{"collection":"scripture-revelation","full_text_available":true,"graph_url":"https://unchartedknowledge.5gfusion.net/v2/api/page/wikisource_Copy_of_three_letters/graph","html_url":"https://unchartedknowledge.5gfusion.net/v2/page/wikisource_Copy_of_three_letters","id":"wikisource_Copy_of_three_letters","license":"Public Domain / CC-BY-SA (see source)","rights_basis":"wikisource_site_inclusion_policy","source":"wikisource","source_url":"https://en.wikisource.org/wiki/Copy_of_three_letters","summary":null,"tags":["1740_works","Chapbooks","Dropinitials_with_image","Main_pages_with_authority_control_data","PD-old","Pamphlets","Religion","Scotland","Works_using_categories_parameter"],"text":"COPY\n\nof three\n\nLETTERS,\n\nThe fir\u017ft written by Dr. John Nicol at New-York, to Mr. William Wardrobe, Surgeon in the Gra\u017fsmarket of Edinburgh; the \u017fecond by a di\u017f\u017fenting Mini\u017fter in England to a Gentleman in Scotland; the third from a Mini\u017fter at Bo\u017fton to his Friend at Gla\u017fgow.\n\nGiving an ACCOUNT of the Progre\u017fs and Succe\u017fs of the Go\u017fpel in foreign Parts.\n\nP\u017fam ii. S.----I \u017fhall give thee the Heathen for thine Inheritance, and the uttermo\u017ft Parts of the Earth for thy Po\u017f\u017fe\u017f\u017fion. P\u017falm lxxii. 8. He \u017fhall have Dominion al\u017fo from Sea to Sea, and from the River to the Ends of the Earth. P\u017falm lxxxvii. 5. And of Zion it \u017fhall be \u017faid, This and that Man was born in her: And the Highe\u017ft him\u017felf \u017fhalt e\u017ftabli\u017fh her.\n\nEDINBURGH,\n\nPrinted by A. Alison, oppo\u017fite to the Bow-head\n\nWell, for David Duncan. Mdccxl.\n\nLETTER I.\n\nNew-York, Dec. 17. 1739.\n\nMy dear Friend,\n\nCannot omit any convenient Opportunity that offers, to let you know I am yet (thro' Mercy) upon the Stage, and in Health. A Line from you would be acceptable. When you do write, let me have a particular Account of the Seceding Brethren, viz. Me\u017f\u017fieurs Erskines, &c. how it goes with them, what Progre\u017fs they make.\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014We of New-York, have been lately favoured with a \u017fhort Vi\u017fit from that excellent young Evangeli\u017ft, the Reverend and famous Mr. George Whitefield, in his Voyage to Georgia. A\u017f\u017foon as he arrived here, he applied him\u017felf to the Par\u017fon of the Engli\u017fh Church, (as his Manner is) for the U\u017fe of his Church, which was denied him: Application was al\u017fo made to the Dutch, for their large Church, which being al\u017fo denied him, he went out and preached in the Fields, to a very large Auditory of all Profe\u017f\u017fions, Jews and Gentiles; \u017fome of which, viz. the Rakes of the Town, came (as they afterwards told) with Whi\u017ftles in their Pockets, on Purpo\u017fe to mock and di\u017fturb him: But, behold the Power of the Word, when backed by the Spirit, quickly catch'd them, and made them change their Mind, \u017fo as ever afterwards they were con\u017ftant and devout Hearers of him. Being denied the other Churches, and the Weather being exce\u017f\u017five cold, we offered him our Church, which he was plea\u017fed to accept of, and lectured that Evening to above fifteen hundred People, and so he continued to preach and lecture every Day, while he \u017ftayed in the Place, which was but four Days.\u2014I can freely \u017fay, I never heard Man \u017fpeak like him, his Matter and Doctrine entirely Apo\u017ftolick; chiefly in\u017fi\u017fting upon, and pre\u017f\u017fing home, the ab\u017folutely nece\u017f\u017fary fundamental Points and Duties of Chri\u017ftianity, fuch as, Regeneration, Repentance, Faith in the Lord Je\u017fus, denying of our\u017felves, and all Dependence on our own Righteou\u017fne\u017fs, and depending only on the Righteou\u017fne\u017fs of Chri\u017ft for Ju\u017ftification, &c. He is no Party-man; but makes it his con\u017ftant Bu\u017fine\u017fs to e\u017fpou\u017fe, and gain Souls to the Lord Je\u017fus Chri\u017ft in a Go\u017fpel-way, much like the Reverend Me\u017f\u017fieurs Erskines in their Sonnets and Sermons, with whom he told me he keeps a Corre\u017fpondence, and whole Works he heartily recommends.\u2014My dear Friend, I would fain hope the\u017fe are the Beginnings of glorious Times. I cannot but think they are the Dawnings of a happy reviving Day to the formal, drowsy, drooping Churches of Chri\u017ft throughout the World this Day. I would fain believe a Day of Power as at Hand, tho' I may not live to \u017fee it. Lord ha\u017ften it, ha\u017ften it; go forth with a preached Gospel; let the Arrows of thy Word pierce and \u017fink deep in the Hearts of Sinners, that they may fall pro\u017ftrate at the Throne of thy Grace, Ha\u017ften the Day when Satan \u017fhalt fall as Lightning to the Ground. Come, Lord Je\u017fus, come quickly. With \u017fincere and affectionate Re\u017fpects to \u017felf, Spou\u017fe, and all my good friends with you, I am Your very humble Servant,\n\nJohn Nicol.