jr ^ ^ 
 
 ^THEOLOGICAL SEMINARY, | 
 <^ Princeton, N. J. 2 
 
 * f 
 
 BV 3777 .S4 R6 1840 c.l 
 Robe, James, 1688-1753. 
 Narrative of the revival of 
 religion at Kilsyth, 
 
v^ 
 
 y^ 
 
 L 
 
NARKATIVE 
 
 OF THE 
 
 REVIVAL OE EELiaiON 
 
 AT 
 
 KILSYTH, CAMBUSLANG, AND OTHER PLACES, 
 
 IN 1742, 
 
 BY THE 
 
 REV. JAMES ROBE, A.M., 
 
 MINISTER OF KILSYTH. 
 
 WITH AN 
 
 INTRODUCTORY ESSAY 
 
 BY THE 
 
 REV. ROBERT BUCHANAN, 
 
 MINISTER OF THE TRON CHURCH, GLASGOW. 
 
 GLASGOW: 
 WILLIAM COLLINS, SOUTH FREDERICK STREET, 
 
 EDINBDRGH : OLIVER & BOYD, WM. AVHYTE & CO., 
 
 JOHN JOHNSTONE, AND WM. OLIPHANT & SON. 
 
 BELFAST: WM. M'COMB. DUBLIN: WM. CURRY, JUN. & CO. 
 
 LONDON: VVHITTAKER & CO., HAMILTON, ADAMS, & CO., 
 
 AND SIMPKIN, MARSHALL, & CO. 
 
 1840. 
 
WfLLIAM COLLINS &: CO , PRINTERS, GLASGOW. 
 
INTRODUCTORY ESSAY. 
 
 There is something cheering and dehghtful in 
 the very word Revival. It calls up to the mind a 
 crowd of associations, all of thera of the most pleas- 
 ing and exhilarating kind. If used with reference 
 to the human frame, it suggests the idea of returning 
 health : of pain giving place to ease, and weakness to 
 strength : of fear yielding to hope, and anxiety to 
 joy. If used with reference to public affairs, it pre- 
 sents a picture of returning prosperity : of confidence 
 restored, and commerce flowing again into its wonted 
 channels : of industry rewarded and comfort diffused : 
 of want and discontent, and all those other evils which 
 the previous stagnation and disorder had produced, 
 disappearing from the land. If used with reference 
 to nature itself, it fills the imagination with sweet 
 thoughts of spring: a brighter sun quickening all 
 things, out of the decay and dreariness of winter, into 
 life and lovehness once more : the desolate fields 
 putting on their verdant mantle : the leafless woods 
 bursting forth into fresh and fragrant foliage, and 
 made tuneful with the voice of birds : the bright 
 ploughshare glancing between the opening furrows — 
 
VI 
 
 the busy husbandman pursuing his cheerful toil : — 
 Every heart gladdened by the prospect, sure though 
 distant, of that bounteous harvest by which the year 
 shall at length be crowned. 
 
 How strange that to many minds this word, so 
 pleasing in every other connection, should not only 
 lose all its charm but become utterly distasteful and 
 offensive when used with reference to religion ! By 
 every well constituted mind the revival of an immortal 
 soul, under the power of Divine truth, ought surely 
 to be regarded as an event unspeakably more inte- 
 resting and delightful than any revival affecting only 
 the temporal estate of man. The body may revive 
 and the gloom of the sick chamber be dispelled, and 
 the saddened countenances of friends be brightened 
 into joy; but a few years have only to run their 
 course in order that the same sick chamber must be 
 anew prepared, and that mourning friends must 
 again be gathered around. The soul, once revived 
 by the Spirit of God, can never die ! When Peter 
 presented Dorcas alive, revived by the power of 
 Christ, to the saints and widows who filled the upper 
 chamber at Joppa, weeping over her decease, it is 
 indeed dehghtful to think of the glad surprise that 
 must suddenly have beamed from every eye and 
 dried up every tear. But that company nevertheless 
 must ere long, in the common course of nature, have 
 reassembled to behold their friend and benefactor, in 
 whose restoration they now rejoiced, finally carried 
 to the cold and silent grave. When, on the other 
 hand, the Lord Jesus standing by the pallet on which 
 lay the man that was brought in before him, sick of 
 the palsy, said unto him, " Son, be of good cheer. 
 
Vll 
 
 thy sins be forgiven thee," — the germ of life eternal 
 was that instant implanted in his soul. His bodily- 
 frame might indeed again become powerless under 
 the pressure of a new disease, but his undying spirit 
 had been healed for ever of the deadly disease of sin. 
 
 And if this consideration should invest a religious 
 revival with a character of profoundest interest and 
 importance, viewed simply in its bearing on the con- 
 dition and destiny of an individual soul, much more 
 surely when viewed in its wider bearing on a com- 
 munity, on a country, on the world. 
 
 If we look around us on the community in which 
 we live, how many scenes and objects meet the eye 
 fitted to shock the sensibilities and wound the feel- 
 ings of every benevolent heart. The squalid poverty, 
 the want and nakedness, in which hundreds and 
 thousands of fan[iiHes are dragging out a wretched 
 existence ; the crowds of neglected children growing 
 up in ignorance and vice; the domestic misery which 
 embitters so many homes ; the drunkenness, the 
 profaneness, the profligacy which so disgracefully 
 abound ; — what friend of humanity can survey these 
 things without longing for some means by which 
 they may at least be mitigated if not wholly removed ? 
 And no doubt the philanthropists of this world are 
 ready with their schemes of social improvement. 
 One has his proposal for encreasing the means of 
 employment, — another thinks the cure will be found 
 in a rise of wages — a third confidently anticipates 
 the same result from a greater diffusion of secular 
 knowledge, while a different class, of sterner and more 
 practical minds, place their reliance on an extended 
 police and a more rigoirous exercise of criminal justice. 
 
VIU 
 
 But who that looks beneath the surface of things — 
 that is accustomed to trace up effects to their cause, 
 can fail to perceive that all these devices are but so 
 many vain attempts to daub the wall of the social 
 edifice with untempered mortar, — concealing perhaps 
 for a time but not in the least removing, the rotten- 
 ness that is hidden within? The physical disorders 
 that so extensively afflict society, together with the 
 whole train of vices by which they are accompanied, 
 flow out of a diseased moral and spiritual condition. 
 " I have been young, said the Psalmist, and now am 
 old, yet have I not seen the righteous forsaken nor 
 his seed begging bread." " Godliness, said the 
 Apostle, is profitable unto all things, having promise 
 of the life now is," as well as of "that which is to 
 come." It is irreligion which is the pregnant and 
 pernicious source of poverty and profligacy and 
 crime ; and nothing but a religious revival can have 
 power to chase those evils from the many wretched 
 lanes of this mighty city, and to bring back industry 
 and comfort, virtue and happiness, to the dark and 
 desolate dwellings which are now tenanted only by 
 misery and vice. 
 
 If from the community we give the eye a wider 
 range, and embrace within the sweep of its observa- 
 tion the country at large, how much, on this ampler 
 field, do we daily descry to grieve, and even to alarm, 
 every patriotic mind ? Infidelity busily and boldly 
 assailing, not only the evidences of revealed truth 
 but the very first principles of morals ; no longer, as 
 in former times, concealing itself amid the folds of 
 subtle speculation, and addressing itself to men of learn- 
 ing and science — but coming forth in its naked de- 
 
IX 
 
 formity among the lower orders of the people, and 
 proclaiming with unabashed visage the most revolting 
 practical abominations: Popery, seemingly the ene- 
 my and the opposite, but in truth the sworn friend 
 and natural ally of infidelity, successfully struggling 
 to recover its ancient and baleful ascendancy, fatal 
 alike to the temporal prosperity and eternal welfare 
 of mankind : While between the two, and extend- 
 ing a friendly hand to each, stands religious liberalism, 
 scornfully indifferent to all diversities of creed, and 
 priding itself in its insane and impious attempt to 
 bind society in harmony and peace, by inducing all 
 to break those bands and cast away those cords by 
 which the Prince of peace has sought to unite them, 
 at once to each other and to their God and Father 
 in heaven. As if when men of all forms of faith had 
 agreed to build one common altar and on that altar 
 to offer up Truth as a sacrifice, that then would be 
 the time, over the ashes of that sacrifice, to swear 
 vows of mutual reconciliation and friendship never 
 again to be broken. And while so many poisonous 
 influences are thus at work upon the public mind, 
 unsettling the religious convictions and perverting or 
 deadening the moral sense of the people, at the same 
 time that nothing at all corresponding to their im- 
 mensely increased numbers has been done to provide 
 them with the means of sound religious instruction, 
 is it surprising that a spirit of insubordination, break- 
 ing out at times into lawless and fearful outrage, 
 should be found extensively diffused and actively at 
 work in so many districts of the land ? Politicians, 
 many of them see indeed the fact, and the more re- 
 flecting of them, tremble perhaps at the dangers it 
 
 a 2 
 
involves, but how few of them, of any party, ascribe 
 it to its proper cause, or understand and are prepared 
 to apply the only remedy by which a better order of 
 things can ever be permanently restored. Worldly po- 
 liticians have no doubt, and that in abundance, their 
 schemes of national improvement. The removal of 
 some tax that presses injuriously on the springs of trade ; 
 the opening up of new fields for commercial enterprise; 
 the drawing off of our surplus population to colonize 
 distant regions of the earth ; an increase or a dimi- 
 nution of popular influence in our political system ; 
 a new law to lower the price of agricultural produce; 
 penitentiaries, mechanics' institutes, ' useful know- 
 ledge' societies, — in a word, schemes as numerous and 
 as various as are the diversities of the human mind 
 itself, are all propounded, and with equal confidence, 
 by their respective advocates ; and each is held up as the 
 grand panacea which is to heal the nation's maladies 
 and to ensure that universal contentment and pros- 
 perity which all alike profess to be longing to secure. 
 But while worldly politicians are busily contriving, or 
 vehemently demanding the application of their end- 
 less and often antagonist specifics, it is forgotten where 
 the true secret of a nation's welfare and a nation's 
 greatness lies. They overlook that fundamental 
 truth recorded in the word of God, that "righteous- 
 ness alone exalteth a nation," and that there is no 
 other means by which that righteousness can be either 
 produced or preserved, but the means God in his 
 infinite wisdom and goodness has himself ordained, 
 — namely, the lessons and the ordinances of pure and 
 undefiled religion. Can any one for an instant sup- 
 pose that serious danger to the public peace could 
 
XI 
 
 possibly arise among a people, universally trained in 
 the fear of God. Had due pains been taken to esta- 
 blish that grand controling principle — the true basis 
 of all moral obligation — in the hearts of theteemino- 
 multitudes who throng our great cities and manufac- 
 turing villages, no one would have needed to fear the 
 torch of the incendiary nor the insurrectionary vio- 
 lence of an inflamed and misguided populace. The 
 voice which hushed the tempest on the sea of Galilee, 
 when the labouring bark was ready to perish amid the 
 angry waves, — is that alone which is of power suffi- 
 cient "to still the tumults of the people." That 
 voice heard in each home, as the family bible is re- 
 verently opened at the morning and evening services of 
 domestic devotion ; that voice mingling with the daily 
 instructions of the school, giving line upon line, and 
 precept upon precept, to the impressible mind of youth ; 
 that voice breathing in solemn accents from sabbath 
 to sabbath, amid the assembled congregation in the 
 sanctuary : speaking as it does with demonstration to 
 the understanding, with authority to the conscience, 
 and with persuasive power to the heart, will give a 
 moral tone to society which no arts of mere secular 
 legislation can ever impart. It is this blessed in- 
 fluence of religion, which, reconciling even the poor- 
 est to the hardships of their lot in time, by opening 
 up to them the glorious prospects of a happy eternity, 
 will alone suffice to chase away the sullen discontent 
 with which the humbler are so generally found frown- 
 ing on the higher orders of society ; and to bind all 
 classes together in mutual kindness and sympathy, 
 as all equally in need of, and all equally depending 
 on, the mercy of a common Redeemer. Let a branch 
 
Xll 
 
 cut from this tree be cast into the bitterest waters, 
 and straightway they will become sweet and salutary. 
 It is therefore to a religious revival throughout the 
 nation, we must look, as the only eflPectual means of 
 securing us against the manifold dangers which men- 
 ace the public weal; and of giving permanence and 
 stability to all those time-honoured institutions, with 
 whose preservation is identified the prosperity, per- 
 haps the existence, of the greatest empire in the 
 world. Then should " violence no more be heard 
 in our land, wasting nor destruction within our bor- 
 ders;" but men should call our "walls salvation and 
 our gates praise." Then should webe called Hephzi- 
 bah, and our land Beulah, because the Lord de- 
 lighted in it — because then it should be wedded to 
 the Lord. 
 
