. M'Cheyne at once saw that the pastor whom he had come\nto aid, whatever was the measure of his health, and zeal, and\nperseverance, had duties laid on him which were altogether beyond the\npower of man to overtake. When he made a few weeks' trial, the field\nappeared more boundless, and the mass of souls more impenetrable, than\nhe had ever conceived.\n\nIt was probably, in some degree, his experience at this time that gave\nhim such deep sympathy with the Church Extension Scheme, as a truly\nnoble and Christian effort for bringing the glad tidings to the doors\nof a population who must otherwise remain neglected, and were\nthemselves willing so to live and die. He conveyed his impressions on\nthis subject to a friend abroad, in the following terms: \"There is a\nsoul-destroying cruelty in the cold-hearted opposition which is made\nto the multiplication of ministers in such neglected and overgrown\ndistricts as these. If one of our Royal Commissioners would but\nconsent to undergo the bodily fatigue that a minister ought to undergo\nin visiting merely the sick and dying of Larbert (let alone the\nvisitation of the whole, and preparation for the pulpit), and that for\none month, I would engage that if he be able to rise out of his bed by\nthe end of it, he would change his voice and manner at the Commission\nBoard.\"\n\nA few busy weeks passed over, occupied from morning to night in such\ncares and toils, when another part of the discipline he was to undergo\nwas sent. In the end of December, strong oppression of the heart and\nan irritating cough caused some of his friends to fear that his lungs\nwere affected; and for some weeks he was laid aside from public duty.\nOn examination, it was found that though there was a dulness in the\nright lung, yet the material of the lungs was not affected. For a\ntime, however, the air-vessels were so clogged and irritated, that if\nhe had continued to preach, disease would have quickly ensued. But\nthis also was soon removed, and, under cautious management, he resumed\nhis work.\n\nThis temporary illness served to call forth this extreme sensitiveness\nof his soul to the responsibilities of his office. At its\ncommencement--having gone to Edinburgh \"in so sweet a sunshine morning\nthat God seemed to have chosen it for him\"--he wrote to Mr. Bonar: \"If\nI am not recovered before the third Sabbath, I fear I shall not be\nable to bear upon my conscience the responsibility of leaving you any\nlonger to labor alone, bearing unaided the burden of 6,000 souls. No,\nmy dear sir, I must read the will of God aright in his providence, and\ngive way, when He bids me, to fresh and abler workmen. I hope and pray\nthat it may be his will to restore me again to you and your parish,\nwith a heart tutored by sickness, to speak more and more as dying to\ndying.\" Then, mentioning two of the sick: \"Poor A.D. and C.H., I often\nthink of them. I can do no more for their good, except pray for them.\nTell them that I do this without ceasing.\"\n\nThe days when a holy pastor, who knows the blood-sprinkled way to the\nFather, is laid aside, are probably as much a proof of the kindness of\nGod to his flock as days of health and activity. He is occupied,\nduring this season of retirement, in discovering the plagues of his\nheart, and in going in, like Moses, to plead with God face to face for\nhis flock, and for his own soul. Mr. M'Cheyne believed that God had\nthis end in view with him; and that the Lord should thus deal with him\nat his entrance into the vineyard made him ponder these dealings the\nmore. \"Paul asked,\" says he, \"'What wilt Thou have me _to do_?' and it\nwas answered, 'I will show him what great things he must _suffer_ for\nmy name's sake.' Thus it may be with me. I have been too anxious to do\ngreat things. The lust of praise has ever been my besetting sin; and\nwhat more befitting school could be found for me than that of\nsuffering alone, away from the eye and ear of man?\" Writing again to\nMr. Bonar, he tells him: \"I feel distinctly that the whole of my labor\nduring this season of sickness and pain should be in the way of prayer\nand _intercession_. And yet, so strongly does Satan work in our\ndeceitful hearts, I scarcely remember a season wherein I have been\nmore averse to these duties. I try to build myself up in my most holy\nfaith, praying in the Holy Ghost, keeping myself in the love of God,\nand looking for the mercy of the Lord Jesus unto eternal life.' That\ntext of Jude has peculiar beauties for me at this season. If it be\ngood to come under the love of God once, surely it is good to keep\nourselves there. And yet how reluctant we are! I cannot doubt that\nboldness is offered me to enter into the holiest of all; I cannot\ndoubt my right and title to enter continually by the new and bloody\nway; I cannot doubt that when I do enter in, I stand not only\nforgiven, but accepted in the Beloved; I cannot doubt that when I do\nenter in, the Spirit is willing and ready to descend like a dove, to\ndwell in my bosom as a Spirit of prayer and peace, enabling me to\n'pray in the Holy Ghost;' and that Jesus is ready to rise up as my\nintercessor with the Father, praying for me though not for the world;\nand that the prayer-hearing God is ready to bend his ear to requests\nwhich He delights to hear and answer. I cannot doubt that thus to\ndwell in God is the true blessedness of my nature; and yet, strange\nunaccountable creature! I am too often unwilling to enter in. I go\nabout and about the sanctuary, and I sometimes press in through the\nrent veil, and see the blessedness of dwelling there to be far better\nthan that of the tents of wickedness; yet it is certain that I do not\ndwell within.\"--\"My prayers follow you, especially to the sick-beds of\nA.D. and C.H. I hope they still survive, and that Christ may yet be\nglorified in them.\"\n\nOn resuming his labors, he found a residence in Carronvale. From this\npleasant spot he used to ride out to his work. But pleasant as the\nspot was, yet being only partially recovered, he was not satisfied; he\nlamented that he was unable to overtake what a stronger laborer would\nhave accomplished. He often cast a regretful look at the collieries;\nand remembering them still at a later period, he reproached himself\nwith neglect, though most unjustly. \"The places which I left utterly\nunbroken in upon are Kinnaird and Milton. Both of these rise up\nagainst my conscience, particularly the last, through which I have\nridden so often.\" It was not the comfort, but the positive usefulness\nof the ministry, that he envied; and he judged of places by their\nfitness to promote this great end. He said of a neighboring parish,\nwhich he had occasion to visit: \"The manse is altogether too sweet;\nother men could hardly live there without saying, 'This is my rest.' I\ndon't think ministers' manses should ever be so beautiful.\"\n\nA simple incident was overruled to promote the ease and fluency of his\npulpit ministrations. From the very beginning of his ministry he\nreprobated the custom of reading sermons, believing that to do so does\nexceedingly weaken the freedom and natural fervor of the messenger in\ndelivering his message. Neither did he recite what he had written. But\nhis custom was to impress on his memory the substance of what he had\nbeforehand carefully written, and then to speak as he found liberty.\nOne morning, as he rode rapidly along to Dunipace, his written sermons\nwere dropped on the wayside. This accident prevented him having the\nopportunity of preparing in his usual manner; but he was enabled to\npreach with more than usual freedom. For the first time in his life,\nhe discovered that he possessed the gift of extemporaneous\ncomposition, and learned, to his own surprise, that he had more\ncomposedness of mind and command of language than he had believed.\nThis discovery, however, did not in the least degree diminish his\ndiligent preparation. Indeed, the only use that he made of the\nincident at the time it occurred was, to draw a lesson of dependence\non God's own immediate blessing rather than on the satisfactory\npreparation made. \"One thing always fills the cup of my consolation,\nthat God may work by the meanest and poorest words, as well as by the\nmost polished and ornate,--yea, perhaps more readily, that the glory\nmay be all his own.\"\n\nHis hands were again full, distributing the bread of life in\nfellowship with Mr. Bonar. The progress of his own soul, meanwhile,\nmay be traced in some of the few entries that occur in his diary\nduring this period:--\n\n\"_Feb. 21, 1836_, Sabbath.--Blessed be the Lord for another day of the\nSon of man. Resumed my diary, long broken off; not because I do not\nfeel the disadvantages of it,--making you assume feelings and express\nrather what you wish to be than what you are,--but because the\nadvantages seem greater. It ensures sober reflection on the events of\nthe day as seen in God's eye. Preached twice in Larbert, on the\nrighteousness of God, Rom. 1:16. In the morning was more engaged in\npreparing the head than the heart. This has been frequently my error,\nand I have always felt the evil of it, especially in prayer. Reform\nit, then, O Lord.\"\n\n\"_Feb. 27._--Preached in Dunipace with more heart than ever I remember\nto have done, on Rom. 5:10, owing to the gospel nature of the subject\nand prayerful preparation. Audience smaller than usual! How happy and\nstrange is the feeling when God gives the soul composure to stand and\nplead for Him! Oh that it were altogether for Him I plead, not for\nmyself!\"\n\n\"_March 5._--Preached in Larbert with very much comfort, owing chiefly\nto my remedying the error of 21st Feb. Therefore the heart and the\nmouth were full. 'Enlarge my heart, and I shall run,' said David.\n'Enlarge my heart, and I shall preach.'\"\n\nIn this last remark we see the germ of his remarkably solemn ministry.\nHis heart was filled, and his lips then spoke what he felt within his\nheart. He gave out not merely living water, but living water drawn at\nthe springs that he had himself drank of; and is not this a true\ngospel ministry? Some venture to try what they consider a more\n_intellectual_ method of addressing the conscience; but ere a minister\nattempts this mode, he ought to see that he is one who is able to\nafford more deep and anxious preparation of heart than other men.\nSince the intellectual part of the discourse is not that which is most\nlikely to be an arrow in the conscience, those pastors who are\nintellectual men must bestow tenfold more prayerfulness on their work,\nif they would have either their own or their people's souls affected\nunder their word. If we are ever to preach with compassion for the\nperishing, we must ourselves be moved by those same views of sin and\nrighteousness which moved the human soul of Jesus. (See Psalm 38 and\n55.)\n\nAbout this time he occasionally contributed papers to the _Christian\nHerald_: one of these was _On sudden Conversions_, showing that\nScripture led us to expect such. During this month he seems to have\nwritten the _Lines on Mungo Park_, one of the pieces which attracted\nthe notice of Professor Wilson. But whatever he engaged in, his aim\nwas to honor his Master. I find him, after hearing sermon by another,\nremarking (_April 3_), \"Some things powerful; but I thirst to hear\nmore of Christ.\"\n\nOn Sabbath 16, he writes: \"Preached with some tenderness of heart. Oh,\nwhy should I not weep, as Jesus did over Jerusalem? Evening--Instructing\ntwo delightful Sabbath schools. Much bodily weariness. Gracious\nkindness of God in giving rest to the weary.\"\n\n\"_April 13._--Went to Stirling to hear Dr. Duff once more upon his\nsystem. With greater warmth and energy than ever. He kindles as he\ngoes. Felt almost constrained to go the whole length of his system\nwith him. If it were only to raise up an audience, it would be\ndefensible; but when it is to raise up teachers, it is more than\ndefensible. I am now made willing, if God shall open the way, to go to\nIndia. Here am I; send me!\"\n\nThe missionary feeling in his soul continued all his life. The Lord\nhad really made him willing; and this preparedness to go anywhere\ncompleted his preparation for unselfish, self-denied work at home.\nMust there not be somewhat of this missionary tendency in all true\nministers? Is any one truly the Lord's messenger who is not quite\nwilling to go when and where the Lord calls? Is it justifiable in any\nto put aside a call from the north, on the ground that he _wishes_ one\nfrom the south? We must be found in the position of Isaiah, if we are\nto be really sent of God.\n\n\"_April 24._--Oh that this day's labor may be blessed! and not mine\nalone, but all thy faithful servants all over the world, till _thy\nSabbath_ come.\"\n\n\"_April 26._--Visiting in Carron-shore. Well received everywhere.\nTruly a pleasant labor. Cheered me much. Preached to them afterwards\nfrom Proverbs 1.\"\n\n\"_May 8._--Communion in Larbert. Served as an elder and help to the\nfaithful. Partook with some glimpses of faith and joy. Served by a\nfaithful old minister (Mr. Dempster of Denny), one taught of God.\nThis morning stood by the dying--evening, stood by the dead, poor J.F.\nhaving died last night. I laid my hand on her cold forehead, and tried\nto shut her eyes. Lord, give me strength for living to Thee!--strength\nalso for a dying hour.\"\n\n\"_May 15._--This day an annular eclipse of the sun. Kept both the\nservices together in order to be in time. Truly a beautiful sight to\nsee the shining edge of the sun all round the dark disc of the moon.\nLord, one day thy hand shall put out those candles; for there shall be\nno need of the sun to lighten the happy land: the Lamb is the light\nthereof; a sun that cannot be eclipsed--that cannot go down.\"\n\n\"_May 17._--Visited thirteen families, and addressed them all in the\nevening in the school, on Jeremiah 1:4, 'Going and weeping.'\nExperienced some enlargement of soul; said some plain things; and had\nsome desire for their salvation, that God might be praised.\"\n\n\"_May 21._--Preparation for the Sabbath. My birth-day. I have lived\ntwenty-three years. Blessed be my Rock. Though I am a child in\nknowledge of my Bible and of Thee, yet use me for what a child can do,\nor a child can suffer. How few sufferings I have had in the year that\nis past, except in my own body. Oh that as my day is my strength may\nbe! Give me strength for a suffering and for a dying hour!\"\n\n\"_May 22._--O Lord, when Thou workest, all discouragements vanish;\nwhen Thou art away, anything is a discouragement. Blessed be God for\nsuch a day--one of a thousand! Oh! why not always this? Watch and\npray.\"\n\nBeing in Edinburgh this month, during the sitting of the General\nAssembly, he used the opportunity of revisiting some of his former\ncharge in the Canongate. \"J.S., a far-off inquirer, but surely God is\nleading. His hand draws out these tears. Interesting visits to L.,\nnear death, and still in the same mind. I cannot but hope that some\nfaith is here. Saw Mrs. M.; many tears: felt much, though I am still\ndoubtful, and in the dark. Thou knowest, Lord!\"\n\n\"_June 11._--Yesterday up in Dunipace. It would seem as if I were\nafraid to name the name of Christ. Saw many worldly people greatly\nneeding a word in season, yet could not get up my heart to speak.\nWhat I did failed almost completely. I am not worthy, Lord! To-day\nsought to prepare my heart for the coming Sabbath. After the example\nof Boston, whose life I have been reading, examined my heart with\nprayer and fasting. 1. Does my heart really close with the offer of\nsalvation by Jesus? Is it my choice to be saved in the way which gives\nHim all the praise, and me none? Do I not only see it to be the Bible\nway of salvation, but does it cordially approve itself to my heart as\ndelightful? Lord search me and try me, for I cannot but answer, Yes,\nyes. 2. Is it the desire of my heart to be made altogether holy? Is\nthere any sin I wish to retain? Is sin a grief to me, the sudden\nrisings and overcomings thereof especially? Lord, Thou knowest all\nthings--Thou knowest that I hate all sin, and desire to be made\naltogether _like Thee_. It is the sweetest word in the Bible: 'Sin\n_shall not_ have dominion over you.' Oh, then, that I might lie low in\nthe dust,--the lower the better,--that Jesus' righteousness and Jesus'\nstrength alone be admired! Felt much deadness, and much grief that I\ncannot grieve for this deadness. Towards evening revived. Got a calm\nspirit through psalmody and prayer.\"\n\n\"_June 12_, Sabbath.--To-day a sinner preached Jesus, the same Jesus\nwho has done all things for him and that so lately! A day of much\nhelp, of some earnest looking-up of the heart to that alone quickening\npower, of much temptation to flattery and pride. Oh for breathing\ngales of spiritual life! Evening--Somewhat helped to lay Jesus before\nlittle children in his beauty and excellency. Much fatigue, yet some\npeace. Surely a day in thy courts is better than a thousand.\"\n\n\"_June 15._--Day of visiting (rather a happy one) in Carron-shore.\nLarge meeting in the evening. Felt very happy after it, though\nmourning for _bitter speaking of the gospel_. Surely it is a gentle\nmessage, and should be spoken with angelic tenderness, especially by\nsuch a needy sinner.\"\n\nOf this bitterness in preaching, he had little indeed in after days;\nyet so sensible was he of its being quite natural to all of us, that\noftentimes he made it the subject of conversation, and used to grieve\nover himself if he had spoken with anything less than solemn\ncompassion. I remember on one occasion, when we met, he asked what my\nlast Sabbath's subject had been. It had been, \"The wicked shall be\nturned into hell.\" On hearing this awful test, he asked, \"Were you\nable to preach it _with tenderness_?\" Certain it is that the tone of\nreproach and upbraiding is widely different from the voice of solemn\nwarning. It is not saying hard things that pierces the consciences of\nour people; it is the voice of divine love heard amid the thunder. The\nsharpest point of the two-edged sword is not _death_, but _life_; and\nagainst self-righteous souls this latter ought to be more used than\nthe former. For such souls can hear us tell of the open gates of hell\nand the unquenchable fire far more unconcernedly than of the gates of\nheaven wide open for their immediate return. When we preach that the\nglad tidings _were intended to impart immediate assurance of eternal\nlife to every sinner that believes them_, we strike deeper upon the\nproud enmity of the world to God, then when we show the eternal curse\nand the second death.\n\n\"_June 19_, Sabbath.--Wet morning. Preached at Dunipace to a small\naudience, on Parable of the Tares. I thank God for that blessed\nparable.--In both discourses I can look back on many hateful thoughts\nof pride, and self-admiration, and love of praise, stealing the heart\nout of the service.\"\n\n\"_June 22._--Carron-shore. My last. Some tears; yet I fear some like\nthe messenger, not the message; and I fear I am so vain as to love\nthat love. Lord, let it not be so. Perish _my_ honor, but let _thine_\nbe exalted forever.\"\n\n\"_June 26._--True Sabbath-day. Golden sky. Full church, and more\nliveliness than sometimes. Shall I call the liveliness of this day a\ngale of the Spirit, or was all natural? I know that all was not of\ngrace; the self-admiration, the vanity, the desire of honor, the\nbitterness--these were all breaths of earth or hell. But was there no\ngrace? Lord, Thou knowest. I dare not wrong Thee by saying--No!\nLarbert Sabbath school with the same liveliness and joy. Domestic work\nwith the same. Praised be God! Oh that the savor of it may last\nthrough the week! By this may I test if it be all of nature, or much\nof grace. Alas! how I tremble for my Monday mornings--those seasons of\nlifelessness. Lord, bless the seeds sown this day in the hearts of my\nfriends, by the hand of my friends, and all over the world--hasten the\nharvest!\"\n\n\"July 3.--After a week of working and hurried preparation, a Sabbath\nof mingled peace and pain. Called, morning before preaching, to see\nMrs. E., dying. Preached on the Jailor--discomposedly--with some\nglimpses of the genuine truth as it is in Jesus. Felt there was much\nmingling of experience. At times the congregation was lightened up\nfrom their dull flatness, and then they sunk again into lethargy. O\nLord, make me hang on Thee to open their hearts, Thou opener of\nLydia's heart. I fear Thou wilt not bless my preaching, until I am\nbrought thus to hang on Thee. Oh keep not back a blessing for my sin!\nAfternoon--On the Highway of the Redeemed, with more ease and comfort.\nFelt the truth sometimes boiling up from my heart into my words. Some\nglimpses of tenderness, yet much less of that spirit than the last two\nSabbaths. Again saw the dying woman. Oh when will I plead, with my\ntears and inward yearnings, over sinners! Oh, compassionate Lord, give\nme to know what manner of spirit I am of! give me thy gentle Spirit,\nthat neither strives nor cries. Much weariness, want of prayerfulness,\nand want of cleaving to Christ.\" Tuesday the 5th being the anniversary\nof his licence to preach the gospel, he writes: \"Eventful week; one\nyear I have preached _Jesus_, have I? or myself? I have often preached\nmyself also, but Jesus I have preached.\"\n\nAbout this time he again felt the hand of affliction, though it did\nnot continue long. Yet it was plain to him now that personal trouble\nwas to be one of the ingredients of that experience which helped to\ngive a peculiar tone to his ministry.\n\n\"_July 8._--Since Tuesday have been laid up with illness. Set by once\nmore for a season to feel my unprofitableness and cure my pride. When\nshall this self-choosing temper be healed? 'Lord, I will preach, run,\nvisit, wrestle,' said I. 'No, thou shalt lie in thy bed and suffer,'\nsaid the Lord. To-day missed some fine opportunities of speaking a\nword for Christ. The Lord saw I would have spoken as much for my own\nhonor as his, and therefore shut my mouth. _I see a man cannot be a\nfaithful minister, until he preaches Christ for Christ's sake_--until\nhe gives up striving to attract people to himself, and seeks only to\nattract them to Christ. Lord, give me this! To-night some glimpses of\nhumbling, and therefore some wrestling in social prayer. But my\nprayers are scarcely to be called prayer.\" Then, in the evening: \"This\nday my brother has been five years absent from the body and present\nwith the Lord, and knows more and loves more than all earthly saints\ntogether. Till the day break and the shadows flee away, turn, my\nBeloved!\"\n\n\"_July 10._--I fear I am growing more earthly in some things. To-day I\nfelt a difficulty in bringing in spiritual conversation immediately\nafter preaching, when my bosom should be burning. Excused myself from\ndining out from other than the grand reason; though checked and\ncorrected myself. Evening--Insensibly slid into worldly conversation.\nLet these things be corrected in me, O Lord, by the heart being more\nfilled with love to Jesus, and more ejaculatory prayer.\"\n\n\"_July 17_, Sabbath.--Oh that I may remember my own word this day:\nthat the hour of communion is the hour for the foxes--the little\nfoxes--to spoil the wine. Two things that defile this day in looking\nback, are love of praise running through all, and consenting to listen\nto worldly talk at all. Oh that these may keep me humble and be my\nburden, leading me to the cross. Then, Satan, thou wilt be outwitted!\"\n\n\"_July 19._--Died, this day, W. M'Cheyne, my cousin-german, Relief\nminister, Kelso. Oh how I repent of our vain controversies on\nEstablishments when we last met, and that we spoke so little of Jesus!\nOh that we had spoken more one to another! Lord, teach me to be always\nspeaking as dying to dying.\"\n\n\"_July 24._--Dunipace Communion--Heard Mr. Purves of Jedburgh preach,\n'Therefore with joy shall ye draw water out of the wells of\nsalvation.' The only way to come to ordinances, and to draw from the\nwell, is to come with the matter of acceptance settled, believing\nGod's anger to be turned away. Truly a precious view of the freeness\nof the gospel very refreshing. My soul needs to be roused much to\napprehend this truth.\"\n\nAbove (_July 3_) he spoke of \"mingling experience with the genuine\ntruth as it is in Jesus.\" It is to this that he refers again in the\nlast paragraph. His deep acquaintance with the human heart and\npassions often lead him to dwell at greater length, not only on those\ntopics whereby the sinner might be brought to discover his guilt, but\nalso on marks that would evidence a change, that on \"the glad\ntidings.\" And yet he ever felt that these blessed tidings, addressed\nto souls in the very gall of bitterness, were the true theme of the\nminister of Christ; and never did he preach other than a full\nsalvation ready for the chief of sinners. From the very first, also,\nhe carefully avoided the error of those who rather speculate or\ndoctrinize about the gospel, than preach the gospel itself. Is not the\ntrue idea of preaching that of one, like Ahimaaz, coming with\nall-important tidings, and intent on making these tidings known?\nOccupied with the facts he has to tell, he has no heart to speculate\non mere abstractions; nay, he is apt to forget what language he\nemploys, excepting so far as the very grandeur of the tidings gives a\nglow of eloquence to his words. The glorious fact, \"_By this man is\npreached unto you the forgiveness of sins_,\" is the burden of every\nsermon. The crier is sent to the openings of the gate by his Lord, to\nherald forth this one infinitely important truth through the whole\ncreation under heaven.\n\nHe seems invariably to have applied for his personal benefit what he\ngave out to his people. We have already noticed how he used to feed on\nthe word, not in order to prepare himself for his people, but for\npersonal edification. To do so was a fundamental rule with him; and\nall pastors will feel that, if they are to prosper in their own souls,\nthey must so use the word,--sternly refusing to admit the idea of\nfeeding others, until satiated themselves. And for similar ends it is\nneedful that we let the truth we hear preached sink down into our own\nsouls. We, as well as our people, must drink in the falling shower.\nMr. M'Cheyne did so. It is common to find him speaking thus: \"_July\n31_, Sabbath.--Afternoon, on Judas betraying Christ; much more\ntenderness than ever I felt before. Oh that I might abide in the bosom\nof Him who washed Judas' feet, and dipped his hand in the same dish\nwith him, and warned him, and grieved over him--that I might catch the\ninfection of his love, of his tenderness, so wonderful, so\nunfathomable.\"\n\nComing home on a Sabbath evening (Aug. 7th) from Torwood Sabbath\nschool, a person met him who suggested an opportunity of usefulness.\nThere were two families of gypsies encamped at Torwood, within his\nreach. He was weary with a long day's labor; but instantly, as was his\ncustom on such a call, set off to find them. By the side of their\nwood-fire, he opened out the parable of the Lost Sheep, and pressed\nit on their souls in simple terms. He then knelt down in prayer for\nthem, and left them somewhat impressed, and very grateful.\n\nAt this time a youthful parishioner, for whose soul he felt much\nanxiety, left his father's roof. Ever watchful for souls, he seized\nthis opportunity of laying before him more fully the things belonging\nto his peace.\n\n                                     \"Larbert, _August 8, 1836_\n\n   \"MY DEAR G.----. You will be surprised to hear from me. I have\n   often wished to be better acquainted with you; but in these sad\n   parishes we cannot manage to know and be intimate with every one\n   we would desire. And now you have left your father's roof and\n   our charge; still my desires go after you, as well as the kind\n   thoughts of many others; and since I cannot now speak to you, I\n   take this way of expressing my thoughts to you. I do not know in\n   what light you look upon me, whether as a grave and morose\n   minister, or as one who might be a companion and friend; but\n   really, it is so short a while since I was just like you, when I\n   enjoyed the games which you now enjoy, and read the books which\n   you now read, that I never can think of myself as anything more\n   than a boy. This is one great reason why I write to you. The\n   same youthful blood flows in my veins that flows in yours, the\n   same fancies and buoyant passions dance in my bosom as in yours;\n   so that when I would persuade you to come with me to the same\n   Saviour, and to walk the rest of your life 'led by the Spirit of\n   God,' I am not persuading you to anything beyond your years. I\n   am not like a grey-headed grandfather,--then you might answer\n   all I say by telling me that you are a boy. No; I am almost as\n   much a boy as you are; as fond of happiness and of life as you\n   are; as fond of scampering over the hills, and seeing all that\n   is to be seen, as you are.\n\n   \"Another thing that persuades me to write you, my dear boy, is,\n   that I have felt in my own experience the want of having a\n   friend to direct and counsel me. I had a kind brother as you\n   have, who taught me many things. He gave me a Bible, and\n   persuaded me to read it; he tried to train me as a gardener\n   trains the apple-tree upon the wall; but all in vain. I thought\n   myself far wiser than he, and would always take my own way; and\n   many a time, I well remember, I have seen him reading his\n   Bible, or shutting his closet door to pray, when I have been\n   dressing to go to some frolic, or some dance of folly. Well,\n   this dear friend and brother died; and though his death made a\n   greater impression upon me than ever his life had done, still I\n   found the misery of being _friendless_. I do not mean that I had\n   no relations and worldly friends, for I had many; but I had no\n   friend _who cared for my soul_. I had none to direct me to the\n   Saviour--none to awaken my slumbering conscience--none to tell\n   me about the blood of Jesus washing away all sin--none to tell\n   me of the Spirit who is so willing to change the heart, and give\n   the victory over passions. I had no minister to take me by the\n   hand, and say, 'Come with me, and we will do thee good.' Yes, I\n   had one friend and minister, but that was Jesus himself, and He\n   led me in a way that makes me give Him, and Him only, all the\n   praise. Now, though Jesus may do this again, yet the more common\n   way with Him is to use earthly guides. Now, if I could supply\n   the place of such a guide to you, I should be happy. To be a\n   finger-post is all that I want to be--pointing out the way. This\n   is what I so much wanted myself; this is what you need not want,\n   unless you wish.\n\n   \"Tell me, dear G., would you work less pleasantly through the\n   day--would you walk the streets with a more doleful step--would\n   you eat your meat with less gladness of heart--would you sleep\n   less tranquilly at night--if you had _the forgiveness of sins_,\n   that is, if all your wicked thoughts and deeds--lies, thefts,\n   and Sabbath-breakings--were all blotted out of God's book of\n   remembrance? Would this make you less happy, do you think? You\n   dare not say it would. But would the forgiveness of sins not\n   make you more happy than you are? Perhaps you will tell me that\n   you are very happy as you are. I quite believe you. I know that\n   I was very happy when I was unforgiven. I know that I had great\n   pleasure in many sins--in Sabbath-breaking, for instance. Many a\n   delightful walk I have had,--speaking my own words, thinking my\n   own thoughts, and seeking my own pleasure on God's holy day. I\n   fancy few boys were ever happier in an unconverted state than I\n   was. No sorrow clouded my brow--no tears filled my eyes, unless\n   over some nice story-book; so that I know that you say quite\n   true, when you say that you are happy as you are. But ah! is not\n   this just the saddest thing of all, that you should be happy\n   whilst you are a child of wrath,--that you should smile, and\n   eat, and drink, and be merry, and sleep sound, when this very\n   night you may be in _hell_? Happy while unforgiven!--a terrible\n   happiness. It is like the Hindoo widow who sits upon the funeral\n   pile with her dead husband, and sings songs of joy when they are\n   setting fire to the wood with which she is to be burned. Yes,\n   you may be quite happy in this way, till you die, my boy; but\n   when you look back from hell, you will say, it was a miserable\n   kind of happiness. Now, do you think it would not give you more\n   happiness to be forgiven,--to be able to put on Jesus, and say,\n   'God's anger is turned away?' Would not you be happier at work,\n   and happier in the house, and happier in your bed? I can assure\n   you from all that ever I have felt of it, the pleasures of being\n   forgiven are as superior to the pleasures of an unforgiven man,\n   as heaven is higher than hell. The peace of being forgiven\n   reminds me of the calm, blue sky, which no earthly clamors can\n   disturb. It lightens all labor, sweetens every morsel of bread,\n   and makes a sick-bed all soft and downy; yea, it takes away the\n   scowl of death. Now, forgiveness may be yours _now_. It is not\n   given to those who are good. It is not given to any because they\n   are less wicked than others. It is given _only_ to those who,\n   feeling that their sins have brought a curse on them which they\n   cannot lift off, 'look unto Jesus,' as bearing all away.\n\n   \"Now, my dear boy, I have no wish to weary you. If you are\n   anything like what I was, you will have yawned many a time\n   already over this letter. However, if the Lord deal graciously\n   with you, and touch your young heart, as I pray He may, with a\n   desire to be forgiven, and to be made a child of God, perhaps\n   you will not take ill what I have written to you in much haste.\n   As this is the first time you have been away from home, perhaps\n   you have not learned to write letters yet; but if you have, I\n   would like to hear from you, how you come on--what convictions\n   you feel, if you feel any--what difficulties, what parts of the\n   Bible puzzle you, and then I would do my best to unravel them.\n   You read your Bible regularly, of course; but do try and\n   understand it, and still more, to _feel it_. Read more parts\n   than one at a time. For example, if you are reading Genesis,\n   read a psalm also; or, if you are reading Matthew, read a small\n   bit of an epistle also. _Turn the Bible into prayer._ Thus, if\n   you were reading the 1st Psalm, spread the Bible on the chair\n   before you, and kneel, and pray, 'O Lord, give me the\n   blessedness of the man,' etc. 'Let me not stand in the counsel\n   of the ungodly,' etc. This is the best way of knowing the\n   meaning of the Bible, and of learning to pray. In prayer confess\n   your sins by name--going over those of the past day, one by one.\n   Pray for your friends by name--father, mother, etc. etc. If you\n   love them, surely you will pray for their souls. I know well\n   that there are prayers constantly ascending for you from your\n   own house; and will you not pray for them back again? Do this\n   regularly. If you pray sincerely for others, it will make you\n   pray for yourself.\n\n   \"But I must be done. Good-bye, dear G. Remember me to your\n   brother kindly, and believe me your sincere friend,\n\n                                                     \"R.M.M.\"\n\nIt is the shepherd's duty (Ezek. 34:4), in visiting his flock, to\ndiscriminate; \"strengthening the diseased, healing that which was\nsick, binding up that which was broken, bringing again that which was\ndriven away, seeking that which was lost.\" This Mr. M'Cheyne tried to\ndo. In an after-letter to Mr. Somerville of Anderston, in reference to\nthe people of these parishes, whom he had had means of knowing, he\nwrote, \"Take more heed to the saints than ever I did. Speak a word in\nseason to S.M. S.H. will drink in simple truth, but tell him to be\nhumble-minded. Cause L.H. to learn in silence; speak not of _religion_\nto her, but speak to her case always. Teach A.M. to look simply at\nJesus. J.A. warn and teach. Get worldliness from the B.'s, if you can.\nMrs. G. awake or keep awake. Speak faithfully to the B.'s. Tell me of\nM.C., if she is really a believer, and grows. A.K., has the light\nvisited her? M.T. I have had some doubts of. M.G. lies sore upon my\nconscience; I did no good to that woman: she always managed to speak\nof _things about the truth_. Speak boldly. What matter in eternity the\nslight awkwardnesses of time!\"\n\nIt was about this time that the managers and congregation of the new\nchurch, St. Peter's, Dundee, invited him to preach as one of the\ncandidates; and, in the end of August, chose him to be their pastor,\nwith one accord. He accepted the call under an awful sense of the\nwork that lay before him. He would rather, he said, have made choice\nfor himself of such a rural parish as Dunipace; but the Lord seemed to\ndesire it otherwise. \"His ways are in the sea.\" More than once, at a\nlater period, he would say, \"We might have thought that God would have\nsent a strong man to such a parish as mine, and not a feeble reed.\"\n\nThe first day he preached in St. Peter's as a candidate (August 14th)\nis thus recorded: \"Forenoon--Mind not altogether in a preaching frame;\non the Sower. Afternoon--With more encouragement and help of the\nSpirit; on the voice of the Beloved, in Cant. 2:8-17.[6] In the\nEvening--With all my heart; on _Ruth_. Lord, keep me humble.\"\nReturning from St. Peter's the second time, he observed in his class\nof girls at Dunipace more than usual anxiety. One of them seemed to be\nthoroughly awakened that evening. \"Thanks be to Thee, Lord, for\nanything,\" he writes that evening; for as yet he had sown without\nseeing fruit. It seems to have been part of the Lord's dealing with\nhim, thus to teach him to persevere in duty and in faith, even where\nthere was no obvious success. The arrow that was yet to wound hundreds\nwas then receiving its point; but it lay in the quiver for a time. The\nLord seemed to be touching his own heart, and melting it by what he\nspoke to others, rather than touching or melting the hearts of those\nhe spoke to. But from the day of his preaching in St. Peter's, tokens\nof success began. His first day there, especially the evening sermon\non Ruth, was blessed to two souls in Dundee; and now he sees souls\nbegin to melt under his last words in the parish where he thought he\nhad hitherto spent his strength in vain.\n\n     [6] See this characteristic sermon in the Remains.\n\nAs he was now to leave this sphere, he sought out, with deep anxiety,\na laborer who would help their overburdened pastor, in true love to\nthe people's souls. He believed he had found such a laborer in Mr.\nSomerville, his friend who had shared his every thought and feeling in\nformer days, and who, with a sharp sickle in his hand, was now\nadvancing toward the harvest field. \"I see plainly,\" he wrote to Mr.\nBonar, \"that my poor attempts at labor in your clear parish will soon\nbe eclipsed. But if at length the iron front of unbelief give way, if\nthe hard faces become furrowed with the tears of anxiety and of\nfaith, under whatever ministry, you will rejoice, and I will rejoice,\nand the angels, and the Father and God of angels, will rejoice.\" It\nwas in this spirit that he closed his short ten months of labor in\nthis region.\n\nHis last sermons to the people of Larbert and Dunipace were on Hosea\n14:1, \"O Israel, return unto the Lord thy God;\" and Jeremiah 8:20,\n\"Harvest is past.\" In the evening he writes, \"Lord, I feel bowed down\nbecause of the little I have done for them which Thou mightest have\nblessed! My bowels yearn over them, and all the more that I have done\nso little. Indeed, I might have done ten times as much as I have done.\nI might have been in every house; I might have spoken always as a\nminister. Lord, canst Thou bless partial, unequal efforts?\"\n\nI believe it was about this time that some of us first of all began\nour custom of praying specially for each other on Saturday evening,\nwith a reference to our engagements in the ministry next day. This\nconcert for prayer we have never since seen cause to discontinue. It\nhas from time to time been widened in its circle; and as yet his has\nbeen the only voice that has been silenced of all that thus began to\ngo in on each other's behalf before the Lord. Mr. M'Cheyne never\nfailed to remember this time of prayer: \"Larbert and Dunipace are\nalways on my heart, especially on the Saturday evenings, when I pray\nfor a glorious Sabbath!\" On one occasion, in Dundee, he was asked if\nthe accumulation of business in his parish never led him to neglect\nthe season of prayer on a busy Saturday. His reply was, that he was\nnot aware that it ever did. \"What would my people do if I were not to\npray?