\n\nLETTER. II.\n\nI Now \u017fet my \u017felf down, according to my Promi\u017fe, and your Permi\u017f\u017fion, to do that by the Hand of a Friend, which I was not able to do with my own, and which I had not Time to touch upon in my la\u017ft Letter; I mean, to give \u017fome Account of the State of Religion Abroad, according to the Account I have got from Count Zinzindorff in a Letter, which I received from him about the Middle of December la\u017ft.\u2014\u2014You may remember, that I told you formerly, that this holy Man had laid a\u017fide his \u017fecular Employments and Dignities, and devoted him\u017felf to the Pa\u017ftoral Care of a Church, con\u017fi\u017fting chiefly of a con\u017fiderable Number of pious Moravians, who had fled from their native Country on Account of Per\u017fecution, and by his Encouragement fixed them\u017felves at Hermith. It is \u017fomething more than a Twelve Month, perhaps, near two Years \u017fince, by the Severity of the King of Poland, under the In\u017ftigation of the Je\u017fuits, they were driven from thence, and the Count obliged to part with his Estate there. But, God has been plea\u017f\u017fed, as in many former In\u017ftances, to over-rule this Persecution for the Good of his Church. For whereas, before they had \u017fent out their Mi\u017f\u017fionaries into \u017feveral Parts of the World; and whereas I think (I told you) \u017fome or other of them continually Night and Day prayed for their Succe\u017fs and the Propagation of the Go\u017fpel in the World; \u017fo they looked upon this Providence as a Call to abound more and more in this good Work. They have indeed fixed their Head-quarters at a Place called Hernaag, near Frankfort on the Rhine Foot, from whence they have \u017fent, and are \u017fending many more into various parts of the World; and the Accounts, which their Doctor and honoured Pa\u017ftor \u017fends me of their pa\u017ft Succe\u017fs and future Scheme, are as follow. He tells me, that he is intending a Journey into Switzerland, which (as I am informed in a Letter from the pious Mr. Thorold) he has \u017fince performed, and I am ready to imagine, he is \u017ftill there. He tells me, that Bern, Ba\u017fil, Stein, Malhau\u017fen, and Scaffhau\u017fen, have all of them received the Go\u017fpel in its Power and Purity, from the Moravian Brethren, who, wherever they come, are attempting a Work of Reformation, and a Revival of Religion among\u017ft Prote\u017ftants as well as Papi\u017fts. And indeed the languide State of many of the Foreign Churches \u017feems greatly to need \u017fuch Attempts. The Count adds, That Geneva it\u017felf is impre\u017ft with their Labours\u00a0; tho' he \u017fays, it has been for a long Time \u017fo taken up with Philo\u017fophy, as hardly to be able to bear the Reproach of the Cro\u017fs: He adds, that the Churches in Ecthonia and Swenia flouri\u017fh; and that the barbarous Inhabitants of that Province do even pant after Chri\u017ft. Greenland re\u017founds with the Go\u017fpel, and \u017feveral of the idolatrous Inhabitants are baptized. But the Count adds, that he cannot approve of the Methods taken by \u017fome of their Brethren there, who \u017feem to be \u017fo intent on \u017fpreading Philo\u017fophical Knowledge there, that he fears, the Go\u017fpel of Chri\u017ft \u017fuffers \u017fome Detriment by it. The mo\u017ft \u017furpri\u017fing Article of all is, that their Mi\u017f\u017fionaries to the Cape of good Hope meet with \u017fome Encouragement, and that thirty Hottontots have given up their Names to Chri\u017ft, and no le\u017fs than a thou\u017fand Negroes in the I\u017fland of St.Thomas, who have been well in\u017ftructed into that Religion, into which they were bapti\u017fed, and have embraced it as a Matter of free and rea\u017fonable Choice. Their Mi\u017f\u017fionaries to Georgia, Carolina, Pen\u017filvania, the Coa\u017ft of Barbary in Africa, and that of Surinam in the We\u017ft Indies, are as yet expecting the Fruit of their Labours. And Fifteen, who are now at Virginia, having, for \u017fome Time, employed them\u017felves in learning the various Languages of the Indian Nations, are preparing to let out on a Progre\u017fs amung\u017ft them, for the