 But once more, if from the country we rise to the 
 survey of the world — if ascending the lofty eminence 
 which is occupied by the genius of history, we review 
 the annals of our race; or setting out with the tra- 
 veller, we bring the eye of observation to bear on the 
 existing condition of mankind — what a mournful 
 picture is presented to the reflecting mind ! Over 
 by far the larger portion of that wide expanse, what 
 does either the past or the present exhibit, but 
 " darkness covering the earth and gross darkness the 
 people"? Millions upon millions of our fellow-crea- 
 tures, possessed of the same rational, moral, and im- 
 mortal nature with ourselves, sunk to the level of the 
 beasts that perish ; ignorant alike of their origin and 
 of their end — "changing the glory of the incorrup- 
 tible Jehovah into an image made like to corruptible 
 man, and to birds and four-footed beasts and creeping 
 
xin 
 
 things." Humanity shudders even to think of the 
 scenes that are daily witnessed in these dark places 
 of the earth, which are full of the habitations of hor- 
 rid cruelty. To see the wretched inhabitant of 
 magnificent India standingfor years with his shrivelled 
 arm, outstretched and immovable, beneath the burn- 
 ing sun, or piercing with savage violence his own 
 flesh as he dances with frantic vehemence before his 
 frightful divinity, or lying down to be crushed like a 
 worm beneath the wheels of the idol-car at Jugger- 
 naut; to see the poor degraded African, prostrate 
 and trembling before the Fetish^ the misshapen and 
 senseless image which his own hands have made ; to 
 see the ferocious New Zealander feeding on human 
 flesh, and that too with the conviction that there is 
 something religious in this unnatural and monstrous 
 feast, — how does the very heart sicken at spectacles 
 hke these ! The man of European refinement and 
 intelligence feels almost ashamed of his own nature 
 when he sees it thus brutalized. And yet what is 
 it that makes him to difier ? Nothing but the reli- 
 gion of the Gospel — the religion of that blessed Je- 
 sus who is the light of the world, and whose word 
 wherever it is known and embraced, has never failed 
 to bring light to them that were in darkness and in 
 the region and shadow of death. If we pass in re- 
 view before us all the nations of the earth, and fix on 
 that one of their number in which peace and order 
 and civilization, comfort and freedom and knowledge 
 most widely reign, — we shall find it to be the very 
 nation in which true religion is most extensively 
 diffused. Or if we fix, on the other hand, on the 
 nation which of all others is sunk deepest in darkness. 
 
XIV 
 
 degradation, and misery; where the rights of man 
 are most habitually trampled under foot, where both 
 his mental and bodily condition are most abject and 
 debased, — we shall find it to be just that nation 
 which has stood farthest removed from all contact and 
 communication with the religion of Christ ; — into 
 which no ray, direct or traditionary, of its living and 
 life-o-ivinfT lio;ht has ever shone. Does not this one 
 fact tell us, and that with the irresistible force of a 
 demonstration, how and how alone the misery in 
 which the earth " groaneth and travaileth" until 
 now, is to be done away; that it is in the revival of 
 religion we must seek for the means of regenerating 
 the world ? As we have worldly philanthropists full 
 of schemes for the improvement of the community ; 
 and worldly politicians as full of schemes for the 
 improvement of the country, — so have we worldly 
 cosmopolites, citizens of the world as they delight to 
 be called, whose zeal for humanity professes to have 
 no limits narrower than the globe, and who are fondly 
 dreaming of a millennium in which the Gospel is to 
 have no share. It is to the diffusion of knowledcre 
 they look for the reformation of mankind. The in- 
 fidel theory, contradicted alike by the explicit testi- 
 mony of Scripture and the ascertained facts of history, 
 on which they proceed, is this : that man started in 
 the race of being at the lowest point of intelligence 
 and virtue, and that by a series of progressive evolu- 
 tions he has been continually advancing, under the 
 operation of mere natural causes, towards the destined 
 perfection of his nature. Scripture on the contrary 
 declares of man, as of all the other works of God, 
 that he came forth from the hands of his Maker 
 
XV 
 
 '* very good" — enstamped with his Maker's image. 
 And that from tliis high original elevation, there has 
 been subsequently a constant tendency downwards to 
 ignorance and depravity, wherever that tendency has 
 not been arrested and borne back by the new influ- 
 ence of that economy of grace under which fallen 
 man was placed. In conformity with the view thus 
 given on the immovable authority of revelation, 
 history, so far as we can dimly trace its course up to 
 the cloudy heights of remote antiquity, proclaims the 
 same truth. Assyria, India, and Egypt, the most 
 ancient kingdoms of which any authentic memorials 
 have come down, were then evidently in possession 
 of a learning and refinement, which in later ages were 
 nearly altogether lost and forgotten. If there has 
 been a progress going on, as in a certain sense and 
 within certain limits undoubtedly is true, that pro- 
 gress has been identical with and uniformly depen- 
 dent on the advancement of true religion. And 
 while the infidel theorist points to the arms, and 
 the ships, and the commerce of this great kingdom, 
 as spreading themselves abroad over the whole habi- 
 table earth, and carrying the arts and sciences of 
 European civilization in their train, he wilfully or 
 proudly overlooks the source of that moral and in- 
 tellectual energy to which Britain owes the mighty 
 influence it is thus exerting on the world. He for- 
 gets that Christianity, humanizing, refining, and ele- 
 vating the heart and mind, is the well-spring at once 
 of our national resources and of our national renown. 
 And if forgetting this ourselves, we shall presume to 
 say, ' by the strength of our own hand we have done 
 it, and by our wisdom, for we are prudent,' — then shall 
 
XVI 
 
 irreligion like a canker eat out the vitals of our 
 strength, and the power and glory under which we 
 now sit secure, shall wither like the prophet's gourd. 
 Not only does the infidel forget all this, but he for- 
 gets that neither our fleets nor our armies, our mer- 
 chants nor our men of science, can reform the world. 
 They can indeed lay down a way on which a higher 
 and nobler influence must go forth ; they can remove 
 the obstacles, and this doubtless under a gracious 
 overruling Providence is the office they are destined 
 to perform, levelling, so to speak, the mountains, 
 and filling up the valleys that a high road may be 
 prepared on which the chariot of the everlasting 
 Gospel shall run till it encircle the earth. And it 
 is when in obedience to that gospel- call, the blinded 
 heathens shall everywhere be found casting their 
 idols to the moles and to the bats, and saying to one 
 another, " Come ye and let us go up to the mountain 
 of the Lord, to the house of the God of Jacob, and 
 He will teach us of his ways, and we will walk in his 
 paths :" it is then that men will at length beat their 
 swords into ploughshares and their spears into prun- 
 ing hooks, that nation shall not lift up sword against 
 nation, neither shall they learn war any more : it is 
 then " the wolf shall dwell with the lamb and the 
 leopard shall lie down with the kid, and the calf and 
 the young lion and the fatling together, and a little 
 child shall lead them. Because the earth shall be 
 full of the knowledge of the glory of the Lord as the 
 waters cover the sea !" 
 
 Whether then we look at the community, the 
 country, or the world, what urgent cause has the 
 church continually to cry with the Psalmist — " Wilt 
 
XVll 
 
 thou not revive us again, that thy people may rejoice 
 in thee?" Even if we looked no farther and no 
 higher than to man's condition in time, how many 
 arguments does that condition, as it now exists, pre- 
 sent, all proclaiming with one voice the unspeakable 
 importance and necessity of a religious revival. Do 
 the wise and enlightened mourn over abounding ig- 
 norance and folly, the just over abounding crime, the 
 virtuous over abounding vice, the humane over 
 abounding misery ? Do the citizen, the patriot, the 
 lover of mankind, throughout the respective spheres 
 within which their observation turns, perceive every 
 day a thousand wrongs which they sigh to see re- 
 dressed, a thousand evils which they long to see re- 
 moved : — it is religion they must call to their aid. 
 It is this which alone can make righteousness to run 
 down our streets as waters and judgment as a river : 
 it is this alone which can make the land peaceful, 
 prosperous, and secure, — it is this alone which can 
 give to the earth its millennial reign of tranquillity 
 and joy. 
 
 But when from the narrow confines of time, we 
 stretch out our view into the boundless regions of 
 eternity, and think of the millions of our fellow men 
 now living in misery and sin, as hurrying onwards 
 to a state of endless and unutterable woe — how should 
 every man that knows the worth of an imperishable 
 soul burn with fervent desire to save these perishing 
 multitudes from so dreadful a destiny. And what 
 but the coldness and deadness of religion among us, 
 is it, that enables us to look on at the state of things 
 which thus exists around us, whether in the commu- 
 nity or the country or the world, with so much cold 
 
XVlll 
 
 and heartless unconcern? Were the spirit of the 
 Gospel active and energetic within us, were the tide 
 of its divine charity flowing warm and vigorous in 
 our veins, we would be giving the Lord no rest from 
 our importunate petitions — saying, "Awake, awake; 
 put on strength, O arm of the Lord : awake as 
 in the ancient days, as in the generations of old !" 
 And does not the very fact that we are so little 
 moved by the sight of the desolations of many gen- 
 erations which overspread our city, our country, and 
 the world, marking as it does the low ebb to which 
 religious conviction and feeling have sunk in ourselves, 
 constitute the most impressive reason for taking this 
 prayer into our lips, " God be merciful unto us and 
 bless us, and cause thy face to shine upon us, that 
 thy way may be known upon the earth, and thy saving 
 health among all nations "? A revival of religion in 
 God's own people must precede and prepare for a re- 
 vival of reliofion in the world. It is when the Son of 
 man is walking among the golden candlesticks, and 
 feeding the lamps with fresh oil, that their light, 
 clear and strong, will penetrate farthest into the sur- 
 rounding darkness. It is when the waters of life 
 are welling out most copiously from the sanctuary 
 that their streams will spread most widely abroad over 
 the adjacent wilderness. And accordingly it is in im- 
 mediate connection with a religious revival, in which 
 they that make mention of the Lord shall not keep 
 silence, but shall give Him no rest — that He hath 
 promised to establish Jerusalem and make it a praise 
 in the earth. 
 
 In the preceding part of this essay, we have set 
 forth some of the considerations that should make a 
 
XIX 
 
 religious revival the object of deep interest and ear- 
 nest prayer to the Church at all periods of her history 
 as the church militant, and in every situation in which 
 she can be placed. The happiness of men on earth 
 and their everlasting blessedness in heaven, and, 
 through these, the glory of God our Saviour, all 
 conduce to exhort us without ceasing to this com- 
 prehensive supplication : " O Lord, wilt thou not 
 revive us again, that thy people may rejoice in thee !" 
 At the same time it must be obvious to the reflecting 
 mind that in the church's history a season will occa- 
 sionally come round, when that unusually abundant 
 outpouring of the Holy Spirit which is at once the 
 cause and the characteristic of a revival is more than 
 ordinarily needed, and when therefore it ought to be, 
 with more than common urgency, sought. When the 
 Church has come into straits : when for her sins she 
 has been visited with a day of rebuke and blasphemy : 
 when by reason of abounding iniquity the love of 
 many of her own professing friends is waxing cold, 
 and when the energy and the confidence of the 
 adversary are in the same measure and on the same 
 ground increased : — in a word, when the enemy on 
 every side is coming in like a flood, it is then 
 there should be the loudest call, as then is there the 
 most pressing necessity, for the Spirit of the Lord 
 to lift up a standard against him. It was when 
 Judah of old had gone into captivity: when the Lord 
 had thus afflicted Zion for the multitude of her 
 transgressions and had suffered her adversaries to 
 become the chief and her enemies to prosper, — it 
 was for that trying season, the Holy Spirit dictated 
 this course, saying, " Arise, cry in the night : in the 
 
XX 
 
 beginning of the watches pour out thine heart Hke 
 water before the face of the Lord, Hft up thy hands 
 toward him for the Ufe of thy young children that faint 
 for hunger in the top of every street." (Jer. ii, 19.) 
 And the burden of Zion's prayer was to be this : 
 *' Wherefore dost thou forget us for ever and forsake 
 us so long time? Turn thou us unto thee, O Lord, 
 and we shall be turned : renew our days as of old." 
 (Jer. V, 20, 2\.) Without such a reviving there 
 could, in a- crisis of that kind, be no hope for the 
 church at all. Unless the Spirit were then to come 
 down as rain upon the mown grass, as showers that 
 water and refresh the earth, it could have nothing 
 remaining for it but to decay and die. It is not 
 only that in the face of these accumulated dangers it 
 could have no reasonable prospect of enlargement, 
 but that, on the contrary, its already narrow limits 
 must be contracted more and more, until, buried and 
 lost beneath the flood of error and wickedness, the 
 place that knew it should know it no more. 
 