\"\n\nSo steady was he in Sabbath preparations, from the first day to the\nlast time he was with them, that though at prayer-meetings, or similar\noccasions, he did not think it needful to have much laid up before\ncoming to address his people; yet, anxious to give them on the Sabbath\nwhat had cost him somewhat, he never, without an urgent reason, went\nbefore them without much previous meditation and prayer. His principle\non this subject was embodied in a remark he made to some of us who\nwere conversing on the matter. Being asked his view of diligent\npreparation for the pulpit, he reminded us of Exodus 27:20: \"_Beaten\noil--beaten oil for the lamps of the sanctuary_\" And yet his\nprayerfulness was greater still. Indeed, he could not neglect\nfellowship with God before entering the congregation. He needed to be\nbathed in the love of God. His ministry was so much a bringing out of\nviews that had first sanctified his own soul, that the healthiness of\nhis soul was absolutely needful to the vigor and power of his\nministrations.\n\nDuring these ten months the Lord had done much for him, but it was\nchiefly in the way of discipline for a future ministry. He had been\ntaught a minister's heart; he had been tried in the furnace; he had\ntasted deep personal sorrow, little of which has been recorded; he had\nfelt the fiery darts of temptation; he had been exercised in\nself-examination and in much prayer; he had proved how flinty is the\nrock, and had learned that in lifting the rod by which it was to be\nsmitten, success lay in Him alone who enabled him to lift it up. And\nthus prepared of God for the peculiar work that awaited him, he had\nturned his face towards Dundee, and took up his abode in the spot\nwhere the Lord was so marvelously to visit him in his ministry.\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER III.\n\nFIRST YEARS OF LABOR IN DUNDEE.\n\n   \"_Ye know, from the first day that I came into Asia, after what\n   manner I have been with you at all seasons, serving the Lord\n   with all humility of mind, and with many tears and\n   temptations_\"--Acts 20:18, 19.\n\n\nThe day on which he was ordained pastor of a flock, was a day of much\nanxiety to his soul. He had journeyed by Perth to spend the night\npreceding under the roof of his kind friend Mr. Grierson, in the manse\nof Errol. Next morning, ere he left the manse, three passages of\nScripture occupied his mind. 1. \"_Thou shall keep him in perfect peace\nwhose mind is stayed on Thee; because he trusteth in Thee_.\"--Isaiah\n26:3. This verse was seasonable; for, as he sat meditating on the\nsolemn duties of the day, his heart trembled. 2. \"_Give thyself wholly\nto these things\"_--I Tim. 4:15. May that word (he prayed) sink deep\ninto my heart. 3. \"_Here am I, send me_\"--Isaiah 6:8. \"To go, or to\nstay,--to be here till death, or to visit foreign shores, whatsoever,\nwheresoever, whensoever Thou pleasest.\" He rose from his knees with\nthe prayer, \"Lord, may thy grace come with the laying on of the hands\nof the Presbytery.\"\n\nHe was ordained on November 24, 1836. The service was conducted by Mr.\nRoxburgh of St. John's, through whose exertions the new church had\nbeen erected, and who ever afterwards cherished the most cordial\nfriendship towards him. On the Sabbath following he was introduced to\nhis flock by Mr. John Bonar of Larbert, with whom he had labored as a\nson in the gospel. Himself preached in the afternoon upon Isaiah\n61:1-3, \"_The Spirit of the Lord is upon me_\" etc.; of which he\nwrites, \"May it be prophetic of the object of my coming here!\" And\ntruly it was so. That very sermon--the first preached by him as a\npastor--was the means of awakening souls, as he afterwards learned;\nand ever onward the impressions left by his words seemed to spread\nand deepen among his people. To keep up the remembrance of this solemn\nday, he used in all the subsequent years of his ministry to preach\nfrom this same text on the anniversary of his ordination.[7] In the\nevening of that day, Mr. Bonar again preached on \"_These times of\nrefreshing._\" \"A noble sermon, showing the marks of such times. Ah!\nwhen shall we have them here? Lord bless this word, to help their\ncoming! Put thy blessing upon this day! Felt given over to God, as one\nbought with a price.\"\n\n     [7] The _Acceptable Year of the Lord_ was one of these\n     Anniversary Sermons, preached November 1840.\n\nThere was a rapid growth in his soul, perceptible to all who knew him\nwell, from this time. Even his pulpit preparations, he used to say,\nbecame easier from this date. He had earnestly sought that the day of\nhis ordination might be a time of new grace; he expected it would be\nso; and there was a peculiar work to be done by his hands, for which\nthe Holy Spirit did speedily prepare him.\n\nHis diary does not contain much of his feelings during his residence\nin Dundee. His incessant labors left him little time, except what he\nscrupulously spent in the direct exercises of devotion. But what we\nhave seen of his manner of study and self-examination at Larbert, is\nsufficient to show in what a constant state of cultivation his soul\nwas kept; and his habits in these respects continued with him to the\nlast. Jeremy Taylor recommends: \"If thou meanest to enlarge thy\nreligion, do it rather by enlarging thine ordinary devotions than thy\nextraordinary.\" This advice describes very accurately the plan of\nspiritual life on which Mr. M'Cheyne acted. He did occasionally set\napart seasons for special prayer and fasting, occupying the time so\nset apart exclusively in devotion. But the real secret of his soul's\nprosperity lay in the daily enlargement of his heart in fellowship\nwith his God. And the river deepened as it flowed on to eternity; so\nthat he at least reached the feature of a holy pastor which Paul\npointed out to Timothy (4:15): \"His profiting did appear to all.\"\n\nIn his own house everything was fitted to make you feel that the\nservice of God was a cheerful service, while he sought that every\narrangement of the family should bear upon eternity. His morning\nhours were set apart for the nourishment of his own soul; not,\nhowever, with the view of laying up a stock of grace for the rest of\nthe day,--for manna will corrupt if laid by,--but rather with the view\nof \"giving the eye the habit of looking upward all the day, and\ndrawing down gleams from the reconciled countenance.\" He was sparing\nin the hours devoted to sleep, and resolutely secured time for\ndevotion before breakfast, although often wearied and exhausted when\nhe laid himself to rest. \"A soldier of the cross,\" was his remark,\n\"must endure hardness.\" Often he sang a psalm of praise, as soon as he\narose, to stir up his soul. Three chapters of the word was his usual\nmorning portion. This he thought little enough, for he delighted\nexceedingly in the Scriptures: they were better to him than thousands of\ngold or silver. \"When you write,\" said he to a friend, \"tell me the\nmeaning of Scriptures.\" To another, in expressing his value for the\nword, he said, \"One gem from that ocean is worth all the pebbles of\nearthly streams.\"\n\nHis chief season of relaxation seemed to be breakfast-time. He would\ncome down with a happy countenance and a full soul; and after the\nsweet season of family prayer, forthwith commence forming plans for\nthe day. When he was well, nothing seemed to afford him such true\ndelight as to have his hands full of work. Indeed, it was often\nremarked that in him you found--what you rarely meet with--a man of\nhigh poetic imagination and deep devotion, who nevertheless was\nengaged unceasingly in the busiest and most laborious activities of\nhis office.\n\nHis friends could observe how much his soul was engrossed during his\ntimes of study of devotion. If interrupted on such occasions, though\nhe never seemed ruffled, yet there was a kind of gravity and silence\nthat implied--\"I wish to be alone.\" But he further aimed at enjoying\nGod _all the day_. And referring on one occasion to those blank hours\nwhich so often are a believer's burden,--hours during which the soul\nis dry and barren,--he observed, \"They are proofs of how little we are\n_filled_ with the presence of God, how little we are _branchlike_[8]\nin our faith.\"\n\n     [8] Compare Zechariah 4:12 with John 15:5.\n\nThis careful attention to the frame of his spirit did not hinder his\npreparation for his people; on the contrary, it kept alive his deep\nconscientiousness, and kept his warm compassion ever yearning. When\nasked to observe a Saturday as a day of fasting and prayer, along with\nsome others who had a special object in view, he replied, \"Saturday is\nan awkward day for ministers; for though I love to seek help from on\nhigh, I love also diligently to set my thoughts in order for the\nSabbath. I sometimes fear that you fail in this latter duty.\"\n\nDuring his first years in Dundee, he often rode out in an afternoon to\nthe ruined church of Invergowrie, to enjoy an hour's perfect solitude;\nfor he felt meditation and prayer to be the very sinews of his work.\nSuch notices, also, as the following, show his systematic pursuit of\npersonal holiness:--\n\n\"_April 9, 1837_, Evening.--A very pleasant quietness. Study of the\nEpistle to the Hebrews. Came to a more intelligent view of the first\nsix chapters than ever before. Much refreshed by John Newton;\ninstructed by Edwards. Help and freedom in prayer. Lord, what a happy\nseason is a Sabbath evening! What will heaven be!\"\n\n\"_April 16_, Sabbath evening.--Much prayer and peace. Reading the\nBible only.\"\n\n\"_June 2._--Much peace and rest to-night. Much broken under a sense of\nmy exceeding wickedness, which no eye can see but thine. Much\npersuasion of the sufficiency of Christ, and of the constancy of his\nlove. Oh how sweet to work all day for God, and then to lie down at\nnight under his smiles!\"\n\n\"_June 17, 1838._--At Dumbarney communion. Much sin and coldness two\ndays before. Lay low at his feet; found peace only in Jesus.\"\n\n\"_Sept. 25._--Spent last week at Blairgowrie; I hope not in vain. Much\nsin, weakness, and uselessness; much delight in the word also, while\nopening it up at family prayer. May God make the word fire. Opened I\nThessalonians, the whole; enriching to my own mind. How true is Psalm\n1! yet observed in my heart a strange proneness to be entangled with\nthe affairs of this life; not strange because I am good, but because I\nhave been so often taught that bitterness is the end of it.\"\n\n\"_Sept. 27._--Devoted chief part of Friday to fasting. Humbled and\nrefreshed.\"\n\n\"Sept. 30, Sabbath.--Very happy in my work. Too little prayer in the\nmorning. Must try to get early to bed on Saturday, that I may 'rise a\ngreat while before day.'\" These early hours of prayer on Sabbath he\nendeavored to have all his life; not for study, but for prayer. He\nnever labored at his sermons on a Sabbath. That day he kept for its\noriginal end, the _refreshment of his soul_. (Exodus 31:17.)\n\nThe parish of St. Peter's, to which he had come, was large and very\ndestitute. It is situated at the west end of the town, and included\nsome part of the adjacent country. The church was built in connection\nwith the Church Extension Scheme. The parish was a _quoard sacra_\nparish, detached from St. John's. It contains a population of 4,000\nsouls, very many of whom never crossed the threshold of any sanctuary.\nHis congregation amounted at the very outset, to about 1,100 hearers,\none-third of whom came from distant parts of the town.\n\nHere was a wide field for parochial labor. It was also a very dead\nregion--few, even of those who were living Christians, breathing their\nlife on others; for the surrounding mass of impenetrate heathenism had\ncast its sad influence even over them. His first impressions of Dundee\nwere severe. \"A city given to idolatry and hardness of heart. I fear\nthere is much of what Isaiah speaks of: 'The prophets prophesy lies,\nand the people love to have it so.'\"\n\nHis first months of labor were very trying. He was not strong in\nbodily health, and that winter a fatal influenza prevailed for two or\nthree months, so that most of his time in his parish was spent in\nvisiting the sick and dying. In such cases he was always ready. \"Did I\ntell you of the boy I was asked to see on Sabbath evening, just when I\ngot myself comfortably seated at home? I went, and was speaking to him\nof the freeness and fulness of Jesus, when he gasped a little and\ndied.\"\n\nIn one of his first visits to the sick, the narrative of the Lord's\nsingular dealings with one of his parishioners greatly encouraged him\nto carry the glad tidings to the distressed under every disadvantage.\nFour years before, a young woman had been seized with cholera, and was\ndeprived of the use of speech for a whole year. The Bible was read to\nher, and men of God used to speak and pray with her. At the end of the\nyear her tongue was loosed, and the first words heard from her lips\nwere praise and thanksgiving for what the Lord had done for her soul.\nIt was in her chamber he was now standing, hearing from her own lips\nwhat the Lord had wrought.\n\nOn another occasion during the first year of his ministry, he\nwitnessed the death-bed conversion of a man who, till within a few\ndays of his end, almost denied that there was a God. This solid\nconversion, as he believed it to be, stirred him up to speak with all\nhopefulness, as well as earnestness, to the dying.\n\nBut it was, above all, to the children of God that his visitations\nseemed blessed. His voice, and his very eye, spoke tenderness; for\npersonal affliction had taught him to feel sympathy with the\nsorrowing. Though the following be an extract from a letter, yet it\nwill be recognised by many as exhibiting his mode of dealing with\nGod's afflicted ones in his visitations: \"There is a sweet word in\nExodus (3:7), which was pointed out to me the other day by a poor\nbereaved child of God: 'I know their sorrows.' Study that; it fills\nthe soul. Another word like it is in Psalm 103:14: 'He knoweth our\nframe.' May your own soul, and that of your dear friends, be fed by\nthese things. A dark hour makes Jesus bright. Another sweet word:\n'They knew not that it was Jesus.'\"\n\nI find some specimens of his sick visits among his papers, noted down\nat a time when his work had not grown upon his hands. \"_January 25,\n1837_--Visited Mt. M'Bain, a young woman of twenty-four, long ill of\ndecline. Better or worse these ten years past. Spoke of '_The one\nthing needful_' plainly. She sat quiet. _February 14_--Had heard she\nwas better--found her near dying. Spoke plainly and tenderly to her,\ncommending Christ. Used many texts. She put out her hand kindly on\nleaving. 15th--Still dying like; spoke as yesterday. She never opened\nher eyes. 16th--Showed her the dreadfulness of wrath; freeness of\nChrist; the majesty, justice, truth of God. Poor M. is fast going the\nway whence she shall not return. Many neighbors also always gather in.\n17th--Read Psalm 22; showed the sufferings of Christ; how sufficient\nan atonement; how feeling a High Priest. She breathed loud, and\ngroaned through pain. Died this evening at seven. I hardly ever heard\nher speak anything; and I will hope that thou art with Christ in\nglory, till I go and see. 20th--Prayed at her funeral. Saw her laid in\nSt. Peter's churchyard, _the first laid there_, by her own desire, in\nthe fresh mould where never man was laid. May it be a token that she\nis with Him who was laid in a new tomb.\"\n\nHe records another case: \"_January 4, 1837_--Sent for to Mrs. S----.\nVery ill; asthmatic. Spoke on '_No condemnation to them that are in\nChrist_.' She said, 'But am I in Christ?' seemingly very anxious. Said\nshe had often been so, and had let it go by. 5th--Still living; spoke\nto her of Christ, and of full salvation. (Myself confined in the house\ntill the 16th.)--Much worse. Not anxious to hear, yet far from rest.\nDark, uneasy eye. Asked me, 'What is it to believe?' Spoke to her on\n'_God, who made light shine out of darkness._' She seemed to take up\nnothing. Lord, help! 17th--Still worse; wearing away. No smile; no\nsign of inward peace. Spoke of '_Remember me._' Went over the whole\ngospel in the form of personal address. She drowsy. 18th--Quieter.\n'_My Lord and my God_.' She spoke at intervals. More cheerful; anxious\nthat I should not go without prayer. Has much knowledge; complete\ncommand of the Bible. 19th--Spoke on '_Convincing of sin and\nrighteousness._' Rather more heart to hear. 20th--Psalm 51. Her look\nand her words were lightsome. 23d--Faintish and restless; no sign of\npeace. '_I am the way_,' and Psalm 25. 24th--Still silent and little\nsign of anything. 26th--Psalm 40, '_The fearful pit._' Very plain.\nCould not get anything out of her. February 1--Died at twelve noon; no\nvisible mark of light, or comfort, or hope. The day shall declare it.\"\n\nOne other case: \"_February 5, 1839._--Called suddenly in the evening.\nFound him near death. Careless family. Many round him. Spoke of the\nfreeness and sufficiency of Jesus. '_Come unto me_,' etc., and '_The\nwrath of God revealed from heaven_.' Told him he was going where he\nwould see Christ! asked him if He would be his Saviour? He seemed to\nanswer; his father said, 'He is saying, Yes.' But it was the throe of\ndeath. One or two indescribable gasps, and he died! I sat silent, and\nlet God preach. 7th--Spoke of the '_Widow of Nain_,' and '_Behold I\nstand at the door._'\"\n\nAttendance at funerals was often to him a season of much exercise.\nShould it not be to all ministers a time for solemn inquiry? Was I\nfaithful with this soul? Could this soul have learned salvation from\nme every time I saw him? And did I pray as fervently as I spoke? And\nif we have tender pity for souls, we will sometimes feel as Mr.\nM'Cheyne records: \"_September 24._--Buried A.M. Felt bitterly the\nword, 'If any man draw back.' etc. Never had more bitter feelings at\nany funeral.\"\n\nAll who make any pretension to the office of shepherds visit their\nflocks;[9] yet there is a wide difference in the kind of visits which\nshepherds give. One does it formally, to discharge his duty and to\nquiet conscience; another makes it his delight. And of those who make\nit their delight, one goes forth on the regular plan of addressing all\nin somewhat of the same style; while another speaks freely, according\nas the wounds of his sheep come to view. On all occasions, this\ndifficult and trying work must be gone about with a full heart, if it\nis to be gone about successfully at all. There is little in it to\nexcite, for there is not the presence of numbers, and the few you see\nat a time are in their calmest, every-day mood. Hence there is need of\nbeing full of grace, and need of feeling as though God did visit every\nhearer by your means. Our object is not to get duty done, but to get\nsouls saved. II Cor. 13:7. Mr. M'Cheyne used to go forth in this\nspirit, and often after visiting from house to house for several\nhours, he would return to some room in the place in the evening, and\npreach to the gathered families. \"_September 26, 1838._--Good\nvisiting-day. Twelve families; many of them go nowhere. It is a great\nthing to be well furnished by meditation and prayer before setting\nout; it makes you a far more full and faithful witness. Preached in\nA.F.'s house on Job, '_I know that my Redeemer liveth._' Very sweet\nand precious to myself.\"\n\n     [9] Baxter (_Reformed Pastor_) says, \"I dare prognosticate from\n     knowledge of the nature of true grace, that all godly ministers\n     will make conscience of this duty, and address themselves to it,\n     unless they be, by some extraordinary accident, disabled.\"\n\nPartly from his state of health, and partly from the vast accumulation\nof other labors, and the calls made on him for evangelizing elsewhere,\nhe was never able to overtake the visitation of the whole district\nassigned him. He was blessed to attract and reclaim very many of the\nmost degraded; and by Sabbath schools and a regular eldership, to take\nsuperintendence of the population to a great extent. Still he himself\noften said that his parish had never fully shared in the advantages\nthat attend an aggressive system of parochial labor. Once when\nspending a day in the rural parish of Collace, as we went in the\nafternoon from door to door, and spoke to the children whom we met on\nthe road-side, he smiled and said, \"Well, how I envy a country\nminister; for he can get acquainted with all his people, and have some\ninsight into their real character.\" Many of us thought that he\nafterwards erred, in the abundant frequency of his evangelistic labors\nat a time when he was still bound to a particular flock.\n\nHe had an evening class every week for the young people of his\ncongregation. The Catechism and the Bible were his text-books, while\nhe freely introduced all manner of useful illustrations. He thought\nhimself bound to prepare diligently for his classes, that he might\ngive accurate and simple explanations, and unite what was interesting\nwith the most solemn and awakening views. But it was his class for\nyoung communicants that engaged his deepest care, and wherein he saw\nmost success. He began a class of this kind previous to his first\nCommunion, and continued to form it again some weeks before every\nsimilar occasion. His tract, published in 1840, _This do in\nremembrance of Me_, may be considered as exhibiting the substance of\nhis solemn examination on these occasions.\n\nHe usually noted down his first impressions of his communicants, and\ncompared these notes with what he afterwards saw in them. Thus: \"M.K.,\nsprightly and lightsome, yet sensible; she saw plainly that the\nconverted alone should come to the Table, but stumbled at the\nquestion, If she were converted? Yet she claimed being awakened and\nbrought to Christ.\" Another: \"Very staid, intelligent-like person,\nwith a steady kind of anxiety, but, I fear, no feeling of\nhelplessness. Thought that sorrow and prayer would obtain forgiveness.\nTold her plainly what I thought of her case.\" Another: \"Knows she was\nonce Christless; now she reads, and prays, and is anxious. I doubt not\nthere is some anxiety, yet I fear it may be only a self-reformation to\nrecommend herself to God and to man. Told her plainly.\" \"A.M., I fear\nmuch for him. Gave him a token with much anxiety; warned him very\nmuch.\" \"C.P. does not seem to have any work of anxiety. He reads\nprayer-books, etc. Does not pray in secret. Seems not very\nintelligent.\"\n\nHe sought to encourage Sabbath schools in all the districts of his\nparish. The hymn, _Oil for the Lamp_, was written to impress the\nparable on a class of Sabbath scholars in 1841. Some of his sweet,\nsimple tracts were written for these schools. _Reasons why Children\nshould fly to Christ_ was the first, written at the New Year 1839; and\n_The Lambs of the Flock_ was another at a later period. His heart felt\nfor the young. One evening, after visiting some of his Sabbath\nschools, he writes: \"Had considerable joy in teaching the children. Oh\nfor real heart-work among them!\" He could accommodate himself to their\ncapacities; and he did not reckon it vain to use his talents in order\nto attract their attention, for he regarded the soul of a child as\ninfinitely precious. Ever watchful for opportunities, on the blank\nleaf of a book which he had sent to a little boy of his congregation,\nhe wrote these simple lines:--\n\n      Peace be to thee, gentle boy!\n      Many years of health and joy!\n      Love your Bible more than play,\n      Grow in wisdom every day.\n      Like the lark on hovering wing,\n      Early rise, and mount and sing;\n      Like the dove that found no rest\n      Till it flew to Noah's breast,\n      Rest not in this world of sin,\n      Till the Saviour take thee in.\n\nHe had a high standard in his mind as to the moral qualifications of\nthose who should teach the young. When a female teacher was sought for\nto conduct an evening school in his parish for the sake of the\nmill-girls, he wrote to one interested in the cause: \"The\nqualifications she should possess for sewing and knitting you will\nunderstand far better than I. She should be able to keep up in her\nscholars the fluency of reading, and the knowledge of the Bible and\nCatechism which they may have already acquired. She should be able to\nteach them to sing the praises of God with feeling and melody. But,\nfar above all, she should be a Christian woman, not in name only but\nin deed and in truth,--one whose heart has been touched by the Spirit\nof God, and who can love the souls of little children. Any teacher who\nwanted this last qualification, I would look upon as a curse rather\nthan a blessing,--a centre of blasting and coldness and death, instead\nof a centre from which life and warmth and heavenly influence might\nemanate.\"\n\nIt was very soon after his ordination that he began his weekly\nprayer-meeting in the church. He had heard how meetings of this kind\nhad been blessed in other places, and never had he any cause to regret\nhaving set apart the Thursday evening for this holy purpose. One of\nits first effects was to quicken those who had already believed; they\nwere often refreshed upon these occasions even more than on the\nSabbath. Some of the most solemn seasons of his ministry were at those\nmeetings. At their commencement, he wrote to me an account of his\nmanner of conducting them: \"I give my people a Scripture to be hidden\nin the heart--generally a promise of the Spirit or the wonderful\neffects of his outpouring.[10] I give them the heads of a sermon upon\nit for about twenty minutes. Prayer goes before and follows. Then I\nread some history of Revivals, and comment in passing. I think the\npeople are very much interested in it: a number of people come from\nall parts of the town. But, oh! I need much the living Spirit to my\nown soul; I want my life to be hid with Christ in God. At present\nthere is too much hurry, and bustle, and outward working, to allow the\ncalm working of the Spirit on the heart. I seldom get time to\nmeditate, like Isaac, at evening-tide, except when I am tired; but the\ndew comes down when all nature is at rest--when every leaf is still.\"\n\n     [10] The first text he gave to be thus hidden in the heart was\n     Isaiah 34:15; \"Until the Spirit be poured out from on high.\"\n\nA specimen of the happy freedom and familiar illustrations which his\npeople felt to be peculiar to these meetings, may be found in the\nnotes taken by one of his hearers, of _Expositions of the Epistles to\nthe Seven Churches_, given during the year 1838. He had himself great\ndelight in the Thursday evening meetings. \"They will doubtless be\nremembered in eternity with songs of praise,\" said he, on one\noccasion; and at another time, observing the tender frame of a soul\nwhich was often manifested at these seasons, he said, \"There is a\nstillness to the last word,--not as on Sabbaths, a rushing down at the\nend of the prayer, as if glad to get out of God's presence.\" So many\nbelieving and so many inquiring souls used to attend, and so few of\nthe worldlings, that you seemed to breathe the atmosphere of heaven.\n\nBut it was his Sabbath-day's services that brought multitudes\ntogether, and were soon felt throughout the town. He was ever so ready\nto assist his brethren so much engaged in every good work, and\nlatterly so often interrupted by inquiries, that it might be thought\nhe had no time for careful preparation, and might be excused for the\nabsence of it. But, in truth, he never preached without careful\nattention bestowed on his subject. He might, indeed, have little\ntime--often the hours of a Saturday was all the time he could\nobtain,--but his daily study of the Scriptures stored his mind, and\nformed a continual preparation. Much of his Sabbath services was a\ndrawing out of what he had carried in during busy days of the week.\n\nHis voice was remarkably clear,--his manner attractive by its mild\ndignity. His form itself drew the eye.[11] He spoke from the pulpit as\none earnestly occupied with the souls before him. He made them feel\nsympathy with what he spoke, for his own eye and heart were on them.\nHe was, at the same time, able to bring out illustrations at once\nsimple and felicitous, often with poetic skill and elegance. He wished\nto use Saxon words, for the sake of being understood by the most\nilliterate in his audience. And while his style was singularly clear,\nthis clearness itself was so much the consequence of his being able\nthoroughly to analyse and explain his subject, that all his hearers\nalike reaped the benefit.\n\n     [11] \"Gration est pulchro veniens e corpore virtus.\"\n\nHe went about his public work with awful reverence. So evident was\nthis, that I remember a countryman in my parish observed to me:\n\"Before he opened his lips, as he came along the passage, there was\nsomething about him that sorely affected me.\" In the vestry there was\nnever any idle conversation; all was preparation of heart in\napproaching God; and a short prayer preceded his entering the pulpit.\nSurely in going forth to speak for God, a man may well be overawed!\nSurely in putting forth his hand to sow the seed of the kingdom, a man\nmay even tremble! And surely we should aim at nothing less than to\npour forth the truth upon our people through the channel of our own\nliving and deeply affected souls.\n\nAfter announcing the subject of his discourse, he used generally to\nshow the position it occupied in the context, and then proceed to\nbring out the doctrines of the text, in the manner of our old divines.\nThis done, he divided his subject; and herein he was eminently\nskilful. \"The heads of his sermons,\" said a friend, \"were not the\nmile-stones that tell you how near you are to your journey's end, but\nthey were nails which fixed and fastened all he said. Divisions are\noften dry; but not so _his_ divisions,--they were so textual and so\nfeeling, and they brought out the spirit of a passage so\nsurprisingly.\"\n\nIt was his wish to arrive nearer at the primitive mode of expounding\nScripture in his sermons. Hence when one asked him, If he was never\nafraid of running short of sermons some day? he replied, \"No; I am\njust an interpreter of Scripture in my sermons; and when the Bible\nruns dry, then I shall.\" And in the same spirit he carefully avoided\nthe too common mode of accommodating texts,--fastening a doctrine on\nthe words, not drawing it from the obvious connection of the passage.\nHe endeavored at all times to _preach the mind of the Spirit in a\npassage_; for he feared that to do otherwise would be to grieve the\nSpirit who had written it. Interpretation was thus a solemn matter to\nhim. And yet, adhering scrupulously to this sure principle, he felt\nhimself in no way restrained from using, for every day's necessities,\nall parts of the Old Testament as much as the New. His manner was\nfirst to ascertain the primary sense and application, and so proceed\nto handle it for present use. Thus, on Isaiah 26:16-19, he began:\n\"This passage, I believe, refers _literally_ to the conversion of\nGod's ancient people.\" He regarded the _prophecies_ as _history yet to\nbe_, and drew lessons from them accordingly as he would have done from\nthe past. Every spiritual gift being in the hands of Jesus, if he\nfound Moses or Paul in the possession of precious things, he forthwith\nwas led to follow them into the presence of that same Lord who gave\nthem all their grace.\n\nThere is a wide difference between preaching _doctrine_ and preaching\n_Christ_. Mr. M'Cheyne preached all the doctrines of Scripture as\nunderstood by our Confession of Faith, dwelling upon ruin by the Fall,\nand recovery by the Mediator. \"The things of the human heart, and the\nthings of the Divine Mind,\" were in substance his constant theme. From\npersonal experience of deep temptation, he could lay open the secrets\nof the heart, so that he once said, \"He supposed the reason why some\nof the worst sinners in Dundee had come to hear him was, because his\nheart exhibited so much likeness to theirs.\" Still it was not\n_doctrine_ alone that he preached; it was _Christ_, from whom all\ndoctrine shoots forth as rays from a centre. He sought to hang every\nvessel and flagon upon Him. \"It is strange,\" he wrote after preaching\non Revelation 1:15: \"It is strange how sweet and precious it is to\npreach directly about Christ, compared with all other subjects of\npreaching.\" And he often expressed a dislike of the phrase \"_giving\nattention to religion_,\" because it seemed to substitute doctrine, and\na devout way of thinking, for _Christ himself_.\n\nIt is difficult to convey to those who never knew him a correct idea\nof the sweetness and holy unction of his preaching. Some of his\nsermons, printed from his own MSS. (although almost all are first\ncopies), may convey a correct idea of his style and mode of preaching\ndoctrine. But there are no notes that give any true idea of his\naffectionate appeals to the heart and searching applications. These he\nseldom wrote; they were poured forth at the moment when his heart\nfilled with his subject; for his rule was to set before his hearers a\nbody of truth first,--and there always was a vast amount of Bible\ntruth in his discourses,--and then urge home the application. His\nexhortations flowed from his doctrine, and thus had both variety and\npower. He was systematic in this; for he observed: \"Appeals to the\ncareless, etc., come with power on the back of some massy truth. See\nhow Paul does (Acts 13:40), 'Beware, _therefore_, lest,' etc., and\n(Hebrews 2:1), '_Therefore_ we should,'\" etc.\n\nHe was sometimes a little unguarded in his statements, when his heart\nwas deeply moved and his feelings stirred, and sometimes he was too\nlong in his addresses; but this also arose from the fulness of his\nsoul. \"Another word,\" he thought, \"may be blessed, though the last has\nmade no impression.\"\n\nMany will remember forever the blessed Communion Sabbaths that were\nenjoyed in St. Peter's. From the very first these Communion seasons\nwere remarkably owned of God. The awe of his presence used to be upon\nhis people, and the house filled with the odor of the ointment, when\nhis name was poured forth (Song 1:3). But on common Sabbaths also many\nsoon began to journey long distances to attend St. Peter's,--many from\ncountry parishes, who would return home with their hearts burning, as\nthey talked of what they had heard that day.\n\nMr. M'Cheyne knew the snare of popularity, and naturally was one that\nwould have been fascinated by it; but the Lord kept him.\n\nHe was sometimes extraordinarily helped in his preaching; but at other\ntimes, though not perceived by his hearers, his soul felt as if left\nto its own resources. The cry of Rowland Hill was constantly on his\nlips, \"Master, help!\" and often is it written at the close of his\nsermon. Much affliction, also, was a thorn in the flesh to him. He\ndescribed himself as often \"strong as a giant when in the church, but\nlike a willow-wand when all was over.\" But certainly, above all, his\nabiding sense of the divine favor was his safeguard. He began his\nministry in Dundee with this sunshine on his way. \"As yet I have been\nkept not only in the light of his reconciled countenance, but very\nmuch under the guiding eye of our providing God. Indeed, as I remember\ngood old Swartz used to say, 'I could not have imagined that He could\nhave been so gracious to us.'\" I believe that while he had some sorer\nconflicts, he had also far deeper joy after his return from Palestine\nthan in the early part of his ministry, though from the very\ncommencement of it he enjoyed that sense of the love of God which\n\"keeps the heart and mind.\" (Phil. 4:7.) This was the true secret of\nhis holy walk, and of his calm humility. But for this, his ambition\nwould have become the only principle of many an action; but now the\nsweeter love of God constrained him, and the natural ambition of his\nspirit could be discerned only as suggesting to him the idea of making\nattempts which others would have declined.\n\nWhat monotony there is in the ministry of many! Duty presses on the\nheels of duty in an endless circle. But it is not so when the Spirit\nis quickening both the pastor and his flock. Then there is all the\nvariety of life. It was so here. The Lord began to work by his means\nalmost from the first day he came. There was ever one and another\nstricken, and going apart to weep alone.\n\nThe flocking of souls to his ministry, and the deep interest excited,\ndrew the attention of many, and raised the wish in some quarters to\nhave him as their pastor. He had not been many months engaged in his\nlaborious work when he was solicited to remove to the parish of\nSkirling, near Biggar. It was an offer that presented great advantages\nabove his own field of labor as to worldly gain, and in respect of the\nprospect it held out of comparative ease and comfort; for the parish\nwas small and the emolument great. But as it is required of a bishop,\nthat he be \"not greedy of filthy lucre,\" nay, that he be \"one who has\nno love of money\" ([Greek: aphilarguros] 1 Tim. 3:3) at all, so was it\ntrue that in him these qualifications eminently shone. His remarks in\na letter to his father contain the honest expression of his feelings:\n\"I am set down among nearly 4000 people; 1100 people have taken seats\nin my church. I bring my message, such as it is, within the reach of\nthat great company every Sabbath-day. I dare not leave 3000 or 4000,\nfor 300 people. Had this been offered me before, I would have seen it\na direct intimation from God, and would heartily have embraced it. How\nI should have delighted to feed so precious a little flock,--to watch\nover every family,--to know every heart,--'to allure to brighter\nworlds and lead the way!' But God has not so ordered it. He has set me\ndown among the noisy mechanics and political weavers of this godless\ntown. He will make the money sufficient. He that paid his taxes from a\nfish's mouth, will supply all my need.\" He had already expressed the\nhope, \"Perhaps the Lord will make his wilderness of chimney-tops to be\ngreen and beautiful as the garden of the Lord, a field which the Lord\nhath blessed!\"\n\nHis health was delicate; and the harassing care and endless fatigue\nincident to his position, in a town like Dundee, seemed unsuitable to\nhis spirit. This belief led to another attempt to remove him to a\ncountry sphere. In the summer of this same year (1837) he was strongly\nurged to preach as a candidate for the vacant parish of St. Martin's,\nnear Perth, and assured of the appointment if he would only come\nforward. But he declined again: \"My Master has placed me here with his\nown hand; and I never will, directly or indirectly, seek to be\nremoved.\"\n\nThere were circumstances in this latter case that made the call on him\nappear urgent in several points of view. In coming to a resolution, he\nmentions one interesting element in the decision, in a letter to me,\ndated August 8th. \"I was much troubled about being asked to go to a\nneighboring parish at present vacant, and made it a matter of prayer;\nand I mention it now because of the wonderful answer to prayer which I\nthink I received from God. I prayed that in order to settle my own\nmind completely about staying, He would awaken some of my people. I\nagreed that that should be a sign He would wish me to stay. The next\nmorning I think, or at least the second morning, there came to me two\nyoung persons I had never seen before, in great distress. What brought\nthis to my mind was, that they came to me yesterday, and their\ndistress is greatly increased. Indeed I never saw any people in such\nanguish about their soul. I cannot but regard this as a real answer to\nprayer. I have also several other persons in deep distress, and I feel\nthat I am quite helpless in comforting them. I would fain be like\nNoah, who put out his hand and took in the weary dove; but God makes\nme stand by and feel that I am a child. Will God never cast the scenes\nof our labor near each other? We are in his hand; let Him do as\nseemeth Him good. Pray for me, for my people, for my own soul, that I\nbe not a cast away.\"\n\nFew godly pastors can be willing to change the scene of their labors,\nunless it be plain that the Cloudy Pillar is pointing them away. It is\nperilous for men to choose for themselves; and too often has it\nhappened that the minister who, on slight grounds, moved away from his\nformer watch-tower, has had reason to mourn over the disappointment of\nhis hopes in his larger and wider sphere. But while this is admitted,\nprobably it may appear unwarrantable in Mr. M'Cheyne to have prayed\nfor a sign of the Lord's will. It is to be observed, however, that he\ndecided the point of duty on other grounds; and it was only with the\nview of obtaining an additional confirmation by the occurrences of\nprovidence, that he prayed in this manner, in submission to the will\nof the Lord. He never held it right to decide the path of duty by any\nsuch signs or tokens; he believed that the written word supplied\nsufficient data for guiding the believing soul; and such providential\noccurrences as happened in this case he regarded as important only as\nfar as they might be answers to prayer. Indeed, he himself has left us\na glance of his views on this point in a fragment, which (for it is\nnot dated) may have been written about this time. He had been thinking\non _Gideon's Fleece_.