ble\u017f\u017fed Purpo\u017fe of carrying the News of Salvation to them. There are \u017fome at Ceylon in the Ea\u017ft-Indies; but the Count had received no Letter from them, when he wrote to me. He tells me al\u017fo, That Lapland, Mu\u017fcovy, Wallachia, and Con\u017ftantinople, are all vi\u017fited by \u017fome of the Brethren, who preach among them, (\u017fo far as I can learn). without Re\u017ftraint, but, with what Succe\u017fs he does not mention, excepting. only, that, by their Means, an hundred Turki\u017fh Pri\u017foners (taken, I \u017fuppofe, by the Ru\u017f\u017fians in the late War) have embraced Chri\u017ftianity. The only News that he had lately received from Genoa was, That a converted Negroe, living there, was endeavouring to erect Schools in the neighbouring Parts, with a view to the Propagation of Chri\u017ftian Knowledge. The Brethren, who were \u017fent to preach in the Northern Parts of Poland, have been for \u017fome Time confined there, but are now returned again, and are very \u017follicitous to find out \u017fome Way to pro\u017fecute that good Work, which has been interrupted by the Per\u017fecution of their Enemies. The Count informed me, that they intend quickly to vi\u017fit other Parts of the Ea\u017ft Indies, the Savages of New-York, and the Magi Magi of Per\u017fia: He concludes with telling me, That Churches, on their reformed Plan, are erected in Lu\u017fatia, Saxony, Brandenburg, Brun\u017fswick, Al\u017fatia, Swabia, Franconia, Wirtenberg, the Palatinate, \u017feveral imperial Cities, Holland, and the other States on the Rhine. What follows, is merely per\u017fonal, but expre\u017f\u017five of great Tenderne\u017fs and Humility: And the whole clo\u017fes with tho\u017fe emphatical Words, which I before tran\u017fcribed, but which I do not think much to repeat: Farewell in Chri\u017ft our common Lord, our crucified, wounded, only healing Ran\u017fom, by whom we are redeemed from the Pit of everla\u017fting De\u017ftruction, who is to me the deare\u017ft of all objects. I think, any Thing I could add, after this reviving and a\u017ftoni\u017fhing Account of the Work of God upon, and by the\u017fe his faithful Servants, would be but flat and in\u017fipid.\n\nP. S. Let Mount Zion rejoice, and let all the Daughters of Judah exult, that the glorious and renouned King is on his Way, to extend his va\u017ft and boundle\u017fs Dominions, and, maugre all Oppo\u017fition, will pull down the Man of Sin, and de\u017ftroy him with the Breath of his Mouth, and Brightne\u017fs of his coming: Religion \u017fhall flouri\u017fh, in Spite of Hell and Earth; and the Go\u017fpel \u017fhall have a free Cour\u017fe, run and be glorified, and our exalted Immanuel \u017fhall \u017fee the Nations, like Drops of Dew from the Womb of the Morning, flowing to him. Even \u017fo come Lord Je\u017fus. Amen. COPY of a LETTER from the Reverend Mr. Moorhead Mini\u017fter of the Go\u017fpel at Bo\u017fton, to his Friend at Gla\u017fgow.\n\nBo\u017fton, New-England, Jan. 28. 1740.\n\nI Am exceeding unea\u017fy, becau\u017fe that you have not written to me by any of the Ve\u017f\u017fels that came thither. I \u017fent you a Packet la\u017ft Year per Captain Montgomery, bound to Newport-Gla\u017fgow, who got \u017fafe there.\n\nI want very much to hear how your religious Affairs \u017ftand, and whether the\u017fe Men of God \u017fucceed in their endeavoured Reformation. The Glory is departing from Scotland; when Simonical Practices are entred in, among her profe\u017f\u017fed In\u017ftructors, who are returning to the Onions and Leeks of Egypt, when Pagan Divinity goes better than the Doctrines of the Son of God.\n\nThe Lord has rai\u017fed up the great and good Mr. Whitefield, to \u017fcourge and awaken England and America. The Dead are made to live, and by him hear the Voice of the Son of God. The Face of Chri\u017ftianity here is covered over with Formality, and a cold Indifferency for Divine Things. I would gladly hope, that it is not \u017fo bad with Strangers as it is with the Sectarians of this Country, who \u017feem di\u017fpo\u017fed, and do drink in Errors and Heresies of all kinds. Let me hear from you. May the God of I\u017frael be your God, and of his People, which is and \u017fhall be the Prayer of\n\nYour Friend and Wellwi\u017fher,\nJohn Moorhead,\n\nF I N I S.\n\nThis work was published before January 1, 1931, and is in the public domain worldwide because the author died at least 100 years ago.\n\nPublic domainPublic domainfalsefalse","title":"Copy of three letters","tradition":"scripture-revelation","translated_text":null,"word_count":2034}