 In passing therefore, as we are now doing, from 
 the general to the special reasons which render a re- 
 ligious revival important, — from those reasons which 
 exist at all times, to those other and additional reasons 
 whose force is derived from the peculiar circumstances 
 in which the church may happen at a given time to 
 be placed, we arc naturally led- to enquire how far 
 any of those special reasons exist at the present day. 
 There is certainly no good to be gained, by drawing, 
 and holding up to view, an exaggerated picture of 
 the dangers with which religion is assailed : but 
 neither is there any wisdom in underrating and des- 
 pising them. To state the case then in the most 
 
XXI 
 
 guarded form, it may surely be affirmed without fear 
 of challenge from any intelligent Christian, that reli- 
 gion is very far indeed from being in a satisfactory state 
 among us. That thousands and tens of thousands 
 of the inhabitants of this kingdom are living in utter 
 ignorance of divine truth, and in total estrangement 
 from divine ordinances, is too painfully notorious to 
 be denied. That not thousands, but millions of our 
 fellow- subjects, especially in the neighbouring island, 
 are the blinded votaries of antichrist is, unhappily, 
 alike indisputable. That this melancholy state of 
 things should be found in a nation privileged with a 
 pure Gospel for three hundred years, must beyond 
 all question involve a guilt and a responsibility of no 
 ordinary kind. It would be difficult and might prove 
 invidious to attempt to distribute that responsibihty 
 and guilt, in their just proportions, among the various 
 parties on whom they undoubtedly lie. But there 
 can be no reason why we should hesitate to affirm 
 that the churches more immediately intrusted with 
 the religious instruction of the nation, have much 
 cause in this matter deeply to humble themselves in 
 the sight of God. Had the Church of Ireland since 
 the dawn of the Reformation been earnestly con- 
 tending for the pure faith, once delivered to the 
 saints, and then restored to that long benighted land ; 
 had He whose eyes are as a flame of fire and his feet 
 like fine brass, had cause to say of her — " I know 
 thy works and charity and service and faith, and thy 
 patience and thy works," — we cannot believe that 
 there the dark and degrading dominion of the man 
 of sin would so long and so extensively have been 
 allowed to prevail. And had the Churches of Eng- 
 
xxu 
 
 land and of Scotland, during all that long lapse of 
 time, been "doing their first works," — been labour- 
 ing with the freshness and fidelity of their early 
 youth, — surely so many " waste places " could not 
 have been suffered to appear. Above all, and on this 
 it becomes us more pointedly to dwell, because it is 
 with the confession of our own sins we have chiefly 
 to do, had the church of our fathers never for- 
 gotten her first love — had the holy zeal for the cause 
 of God which distinguished her earlier years, and 
 which shone so brightly in the dark night of perse- 
 cution, which once and again came down upon her 
 path, continued to inspire with equal ardour her 
 ministers and elders and people in later times, our 
 beloved country would not now have presented the 
 mournful spectacle which too many of its towns and 
 parishes exhibit — homes in hundreds in which family 
 religion is unknown, and in which children receive 
 no lesson that can ever lead them unto God — Sab- 
 baths profaned — the services of the sanctuary un- 
 heeded or even despised — unaquaintance with the 
 Bible and the Catechism, once accounted even by the 
 humblest, a reproach, now too common in many 
 places to excite a remark : and as the fruit of this 
 religious declension, a growth of vice and crime which 
 have already grievously dishonoured our country's 
 once venerated name. 
 
 It would have been strange indeed, if the sinful 
 neglect of duty out of which these evils have sprung, 
 had not prepared for us a time of trouble and rebuke. 
 It is the righteous and immutable law of Divine pro- 
 vidence, "Thine own wickedness shall correct thee 
 and thy backslidings shall reprove thee." And the 
 
xxm 
 
 end of that law is, to make the oflPenders know, that 
 "it is an evil thing and bitter that they have forsaken 
 the Lord their God and that His fear has not been in 
 them." In a former part of this essay, allusion was 
 already made, to the lamentable progress and threat- 
 ening aspects of Popery and Infidelity, and to- the 
 united force with which both are directing their 
 energies, now to sap and undermine, now openly to 
 assail, both the religion and the religious institutions 
 of the land. And when it is borne in mind that 
 from the causes above noticed so large a portion of 
 our people have been sinfully suffered to fall aside, 
 from the pale of religious influence altogether, no 
 one can fail to see how ample are the materials, both 
 for the Infidel and the Romanist, which have thus 
 been prepared to their hand, and which, were an of- 
 fended God to let loose His judgments might come 
 to be wielded with terrific power against the peace 
 and safety of the church of Christ. 
 
 But it is not without only that danger to the cause 
 of religion exists. An army can look out from their 
 encampment, on the gathering legions of the enemy 
 undismayed, so long as mutual confidence reigns 
 among themselves. But when discord and division 
 are pervading and paralysing their own ranks, making 
 each man doubt and distrust his fellow, it is then 
 their strength departs and they are ready to be given 
 for a prey. And who can doubt that in some at least 
 of its features, this picture is but too painfully dis- 
 criptive of the existing condition of the different re- 
 ligious denominations of whom, taken collectively, 
 Christ's church is in this kingdom composed? When 
 the Infidel and the Romanist are shaking hands, and 
 
XXlV 
 
 the men of no religion are willingly joining in theil* 
 counsels, what alas ! do we discover amonof the friends 
 of God's cause and truth ? Instead of casting away 
 all regard to minor diflPerences and joining in a solemn 
 league and covenant to maintain and uphold the ban- 
 ner'of the cross, they are spending their energies in 
 fatal contests amon^ themselves ! When one first 
 turns to look at these discouraging symptoms, par- 
 taking as they do so largely of something which at 
 least greatly resembles the judicial blindness which 
 commonly precedes a judgment, a feeling, almost 
 approachmg to despondency, is ready to take posses- 
 sion of the mind. A closer observation, however, 
 serves not a little to revive the Christian's hope and 
 to diminish, though not certainly to dissipate his fears. 
 Amid all the unpromising appearances which have 
 now been described, there can be distinctly discerned 
 a visible and vigorous growth of genuine religion. 
 It is this begun revival, this increase of heart — warm 
 evangelical preaching in our pulpits, and of personal 
 piety among our people, manifesting themselves in a 
 livelier concern for the honour and advancement of the 
 Redeemer's kingdom both at home and abroad, it is 
 this which seems plainly to warrant us in believing that 
 the Lord has a purpose of mercy towards our church 
 and nation still. It is this which encourajjes us to 
 say with Manoah, " If the Lord were pleased to des- 
 troy us he would not have received a burnt-offering 
 and a meat-offerinir at our hands." If then these 
 first drops of the shower have sufficed to impart to 
 us that measure of strengtli we now enjoy, how bless- 
 ed would it be if our watchers, like the servant of 
 of Elijah, when he went up the seventh time to the 
 
XXV 
 
 lofty summit of Carmel and looked out towards the 
 sea, were enabled at length to perceive the little cloud 
 which hitherto had been small as a man's hand, ex- 
 panding its volume and drawing its folds over the 
 whole face of heaven, ready to send down in copious 
 effusion the early and the latter rain. " Then should 
 we ffrow as the lilv and cast forth our roots as Leba- 
 lion. Then should our branches spread; and our 
 beauty be as the olive tree and our smell as Lebanon. 
 Then should they that dwell under Israel's shadow, 
 return ; they should revive as the corn and grow as 
 the vine : the scent thereof should be as the vine of 
 Lebanon." 
 
 It is recorded by the Spirit of God in the pro- 
 phecies of Isaiah, (xi, 13,) as one of the most con- 
 spicuous marks and fruits of that glorious revival that 
 is to usher in the final triumph of the Redeemer's 
 kingdom, that then " the envy of Ephraim shall de- 
 part ; that Ephraim shall not envy Judah, and that 
 Judah shall not vex Ephraim." And who can 
 doubt that the very same result would immediately 
 folloNv a general revival of religion among ourselves. 
 Under the harmonizing and subduing influences of 
 the Spirit of God, all lesser, all merely circumstantial 
 diflPerences would sink and disappear, to make way 
 for a united effort against the common enemies of 
 Christ's cause and kingdom, and for a more sustained 
 and strenuous exertion in extending the common 
 salvation. Were the divine Spirit, who is a Spirit 
 of love, to be shed abroad more abundantly in our 
 hearts, we would think less of the small things in 
 which we differ, and more unspeakably of the great 
 and glorous things in which we agree. As men, when 
 
 h 6 
 
XXVI 
 
 summoned forth to a contest in the dim hght of the 
 early dawn, when all things are indistinctly discerned, 
 may often mistake and attack their friends for their 
 foes; so where the saving light of the Spirit shines 
 but faintly on the professing Christian world, mole- 
 hills seem to swell into mountains, and nothing is 
 seen in its just proportion or in the true colours 
 which it wears. But as the rising sun absorbs the 
 dark and chilling mists and reveals all things in the 
 shape and form which nature gave them ; so when 
 Christ the sun of righteousness, comes forth from 
 behind the clouds that obscured his radiant beams, 
 and pours down by his Spirit the full blaze of His 
 saving light upon his people, then shall they see eye 
 to eye — and amazed and ashamed at the discovery 
 of the trifles they had suffered so long to divide them, 
 will be ready to say, " Come and let us walk together 
 in the light of the Lord." 
 
 In employing this language we are very far from 
 either insinuating, or meaning to allow, that all the 
 points about which different denominations of true 
 Christians disagree, are in themselves unworthy of 
 regard. Involving, as many of them do, important 
 Scripture principles bearing on the worship, discipline, 
 and government of the church, they deserve the 
 most serious consideration. But surely they are 
 nevertheless unspeakably inferior to the grand doc- 
 trines in which all evangelical denominations are sub- 
 stantially at one. If they come to the same conclu- 
 sion, if they have all the same answer to give to the 
 poor perishing sinner when the great question is 
 put, — "what must I do to be saved?" there cannot 
 surely be any very high or impassable barrier between 
 
XXVll 
 
 them. And it is on this ground we feel fully war- 
 ranted in expressing a strong conviction, that were 
 there to come a time when the spirit and power of 
 religion should be more deeply and more universally 
 diffused; when the glory of God should become 
 more exclusively and more prominently the grand 
 aim of life; when the worth of immortal souls and 
 the powers of the world to come, should be more vi- 
 vidly realized, — Christians would stand confounded 
 at their causes of variance, and while still formally 
 adhering, unless new light on these points were given, 
 to their external distinctions, would cease to make 
 these things a cause of quarrel with each other, and 
 become one in heart and effort in making head against 
 infidelity and antichrist, and all the combined rulers 
 of the darkness of this world. 
 
 A great religious revival then, would be not only an 
 inestimable blessing to every soul personally visited 
 with its quickening and refreshing influence, but it 
 would bring along with it a sure and glorious deliver- 
 ance to the church of Christ. Then indeed we 
 would need to fear no evil : for God would be in the 
 midst of us — our God would help us, and that 
 right early. 
 
 But there is yet an additional consideration, that 
 should powerfully conduce to stir us up unceasingly 
 to pray that the Lord would revive us as in the days 
 of old. We have adverted to the present peculiar 
 position of God's cause in these, our own lands, as 
 seeming most urgently to require, for its preserva- 
 tion and prosperity, among ourselves, a special time 
 of reviving and refreshing from the presence of the 
 Lord. But let it be borne in mind, that Great 
 
XXVllI 
 
 Britain is manifestly at this moment the citadel of 
 the Christian world. It has pleased God that she 
 should long possess the faith in its greatest purity, 
 and that she should enjoy at the same time, the most 
 ample means for extending it throughout the earth. 
 Her mighty colonies, and conquests, stretching from 
 the rising to the setting sun, and giving her a com- 
 manding position in every region of the globe : her 
 boundless commerce bringing her into immediate con- 
 tact with ever}; shore: the wealth, intelligence, and en- 
 terprise of her people, together with their prodigious 
 advancement in all those sciences and arts which 
 call forth the astonishment and reverence of the less 
 enlightened nations of the earth : — all these things 
 combine to put it in the power of Britain, to bring 
 an influence to bear on the rest of the world, unex- 
 ampled perhaps in the history of mankind. Who 
 does not see in all this a door of hope ready to open 
 on the benighted portions of the earth ; and what 
 Christian heart that loves the Saviour and sighs 
 over the yet limited extent of His blessed kingdom, 
 does not beat high with the glad and glowing antici- 
 pation of the glorious outburst of saving light 
 and health which almost seems to' be at hand? 
 Britain's Christianity and Britain's singularly fa- 
 voured position together, appear in the eye of the 
 thoughtful Christian like the streak of light which 
 glimmers at early dawn along the horizon's verge. 
 Let the Spirit of God give the impulse to our Chris- 
 tianity, causing it to spread more widely, and burn 
 more brightly here, and we can see nothing exag- 
 gerated or over sanguine in the hope, that the light* 
 now gathering behind the mountains of Britain, shall 
 
XXIX 
 
 arise like the morning sun, and pour out a flood of 
 glory over the whole habitable earth. 
 
 But let Britain's Christianity be chilled or over- 
 borne by the many adverse influ6nces now gathering 
 around it, — let infidelity and popery, and the liberalism 
 of nominal Protestants,succeed in gaining the ascend- 
 ancy, and the brightest ray of hope that ever opened 
 on the world will be extinguished in darkness. It 
 
 o 
 
 is therefore a peculiar time in which we live. It is a 
 point in the history of God's church and of the hu- 
 man race, on which many converging lines at once 
 of prophecy and of providence, seem evidently to 
 meet. It is as when two neighbouring and hostile 
 powers, after a long period of irregular and desultory 
 warfare, during which neither had been making 
 any very material or sensible impression on the 
 other, had both at length sternly resolved to 
 end the contest in one mighty struggle. For a time 
 each silently prepares its means of aggression : quietly 
 and as much as possible without attracting observa- 
 tion, gathering its scattered forces and training them 
 for the conflict : labouring secretly, meanwhile, each 
 to scatter the seeds of disaffection among the subjects 
 of the opposing power, that when the day of decision 
 comes, there may be not only formidable danger 
 without, but weakness and treachery within: and when 
 at length the mustering of armies and the frequent 
 notes of preparation render concealment no longer 
 practicable, the banner is openly uplifted and the 
 trumpet of defiance blown. — and then comes the dread- 
 ful onset ; to end only in victory or death. There 
 is, we say, something like this to be seen, in the pre- 
 sent relative position of the powers of light and of 
 
XXX 
 
 darkness. For many generations, though their 
 mutual hostility never for a moment ceased, it was 
 carried on by means too inconsiderable and obscure to 
 draw the attention of the world. During the last 
 thirty years however things on both sides have been 
 undergoing a marked and striking change. On the 
 one side, infidelity^ that seemed, as ashamed, to have 
 hidden its head, has been coming again openly abroad: 
 and popery, which appeared as if bleeding to death, 
 or dying of old age, has suddenly exhibited symptoms 
 of new life and energy, and has been once more 
 opening its mouth in blasphemy and unsheathing its 
 blood-stained sword against the saints of the Most 
 High. 
 