\n\n      When God called Gideon forth to fight--\n      \"Go, save thou Israel in thy might,\"--\n      The faithful warrior sought a sign\n      That God would on his labors shine.\n        The man who, at thy dread command,\n        Lifted the shield and deadly brand.\n        To do thy strange and fearful work--\n        Thy work of blood and vengeance, Lord!--\n        Might need assurance doubly tried,\n        To prove Thou wouldst his steps betide.\n      But when the message which we bring\n      Is one to make the dumb man sing;\n      To bid the blind man wash and see,\n      The lame to leap with ecstasy;\n      To raise the soul that's bowed down,\n      To wipe away the tears and frown\n      To sprinkle all the heart within\n        From the accusing voice of sin--\n        Then, such a sign my call to prove,\n        To preach my Saviour's dying love,\n        I cannot, dare not, hope to find.\n\nIn the close of the same year 1837, he agreed to become Secretary to\nthe Association for Church Extension in the country of Forfar. The\nChurch Extension Scheme, though much misrepresented and much\nmisunderstood, had in view as its genuine, sincere endeavor, to bring\nto overgrown parishes the advantage of a faithful minister, placed\nover such a number of souls as he could really visit. Mr. M'Cheyne\ncheerfully and diligently forwarded these objects to the utmost of his\npower. \"It is the cause of God,\" said he, \"and therefore I am willing\nto spend and be spent for it.\" It compelled him to ride much from\nplace to place; but riding was an exercise of which he was fond, and\nwhich was favorable to his health. As a specimen--\"_Dec. 4, 1838._\nTravelled to Montrose. Spoke along with Mr. Guthrie at a Church\nExtension meeting; eight or nine hundred present. Tried to do\nsomething in the Saviour's cause, both directly and indirectly. Next\nday at Forfar. Spoke in the same cause.\"\n\nHow heartily he entered into this scheme may be seen from the\nfollowing extract. In a letter of an after date to Mr. Roxburgh, he\nsays: \"Every day I live, I feel more and more persuaded that it is the\ncause of God and of his kingdom in Scotland in our day. Many a time,\nwhen I thought myself a dying man, the souls of the perishing\nthousands in my own parish, who never enter any house of God, have\nlain heavy on my heart. Many a time have I prayed that the eyes of our\nenemies might be opened, and that God would open the hearts of our\nrulers, to feel that their highest duty and greatest glory is to\nsupport the ministers of Christ, and to send these to every perishing\nsoul in Scotland.\" He felt that their misery was all the greater, and\ntheir need the deeper, that such neglected souls had no wish for help,\nand would never ask for it themselves. Nor was it that he imagined\nthat, if churches were built and ministers endowed, this would of\nitself be sufficient to reclaim the multitudes of perishing men. But\nhe sought and expected that the Lord would send faithful men into his\nvineyard. These new churches were to be like cisterns--ready to catch\nthe shower when it should fall, just as his own did in the day of the\nLord's power.\n\nHis views on this subject were summed up in the following lines,\nwritten one day as he sat in company with some of his zealous brethren\nwho were deeply engaged in the scheme:\n\n      Give me a man of God the truth to preach,\n      A house of prayer within convenient reach,\n      Seat-rents the poorest of the poor can pay,\n      A spot so small one pastor can survey:\n      Give these--and give the Spirit's genial shower,\n      Scotland shall be a garden all in flower!\n\nAnother public duty to which, during all the years of his ministry, he\ngave constant attention, was attendance at the meetings of presbytery.\nHis candor, and uprightness, and Christian generosity, were felt by\nall his brethren; and his opinion, though the opinion of so young a\nman, was regarded with more than common respect. In regard to the\ngreat public questions that were then shaking the Church of Scotland,\nhis views were decided and unhesitating. No policy, in his view, could\nbe more ruinous to true Christianity, or more fitted to blight vital\ngodliness, than that of Moderatism. He wrote once to a friend in\nIreland: \"You don't know what Moderatism is. It is a plant that our\nheavenly Father never planted, and I trust it is now to be rooted up.\"\nThe great question of the Church's independence of the Civil Power in\nall matters spiritual, and the right of the Christian people to judge\nif the pastor appointed over them had the Shepherd's voice, he\ninvariably held to be part of Scripture truth, which, therefore, must\nbe preached and carried into practice, at all hazards. In like manner\nhe rejoiced exceedingly in the settlements of faithful ministers. The\nappointments of Mr. Baxter to Hilltown, Mr. Lewis to St. David's, and\nMr. Miller to Wallacetown at a later period, are all noticed by him\nwith expressions of thankfulness and joy; and it occasioned the same\nfeelings if he heard of the destitution of any parish in any part of\nthe country supplied. He writes, _Sept. 20, 1838_: \"Present at A.B.'s\nordination at Collace with great joy. Blessed be God for the gift of\nthis pastor. Give testimony to the word of thy grace.\"\n\nBusy at home, he nevertheless always had a keenly evangelistic spirit.\nHe might have written much and have gained a name by his writings; but\nhe laid everything aside when put in comparison with preaching the\neverlasting gospel. He scarcely ever refused an invitation to preach\non a week-day; and travelling from place to place did not interrupt\nhis fellowship with God. His occasional visits during these years were\nmuch blessed. At Blairgowrie and Collace his visits were longed for as\ntimes of special refreshment; nor was it less so at Kirriemuir, when\nhe visited Mr. Cormick, or at Abernyte in the days when Mr. Hamilton\n(now of Regent Square, London), and afterwards Mr. Manson, were\nlaboring in that vineyard. It would be difficult even to enumerate the\nplaces which he watered at Communion seasons; and in some of these it\nwas testified of him, that not the words he spoke, but the _holy\nmanner_ in which he spoke, was the chief means of arresting souls.\n\nOccasionally two or three of us, whose lot was cast within convenient\ndistance, and whose souls panted for the same water-brooks, used to\nmeet together to spend a whole day in confession of ministerial and\npersonal sins, with prayer for grace, guiding ourselves by the reading\nof the word. At such times we used to meet in the evening with the\nflock of the pastor in whose house the meeting had been held through\nthe day, and there unitedly pray for the Holy Spirit being poured down\nupon the people. The first time we held such a meeting, there were\ntokens of blessing observed by several of us; and the week after he\nwrote: \"Has there been any fruit of the happy day we spent with you? I\nthought I saw some the Sabbath after, here. In due season we shall\nreap if we faint not; only be thou strong, and of a good courage.\" The\nincident that encouraged him is recorded in his diary. An elderly\nperson came to tell him how the river of joy and peace in believing\nhad that Sabbath most singularly flowed through her soul, so that she\nblessed God that she ever came to St. Peter's. He adds \"_N.B._--This\nseems a fruit of our prayer-meeting, begun last Wednesday at\nCollace,--one drop of the shower.\"\n\nIt should have been remarked ere now, that during all his ministry he\nwas careful to use not only the direct means appointed for the\nconversion of souls, but those also that appear more indirect, such as\nthe key of discipline. In regard to the Lord's Supper, his little\ntract explains his views. He believed that to keep back those whose\nprofession was a credible profession, even while the pastor might have\nstrong doubts as to their fitness in his own mind, was not the rule\nlaid down for us in the New Testament. At the same time, he as\nsteadily maintained that no unconverted person _ought to come_ to the\nLord's Table; and on this point \"they should judge themselves if they\nwould not be judged.\"\n\nWhen communicants came to be admitted for the first time, or when\nparents that had been communicants before came for baptism to their\nchildren, it was his custom to ask them solemnly if their souls were\nsaved. His dealing was blessed to the conversion of not a few young\npersons who were coming carelessly forward to the Communion; and\nhimself records the blessing that attended his faithful Healing with a\nparent coming to speak with him about the baptism of his child. The\nman said that he had been taking a thought, and believed himself in\nthe right way--that he felt his disposition better, for he could\nforgive injuries. Mr. M'Cheyne showed him that nevertheless he was\nignorant of God's righteousness. The man laid it to heart; and when\nMr. M'Cheyne said that he thought it would be better to defer the\nbaptism, at once offered to come again and speak on the matter. On a\nsubsequent visit, he seemed really to have seen his error, and to have\ncast away his own righteousness. When his child was baptized, it was\njoy to the pastor's heart to have the good hope that the man had\nreceived salvation.\n\nIn connection with the superstitious feeling of the most depraved as\nto baptism, he related an affecting occurrence. A careless parent one\nevening entered his house, and asked him to come with him to baptize a\ndying child. He knew that neither this man nor his wife ever entered\nthe door of a church; but he rose and went with him to the miserable\ndwelling. There an infant lay, apparently dying; and many of the\nfemale neighbors, equally depraved with the parents, stood round. He\ncame forward to where the child was, and spoke to the parents of their\nungodly state and fearful guilt before God, and concluded by showing\nthem that, in such circumstances, he would consider it sinful in him\nto administer baptism to their infant. They said, \"He might at least\ndo it for the sake of the poor child.\" He told them that it was not\nbaptism that saved a soul, and that out of true concern for themselves\nhe must not do as they wished. The friends around the bed then joined\nthe parents in upbraiding him as having no pity on the poor infant's\nsoul! He stood among them still, and showed them that it was they who\nhad been thus cruel to their child; and then lifted up his voice in\nsolemn warning, and left the house amid their ignorant reproaches.\n\nNor did he make light of the kirk-session's power to rebuke and deal\nwith an offender. Once from the pulpit, at an ordination of elders, he\ngave the following testimony upon this head: \"When I first entered\nupon the work of the ministry among you, I was exceedingly ignorant of\nthe vast importance of church discipline. I thought that my great and\nalmost only work was to pray and preach. I saw your souls to be so\nprecious, and the time so short, that I devoted all my time, and care,\nand strength, to labor in word and doctrine. When cases of discipline\nwere brought before me and the elders, I regarded them with something\nlike abhorrence. It was a duty I shrank from; and I may truly say it\nnearly drove me from the work of the ministry among you altogether.\nBut it pleased God, who teaches his servants in another way than man\nteaches, to bless some of the cases of discipline to the manifest and\nundeniable conversion of the souls of those under our care; and from\nthat hour a new light broke in upon my mind, and I saw that if\npreaching be an ordinance of Christ, so is church discipline. I now\nfeel very deeply persuaded that both are of God,--that two keys are\ncommitted to us by Christ: the one the key of doctrine, by means of\nwhich we unlock the treasures of the Bible; the other the key of\ndiscipline, by which we open or shut the way to the sealing ordinances\nof the faith. Both are Christ's gift, and neither is to be resigned\nwithout sin.\"\n\nThere was still another means of enforcing what he preached, in the\nuse of which he has excelled all his brethren, namely, the holy\nconsistency of his daily walk. Aware that one idle word, one needless\ncontention, one covetous act, may destroy in our people the effect of\nmany a solemn expostulation and earnest warning, he was peculiarly\ncircumspect in his every-day walk. He wished to be always in the\npresence of God. If he travelled, he labored to enjoy God by the way,\nas well as to do good to others by dropping a word in season. In\nriding or walking, he seized opportunities of giving a useful tract;\nand, on principle, he preferred giving it to the person directly,\nrather than casting it on the road. The former way, he said, was more\nopen--there was no stealth in it; and we ought to be as clear as\ncrystal in speaking or acting for Jesus. In writing a note, however\nshort, he sought to season it with salt. If he passed a night in a\nstrange place, he tried to bear the place specially on his soul at the\nmercy-seat; and if compelled to take some rest from his too exhausting\ntoils, his recreations were little else than a change of occupation,\nfrom one mode of glorifying God to another.[12] His beautiful hymn, _I\nam a debtor_, was written in May 1837, at a leisure hour.\n\n     [12] Baxter's words are not less than the truth: \"Recreation to a\n     minister must be as whetting is with the mower, that is, only to\n     be used so far as is necessary for his work. May a physician in\n     the plague-time take any more relaxation or recreation than is\n     necessary for his life, when so many are expecting his help in a\n     case of life and death?\" \"Will you stand by and see sinners\n     grasping under the pangs of death, and say, God doth not require\n     me to make myself a drudge to save them? Is this the voice of\n     ministerial or Christian compassion, or rather of _sensual\n     laziness and diabolical cruelty_?\"--_Ref. Past_. 6:6\n\nWhatever be said in the pulpit, men will not much regard, though they\nmay feel it at the time, if the minister does not say the same in\nprivate with equal earnestness, in speaking with his people face to\nface; and it must be in our moments of most familiar intercourse with\nthem, that we are thus to put the seal to all we say in public.\nFamiliar moments are the times when the things that are most closely\ntwined round the heart are brought out to view; and shall we forbear,\nby tacit consent, to introduce the Lord that bought us into such happy\nhours? We must not only speak faithfully to our people in our sermons,\nbut live faithfully for them too. Perhaps it may be found, that the\nreason why many who preach the gospel fully and in all earnestness are\nnot owned of God in the conversion of souls, is to be found in their\ndefective exhibition of grace in these easy moments of life. \"Them\nthat honor me, I will honor,\" I Samuel 2:30. It was noticed long ago\nthat men will give you leave to _preach against_ their sins as much as\nyou will, if so be you will but be easy with them when you have done,\nand talk as they do, and live as they live. How much otherwise it was\nwith Mr. M'Cheyne, all who knew him are witnesses.\n\nHis visits to friends were times when he sought to do good to their\nsouls; and never was he satisfied unless he could guide the\nconversation to bear upon the things of eternity. When he could not do\nso, he generally remained silent. And yet his demeanor was easy and\npleasant to all, exhibiting at once meekness of faith and delicacy of\nfeeling. There was in his character a high refinement that came out in\npoetry and true politeness; and there was something in his graces that\nreminded one of his own remark, when explaining _the spices_ of Song\n4:16, when he said that \"some believers were a garden that had\nfruit-trees, and so were useful; but we ought also to have _spices_,\nand so be attractive.\" Wishing to convey his grateful feelings to a\nfellow-laborer in Dundee, he sent him a Hebrew Bible, with these few\nlines prefixed:--\n\n      Anoint mine eyes,\n        O holy dove!\n      That I may prize\n        This book of love.\n\n      Unstop mine ear,\n        Made deaf by sin,\n      That I may hear\n        Thy voice within.\n\n      Break my hard heart,\n        Jesus, my Lord;\n      In the inmost part\n        Hide thy sweet word.\n\nIt was on a similar occasion, in 1838, that he wrote the lines, _Thy\nword is a lamp unto my feet_. At another time, sitting under a shady\ntree, and casting his eye on the hospitable dwelling in which he found\na pleasant retreat, his grateful feelings flowed out to his kind\nfriend in the lines that follow:--\n\n\n        \"PEACE TO THIS HOUSE.\"\n\n      Long may peace within this dwelling\n        Have its resting-place;\n      Angel shields all harm repelling,--\n        God, their God of grace.\n\n      May the dove-like Spirit guide them\n         To the upright land!\n      May the Saviour-shepherd fed them\n         From his gentle hand!\n\nNever was there one more beloved as a friend, and seldom any whose\ndeath could cause so many to feel as if no other friend could ever\noccupy his room. Some, too, can say that so much did they learn from\nhis holy walk, \"that it is probable a day never passes wherein they\nhave not some advantage from his friendship.\"[13]\n\n     [13] [Greek: Eg\u00f4 men d\u00ea katano\u00f4n tou andros t\u00ean te sophian kai\n     t\u00ean gennaiot\u00eata oute m\u00ea memn\u00easthai dynamai autou, oute memn\u00eamenos\n     m\u00ea ouk epainein. Ei de tis t\u00f4n aret\u00eas ephiemen\u00f4n \u00f4phelim\u00f4ter\u00f4\n     tini S\u00f4kratous synegeneto ekeinon eg\u00f4 ton andra\n     axiomakariototaton nomiz\u00f4.]\n\nI find written on the leaf of one of his note-books, a short\nmemorandum: \"_Rules worth remembering._--When visiting in a family,\nwhether ministerially or otherwise, speak particularly to _the\nstrangers_ about eternal things. Perhaps God has brought you together\njust to save that soul.\" And then he refers to some instances which\noccurred to himself, in which God seemed to honor a word spoken in\nthis incidental way.\n\nIn this spirit he was enabled for nearly three years to give his\nstrength to his Master's service. Sickness sometimes laid him aside,\nand taught him what he had to suffer; but he rose from it to go forth\nagain to his joyful labors. Often, after a toilsome day, there were\ninquirers waiting for him, so that he had to begin work afresh in a\nnew form. But this was his delight; it was a kind of interruption\nwhich he allowed even on a Saturday, in the midst of his studies. He\nwas led to resolve not to postpone any inquirers till a future time,\nby finding that having done so on one occasion at a pressing moment,\nthe individuals never returned; and so alive was he to the\nresponsibilities of his office, that he ever after feared to lose such\nan opportunity of speaking with souls at a time when they were aroused\nto concern. Busy one evening with some extra-parochial work, he was\nasked if any person should be admitted to see him that night.\n\"Surely--what do we live for?\" was his immediate reply. It was his\nmanner, too, on a Saturday afternoon, to visit one or two of his sick\nwho seemed near the point of death, with the view of being thus\nstirred up to a more direct application of the truth to his flock on\nthe morrow, as dying men on the edge of eternity.\n\nWe have already observed that in his doctrine there was nothing that\ndiffered from the views of truth laid down in the standards of our\nchurch. He saw no inconsistency in preaching an electing God, who\n\"calleth whom He will,\" and a salvation free to \"whosoever will;\" nor\nin declaring the absolute sovereignty of God, and yet the unimpaired\nresponsibility of man. He preached Christ as a gift laid down by the\nFather for every sinner freely to take. In the beginning of his\nministry, as he preached the fulness of the glad tidings, and urged on\nhis people that there was enough in the glad tidings to bring direct\nand immediate assurance to every one who really believed them, some of\nhis flock were startled. For he ever preached, that, while it is true\nthat there are believers, like Heman or Asaph, who do not enjoy full\nassurance of the love of God, yet certainly no true believer should\nremain satisfied in the absence of this blessed peace. Not a few had\nhitherto been accustomed to take for granted that they might be\nChristians, though they knew of no change, and had never thought of\nenjoying the knowledge of the love of God as their present portion.\nThey heard that others, who were reckoned believers, had doubts; so\nthey had come to consider fears and doubts as the very marks of a\nbelieving soul. The consequence had been, that in past days many\nconcluded themselves to be Christians because they seemed to be in the\nvery state of mind of which those who were reputed to be believers\nspoke, viz. doubt and alarm. Alas! in _their_ case there could be\nnothing else, for they had only a name to live.\n\nSome one wrote to him, putting several questions concerning\nconversion, assurance, and faith, which had been stirred up by his\nministry. The import of the questions may be gathered from his reply,\nwhich was as follows:--\n\n\"1. _I doubt if there are many saints who live and die without a\ncomfortable sense of forgiveness and acceptance with God._ The saints\nof whom the Bible speaks seem to have enjoyed it richly both in life\nand death. See the murderers of our Lord, Acts 2:41; the Ethiopian,\nActs 8:39; the jailor, Acts 16:35. David also felt it, sinful man\nthough he was, Romans 4:6. Paul also prayed that the Romans might have\nit, Romans 15:13. I fear this objection is generally made by those\nwho are living in sin, and do not wish to know the dangerous road they\nare on.\n\n\"2. _A sense of forgiveness does not proceed from marks seen in\nyourself, but from a discovery of the beauty, worth, and freeness of\nChrist,_ Psalm 34:5. We look _out_ for peace, not _in_. At the same\ntime, there is also an assurance rising from what we see in ourselves;\nthe seal of the Spirit, love to the brethren, etc., are the chief\nmarks.\n\n\"3. _Feeling a body of sin is a mark that we are like Paul, and that\nwe are Christ's,_ Rom. 7; Gal. 5:17. Paul was cheerful with a body of\nsin; and so ought we to be. So was David, and all the saints.\n\n\"4. _I do not think there is any difference between those converted\nwithin these few years and those who were Christians before._ Many of\nthose converted since I came are, I fear, very unholy. I fear this\nmore than anything. I fear there is too much talk and too little\nreality. Still there are many good figs,--many of whom I am persuaded\nbetter things, and things that accompany salvation. The answer to your\nquestion I fear is this, that many used to be taken for Christians\nbefore, who had only a name to live, and were dead. I think there is\nmore discrimination now. But take care and be not proud, for that goes\nbefore a fall. Take care of censorious judging of others, as if all\nmust be converted in the same way.\n\n\"God moves in a mysterious way. He hath mercy on whom He will have\nmercy. To Him alone be glory.\"\n\nHe thus stated his views on another occasion. Referring to Song 6:3,\n\"My beloved is mine,\" following \"My beloved is gone down into his\ngarden,\" he said, \"This is the faith of assurance,--a complete,\nunhesitating embracing of Christ as my righteousness and my strength\nand my all. A common mistake is, that this clear conviction that\nChrist is mine is an attainment far on in the divine life, and that it\nsprings from evidences seen in my heart. When I see myself a new\ncreature, Christ on the throne in my heart, love to the brethren,\netc., it is often thought that I may begin then to say, 'My Beloved is\nmine.' How different this passage! The moment Jesus comes down into\nthe garden to the beds of spices,--the moment He reveals himself, the\nsoul cries out, 'My Beloved is mine!' So saith Thomas, John 20:27, 28.\nThe moment Jesus came in and revealed his wounds, Thomas cried out,\n'My Lord and my God.' He did not look to see if he was believing, or\nif the graces of love and humility were reigning; but all he saw and\nthought of was Jesus and Him crucified and risen.\" At a subsequent\nperiod, when preaching on Matt. 11:28, \"Come unto me,\" he said, \"I\nsuppose it is almost impossible to explain what it is to come to\nJesus, it is so simple. If you ask a sick person who had been healed,\nwhat it was to come and be healed, he could hardly tell you. As far as\nthe Lord has given me light in this matter, and looking at what my own\nheart does in like circumstances, I do not feel that there is anything\nmore in coming to Jesus, than just believing what God says about his\nSon to be true. I believe that many people keep themselves in darkness\nby expecting something more than this. Some of you will ask, 'Is there\nno _appropriating_ of Christ? no _putting out the hand of faith_? no\ntouching the hem of his garment?' I quite grant, beloved, there is\nsuch a thing, but I do think it is inseparable from believing the\nrecord. If the Lord persuades you of the glory and power of Emmanuel,\nI feel persuaded that you cannot but choose Him. It is like opening\nthe shutters of a dark room; the sun that moment shines in. So, the\neye that is opened to the testimony of God, receives Christ that\nmoment.\"\n\nIn the case of a faithful ministry, success is the rule; want of it\nthe exception. For it is written: \"In doing this thou shalt both save\nthyself and them that hear thee,\" I Tim. 4:16. Mr. M'Cheyne expected\nit, and the Lord exceeded all his hopes.\n\nIt was not yet common for persons in anxiety to go to their pastor for\nadvice; but soon it became an almost weekly occurrence. While it was\nyet rare, two of his young people wrote a joint note, asking liberty\nto come and speak with him, \"for we are anxious about our souls.\"\nAmong those who came, there were those who had striven against the\ntruth; persons who used to run out of hearing when the Bible was\nread,--throw down a tract if the name of God was in it,--go quickly to\nsleep after a Sabbath's pleasure in order to drown the fear of\ndropping into hell. There were many whose whole previous life had been\nbut a threadbare profession. There were some open sinners, too. In\nshort, the Lord glorified himself by the variety of those whom his\ngrace subdued, and the variety of means by which his grace reached\nits object.\n\nOne could tell him that the reading of the chapter in the church, with\na few remarks, had been the time of her awakening. Another had been\nstruck to the heart by some expression he used in his first prayer\nbefore sermon one Sabbath morning. But most were arrested in the\npreaching of the word. An interesting case was that of one who was\naroused to concern during his sermon on _Unto whom coming as unto a\nliving stone_. As he spoke of the Father taking the gem out of his\nbosom, and laying it down for a foundation-stone, she felt in her\nsoul, \"I know nothing of this precious stone; I am surely not\nconverted.\" This led her to come and speak with him. She was not under\ndeep conviction; but before going away, he said, \"You are a poor, vile\nworm; it is a wonder the earth does not open and swallow you up.\"\nThese words were blessed to produce a very awful sense of sin. She\ncame a second time with the arrows of the Almighty drinking up her\nspirit. For three months she remained in this state, till having once\nmore come to him for counsel, the living voice of Jesus gave life to\nher soul while he was speaking of Christ's words, \"If thou knewest the\ngift of God,\" etc., and she went away rejoicing. Some awakened souls\ntold him that since they were brought under concern, very many\nsermons, which they had heard from him before and completely\nforgotten, had been brought back to mind. He used to remark that this\nmight show what the resurrection day would awaken in the souls of\ngospel hearers.\n\nIn dealing with souls he used to speak very plainly. One came to him\nwho assented to his statements of the gospel, and yet refused to be\ncomforted, always looking upon _coming to Christ_ as something in\naddition to really believing the record God has given of his Son. He\ntook John 3:16, 17: \"For God so loved the world, that,\" etc. The woman\nsaid that \"God did not care for her.\" Upon this he at once convicted\nher of making God a liar; and, as she went away in deep distress, his\nprayer was, \"Lord, give her light!\"\n\nTo another person, who spoke of having times of great joy, he showed\nthat these were times for worshipping God in the spirit. \"You would\ncome to a king when you were full dressed; so come to God, and abide\nin his presence as long as you can.\"\n\nSometimes he would send away souls, of whom he entertained good hope,\nwith a text suited to their state. \"If ye live after the flesh, ye\nshall die; but if ye, through the Spirit, do mortify the deeds of the\nbody, ye shall live.\" Or he would say, \"I hear of you that God has\nopened your heart; but remember not to trust to man's opinion.\nRemember an all-seeing Christ will be the judge at the great day.\" To\nanother he said, \"I have long hoped you were really under the wings of\nthe Saviour; if it be so, abide there; do not be like Demas.\"\n\nTo a prayer-meeting, consisting of a few young men that had been\nawakened to flee from wrath, he gave this advice: \"Guard against all\nambition to excel one another in expression. Remember the most\nspiritual prayer is 'a groan which cannot be uttered,' Rom. 8:26; or a\ncry of 'Abba, Father,' Gal. 4:6.\"\n\nThere is very little recorded in his diary during these years, but\nwhat does exist will be read with deepest interest.\n\n\"_March 28, 1838_, Thursday.--I think of making this more a journal of\nmy people, and the success or otherwise of my ministry. The first\nsuccess among my people was at the time of my first Sacrament: then it\nappeared. My first sermon, on Isa. 61:1, was blessed to ---- and some\nothers. That on Ezek. 22:14, 'Can thine heart endure,' etc., was\nblessed to awaken M.L. That on Song 5:2, 'Open to me,' etc., the\nSabbath after the Sacrament, was blessed to another. These were happy\ndays. M.D. was awakened by coming to the communicants' class. Another\nby the action sermon. At the words, 'I know thee, Judas,' she\ntrembled, and would have risen from the table. These were glad days\nwhen one and another were awakened. The people looked very stirred and\nanxious, every day coming to hear the words of eternal life,--some\ninquiring in private every week. Now there is little of this. About\nfifteen cases came to my knowledge the first Sacrament, and two\nawakened who seem to have gone back. About eleven last Sacrament,--four\nof these young men. Several Christians seemed quickened to greater\njoy, and greater love one to another. Now it appears to me there is\nmuch falling off,--few seem awakened; few weep as they used to do.\"\n\n\"_April 1_, Sacrament day.--Sweet season we have had. Never was more\nstraitened and unfurnished in myself, and yet much helped. Kept in\nperfect peace, my mind being stayed on Thee. Preached on 'My God, my\nGod,' etc., Psalm 22:1. Not fully prepared, yet found some peace in\nit. Fenced the tables from 'Christ's eyes of flame.' Little helped in\nserving the tables. Much peace in communion. Happy to be one with\nChrist! _I_, a vile worm; _He_, the Lord my righteousness. Mr. Cumming\nof Dumbarney served some tables; Mr. Somerville of Anderston served\nthree, and preached in the evening on 'Thou art all fair, my love.'\nVery full and refreshing. All sweet, sweet services. Come, thou north\nwind, and blow, thou south, upon this garden! May this time be greatly\nblessed! It is my third communion; it may be my last. My Lord may\ncome, or I may be sitting at another table soon. Moody, Candlish, and\nMellis, were a good preparation for this day; and the sweet word from\nCumming yesterday, 'When the poor and needy seek water,' etc. Lord,\ngrant some wakening this day,--to some bringing peace--comfort to\nmourners,--fulness to believers,--an advance in holiness in me and my\nchildren! III John 4. Lord, wean me from my sins, from my cares, and\nfrom this passing world. May Christ be all in all to me.\"\n\n\"Admitted about twenty-five young communicants; kept two back, and one\nor two stayed back. Some of them evidently brought to Christ. May the\nLord be their God, their comforter, their all! May the morrow bring\nstill richer things to us, that we may say as of to-night, 'Thou hast\nkept the good wine until now.'\"\n\nToward the close of this same year some of his notices are as\nfollows:--\n\n\"_Oct. 7_, Evening.--In the Gaelic Chapel, on 'I know that my Redeemer\nliveth,' with more seeming power on the people than for a while. I\nnever remember of compelling souls to come in to Christ so much as in\nthat discourse.\"\n\n\"_Oct. 8._--A person of the name of ---- came; I hope really awakened\nby last night's work; rather, by _Thee_. I do not know, however,\nwhether _grace_ is begun or not.\"\n\n\"_Oct. 14._--Preached on 'Forgiving injuries.' Afternoon--on the\nSecond Coming: 'Let your loins be girded about,' etc. Felt its power\nmyself more than ever before, how the sudden coming of the Saviour\nconstrains to a holy walk, separate from sin. Evening--Preached it\nover in the Ferry.\"\n\n\"_Oct. 21._--Met young communicants in the evening. Good hope of all\nbut one.\"\n\n\"_Oct. 22._--A Jew preached in my church, Mr. Frey, to a crowded\nhouse. Felt much moved in hearing an Israelite after the flesh.\"\n\n\"Oct. 23.--Preached to sailors aboard the 'Dr. Carey,' in the docks.\nAbout 200, very attentive and impressed like. On 'I know that my\nRedeemer liveth.' May the seed sown on the waters be found after many\ndays.\"\n\n\"_Nov. 1_, Fast-day.--Afternoon--Mr. C. on 'The thief on the Cross.' A\nmost awakening and engaging sermon, enough to make sinners fly like a\ncloud, and as doves to their windows. The offers of Christ were let\ndown very low so that those low of stature may take hold.\"\n\n\"_Nov. 5._--Mr. ---- died this morning at seven o'clock. Oh that I may\ntake warning, lest, after preaching to others, I myself be a castaway!\nLove of popularity is said to have been his besetting sin.\"\n\n\"_Dec. 2._--Errol Communion. Heard Mr. Grierson preach on Christ's\nentry into Jerusalem. Served two tables. Evening--Preached to a large\ncongregation, on 'Unto you, O men, I call,' etc. The free invitation\nof the Saviour. May some find Him this day!\"\n\nIn addition to the other blessings which the Lord sent by his means to\nthe place where he labored, it was obvious to all that the tone of\nChristians was raised as much by his holy walk as by his heavenly\nministry. Yet during these pleasant days he had much reproach to bear.\nHe was the object of supercilious contempt to formal cold-hearted\nministers, and of bitter hatred to many of the ungodly. At this day\nthere are both ministers and professing Christians of whom Jesus would\nsay, \"The world cannot hate you\" (John 7:7), for the world cannot hate\nitself; but it was not so with Mr. M'Cheyne. Very deep was the enmity\nborne to him by some,--all the deeper, because the only cause of it\nwas his likeness to his Master. But nothing turned him aside. He was\nfull of ardor, yet ever gentle, and meek, and generous; full of zeal,\nyet never ruffled by his zeal; and not only his strength of \"first\nlove\" (Rev. 2:4), but even its warm glow, seemed in him to suffer no\ndecay.\n\nThus he spent the first years of his ministry in Dundee. The town\nbegan to feel that they had a peculiar man of God in the midst of\nthem, for he lived as a true son of Levi. \"My covenant was with him of\nlife and peace, and I gave them to him for the fear wherewith he\nfeared me, and was afraid before my name. The law of truth was in his\nmouth, and iniquity was not found on his lips; he walked with me in\npeace and equity; and did turn many away from iniquity.\" Mal. 2:5, 6.\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER IV.\n\nHIS MISSION TO PALESTINE AND THE JEWS.\n\n  \"_Here am I; send me_\"--Isaiah 6:8.\n\n\nThough engaged night and day with his flock in St. Peter's, Mr.\nM'Cheyne ever cherished a missionary spirit. \"This place hardens me\nfor a foreign land,\" was his remark on one occasion. This spirit he\nsought to kindle yet more by reading missionary intelligence for his\nown use, and often to his people at his weekly prayer-meeting. The\nnecessities both of his own parish, and of the world at large, lay\nheavy on his soul; and when an opportunity of evangelizing occurred,\nthere was none in Scotland more ready to embrace it. He seemed one who\nstood with his loins girt: \"Here am I; send me.\"\n\nAnother motive to incessant activity, was the decided impression on\nhis mind that his career would be short. From the very first days of\nhis ministry he had a strong feeling of this nature; and his friends\nremember how his letters used to be sealed with this seal, \"_The night\ncometh_\" At a time when he was apparently in his usual health, we were\ntalking together on the subject of the Pre-millennial Advent. We had\nbegun to speak of the practical influence which the belief of that\ndoctrine might have. At length he said, \"That he saw no force in the\narguments generally urged against it, though he had difficulties of\nhis own in regard to it. And perhaps (he added) it is well for you,\nwho enjoy constant health, to be so firmly persuaded that Christ is\nthus to come; but my sickly frame makes me feel every day that my time\nmay be very short.\"\n\nHe was therefore in some measure prepared, when, in the midst of his\nlaborious duties, he was compelled to stand still and see what the\nLord would do.\n\nIn the close of 1838, some symptoms appeared that alarmed his friends.\nHis constitution, never robust, began to feel the effects of\nunremitting labor; for occasionally he would spend six hours in\nvisiting, and then the same evening preach in some room to all the\nfamilies whom he had that day visited. Very generally, too, on\nSabbath, after preaching twice to his own flock, he was engaged in\nministering somewhere else in the evening. But now, after any great\nexertion, he was attacked by violent palpitation of heart. It soon\nincreased, affecting him in his hours of study; and at last it became\nalmost constant. Upon this, his medical advisers insisted on a total\ncessation of his public work; for though as yet there was no organic\nchange on his lungs, there was every reason to apprehend that that\nmight be the result. Accordingly, with deep regret, he left Dundee to\nseek rest and change of occupation, hoping it would be only for a week\nor two.\n\nA few days after leaving Dundee, he writes from Edinburgh, in reply to\nthe anxious inquiries of his friend Mr. Grierson: \"The beating of the\nheart is not now so constant as it was before. The pitcher draws more\nquietly at the cistern; so that, by the kind providence of our\nheavenly Father, I may be spared a little longer before the silver\ncord be loosed, and the golden bowl be broken.\"\n\nIt was found that his complaints were such as would be likely to give\nway under careful treatment, and a temporary cessation from all\nexertion. Under his father's roof, therefore, in Edinburgh, he\nresigned himself to the will of his Father in heaven. But deeply did\nhe feel the trial of being laid aside from his loved employment,\nthough he learned of Him who was meek and lowly, to make the burden\nlight in his own way, by saying, \"Even so, Father, for so it seemeth\ngood in thy sight.\" He wrote to Mr. Grierson again, _January 5, 1839_:\n\"I hope this affliction will be blessed to me. I always feel much need\nof God's afflicting hand. In the whirl of active labor there is so\nlittle time for watching, and for bewailing, and seeking grace to\noppose the sins of our ministry, that I always feel it a blessed thing\nwhen the Saviour takes me aside from the crowd, as He took the blind\nman out of the town, and removes the veil, and clears away obscuring\nmists, and by his word and Spirit leads to deeper peace and a holier\nwalk. Ah! there is nothing like a calm look into the eternal world to\nteach us the emptiness of human praise, the sinfulness of\nself-seeking and vainglory, to teach us the preciousness of Christ,\nwho is called 'The Tried Stone.' I have been able to be twice at\ncollege to hear a lecture from Dr. Chalmers. I have also been\nprivileged to smooth down the dying pillow of an old school-companion,\nleading him to a fuller joy and peace in believing. A poor heavy-laden\nsoul, too, from Larbert, I have had the joy of leading toward the\nSaviour. So that even when absent from my work, and when exiled, as it\nwere, God allows me to do some little things for his name.