 But blessed be God, on the other side too, signs at 
 least equally decisive of growing life and vigour have 
 contemporaneously appeared. The "good soldiers" 
 of Jesus Christ have been finding their hands again, 
 and putting on with renewed confidence the whole 
 armour of God. Churches collectively, as well as 
 private societies, of their members have been drawing 
 to£fether, to devise and consult for a new and more 
 determined assault on the dominions of thewicked one. 
 Agencies of every kind for promoting the interests 
 of religion have been multiplying on all hands. 
 Scriptural schools, both sabbath and week-day, for 
 the young, — additional means of religious instruction 
 and worship for the old. Associations to circulate 
 in all languages the holy oracles of God. Schemes 
 of missionary enterprise to send forth the messengers 
 of the Gospel even unto the remotest and most in- 
 accessible quarters of the world. These and many 
 similar indications seem manifestly to proclaim that 
 
XXXI 
 
 we are on the eve of a contest of principles more tre- 
 mendous than any which past ages have seen. But 
 come when that contest may — the battle of the great 
 day of God Almighty — we know beforehand what its 
 issue shall be. That from that battle-field shall the 
 triumphant shout ascend, — " The kingdoms of this 
 world are become the kingdoms of our Lord and of 
 his Christ." 
 
 We have thus endeavoured briefly to show, both 
 on general and on special grounds, why a revival of 
 religion is so earnestly to be desired. We have 
 moreover alluded to some of the encouraging circum- 
 stances which seem to warrant us in cherishing the 
 humble hope, that the work ofrevival is already begun. 
 There are still other circumstances of this kind, how- 
 ever, not yet noticed, though very closely connected 
 with the republication of the instructive and admir- 
 able volume to which these remarks are prefixed, and 
 to which therefore, in now drawing towards a conclu- 
 sion, it is suitable and necessary that some reference 
 be made. It is a striking and instructive fact that 
 the very parish that was a chief scene of those me- 
 morable and blessed events which Mr. Robe's Nar- 
 rative describes, has again, after the lapse of a hun- 
 dred years, been visited with a time of peculiar re- 
 viving and refreshing from the presence of the Lord. 
 In reading the statements concerning that parish, re- 
 cently published by its present excellent minister, the 
 Rev. Mr. Burns, we find almost an exact counterpart 
 of the facts which the Narrative of his pious and hon- 
 oured predecessor records. How true it is that even 
 as the Lord visiteth the iniquity of the fathers upon 
 the children unto the third and fourth generation 
 
XXXll 
 
 of them that hate him, so does He show mercy unto 
 thousands of them that love him and keep his com- 
 mandments. As the Jews even at the time when 
 rehgion had most decUned among them, were belov- 
 ed for their fathers' sakes, and are even now reserved 
 for a glorious manifestation of Divine grace and love, 
 — so would it appear that the spirit of prayer which 
 breathed throughout the parish of Kilsyth a century 
 ago, is still telling on the welfare of its inhabitants 
 and causing them, after a long interval of comparative 
 deadness, to come into remembrance before God. 
 
 It is not, however, as furnishing additional mater- 
 ials for theorising on religious revivals, that we con- 
 sider the reappearance of Mr. Robe's Narrative at 
 this precise period as peculiarly important. It is for 
 the sake of its practical uses, as a guide in seeking 
 after and dealing with ac^z^aZ revivals of religion among 
 ourselves that we chiefly rejoice in its being again 
 sent abroad among Christians. There have indeed 
 of late years been various works on this subject issuing 
 from the press, and both the facts which they state 
 and the encreasing demand for the works themselves 
 are the concurrent evidences of a present revival. 
 We do not of course mean to affirm that all which is 
 represented in these works as partaking of that sacred 
 character, is to be held as truly possessing it. But 
 certainly no candid reader can examine such cases for 
 example as those detailed in the valuable work of Dr. 
 Sprague, without feeling abundantly satisfied that 
 they exhibit the undoubted traces of the finger of 
 God. At the same time no record of a religious 
 revival occurring in a foreign country, however in- 
 teresting and instructive it may be in other respects. 
 
XXXlll 
 
 can possibly be so serviceable in a practical point of 
 view, as the well authenticated narrative of a revival 
 at home. 
 
 There are national peculiarities, and diversities of 
 usao:e which unfit to some extent the record of the reli- 
 gious movements of one people, for serving as an exact 
 rule to trace or regulate similar movements among 
 the inhabitants of a different land. But no such 
 disqualification attaches to the narrative of Mr. Robe. 
 It sets before us, in the simple and familiar language 
 of a Scottish Minister, the scenes and incidents of a 
 Scottish revival. The lessons it conveys, therefore, 
 bear directly upon ourselves ; while they come at 
 the same time with all the added force and attractive- 
 ness which the cherished associations of home and of 
 country never fail to impart. We have already 
 alluded to the similarity between the revival narrated 
 by Mr. Robe, and the recent revival of which the 
 parish of Kilsyth has been the scene. There is an 
 equally close resemblance between the objections to 
 religious revivals heard in the present day, and those 
 which were harped upon in the times of Mr. Robe. 
 Every one of the arguments now in the mouths of 
 scoffers, and would-be philosophical men of the 
 world, we find to have been as confidently and un- 
 charitably adduced against the same work a hundred 
 years ago, — and all of them are most conclusively 
 met and refuted by Mr. Robe and his friends. It 
 is this very circumstance that lends so much weight 
 and authority, — which gives a character so perfectly 
 authentic to the narrative before us. It proves that 
 the events it records were the subject of a strict and 
 searching investigation at the time they occurred. 
 
XXXIV 
 
 '* The facts themselves," says Sir Henry MoncriefF 
 in his Life of Dr. Erskine, " whatever view may be 
 taken of them, are ascertained by the most unques- 
 tionable evidence, — by the testimony of Mr. John 
 Maclaurin of Glasgow, who was most assiduous and 
 minute in his investigation of them,* — by Dr. John 
 Hamilton of the High Church of Glasgow, whose 
 good sense and discernment were worthy of the high 
 respectability of his character, f — by Mr. Robe of 
 Kilsyth, whose integrity was never questioned, and 
 who published a narrative on the subject,t — by Dr. 
 Webster of Edinburgh, who accompanied Mr. 
 Whitefield and preached with him at Cambuslang : 
 who published an account of what he represented as real 
 conversions there, in opposition to those who pro- 
 nounced them a delusion, who wrote from his personal 
 knowledge and attested the facts of which he was an 
 eye-witness,^ — and by Dr. Erskine himself, who was 
 then a student in divinity, and who wrote a pam- 
 phlet on the subject, entitled " The Signs of the 
 Times;" and after reviewing the attempts which in 
 opposition to these various writers, were made by 
 others who were unfriendly, to bring odium on the 
 revival of that period, or to explain it away, by as- 
 cribing it to mere physical excitement or wild fanati- 
 cism. Sir Henry pronounces this temperate and well 
 merited rebuke on the authors of these unworthy 
 efforts to discredit or disparage the work of the Spirit 
 
 * Account of his life, prefixed to his Sermons and Essays. 
 
 t In his letters to Mr. Prince of Boston, 1742, published in 
 the Life of Whitefield. 
 
 ^ The Narrative now reprinted. 
 
 § Webster's " Divine Influence, the true spring of the extraor- 
 dinary work at Cambuslang." And his second edition of ditto, 
 with a preface, in answer to Mr. Fisher's Review. 
 
XXXV 
 
 of God : — a rebuke not inapplicable to some in the 
 present day. 
 
 " Whatever opinion, says he, may be held with 
 respect to the means or influence with which four 
 hundred individuals connected a reformation in their 
 moral and religious character, which they afterwards 
 supported through life, no fair man will deny, that 
 such an effect, produced in such a number of human 
 beings, is a subject neither of ridicule nor contempt. 
 Many thousands attended on whom no visible im- 
 pression seems to have been made. And this fact, 
 according with ordinary experience, and honestly 
 related in the narrative on the subject, confirms in- 
 stead of lessening their credibility. 
 
 " On the other hand, let the thousands who go 
 away without having received any visible impression 
 be out of the question, (though many good effects 
 might have been produced which were neither observed 
 nor related at the time) four hundred individuals who 
 to the conviction of those who knew them, became 
 better men, — men more useful and conscientious in 
 their stations and more faithful in their practical 
 duties than they ever were before, and who preserve 
 this character while they live : — exhibits a view of 
 the religion of Cambuslang and Kilsyth, which a wise 
 man will not easily bring himself to reprobate : and 
 which no good man, if he candidly examines the facts, 
 and believes them, will allow himself to despise." 
 
 This one testimony, from such a man as the bio- 
 grapher of Erskine, preeminently distinguished as 
 he was both for the strength and the soundness of 
 his mind, will, in the estimation of every intelligent 
 Christian, far more than outweigh all the rash asser- 
 
XXXVl 
 
 tions or injurious misrepresentations of mere men of 
 the world. It was remarked near the beginning of 
 this Essay, as a strange thing that the word revival 
 should sound so offensively when used in connection 
 with religion, to multitudes who, in any other con- 
 nection, are ready to hail it as bringing every glad 
 and grateful association in its train. It is strange, 
 undoubtedly, and as we have endeavoured to show, 
 when the subject is considered in relation to its own 
 proper and intrinsic merits : but it is not strange 
 when viewed with reference to the fallen and corrupt 
 nature of man. The gospel itself is an offence to 
 the unregenerate mind, and for the very same reason, 
 .so is a religious revival. Formal professors of 
 Christianity, who have accustomed themselves to 
 consider religion as requiring little more than certain 
 decent external observances, are naturally alarmed 
 and irritated when they find it forcing itself, by some 
 great and simultaneous movement of a whole com- 
 munity, into close and immediate contact with the 
 whole current and business of life. They could not 
 only endure it, but even willingly pay to it all out- 
 ward respect and deference, so long as it could be 
 kept at arm's length. But when a whole neigh- 
 bourhood is seen to be commoved upon the subject, — 
 when the concerns of the soul, and of the world to 
 come, are found engrossing men's minds, mingling 
 in their daily conversation, and coming forth with 
 all that power and prominence whick rightly belong 
 to the " one thing needful," the impulse such an 
 event gives to public feeling overbears and breaks 
 down those fences with which unspiritual men had 
 been keeping religion at a distance from them. 
 
xxxvn 
 
 They cannot in such a state of things get rid of it, 
 go where they will. They are left with no choice 
 but either to maintain that the subjects of that re- 
 vival have a great deal too much of religion, or that 
 they themselves have a great, great deal too little. 
 But this painful sensation among worldly men, which 
 a religious revival creates, is not therefore to be re- 
 garded as an evil : on the contrary, it is to be con- 
 sidered as one of the most important blessings such 
 a revival involves. It is like a spring breaking out 
 under a stagnant pool, sending up by the first rush 
 of its waters the mud which had lain quietly at the 
 bottom, but destined by its continued flow to purify 
 and sweeten that which before had been only the 
 parent of corruption. 
 
 Dec. loth, 1833. 
 
CONTENTS. 
 
 Preface, .... ... .1 
 
 Narrative of the Revival at Kilsyth, by Mr. Robe, . . 27 
 
 Article I. Concerning the method I have observed in 
 
 carrying on this Work, ...... 49 
 
 Art. II. Concerning the Fruits of this Dispensation, 
 
 which are General as to the Body of the People, . 73 
 
 Art. III. Concerning those who have been Awakened, 
 and appear to be now Converted, in a silent and un- 
 observed manner, for some months past, . . 76 
 
 Art. IV. Concerning those who cried out when they were 
 Awakened, or made application to me, from time to 
 time, under their Spiritual Distress ; but were not 
 under any Bodily Affections, . . . . .93 
 
 Art. V, Concernining those on whose Bodies Spiritual 
 Operations had real and sensible influence in a more 
 unusual way, ....... 151 
 
 Art. VI. Concerning the Variety and Number of the 
 Persons who have been under the Influence of this 
 Blessed Work in this and some neighbouring Parishes, 180 
 
 Art. VII. Concerning the Perserverance of those who 
 appeared to be Hopefully Changed during the Extra- 
 ordinary Seasons of Grace. ..... 186 
 
 Attestations regarding Kilsyth, 199 
 
 Narrative of the Revival at Cambuslang, . . . 213 
 Attestations regarding Cambuslang, , . . 221, 228 
 
PREFACE. 
 
 It is transporting and astonishing, that after all the 
 great and horrid provocations we have given the 
 Most High in this church and land, by growing 
 deism and infidelity, carnality and profanity, for- 
 mality and hypocrisy, our bitter envyings and unrea- 
 sonable divisions, but most of all by a general reject- 
 ing of the blessed Son of God by unbelief, and using 
 gospel ordinances contentedly without feeling the 
 power of them, the Lord hath been so far from 
 utterly forsaking us, and making our country desolate 
 by some destroying judgment, that he is in " wrath 
 remembering mercy," and beginning manifestly to 
 revive his work, and help us in such a situation as 
 was become hopeless and helpless by any human 
 possible means. 
 
 There hath been a great and just complaint among 
 godly ministers and Christians of the elder sort, who 
 have seen better days, that for some years past there 
 hath been a sensible decay as to the life and power 
 of godliness. " Iniquity abounded and the love of 
 many waxed cold." Our defection from the Lord, 
 and backsliding, increased fast to a dreadful apostacy. 
 
 A 64 
 
While the government, worship, and doctrine estab- 
 lished in this church were retained in profession ; 
 there hath been a universal corruption of life, reach- 
 ing even unto the sons and daucrhters of God. 
 Former strictness as to holiness and tenderness of 
 life was much relaxed among both ministers and 
 people of the better sort : a formal round of profes- 
 sional duties was the religion of the professors, and 
 in this they rested : as to the multitude they were 
 visibly profane, and without any sense of religion at 
 all. Things were become so bad with us, that there 
 were few that we, the ministers of the word, could 
 comfort as believers in Christ, and exhort to rejoice 
 in hope of the glory of God, when we found them 
 adying. All this was observed by some, and looked 
 upon as the cause of God's controversy with us ; 
 and what, they feared, would provoke him to send 
 some desolating judgment, to avenge the quarrel of 
 his thus broken covenant : and in this view they gave 
 warninof as occasion offered. 
 
 It is one of Satan's devices, to engage some dis- 
 tressed souls, to be deeply exercised about things 
 which either are not their sins, or among the least 
 of them ; that thereby he may divert them from 
 minding their greatest sins, and those which are the 
 cause of God's controversy with them. Some zea- 
 lous good men, both ministers and others, fell un- 
 warily into this snare. They looked upon some 
 things of mismanagement in government and dis- 
 cipline, which others were dissatisfied with as well 
 as they, with such earnestness, that they cried out 
 against them as the most crying sins, the cause of 
 the Lord's controversy with us, portending dreadful 
 
judgments, and what corrupted the church so far 
 that nothing could secure the salvation of her mem- 
 bers but coming out of her and separating from her. 
 Hereby they were led to overlook what was our 
 greatest evil, and the cause of God's controversy 
 with us, namely, the corruption of the lives of the 
 members of this church, and that we had a name to 
 live, while we were in a great measure dead as to 
 faith, love to God and one another, and other 
 branches of holiness. 
 
 This unhappily filled the heads and mouths of 
 most professors to such a degree, as to mind and 
 converse about nothing even upon the Lord's day 
 but ministers, church judicatories, and some other 
 disputable things, far from the vitals of religion. 
 The state of their souls was much forgotten, and 
 they were either disaffected to their worthy ministers, 
 and the Lord's ordinances dispensed by them ; or if 
 they attended, they were diverted by these things 
 from a concern about their regeneration, conversion, 
 and amending their ways and doings which were 
 not good. Wherever our lamentable divisions pre- 
 vailed, serious religion declined to a shadow. 
 
 All this while we had a dead and barren time. 
 The work of conversion went but slowly and undis- 
 cernibly on. The influences of the Holy Spirit 
 were restrained. The Lord's presence was much 
 withdrawn, and the power of his grace but little ex- 
 erted and put forth, so that the gospel had but small 
 success, either for bringing souls to Jesus Christ, or 
 for quickening and refreshing real Christians. Min- 
 isters and godly Christians, who observed these 
 things with sorrow, were filled with tears lest the 
 
4 
 
 Lord had poured forth a spirit of deep sleep upon 
 this generation, and given unto his servants the com- 
 mission he gave unto the evangelical prophet Isaiah: 
 " And he said, Go, and tell this people, Hear ye 
 indeed, but understand not; and see ye indeed, but 
 perceive not. Make the heart of this people fat, 
 and make their ears heavy, and shut their eyes : lest 
 they see with their eyes, and hear with their ears, 
 and understand with their heart, and convert and be 
 healed. Then said I, Lord, how long ? and he an- 
 swered, Untill the cities be wasted without inhabi- 
 tant, and the houses without man, and the land be 
 utterly desolate, and the Lord have removed men far 
 away, and there be a great forsaking in the midst of 
 the land." Several ministers gave warning to their 
 people, that they were afraid lest these spiritual 
 judgments most frequent in the New Testament 
 times were inflicted upon many of them, and might 
 be still further. 
 
 Things being come to this extremity, it was the 
 Lord's opportunity to glorify his name in a way sur- 
 prising to us, and peculiar to himself. We were 
 going on towardly in the way of our heart, notwith- 
 standing a variety of smiting judgments and alluring 
 mercies : He, in his sovereign mercy and goodness, 
 hath begun to see our ways and to heal them, when 
 we were proof against all other dispensations; he 
 hath visited us with such a dispensation of his Spirit 
 as is sufficient to do it, and we pray that it may 
 and hope that it shall be general unto the whole 
 church and land. This extraordinary out-pouring 
 of the Holy Spirit, whereby great numbers of secure 
 sinners are awakened, and many of them converted 
 
and filled with faith and more than ordinary peace 
 and joy in believing, appeared first upon the 18th 
 of February last, and continues at Cambuslang, a 
 parish within four miles south-east of Glasgow. 
 A well attested Narrative of this hath been pub- 
 lished. 
 
 Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus 
 Christ, that this sensible presence and power of the 
 Holy Ghost hath not been confined to that highly 
 favoured parish, but began to visit us upon Sabbath 
 the 25th day of April last, as it soon after did also 
 several other congregations lying to the north, north- 
 east, and north-west of Glasgow. This work so 
 extraordinary upon the souls of many in these con- 
 gregations is the same with that at Cambuslang. 
 The method of the Spirit's operation is alike in all 
 these congregations ; and the effects of it upon the 
 bodies of the awakened, which have not been so 
 common at other times, are also much the same. 
 
 The bodies of some of the awakened are seized 
 with trembling, fainting, hysterics in some few 
 women, and with convulsive motions in some others, 
 arising from that apprehension and fear of the wrath 
 of God they are convinced they are under and liable 
 to because of their sins. They have a quick appre- 
 hension of the greatness and dreadfulness of this 
 wrath before they are affected. 
 
 These effects upon the bodies of some of the 
 awakened have been objected against this work by 
 many. And some have not been afraid to ascribe 
 it to the Devil, and to traduce the whole as delusion. 
 
 As there were the very same appearances accom- 
 panying such an eff'usion of the Holy Spirit in some 
 
of our American colonies; so the same objections 
 were made against them which have been made 
 against this appearance of God among us. This 
 hath occasioned the reverend and judicious Mr. Ed- 
 wards, minister of the gospel at Northampton in New- 
 England, to preach and publish a sermon upon the 
 distinguishing marks of a work of the Spirit of God, 
 wherein he answers and takes off the foresaid objec- 
 tions in a satisfactory manner. It would be super- 
 fluous and unnecessary again to answer these objec- 
 tions after him, seeing this sermon hath been oftener 
 than once reprinted in North Britain, and is and will 
 be in as many hands as any other answer probably 
 can, with this advantage, that by the surprising di- 
 rection of Providence it comes from one in a foreign 
 country, who preached and published it long before 
 this appearance of the Lord in his glory and majesty 
 amongst us. 
 
 I cannot however forbear to observe and offer the 
 followincr remarks to the reader. 
 
 First: That there are some who do not cry out 
 in the congregation, neither have had any of the 
 aforesaid bodily agitations, who have been under a 
 law-work for some months, and are, as far as we can 
 know the state of another, savingly converted : and 
 there are others who have been under the severest 
 bodily distress, in whom the work of conviction and 
 conversion, as to the main appearances of them, an- 
 swer to the former as face to face in a glass. Is it 
 possible then that any thinking person will conclude 
 that all is delusion in the latter, merely because their 
 bodies were strangely disordered when they were at 
 first awakened to feel themselves in a state of sin 
 
and wrath, seeing there are the very same incontest- 
 able evidences of the conversion of the last as there 
 are of the first ? 
 
 Secondly : There are few observing persons who 
 have not seen sudden tears, and great sorrow upon 
 worldly grounds, cause faintings, histeric fits, con- 
 vulsions, bodily agonies, and strugglings. The 
 apostle saith, " Worldly sorrow worketh death.'* 
 What reason can be assigned, why legal terrors and 
 fears, a strong apprehension of the wrath of God in 
 persons who know not but the sentence of condem- 
 nation may be executed upon them immediately, 
 should not have the like effect upon their bodies 
 — especially considering that the cause and reasons 
 of their fears are incomparably juster and greater ? 
 Several of us ministers have loner ere now seen 
 persons distracted as Heman was with the terror of 
 God. 
 
 Thirdly : There is much reason to conclude that 
 the work of God in converting many in several 
 parishes in the shire of Ayr and other places of the 
 West, from 1625 to 1630, was attended with much 
 the same appearances as this. It was called the 
 Stewarton sickness by the malignants, because of the 
 bodily distress which accompanied it. I shall tran- 
 scribe the short account which the author of the 
 Fulfilling of the Scriptures gives of it : — " I must 
 here instance a very solemn and extraordinary out- 
 letting of the Spirit which, about the year 1625 and 
 thereafter, was in the west of Scotland, whilst the 
 persecution of the church there was hot from the 
 Prelatic party. This by the profane rabble of that 
 time was called the Stewarton sickness ; for in that 
 
8 
 
 parish first — but after through much of the coun- 
 try, particularly at Irvine, under the ministry of the 
 famous Mr. Dickson — it was most remarkable, where 
 it can be said (which divers ministers and Christians 
 yet alive can witness) that for a considerable time 
 few sabbaths passed without some being eminently 
 converted, and some convincing proof of the power 
 of God accompanying his word, yea that many were 
 so choked and taken by the heart, that through 
 terror, the Spirit in such a measure convincing them 
 of sin, in hearing of the word, they have been made 
 to fall ovei, and thus carried out of the church, who 
 afterward proved most solid and lively Christians ; 
 and as it was known some of the most gross, who 
 used to mock at relio-ion, beincr induced from the 
 fame that went abroad of such things, to go to some 
 of those parts where the gospel was then most 
 lively, have been effectually reached before their 
 return, with a visible change following the same. 
 And truly this great spring-tide which I may call it 
 of the gospel was not of a short time, but for some 
 years' continuance ; yea, thus like a spreading moor- 
 burn the power of godliness advanced from one 
 place to another, which put a marvelous lustre on 
 those parts of the country, the savour whereof 
 brought many from other parts of the land to see 
 the truth of the same." The similitude and like- 
 ness of this work amongst us to that referred to 
 seems evident; and can these bodily effects mention- 
 ed be just grounds of objection against this work 
 now, and not also against the other? 
 
 Fourthly : Is it not to be forgotten that in New- 
 England, where hundreds were affected in their bo~ 
 
9 
 
 dies the same way several with us are, the most part 
 of those who were thought to he convinced have 
 continued now for some years to possess serious reh- 
 gion, and to practise it without returning to their 
 former foUies. And shall we not hope the same of 
 those converted amongst us, seeing also, since they 
 appeared to be converted, they have continued for 
 several months or weeks in a desirable way — espe- 
 cially when some parts of the most refined and un- 
 common morality have been practised by them, of 
 which some instances may be given in the following 
 Narrative ? 
 
 I forbear to give instances from the Holy Scrip- 
 tures of things exactly similar to these bodily dis- 
 tresses in our case, seeing I have already referred to 
 Mr. Edwards' sermons. Only it is surprising that 
 some reason as if they had never read the history in 
 the second chapter of the Acts, or of the jailor, or 
 Felix trembling, and of the conversion of the holy 
 apostle Paul ; and as if they found in their bibles 
 positive declarations, that the Lord would never, to 
 the end of the world, suffer sinners to cry out, trem- 
 ble, faint, or fall down astonished, under a work of 
 conviction, and apprehension of his just and dreadful 
 wrath. 
 
 Lastly : I seriously beg of any who are prejudiced 
 against this dispensation of God's extraordinary 
 grace, and look upon it as delusion, that they will 
 show themselves so charitable and good as to direct 
 me and other ministers what we shall answer dis- 
 tressed persons of all ages, who come to us, crying 
 bitterly that they are lost and undone, because of 
 unbelief and their other sins — " What shall we do to 
 
 a2 
 
10 
 
 be saved ?" and, as a young girl about twelve, wbo 
 had been in distress for some time, called for me to 
 a separate place in a house where I was, and asked 
 me, with great sedateness, What shall I do to get 
 Christ ? Shall we tell them they are not Christless 
 and unconverted, when we evidently see many of 
 them to be such ? Shall we tell them that their 
 fears of the wrath of God is nothing but delusion, 
 and that it is no such dreadful thing as they need to 
 be so muclr afraid of it ? Shall we tell persons 
 lamenting their cursing, swearing, sabbath-breaking, 
 and other immoralities, that it is the Devil who makes 
 them now see these evils to be offensive to God, and 
 destructive to their souls ? Shall we tell those, who 
 under the greatest uneasiness enquire at us, what 
 they shall do to get an interest and faith in Jesus 
 Christ, that Satan is deluding them, when they have 
 or show any concern this way? In fine, shall we 
 pray, and recommend it to them to pray, to deliver 
 them from such delusions? It would be worse than 
 devilish, to treat the Lord's sighing and groaning 
 prisoners at this rate. And yet such treatment is a 
 natural consequence of reckoning this the work of 
 the Devil, and a delusion. 
 