\"\n\nHe was led to look more carefully into this trying dispensation, and\nbegan to anticipate blessed results from it to his flock. He was well\naware how easily the flock begin to idolize the shepherd, and how\nprone the shepherd is to feel somewhat pleased with this sinful\npartiality of his people, and to be uplifted by his success. \"I\nsometimes think,\" is his remark in a letter, dated _January 18_, \"that\na great blessing may come to my people in my absence. Often God does\nnot bless us when we are in the midst of our labors, lest we shall\nsay, 'My hand and my eloquence have done it.' He removes us into\nsilence, and then pours 'down a blessing so that there is no room to\nreceive it;' so that all that see it cry out, 'It is the Lord!' This\nwas the way in the South Sea Islands. May it really be so with my dear\npeople!\" Nor did he err in this view of the dispensation. All these\nends, and more also, were to be accomplished by it.\n\nAn anticipation like that which is expressed in this and other\nletters, especially in his Pastoral Letter of _March 20_, may justly\nbe regarded as a proof from experience that the Lord teaches his\npeople to expect and pray for what He means soon to work. And here the\nLord accomplished his designs in the kindest of all ways; for He\nremoved his servant for a season from the flock to which he had been\nso blessed, lest even his own children should begin to glory in man;\nbut yet He took that servant to another sphere of labor in the\nmeantime, and then, when the blessing was safely bestowed, brought him\nback to rejoice over it.\n\nHe was still hoping for, and submissively asking from the Lord, speedy\nrestoration to his people in Dundee, and occasionally sending to them\nan epistle that breathed the true pastor's soul; when one day, as he\nwas walking with Dr. Candlish, conversing on the Mission to Israel\nwhich had lately been resolved on, an idea seemed suddenly suggested\nto Dr. Candlish. He asked Mr. M'Cheyne what he would think of \"being\nuseful to the Jewish cause, during his cessation from labor, by going\nabroad to make personal inquiries into the state of Israel?\" The idea\nthus suddenly suggested led to all the after results of the Mission of\nInquiry. Mr. M'Cheyne found himself all at once called to carry\nsalvation to the Jew as he had hitherto done to the Gentile, and his\nsoul was filled with joy and wonder. His medical friends highly\napproved of the proposal, as being likely to conduce very much to the\nremoval of his complaints,--the calm, steady excitement of such a\njourney being likely to restore the tone of his whole constitution.\n\nDr. Black of Aberdeen readily consented to use his remarkable talents\nas a scholar in this cause; and Dr. Keith intimated his expectation of\nsoon joining the deputation. I also had been chosen to go forth on\nthis mission of love to Israel; but some difficulties stood in the way\nof my leaving my charge at Collace. In these circumstances Mr.\nM'Cheyne wrote to me, _March 12_, from Edinburgh.\n\n   \"MY DEAR _A._,--I have received so many tokens for good from God\n   in this matter, that it were a shame indeed if I did not trust\n   Him to perfect all which concerns me. I am glad you have\n   determined to trust all in the hands of Israel's God. I am quite\n   ready to go this week, or next week, but am deeply anxious to be\n   sure that you are sent with me. You know, dear A., I could not\n   labor in this cause, nor enjoy it, if you were not to be with me\n   in it. Would you be ready to give your Jewish lecture on the\n   evening of Sabbath week?... And now, pray for us, that we may be\n   sent of God; and, weak as we are, that we may be made\n   Boanerges,--that we may be blessed to win some souls, and to stir\n   up Christians to love Zion. Much interest is already excited, and\n   I do look for a blessing. Speak to your people as on the brink of\n   eternity.... As to books, I am quite at a loss. My Hebrew Bible,\n   Greek Testament, etc., and perhaps Bridge's _Christian Ministry_\n   for general purposes--I mean, for keeping us in mind of our\n   ministerial work. I do hope we shall go forth in the Spirit; and\n   though straitened in language, may we not be blessed, as Brainerd\n   was, through an interpreter? May we not be blessed also to save\n   some English, and to stir up missionaries? My health is only\n   tolerable; I would be better if we were once away. I am often so\n   troubled as to be made willing to go or stay, to die or to live.\n   Yet it is encouraging to be used in the Lord's service again, and\n   in so interesting a manner. What if we should see the heavenly\n   Jerusalem before the earthly? I am taking drawing materials, that\n   I may carry away remembrances of the Mount of Olives, Tabor, and\n   the Sea of Galilee.\"\n\nThe interest that this proposed journey excited in Scotland was very\ngreat. Nor was it merely the somewhat romantic interest attached to\nthe land where the Lord had done most of his mighty works; there were\nalso in it the deeper feelings of a scriptural persuasion that Israel\nwas still \"beloved for the fathers' sake.\" For some time previous,\nJerusalem had come into mind, and many godly pastors were alarming as\nwatchmen over its ruined walls (Isa. 62:6), stirring up the Lord's\nremembrancers. Mr. M'Cheyne had been one of these. His views of the\nimportance of the Jews in the eye of God, and therefore of their\nimportance as a sphere of missionary labor, were very clear and\ndecided. He agreed in the expectation expressed in one of the Course\nof Lectures delivered before the deputation set out, that we might\nanticipate an _outpouring of the Spirit when our church should stretch\nout its hands to the Jew as well as to the Gentile_. In one letter he\nsays, \"To seek the lost sheep of the house of Israel is an object very\nnear to my heart, as my people know it has ever been. Such an\nenterprise may probably draw down unspeakable blessings on the Church\nof Scotland, according to the promise, 'They shall prosper who love\nthee.'\" In another, \"I now see plainly that all our views about the\nJews being the chief object of missionary exertion are plain and sober\ntruths, according to the Scripture.\" Again, \"I feel convinced that if\nwe pray that the world may be converted in God's way, we will seek the\ngood of the Jews; and the more we do so, the happier we will be in our\nown soul. You should always keep up a knowledge of the prophecies\nregarding Israel.\" In his preaching he not unfrequently said on this\nsubject, \"We should be like God in his peculiar affections; and the\nwhole Bible shows that God has ever had, and still has, a peculiar\nlove to the Jews.\"\n\nThe news of his proposed absence alarmed his flock at Dundee. They\nmanifested their care for him more than ever; and not a few wrote\nexpostulatory letters. To one of these well-meant remonstrances he\nreplied, \"I rejoice exceedingly in the interest you take in me, not so\nmuch for my own sake as that I hope it is a sign you know and love the\nLord Jesus. Unless God had himself shut up the door of return to my\npeople, and opened this new door to me, I never could have consented\nto go. I am not at all unwilling to spend and be spent in God's\nservice, though I have often found that the more abundantly I love\nyou, the less I am loved. But God has very plainly shown me that I may\nperform a deeply important work for his ancient people, and at the\nsame time be in the best way of seeking a return of health.\"--\"A\nminister will make a poor saviour in the day of wrath. It is not\nknowing a minister, or loving one, or hearing one, or having a name to\nlive, that will save. You need to have your hand on the head of the\nLamb for yourselves, Lev. 1:4. You need to have your eye on the brazen\nserpent for yourselves, John 3:14, 15. I fear I will need to be a\nswift witness against many of my people in the day of the Lord, that\nthey looked to me, and not to Christ, when I preached to them. I\nalways feared that some of you loved to hear the word, who do not love\nto do it. I always feared there were many of you who loved the Sabbath\nmeetings, and the class, and the Thursday evenings, who yet were not\ncareful to walk with God, to be meek, chaste, holy, loving, harmless,\nChrist-like, God-like. Now, God wants you to think that the only end\nof a gospel ministry is that you may be holy. Believe me, God himself\ncould not make you happy except you be holy.\"\n\nAt this crisis in his people's history, he sought from the Lord one to\nsupply his place,--one who would feed the flock and gather in\nwanderers during their own pastor's absence. The Lord granted him his\ndesire by sending Mr. William C. Burns, son of the minister of\nKilsyth. In a letter to him, dated _March 12_, the following\nremarkable words occur: \"You are given in answer to prayer; and these\ngifts are, I believe, always without exception blessed. I hope you may\nbe a thousand times more blessed among them than ever I was. Perhaps\nthere are many souls that would never have been saved under my\nministry, who may be touched under yours; and God has taken this\nmethod of bringing you into my place. _His name is Wonderful._\"\n\nThis done, and being already disengaged from his flock, he set out\nfor London to make arrangements for the rest of the deputation, who\nsoon after were all sent forth by the brethren with many prayers. None\nhad more prayers offered in their behalf than he, and they were not\noffered in vain. During all his journeyings the Lord strengthened him,\nand saved him out of all distresses.\n\nIt was a singular event,--often still it looks like a dream,--that\nfour ministers should be so suddenly called away from their quiet\nlabors in the towns and villages of Scotland, and be found in a few\nweeks traversing the land of Israel, with their Bibles in their hand,\neye-witnesses of prophecy fulfilled, and spies of the nakedness of\nIsrael's worship and leanness of soul. The details of that journey\nneed not be given here. They have been already recorded in the\n_Narrative of a Mission of Inquiry to the Jews from the Church of\nScotland in 1839_. But there are some incidents worthy to be preserved\nwhich could find a place only in such a record of private life and\nfeelings as we are now engaged in.\n\nWhen Mr. M'Cheyne was on board the vessel that carried him to London,\nhe at once discovered an interesting young Jew, who seemed, however,\nunwilling to be recognized as belonging to the seed of Abraham. He\nmade several attempts to draw this young Israelite into close\nconversation; and before parting, read with him the 1st Psalm in\nHebrew, and pressed home the duty of meditating on the word of the\nLord. In visiting Bethnal Green, he has noted down that it was very\nsweet to hear Jewish children sing a hymn to Jesus, the burden of\nwhich was [Hebrew: tavuach aleinu], \"Slain for us!\"\n\nThe awful profanation of the holy Sabbath which we witnessed on the\nstreets of Paris, called forth the following appeal, in a letter to\nMr. Macdonald of Blairgowrie. His spirit had been stirred in him when\nhe saw the city wholly given to idolatry. \"Stand in the breach, dear\nfriend, and lift up your voice like a trumpet, lest Scotland become\nanother France. You know how many in our own parishes trample on the\nholy day. They do not know how sweet it is to walk with God all that\nholy day. Isaiah 58:11-14 is a sweet text to preach from. Exodus 31:13\nis also very precious, showing that the real sanctifying of the\nSabbath is one of God's signs or marks which He puts upon his people.\nIt is one of the letters of the new name, which no one knoweth but\nthey who receive it.\"\n\nIn his brief notes during the first part of the journey, he has\nseldom failed to mark our seasons of united prayer, such as those in\nthe cabin of the vessel on the passage to Genoa; for these were times\nof refreshing to his spirit. And his feelings, as he stood in that\ncity and surveyed its palaces, are expressed in a few lines, which he\nsent homeward from the spot. \"A foreign land draws us nearer God. He\nis the only one whom we know here. We go to Him as to one we know; all\nelse is strange. Every step I take, and every new country I see, makes\nme feel more that there is nothing real, nothing true, but what is\neverlasting. The whole world lieth in wickedness! its judgments are\nfast hastening. The marble palaces, among which I have been wandering\nto-night, shall soon sink like a millstone in the waters of God's\nrighteous anger; but he that doeth the will of God abideth forever.\"\n\nAt Valetta, in the island of Malta, he wrote: \"My heart beats a little\nto-day, but another sail will do me good. One thing I know, that I am\nin the hands of my Father in heaven, who is all love to me,--not for\nwhat I am in myself, but for the beauty He sees in Immanuel.\"\n\nThe classic shores of Italy and Greece are invested with a peculiar\ninterest, such as may raise deep emotions even in a sanctified soul.\n\"We tried to recollect many of the studies of our boyhood. But what is\nclassic learning to us now? I count all things but loss for the\nexcellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord. And yet these\nrecollections tinged every object, and afforded us a most lawful\npleasure.\"\n\nDuring our voyage, it was his delight to search into the Scriptures,\njust as at home. And so much did he calculate on an unceasing study of\nthe word during all our journey, that he took with him some notes I\nhad written on each chapter of the book of Leviticus, observing it\nwould be suitable meditation for us while busy with Jewish minds. At\nhome and abroad he had an insatiable appetite for all the word,--both\nfor the types of the Old Testament and the plain text of the New. On\none occasion, before leaving home, in studying Numbers 4., he fixed\nthe different duties assigned to the priests on his memory, by means\nof the following lines:--\n\n      The _Kohathites_ upon their shoulder bear\n      The holy vessels, covered with all care,\n      The _Gershonites_ receive an easier charge,\n      Two waggons full of cords and curtains large;\n      _Merari's_ sons four ponderous waggons load\n      With boards and pillars of the house of God.\n\nHe acted on the principle, that whatever God has revealed must deserve\nour study and prayerful investigation.\n\nArrived at Alexandria in Egypt, and thence proceeding onward to\nPalestine by the way of the desert, we found ourselves set down on a\nnew stage of experience. Mr. M'Cheyne observed on the silence of the\ndesert places: \"It is a remarkable feeling to be quite alone in a\ndesert place; it gives similar feelings to fasting; it brings God\nnear. Living in tents, and moving among such lonely scenes for many\ndays, awake many new ideas. It is a strange life we lead in the\nwilderness. Round and round there is a complete circle of sand and\nwilderness shrubs; above, a blue sky without a cloud, and a scorching\nsun which often made the thermometer stand at 96\u00b0 in our tents. When\nevening came, the sun went down as it does in the ocean, and the stars\ncame riding forth in their glory; and we used to pitch all alone, with\nnone but our poor ignorant Bedouins, and their camels, and our\nall-knowing, all-loving God beside us. When morning began to dawn, our\nhabitations were taken down. Often we have found ourselves shelterless\nbefore being fully dressed. What a type of the tent of our body! Ah!\nhow often taken down before the soul is made meet for the inheritance\nof the saints in light.\" To Mr. Bonar of Larbert he writes: \"I had no\nidea that travelling in the wilderness was so dreadful a thing as it\nis. The loneliness I often felt quite solemnized me. The burning sun\noverhead,--round and round a circle of barren sand, chequered only by\na few prickly shrubs ('the heat of the wilderness,' of which Jeremiah\nspeaks), no rain, not a cloud, the wells often like that of Marah, and\nfar between. I now understand well the murmurings of Israel. I feel\nthat our journey proved and tried my own heart very much.\" When we\nlook back, and remember that he who thus stands on the sandy desert\nroad between Egypt and Palestine, and looks on its singular scenery,\nis one who but lately was to be found busy night and day in dealing\nwith the souls of men in the densely peopled streets of a town teeming\nwith population, we are led to wonder at the ways of the Lord. But is\nit not a moment which may remind us that the God who sent Elijah to\nthe brook at Cherith is the same God still? and that the wise,\nconsiderate, loving Master, who said, \"Come into a desert place and\nrest awhile,\" is as loving, considerate, and wise as He was then?\n\nAt Balteen, a small village in Egypt, I well remember the indignation\nthat fired his countenance, when our Arab attendants insisted on\ntravelling forward on the Sabbath-day, rather than continue sitting\nunder a few palm-trees, breathing a sultry, furnace-like atmosphere,\nwith nothing more than just such supply of food as sufficed. He could\nnot bear the thought of being deprived of the Sabbath rest; it was\nneedful for our souls as much in the wilderness as in the crowded\ncity; and if few glorify God in that desolate land, so much the more\nwere we called on to fill these solitudes with our songs of praise. It\nwas in this light he viewed our position; and when we had prevailed,\nand were seated under the palms, he was excited to deep emotion,\nthough before quite unnerved by the heat, at the sight of a row of\npoor wretched Egyptians who gathered round us. \"Oh that I could speak\ntheir language, and tell them of salvation!\" was his impassioned wish.\n\nAn event occurred at that time in which the hand of God afterwards\nappeared very plain, though it then seemed very dark to us. Dr. Black\nfell from his camel in the midst of the sandy desert, and none of all\nour company could conjecture what bearing on the object of our Mission\nthis sad occurrence could have. Is it a frown on our undertaking? or can\nit really be a movement of his kind, guiding hand? We often spoke of it:\nin our visit to Galilee we thought that we saw some purposes evolving;\nbut there was still something unexplained. Now, however, the reason\nappears: even that event was of the Lord, in wise and kind design. But\nfor that fall, our fathers in the deputation would not have sailed up\nthe Danube on their way to Vienna, and Pesth would not have been\nvisited. This accident, which mainly disabled Dr. Black from undertaking\nthe after fatigue of exploring Galilee, was the occasion of directing\nthe steps of our two fathers to that station, where a severe stroke of\nsickness was made the means of detaining Dr. Keith till they had learned\nthat there was an open door among the Jews. And there, accordingly it\nhas been that the Lord has poured down his Spirit on the Jews that have\ncome to our missionaries so remarkably, that no Jewish Mission seems\never to have been blessed with deeper conversions. There is nothing but\ntruth in the remark made by one of our number: \"Dr. Black's fall from\nthe camel was the first step towards Pesth.\" \"Whoso is wise, and will\nobserve these things, even they shall understand the loving kindness of\nthe Lord,\" Psalm 107:42. Indeed, whether it was that we were prepared to\nexpect, and therefore were peculiarly ready to observe, or whether it\nwas really the case that the watchful eye of our Lord specially guided\nus, certain it is that we thought we could perceive the whole course we\ntook signally marked by Providence. There were many prayers in Scotland\nascending up in our behalf, and the High Priest gave the answer by\nshining upon our path. Mr. M'Cheyne has stated: \"For much of our safety\nI feel indebted to the prayers of my people, I mean the Christians among\nthem, who do not forget us. If the veil of the world's machinery were\nlifted off, how much we would find is done in answer to the prayers of\nGod's children.\"\n\nMany things lost somewhat of their importance in our view, when\nexamined amid the undistracted reflections of the long desert journey,\nwhere for many days we had quiet, like the quiet of death, around us\nall night long, and even during the bright day. It is the more\ninteresting on this very account, to know his feelings there on the\nsubject of the ministry. As his camel slowly bore him over the soft\nsandy soil, much did he ruminate on the happy days when he was\npermitted to use all his strength in preaching Jesus to dying men.\n\"Use your health while you have it, my dear friend and brother. Do not\ncast away peculiar opportunities that may never come again. You know\nnot when your last Sabbath with your people may come. Speak for\neternity. Above all things, cultivate your own spirit. A word spoken\nby you when your conscience is clear, and your heart full of God's\nSpirit, is worth ten thousand words spoken in unbelief and sin. This\nwas my great fault in the ministry. Remember it is God, and not man,\nthat must have the glory. It is not much speaking, but much faith,\nthat is needed. Do not forget us. Do not forget the Saturday night\nmeeting, nor the Monday morning thanksgiving.\" Thus he wrote on his\nway to a fellow-laborer in Scotland.\n\nOn our first Sabbath in the Holy Land, our tent had been pitched in\nthe vicinity of a colony of ants. It was in the tribe of Simeon we\nwere encamped; it was the scenery of the Promised Land we had around\nus; and one of the similitudes of the blessed word was illustrated\nwithin our view. He opened his Bible at Prov. 6:6-8, and, as he read,\nnoted--\"I. _Consider her ways._ Most souls are lost for want of\nconsideration. II. _The ant has no guide, overseer, or ruler_; no\nofficer, no one to command or encourage her. How differently situated\nis the child of God! III. _Provideth her meat in the summer, etc._\nSome have thought that this teaches us to heap up money; but quite the\nreverse. The ant lays up no store for the future. It is all for\npresent use. She is always busy summer and winter. The lesson is one\nof constant diligence in the Lord's work.\"\n\nMany a time in these days, when our attendants in the evening were\ndriving in the stakes of our tent and stretching its cords, he would\nlie down on the ground under some tree that sheltered him from the\ndew. Completely exhausted by the long day's ride, he would lie almost\nspeechless for half an hour; and then, when the palpitation of his\nheart had a little abated, would propose that we two should pray\ntogether. Often, too, did he say to me, when thus stretched on the\nground,--not impatiently, but very earnestly,--\"Shall I ever preach to\nmy people again?\" I was often reproved by his unabated attention to\npersonal holiness; for this care was never absent from his mind,\nwhether he was at home in his quiet chamber, or on the sea, or in the\ndesert. Holiness in him was manifested, not by efforts to perform\nduty, but in a way so natural, that you recognized therein the easy\noutflowing of the indwelling Spirit. The fountain springing up into\neverlasting life (John 4:14) in his soul, welled forth its living\nwaters alike in the familiar scenes of his native Scotland, and under\nthe olive-tree of Palestine. Prayer and meditation on the word were\nnever forgotten; and a peace that the world could not give kept his\nheart and mind. When we were detained a day at Gaza, in very\ntantalizing circumstances, his remark was, \"_Jehovah Jireh_; we are at\nthat mount again.\" It was sweet at any time to be with him, for both\nnature and grace in him drew the very heart; but there were moments of\nenjoyment in these regions of Palestine that drew every cord still\ncloser, and created unknown sympathies. Such was that evening when we\nclimbed Samson's Hill together. Sitting there, we read over the\nreferences to the place in the word of God; and then he took out his\npencil and sketched the scene, as the sun was sinking in the west.\nThis done, we sang some verses of a psalm, appropriate to the spot,\noffered up prayer, and, slowly descending, conversed of all we saw,\nand of all that was brought to mind by the scenery around us, till we\nreached our tent.\n\nIn approaching Jerusalem, we came up the Pass of Latroon. He writes:\n\"The last day's journey to Jerusalem was the finest I ever had in all\nmy life. For four hours we were ascending the rocky pass upon our\npatient camels. It was like the finest of our Highland scenes, only\nthe trees and flowers, and the voice of the turtle, told us that it\nwas Immanuel's land.\" Riding along, he remarked, that to have seen the\nplain of Judea and this mountain-pass, was enough to reward us for all\nour fatigue; and then began to call up passages of the Old Testament\nScriptures which might seem to refer to such scenery as that before\nus.\n\nDuring our ten days at Jerusalem, there were few objects within reach\nthat we did not eagerly seek to visit. \"We stood at the turning of the\nroad where Jesus came near and beheld the city and wept over it. And\nif we had had more of the mind that was in Jesus, I think we should\nhave wept also.\" This was his remark in a letter homeward; and to Mr.\nBonar of Larbert he expressed his feelings in regard to the Mount of\nOlives and its vicinity: \"I remember the day when I saw you last, you\nsaid that there were other discoveries to be made than those in the\nphysical world,--that there were sights to be seen in the spiritual\nworld, and depths to be penetrated of far greater importance. I have\noften thought of the truth of your remark. But if there is a place on\nearth where physical scenery can help us to discover divine things, I\nthink it is Mount Olivet. Gethsemane at your feet leads your soul to\nmeditate on Christ's love and determination to undergo divine wrath\nfor us. The cup was set before Him there, and there He said. 'Shall I\nnot drink it?' The spot where He wept makes you think of his divine\ncompassion, mingling with his human tenderness,--his awful justice,\nthat would not spare the city,--his superhuman love, that wept over\nits coming misery! Turning the other way, and looking to the\nsouth-east, you see Bethany, reminding you of his love to his\nown,--that his name is love,--that in all our afflictions He is\nafflicted,--that those who are in their graves shall one day come\nforth at his command. A little farther down you see the Dead Sea,\nstretching far among the mountains its still and sullen waters. This\ndeepens and solemnizes all, and makes you go away, saying, 'How shall\nwe escape, if we neglect so great salvation?'\"\n\nHe wrote to another friend in Scotland, from Mount Zion, where we were\nthen dwelling:--\n\n                                      Mount Zion, _June 12, 1839._\n\n   \"MY DEAR FRIEND,--Now that we are in the most wonderful spot in\n   all this world,--where Jesus lived and walked, and prayed and\n   died, and will come again,--I doubt not you will be anxious to\n   hear how we come on. I am thankful that ever He privileged us to\n   come to this land. I heard of my flock yesterday by a letter from\n   home,--the first I have received, dated 8th May.... We are living\n   in one of the missionaries' houses on Mount Zion. My window looks\n   out upon where the Temple was, the beautiful Mount of Olives\n   rising behind. The Lord that made heaven and earth, bless thee\n   out of Zion.--Yours,\" etc.\n\nOne evening, after our visit to Sychar, he referred to the Bible which\nI had dropped into Jacob's Well. We were then resting from our journey\nin our tents. Soon after he penned on a leaf of his note-book the\nfollowing fragment:--\n\n      My own loved Bible, must I part from thee,\n      Companion of my toils by land and sea;\n      Man of my counsels, soother of distress,\n      Guide of my steps through this world's wilderness\n      In darkest nights, a lantern to my feet;\n      In gladsome days, as dropping honey sweet.\n      When first I parted from my quiet home,\n      At thy command, for Israel's good to roam.\n      Thy gentle voice said, \"For Jerusalem pray,\n      So shall Jehovah prosper all thy way.\"\n      When through the lonely wilderness we strayed,\n      Sighing in vain for palm-trees' cooling shade,\n      Thy words of comfort hushed each rising fear,\n      \"The shadow of thy mighty Rock is near.\"\n      And when we pitched our tents on Judah's hills,\n      Or thoughtful mused beside Siloa's rills;\n      Whene'er we climbed Mount Olivet, to gaze\n      Upon the sea, where stood in ancient days\n      The heaven-struck Sodom--\n      Sweet record of the past, to faith's glad eyes,\n      Sweet promiser of glories yet to rise![14]\n\n     [14] It is a somewhat curious occurrence, that the remnants of\n     this Bible were found and drawn up from the bottom of the well,\n     in July 1843, by Dr. Wilson and his fellow-traveller, who\n     employed a Samaritan from Sychar to descend and examine the well.\n\nAt the foot of Carmel, during the seven days we were in quarantine\nunder the brow of the hill, we had time to recall many former scenes;\nand in these circumstances he wrote the hymn, _The Fountain of\nSiloam_.\n\nHere, too, he had leisure to write home; and most graphically does he\ndescribe our journey from Alexandria onward.\n\n\n                                          CARMEL, _June 26, 1839_\n\n   \"MY DEAR FATHER, MOTHER, etc.--It is a long time since I have\n   been able to write to you,--this being the first time since\n   leaving Egypt that any one has appeared to carry letters for us.\n   I must therefore begin by telling you that, by the good hand of\n   our God upon me, I am in excellent health, and have been ever\n   since I wrote you last. Fatigues we have had many, and much\n   greater than I anticipated; hardships and dangers we have also\n   encountered, but God has brought us all safely through, and in\n   fully better condition than when we began. You must not imagine\n   that I have altogether lost the palpitation of my heart, for it\n   often visits me to humble and prove me; still I believe it is a\n   good deal better than it was, and its visits are not nearly so\n   frequent. I hope very much, that in a cold bracing climate, and\n   with less fatigue, I may perhaps not feel it at all. I was very\n   thankful to receive your letter, dated 8th May,--the first since\n   leaving home. I was delighted to hear of your health and safety,\n   and of the peaceful communion at St. Peter's. The public news was\n   alarming and humbling.[15] I suppose I had better begin at the\n   beginning, and go over all our journeyings from the land of Egypt\n   through the howling wilderness to this sweet land of promise. I\n   would have written _journalwise_ (as my mother would say) from\n   time to time, so that I might have had an interesting budget of\n   news ready; but you must remember it is a more fatiguing thing to\n   ride twelve or fourteen hours on a camel's back, in a sandy\n   wilderness, than in our home excursions; and I could often do\n   nothing more than lie down on my rug and fall asleep.\n\n     [15] He alludes here to the decision of the House of Lords in the\n     Auchterarder case.\n\n   \"We left Alexandria on 16th May 1839, parting from many kind\n   friends in that strange city. We and our baggage were mounted on\n   seventeen donkeys, like the sons of Jacob, when they carried corn\n   out of Egypt. Our saddle was our bedding, viz. a rug to lie on, a\n   pillow for the head, and a quilt to wrap ourselves in. We\n   afterwards added a straw mat to put below all. We had procured\n   two tents,--one large, and a smaller one which Andrew and I\n   occupy. The donkeys are nice nimble little animals, going about\n   five miles an hour; a wild Arab accompanies each donkey. We have\n   our two Arab servants, to whom I now introduce you,--Ibrahim, a\n   handsome small-made Egyptian, and Achmet the cook, a dark\n   good-natured fellow, with a white turban and bare black legs.\n   Ibrahim speaks a little English and Italian, and Achmet Italian,\n   in addition to their native Arabic. I soon made friends with our\n   Arab donkey-men, learning Arabic words and phrases; from them,\n   which pleased them greatly. We journeyed by the Bay of Aboukir,\n   close by the sea, which tempered the air of the desert. At night\n   we reached Rosetta, a curious half-inhabited eastern town. We saw\n   an eastern marriage, which highly pleased us, illustrating the\n   parables. It was by torch-light. We slept in the convent. 17.\n   Spent morning in Rosetta; gave the monk a New Testament. Saw some\n   of Egyptian misery in the bazaar. Saw the people praying in the\n   mosque, Friday being the Moslem's day of devotion. In the evening\n   we crossed the Nile in small boats. It is a fine river; and its\n   water, when filtered, is sweet and pleasant. We often thought\n   upon it in the desert. We slept that night on the sand in our\n   tents, by the sea-shore. 18.--In six hours we came to Bourlos\n   (you will see it in the map of the Society for Diffusing Useful\n   Knowledge): were ferried across. Watched the fishermen casting\n   their nets into the sea: hot--hot. In two hours more through a\n   palmy wilderness, we came to Balteen,--'the Vale of Figs,' an\n   Arab village of mud huts. You little know what an Arab house is.\n   In general, in Egypt, it is an exact square box made of mud, with\n   a low hole for a door. The furniture is a mat and cooking things;\n   an oven made of mud. 19.--Spent our Sabbath unoccupied in midst\n   of the village; the poor Arabs have no Sabbath. The thermometer\n   84\u00b0 in tent. The governor called in the evening, and drank a cup\n   of tea with great relish. The heat we felt much all day; still it\n   was sweet to rest and remember you all in the wilderness. 20.--At\n   twelve at night, left Balteen by beautiful moonlight. Proceeding\n   through a pleasant African wild of palms and brushwood, we\n   reached the sea in two hours, and rode along, its waves washing\n   our feet: very sleepy. We got a rest at mid-day, if rest it could\n   be called, under that scorching sun, which I never will forget.\n   Proceeding onward, at three o'clock we left the sea-shore, and\n   perceived the minarets of Damietta. Before us the mirage cheated\n   us often when we were very thirsty. We crossed the Nile again, a\n   much smaller branch,--the only remaining one,--and soon found\n   ourselves comfortably reclining on the divan of the British\n   Consul, an Egyptian gentleman of some fortune and manners. He\n   entertained us at supper in true Egyptian style; provided a room\n   for us, where we spread our mats in peace. We spent the whole of\n   the next day here, having sent off a Bedouin to have camels ready\n   for us at San. The Consul entertained us in the same Egyptian\n   style of hospitality, and sent us away the next day on board of a\n   barge upon Lake Menzaleh. 22.--Even E---- would not have been\n   afraid to sail upon the lake. It is nowhere more than ten feet\n   deep, and in general only four or five. We made an awning with\n   our mats, and spent a very happy day. At evening we entered a\n   canal among immense reeds. In moonlight the scene was truly\n   romantic; we slept moored to the shore all night. Next morning\n   (23) we reached San about ten. This evening and next morning we\n   spent in exploring the ruins of the ancient Zoan, for this we\n   find is the very spot.\n\n   \"Wandering alone, we were quite surprised to find great mounds of\n   brick, and pottery, and vitrified stones. Andrew at last came\n   upon beautiful obelisks. Next morning we examined all carefully,\n   and found two sphinxes and many Egyptian obelisks. How wonderful\n   to be treading over the ruins of the ancient capital of Egypt!\n   Isaiah 19:12. 'Where are the princes of Zoan?' Ezek. 30:14, 'God\n   has set fire in Zoan.' This is the very place where Joseph was\n   sold as a slave, and where Moses did his wonders, Psalm 78:43.\n   This was almost the only place where we have been in danger from\n   the inhabitants. They are a wild race; and our Arabs were afraid\n   of them. You would have been afraid too, if you had seen, out of\n   the door of our tent, our Bedouins keeping watch all night with\n   their naked sabres gleaming in the moonlight, firing off their\n   guns now and then, and keeping up a low chaunt to keep one\n   another awake. No evil happened to us, and we feel that many pray\n   for us, and that God is with us. 24.--This day our journeyings on\n   camels commenced and continued till we came to Jerusalem. It is a\n   strange mode of conveyance. You have seen a camel kneeling; it is\n   in this condition that you mount; suddenly it rises first on its\n   fore feet, and then on its hind feet. It requires great skill to\n   hold yourself on during this operation; one time I was thrown\n   fair over its head, but quite unhurt. When you find yourself\n   exalted on the hunch of a camel, it is somwhat of the feeling of\n   an aeronaut, as if you were bidding farewell to sublunary things;\n   but when he begins to move, with solemn pace and slow, you are\n   reminded of your terrestrial origin, and that a wrong balance or\n   turn to the side will soon bring you down from your giddy height.\n   You have no stirrup, and generally only your bed for your saddle;\n   you may either sit as on horseback, or as on a sidesaddle,--the\n   latter is the pleasanter, though not the safer of the two. The\n   camel goes about three miles an hour, and the step is so long\n   that the motion is quite peculiar. You bend your head toward your\n   knees every step. With a vertical sun above and a burning sand\n   below, you may believe it is a very fatiguing mode of journeying.\n   However, we thought of Rebecca and Abraham's servant (Gen. 24.),\n   and listened with delight to the wild Bedouin's plaintive song.\n   That night (24) we slept at Menagie, a Bedouin mud village:\n   palm-trees and three wells, and an ocean of sand, formed the only\n   objects of interest. 25.--Up by sunrise, and proceeded as before.\n   The only event this day was Dr. Black's fall from his camel,\n   which greatly alarmed us. He had fallen asleep, which you are\n   very apt to do. We encamped and used every restorative, so that\n   we were able to proceed the same evening to Gonatre, a miserable\n   Arab post, having a governor. Not a tree. 26.--The Sabbath dawned\n   sweetly; thermometer 92\u00b0 in tent; could only lie on the mat and\n   read psalms. Evening.--Gathered governor and Bedouins to hear\n   some words of eternal life, Ibrahim interpreting. 27.--Two very\n   long stages brought us to Katieh; thankful to God for his\n   goodness, while we pitched by the date-trees. 28.--Spent the day\n   at Katieh; interesting interviews with governor, a kind Arab;\n   thermometer 96\u00b0 in tent. Same evening, proceeded through a\n   greener desert, among flocks of goats and sheep, and encamped by\n   a well, Bir-el-Abd. 29.--Another hot day in the desert; came in\n   sight of the sea, which gave us a refreshing breeze; bathed in\n   the salt lake, as hot as a warm bath. Evening.--Encampment at\n   Abugilbany. 30.--This was our last day in the Egyptian\n   wilderness. We entered on a much more mountainous region. The\n   heat very great; we literally panted for a breath of wind. The\n   Bedouins begged handkerchiefs to cover their heads, and often\n   cast themselves under a bush for shade. Towards sunset, we came\n   down on the old ruins of Rhinoculura, now buried in the sand; and\n   soon after our camels kneeled down at the gates of El Arish, the\n   last town on the Egyptian frontier. 31.--We spent in El Arish,\n   being unable to get fresh camels. We bought a sheep for five\n   shillings; drank freely of their delightful water,--what a\n   blessing after the desert! Found out the river of Egypt, the\n   boundary of Judah mentioned in the Bible, quite dry. _June\n   1._--Visited the school,--a curiosity: all the children sit\n   cross-legged on the floor, rocking to and fro, repeating\n   something in Arabic. We had a curious interview with the\n   governor, sitting in the gate in the ancient manner. We are quite\n   expert now at taking off our shoes and sitting in the Eastern\n   mode. Smoking, and coffee in very small cups, are the constant\n   accompaniments of these visits. Left the same evening, and did\n   not reach Sheikh Juidhe, in the land of the Philistines, till the\n   sun was nearly bursting into view. 2.--Spent a happy Sabbath\n   here; sung 'In Judah's land God is well known.' Singing praises\n   in our tents is very sweet, they are so frail, like our mortal\n   bodies; they rise easily into the ears of our present Father. Our\n   journey through the land of the Philistines was truly pleasant.\n   3.