 There are only two other objections I shall en- 
 deavour to take off because they are popular and 
 have reached even unto us. 
 
 The first is taken from the notoriety and obser- 
 vableness of this work. They object that it cannot 
 be the work of the Holy Ghost, and any real true 
 conversion, which is so open to public notice and 
 makes so much noise ; for our Lord saith, " The 
 kingdom of God cometh not with observation." 
 
11 
 
 It is matter of wonder that this objection should 
 have its rise from those who should be able and 
 careful to look beyond the translation to the original; 
 and if they have it is not consistent with honesty to 
 make such an objection, seeing they cannot but 
 know that the Greek word refers to such earthly 
 pomp, grandeur of equipage and attendance, where- 
 with earthly kings used to make their public appear- 
 ances, or as our translators give the word otherwise 
 upon the margin, " with outward show." Beza's 
 note upon this scripture is both short and good, and 
 therefore I give the meaning of it rather in his 
 words than my own. " ' The kingdom of God 
 Cometh not with observation,' that is, with any out- 
 ward pomp and show of majesty to be known by : 
 for there were otherwise many plain and evident 
 tokens whereby men might have understood that 
 Christ was the Messias, whose kingdom was so long 
 looked for : but he speaketh in this place of these 
 signs which the Pharisees dreamed of, who looked 
 for an earthly kingdom of the Messias." Our Lord 
 doth not in the least insinuate that the coming of the 
 kingdom of God in the conversion of Jews and 
 Gentiles was to be silently set up, without noise and 
 unobserved, for this would have been contrary to 
 fact. Did not the Spirit's work of conversion at 
 Samaria quickly reach the ears of the church at Jer- 
 usalem ? Were not the conversions from Paganism 
 to Christianity with observation ? Is any notoriously 
 profane and wicked person in any congregation con- 
 victed and his life reformed without observation ? 
 The remark of the Rev. Mr. Cooper in his preface 
 to Mr. Edwards' sermon formerly quoted is very 
 
12 
 
 just: after mentioning the uncommon appearances 
 accompanying this work, he says : *' If it were not 
 thus, the work of the Lord would not be so much 
 regarded and spoken of; and so God would not 
 have so much of the glory of it : nor would the work 
 itself be like to speed so fast; for God hath evi- 
 dently made use of example and discourse in carry- 
 ing it on." May a sovereignly gracious God make 
 his work soon appear to his servants through the 
 whole land, and his glory unto their children. May 
 the heavenly influence, like lightning, fly from con- 
 gregation to congregation, alarming every uncon- 
 verted sinner, and filling their hearts and lips with 
 importunate inquiries, " What shall we do to be 
 saved ?" 
 
 The second objection is taken from those called 
 Camizars, a part of the barbarously persecuted and 
 oppressed Protestants in France after the revocation 
 of the edict of Nantes. They appeared in the 
 Cevennes, a barren and desert country. There 
 were a number among them who pretended to in- 
 spiration ; and if the accounts we have of them be 
 genuine, by that inspiration they gave exhortations 
 to repentance, and foretold several things which the 
 event hath proven false. Other things are reported 
 of them that there is reason to believe were ficti- 
 tious. Many of them came over to London about 
 and after the year 1702. The history of whom was 
 given in English by one Lacy, which hath been 
 handed about here by some enemies to this work of 
 God. They were under frequent bodily agitations, 
 convulsions, and extraordinary motions ; and it is 
 pretended that their case is the same with ours ; and 
 
13 
 
 seeing they were under a delusion, this must be a 
 delusion also. 
 
 To satisfy those who have been practised upon, I 
 would have them to observe first, that as these 
 bodily agitations are no evidence of persons' being 
 under any operations of the Spirit of God, else all 
 the persons under convulsions, cramps, histerics, &c., 
 would be such ; so upon the other hand they are no 
 evidence that those thus affected are under a spirit 
 of delusion ; for several of the prophets of old had 
 sometimes extraordinary motions upon their bodies ; 
 and many have them in the way of bodily diseases, 
 which physicians say proceed from natural causes. 
 So that the bodily agitations considered in them- 
 selves are no symptoms of persons' being under the 
 influence of either a good or bad spirit. 
 
 There is the greatest unlikeness between the case 
 of the Camizars and those affected among us. The 
 Camizars had their bodily agitations from a super- 
 natural power, as they declare in the foresaid book 
 of Lacy : The distresses upon the bodies of our 
 people proceed in a natural way, from the great fear 
 of God's wrath, wherewith their minds are seized, 
 because of the state of unbelief they are deeply 
 convinced of. The Camizars pretended inspiration, 
 and if what they declared of themselves be true, they 
 understood not sometimes what they uttered, neither 
 did they remember it afterwards. Their organs 
 were moved and used in speaking by some super- 
 natural power, without their own will and influence 
 of their natural powers : None of our people ever 
 pretended in the least to inspiration ; they give a 
 rational account of themselves, know and remember 
 
14 
 
 what they say and do. The Camizars continued 
 many years under their bodily agitations whenever 
 their pretended inspirations seized them ; and these 
 did not proceed from any apprehension of the wrath 
 of God due to them because of their sins : Our 
 people are delivered from these bodily distresses, 
 which do not return upon them again, when they are 
 delivered from their fears. Among the Camizars 
 their pretended inspired teachers were only affected, 
 and that while they were uttering their revelations : 
 Amongst us only some of our hearers, who through 
 the power of the Holy Spirit are by the word con- 
 vinced of their sin and danger. The exhortations 
 of the Camizars to repentance and amendment of 
 life were without any mixture of the gospel con- 
 cerning Jesus Christ, and the principles, means, and 
 motives to repentance revealed therein : In ours a 
 work of conviction is distinctly carried on to a work 
 of saving conversion in many, according to the doc- 
 trine of the gospel, and by the influence thereof. 
 
 After this fair statment of the difference between 
 the Camizars and the spiritually-distressed amongst 
 us, I leave it to the impartial reader to judge whether 
 there is the least shadow of reason to compare this 
 work to the delusion of the Camizars : And if it be 
 not the most unfair dealing to do so in a general 
 way, to the stumbling of weak people, while they 
 themselves cannot but know, if they looked at all into 
 the history of these people, that there is no such like- 
 ness between their case and that of ours as to warrant 
 the objection. There are now, blessed be the Lord, 
 many instances in several corners of this church, of 
 a saving work of conversion witnessing that this is 
 
15 
 
 the work of the Spirit of God, and that the king- 
 dom of God is come nearer to us than ever. 
 
 I hope my reader will bear with my taking occasion 
 from this objection to expostulate a little with my 
 brethren of the Secession, who compare this work of 
 the Holy Spirit to the delusion of the Camizars. 
 
 My dear brethren, my heart's desire and prayer to 
 God for you is, that he may open your eyes to see 
 the many mistakes you labour under, give you repen- 
 tance to the acknowledging of the truth, and forgive 
 the thoughts of your heart and the words of your lips, 
 uttered now both against God and your brethren, 
 slandering your own mother's sons. Whatever bitter 
 names you and your party give us, whatever bitter 
 reproaches you cast upon us, and how much soever 
 you magnify yourselves against us, saying to us, " Bow 
 down, that we may go over," we take all patiently; and 
 there are thousands of witnesses that we return you 
 blessing for cursing, and pray for you who despitefully 
 use us. We would lay our bodies as the ground 
 and as the street for you to go over, if it could in 
 the least contribute to remove your prejudices, and 
 advance the kingdom of our dear Redeemer; but we 
 cannot look upon the guilt you have brought your- 
 selves and many others under without the deepest 
 grief, and upon the opposition you give us in our 
 most sincere and hearty endeavours to recover sin- 
 ners out of the snare of the Devil and win them to 
 Jesus Christ, without the most zealous concern. 
 
 I had a paper transmitted to me by the Monday's 
 post, entitled. Act of the Associate Presbytery, anent 
 a public fast, dated at Dunfermline, the 15th of July, 
 1742, full of great swelling words, altogether void of 
 
16 
 
 the spirit of the meek and lowly Jesus, and the most 
 heaven-daring paper that hath been pubUshed by 
 any set oF men in Britain these hundred years past. 
 Therein you declare the work of God to be a delu- 
 sion, and the work of the grand Deceiver. Now, my 
 dear brethren, for whom I tremble, have you been 
 at due pains to know the nature and circumstances 
 of this work, — have you taken the trouble, to go to 
 any of those places where the Lord hath appeared in 
 his glory and majesty, and informed yourselves 
 anent it from ministers, some of whom I can assure 
 you would have concealed nothing from you? Have 
 you ever so much as written to any of them to receive 
 information from them, and have they declined or 
 refused to give it? It is not consistent with common 
 justice to condemn them as deceivers; but is it not 
 amazing rashness, without inquiry or trial, to pro- 
 nounce that to be the work of the Devil which, for 
 any thing you know, may be the work of the infi- 
 nitely good and Holy Spirit ? Is not this too like the 
 Scribes and Pharisees who ascribed the miraculous 
 work of our Lord, wrought by the Holy Ghost, to 
 an evil and unclean spirit ? Are you not afraid lest 
 you come too near this sin ? Or if you are secure as 
 to yourselves, yet should you not tremble at the 
 thoughts of the blasphemous and ungodly speeches 
 some of your people utter by your means, and which 
 vou most certainly account for as the sinful causes of 
 them? One of your party, who had consulted one of 
 your number, said, that if he thought the Spirit of 
 God would come by the ministers of this church, he 
 would not own it. 
 
 You say it is obvious that bitter outcrying,'faint- 
 
17 
 
 ings, severe bodily pains, convulsions, voices, visions, 
 and revelations, are the usual symptoms of a delusive 
 spirit, that have appeared in Quakers, &c. This hath 
 been answered already. As to voices, visions, and 
 revelations, none of our people who are come to re- 
 lief by faith in Christ pretend to them ; and all are 
 cautioned against such deceits. You say, no sound 
 divine amongst us hath ever maintained these bodily 
 distresses as agreeable to and concerned with the 
 saving operations of the Spirit of God. How deceit- 
 ful is this your reasoning ? Can you say that sound 
 divines amongst us maintain that they are inconsistent 
 with a saving work of the Spirit of God, and that 
 there can be no saving operations of the Spirit where 
 these are ? If you had said this, and proven it, you 
 would have said something ; but this is what you 
 could not, what you durst not say. 
 
 You say further, that none of the fruits of this 
 work which have been alleged are sufficient to dif- 
 ference it either from the common work of the Spi- 
 rit of God upon hypocrites, or from the delusions of 
 Satan. You should have instanced those fruits of 
 this work which are alleged, and shown that they 
 are not sufficient. Since you have not condescended 
 upon them, I shall do it for you. The fruits of it in 
 many are godly sorrow for sin, universal hatred of 
 it, renouncing their own righteousness and embrac- 
 ing the righteousness of God bv faith in Jesus Christ, 
 embracing him in all his offices, universal reformation 
 of life, a superlative love to our blessed Redeemer, 
 love to all they see bear his image, love towards 
 all men, even their enemies, earnest desires and 
 prayers for the conversion of all others. These are 
 
18 
 
 the fruits of it in many, and do not these sufBciently 
 difference this work both from the common work of 
 the Spirit of God upon hypocrites, and from the 
 delusions of Satan ? I know from what you have 
 preached and written you will not venture to publish 
 that they do not ? Will any believe that you knew 
 not these are alleged as the fruits of this work, see- 
 ing you mention the missives, attestations, and jour- 
 nals, relating to this work which have been pub- 
 lished ? I leave it to the impartial reader, and to 
 your own consciences, to pronounce judgment upon 
 such unfair dealing. 
 
 As to what you alleged of those fruits of it 
 which you say are undeniably evident, such as a 
 warm aversion and opposition to your testimony, 
 a close conjunction with their ministers, and a visible 
 neglect of relative and social duties : The last is 
 undeniably false in the sight of all who see the lives 
 of these new converts, and who are the likest to 
 Scripture converts of any I ever knew. As to the 
 first two : dare you tell the most furiously zealous for 
 your testimony, and against their own ministers, that 
 these things are marks and evidences of saving grace, 
 and that they may depend upon them as such ; or 
 that the judging your testimony irregular, and what 
 the Lord required not at your hands in the way and 
 manner you have given it, and their close conjunc- 
 tion with their ministers, are certain evidences that 
 they are Christless and graceless who do so ? I am 
 persuaded some of you have so much of the root of 
 the matter in you that you dare not for a world say 
 either of these two. 
 