--We went through a fine pasture country; immense straths;\n   flocks of sheep and goats, and asses and camels, often came in\n   sight. This is the very way up out of Egypt, little changed from\n   the day that the Ethiopian went on his way rejoicing, and Joseph\n   and Mary carried down the babe from the anger of Herod. Little\n   changed, did I say? it is all changed; no more is there one brook\n   of water. Every river of Egypt,--Wady Gaza, Eshcol, Sorek,--every\n   brook we crossed, was dried up; not a drop of water. The land is\n   changed; no more is it the rich land of Philistia. The sand\n   struggles with the grass for mastery. The cities are\n   changed,--where are they? The people are changed: no more the\n   bold Philistines,--no more the children of Simeon,--no more Isaac\n   and his herdsmen,--no more David and his horsemen; but miserable\n   Arab shepherds,--simple people, without ideas,--poor degraded,\n   fearful. Khanounes was the first town we entered: Scripture name\n   unknown. The burying-ground outside the town. The well, and\n   people coming to draw, were objects of great interest to us. The\n   people were highly entertained with us in return. We sat down in\n   the bazaar, and were a spectacle to all. How much we longed to\n   have the Arabic tongue, that we might preach the unsearchable\n   riches of Christ in God's own land! Same evening we heard the cry\n   of the wolf, and encamped two miles from Gaza. The plague was\n   raging, so we did not enter, but spent a delightful day in\n   comparing its condition with God's word concerning it: 'Baldness\n   is come upon Gaza.' The old city is buried under sand-hills,\n   without a blade of grass, so that it is bald indeed. The herds\n   and flocks are innumerable, fulfilling Zeph. 2; Andrew and I\n   climbed the hill up which Samson carried the gates. 5.--Passed\n   through a fine olive grove for many miles, and entered the vale\n   of Eshcol. The people were all in the fields cutting and bringing\n   in their barley. They reap with the hook as we do. They seem to\n   carry in at the same time upon camels. No vines in Eshcol now, no\n   pomegranates, but some green fig-trees. Crossed the brook\n   Sorek--dry. Spent the mid-day under the embowering shade of a\n   fig-tree; tasted the apricots of the good land. Same evening we\n   came to Doulis, which we take to be Eshtaol, where Samson was\n   born. 6.--We went due east, and, after a mountain pass, saw the\n   hills of Judah,--an immense plain intervening, all studded with\n   little towns. From their names, we found out many Bible spots.\n   This valley or plain is the very vale Zephatha, of which you read\n   in II Chron. 14., 'In the plain of Sephela.' Before night we\n   entered among the hills of Judah,--very like our own\n   Highlands,--and slept all night among the mountains, at a\n   deserted village called Latroon. 7.--One of the most privileged\n   days of our life. We broke up our tents by moonlight; soon the\n   sun was up; we entered a defile of the most romantic character;\n   wild rocks and verdant hills; wild-flowers of every color and\n   fragrance scented our path. Sometimes we came upon a clump of\n   beautiful olive-trees, then wild again. The turtle's voice was\n   heard in the land, and singing birds of sweetest note. Our camels\n   carried us up this pass for four hours; and our turbaned Bedouins\n   added by their strange figures to the scene. The terracing of all\n   the hills is the most remarkable feature of Judean scenery. Every\n   foot of the rockiest mountains may in this way be covered with\n   vines. We thought of Isaiah wandering here, and David and\n   Solomon. Still all was wilderness. The hand of man had been\n   actively employed upon every mountain, but where were these\n   laborers now? Judah is gone into captivity before the enemy.\n   There are few men left in the land; not a vine is there. 'The\n   vine languisheth.' We came down upon Garieh, a village embosomed\n   in figs and pomegranates. Ascending again, we came down into the\n   valley of Elah, where David slew Goliath. Another long and steep\n   ascent of a most rugged hill brought us into a strange scene--a\n   desert of sunburnt rocks. I had read of this, and knew that\n   Jerusalem was near. I left my camel and went before, hurrying\n   over the burning rocks. In about half an hour Jerusalem came in\n   sight. 'How doth the city sit solitary that was full of people!'\n   Is this the perfection of beauty? 'How hath the Lord covered the\n   daughter of Zion with a cloud in his anger!' It is, indeed, very\n   desolate. Read the two first chapters of Lamentations, and you\n   have a vivid picture of our first sight of Jerusalem. We lighted\n   off our camels within the Jaffa gate. Among those that crowded\n   round us, we observed several Jews. I think I had better not\n   attempt to tell you about Jerusalem. There is so much to\n   describe, and I know not where to begin. The Consul, Mr. Young,\n   received us most kindly, provided us a house where we might\n   spread our mats, and helped us in every way. Mr. Nicolayson\n   called the same evening, and insisted on our occupying one of the\n   mission-houses on Mount Zion. The plague is still in Jerusalem,\n   so that we must keep ourselves in quarantine. The plague only\n   communicates by contact, so that we are not allowed to touch any\n   one, or let any one touch us. Every night we heard the mourners\n   going about the streets with their dismal wailings for the dead.\n   On Sabbath Mr. Nicolayson read the prayers, and Dr. Black\n   preached from Isaiah 2:2. Dr. Keith in the evening. Three\n   converted Jews were among the hearers. On Monday (10) we visited\n   the sepulchre, and a painful sight, where we can find no traces\n   of Calvary. Same evening rode up to the Mount of Olives: past\n   Gethsemane, a most touching spot. Visited Sir Moses Montefiore, a\n   Jew of London, encamped on Mount Olivet; very kind to us.\n   11.--Went round the most of the places to be visited near\n   Jerusalem,--Rephaim, Gihon, Siloa's brook, 'that flowed fast by\n   the oracle of God;' the Pool of Siloam; the place where Jesus\n   wept over the city; Bethany,--of all places my favorite; the\n   tombs of the kings. Such a day we never spent in this world\n   before. The climate is truly delightful,--hot at mid-day, but\n   delightful breezes at morn and even. 12.--A business day, getting\n   information about Jews. In the evening, walked to Aceldama,--a\n   dreadful spot. Zion is ploughed like a field. I gathered some\n   barley, and noticed cauliflowers planted in rows. See Micah 3:12.\n   Jerusalem is indeed heaps. The quantities of rubbish would amaze\n   you,--in one place higher than the walls. 13.--We went to Hebron,\n   twenty miles south; Mr. Nicolayson, his son, the Consul and\n   ladies accompanying us, all on mules and horses, Judah's cities\n   are all waste. Except Bethlehem, we saw none but ruins till we\n   reached Hebron. The vines are beautifully cultivated here, and\n   make it a paradise; The hills all terraced to the top. We spent a\n   delightful evening and all next day. We met the Jews, and had an\n   interesting interview with them. We read Genesis 18, and many\n   other Bible passages, with great joy. Saw the mosque where the\n   tomb of Abraham and Sarah is. 14.--Returned by Bethlehem to\n   Jerusalem. Bethlehem is a sweet village, placed on the top of a\n   rocky hill,--very white and dazzling. You see it on both sides of\n   the hill. At Rachel's sepulchre you see Jerusalem on one hand and\n   Bethlehem on the other,--an interesting sight,--six miles apart.\n   On Sabbath we enjoyed the Lord's Supper in an upper chamber in\n   Jerusalem. It was a time much to be remembered. Andrew preached\n   in the evening from John 14:2, 3. 17.--The plague has been\n   increasing so that we think it better to depart. Last visit to\n   Gethsemane, and Bethany, and Siloam. Evening.--Took farewell of\n   all our friends at Jerusalem, with much sorrow you may believe.\n   Went due north to Ramah, by Gibeon, and slept at Beer, again in\n   our tent, in Benjamin. 19.--Passed Bethel, where Jacob slept.\n   Passed through the rich and rocky defile of Ephraim, by Lebonah,\n   to Sychar. You cannot believe what a delightsome land it is. We\n   sought anxiously for the well where Jesus sat. Andrew alone found\n   it, and lost his Bible in it. 20.--Had a most interesting morning\n   with the Jews of Sychar. Saw many of them; also the Samaritans in\n   their synagogue. Same evening visited Samaria,--a wonderful\n   place,--and encamped at Sanor. 21.--Arrived at Carmel, where we\n   now are, encamped within two yards of the sea. We have been in\n   quarantine here seven days, as there is no plague north of this.\n   Several English are encamped here--Lord R., Lord H., etc. We have\n   daily conversations sitting on the sand. We are not allowed to\n   touch even the rope of a tent. Acre is in sight across the bay.\n   We have delightful bathing. To-morrow Lord H. leaves, and kindly\n   offers to take this. Carmel's rocky brow is over us. We are all\n   well and happy. On Monday we propose leaving for Tiberias and\n   Saphet. Soon we shall be in Beyrout, and on our way to Smyrna. Do\n   not be anxious for me. Trust us to God, who goes with us where we\n   go. I only pray that our mission may be blessed to Israel. Sir\n   Moses M. has arrived, and pitched his tent within fifty yards of\n   us. Kindest regards to all that inquire after me, not forgetting\n   dear W.--Your affectionate son,\" etc.\n\nWhen the two elder brethren of the deputation left us for Europe, we\nturned southward again from Beyrout, to visit the regions of\nPhoenicia and Galilee. Never did Mr. M'Cheyne seem more gladsome\nthan in gazing on these regions.\n\nAt Tyre, he remembered the request of an elder in the parish of\nLarbert, who had written to him before his departure, stating what he\nconsidered to be a difficulty in the ordinary expositions of the\nprophecies which speak of that renowned city. With great delight he\nexamined the difficulty on the spot; and it is believed that his\ntestimony on such points as these, when it reached some men of\nsceptical views in that scene of his early labors, was not unblest.\n\nFrom Saphet he writes: \"I sat looking down upon the lake this morning\nfor about an hour. It was just at our feet,--the very water where\nJesus walked, where He called his disciples, where He rebuked the\nstorm, where He said, 'Children, have ye any meat?' after He rose from\nthe dead. Jesus is the same still.\" To his early and familiar friend,\nMr. Somerville, he thus describes the same view: \"Oh what a view of\nthe Sea of Galilee is before you, at your feet! It is above three\nhours' descent to the water's edge, and yet it looks as if you could\nrun down in as many minutes. The lake is much larger than I had\nimagined. It is hemmed in by mountains on every side, sleeping as\ncalmly and softly as if it had been the sea of glass which John saw in\nheaven. We tried in vain to follow the course of the Jordan running\nthrough it. True, there were clear lines, such as you see in the wake\nof a vessel, but then these did not go straight through the lake. The\nhills of Bashan are very high and steep, where they run into the lake.\nAt one point, a man pointed out to us where the tombs in the rocks\nare, where the demoniacs used to live: and near it the hills were\nexactly what the Scriptures describe, 'a steep place,' where the swine\nran down into the sea. On the north-east of the sea, Hermon rises very\ngrand, intersected with many ravines full of snow.\"\n\nThe day we spent at the lake--at the very water-side--was ever\nmemorable, it was so peculiarly sweet! We left an indescribable\ninterest even in lifting a shell from the shore of a sea where Jesus\nhad so often walked. It was here that two of the beautiful hymns in\n_The Songs of Zion_ were suggested to him. The one was, _How pleasant\nto me_, etc.; the other, _To yonder side_; but the latter lay beside\nhim unfinished till a later period.\n\nHis complaint was now considerably abated; his strength seemed\nreturning: and often did he long to be among his people again, though\nquieting his soul upon the Lord. Not a few pastors of another church\nhave from time to time come forth to this land, compelled by disease\nto seek for health in foreign regions; but how rarely do we find the\npastor's heart retained,--how rarely do we discover that the shepherd\nyearns still over the flock he left! But so deep was Mr. M'Cheyne's\nfeelings toward the flock over which the Holy Ghost had made him\noverseer, that his concern for them became a temptation to his soul.\nIt was not in the mere desire to preach again that he manifested this\nconcern; for this desire might have been selfish, as he said: \"No\ndoubt there is pride in this anxiety to preach; a submissive soul\nwould rejoice only in doing the present will of God.\" But his prayers\nfor them went up daily to the throne. We had precious seasons of\nunited prayer also for that same end,--especially one morning at\nsunrise in Gethsemane, and another morning at Carmel, where we joined\nin supplication on the silent shore at the foot of the hill as soon as\nday dawned, and then again, at evening, on the top, where Elijah\nprayed.\n\nDistance of place of peculiarities of circumstance never altered his\nviews of duty, nor changed his feelings as a minister of Christ. In\nGalilee he meditated upon the aspect of ecclesiastical affairs in our\nbeloved Scotland; and the principles he had maintained appeared to him\nas plainly accordant with the word of God when tried there, apart from\nexcitement, as they did when he reviewed them in connection with their\neffects at home. \"I hope,\" were his words to a brother in the\nministry, \"I hope the church has been well guided and blessed; and if\ntimes of difficulty are to come, I do believe there is no position so\nproper for her to be in as the attitude of a missionary church, giving\nfreely to Jew and Gentile, as she has freely received,--so may she be\nfound when the Lord comes.\"\n\nAt the foot of Lebanon, in the town of Beyrout, he was able to expound\na chapter (Acts 10.) at a prayer-meeting of the American brethren.\nThis quite rejoiced his heart; for it seemed as if the Lord were\nrestoring him, and meant again to use him in preaching the glad\ntidings. But shortly after, during the oppressive heat of the\nafternoon, he felt himself unwell. He had paid a visit to a young man\nfrom Glasgow in the town, who was ill of fever; and it is not unlikely\nthat this visit, at a time when he was in a state of debility from\nprevious fatigue, was the immediate occasion of his own illness. He\nwas very soon prostrated under the fever. But his medical attendant\napprehended no danger, and advised him to proceed to Smyrna, in the\nbelief that the cool air of the sea would be much more in his favor\nthan the sultry heat of Beyrout. Accordingly, in company with our\nfaithful Hebrew friend Erasmus Calman, we embarked; but as we lay off\nCyprus, the fever increased to such a height, that he lost his memory\nfor some hours, and was racked with excessive pain in his head. When\nthe vessel sailed, he revived considerably, but during three days no\nmedical aid could be obtained. He scarcely ever spoke; and only once\ndid he for a moment, on a Saturday night, lift his languid eye, as he\nlay on deck enjoying the breeze, to catch a distant sight of Patmos.\nWe watched him with agonizing anxiety till we reached Smyrna and the\nvillage of Bouja. Though three miles off, yet, for the sake of medical\naid, he rode to this village upon a mule after sunset, ready to drop\nevery moment with pain and burning fever. But here the Lord had\nprepared for him the best and kindest help. The tender and parental\ncare of Mr. and Mrs. Lewis, in whose house he found a home, was never\nmentioned by him but with deepest gratitude; and the sight of the\nflowering jessamine, or the mention of the deep-green cypress, would\ninvariably call up in his mind associations of Bouja and its inmates.\nHe used to say it was his second birth-place.\n\nDuring that time, like most of God's people who have been in sickness,\nhe felt that a single passage of the word of God was more truly food\nto his fainting soul than anything besides. One day his spirit\nrevived, and his eye glistened, when I spoke of the Saviour's\nsympathy, adducing as the very words of Jesus, Psalm 41:1: \"_Blessed\nis he that considereth the poor: the Lord will deliver him in time of\ntrouble,_\" etc. It seemed so applicable to his own case, as a minister\nof the glad tidings; for often had he \"considered the poor,\" carrying\na cup of cold water to a disciple. Another passage, written for the\nchildren of God in their distress, was spoken to him when he seemed\nnearly insensible: \"_Call upon me in the day of trouble._\" This word\nof God was as the drop of honey to Jonathan.\n\nHe himself thus spoke of his illness to his friends at home: \"I left\nthe foot of Lebanon when I could hardly see, or hear, or speak, or\nremember; I felt my faculties going, one by one, and I had every\nreason to expect that I would soon be with my God. It is a sore trial\nto be alone and dying in a foreign land, and it has made me feel, in a\nway that I never knew before, the necessity of having unfeigned faith\nin Jesus and in God. Sentiments, natural feelings, glowing fancies of\ndivine things, will not support the soul in such an hour. There is\nmuch self-delusion in our estimation of ourselves when we are untried,\nand in the midst of Christian friends, whose warm feelings give a\nglow to ours, which they do not possess in themselves.\" Even then he\nhad his people in his heart. \"When I got better, I used to creep out\nin the evenings about sunset. I often remembered you all then. I could\nnot write, as my eyes and head were much affected; I could read but\nvery little; I could speak very little, for I had hardly any voice;\nand so I had all my time to lay my people before God, and pray for a\nblessing on them. About the last evening I was there, we all went to\nthe vintage, and I joined in gathering the grapes.\" To Mr. Somerville\nhe wrote: \"My mind was very weak when I was at the worst, and\ntherefore the things of eternity were often dim. _I had no fear to\ndie, for Christ had died._ Still I prayed for recovery, if it was the\nLord's will. You remember you told me to be humble among your last\nadvices. You see God is teaching me the same thing. I fear I am not\nthoroughly humbled. I feel the pride of my heart, and bewail it.\" To\nhis kind medical friend, Dr. Gibson, in Dundee, he wrote: \"I really\nbelieved that my Master had called me home, and that I would sleep\nbeneath the dark-green cypresses of Bouja till the Lord shall come,\nand they that sleep in Jesus come with Him; and my most earnest prayer\nwas for my dear flock, that God would give them a pastor after his own\nheart.\"\n\nWhen we met, after an eight days' separation, on board the vessel at\nConstantinople, he mentioned as one of the most interesting incidents\nof the week, that one evening, while walking with Mr. Lewis, they met\na young Greek and his wife, both of whom were believed to be really\nconverted souls. It created a thrill in his bosom to meet with these\nalmost solitary representatives of the once faithful and much tried\nnative church of Smyrna.\n\nMeanwhile there were movements at home that proved the Lord to be He\nwho \"alone doeth wondrous things.\" The cry of his servant in Asia was\nnot forgotten; the eye of the Lord turned towards his people. It was\nduring the time of Mr. M'Cheyne's sore sickness that his flock in\nDundee were receiving blessing from the opened windows of heaven.\nTheir pastor was lying at the gate of death, in utter helplessness.\nBut the Lord had done this on very purpose; for He meant to show that\nHe needed not the help of any: He could send forth new laborers, and\nwork by new instruments, when it pleased Him. We little knew that\nduring the days when we were waiting at the foot of Lebanon for a\nvessel to carry us to Smyrna, the arm of the Lord had begun to be\nrevealed in Scotland. On the 23d of July the great Revival at Kilsyth\ntook place.\n\nMr. W.C. Burns, the same who was supplying Mr. M'Cheyne's place in his\nabsence, was on that day preaching to his father's flock; and while\npressing upon them immediate acceptance of Christ with deep solemnity,\nthe whole of the vast assembly were overpowered. The Holy Spirit\nseemed to come down as a rushing mighty wind, and to fill the place.\nVery many were that day struck to the heart; the sanctuary was filled\nwith distressed and inquiring souls. All Scotland heard the glad news\nthat the sky was no longer as brass,--that the rain had begun to fall.\nThe Spirit in mighty power began to work from that day forward in many\nplaces of the land.\n\nMr. Burns returned to Mr. M'Cheyne's flock on August 8th,--one of the\ndays when Mr. M'Cheyne was stretched on his bed, praying for his\npeople under all his own suffering. The news of the work at Kilsyth\nhad produced a deep impression in Dundee; and two days after, the\nSpirit began to work in St. Peter's, at the time of the prayer-meeting\nin the church, in a way similar to Kilsyth. Day after day the people\nmet for prayer and hearing the word; and the times of the apostles\nseemed returned, when \"the Lord added to the church daily of such as\nshould be saved.\" All this time, Mr. M'Cheyne knew not how gracious\nthe Lord had been in giving him his heart's desire. It was not till we\nwere within sight of home that the glad news of these Revivals reached\nour ears. But he continued, like Epaphras, \"laboring fervently in\nprayer,\" and sought daily to prepare himself for a more efficient\ndischarge of his office, should the Lord restore him to it again. He\nsends home this message to a fellow-laborer: \"Do not forget to carry\non the work in hearts brought to a Saviour. I feel this was one of my\nfaults in the ministry. Nourish babes; comfort downcast believers;\ncounsel those perplexed; perfect that which is lacking in their faith.\nPrepare them for sore trials. I fear most Christians are quite unready\nfor days of darkness.\"--(_Mr. Moody Stuart_.)\n\nOur journey led us through Moldavia, Wallachia, and Austria,--lands\nof darkness and of the shadow of death. Profound strangers to the\ntruth as it is in Jesus, the people of these lands, nevertheless,\nprofess to be Christians. Superstition and its idolatries veil the\nglorious object of faith from every eye. In these regions, as well as\nin those already traversed. Mr. M'Cheyne's anxiety for souls appeared\nin the efforts he made to leave at least a few words of Scripture with\nthe Jews whom we met, however short the time of our interview. His\nspirit was stirred in him; and, with his Hebrew Bible in his hand, he\nwould walk up thoughtfully and solemnly to the first Jew he could get\naccess to, and begin by calling the man's attention to some statement\nof God's word. In Palestine, if the Jew did not understand Italian, he\nwould repeat to him such texts in Hebrew as, \"In that day there shall\nbe a fountain opened to the house of David,\" etc. (Zech. 13:1.) And\none evening, at the well of Doulis, when the Arab population were all\nclustered round the water troughs, he looked on very wistfully, and\nsaid, \"If only we had Arabic, we might sow beside all waters!\"\n\nAt Jassy, after a deeply interesting day, spent in conversation with\nJews who came to the inn, he said, \"I will remember the faces of those\nmen at the judgment-seat.\" When he came among the more educated Jews\nof Europe, he rejoiced to find that they could converse with him in\nLatin. His heart was bent on doing what he could (Mark 14:8), in\nseason and out of season. \"One thing,\" he writes, \"I am deeply\nconvinced of, that God can make the simplest statement of the gospel\neffectual to save souls. If only it be the true gospel, the good\ntidings, the message that God loved the world, and provided a ransom\nfree to all, then God is able to make it wound the heart, and heal it\ntoo. There is deep meaning in the words of Paul, 'I am not ashamed of\nthe gospel of Christ.'\"\n\nThe abominations of Popery witnessed in Austrian Poland, called forth\nmany a prayer for the destruction of the Man of Sin. \"The images and\nidols by the wayside are actually frightful, stamping the whole land\nas a kingdom of darkness. I do believe that a journey through Austria\nwould go far to cure some of the Popery-admirers of our beloved land.\"\nHe adds: \"These are the marks of the beast upon this land.\" And in\nlike manner our privileges in Scotland used to appear to him the more\nprecious, when, as at Brody, we heard of Protestants who were supplied\nwith sermon only once a year. \"I must tell this to my people,\" said\nhe, \"when I return, to make them prize their many seasons of grace.\"\n\nHe estimated the importance of a town or country by its relation to\nthe house of Israel; and his yearnings over these lost sheep resembled\nhis bowels of compassion for his flock at home. At Tarnapol, in\nGalicia, he wrote home: \"We are in Tarnapol, a very nice clean town,\nprettily situated on a winding stream, with wooded hills around. I\nsuppose you never heard its name before; neither did I till we were\nthere among Jews. I know not whether it has been the birth-place of\nwarriors, or poets, or orators; its flowers have hitherto been born to\nblush unseen, at least by us barbarians of the north; but if God\nrevive the dry bones of Israel that are scattered over the world,\nthere will arise from this place an exceeding great army.\"\n\nOur friend and brother in the faith, Erasmus Calman, lightened the\ntediousness of a long day's journey by repeating to us some Hebrew\npoetry. One piece was on Israel's present state of degradation; it\nbegan--\n\n[Hebrew:\n                  tsuri goali\n              maheir v'chish p'dut ]\n\nAs the vehicle drove along, we translated it line by line, and soon\nafter Mr. M'Cheyne put it into verse. The following lines are a\npart:--\n\n        Rock and Refuge of my soul,\n        Swiftly let the season roll,\n        When thine Israel shall arise\n        Lovely in the nations' eyes!\n\n      Lord of glory, Lord of might,\n        As our ransomed fathers tell;\n      Once more for thy people fight,\n        Plead for thy loved Israel.\n      Give our spoilers' towers to be\n      Waste and desolate as we.\n\n      Hasten, Lord, the joyful year,\n        When thy Zion, tempest-tossed,\n      Shall the silver trumpet hear:\n        Bring glad tidings to the lost!\n      Captive, cast thy cords from thee,\n      Loose thy neck--be free--be free!\n\n      Why dost Thou behold our sadness?\n      See the proud have torn away\n      All our years of solemn gladness,\n        When thy flock kept holy-day!\n      Lord, thy fruitful vine is bare,\n      Not one gleaning grape is there!\n\n        Rock and Refuge of my soul,\n        Swiftly let the season roll,\n        When thine Israel shall be,\n        Once again, beloved and free.\n\nIn his notes, he has one or two subjects marked for hymns. One of\nthese is--Isaiah 2:3--\"Come ye,\" etc., _a loving call to the Jews_.\nAnother is to the same effect--Isaiah 1:15--\"Come, let us reason\ntogether.\" But these he never completed. In Cracow, having heard of\nthe death of a friend, the wife of an English clergyman, in the midst\nof her days and in the full promise of usefulness, he began to pen a\nfew sweet lines of comfort:\n\n      Oft as she taught the little maids of France\n      To leave the garland, castanet, and dance,\n      And listen to the words which she would say\n      About the crowns that never fade away,\n      A new expression kindled in her eye,\n      A holy brightness, borrowed from the sky.\n      And when returning to her native land,\n      She bowed beneath a Father's chast'ning hand,\n      When the quick pulse and flush upon the cheek,\n      A touching warning to her friends would speak,\n      A holy cheerfulness yet filled her eye,\n      Willing she was to live, willing to die.\n      As the good Shunammite (the Scriptures tell),\n      When her son died, said meekly, \"It is well,\"\n      So when Sophia lost her infant boy,\n      And felt how dear-bought is a mother's joy,\n      When with green turf the little grave she spread,\n      \"Not lost, but gone before,\" she meekly said.\n      And now they sleep together 'neath the willow\n      The same dew drops upon their silent pillow.\n      Return, O mourner, from this double grave,\n      And praise the God who all her graces gave.\n      Follow her faith, and let her mantle be\n      A cloak of holy zeal to cover thee.\n\nThe danger which he incurred from the shepherds in this region, and\nother similar perils to which he was exposed in company with others,\nhave been recorded in the _Narrative_. Out of them all the Lord\ndelivered him; and not from these perils only did He save him, but\nfrom many severe trials to his health, to which variety of climate and\ndiscomforts of accommodation subjected him. And now we were\ntraversing Prussia, drawing nearer our own land. It was about five\nmonths since we had received letters from Scotland, our route having\nled us away from places which we had anticipated visiting, and where\ncommunications had been left for us. We pressed homeward somewhat\nanxiously, yet wondering often at past mercies. In a letter from\nBerlin, Mr. M'Cheyne remarked, \"Our heavenly Father has brought us\nthrough so many trials and dangers that I feel persuaded He will yet\ncarry us to the end. Like John, we shall fulfil our course. 'Are there\nnot twelve hours in the day?' Are we not all immortal till our work is\ndone?\" His strength was rapidly increasing; the journey had answered\nthe ends anticipated to a great extent, in his restoration to health.\nHe was able to preach at Hamburgh to the English congregation of Mr.\nRheder, from whom it was that the first hint of a Revival in Dundee\nreached his ears. He heard just so much both of Kilsyth and Dundee as\nto make him long to hear more. A few days after, on board the vessel\nthat conveyed us to England, he thus expressed his feelings:--\n\n\n                            \"Sailing up the Thames, _Nov. 6, 1839._\n\n   \"MY DEAR FATHER AND MOTHER,--You will be glad to see by the date\n   that we are once more in sight of the shores of happy England. I\n   only wish I knew how you all are. I have not heard of you since I\n   was in Smyrna. In vain did I inquire for letters from you at\n   Cracow, Berlin, and Hamburgh. You must have written to Warsaw,\n   and the Resident there has not returned them to Berlin, as we\n   desired. Andrew and I and Mr. Calman are all quite well, and\n   thankful to God, who has brought us through every danger in so\n   many countries. I trust our course has not been altogether\n   fruitless, and that we may now resign our commission with some\n   hope of good issuing from it to the church and to Israel. I\n   preached last Sabbath in Hamburgh, for the first time since\n   leaving England, and felt nothing the worse of it; so that I do\n   hope it is my heavenly Father's will to restore me to usefulness\n   again among my beloved flock. We have heard something of a\n   reviving work at Kilsyth. We saw it noticed in one of the\n   newspapers. I also saw the name of Dundee associated with it; so\n   that I earnestly hope good has been doing in our church, and the\n   dew from on high watering our parishes, and that the flocks\n   whose pastors have been wandering may also have shared in the\n   blessing. We are quite ignorant of the facts, and you may believe\n   we are anxious to hear.... We are now passing Woolwich, and in an\n   hour will be in London. We are anxious to be home, but I suppose\n   will not get away till next week. I never thought to have seen\n   you again in this world, but now I hope to meet you once more in\n   peace.--Believe me, your affectionate son,\" etc.\n\nThe day we arrived on the shores of our own land was indeed a singular\nday. We were intensely anxious to hear of events that had occurred at\nhome a few months before,--the outpouring of the Spirit from on\nhigh,--while our friends were intensely interested in hearing tidings\nof the land of Israel and the scattered tribes. The reception of\ndeputation on their return, and the fruits of their mission, are well\nknown, and have been elsewhere recorded.\n\nMr. M'Cheyne listened with deepest interest to the accounts given of\nwhat had taken place in Dundee during the month of August, when he lay\nat the gates of death in Bouja. The Lord had indeed fulfilled his\nhopes, and answered his prayers. His assistant, Mr. Burns, had been\nhonored of God to open the floodgate at Dundee as well as at Kilsyth.\nFor some time before, Mr. Burns had seen symptoms of deeper attention\nthan usual, and of real anxiety in some that had hitherto been\ncareless. But it was after his return from Kilsyth that the people\nbegan to melt before the Lord. On Thursday, the second day after his\nreturn, at the close of the usual evening prayer-meeting in St.\nPeter's, and when the minds of many were deeply solemnized by the\ntidings which had reached them, he spoke a few words about what had\nfor some days detained him from them, and invited those to remain who\nfelt the need of an outpouring of the Spirit to convert them. About a\nhundred remained; and at the conclusion of a solemn address to these\nanxious souls, suddenly the power of God seemed to descend, and all\nwere bathed in tears. At a similar meeting next evening, in the\nchurch, there was much melting of heart and intense desire after the\nBeloved of the Father; and on adjourning to the vestry, the arm of the\nLord was revealed. No sooner was the vestry-door opened to admit those\nwho might feel anxious to converse, than a vast number pressed in with\nawful eagerness. It was like a pent-up flood breaking forth; tears\nwere streaming from the eyes of many, and some fell on the ground\ngroaning, and weeping, and crying for mercy. Onward from that evening,\nmeetings were held every day for many weeks, and the extraordinary\nnature of the work justified and called for extraordinary services.\nThe whole town was moved. Many believers doubted; the ungodly raged;\nbut the word of God grew mightily and prevailed. Instances occured\nwhere whole families were affected at once, and each could be found\nmourning apart, affording a specimen of the times spoken of by\nZechariah (12:12). Mr. Baxter of Hilltown, Mr. Hamilton, then\nassistant at Abernyte, and other men of God in the vicinity, hastened\nto aid in the work. Mr. Roxburgh of St. John's, and Mr. Lewis of St.\nDavid's, examined the work impartially and judiciously, and testified\nit to be of God. Dr. M'Donald of Ferintosh, a man of God well\nexperienced in Revivals, came to the spot and put to his seal also,\nand continued in town, preaching in St. David's Church to the anxious\nmultitudes, during ten days. How many of those who were thus awfully\nawakened were really brought to the truth, it was impossible to\nascertain. When Mr. M'Cheyne arrived, drop after drop was still\nfailing from the clouds.\n\nSuch in substance were the accounts he heard before he reached Dundee.\nThey were such as made his heart rejoice. He had no envy at another\ninstrument having been so honored in the place where he himself had\nlabored with many tears and temptations. In true Christian\nmagnanimity, he rejoiced that the work of the Lord was done, by\nwhatever hand. Full of praise and wonder, he set his foot once more on\nthe shore of Dundee.\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER V.\n\nDAYS OF REVIVAL.\n\n   \"_They shall spring up as among the grass, as willows by the\n   water-courses_\"--Isaiah 44:4\n\n\nHis people, who had never ceased to pray for him, welcomed his arrival\namong them with the greatest joy. He reached Dundee on a Thursday\nafternoon; and in the evening of the same day,--being the usual time\nfor prayer in St. Peter's,--after a short meditation, he hastened to\nthe church, there to render thanks to the Lord, and to speak once more\nto his flock. The appearance of the church that evening, and the\naspect of the people, he never could forget. Many of his brethren were\npresent to welcome him, and to hear the first words of his opened\nlips. There was not a seat in the church unoccupied, the passages were\ncompletely filled, and the stairs up to the pulpit were crowded, on\nthe one side with the aged, on the other with eagerly-listening\nchildren. Many a face was seen anxiously gazing on their restored\npastor; many were weeping under the unhealed wounds of conviction; all\nwere still and calm, intensely earnest to hear. He gave out Psalm 66;\nand the manner of singing, which had been remarked since the Revival\nbegan, appeared to him peculiarly sweet,--\"so tender and affecting, as\nif the people felt that they were praising a present God.\" After\nsolemn prayer with them, he was able to preach for above an hour. Not\nknowing how long he might be permitted to proclaim the glad tidings,\nhe seized that opportunity, not to tell of his journeyings, but to\nshow the way of life to sinners. His subject was I Cor. 2. 1-4,--the\nmatter, the manner, and the accompaniments of Paul's preaching. It was\na night to be remembered.\n\nOn coming out of the church, he found the road to his house crowded\nwith old and young, who were waiting to welcome him back. He had to\nshake hands with many at the same time; and before this happy\nmultitude would disperse, had to speak some words of life to them\nagain, and pray with them where they stood. \"To thy name. O Lord,\"\nsaid he that night, when he returned to his home, \"To thy name, O\nLord, be all the glory!\" A month afterwards, he was visited by one who\nhad hitherto stood out against all the singular influence of the\nRevival, but who that night was deeply awakened under his words, so\nthat the arrow festered in her soul, till she came crying, \"Oh my\nhard, hard heart!\"\n\nOn the Sabbath he preached to his flock in the afternoon. He chose II\nChron. 5:13, 14, as his subject; and in the close, his hearers\nremember well how affectionately and solemnly he said: \"Dearly beloved\nand longed for, I now begin another year of my ministry among you; and\nI am resolved, if God give me health and strength, that I will not let\na man, woman, or child among you alone, until you have at least heard\nthe testimony of God concerning his Son, either to your condemnation\nor salvation. And I will pray, as I have done before, that if the Lord\nwill indeed give us a great outpouring of his Spirit, He will do it in\nsuch a way that it will be evident to the weakest child among you that\nit is the Lord's work, and not man's. I think I may say to you, as\nRutherford said to his people, 'Your heaven would be two heavens to\nme.' And if the Lord be pleased to give me a crown from among you, I\ndo here promise in his sight, that I will cast it at his feet, saying,\n'Worthy is the Lamb that was slain! Blessing, and honor, and glory,\nand power, be unto Him that sitteth upon the throne, and to the Lamb\nforever and ever.'\"\n\nIt was much feared for a time that a jealous spirit would prevail\namong the people of St. Peter's, some saying, \"I am of Paul; and\nothers, I of Cephas.\" Those recently converted were apt to regard\ntheir spiritual father in a light in which they could regard none\nbesides. But Mr. M'Cheyne had received from the Lord a holy\ndisinterestedness that suppressed every feeling of envy. Many wondered\nat the single-heartedness he was enabled to exhibit. He could\nsincerely say, \"I have no desire but the salvation of my people, by\nwhatever instrument.\"\n\nNever, perhaps, was there one placed in better circumstances for\ntesting the Revival impartially, and seldom has any Revival been more\nfully tested. He came among a people whose previous character he knew;\nhe found a work wrought among them during his absence, in which he had\nnot had any direct share; he returned home to go out and in among\nthem, and to be a close observer of all that had taken place; and\nafter a faithful and prayerful examination, he did most unhesitatingly\nsay, that the Lord had wrought great things, whereof he was glad; and\nin the case of many of those whose souls were saved in that Revival,\nhe discovered remarkable answers to the prayers of himself, and of\nthose who had come to the truth, before he left them. He wrote to me\nhis impressions of the work, when he had been a few weeks among his\npeople:--\n\n                                              _Dec. 2, 1839._\n\n  \"Rev. And. A. Bonar, Collace.\n\n  \"My Dear A.,--I begin upon note-paper, because I have no other on\n  hand but our thin travelling paper. I have much to tell you, and\n  to praise the Lord for. I am grieved to hear that there are no\n  marks of the Spirit's work about Collace during your absence; but\n  if Satan drive you to your knees, he will soon find cause to\n  repent it. Remember how fathers do to their children when they\n  ask bread. How much more shall our heavenly Father give ([Greek:\n  hagatha]) all good things to them that ask Him. Remember the\n  rebuke which I once got from old Mr. Dempster of Denny, after\n  preaching to his people: 'I was highly pleased with your\n  discourse, but in prayer it struck me that you thought God\n  _unwilling to give_.' Remember Daniel: 'At the beginning of thy\n  supplications the commandment came forth.' And do not think you\n  are forgotten by me as long as I have health and grace to pray.