 And now, my dear brethren, can you find in your 
 
19 
 
 hearts, after all the prayers you have put up in pub- 
 He and private for the outpouring of the Spirit from 
 on high upon this poor church and land, to deny 
 that it is he, and reject him when he is come, not 
 for our sakes, but his holy name's sake, which we 
 had profaned ? Can you find in your hearts to be 
 like the Jews, who prayed and longed for the com- 
 ing of the Messias, and when he came, rejected and 
 crucified him, because he cam.e not in the way their 
 prejudices led them to look for him? Can you be 
 so unaflPected with the glory of infinitely sovereign 
 grace appearing towards a judgment-deserving gene- 
 ration, as to say, you " do well to fret and to be 
 angry at it;" because you find your glory is lessened 
 by it, and your credit beginning to suflPer ? Will 
 you be so fearless, can you be so cruel to thousands 
 of perishing sinners, who begin to fly to Jesus Christ 
 as a cloud, and as doves to their windows ; as in the 
 most solemn and public manner, with eyes and hands 
 uplifted to heaven, to pray that there may be a re- 
 straint upon the influences of the Holy Spirit, and 
 that this outpouring of his grace may be withdrawn, 
 and not spread through the breadth and length of 
 the land ? I can assure you many godly souls will 
 with tears cry as Moses did in the case of the rebel- 
 lion of Korah, " Lord, respect not thou their offer- 
 ing;" and, after our Lord's example, " Father, for- 
 give them, for they know not what they do." 
 
 Several ministers are charged by you, with im- 
 posing upon the people, and being at indefatigable 
 pains, by their printed Missives, Attestations, and 
 Journals, to deceive, if it were possible, "the very 
 elect," &c. I rejoice to be associated with so many 
 
20 
 
 worthy men, whose praise is every where in this 
 church, and who, though they are as deceivers with 
 you, yet are true, and shall by grace be found to be 
 true at the coming of our Lord and yours. It is our 
 comfort tJiat we suffer in this what our jjreat Master 
 suffered for us. They called him, " This deceiver," 
 and some of them said, " Nay, but he deceiveth 
 the people." We are conscious to ourselves that we 
 desire and design to preach not ourselves, but Jesus 
 Christ our Lord ; " warning every man, and teaching 
 every man in all wisdom ; that we may present every 
 man perfect in Christ Jesus : whereunto I also la- 
 bour, striving according to his working, which work- 
 eth in me mightily." Let heaven and earth praise 
 him, that we may experience more of this now than 
 ever we did before. If you go on to hinder and 
 oppose us in this, and associate yourselves with other 
 enemies to the cross of Christ, take heed lest you 
 be found fifjhters ao^ainst God. I cannot do better 
 than put you in remembrance of an inference judi- 
 cious Flavel hath in his sermon upon John, vi, 44 : 
 '' What enemies," saith he, " are they to God and 
 the souls of men, that do all they can to discourage 
 and hinder the conversion of men to Christ ! God 
 draws forward, arid they do all that in them lies to 
 draw backward, to prejudice and discourage them 
 from coming to Jesus Christ in the way of faith : 
 this is a direct opposition to God, and a plain confe- 
 deracy with the Devil." As to my ends in publishing 
 the Journals from Kilsyth, you might have seen 
 them prefixed to the first Journal ; I am sorry that 
 in as far as they respected you they are not as yet 
 attained, and do assure you that if they had you 
 would not have been deceived. 
 
21 
 
 You further charge us, whom you call promoters 
 of this work, with pleading for a boundless toleration 
 and liberty of conscience. Where and when did 
 we that ? I know none of my brethren who ever 
 did it. And I am so far conscious of my innocence, 
 that I insist upon your making ycur charge good ; 
 if you do not, as I am sure you cannot, it is no 
 pleasure to me that you have given reason to the 
 world to reckon you slanderers, and to me to beseech 
 you to repent, and to pray the Lord to forgive you, 
 which I desire to do from my heart. Let us all 
 remember that the pulpit and sacred papers can 
 never sanctify slander and defamation, but immensely 
 aggravate the crime. 
 
 I do not meddle at this time with other parts, or 
 with that part of your paper concerning the Rev. 
 George Whitefield, whom I love in the truth, and 
 not 1 only, but many in all the churches who have 
 known the truth, for the truth's sake, which dwelleth 
 in us and shall be with us for ever. Only I am of 
 opinion that he should do justice so far to himself, 
 and the ministers of the Church of Scotland, as to 
 set what passed between you and him in a just 
 light. If it be not true that, in your close conver- 
 sation with him, you offered to receive him into full 
 communion with you, without any terms at all but 
 his promising not to preach upon any invitation 
 given him by any minister in this church, you are 
 requited as you have so often done unto others. I 
 leave it to your consciences to judge, whether we 
 who have received him into full communion, or you 
 who are bitter enemies to him, homologate most 
 (you will probably understand the word) the worst 
 
22 
 
 part of the Church of England, who are his professed 
 enemies, and seek to oppress him for preaching the 
 truth as it is in Jesus. Remember who hath said, 
 and upon what occasion, " Wherefore receive ye one 
 another, as Christ also received us, to the glory of 
 God." 
 
 Thus, dear brethren, I have dealt with you in 
 love, that I might do my part not to suffer sin to lie 
 upon you. If any angry man of your party fall upon 
 me in the way that hath, alas, been too usual, I have, 
 and I hope, if the Lord spare me, shall long have 
 more important work to do than to mind it or to give 
 it any return. Now the God of patience and con- 
 solation grant you and us to be like-minded one to- 
 ward another, according to Christ Jesus ; that we 
 may with one mind and one mouth glorify God, 
 even the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. 
 
 The preceding observations, though possibly of 
 no great use to some readers, yet are needful to 
 many in this country; and the expostulation occa- 
 sioned by the extraordinary act of the Associate 
 presbytery are the apologies I make for the length 
 of this Preface to the designed historical Narrative 
 of the beginning and progress of this unlooked-for 
 and surprising dispensation of grace towards this 
 and other congregations in this country, and which 
 possibly may not bear proportion to its Preface. I 
 had a prevailing inclination from the beginning, with 
 all the exactness I was capable of, to observe every 
 thing that passed, and with the most scrupulous 
 niceness to examine every uncommon circumstance, 
 and to take down notes of what appeared to me 
 most material, I was encouraged and directed in 
 
23 
 
 this by some of great judgment, and who justly have 
 influence upon me. This hath issued in a journal 
 of what was most observable in the case of many in 
 this congregation ; who from time to time applied 
 to me for instruction and direction under their 
 spiritual distress. 
 
 The judgment and desire of friends which I 
 value have had considerable weight with me to 
 essay the following Narrative, with a dependence 
 upon the Divine assistance, and as the Lord shall 
 permit. The omission of our worthy forefathers 
 to transmit to posterity a full and circumstantial ac- 
 count of the conversion of five hundred by one ser- 
 mon at the kirk of Shotts in the year 1630 — of the 
 beginning and progress of the extraordinary out- 
 letting of the Holy Spirit in the west of Scotland 
 already mentioned, I have heard much complained 
 of and lamented. And I cannot but think that if 
 after such complaints we are guilty of the same ne- 
 glect we will be more blame-worthy before God, 
 our own consciences, and posterity. 
 
 But that which most of all prevails with me is, 
 that as I, in the most express and deliberate manner 
 I can, design and intend it to the praise and glory of 
 God, renouncing all other ends contrary to this ; so 
 I am persuaded it will by his blessing contribute 
 to it. 
 
 Every godly one into whose hands it may come 
 will doubtless find matter of praise from it to the 
 Lord. Others who laboured under mistakes anent 
 this work, through prejudices from opinions they 
 have entertained as to the manner wherein the Lord 
 might come to revive his work in this church, may 
 
24> 
 
 possibly, when they hear these things, hold their 
 peace, and glorify God, saying, Then hath God also 
 granted repentance unto life unto our brethren 
 whom we hated; as the apostles and church of Jer- 
 usalem did when they heard of the conversion of the 
 despised Gentiles. And doubtless others, when 
 they hear of the Lord's bringing so many of Zion's 
 prisoners *' out of the fearful pit and miry clay," and 
 putting a new song in their mouth, even praise to 
 our God, shall by his grace be brought to fear and 
 trust in the Lord. 
 
 But praise to our God, for these his mighty acts 
 are not to be confined to the present generation, 
 wherein they appear. Posterity shall reap the be- 
 nefit of them, and it is our duty to transmit the his- 
 tory of them to posterity, that they may reap the 
 greater benefit by them, and praise the Lord more 
 distinctly for them. It would be a contempt of these 
 wonderful works which God hath made to be had in 
 remembrance, if they should be buried in oblivion, 
 so as not to be known by those who live in after 
 ages. One generation should praise his works to 
 another, and should declare his mighty acts. This 
 we are expressly commanded to do, that after gener- 
 ations may put their trust in God and praise him. 
 " This shall be written for the generation to come, 
 and the people which shall be created shall praise 
 the Lord." " For he established a testimony in 
 Jacob, and appointed a law in Israel, which he com- 
 manded our fathers, that they should make them 
 known to their children. That the generation 
 to come miofht know them, even the children which 
 should be born : who should arise and declare them 
 
25 
 
 to their children : that they might set their hope in 
 God, and not forget the works of God." 
 
 In this Narrative I propose to give an account 
 of this surprising dispensation of grace, in the be- 
 ginning, progress, and various circumstances of it, 
 with the strictest regard to truth in all the exactness 
 I can. A polished style is not to be expected from one 
 who must redeem time from eating and sleeping to 
 carry it on. To write intelligibly is all I aim at. 
 I have no view of leisure to publish above a sheet 
 of it once a week or fortnight ; and this is the rea- 
 son why it is not emitted at once. To serve the 
 truth and the interests of religion, and to satisfy the 
 longing curiosity of those who are giving Zion's King 
 no rest untill he make his Jerusalem a praise in the 
 midst of the earth, are what I intended. 
 
 May the Holy Spirit, whose work upon the souls 
 of many is to be narrated, accompany the Narrative 
 with his powerful influences, that it may promote the 
 Redeemer's interest, and make every reader feel, by 
 his saving operations, that he is indeed come in an 
 uncommon way of grace. And may this whole 
 church and all the ends of the earth see greater 
 things than these. Amen. 
 
 James Robe. 
 
 Kilsyth, July 29tb, 1742. 
 
 B 64 
 
EEYIYAL OF EELiaiOJ^ 
 
 AT KILSYTH, I742. 
 
 The town and parish of Kilsyth, formerly and ordi- 
 narily, untill of late, called Moniabroch, are situate 
 between the river Kelvin and the river Carron, and 
 in the shire of Stirling. 
 
 The people of the said parish, above eleven hun- 
 dred examinable persons, are, for the most part, of a 
 discreet and towardly disposition. I was settled 
 among them in the year 1713; they have lived 
 peaceably with and carried themselves dutifuilv 
 towards me. The most part of them have attended 
 upon public ordinances and means of instruction as 
 well as any about them. The most of them, who 
 are about or under forty years, have attained such a 
 measure of knowledge of the principles of relio-ion as 
 renders them inferior to few of their station and 
 education. 
 
 For several years they appeared to profit under 
 gospel ordinances, by the blessing of the Lord upon 
 them. In December, 1732, and January, 1733, 
 the Lord visited us with a distressing calamity and 
 heavy judgments. There were many of the elder 
 
28 
 
 sort carried ofFby a pleuretic fever after a few days' 
 illness. Upwards of sixty were in the space of three 
 weeks buried in the church-yard. What made this 
 dispensation more threatening was that the most re- 
 ligious and judicious Christians in this congregation 
 were removed from us thereby. This made me fear 
 some dreadful evil to come upon the surviving gene- 
 ration. I publish to the praise and glory of God, 
 and with thankful acknowledgments to his mercy 
 and power, that I enjoyed then a state of health and 
 strength uncommon to me, as I do at this time, 
 though I traveled from morning till late at night, all 
 the days of the week, among the sick and dying. 
 
 After this the state of religion declined, and grew 
 every year worse with us. Our societies for prayer 
 came gradually to nothing. The younger sort at- 
 tained indeed to knowledge, took up a profession, 
 and numbers of them were yearly added to the com- 
 municants: but I could observe little of the power 
 of godliness in their lives that was satisfying to me. 
 As to the elder sort, those of them who were grace- 
 less and Christless went on in their former sins and 
 carelessness, without any appearance of a change to 
 the better: those who were professors seemed sensi- 
 bly to degenerate into a negligence and indifference 
 about spiritual things, and some of them into drunk- 
 enness and other vices. 
 
 Upon the 27th of June, 1733, about and after 
 mid-day, beiiig Wednesday, there was such a dreadful 
 storm of thunder, hail, and rain, as no man living 
 had ever seen. The fire burnt a woman and child, 
 but both their lives were preserved, while a cat was 
 killed at one of her feet, and a pitcher, with some 
 
9 
 
 other things, were broken to pieces at the other. 
 The hail was incredibly large, some of it, which I 
 raeasLired myself, being three inches round. It de- 
 stroyed much of the corn to the east of the town of 
 Kilsyth. The floods came from the mountains so 
 great and rapid that they carried down stones a great 
 way into the plain lying beneath the town of Kilsyth, 
 and these of prodigious bigness. There were above 
 a thousand cart loads of them, and many two or three 
 yards in depth and thickness. Some houses were 
 carried away, a good number of cattle drowned, and 
 the most of the corn in the low grounds destroyed. 
 The loss of the parish was moderately computed at a 
 thousand pounds sterling. Yet I could not observe 
 any one person amended by it, or seeking to the 
 Lord for all this. 
 