\n\n  \"Everything here I have found in a state better than I expected.\n  The night I arrived I preached to such a congregation as I never\n  saw before. I do not think another person could have got into the\n  church, and there was every sign of the deepest and tenderest\n  emotion. R. Macdonald was with me, and prayed. Affliction and\n  success in the ministry have taught and quickened him. I preached\n  on I Cor. 2:1-4, and felt what I have often heard, that it is\n  easy to preach where the Spirit of God is. On the Friday night\n  Mr. Burns preached. On the Sabbath I preached on that wonderful\n  passage, II Chron. 5:13, 14; Mr. Burns preached twice, morning\n  and evening. His views of divine truth are clear and commanding.\n  There is a great deal of substance in what he preaches, and his\n  manner is very powerful,--so much so, that he sometimes made me\n  tremble. In private he is deeply prayerful, and seems to feel his\n  danger of falling into pride.\n\n  \"I have seen many of the awakened, and many of the saved; indeed,\n  this is a pleasant place compared with what it was once. Some of\n  the awakened are still in the deepest anxiety and distress. Their\n  great error is exactly what your brother Horace told me. They\n  think that coming to Christ is some strange act of their mind,\n  different from believing what God has said of his Son; so much\n  so, that they will, tell you with one breath, I believe all that.\n  God has said, and yet with the next complain that they cannot\n  come to Christ, or close with Christ. It is very hard to deal\n  with this delusion.\n\n  \"I find some old people deeply shaken; they feel insecure. One\n  confirmed drunkard has come to me, and is, I believe, now a saved\n  man. Some little children are evidently saved. All that I have\n  yet seen are related to converts of my own. One, eleven years\n  old, is a singular instance of divine grace. When I asked if she\n  desired to be made holy, she said, 'Indeed, I often wish I was\n  awa, that I might sin nae mair.' A.L., of fifteen, is a fine\n  tender-hearted believer. W.S., ten, is also a happy boy.\n\n  \"Many of my own dear children in the Lord are much advanced; much\n  more full of joy,--their hearts lifted up in the ways of the\n  Lord. I have found many more savingly impressed under my own\n  ministry than I knew of. Some have come to tell me. In one case a\n  whole family saved. I have hardly met with anything to grieve me.\n  Surely the Lord hath dealt bountifully with me. I fear, however,\n  that the great Spirit has in some measure passed by,--I hope soon\n  to return in greater power than ever. The week meetings are\n  thinner now. I will turn two of them into my classes soon, and so\n  give solid, regular instruction, of which they stand greatly in\n  need. I have not met with one case of extravagance or false fire,\n  although doubtless there may be many. At first they used to\n  follow in a body to our house, and expected many an address and\n  prayer by the road. They have given up this now. I preached last\n  Sabbath twice, first on Isaiah 28:14-18, and then on Rev. 12:11,\n  'Overcame by the blood of the Lamb.' It was a very solemn day.\n  The people willingly sat till it was dark. Many make it a place\n  of Bochim. Still there is nothing of the power which has been. I\n  have tried to persuade Mr. Burns to stay with us, and I think he\n  will remain in Dundee. I feel fully stronger in body than when I\n  left you. Instead of exciting me, there is everything to\n  solemnize and still my feelings. Eternity sometimes seems very\n  near.\n\n  \"I would like your advice about prayer-meetings; how to\n  consolidate them; what rules should be followed, if any; whether\n  there should be mere reading of the word and prayer, or free\n  converse also on the passage? We began to-day a ministerial\n  prayer-meeting, to be held every Monday at eleven, for an hour\n  and a half. This is a great comfort, and may be a great blessing.\n  Of course we do not invite the colder ministers; that would only\n  damp our meeting. Tell me if you think this right.\n\n  \"And now, dear A., I must be done, for it is very late. May your\n  people share in the quickening that has come over Dundee! I feel\n  it a very powerful argument with many: 'Will you be left dry when\n  others are getting drops of heavenly dew?' Try this with your\n  people.\n\n  \"I think it probable we shall have another communion again before\n  the regular one. It seems very desirable. You will come and help\n  us; and perhaps Horace too.\n\n  \"I thought of coming back by Collace from Errol, if our Glasgow\n  meeting had not come in the way.\n\n  \"Will you set agoing your Wednesday meeting again, immediately?\n\n  \"Farewell, dear A. 'Oh man, greatly beloved, fear not; peace be\n  to thee; be strong; yea, be strong.' Yours ever,\" etc.\n\nTo Mr. Burns he thus expresses himself on _December 19_: \"My dear\nBrother,--I shall never be able to thank you for all your labors among\nthe precious souls committed to me; and what is worse, I can never\nthank God fully for his kindness and grace, which every day appear to\nme more remarkable. He has answered prayer to me in all that has\nhappened, in a way which I have never told any one.\" Again, on the\n_31st_: \"Stay where you are, dear brother, as long as the Lord has any\nwork for you to do.[16] If I know my own heart, its only desire is\nthat Christ may be glorified, by souls flocking to Him, and abiding in\nHim, and reflecting his image; and whether it be in Perth or Dundee,\nshould signify little to us. You know I told you my mind plainly, that\nI thought the Lord had so blessed you in Dundee, that you were called\nto a fuller and deeper work there; but if the Lord accompanies you to\nother places, I have nothing to object. The Lord strengthened my body\nand soul last Sabbath, and my spirit also was glad. The people were\nmuch alive in the Lord's service. But oh! dear brother, the most are\nChristless still. The rich are almost untroubled.\"\n\n     [16] Mr Burns was at that time in Perth, and there had begun to be\n     some movement among the dry bones.\n\nHis evidence on this subject is given fully in his answers to the\nqueries put by a Committee of the Aberdeen Presbytery; and in a note\nto a friend, he incidentally mentions a pleasing result of this\nwide-spread awakening: \"I find many souls saved under my own ministry,\nwhom I never knew of before. They are not afraid to come out now, it\nhas become so common a thing to be concerned about the soul.\" At that\ntime, also, many came from a distance; one came from the north, who\nhad been a year in deep distress of soul, to seek Christ in Dundee.\n\nIn his brief diary he records, on December 3, that twenty anxious\nsouls had that night been conversing with him; \"many of them very\ndeeply interesting.\" He occasionally fixed an evening for the purpose\nof meeting with those who were awakened; and in one of his note-books\nthere are at least _four hundred_ visits recorded, made to him by\ninquiring souls, in the course of that and the following years. He\nobserved, that those who had been believers formerly had got their\nhearts enlarged, and were greatly established; and some seemed able to\nfeed upon the truth in a new manner,--as when one related to him how\nthere had for some time appeared a glory in the reading of the word in\npublic, quite different from reading it alone.\n\nAt the same time he saw backslidings, both among those whom believers\nhad considered really converted, and among those who had been deeply\nconvicted, though never reckoned among the really saved. He notes in\nhis book: \"Called to see ----. Poor lad, he seems to have gone back\nfrom Christ, led away by evil company. And yet I felt sure of him at\none time. What blind creatures ministers are! man looketh at the\noutward appearance.\" One morning he was visited by one of his flock,\nproposing \"a concert for prayer on the following Monday, in behalf of\nthose who had fallen back, that God's Spirit might re-awaken\nthem,\"--so observant were the believers as well as their pastor of\ndeclensions. Among those who were awakened, but never truly converted,\nhe mentions one case. \"_Jan. 9, 1840._--Met with the case of one who\nhad been frightened during the late work, so that her bodily health\nwas injured. She seems to have no care now about her soul. It has only\nfilled her mouth with evil-speaking.\"\n\nThat many, who promised fair, drew back and walked no more with Jesus,\nis true. Out of about 800 souls who, during the months of the Revival,\nconversed with different ministers in apparent anxiety, no wonder\nsurely if many proved to have been impressed only for a time.\nPresident Edwards considered it likely that, in such cases, the\nproportion of real conversions might resemble the proportion of\nblossoms in spring, and fruit in autumn. Nor can anything be more\nunreasonable than to doubt the truth of all, because of the deceit of\nsome. The world itself does not so act in judging of its own. The\nworld reckons upon the possibility of being mistaken in many cases,\nand yet does not cease to believe that there is honesty and truth to\nbe found. One of themselves, a poet of their own, has said with no\nless justice than beauty--\n\n      \"Angels are bright still, though the brightest fell;\n      And though foul things put on the brows of grace,\n      Yet grace must still look so.\"\n\nBut, above all, we have the authority of the word of God, declaring\nthat such backslidings are the very tests of the true church: \"For\nthere must be also heresies among you, that they which are approved\nmay be made manifest among you,\" I Cor. 11:19. It is not, however,\nmeant that any who had really believed went back to perdition. On the\ncontrary, it is the creed of every sound evangelical church, that\nthose who do go back to perdition were persons who never really\nbelieved in Jesus. Their eyes may have been opened to see the dread\nrealities of sin and of the wrath to come; but if they saw not\nrighteousness for their guilty souls in the Saviour, there is nothing\nin all Scripture to make us expect that they will continue awake.\n\"Awake, them that sleepest, and _Christ will give thee light_,\" is the\ncall--inviting sinners to a point far beyond mere conviction. One who,\nfor a whole year, went back to folly, said: \"'Your sermon on the\ncorruption of the heart made me despair, and so I gave myself up to my\nold ways--attending dances, learning songs,\" etc. A knowledge of our\nguilt, and a sense of danger, will not of themselves keep us from\nfalling; nay, these, if alone, may (as in the above case) thrust us\ndown the slippery places. We are truly secure only when our eye is on\nJesus, and our hand locked in his hand. So that the history of\nbackslidings, instead of leading us to doubt the reality of grace in\nbelievers, will only be found to teach us two great lessons, viz. the\nvast importance of pressing immediate salvation on awakened souls, and\nthe reasonableness of standing in doubt of all, however deep their\nconvictions, who have not truly fled to the hope set before them.\n\nThere was another ground of prejudice against the whole work, arising\nfrom the circumstance that the Lord had employed in it young men not\nlong engaged in the work of the ministry, rather than the fathers in\nIsrael. But herein it was that sovereign grace shone forth the more\nconspicuously. Do such objectors suppose that God ever intends the\nhonor of man in a work of Revival? Is it not the honor of his own\nname that He seeks? Had it been his wish to give the glory to man at\nall, then indeed it might have been asked, \"Why does He pass by the\nolder pastors, and call for the inexperienced youth?\" But when\nsovereign grace was coming to bless a region in the way that would\nredound most to the glory of the Lord, can we conceive a wiser plan\nthan to use the sling of David in bringing down the Philistine? If,\nhowever, there be some whose prejudice is from the root of envy, let\nsuch hear the remonstrance of Richard Baxter to the jealous ministers\nof his day. \"What! malign Christ in gifts for which He should have the\nglory, and all because they seem to hinder our glory! Does not every\nman owe thanks to God for his brethren's gifts, not only as having\nhimself part in them, as the foot has the benefit of the guidance of\nthe eye, but also because his own ends may be attained by his\nbrethren's gifts as well as by his own?... A fearful thing that any\nman, that hath the least of the fear of God, should so envy at God's\ngifts, that he would rather his carnal hearers were unconverted, and\nthe drowsy not awakened, than that it should be done by another who\nmay be preferred before them.\"[17]\n\n     [17] _Reformed Pastor_, 4:2.\n\nThe work of the Spirit went on, the stream flowing gently; for the\nheavy showers had fallen, and the overflowing of the waters had passed\nby. Mr. M'Cheyne became more than ever vigilant and discriminating in\ndealing with souls. Observing, also, that some were influenced more by\nfeelings of strong attachment to their pastor personally, than by the\npower of the truths he preached, he became more reserved in his\ndealings with them, so that some thought there was a little coldness\nor repulsiveness in his manner. If there did appear anything of this\nnature to some, certainly it was no indication of diminished\ncompassion; but, on the contrary, proceeded from a scrupulous anxiety\nto guard others against the deceitful feelings of their own souls. A\nfew notes of his work occur at this period.\n\n\"_Nov. 27, 1839._--A pleasant meeting in the Cross Church on Wednesday\nlast, for the seamen. All that spoke seemed to honor the Saviour. I\nhad to move thanksgiving to God for his mercies. This has been a real\nblessing to Dundee. It should not be forgotten in our prayers and\nthanksgivings.\"\n\n\"_Nov. 28_, Thursday evening.--Much comfort in speaking. There was\noften an awful stillness. Spoke on Jer. 6:14: 'They have healed also\nthe hurt of the daughter of my people slightly.'\" etc.\n\n\"_Dec. 1._--This evening came a tender Christian, so far as I can see;\nan exposition of that text, '_I will go softly_,' or of that other,\n'_Thou shall not open thy mouth any more_.' A child of shame made one\nof honor. Her sister was awakened under Mr. Baxter's words in St.\nPeter's, of whom he asked, 'Would you like to be holy?' She replied,\n'Indeed, I often wish I were dead that I might sin no more.'\"\n\n\"_Dec. 3._--Preached six times within these two days.\"\n\n\"_Dec. 8._--Saw J.T. in fever. She seems really in Christ now; tells\nme how deeply my words sank into her soul when I was away. A.M. stayed\nto tell me her joy. J.B. walked home with me, telling me what God had\ndone for his soul, when one day I had stopped at the quarry on\naccount of a shower of rain, and took shelter with my pony in the\nengine-house.\" He had simply pointed to the fire of the furnace, and\nsaid, \"What does that remind you of?\" and the words had remained deep\nin the man's soul.\n\n\"_Dec. 11._--A woman awakened that night I preached in J.D.'s green,\nabout two years ago, on Ezek. 20:43. For twenty years she had been out\nof church privileges, and now, for the first time, came trembling to\nask restoration. Surely Immanuel is in this place, and even old\nsinners are flocking to Him. I have got an account of about twenty\nprayer-meetings connected with my flock. Many open ones; many\nfellowship meetings; only one or two have anything like exhortation\nsuperadded to the word. These, I think, it must be our care to change,\nif possible, lest error and pride creep in. The only other difficulty\nis this. In two of the female meetings, originally fellowship\nmeetings, anxious female inquirers have been admitted. They do not\npray, but only hear. In one, M. and J. had felt the rising of pride to\na great degree; in the other, M. could not be persuaded that there was\nany danger of pride. This case will require prayerful deliberation. My\nmind at present is, that there is great danger from it, the praying\nmembers feeling themselves on a different level from the others, and\nanything like female teaching, as a public teacher, seems clearly\ncondemned in the word of God.\"\n\n\"_Dec. 12._--Felt very feeble all day, and as if I could not do any\nmore work in the vineyard. Evening.--Felt more of the reality of\nImmanuel's intercession. The people also were evidently subdued by\nmore than a human testimony. One soul waited, sobbing most piteously.\nShe could give no more account of herself than that she was a sinner,\nand did not believe that God would be merciful to her. When I showed\nhow I found mercy, her only answer was, 'But you were not sic a sinner\nas me.'\"\n\n\"_Dec. 18._--Went to Glasgow along with A.B. Preached in St. George's\nto a full audience, in the cause of the Jews. Felt real help in time\nof need.\" This was one of his many journeys from place to place in\nbehalf of Israel, relating the things seen and heard among the Jews of\nPalestine and other lands.\n\n\"_Dec. 22._--Preached in Anderston Church, with a good deal of inward\npeace and comfort.\"\n\n\"_Dec. 23._--Interesting meeting with the Jewish Committee. In the\nevening met a number of God's people. The horror of some good people\nin Glasgow at the millenarian views is very great, while at the same\ntime their objections appear very weak.\"\n\n\"_Dec. 31._--Young communicants. Two have made application to be\nadmitted under eleven years of age; four that are only fourteen; three\nwho are fifteen or sixteen.\"\n\n\"_Jan. 1, 1840._--Awoke early by the kind providence of God, and had\nuncommon freedom and fervency in keeping the concert for prayer this\nmorning before light. Very touching interview with M.P., who still\nrefuses to be comforted. Was enabled to cry after a glorious Immanuel\nalong with her. How I wish I had her bitter convictions of sin!\nAnother called this evening, who says she was awakened and brought to\nChrist during the sermon on the morning of December 1st, on the\n'Covenant with death.' Gave clear answers, but seems too unmoved for\none really changed.\"\n\n\"_Jan. 2._--Visited six families. Was refreshed and solemnized at each\nof them. Spoke of the Word made flesh, and of all the paths of the\nLord being mercy and truth. Visited in the evening by some interesting\nsouls: one a believing little boy; another complaining she cannot come\nto Christ for the hardness of her heart; another once awakened under\nmy ministry, again thoroughly awakened and brought to Christ under\nHorace Bonar's sermon at the Communion. She is the only saved one in\nher family,--awfully persecuted by father and mother. Lord, stand up\nfor thine own! Make known, by their constancy under suffering, the\npower and beauty of thy grace! Evening.--Mr. Miller preached\ndelightfully on 'The love of Christ constraineth us.' His account of\nthe Protestants of France was very interesting: the work of God at\nNismes, where it is said they are no more fishing with line, but\ndragging with the nets. Read a letter from Mr. Cumming, describing the\nwork at Perth, and entreating the prayers of God's children.\"\n\nThis last reference is to the awakening which took place in St.\nLeonard's Church, Perth, on the last night of the year, when Mr.\nBurns, along with their pastor, Mr. Milne, was preaching. Mr. B. had\nintended to return to Dundee for the Sabbath, but was detained by the\nplain indications of the Lord's presence. At one meeting the work was\nso glorious, that one night about 150 persons at one time seemed bowed\ndown under a sense of their guilt, and above 200 came next day to the\nchurch in the forenoon to converse about their souls. This awakening\nwas the commencement of a solid work of grace, both in that town and\nits neighborhood, much fruit of which is to be found there at this day\nin souls that are walking in the fear of the Lord, and the comfort of\nthe Holy Ghost. And it was in the spring of this same year that in\nCollace, at our weekly prayer-meeting, when two brethren were\nministering, we received a blessed shower from the Lord.\n\nHis Journal proceeds:--\n\n\"_Jan. 3._--An inquirer came, awakened under my ministry two years and\na half ago.\"\n\n\"_Jan. 5._--Two came; M.B. sorely wounded with the forenoon's\ndiscourse.\"\n\n\"_Jan. 12._--Intimated a concert for prayer, that unworthy\ncommunicants might be kept back, the Lord's children prepared for the\nfeast, and ministers furnished from on high.\"\n\n\"_Jan. 13._--Kept concert of prayer this morning with my dear people.\nDid not find the same enlargement as usual.\"\n\n\"_March 5._ Thursday evening.--Preached on Zech. 3.--Joshua. Was led\nto speak searchingly about making Christ the minister of sin. One\nyoung woman cried aloud very bitterly. M.B. came to tell me that poor\nM. is like to have her life taken away by her parents. A young woman\nalso, who is still concerned and persecuted by her father. A young man\ncame to tell me that he had found Christ. Roll on, thou river of life!\nvisit every dwelling! save a multitude of souls. Come, Holy Spirit!\ncome quickly!\"\n\n\"March 25.--Last night at Forfar speaking for Israel to a small band\nof friends of the Jews. Fearfully wicked place; the cry of it ascends\nup before God like that of Sodom.\"\n\n\"_March 31._--Met with young communicants on Wednesday and Friday. On\nthe latter night especially, very deep feeling, manifested in\nsobbings. Visits of several. One clear child nine years old.\nSick-bed.\"\n\n\"_April 1._--Presbytery day. Passed the constitution of two new\nchurches,--blessed be God! may He raise up faithful pastors for them\nboth,--Dudhope and Wallace-Feus. Proposal also for the Mariner's\nChurch. A fast-day fixed for the present state of the church.\"\n\n\"_April 5_, Sabbath evening.--Spoke to twenty-four young persons, one\nby one; almost all affected about their souls.\"\n\n\"_April 6._--Lovely ride and meditation in a retired grove.\"\n\n\"_April 7._--Impressed to-night with the complete necessity of\npreaching to my people in their own lanes and closes; in no other way\nwill God's word ever reach them. To-night spoke in St. Andrew's Church\nto a very crowded assembly in behalf of Israel. Was helped to speak\nplainly to their own consciences. Lord, bless it! Shake this town!\"\n\n\"_April 13._--Spoke in private to nearly thirty young communicants,\nall in one room, going round each, and advising for the benefit of\nall.\"\n\n\"_April 22._--Rode to Collessie (Fife) and Kirkcaldy. Sweet time alone\nin Collessie woods.\"\n\n\"_July 30._--One lad came to me in great distress, wishing to know if\nhe should confess his little dishonesties to his master.\" About this\ntime, he has noted down, \"I was visiting the other day, and came to a\nlocked door. What did this mean? 'Torment me not, torment me not!' Ah,\nSatan is mighty still!\"--referring to Mark 5:7.\n\nA few of his Communion seasons are recorded. We could have desired a\nrecord of them all. The first of which he has detailed any\nparticulars, is the one he enjoyed soon after returning home.\n\n\"_Jan. 19, 1840._--Stormy morning, with gushing torrents of rain, but\ncleared up in answer to prayer. Sweet union in prayer with Mr.\nCumming, and afterwards with A. Bonar, Found God in secret. Asked\nespecially that the very sight of the broken bread and poured-out wine\nmight be blessed to some souls, then pride will be hidden from man.\nChurch well filled--many standing. Preached the action sermon on John\n17:24, 'Father, I will,' etc. Had considerable nearness to God in\nprayer--more than usual,--and also freedom in preaching, although I\nwas ashamed of such poor views of Christ's glory. The people were in a\nvery desirable frame of attention--hanging on the word. Felt great\nhelp in fencing the tables from Acts 5:3, 'Lying to the Holy Ghost.'\nCame down and served the first table with much more calmness and\ncollectedness than ever I remember to have enjoyed. Enjoyed a sweet\nseason while A.B. served the next table. He dwelt chiefly on believing\nthe words of Christ about his fulness, and the promise of the Father.\nThere were six tables altogether. The people more and more moved to\nthe end. At the last table, every head seemed bent like a bulrush\nwhile A.B. spoke of the ascension of Christ. Helped a little in the\naddress. 'Now to Him who is able to keep you,' etc., and in the\nconcluding prayer.[18] One little boy, in retiring, said, 'This has\nbeen another bonnie day.' Many of the little ones seemed deeply\nattentive. Mr. Cumming and Mr. Burns preached in the school the most\nof the day. In the evening Mr. C. preached on the Pillar Cloud on\nevery dwelling, Isaiah 4:5 some very sweet powerful words. Mr. Burns\npreached in the schoolroom. When the church emptied a congregation\nformed in the lower school, and began to sing. Sang several psalms\nwith them, and spoke on 'Behold I stand at the door.' Going home, A.L.\nsaid 'Pray for me; I am quite happy, and so is H.' Altogether a day of\nthe revelation of Christ,--a sweet day to myself, and, I am persuaded,\nto many souls. Lord, make us meet for the table above.\"\n\n     [18] See the Remains, for some of that day's solemn words.\n\nAnother of these Communion seasons recorded, is _April 1840_. \"Sabbath\n19.--Sweet and precious day. Preached action sermon on Zech. 12:10,\n13:1. A good deal assisted. Also in fencing the tables, on Ps. 139.,\n'Search me, O God.' Less at serving the tables on 'I will betroth\nthee,' and 'To him that overcometh;' though the thanksgiving was\nsweet. Communicated with calm joy. Old Mr. Burns served two tables; H.\nBonar five. There was a very melting frame visible among the people.\nHelped a good deal in the address on 'My sheep hear my voice.' After\nseven before all was over. Met before eight. Old Mr. Burns preached on\n'A word in season.' Gave three parting texts, and so concluded this\nblessed day. Many were filled with joy unspeakable and full of glory.\"\n\n\"Monday, 20.--Mr. Grierson preached on 'Ye are come to Mount\nZion,'--an instructive word. Pleasant walk with H.B. Evening sermon\nfrom him to the little children on the 'new heart,'--truly\ndelightful. Prayer-meeting after. I began; then old Mr. Burns, then\nHorace, in a very lively manner, on the 'woman of Samaria.' The people\nwere brought into a very tender frame. After the blessing, a multitude\nremained. One (A.N.) was like a person struck through with a dart, she\ncould neither stand nor go. Many were looking on her with faces of\nhorror. Others were comforting her in a very kind manner, bidding her\nlook to Jesus. Mr. Burns went to the desk, and told them of Kilsyth.\nStill they would not go away. Spoke a few words more to those around\nme, telling them of the loveliness of Christ, and the hardness of\ntheir hearts, that they could be so unmoved when one was so deeply\nwounded. The sobbing soon spread, till many heads were bent down, and\nthe church was filled with sobbing. Many whom I did not know were now\naffected. After prayer, we dismissed, near midnight. Many followed us.\nOne, in great agony, prayed that she might find Christ that very\nnight. So ends this blessed season.\"\n\nThe prayer-meeting on the Monday evening following the Communion was\ngenerally enjoyed by all the Lord's people, and by the ministers who\nassisted, in a peculiar manner. Often all felt the last day of the\nfeast to be the great day. Souls that had been enjoying the feast were\nthen, at its conclusion, taking hold on the arm of the Beloved in the\nprospect of going up through the wilderness.\n\nThe only notice of his last Communion, January 1, 1843, is the\nfollowing:--\"Sabbath.--A happy communion season. Mr. W. Burns preached\non Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday evenings--the first and last very\nsolemn. Mr. Baxter (of Hilltown Church) on the Friday. A. Bonar on\nSaturday, on Rom. 8:--The spirit of adoption. I fainted on the Sabbath\nmorning, but revived, and got grace and strength to preach on I Tim.\n1:16--Paul's conversion a pattern. There were five tables. Many godly\nstrangers, and a very desirable frame observable in the people. 'While\nthe king sitteth at his table, my spikenard sendeth out the smell\nthereof.' Much sin was covered. He restoreth my soul. Monday, 2.--Mr.\nMilne (of Perth) preached on 'Hold fast that thou hast;' and in the\nevening, to the children, on Josh. 24.--'Choose ye this day whom ye\nwill serve.' Andrew and I concluded with Rev. 5--'Thou hast redeemed\nus,' etc., and I Cor. 15.--'Be stedfast,' etc.\"\n\nHe dispensed the Lord's Supper to his flock every quarter; and though\non this account his calls upon his brethren for help were frequent,\nyet never did a brother reckon it anything else than a blessed\nprivilege to be with him. His first invitation to his friend Mr.\nHamilton (then at Abernyte) will show the nature of the intercourse\nthat subsisted between him and his brethren who gave their services on\nthese occasions:--\"My dear Friend.--Will you excuse lack of ceremony,\nand come down to-morrow and preach to us the unsearchable riches of\nChrist? We have the communion on Sabbath. We have no fast-day, but\nonly a meeting in the evening at a quarter past seven. Come, my dear\nsir, if you can, and refresh us with your company. Bring the fragrance\nof 'the bundle of myrrh' along with you, and may grace be poured into\nyour lips. Yours ever.\" (Jan. 15. 1840.)\n\nSoon after his return from his mission to the Jews, a ministerial\nprayer-meeting was formed among some of the brethren in Dundee. Mr.\nM'Cheyne took part in it, along with Mr. Lewis of St. David's, Mr.\nBaxter of Hilltown, Mr. P.L. Miller, afterwards of Wallacetown, and\nothers. Feeling deep concern for the salvation of the souls under\ntheir care, they met every Monday forenoon, to pray together for their\nflocks and their own souls. The time of the meeting was limited to an\nhour and a half, in order that all who attended might form their\npastoral arrangements for the day, without fear of being hindered;\nand, in addition to prayer, those present conversed on some selected\ntopic, vitally connected with their duties as ministers of Christ. Mr.\nM'Cheyne was never absent from this prayer-meeting unless through\nabsolute necessity, and the brethren scarcely remember any occasion on\nwhich some important remark did not drop from his lips. He himself\nreaped great profit from it. He notes, _Dec. 8_: \"This has been a\ndeeply interesting week. On Monday our ministerial prayer-meeting was\nset agoing in St. David's vestry. The hearts of all seem really in\nearnest in it. The Lord answers prayer; may it be a great blessing to\nour souls and to our flocks.\" Another time: \"Meeting in St. David's\nvestry. The subject of fasting was spoken upon. Felt exceedingly in my\nown spirit how little we feel real grief on account of sin before\nGod, or we would often lose our appetite for food. When parents lose a\nchild, they often do not taste a bit from morning to night, out of\npure grief. Should we not mourn as for an only child? How little of\nthe spirit of grace and supplication we have then!\" On _Dec. 30_:\n\"Pleasant meeting of ministers. Many delightful texts on 'Arguments to\nbe used with God in prayer.' How little I have used these! Should we\nnot study prayer more?\"\n\nFull as he was of affection and Christian kindness to all believers,\nhe was specially so to the faithful brethren in the gospel of Christ.\nPerhaps there never was one who more carefully watched against the\ndanger of undervaluing precious men, and detracting from a brother's\ncharacter. Although naturally ambitious, grace so wrought in him, that\nhe never sought to bring himself into view; and most cheerfully would\nhe observe and take notice of the graces and gifts of others. Who is\nthere of us that should ever feel otherwise? \"For the body is not one\nmember, but many.\" And \"the eye cannot say unto the hand, I have no\nneed of thee; nor, again, the head to the feet, I have no need of\nyou.\"\n\nAll with whom he was intimate still remember with gratitude how\nfaithfully and anxiously he used to warn his friends of whatever he\napprehended they were in danger from. To Mr. W.C. Burns he wrote,\n_Dec. 31, 1839_: \"Now, the Lord be your strength, teacher, and guide.\nI charge you, be clothed with humility, or you will yet be a wandering\nstar, for which is reserved the blackness of darkness forever. Let\nChrist increase; let man decrease. This is my constant prayer for\nmyself and you. If you lead sinners to yourself and not to Christ,\nImmanuel will cast the star out of his right hand into utter darkness.\nRemember what I said of preaching out of the Scriptures: honor the\nword both in the matter and manner. Do not cease to pray for me.\" At\nanother time (November 3, 1841), he thus wrote to the same friend:\n\"Now remember Moses wist not that the skin of his face shone. Looking\nat our own shining face is the bane of the spiritual life and of the\nministry. Oh for closest communion with God, till soul and body--head,\nface, and heart--shine with divine brilliancy! but oh for a holy\nignorance of our shining! Pray for this; for you need it as well as\nI.\"\n\nTo another friend in the ministry who had written to him despondingly\nabout his people and the times, his reply was, \"I am sure there never\nwas a time when the Spirit of God was more present in Scotland, and it\ndoes not become you to murmur in your tents, but rather to give\nthanks. Remember, we may grieve the Spirit as truly by not joyfully\nacknowledging his wonders as by not praying for Him. There is the\nclearest evidence that God is saving souls in Kilsyth, Dundee, Perth,\nCollace, Blairgowrie, Strathbogie, Ross-shire, Breadalbane, Kelso,\nJedburgh, Ancrum; and surely it becomes us to say, 'I thank my God\nupon every remembrance of you.' Forgive my presumption; but I fear\nlest you hurt your own peace and usefulness in not praising God enough\nfor the operation of his hands.\" To another: \"I have told you that you\nneeded trial, and now it is come. May you be exercised thereby, and\ncome to that happy 'afterwards' of which the apostle speaks,\" To the\nsame again \"Remember the necessity of your own soul, and do not grow\nslack or lean in feeding others. 'Mine own vineyard have I not kept.'\nAh, take heed of that!\" And in a similar tone of faithfulness at an\nafter period: \"Remember the case of your own soul. 'What will it\nprofit a man to gain the whole world and lose his own soul?' Remember\nhow often Paul appeals to his holy, just, unblameable life. Oh that we\nmay be able always to do the same!\" \"Remember the priming-knife,\" he\nsays to another, \"and do not let your vine run to wood.\" And after a\nvisit to Mr. Thornton of Milnathort, in whose parish there had been an\nawakening, he asks a brother, \"Mr. Thornton is willing that others be\nblessed more than himself; do you think that you have that grace? I\nfind that I am never so successful as when I can lie at Christ's feet,\nwilling to be used or not as seemeth good in his sight. Do you\nremember David? 'If the Lord say, I have no delight in thee; behold,\nhere am I; let Him do to me as seemeth good unto Him.'\"\n\nIn his familiar letters, as in his life, there was the manifestation\nof a bright, cheerful soul, without the least tendency to levity. When\nhis medical attendant had, on one occasion, declined any remuneration,\nMr. M'Cheyne peremptorily opposed his purpose; and to overcome his\nreluctance, returned the inclosure in a letter, in which he used his\npoetical gifts with most pleasant humor.\n\nTo many it was a subject of wonder that he found time to write\nletters that always breathed the name of Jesus, amid his innumerable\nengagements. But the truth was, his letters cost him no expenditure of\ntime; they were ever the fresh thoughts and feelings of his soul at\nthe moment he took up the pen; his habitual frame of soul is what\nappears in them all; the calm, holy, tenderly affectionate style of\nhis letters reminds us of Samuel Rutherford, whose works he delighted\nto read,--excepting only that his joy never seems to have risen to\necstasies. The selection of his letters which I have made for\npublication, may exhibit somewhat of his holy skill in dropping a word\nfor his Master on all occasions. But what impressed many yet more, was\nhis manner of introducing the truth, most naturally and strikingly,\neven in the shortest note he penned; and there was something so\nelegant, as well as solemn, in his few words at the close of some of\nhis letters, that these remained deep in the receiver's heart. Writing\nto Mr. G.S., on July 28, 1841, he thus draws to a close: \"Remember me\nto H.T. I pray he may be kept abiding in Christ. Kindest regards to\nhis mother. Say to her from me, 'Pass the time of your sojourning here\nin fear, forasmuch as ye know ye were not redeemed with corruptible\nthings such as silver and gold' (I Peter 1:17, 18). Keep your own\nheart, dear brother, 'in the love of God' (Jude 21)--in his love to\nyou, and that will draw your love to Him. Kindest remembrances to your\nbrother. Say to him, 'Be sober and hope to the end' (I Peter 1:13). To\nyour own dear mother say, 'He doth not afflict willingly.' Write me\nsoon.--Ever yours, till time shall be no more.\" In a note to the\nmembers of his own family: \"The Tay is before me now like a\nresplendent mirror, glistening in the morning sun. May the same sun\nshine sweetly on you, and may He that makes it shine, shine into your\nhearts to give you the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of\nJesus Christ.--In haste, your affectionate son and brother.\" There\nwere often such last words as the following: \"Oh for drops in the\npastures of the wilderness! The smiles of Jesus be with you, and the\nbreathings of the Holy Ghost. Ever yours.\" (To Rev. J. Milne.) \"May we\nhave gales passing from Perth to this, and from here to you, and from\nheaven to both. Ever yours.\" (To the same.) \"The time is short;\neternity is near; yea, the coming of Christ the second time is at\nhand. Make sure of being one with the Lord Jesus, that you may be glad\nwhen you see Him. Commending you all to our Father in heaven,\" etc.\n(To his own brother.) \"I have a host of letters before me, and\ntherefore can add no more. I give you a parting text, 'Sorrowful, yet\nalways rejoicing.'\" Another: \"Farewell! yours till the day dawn.\" To\nthe Rev. Hor. Bonar he says, at the close of a letter about some\nministerial arrangements: \"I am humbled and cheered by what you say of\ngood done in Kelso. Roll on, roll on, river of God, that art full of\nwater! A woman came to me, awakened under your sermon to the children\nin the Cross Church, very bitterly convinced of sin. Glory to the\nDivine Archer, who bringeth down the people!\" He closes a letter to a\nstudent thus: \"Grace be with you, and much of the knowledge of\nJesus--much of his likeness. I thirst for the knowledge of the word\nbut most of all of Jesus himself, the true Word. May He abide in you,\nand you in Him! The Fear of Isaac watch over you.\" In concluding a\nletter to Mr. Bonar of Larbert, in February 1843, some weeks before\nhis last illness, he writes: \"My soul often goes out at the throne of\ngrace in behalf of Larbert and Dunipace. May the disruption be more\nblessed to them than days of peace! How sweet to be in the ark when\nthe deluge comes down! Ever yours in gospel bonds.\"\n\nThe Jewish Mission continued near his heart, \"the nearest,\" said he to\nMr. Edwards, who is now at Jassy, \"of all missionary enterprises. Were\nit not for my own unfitness, and also the success the Lord has given\nme where I am, I would joyfully devote myself to it.\" In connection\nwith this cause, he was invited to visit Ireland, and be present at\nthe meeting of the Synod of our Presbyterian brethren in the summer of\n1840. When preparing to set out, he notices the hand of his Master\nguiding him:--\"_July 2._--Expected to have been in Ireland this day.\nDetained by not being able to get supply for Sabbath, in the good\nprovidence of God; for this evening there was a considerable awakening\nin the church while I was preaching upon Phil. 3:18, 'Enemies of the\ncross of Christ,' When that part was expounded, there was a loud and\nbitter weeping,--probably thirty or forty seemed to share in it; the\nrest deeply impressed,--many secretly praying.\" On the Sabbath\nfollowing, one person was so overcome as to be carried out of the\nchurch.\n\nHe set out for Ireland on the 7th, and on the 10th witnessed at\nBelfast the union between the Synod of Ulster and the Secession. He\nspeaks of it as a most solemn scene--500 ministers and elders present.\nDuring his stay there, he pleaded the cause of the Jews in Mr.\nMorgan's church, Mr. Wilson's, and some others; and also visited Mr.\nKirkpatrick at Dublin. He preached the way of salvation to the\nGentiles in all his pleadings for Israel. His visit was blessed to\nawaken a deep interest in the cause of the Jews, and his words sank\ninto the consciences of some. His sermon on Ezek. 34:16 was felt by\nsome to be indescribably impressive; and when he preached on Rom.\n1:16, 17, many ministers, as they came out, were heard saying, \"How\nwas it we never thought of the duty of remembering Israel before?\" On\nanother occasion, the people to whom he had preached entreated their\nminister to try and get him again, and if he could not preach to them,\nthat at least he should pray once more with them.\n\nHe was not, however, long absent from home on this occasion. On the\n25th I find him recording: \"Reached home; entirely unprepared for the\nevening. Spoke on Psalm 51:12, 13, 'Restore unto me the joy,' etc.\nThere seemed much of the presence of God,--first one crying out in\nextreme agony, then another. Many were deeply melted, and all\nsolemnized. Felt a good deal of freedom in speaking of the glory of\nChrist's salvation. Coming down, I spoke quietly to some whom I knew\nto be under deep concern. They were soon heard together weeping\nbitterly; many more joined them. Mr. Cumming spoke to them in a most\ntouching strain, while I dealt privately with several in the vestry.\nTheir cries were often very bitter and piercing, bitterest when the\nfreeness of Christ was pressed upon them, and the lion's nearness.\nSeveral were offended; but I felt no hesitation as to our duty to\ndeclare the simple truth impressively, and leave God to work in their\nhearts in his own way. If He save souls in a quiet way, I shall be\nhappy; if in the midst of cries and tears, still I will bless his\nname. One painful thing has occurred: a man who pretends to be a\nmissionary for Israel, and who brings forward the apocryphal book of\nEnoch, has been among my people in my absence, and many have been led\nafter him. How humbling is this to them and to me! Lord, what is man!\nThis may be blessed, 1st, to discover chaff which we thought to be\nwheat; 2nd, to lead some to greater distrust of themselves, when their\neyes are opened: 3rd, to teach me the need of solidly instructing\nthose who seem to have grace in their hearts.\"\n\nThe work of God went on, so much so at this time, that he gave it as\nhis belief, in a letter to Mr. Purves of Jedburgh, that for some\nmonths about this period no minister of Christ had preached in a\nlively manner, without being blessed to some soul among his flock.\n\nIn other places of Scotland also the Lord was then pouring out his\nSpirit. Perth has been already mentioned, and its vicinity. Throughout\nRoss-shire, whole congregations were frequently moved as one man, and\nthe voice of the minister drowned in the cries of anxious souls. At\nKelso, where Mr. Horace Bonar laboured, and at Jedburgh, where Mr.\nPurves was pastor, a more silent, but very solid work of conversion\nwas advancing. At Ancrum (once the scene of John Livingston's\nlabors), the whole parish, but especially the men of the place, were\nawakened to the most solemn concern. On Lochtayside, where Mr. Burns\nwas for a season laboring, there were marks of the Spirit everywhere;\nand the people crossing the lake in hundreds, to listen to the words\nof life on the hillside, called to mind the people of Galilee in the\ndays when the gospel began to be preached. At Lawers, Mr. Campbell,\ntheir pastor (who has now fallen asleep in Jesus), spoke of the\nawakening as \"like a resurrection.\" so great and sudden was the change\nfrom deadness to intense concern. On several occasions, the Spirit\nseemed to sweep over the congregations like wind over the fields,\nwhich bends the heavy corn to the earth. It was evident to discerning\nminds that the Lord was preparing Scotland for some crisis not far\ndistant.\n\nSeveral districts of Strathbogie had shared to some extent in a\nsimilar blessing. Faithful ministers were now everywhere on the watch\nfor the shower, and were greatly strengthened to go forward boldly in\nseeking to cleanse the sanctuary. It was their fond hope that the\nEstablished Church of Scotland would soon become an example and\npattern to the nations of a pure church of Christ, acknowledged and\nupheld by the State without being trammelled in any degree, far less\ncontrolled by civil interference. But Satan was stirring up\nadversaries on every side.\n\nThe Court of Session had adopted a line of procedure that was at once\narbitrary and unconstitutional. And now that Court interdicted, under\nthe penalty of fine or imprisonment, all the ministers of the Church\nof Scotland from administering ordinances or preaching the word in any\nof the seven parishes of Strathbogie, whose former incumbents had been\nsuspended from office by the General Assembly for ecclesiastical\noffences. The church saw it to be her duty to refuse obedience to an\ninterdict which hindered the preaching of Jesus, and attempted to\ncrush her constitutional liberties. Accordingly, ministers were sent\nto these districts, fearless of the result; and under their preaching\nthe gross darkness of the region began to give way to the light of\ntruth.\n\nIn the month of August, Mr. M'Cheyne was appointed, along with Mr.\nCumming of Dumbarney, to visit Huntly, and dispense the Lord's Supper\nthere. As he set out, he expressed the hope, that \"the dews of the\nSpirit there might be turned into the pouring rain.\" His own visit was\nblessed to many. Mr. Cumming preached the action sermon in the open\nair at the Meadow Well; but the tables were served within the building\nwhere the congregation usually met. Mr. M'Cheyne preached in the\nevening to a vast multitude at the well; and about a hundred waited\nafter sermon for prayer, many of them in deep anxiety.\n\nHe came to Edinburgh on the 11th, to attend the meeting of ministers\nand elders who had come together to sign the _Solemn Engagement_ in\ndefence of the liberties of Christ's church. He hesitated not to put\nhis hand to the Engagement. He then returned to Dundee; and scarcely\nhad he returned, when he was laid aside by one of those attacks of\nillness with which he was so often tried. In this case, however, it\nsoon passed away. \"My health,\" he remarked, \"has taken a gracious\nturn, which should make me look up.\" But again, on September 6, an\nattack of fever laid him down for six days. On this occasion, just\nbefore the sickness came on, three persons had visited him, to tell\nhim how they were brought to Christ under his ministry some years\nbefore. \"Why,\" he noted in his journal, \"Why has God brought these\ncases before me _this week_? Surely He is preparing me for some trial\nof faith.\" The result proved that his conjecture was just. And while\nhis Master prepared him beforehand for these trials, He had ends to\naccomplish in his servant by means of them. There were other trials,\nalso, besides these, which were very heavy to him; but in all we could\ndiscern the Husbandman pruning the branch, that it might bear more\nfruit. As he himself said one day in the church of Abernyte, when he\nwas assisting Mr. Manson, \"If we only saw the whole, we should see\nthat the Father is doing little else in the world but _training his\nvines_.\"\n\nHis preaching became more and more to him a work of faith. Often I\nfind him writing at the close or beginning of a sermon: \"Master,\nhelp!\" \"Help, Lord, help!\" \"Send showers;\" \"Pardon, give the Spirit,\nand take the glory;\" \"May the opening of my lips he right things!\" The\npiercing effects of the word preached on souls at this season may be\njudged of from what one of the awakened, with whom he was conversing,\nsaid to him, \"_I think hell would be some relief from an angry God._\"\n\nHis delight in preaching was very great. He himself used to say that\nhe could scarcely ever resist an invitation to preach. And this did\nnot arise from the natural excitement there is in commanding the\nattention of thousands; for he was equally ready to proclaim Christ to\nsmall country flocks. Nay, he was ready to travel far to visit and\ncomfort even one soul. There was an occasion this year on which he\nrode far to give a cup of cold water to a disciple, and his remark\nwas, \"I observe how often Jesus went a long way for one soul, as for\nexample the maniac, and the woman of Canaan.\"\n\nIn February 1841, he visited Kelso and Jedburgh at the Communion\nseason; and gladly complied with an invitation to Ancrum also, that he\nmight witness the hand of the Lord. \"Sweet are the spots,\" he wrote,\n\"where Immanuel has ever shown his glorious power in the conviction\nand conversion of sinners. The world loves to muse on the scenes where\nbattles were fought and victories won. Should not we love the spots\nwhere our great Captain has won his amazing victories? Is not the\nconversion of a soul more worthy to be spoken of than the taking of\nAcre?\" At Kelso, some will long remember his remarks in visiting a\nlittle girl, to whom he said, \"Christ gives last knocks. When your\nheart becomes hard and careless, then fear lest Christ may have given\na _last knock_.\" At Jedburgh, the impression left was chiefly that\nthere had been among them a man of peculiar holiness. Some felt, not\nso much his words, as his presence and holy solemnity, as if one spoke\nto them who was standing in the presence of God; and to others his\nprayers appeared like the breathings of one already within the veil.\n\nI find him proposing to a minister who was going up to the General\nAssembly that year, \"that the Assembly should draw out a _Confession\nof Sin_ for all its ministers.\" The state, also, of parishes under the\ndireful influence of Moderatism, lay much upon his spirit. In his\ndiary he writes: \"Have been laying much to heart the absolute\nnecessity laid upon the church of sending the gospel to our dead\nparishes, during the life of the present incumbents. It is confessed\nthat many of our ministers do not preach the gospel--alas! because\nthey know it not. Yet they have complete control over their own\npulpits, and may never suffer the truth to be heard there during their\nwhole incumbency. And yet our church consigns these parishes to their\ntender mercies for perhaps fifty years, without a sigh! Should not\ncertain men be ordained as evangelists, with full power to preach in\nevery pulpit of their district,--faithful, judicious, lively\npreachers, who may go from parish to parish, and thus carry life into\nmany a dead corner?\" This was a subject he often reverted to; and he\neagerly held up the example of the Presbytery of Aberdeen, who made a\nproposal to this effect. From some of his later letters, it appears\nthat he had sometimes seriously weighed the duty of giving up his\nfixed charge, if only the church would ordain him as an evangelist. So\ndeep were his feelings on this matter, that a friend relates of him,\nthat as they rode together through a parish where the pastor \"clothed\nhimself with the wool, but fed not the flock,\" he knit his brow and\nraised his hand with vehemence as he spoke of the people left to\nperish under such a minister.\n\nHe was invited to visit Ireland again this year, his former visit\nhaving been much valued by the Presbyterian brethren there. He did so\nin July. Many were greatly stirred up by his preaching, and by his\ndetails of God's work in Scotland. His sermon on Song 8:5, 6, is still\nspoken of by many. His prayerfulness and consistent holiness left\nenduring impressions on not a few; and it was during his visit that a\nmemorial was presented to the Irish Assembly in behalf of a Jewish\nmission. His visit was in a great measure the means of setting that\nmission on foot.\n\nCordially entering into the proposal of the concert for prayer, he\ntook part, in September of this year, in the preliminary meetings in\nwhich Christians of all denominations joined. \"How sweet are the\nsmallest approximations to unity!\" is his remark in his diary. Indeed,\nhe so much longed for a scriptural unity, that some time after, when\nthe General Assembly had repealed the statute of 1799, he embraced the\nopportunity of showing his sincere desire for unity, by inviting two\ndissenting brethren to his pipit, and then writing in defence of his\nconduct when attacked. In reference to this matter, he observed, in a\nnote to a friend: \"I have been much delighted with the 25th and 26th\nchapters of the _Confession of Faith_. Oh for the grace of the\nWestminster divines to be poured out upon this generation of lesser\nmen!\"\n\nAs it was evident that his Master owned his labor abundantly, by\ngiving him seals of his apostleship, there were attempts made\noccasionally by zealous friends to induce him to remove to other\nspheres. In all these cases, he looked simply at the apparent\nindications of the Lord's will. Worldly interest seemed scarcely ever\nto cross his mind in regard to such a matter, for he truly lived a\ndisinterested life. His views may be judged of by one instance,--a\nletter to Mr. Heriot of Ramornie, in reference to a charge which many\nwere anxious to offer him:--\n\n                                          \"Dundee, _Dec. 24, 1841_\n\n   \"DEAR SIR,--I have received a letter from my friend Mr.\n   M'Farlane of Collessie, asking what I would do if the people of\n   Kettle were to write desiring me to be their minister. He also\n   desires me to send an answer to you. I have been asked to leave\n   this place again and again, but have never seen my way clear to\n   do so. I feel quite at the disposal of my Divine Master. I gave\n   myself away to Him when I began my ministry, and He has guided\n   me as by the Pillar Cloud from the first day till now. I think I\n   would leave this place to-morrow if He were to _bid_ me; but as\n   to _seeking removal, I dare not_ and _could not_. If my\n   ministry were unsuccessful,--if God frowned upon the place and\n   made my message void,--then I would willingly go, for I would\n   rather beg my bread than preach without success; but I have\n   never wanted success. I do not think I can speak a month in this\n   parish without winning some souls. This very week, I think, has\n   been a fruitful one,--more so than many for a long time, which\n   perhaps was intended graciously to free me from all hesitation\n   in declining your kind offer. I mention these things not, I\n   trust, boastfully, but only to show you the ground upon which I\n   feel it to be my duty not for a moment to entertain the\n   proposal. I have 4000 souls here hanging on me. I have as much\n   of this world's goods as I care for. I have full liberty to\n   preach the gospel night and day; and the Spirit of God is often\n   with us. What can I desire more? 'I dwell among mine own\n   people.' Hundreds look to me as a father; and I fear I would be\n   but a false shepherd if I were to leave them when the clouds of\n   adversity are beginning to lower. I know the need of Kettle, and\n   its importance; and also the dark prospect of your getting a\n   godly minister. Still that is a future event in the hand of God.\n   My duty is made plain and simple according to God's word.\n\n   \"Praying that the Lord Jesus may send you a star from his own\n   right hand, believe me to be,\" etc.\n\nIt was during this year that the Sabbath question began to interest\nhim so much. His tract, _I Love the Lord's Day_, was published\nDecember 18; but he had already exerted himself much in this cause, as\nconvener of the Committee of Presbytery on Sabbath Observance, and had\nwritten his well-known letter to one of the chief defenders of the\nSabbath desecration. He continued unceasingly to use every effort in\nthis holy cause. And is it not worth the prayers and self-denying\nefforts of every believing man? Is not that day set apart as a season\nwherein the Lord desires the refreshing rest of his own love to be\noffered to a fallen world? Is it not designed to be a day on which\nevery other voice and sound is to be hushed, in order that the silver\ntrumpets may proclaim atonement for sinners? Nay, it is understood to\nbe a day wherein God himself stands before the altar and pleads with\nsinners to accept the Lamb slain, from morning to evening. Who is\nthere that does not see the deep design of Satan in seeking to effect\nan inroad on this most merciful appointment of God our Saviour?\n\nMr. M'Cheyne's own conduct was in full accordance with his principles\nin regard to strict yet cheerful Sabbath observance. Considering it\nthe summit of human privilege to be admitted to fellowship with God,\nhis principle was, that the Lord's day was to be spent wholly in the\nenjoyment of that sweetest privilege. A letter, written at a later\nperiod, but bearing on this subject, will show how he felt this day to\nbe better than a thousand. An individual, near Inverness, had\nconsulted him on a point of sabbatical casuistry: the question was,\nWhether or not it was sinful to spend time in registering\nmeteorological observations on the Sabbaths? His reply was the\nfollowing, marked by a holy wisdom, and discovering the place which\nthe Lord held in his inmost soul:--\n\n                                              \"_Dec. 7, 1842_\n\n  \"DEAR FRIEND,--You ask me a hard question. Had you asked me _what\n  I would do in the case_, I could easily tell you. I love the\n  Lord's day too well to be marking down the height of the\n  thermometer and barometer every hour. I have other work to do,\n  higher and better, and more like that of angels above. The more\n  entirely I can give my Sabbaths to God, and half forget that I am\n  not before the throne of the Lamb, with my harp of gold, the\n  happier am I, and I feel it my duty to be as happy as I can be,\n  and as God intended me to be. The joy of the Lord is my strength.\n  But whether another Christian can spend the Sabbath is his\n  service, and mark down degrees of heat and atmospherical\n  pressure, without letting down the warmth of his affections, or\n  losing the atmosphere of heaven, I cannot tell. My conscience is\n  not the rule of another man. One thing we may learn from these\n  men of science, namely, to be as careful in marking the changes\n  and progress of our own spirit, as they are in marking the\n  changes of the weather. An hour should never pass without our\n  looking up to God for forgiveness and peace. This is the noblest\n  science, to know how to live in hourly communion with God in\n  Christ. May you and I know more of this, and thank God that we\n  are not among the wise and prudent from whom these things are\n  hid!--The grace of the Lord of the Sabbath be with you,\" etc.\n\n\nUp till this period, the _Narrative of our Mission to Israel_ had not\nbeen given to the public. Interruptions, arising from multiplicity of\nlabors and constant calls of duty, had from time to time come in our\nway. Mr. M'Cheyne found it exceedingly difficult to spare a day or two\nat a time in order to take part. \"I find it hard work to carry on the\nwork of a diligent pastor and that of an author at the same time. How\nJohn Calvin would have smiled at my difficulties!\" At length, however,\nin the month of March 1842, we resolved to gain time by exchanging\neach other's pastoral duties for a month. Accordingly, during four or\nfive weeks, he remained in Collace, my flock enjoying his Sabbath-day\nservices and his occasional visits, while he was set free from what\nwould have been the never-ceasing interruptions of his own town.\n\nMany a pleasant remembrance remains of these days, as sheet after\nsheet passed under the eyes of our mutual criticism. Though intent on\naccomplishing his work, he kept by his rule, \"that he must first see\nthe face of God before he could undertake any duty.\" Often would he\nwander in the mornings among the pleasant woods of Dunsinnan, till he\nhad drunk in refreshment to his soul by meditation on the word of God;\nand then he took up the pen. And to a brother in the ministry, who had\none day broken in upon his close occupation, he afterwards wrote: \"You\nknow you stole away my day; yet I trust all was not lost. I think I\nhave had more grace ever since that prayer among the fir-trees. Oh to\nbe _like_ Jesus, and _with_ him to all eternity!\" Occasionally, during\nthe same period, he wrote some pieces for the _Christian's Daily\nCompanion_. The _Narrative_ was finished in May, and the Lord has made\nit acceptable to the brethren.\n\nWhen this work was finished, the Lord had other employment ready for\nhim in his own parish. His diary has this entry: \"_May 22._--I have\nseen some very evident awakenings of late. J.G. awakened partly\nthrough the word preached, and partly through the faithful warnings of\nher fellow-servant. A.R., who has been for about a year in the deepest\ndistress, seeking rest, but finding none. B.M. converted last winter\nat the Tuesday meeting in Annfield. She was brought very rapidly to\npeace with God, and to a calm, sedate, prayerful state of mind. I was\nsurprised at the quickness of the work in this case, and pleased with\nthe clear tokens of grace; and now I see God's gracious end in it.\nShe was to be admitted at last communion, but caught fever before the\nSabbath. On Tuesday last, she died in great peace and joy. When she\nfelt death coming on, she said, 'Oh death, death, come! let us sing!'\nMany that knew her have been a good deal moved homeward by this solemn\nprovidence. This evening, I invited those to come who are leaving the\nparish at this term. About twenty came, to whom I gave tracts and\nwords of warning. _I feel persuaded that if I could follow the Lord\nmore fully myself, my ministry would be used to make a deeper\nimpression than it has yet done._\"\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER VI.\n\nTHE LATTER DAYS OF HIS MINISTRY.\n\n   \"_My meat is to do the will of Him that sent me, and to finish\n   his work._\"--John 4:34.\n\n\nDuring the summer of 1842, he was exposed to several attacks of\nillness, experienced some severe personal trials, and felt the\nassaults of sore temptation. His own words will best express his\nstate: \"_July 17._--I am myself much tempted, and have no hope, but as\na worm on the arm of Jesus.\" \"Aug. 4.--Often, often, would I have been\nglad to depart, and be with Christ. I am now much better in body and\nmind, having a little of the presence of my beloved, whose absence is\ndeath to me.\" The same month: \"I have been carried through deep\nwaters, bodily and spiritual, since last we met.\" It was his own\npersuasion that few had more to struggle with in the inner man. Who\ncan tell what wars go on within?\n\nDuring this season of trial, he was invited to form one of a number of\nministers from Scotland, who were to visit the north of England, with\nno other purpose than to preach the glad tidings. The scheme was\nplanned by a Christian gentleman, who has done much for Christ in his\ngeneration. When the invitation reached him, he was in the heat of his\nfurnace. He mentioned this to the brother who corresponded with him on\nthe subject, Mr. Purves of Jedburgh, whose reply was balm to his\nspirit ... \"I have a fellow-feeling with you in your present\ninfirmity, and you know for your consolation that another has, who is\na brother indeed. In all our afflictions, He is afflicted. He is, we\nmay say, the common heart of his people, for they are one body; and an\ninfirmity in the very remotest and meanest member is felt _there_ and\nborne _there_. Let us console, solace, yea, satiate ourselves in Him,\nas, amid afflictions especially, brother does in brother. It is\nblessed to be like Him in everything, even in suffering. There is a\ngreat want about all Christians who have not suffered. Some flowers\nmust be broken or bruised before they emit any fragrance. All the\nwounds of Christ send out sweetness; all the sorrows of Christians do\nthe same. Commend me to a bruised brother,--a broken reed,--one like\nthe Son of man. The Man of Sorrows is never far from him. To me there\nis something sacred and sweet in all suffering; it is so much akin to\nthe Man of Sorrows.\" It was thus he suffered, and thus that he was\ncomforted. He wrote back, agreeing to go, and added. \"Remember me\nespecially, who am heavy laden oftentimes. My heart is all of sin; but\nJesus lives.\"\n\nThey set out for England. Mr. Purves, Mr. Somerville of Anderston, Mr.\nCumming of Dumbarney, and Mr. Bonar of Kelso, formed the company.\nTheir chief station was Newcastle, where Mr. Burns had been recently\nlaboring with some success, and where he had seen \"a town giving\nitself up to utter ungodliness, a town where Satan's trenches were\ndeep and wide, his wall strong and high, his garrison great and\nfearless, and where all that man could do seemed but as arrows shot\nagainst a tower of brass.\" But those who went knew that the Spirit of\nGod was omnipotent, and that He could take the prey from the mighty.\n\nThey preached both in the open air, and in the places of worship\nbelonging to the Presbyterians and to the Wesleyan Methodists. The\ndefenders of the Sabbath cause were specially prepared to welcome Mr.\nM'Cheyne, whose tract on the Lord's Day has been widely circulated and\nblessed. Many were attracted to hear; interesting congregations\nassembled in the market-place, and there is reason to believe many\nwere impressed. A person in the town describes Mr. M'Cheyne's last\naddress as being peculiarly awakening. He preached in the open air, in\na space of ground between the Cloth Market and St. Nicholas' Church.\nAbove a thousand souls were present, and the service continued till\nten, without one person moving from the ground. The moon shone\nbrightly, and the sky was spangled with stars. His subject was, \"The\nGreat White Throne\" (Rev. 20:11). In concluding his address, he told\nthem \"that they would never meet again till they all met at the\njudgment-seat of Christ; but the glorious heavens over their heads,\nand the bright moon that shone upon them, and the old venerable\nchurch behind them, were his witnesses that he had set before them\nlife and death.\" Some will have cause to remember that night through\neternity.[19]\n\n     [19] He afterwards preached the same subject with equal\n     impressiveness in the Meadows at Dundee. It was in the open air and\n     the rain fell heavy, yet the dense crowd stood still to the last.\n\nHis preaching at Gilsland also was not without effect; and he had good\ncause to bless the Lord for bringing him through Dumfriesshire in his\nway homeward. He returned to his people in the beginning of September,\nfull of peace and joy. \"I have returned much stronger, indeed quite\nwell. I think I have got some precious souls for my hire on my way\nhome. I earnestly long for more grace and personal holiness, and more\nusefulness.\"\n\nThe sunsets during that autumn were peculiarly beautiful. Scarcely a\nday passed but he gazed upon the glowing west after dinner; and as he\ngazed he would speak of the Sun of Righteousness, or the joy of angels\nin his presence, or the blessedness of those whose sun can go no more\ndown, till his face shone with gladness as he spoke. And during the\nwinter he was observed to be peculiarly joyful, being strong in body,\nand feeling the near presence of Jesus in his soul. He lived in the\nblessed consciousness that he was a child of God, humble and meek,\njust because he was fully assured that Jehovah was his God and Father.\nMany often felt that in prayer the name \"Holy Father\" was breathed\nwith peculiar tenderness and solemnity from his lips.\n\nHis flock in St. Peter's began to murmur at his absence, when again he\nleft them for ten days in November, to assist Mr. Hamilton of Regent\nSquare, London, at his communion. But it was his desire for souls that\nthus led him from place to place, combined with a growing feeling that\nthe Lord was calling him to evangelistic more than to pastoral labors.\nThis visit was a blessed one; and the growth of his soul in holiness\nwas visible to many. During the days of his visit to Mr. Hamilton, he\nread through the Song of Solomon at the time of family worship,\ncommenting briefly on it with rare gracefulness and poetic taste, and\nyet rarer manifestation of soul-filling love to the Saviour's person.\nThe sanctified affections of his soul, and his insight into the mind\nof Jesus, seemed to have much affected his friends on these\noccasions.\n\nReceiving, while here, an invitation to return by the way of Kelso, he\nreplied:--\n\n                                     \"London, _Nov. 5, 1842._\n\n  \"My dear Horatius,--Our friends here will not let me away till\n  the Friday morning, so that it will require all my diligence to\n  reach Dundee before the Sabbath. I will thus be disappointed of\n  the joy of seeing you, and ministering a word to your dear flock.\n  Oh that my soul were new moulded, and I were effectually called a\n  second time, and made a vessel full of the Spirit, to tell only\n  of Jesus and his love! I fear I shall never be in this world what\n  I desire. I have preached three times here; a few tears also have\n  been shed. Oh for Whitfield's week in London, when a thousand\n  letters came! The same Jesus reigns; the same Spirit is able. Why\n  is He restrained? Is the sin ours? Are we the bottle-stoppers of\n  these heavenly dews? Ever yours till glory.\n\n  \"_P.S._--We shall meet, God willing, at the Convocation.\"\n\nThe memorable Convocation met at Edinburgh on November 17th. There\nwere five hundred ministers present from all parts of Scotland. The\nencroachment of the civil courts upon the prerogatives of Christ, the\nonly Head acknowledged by our church, and the negligent treatment\nhitherto given by the legislature of the country to every remonstrance\non the part of the church, had brought on a crisis. The Church of\nScotland had maintained, from the days of the Reformation, that her\nconnection with the State was understood to imply no surrender\nwhatsoever of complete independence in regulating all spiritual\nmatters; and to have allowed any civil authority to control her in\ndoctrine, discipline, or any spiritual act, would have been a daring\nand flagrant act of treachery to her Lord and King. The deliberations\nof the Convocation continued during eight days, and the momentous\nresults are well known in this land.\n\nMr. M'Cheyne was never absent from any of the diets of this solemn\nassembly. He felt the deepest interest in every matter that came\nbefore them, got great light as to the path of duty in the course of\nthe consultations, and put his name to all the resolutions, heartily\nsympathizing in the decided determination that, as a church of Christ,\nwe must abandon our connection with the State, if our \"Claim of\nRights\" were rejected. These eight days were times of remarkable\nunion and prayerfulness. The proceedings, from time to time, were\nsuspended till the brethren had again asked counsel of the Lord by\nprayer; and none present will forget the affecting solemnity with\nwhich, on one occasion, Mr. M'Cheyne poured out our wants before the\nLord.\n\nHe had a decided abhorrence of Erastianism. When the question was put\nto him, \"Is it our duty to refuse ordination to any one who holds the\nviews of Erastianism?\" he replied,--\"Certainly, whatever be his other\nqualifications.\" He was ever a thorough Presbyterian, and used to\nmaintain the necessity of abolishing lay patronage, because,--1st, It\nwas not to be found in the word of God; 2nd, It destroyed the duty of\n\"trying the spirits;\" 3rd, It meddled with the headship of Christ,\ncoming in between Him and his people, saying, \"I will place the\nstars.\" But still more decided was he in regard to the spiritual\nindependence of the church. This he reckoned a vital question: and in\nprospect of the disruption of the Church of Scotland, if it were\ndenied, he stated at a public meeting,--1st, That it was to be\ndeplored in some respects, viz., because of the sufferings of God's\nfaithful servants, the degradation of those who remained behind, the\nalienation of the aristocracy, the perdition of the ungodly, and the\nsin of the nation. But, 2nd, It was to be hailed for other reasons,\nviz., Christ's kingly offices would be better known, the truth would\nbe spread into desolate parishes, and faithful ministers would be\nrefined. And when, on March 7th of the following year, the cause of\nthe church was finally to be pleaded at the bar of the House of\nCommons, I find him writing: \"Eventful night this in the British\nParliament! Once more King Jesus stands at an earthly tribunal, and\nthey know Him not!\"\n\nAn interesting anecdote is related of him by a co-presbyter, who\nreturned with him to Dundee after the Convocation. This co-presbyter,\nMr. Stewart, was conversing with him as to what it might be their duty\nto do in the event of the disruption, and where they might be\nscattered. Mr. Stewart said he could preach Gaelic, and might go to\nthe Highlanders in Canada, if it were needful. Mr. M'Cheyne said, \"I\nthink of going to the many thousand convicts that are transported\nbeyond seas, for no man careth for their souls.\"\n\nWe have not many records of his public work after this date. Almost\nthe last note in his diary is dated December 25: \"This day ordained\nfour elders, and admitted a fifth, who will all, I trust, be a\nblessing in this place when I am gone. Was graciously awakened a great\nwhile before day, and had two hours alone with God. Preached with much\ncomfort on I Tim. 5:17, 'Let the elders that rule well,' etc. At the\nend of the sermon and prayer, proposed the regular questions; then\nmade the congregation sing standing; during which time I came down\nfrom the pulpit and stood over the four men, then prayed, and all the\nelders gave the right hand of fellowship, during which I returned to\nthe pulpit, and addressed them and the congregation on their relative\nduties. Altogether a solemn scene.\"\n\nThe last recorded cases of awakening, and the last entry in his diary,\nis dated January 6, 1843: \"Heard of an awakened soul finding\nrest--true rest, I trust. Two new cases of awakening; both very deep\nand touching. At the very time when I was beginning to give up in\ndespair, God gives me tokens of his presence returning.\"\n\nHe here speaks of discouragement, when God for a few months or weeks\nseemed to be withholding his hand from saving souls. If he was not\nright in thus hastily forgetting the past for a little, still this\nfeature of his ministry is to be well considered. He entertained so\nfull a persuasion that a faithful minister has every reason to expect\nto see souls converted under him, that when this was withheld, he\nbegan to fear that some hidden evil was provoking the Lord and\ngrieving the Spirit. And ought it not to be so with all of us? Ought\nwe not to suspect, either that we are not living near to God, or that\nour message is not a true transcript of the glad tidings, in both\nmatter and manner, when we see no souls brought to Jesus? God may\ncertainly hide from our knowledge much of what He accomplishes by our\nmeans, but as certainly will He bring to our view some seals of our\nministry, in order that our persuasion of being thus sent by Him may\nsolemnize and overawe us, as well as lead us on to unwearied labor.\nOught it not to be the inscription over the doors of our Assembly and\nCollege halls: \"_Thanks be unto God, which always causeth us to\ntriumph in Christ, and maketh manifest the savour of his knowledge by\nus in every place?_\" II Cor. 2:14.\n\nAbout this time, in one of his MSS., there occurs this sentence: \"As I\nwas walking in the fields, the thought came over me with almost\noverwhelming power, that every one of my flock must soon be in heaven\nor hell. Oh, how I wished that I had a tongue like thunder, that I\nmight make all hear; or that I had a frame like iron, that I might\nvisit every one, and say, 'Escape for thy life!' Ah, sinners! you\nlittle know how I fear that you will lay the blame of your damnation\nat my door.\"\n\nHe was never satisfied with his own attainments in holiness; he was\never ready to learn, and quick to apply, any suggestion that might\ntend to his greater usefulness. About this period he used to sing a\npsalm or hymn every day after dinner. It was often, \"The Lord's my\nshepherd,\" etc.; or, \"Oh may we stand before the Lamb!\" etc. Sometimes\nit was that hymn, _Oh for a closer walk with God!_ and sometimes the\npsalm, \"Oh that I like a dove had wings!\" etc. A friend said of him.\n\"I have sometimes compared him to the silver and graceful ash, with\nits pensile branches, and leaves of gentle green, reflecting gleams of\nhappy sunshine. The fall of its leaf, too, is like the fall of\nhis,--it is green to-night and gone to-morrow, it does not sere nor\nwither.\"\n\nAn experienced servant of God has said, that, while popularity is a\nsnare that few are not caught by, a more subtle and dangerous snare is\nto be _famed for holiness_. The fame of being a godly man is as great\na snare as the fame of being learned or eloquent. It is possible to\nattend with scrupulous anxiety even to secret habits of devotion, in\norder to get a name for holiness.[20] If any were exposed to this\nsnare in his day, Mr. M'Cheyne was the person. Yet nothing is more\ncertain than that, to the very last, he was ever discovering, and\nsuccessfully resisting, the deceitful tendencies of his own heart and\na tempting devil. Two things he seems never to have ceased from,--the\ncultivation of personal holiness, and the most anxious efforts to save\nsouls.\n\n     [20] How true, yet awful, is the language of Dr Owen (quoted in\n     Bridges' _Christian Ministry_, p. 168), \"He that would go down to\n     the pit in peace, let him obtain a great repute for religion; let\n     him preach and labour to make other better than he is himself, and\n     in the meantime neglect to humble his heart, to walk with God in\n     manifest holiness and usefulness, and he will not fail of his end.\"\n\nAbout this time he wrote down, for his own use, an examination into\nthings that ought to be amended and changed. I subjoin it entire. How\nsingularly close and impartial are these researches into his soul! How\nacute is he in discovering his variations from the holy law of God! Oh\nthat we all were taught by the same spirit thus to try our reins! It\nis only when we are thus thoroughly experiencing our helplessness, and\ndiscovering the thousand forms of indwelling sin, that we really sit\nas disciples at Christ's feet, and gladly receive Him as all in all!\nAnd at each such moment we feel in the spirit of Ignatius, \"[Greek:\nNyn gar arch\u00ean ech\u00f4 tou math\u00eateuesthai]\"--\"It is only now that I\nbegin to be a disciple.\"\n\nMr. M'Cheyne entitles the examination of his heart and life\n_\"Reformation\"_ and it commences thus:--\n\n   \"It is the duty of ministers in this day to begin the\n   reformation of religion and manners with themselves, families,\n   etc., with confession of past sin, earnest prayer for direction,\n   grace, and full purpose of heart. Mal. 3:3--'He shall purify the\n   sons of Levi.' Ministers are probably laid aside for a time for\n   this very purpose.\n\n                \"1. _Personal Reformation._\n\n   \"I am persuaded that I shall obtain the highest amount of\n   present happiness, I shall do most for God's glory and the good\n   of man, and I shall have the fullest reward in eternity, by\n   maintaining a conscience always washed in Christ's blood, by\n   being filled with the Holy Spirit at all times, and by attaining\n   the most entire likeness to Christ in mind, will, and heart,\n   that is possible for a redeemed sinner to attain to in this\n   world.\n\n   \"I am persuaded that whenever any one from without, or my own\n   heart from within, at any moment, or in any circumstances,\n   contradicts this,--if any one shall insinuate that it is not for\n   my present and eternal happiness, and for God's glory and my\n   usefulness, to maintain a blood-washed conscience, to be\n   entirely filled with the Spirit, and to be fully conformed to\n   the image of Christ in all things,--that is the voice of the\n   devil, God's enemy, the enemy of my soul and of all good--the\n   most foolish, wicked, and miserable of all the creatures. See\n   Prov. 9:17--'Stolen waters are sweet.'\n\n   \"1. _To maintain a conscience void of offence_, I am persuaded\n   that I ought to confess my sins more. I think I ought to confess\n   sin the moment I see it to be sin; whether I am in company, or\n   in study, or even preaching, the soul ought to cast a glance of\n   abhorrence at the sin. If I go on with the duty, leaving the sin\n   unconfessed, I go on with a burdened conscience, and add sin to\n   sin. I think I ought at certain times of the day--my best\n   times,--say, after breakfast and after tea,--to confess solemnly\n   the sins of the previous hours, and to seek their complete\n   remission.\n\n   \"I find that the devil often makes use of the confession of sin\n   to stir up again the very sin confessed into new exercise, so\n   that I am afraid to dwell upon the confession. I must ask\n   experienced Christians about this. For the present, I think I\n   should strive against this awful abuse of confession, whereby\n   the devil seeks to frighten me away from confessing. I ought to\n   take all methods for seeing the vileness of my sins. I ought to\n   regard myself as a condemned branch of Adam,--as partaker of a\n   nature opposite to God from the womb (Ps. 51.),--as having a\n   heart full of all wickedness, which pollutes every thought,\n   word, and action, during my whole life, from birth to death. I\n   ought to confess often the sins of my youth, like David and\n   Paul,--my sins before conversion, my sins since\n   conversion,--sins against light and knowledge, against love and\n   grace, against each person of the Godhead. I ought to look at my\n   sins in the light of the holy law, in the light of God's\n   countenance, in the light of the cross, in the light of the\n   judgment-seat, in the light of hell, in the light of eternity. I\n   ought to examine my dreams--my floating thoughts--my\n   predilections--my often recurring actions--my habits of thought,\n   feeling, speech, and action--the slanders of my enemies and the\n   reproofs, and even banterings, of my friends--to find out traces\n   of my prevailing sin, matter for confession. I ought to have a\n   stated day of confession, with fasting--say, once a month. I\n   ought to have a number of scriptures marked, to bring sin to\n   remembrance. I ought to make use of all bodily affliction,\n   domestic trial, frowns of providence on myself, house, parish,\n   church, or country, as calls from God to confess sin. The sins\n   and afflictions of other men should call me to the same. I\n   ought, on Sabbath evenings, and on Communion Sabbath evenings,\n   to be especially careful to confess the sins of holy things. I\n   ought to confess the sins of my confessions,--their imperfections,\n   sinful aims, self-righteous tendency, etc.,--and to look to\n   Christ as having confessed my sins perfectly over his own\n   sacrifice.\n\n   \"I ought to go to Christ for the forgiveness of each sin. In\n   washing my body, I go over every spot, and wash it out. Should I\n   be less careful in washing my soul? I ought to see the stripe\n   that was made on the back of Jesus by each of my sins. I ought\n   to see the infinite pang thrill through the soul of Jesus equal\n   to an eternity of my hell for my sins, and for all of them. I\n   ought to see that in Christ's bloodshedding there is an infinite\n   over-payment for all my sins. Although Christ did not suffer\n   more than infinite justice demanded, yet He could not suffer at\n   all without laying down an infinite ransom.\n\n   \"I feel, when I have sinned, an immediate reluctance to go to\n   Christ. I am ashamed to go. I feel as if it would do no good to\n   go,--as if it were making Christ a minister of sin, to go\n   straight from the swine-trough to the best robe,--and a thousand\n   other excuses; but I am persuaded they are all lies, direct from\n   hell. John argues the opposite way: 'If any man sin, we have an\n   advocate with the Father;' Jer. 3:1 and a thousand other\n   scriptures are against it. I am sure there is neither peace nor\n   safety from deeper sin, but in going directly to the Lord Jesus\n   Christ. This is God's way of peace and holiness. It is folly to\n   the world and the beclouded heart, but it is _the way_.\n\n   \"I must never think a sin too small to need immediate\n   application to the blood of Christ. If I put away a good\n   conscience, concerning faith I make shipwreck. I must never\n   think my sins too great, too aggravated, too presumptuous,--as\n   when done on my knees, or in preaching, or by a dying bed, or\n   during dangerous illness,--to hinder me from fleeing to Christ.\n   The weight of my sins should act like the weight of a clock: the\n   heavier it is, it makes it go the faster.\n\n   \"I must not only wash in Christ's blood, but clothe me in\n   Christ's obedience. For every sin of omission in self, I may\n   find a divinely perfect obedience ready for me in Christ. For\n   every sin of commission in self, I may find not only a stripe or\n   a wound in Christ, but also a perfect rendering of the opposite\n   obedience in my place, so that the law is magnified, its curse\n   more than carried, its demand more than answered.\n\n   \"Often the doctrine of _Christ for me_ appears common, well\n   known, having nothing new in it; and I am tempted to pass it by\n   and go to some scripture more taking. This is the devil\n   again,--a red-hot lie. _Christ for us_ is ever new, ever\n   glorious. 'Unsearchable riches of Christ,'--an infinite object,\n   and the only one for a guilty soul. I ought to have a number of\n   scriptures ready, which lead my blind soul directly to Christ,\n   such as Isaiah 45, Rom. 3.\n\n   \"2. _To be filled with the Holy Spirit_, I am persuaded that I\n   ought to study more my own weakness. I ought to have a number of\n   scriptures ready to be meditated on, such as Rom. 7, John 15, to\n   convince me that I am a helpless worm.\n\n   \"I am tempted to think that I am now an established\n   Christian,--that I have overcome this or that lust so\n   long,--that I have got into the habit of the opposite grace,--so\n   that there is no fear; I may venture very near the\n   temptation--nearer than other men. This is a lie of Satan. I\n   might as well speak of gunpowder getting by habit a power of\n   resisting fire, so as not to catch the spark. As long as powder\n   is wet, it resists the spark; but when it becomes dry, it is\n   ready to explode at the first touch. As long as the Spirit\n   dwells in my heart He deadens me to sin, so that, if lawfully\n   called through temptation, I may reckon upon God carrying me\n   through. But when the Spirit leaves me, I am like dry gunpowder.\n   Oh for a sense of this!\n\n   \"I am tempted to think that there are some sins for which I have\n   no natural taste, such as strong drink, profane language, etc.,\n   so that I need not fear temptation to such sins. This is a\n   lie,--a proud, presumptuous lie. The seeds of all sins, are in\n   my heart, and perhaps all the more dangerously that I do not see\n   them.\n\n   \"I ought to pray and labor for the deepest sense of my utter\n   weakness and helplessness that ever a sinner was brought to\n   feel. I am helpless in respect of every lust that ever was, or\n   ever will be, in the human heart. I am a worm--a beast--before\n   God. I often tremble to think that this is true. I feel as if it\n   would not be safe for me to renounce all indwelling strength, as\n   if it would be dangerous for me to feel (what is the truth) that\n   there is nothing in me keeping me back from the grossest and\n   vilest sin. This is a delusion of the devil. My only safety is\n   to know, feel, and confess my helplessness, that I may hang upon\n   the arm of Omnipotence ... I daily wish that sin had been rooted\n   out of my heart. I say, 'Why did God leave the root of\n   lasciviousness, pride, anger, etc., in my bosom? He hates sin,\n   and I hate it; why did He not take it clean away?' I know many\n   answers to this which completely satisfy my judgment, but still\n   I do not _feel_ satisfied. This is wrong. It is right to be\n   weary of the being of sin, but not right to quarrel with my\n   present 'good fight of faith.' ... The falls of professors into\n   sin make me tremble. I have been driven away from prayer, and\n   burdened in a fearful manner by hearing or seeing their sin.\n   This is wrong. It is right to tremble, and to make every sin of\n   every professor a lesson of my own helplessness; but it should\n   lead me the more to Christ ... If I were more deeply convinced\n   of my utter helplessness, I think I would not be so alarmed when\n   I hear of the falls of other men ... I should study those sins\n   in which I am most helpless, in which passion becomes like a\n   whirlwind and I like a straw. No figure of speech can represent\n   my utter want of power to resist the torrent of sin ... I ought\n   to study Christ's omnipotence more: Heb. 7:25, I Thess. 5:23,\n   Rom. 6:14, Rom. 5:9, 10, and such scriptures, should be ever\n   before me ... Paul's thorn, II Cor. 12, is the experience of the\n   greater part of my life. It should be ever before me ... There\n   are many subsidiary methods of seeking deliverance from sins,\n   which must not be neglected,--thus, marriage, I Cor. 7:2;\n   fleeing, I Tim. 6:11, I Cor. 6:18; watch and pray, Matt. 26:41;\n   the word, 'It is written, It is written.' So Christ defended\n   himself; Matt. 4. ... But the main defence is casting myself\n   into the arms of Christ like a helpless child, and beseeching\n   Him to fill me with the Holy Spirit. 'This is the victory that\n   overcometh the world, even our faith,' I John 5:4, 5,--a\n   wonderful passage.\n\n   \"I ought to study Christ as a living Saviour more,--as a\n   Shepherd, carrying the sheep He finds,--as a King, reigning in\n   and over the souls He has redeemed,--as a Captain, fighting with\n   those who fight with me, Ps. 35.,--as one who has engaged to\n   bring me through all temptations and trials, however impossible\n   to flesh and blood.\n\n   \"I am often tempted to say, How can this Man save us? How can\n   Christ in heaven deliver me from lusts which I feel raging in\n   me, and nets I feel enclosing me? This is the father of lies\n   again! 'He is able to save unto the uttermost.'\n\n   \"I ought to study Christ as an Intercessor. He prayed most for\n   Peter, who was to be most tempted. I am on his breastplate. If I\n   could hear Christ praying for me in the next room, I would not\n   fear a million of enemies. Yet the distance makes no difference;\n   He is praying for me.\n\n   \"I ought to study the Comforter more,--his Godhead, his love,\n   his almightiness. I have found by experience that nothing\n   sanctifies me so much as meditating on the Comforter, as John\n   14:16. And yet how seldom I do this! Satan keeps me from it. I\n   am often like those men who said, They knew not if there be any\n   Holy Ghost ... I ought never to forget that my body is dwelt in\n   by the third Person of the Godhead. The very thought of this\n   should make me tremble to sin; I Cor. 6 ... I ought never to\n   forget that sin grieves the Holy Spirit,--vexes and quenches Him\n   ... If I would be filled with the Spirit, I feel I must read the\n   Bible more, pray more, and watch more.\n\n   \"3. _To gain entire likeness to Christ_, I ought to get a high\n   esteem of the happiness of it. I am persuaded that God's\n   happiness is inseparably linked in with his holiness. Holiness\n   and happiness are like light and heat. God never tasted one of\n   the pleasures of sin.\n\n   \"Christ had a body such as I have, yet He never tasted one of\n   the pleasures of sin. The redeemed, through all eternity, will\n   never taste one of the pleasures of sin; yet their happiness is\n   complete. It would be my greatest happiness to be from this\n   moment entirely like them. Every sin is something away from my\n   greatest enjoyment ... The devil strives night and day to make\n   me forget this or disbelieve it. He says, Why should you not\n   enjoy this pleasure as much as Solomon or David? You may go to\n   heaven also. I am persuaded that this is a lie,--that my true\n   happiness is to go and sin no more.\n\n   \"I ought not to delay parting with sins. Now is God's time. 'I\n   made haste and delayed not.' ... I ought not to spare sins\n   because I have long allowed them as infirmities, and others\n   would think it odd if I were to change all at once. What a\n   wretched delusion of Satan that is!\n\n   \"Whatever I see to be sin, I ought from this hour to set my\n   whole soul against it, using all scriptural methods to mortify\n   it, as the Scriptures, special prayer for the Spirit, fasting,\n   watching.\n\n   \"I ought to mark strictly the occasions when I have fallen, and\n   avoid the occasion as much as the sin itself.\n\n   \"Satan often tempts me to go as near to temptations as possible\n   without committing the sin. This is fearful,--tempting God and\n   grieving the Holy Ghost. It is a deep-laid plot of Satan.\n\n   \"I ought to flee all temptation, according to Prov. 4:15--Avoid\n   it, pass not by it, turn from it, and pass away.' ... I ought\n   constantly to pour out my heart to God, praying for entire\n   conformity to Christ--for the whole law to be written on my\n   heart ... I ought statedly and solemnly to give my heart to\n   God--to surrender my all into his everlasting arms, according to\n   the prayer, Ps. 31., 'Into thine hand I commit my\n   spirit,'--beseeching Him not to let any iniquity, secret or\n   presumptuous, have dominion over me, and to fill me with every\n   grace that is in Christ, in the highest degree that it is\n   possible for redeemed sinner to receive it, and at all times,\n   till death.\n\n   \"I ought to meditate often on heaven as a world of\n   holiness,--where all are holy, where the joy is holy joy, the\n   work holy work; so that, without personal holiness, I never can\n   be there ... I ought to avoid the appearance of evil. God\n   commands me; and I find that Satan has a singular art in linking\n   the appearance and reality together.\n\n   \"I find that speaking of some sins defiles my mind and leads me\n   into temptation; and I find that God forbids even saints to\n   speak of the things that are done of them in secret. I ought to\n   avoid this.\n\n   \"Eve, Achan, David, all fell through the lust of the eye. I\n   should make a covenant with mine, and pray, 'Turn away mine eyes\n   from viewing vanity.' ... Satan makes unconverted men like the\n   deaf adder to the sound of the gospel. I should pray to be made\n   deaf by the Holy Spirit to all that would tempt me to sin.\n\n   \"One of my most frequent occasions of being led into temptation\n   is this,--I say it is needful to my office that I listen to\n   this, or look into this, or speak of this. So far this is true;\n   yet I am sure Satan has his part in this argument. I should seek\n   divine direction to settle how far it will be good for my\n   ministry, and how far evil for my soul, that I may avoid the\n   latter.\n\n   \"I am persuaded that nothing is thriving in my soul unless it is\n   growing. 'Grow in grace.' 'Lord, increase our faith.'\n   'Forgetting the things that are behind.' ... I am persuaded that\n   I ought to be inquiring at God and man what grace I want, and\n   how I may become more like Christ ... I ought to strive for more\n   purity, humility, meekness, patience under suffering, love.\n   'Make me Christ-like in all things,' should be my constant\n   prayer. 'Fill me with the Holy Spirit.'\n\n              \"2. _Reformation in Secret Prayer._\n\n   \"I ought not to omit any of the parts of prayer--confession,\n   adoration, thanksgiving, petition, and intercession.\n\n   \"There is a fearful tendency to omit _confession_, proceeding\n   from low views of God and his law, slight views of my heart and\n   the sins of my past life. This must be resisted. There is a\n   constant tendency to omit _adoration_, when I forget to whom I\n   am speaking--when I rush heedlessly into the presence of\n   Jehovah, without remembering his awful name and character--when\n   I have little eyesight for his glory, and little admiration of\n   his wonders. 'Where are the wise?' I have the native tendency of\n   the heart to omit _giving thanks_. And yet it is specially\n   commanded, Phil. 4:6. Often when the heart is selfish, dead to\n   the salvation of others, I omit _intercession_. And yet it\n   especially is the spirit of the great Advocate, who has the name\n   of Israel always on his heart.\n\n   \"Perhaps every prayer need not have all these; but surely a day\n   should not pass without some space being devoted to each.\n\n   \"I ought to pray before seeing any one. Often when I sleep long,\n   or meet with others early, and then have family prayer, and\n   breakfast, and forenoon callers, often it is eleven or twelve\n   o'clock before I begin secret prayer. This is a wretched system.\n   It is unscriptural. Christ rose before day, and went into a\n   solitary place. David says, 'Early will I seek Thee; Thou shalt\n   early hear my voice.' Mary Magdalene came to the sepulchre while\n   it was yet dark. Family prayer loses much of its power and\n   sweetness; and I can do no good to those who come to seek from\n   me. The conscience feels guilty, the soul unfed, the lamp not\n   trimmed. Then, when secret prayer comes, the soul is often out\n   of tune. I feel it is far better to begin with God--to see his\n   face first--to get my soul near Him before it is near another.\n   'When I awake I am still with Thee.'\n\n   \"If I have slept too long, or am going an early journey, or my\n   time is any way shortened, it is best to dress hurriedly, and\n   have a few minutes alone with God, than to give it up for lost.\n\n   \"But in general, it is best to have at least one hour _alone\n   with God_, before engaging in anything else. At the same time, I\n   must be careful not to reckon communion with God by minutes or\n   hours, or by solitude. I have pored over my Bible, and on my\n   knees for hours, with little or no communion; and my times of\n   solitude have been often times of greatest temptation.\n\n   \"As to _intercession_, I ought daily to intercede for my own\n   family, connections, relatives, and friends; also for my\n   flock,--the believers, the awakened, the careless; the sick, the\n   bereaved; the poor, the rich; my elders, Sabbath-school\n   teachers, day-school teachers, children, tract-distributors,\n   that all means may be blessed--Sabbath-day preaching and\n   teaching; visiting of the sick, visiting from house to house;\n   providences, sacraments. I ought daily to intercede briefly for\n   the whole town, the Church of Scotland, all faithful ministers;\n   for vacant congregations, students of divinity, etc.; for dear\n   brethren by name; for missionaries to Jews and Gentiles, and for\n   this end I must read missionary intelligence regularly, and get\n   acquainted with all that is doing throughout the world. It would\n   stir me up to pray with the map before me. I must have a scheme\n   of prayer, also the names of missionaries marked on the map. I\n   ought to intercede at large for the above on Saturday morning\n   and evening from seven to eight. Perhaps also I might take\n   different parts for different days; only I ought daily to plead\n   for my family and flock. I ought to pray in everything. 'Be\n   careful for nothing, but in _everything_ ... by prayer and\n   supplication, make your requests known unto God.' Often I\n   receive a letter asking to preach, or some such request. I find\n   myself answering before having asked counsel of God. Still\n   oftener a person calls and asks me something, and I do not ask\n   direction. Often I go out to visit a sick person in a hurry,\n   without asking his blessing, which alone can make the visit of\n   any use. I am persuaded that I ought never to do anything\n   without prayer, and, if possible, special, secret prayer.\n\n   \"In reading the history of the Church of Scotland, I see how\n   much her troubles and trials have been connected with the\n   salvation of souls and the glory of Christ. I ought to pray far\n   more for our church, for our leading ministers by name, and for\n   my own clear guidance in the right way, that I may not be led\n   aside, or driven aside, from following Christ. Many difficult\n   questions may be forced on us for which I am not fully prepared,\n   such as the lawfulness of covenants. I should pray much more in\n   peaceful days, that I may be guided rightly when days of trial\n   come.\n\n   \"I ought to spend the best hours of the day in communion with\n   God. It is my noblest and most fruitful employment, and is not\n   to be thrust into any corner. The morning hours, from six to\n   eight, are the most uninterrupted, and should be thus employed,\n   if I can prevent drowsiness. A little time after breakfast might\n   be given to intercession. After tea is my best hour, and that\n   should be solemnly dedicated to God, if possible.\n\n   \"I ought not to give up the good old habit of prayer before\n   going to bed; but guard must be kept against sleep: planning\n   what things I am to ask is the best remedy. When I awake in the\n   night, I ought to rise and pray, as David and as John Welsh did.\n\n   \"I ought to read three chapters of the Bible in secret every\n   day, at least.\n\n   \"I ought on Sabbath morning to look over all the chapters read\n   through the week, and especially the verses marked. I ought to\n   read in three different places; I ought also to read according\n   to subjects, lives,\" etc.\n\nHe has evidently left this unfinished, and now he knows even as he is\nknown.\n\nToward the end of his ministry, he became peculiarly jealous of\nbecoming an idol to his people; for he was loved and revered by many\nwho gave no evidence of love to Christ. This often pained him much. It\nis indeed right in a people to regard their pastor with no common love\n(II Cor. 9:14), but there is ever a danger ready to arise. He used to\nsay, \"Ministers are but the pole; it is to the brazen serpent you are\nto look.\"\n\nThe state of his health would not permit him to be laborious in going\nfrom house to house, whereas preaching and evangelistic work in\ngeneral was less exhausting; but of course, while he was thus engaged,\nmany concerns of the parish would be unattended to; accordingly his\nSession offered him a stated assistant to help him in his parochial\nduty. With this proposal he at once concurred. Mr. Gatherer, then at\nCaraldstone, was chosen, and continued to labor faithfully with him\nduring the remaining days of his ministry.\n\nIn the beginning of the year he published his _Daily Bread_, an\narrangement of Scripture, that the Bible might be read through in the\ncourse of a year. He sought to induce his people to meditate much on the\nwritten word in all its breadth. His last publication was, _Another Lily\nGathered_, or the account of James Laing, a little boy in his flock,\nbrought to Christ early, and carried soon to glory.\n\nIn the middle of January 1843, he visited Collace, and preached on I\nCor. 9:27: \"A Castaway\"--a sermon so solemn that one said it was like\na blast of the trumpet that would awaken the dead. Next day he rode on\nto Lintrathen, where the people were willing to give up their work\nat mid-day, if he would come and preach to them. All this month he was\nbreathing after glory. In his letters there are such expressions as\nthese: \"I often pray, Lord, make me as holy as a pardoned sinner can\nbe made.\" \"Often, often I would like to depart and be with Christ--to\nmount to Pisgah-top and take a farewell look of the church below, and\nleave my body and be present with the Lord. Ah, it is far better!\"\nAgain: \"I do not expect to live long. I expect a sudden call some\nday--perhaps soon, and therefore I speak very plainly.\" But, indeed,\nhe had long been persuaded that his course would be brief. His hearers\nremember well how often he would speak in such language as that with\nwhich he one day closed his sermon: \"Changes are coming; every eye\nbefore me shall soon be dim in death. Another pastor shall feed this\nflock; another singer lead the psalm; another flock shall fill this\nfold.\"\n\nIn the beginning of February, by appointment of the Committee of the\nConvocation, he accompanied Mr. Alexander of Zirkcaldy to visit the\ndistricts of Deer and Ellon--districts over which he yearned, for\nModeratism had held undisputed sway over them for generations. It was\nto be his last evangelistic tour. He exemplified his own remark, \"The\noil of the lamp in the temple burnt away in giving light; so should\nwe.\"\n\nHe set out, says one that saw him leave town, as unclouded and happy\nas the sky that was above his head that bright morning. During the\nspace of three weeks, he preached or spoke at meetings in\nfour-and-twenty places, sometimes more than once in the same place.\nGreat impression was made upon the people of the district. One who\ntracked his footsteps a month after his death states, that sympathy\nwith the principles of our suffering church was awakened in many\nplaces; but, above all, a thirst was excited for the pure word of\nlife. His eminently holy walk and conversation, combined with the deep\nsolemnity of his preaching, was specially felt. The people loved to\nspeak of him. In one place, where a meeting had been intimated, the\npeople assembled, resolving to cast stones at him as soon as he should\nbegin to speak; but so sooner had he begun, than his manner, his look,\nhis words, riveted them all, and they listened with intense\nearnestness; and before he left the place, the people gathered round\nhim, entreating him to stay and preach to them. One man, who had cast\nmud at him, was afterwards moved to tears on hearing of his death.\n\nHe wrote to Mr. Gatherer, February 14, \"I had a nice opportunity of\npreaching in Aberdeen; and in Peterhead our meeting was truly\nsuccessful. The minister of St. Fergus I found to be what you\ndescribed. We had a solemn meeting in his church. In Strichen, we had\na meeting in the Independent Meeting-house. On Friday evening, we had\ntwo delightful meetings, in a mill at Crechie, and in the church of\nClola. The people were evidently much impressed, some weeping. On\nSaturday evening we met in the Brucklay barn. I preached on Sabbath,\nat New Deer in the morning, and at Fraserburgh in the evening--both\ninteresting meetings. To-night we met in Pitsligo church. To-morrow we\ntrust to be in Aberdour; and then we leave for the Presbytery of\nEllon. The weather has been delightful till now. To-day the snow is\nbeginning to drift. But God is with us, and He will carry us to the\nvery end. I am quite well, though a little fatigued sometimes.\" On the\n24th, he writes to another friend, \"To-day is the first we have\nrested since leaving home, so that I am almost overcome with fatigue.\nDo not be idle; improve in all useful knowledge. You know what an\nenemy I am to idleness.\"\n\nNever was it more felt that God was with him than in this journey. The\nLord seemed to show in him the meaning of the text, \"Out of his belly\nshall flow rivers of living water,\" John 7:38. Even when silent, the\nnear intercourse he held with God left its impression on those around.\nHis _constant holiness_ touched the conscience of many.\n\nReturning to his beloved flock on March 1st, in good health, but much\nexhausted, he related, next evening, at his prayer-meeting, what\nthings he had seen and heard. During the next twelve days he was to be\nfound going out and in among his people, filling up, as his manner\nwas, every inch of time. But he had been much weakened by his\nunceasing exertions when in the north, and he was more than ordinarily\nexposed to the typhus fever that was then prevailing in his parish,\nseveral cases of which he visited in his enfeebled state.\n\nOn Sabbath the 5th, he preached three times; and two days after, I\nfind him writing to his father: \"All domestic matters go on like a\nplacid stream--I trust not without its fertilizing influence. Nothing\nis more improving than the domestic altar, when we come to it for a\ndaily supply of soul nourishment.\" To the last we get glances into his\nsoul's growth. His family devotions were full of life and full of\ngladness to the end. Indeed, his very manner in reading the chapter\nreminded you of a man poring into the sands for pieces of fine gold,\nand from time to time holding up to you what he delighted to have\nfound.\n\nOn Sabbath the 12th, he preached upon Heb. 9:15 in the forenoon, and\nRom. 9:22, 23, in the afternoon, with uncommon solemnity; and it was\nobserved, both then and on other late occasions, he spoke with\npeculiar strength upon the sovereignty of God. These were his last\ndiscourses to his people in St. Peter's. That same evening he went\ndown to Broughty Ferry, and preached upon Isaiah 60:1, \"Arise, shine.\"\netc. It was the last time he was to be engaged directly in proclaiming\nChrist to sinners; and as he began his ministry with souls for his\nhire, so it appears that his last discourse had in it saving power to\nsome, and that rather from the holiness it breathed than from the\nwisdom of its words. After his death, a note was found unopened,\nwhich had been sent to him in the course of the following week, when\nhe lay in the fever. It ran thus: \"I hope you will pardon a stranger\nfor addressing to you a few lines. I heard you preach last Sabbath\nevening, and it pleased God to bless that sermon to my soul. It was\nnot so much what you said, as your manner of speaking that struck me.\nI saw in you a beauty in holiness that I never saw before. You also\nsaid something in your prayer that struck me very much. It was, '_Thou\nknowest that we love Thee._' Oh, sir, what would I give that I could\nsay to my blessed Saviour, 'Thou knowest that I love Thee!'\"\n\nNext evening he held a meeting in St. Peter's, with the view of\norganizing his people for collecting in behalf of the Free Protesting\nChurch,--the disruption of the Establishment being now inevitable. He\nspoke very fervently; and after the meeting felt chilled and unwell.\nNext morning he felt that he was ill; but went out in the afternoon to\nthe marriage of two of his flock. He seemed, however, to anticipate a\nserious attack, for, on his way home, he made some arrangements\nconnected with his ministerial work, and left a message at Dr.\nGibson's house, asking him to come and see him. He believed that he\nhad taken the fever, and it was so. That night he lay down upon the\nbed from which he was never to rise. He spoke little, but intimated\nthat he apprehended danger.\n\nOn Wednesday, he said he thought that he would never have seen the\nmorning, he felt so sore broken, and had got no sleep; but afterwards\nadded, \"Shall we receive good at the hand of the Lord, and shall we\nnot receive evil also?\" He seemed clouded in spirit, often repeating\nsuch passages as--\"My moisture is turned into the drought of\nsummer;\"--\"My bones wax old, through my roaring all day long.\" It was\nwith difficulty that he was able to speak a few words with his\nassistant, Mr. Gatherer. In the forenoon, Mr. Miller of Wallacetown\nfound him oppressed with extreme pain in his head. Amongst other\nthings they conversed upon Ps. 126. On coming to the 6th verse, Mr.\nM'Cheyne said he would give him a division of it. 1. _What is\nsowed_--\"Precious seed.\" 2. _The manner of sowing it_--\"Goeth forth\nand weepeth.\" He dwelt upon \"_weepeth_\" and then said, \"Ministers\nshould go forth at all times.\" 3. _The fruit_--\"Shall doubtless come\nagain with rejoicing.\" Mr. Miller pointed to the _certainty_ of it;\nMr. M'Cheyne assented, \"Yes--_doubtless_.\" After praying with him, Mr.\nMiller repeated Matt. 11:28, upon which Mr. M'Cheyne clasped his hands\nwith great earnestness. As he became worse, his medical attendants\nforbade him to be visited. Once or twice he asked for me, and was\nheard to speak of \"_Smyrna_\" as if the associations of his illness\nthere were recalled by his burning fever now. I was not at that time\naware of his danger, even the rumor of it had not reached us.\n\nNext day, he continued sunk in body and mind, till about the time when\nhis people met for their usual evening prayer-meeting, when he\nrequested to be left alone for half an hour. When his servant entered\nthe room again, he exclaimed, with a joyful voice. \"My soul is escaped\nas a bird out of the snare of the fowler; the snare is broken, and I\nam escaped.\" His countenance, as he said this, bespoke inward peace.\nEver after he was observed to be happy; and at supper-time that\nevening, when taking a little refreshment, he gave thanks, \"For\nstrength in the time of weakness--for light in the time of\ndarkness--for joy in the time of sorrow--for comforting us in all our\ntribulations, that we may be able to comfort those that are in any\ntrouble, by the comfort wherewith we ourselves are comforted of God.\"\n\nOn Sabbath, when one expressed a wish that he had been able to go\nforth as usual to preach, he replied, \"My thoughts are not your\nthoughts, neither are my ways your ways, saith the Lord;\" and added,\n\"I am preaching the sermon that God would have me to do.\"\n\nOn Tuesday (the 21st) his sister repeated to him several hymns. The\nlast words he heard, and the last he seemed to understand, were those\nof Cowper's hymn, _Sometimes the light surprises the Christian as he\nsings_. And then the delirium came on.\n\nAt one time, during the delirium, he said to his attendant, \"Mind the\ntext, I Cor. 15:58--'Be stedfast, unmoveable, always abounding in the\nwork of the Lord,'\" dwelling with much emphasis on the last clause,\n\"_forasmuch as ye know that your labor is not in vain in the Lord_.\"\nAt another time he seemed to feel himself among his brethren, and\nsaid, \"I don't think much of policy in church courts; no, I hate it;\nbut I'll tell you what I like, faithfulness to God, and a holy walk.\"\nHis voice, which had been weak before, became very strong now; and\noften was he heard speaking to or praying for his people. \"You must\nbe awakened in time, or you will be awakened in everlasting torment,\nto your eternal confusion.\" \"You may soon get me away, but that will\nnot save your souls.\" Then he prayed, \"This parish, Lord, this people,\nthis whole place!\" At another time, \"Do it thyself, Lord, for thy weak\nservant.\" And again, as if praying for the saints, \"Holy Father, keep\nthrough thine own name those whom Thou hast given me.\"\n\nThus he continued most generally engaged, while the delirium lasted,\neither in prayer or in preaching to his people, and always apparently\nin happy frame, till the morning of Saturday the 25th. On that\nmorning, while his kind medical attendant, Dr. Gibson, stood by, he\nlifted up his hands as if in the attitude of pronouncing the blessing,\nand then sank down. Not a groan or a sigh, but only a quiver of the\nlip, and his soul was at rest.\n\nAs he was subject to frequent sickness, it was not till within some\ndays of his death that serious alarm was generally felt, and hence the\nstroke came with awful suddenness upon us all. That same afternoon,\nwhile preparing for Sabbath duties, the tidings reached me. I hastened\ndown, though scarce knowing why I went. His people were that evening\nmet together in the church, and such a scene of sorrow has not often\nbeen witnessed in Scotland. It was like the weeping for King Josiah.\nHundreds were there; the lower part of the church was full: and none\namong them seemed able to contain their sorrow. Every heart seemed\nbursting with grief, so that the weeping and the cries could be heard\nafar off. The Lord had most severely wounded the people whom He had\nbefore so peculiarly favored; and now, by this awful stroke of his\nhand, was fixing deeper in their souls all that his servant had spoken\nin the days of his peculiar ministry.\n\nWherever the news of his departure came, every Christian countenance\nwas darkened with sadness. Perhaps, never was the death of one, whose\nwhole occupation had been preaching the everlasting gospel, more felt\nby all the saints of God in Scotland. Not a few also of our\nPresbyterian brethren in Ireland felt the blow to the very heart. He\nhimself used to say, \"Live so as to be missed;\" and none that saw the\ntears that were shed over his death would have doubted that his own\nlife had been what he recommended to others. He had not completed\nmore than twenty-nine years when God took him.\n\nOn the day of his burial, business was quite suspended in the parish.\nThe streets, and every window, from the house to the grave, were\ncrowded with those who felt that a prince in Israel had fallen; and\nmany a careless man felt a secret awe creep over his hardened soul as\nhe cast his eye on the solemn spectacle.\n\nHis tomb may be seen on the pathway at the north-west corner of St.\nPeter's burying-ground. He has gone to the \"mountain of myrrh and the\nhill of frankincense, till the day break and the shadows flee away.\"\nHis work was finished! His heavenly Father had not another plant for\nhim to water, nor another vine for him to train; and the Saviour who\nso loved him was waiting to greet him with his own welcome: \"Well\ndone, good and faithful servant, enter thou into the joy of thy Lord.\"\n\nBut what is the voice to us? Has this been sent as the stroke of\nwrath, or the rebuke of love? \"His way is in the sea, and his path in\nthe great waters, and his footsteps are not known.\" Only this much we\ncan clearly see, that nothing was more fitted to leave his character\nand example impressed on our remembrance forever than his early death.\nThere might be envy while he lived; there is none now. There might\nhave been some of the youthful attractiveness of his graces lost had\nhe lived many years; this cannot be impaired now. It seems as if the\nLord had struck the flower from its stem, ere any of the colors had\nlost their bright hue, or any leaf of fragrance.\n\nWell may the flock of St. Peter's lay it to heart. They have had days\nof visitation. \"Ye have seen the right hand of the Lord plucked out of\nhis bosom? What shall the unsaved among you do in the day of the\nLord's anger?\" \"If thou hadst known, even thou, at least in this thy\nday, the things which belong to thy peace!\"\n\nIt has been more than once the lot of Scotland (as was said in the\ndays of Durham) to enjoy so much of the Lord's kindness, as to have\nmen to lose whose loss has been felt to the very heart--witnesses for\nChrist, who saw the King's face and testified of his beauty. We cannot\nweep them back; but shall we not call upon Him with whom is the\nresidue of the Spirit, that ere the Lord come. He would raise up men,\nlike Enoch, or like Paul, who shall reach nearer the stature of the\nperfect man, and bear witness with more power to all nations? Are\nthere not (as he who has left us used to hope) \"better ministers in\nstore for Scotland than any that have yet arisen?\"\n\nMinisters of Christ, does not the Lord call upon us especially? Many\nof us are like the angel of the church of Ephesus: we have \"works, and\nlabor, and patience, and cannot bear them that are evil, and we have\nborne, and for his name's sake we labor, and have not fainted;\" but we\nwant the fervor of \"first love.\" Oh how seldom now do we hear of fresh\nsupplies of holiness arriving from the heavenly places (Eph. 1:3)--new\ngrace appearing among the saints, and in living ministers! We get\ncontented with our old measure and kind, as if the windows of heaven\nwere never to be opened. Few among us see the lower depths of the\nhorrible pit; few ever enter the inner chambers of the house of David.\n\nBut there has been one among us who, ere he had reached the age at\nwhich a priest in Israel would have been entering on his course, dwelt\nat the Mercy-seat as if it were his home,--preached the certainties of\neternal life with an undoubting mind,--and spent his nights and days\nin ceaseless breathings after holiness, and the salvation of sinners.\nHundreds of souls were his reward from the Lord, ere he left us; and\nin him have we been taught how much one man may do who will only press\nfarther into the presence of his God, and handle more skilfully the\nunsearchable riches of Christ, and speak more boldly for his God. We\nspeak much against unfaithful ministers, while we ourselves are\nawfully unfaithful! Are we never afraid that the cries of souls whom\nwe have betrayed to perdition through our want of personal holiness,\nand our defective preaching of Christ crucified, may ring in our ears\nforever? Our Lord is at the door. In the twinkling of an eye our work\nwill be done. \"Awake, awake, O arm of the Lord, awake as in the\nancient days,\" till every one of thy pastors be willing to impart to\nthe flock, over which the Holy Ghost has made him overseer, not the\ngospel of God only, but also his own soul. And oh that each one were\nable, as he stands in the pastures feeding thy sheep and lambs, to\nlook up and appeal to Thee: \"_Lord, Thou knowest all things! Thou\nknowest that I love Thee_!\"\n\n\n_Printed in the United States of America_\n\n\nTRANSCRIBER'S NOTES:\n\nUnderscores (_text_) indicate text italicised in the original book, as\nin the last line of printed book (above).\n\nFootnotes were moved from individual pages to the end of the affected\nparagraph.\n\nThis e-book is a reproduction of an original that itself is an excerpt\nof a larger work, as stated in the Publisher's Preface. There were a\nnumber of spelling and punctuation errors, too numerous to detail,\nthat were corrected in this version of the book. There are also a\nnumber of stylistic differences between the works including format of\nreferences (e.g. Roman vs. decimal numbers), italics and poetry\nindentings. In these instances, this e-book has been made to follow\nthe excerpted reprint, and not the original, larger work.","title":"The Biography of Robert Murray M'Cheyne","tradition":"scripture-revelation","translated_text":null,"word_count":73115}