 When our unhappy divisions broke out, only 
 about ten or twelve deserted ray ministry. They 
 were of no consideration as to serious religion, or 
 even knowledge, except one, who some time since 
 saw his error and returned. Yet though the body 
 of the people were not carried away by this evil, 
 they were so bewitched as to decline to the separat- 
 ing side, and were so taken up with disputable 
 things, that little concern about those of the greatest 
 importance could be observed among them. All the 
 societies for prayer were then given up. I gave fair 
 and open warning, from the first appearance of the 
 division, against it. I continually instructed them in 
 the evil and dreadful consequences of it. Though 
 such warnings were not well relished by many, yet I 
 am persuaded the Lord blessed them, to preserve the 
 body of the congregation out of those dangerous 
 
30 
 
 paths; and I know several of them are now sensible 
 of God's mercy and goodness to them in this. By the 
 power of God accompanying his ordinances, hfe was 
 kept in the few who were made aUve to God, through 
 Jesus Christ; and others had knowledge begun and 
 increased, as a foundation laid beforehand for this 
 work of the Holy Spirit. 
 
 Under the late dearth this people suffered greatly; 
 the poor were numerous, and many, especially about 
 the town of Kilsyth, were at the point of starving: 
 yet, as I frequently observed to them, I could not 
 see any one turning to the Lord who smote them, 
 or crying to him because of their sins, while they 
 howled upon their beds for bread. Instead of this, 
 theft and other immoralities brake forth and increased 
 to a terrible height. The return of plenty had no 
 better influence upon us; but we were going on 
 frowardly, in the way of our own heart, when the 
 Lord came to see our ways and heal them, by this 
 uncommon dispensation of his grace; all this hath 
 been narrated, that every one may observe the sove- 
 reign freedom and riches of grace in visiting after 
 this sort so sinful, degenerate, and ungainable a 
 people. Surely not for our sakes but for his own 
 holy name's sake he hath done it, that we may now 
 be ashamed and confounded for our evil ways. 
 
 In the year 1740 I began to preach upon the 
 doctrine of regeneration. The method I followed, 
 by the Divine direction, was first to press the im- 
 portance and necessity of it, which I did from John, 
 iii, 3: ** Except a man be born again, he cannot see 
 the kingdom of God." Next I showed the myste- 
 riousness of the way and manner of the Holy Spirit 
 
31 
 
 in effecting it, from John, iii, 8 : " The wind blow- 
 eth where it listeth, and thou hearest the sound 
 thereof, but canst not tell whence it cometh and 
 whither it goeth ; so is every one that is born of the 
 Spirit." I proceeded, thirdly, to explain and apply 
 the various Scripture views and expressions of it : 
 as first. Being born again, from the forequoted John, 
 iii, 8. Secondly, A resurrection, from Rev. xx, 6 : 
 "Blessed and holy is he that hath part in the first 
 resurrection." Thirdly, A new creation, from Eph. 
 ii, 10: "For we are his workmanship, created in 
 Jesus Christ unto good works." Fourthly, Christ's 
 conquest of the sinner to himself, from Psal. ex, 3 : 
 " Thy people shall be willing in the day of thy 
 power." Fifthly, The circumcision of the heart, 
 from Ezek. xliv, 9 : " Thus saith the Lord God, 
 No stranger uncircumcised in heart, nor uncircum- 
 cised in flesh, shall enter into my sanctuary, of any 
 strancfer among the children of Israel." This was 
 also intended to show the necessity of regeneration, 
 in order to the receiving the Lord's supper worthily, 
 to be dispensed in the congregation about that time. 
 Here this subject was interrupted untill the end of 
 last year; when I, resuming it, preached regenera- 
 tion as it is. Sixthly, The taking away the stony 
 heart, and the giving the heart of flesh, from Ezek. 
 xi, 19. Seventhly, The putting of God's law in the 
 mind, and writing it in the heart, from Heb. viii, 10. 
 I sometimes could observe that the doctrine of 
 these sermons was acceptable to the Lord's people, 
 and that there was more than ordinary seriousness in 
 hearing them, yet could see no further fruit. But 
 now I find that the Lord, who is hifinitelv wise, and 
 
32 
 
 knoweth the end from the beginning, was preparing 
 some for this uncommon dispensation of the Spirit 
 that we looked not for ; and that others were brought 
 under convictions issuing, by the power of the High- 
 est, in their real conversion, and in a silent way. 
 
 When the news were first brought me of the ex- 
 traordinary outpouring of the Holy Ghost at Cam- 
 buslang, I rejoiced at them. I prayed continually 
 for the continuance of it there, and that the Lord 
 would thus visit us in these bounds, and spake of it 
 sometimes to the congregation, which was not without 
 some good fruits, as I have learned since : Particu- 
 larly, 1 was informed by the minister of Cambuslang, 
 and another reverend and very dear brother, that a 
 young man from the parish of Falkirk, who had 
 been awakened at Cambuslang, and was in a hopeful 
 condition, said, that the occasion of his coming there 
 was his hearing me, the Sabbath immediately pre- 
 ceding, praise the appearance of the Lord at the 
 aforesaid place, and that this strongly incHned him to 
 go thither. 
 
 There were few of the people under my charge 
 went to Cambuslang, notwithstanding of what they 
 heard me say of it. Some of the better sort went 
 once or twice : but I scarcely heard of any who 
 needed most of the work of the Comforter to con- 
 vince them of sin, righteousness, and of judgment, 
 that went there untill the 1 3th of May, when there 
 were a good many, but came all away, as far as I 
 knew them, without any deep or lasting impressions 
 upon them. It was matter of discouragement to me 
 when I heard that my brethren in Cumbernauld, 
 Kirkintilloch, Calder, and Campsie, had several 
 
33 
 
 persons in their parishes awakened at Cambuslang, 
 and that I had not one so much as the least touched 
 to my knowledge. What appeared the most hope- 
 ful was that there appeared a concern more than 
 ordinary among tlie hearers of the gospel, and that 
 there were proposals for setting up societies for prayer, 
 which had been long intermitted. 
 
 Upon Thursday evening, the 15th of April last, 
 Mr. John Willison, minister of the gospel at Dun- 
 dee, came to my house in his return from Cambus- 
 lang, whither he had gone the Saturday Lefore. I 
 desired him to preach to us upon the Friday morning, 
 which he readily complied with : a great multitude 
 of people met, though the warning was very short. 
 He preached a distinct, plain, and moving sermon, 
 from Psalm xl, 2, 3 : " He brought me up also out 
 of a horrible pit, out of the miry clay, and set my 
 feet upon a rock, and established my goings : and 
 he hath put a new song in my mouth, even praise to 
 our God. Many shall see it and fear, and shall trust 
 in the Lord." Several of those now awakened date 
 their first serious concern about their souls from their 
 hearing this sermon, and the blessing of the Lord 
 upon it. 
 
 The following Sabbath I entered upon the view 
 of regeneration as it is expressed Gal. iv, 19 : " My 
 little children, of whom I travail in birth again untill 
 Christ be formed in you." I had more than ordi- 
 nary tenderness in reading of that text, and could 
 scarcely do it without tears and emotion. I ob- 
 served much seriousness amonjr the hearers. 
 
 The last Sabbath and 25th day of April, one 
 woman was awakened in this congregation to a very 
 
 b2 
 
34 
 
 distressing sight of her sin and danger thereby. 
 She lived in the parish of Campsie. She was ob- 
 served by some to be under great uneasiness in the 
 congregation, but made no outcry ; she went away 
 when the congregation was dismissed, but was not 
 able to go far; she was found soon in a field in 
 great distress, and crying out, what would she do to 
 be saved: she was brought back to me, and 1 con- 
 versed with her all that evening, in the presence of 
 several judicious persons. She fainted once or twice. 
 I observed every thing narrowly and exactly about 
 her, because it was a new thing to me, and I knew 
 the objections made against the work at Cambuslang. 
 She seemed to be a healthy woman, and about twenty 
 years of age ; she said, that in hearing the sermon 
 she was made to see that she was unlike Jesus Christ, 
 and like the devil, and in a state of unregeneracy. 
 She had strong impressions of the greatness of the 
 wrath of God she was lying under and liable to. 
 She went away composed and calm, in a hopeful 
 condition. She continued many weeks now and then 
 much distressed; but hath some time ago attained, 
 through grace, to sensible relief, and by the testi- 
 mony of the neighbourhood, her conversation is such 
 as becometh the gospel. 
 
 About this time sixteen children, or thereby, in 
 the town of Kirkintilloch, were observed to meet 
 together in a barn for prayer ; the occasion of which 
 was, that one of them said to the rest, What need is 
 there that we should aKvays play, had we not better 
 go and pray ? wherewith the rest complied. The 
 Rev. Mr. Burnside, as soon as he heard of it, care- 
 fully enquired after them, and met frequently with 
 
35 TP 
 
 them, for their direction and instruction. And, as 
 I am informed, they make progress and continue 
 in a hopeful way. This made much noise in the 
 country-side, and deep impressions both upon young 
 and old. 
 
 This week I visited the families of a part of this 
 parish, where I observed more than ordinary serious- 
 ness amongst the people, and more than ordinary 
 liberty, freedom, and earnestness in my dealing with 
 them. It was matter of trouble and exercise to 
 me, however, that none under my charge that I knew 
 of were awakened, and I was much in my way of 
 thinking like several of those now awakened, who 
 were concerned at first lest the Lord had passed them 
 by when he was awakening others. Such were my 
 fears about this parish. 
 
 Nothing appeared more than ordinary upon the 
 first Sabbath of May. Near this time, and a little 
 before, there were some societies for prayer formed 
 in the parish ; I was also informed, that several 
 young girls in the town of Kilsyth, from ten to six- 
 teen years of age, had been observed meeting to- 
 gether for prayer in an out-house they had access to. 
 
 May 9th, being the second Lord's day that 
 month, four or five were awakened to a distressing 
 sight of their sinful and lost estate, though only 
 two of them were known to me upon the said day. 
 I prayed and hoped that this might be like some 
 drops before a plentiful rain. 
 
 May 11th, There was a great and a good day of 
 the Son of man at Auchenloch in the parish of 
 Calder. The Rev. Mr. Warden, their minister, 
 preached at that place. There was a great cry in 
 
W 36 
 
 that congregation, and about fourteen brought under 
 great concern and anxiety about their spiritual and 
 eternal state. "^ 
 
 May 12th. I went to Cambuslang and preached 
 there, as did also some other ministers, upon the 
 next day. I was witness there to a great day of 
 the Mediator's power, and learned much that by 
 the Lord's blessing hath been useful to me in assist- 
 ing the Lord's people brought under spiritual dis- 
 tress here. 
 
 May 14th, being Friday, I left Cambuslang in 
 the morning. I met an event in my way home- 
 ward which much surprised me, and I could not but 
 observe the Lord's hand remarkably in it. I pro- 
 raised to meet a friend at a gentleman's house be- 
 twixt Cambuslang and Kilsyth upon the Tuesday 
 evening, but could not leave Cambuslang that night. 
 I purposed therefore to be early at the said gentle- 
 man's house next day. Though the road by which I 
 went to Cambuslang was unexceptionably good, I was 
 strongly inclined to try a much nearer way, altogether 
 unknown to me, notwithstanding some dissuaded me 
 
 ' The traditional account is very interesting'. Mr. Warden, 
 the worthy nninister, had been in the habit of preaching occa- 
 sionally to the people of Auchenloch, a distant part of Calder 
 parish, and had to complain that few comparatively availed them- 
 selves of the opportunity. Mr. Warden on the occasion referred 
 to had said, on intimating Jiis purpose of preaching at Auchen- 
 !»H'h, that it was scarcely worth while to give such notice as the 
 people seemed to be unconcerned about the meeting, but that he 
 would, if the Lord willed, give them another opportunity. He 
 went with very low expectations; but, finding a lar^e meeting, 
 felt as if he would have been more fuily prepared, and had mis- 
 giving's about the work. He took for liis text, Prov. viii, 4-: 
 " Unto you, O men, I call ; and my voice is to ti)e sons of men." 
 The audience was melted uiider the word, and a goodly number 
 dated their conversion from that sermon. 
 
37 ^ 
 
 from it because of mosses and other inconveniences. 
 In my way I came to a house which I was told be- 
 longed to Messrs. Gray, and that their bleachfield 
 was there. I remembered that these gentlemen were 
 married to the daughters of a gentleman whom I 
 knew and highly esteemed from my youth, and since 
 I found myself at their gate, I enquired for them, 
 with a purpose not to alight. One of the gentlemen 
 and his lady were at home : they urged me to come 
 into their house, though it should be only for a little, 
 which I did. They told me that six of their ser- 
 vants had been awakened at Cambuslang some days 
 since, and desired me to converse with them. I had 
 such a strong inclination to get forward in my jour- 
 ney that I declined it : they desired me to pray in 
 their family, which I cheerfully complied with. 
 After prayer I spoke a few words, as the Lord helped 
 me, to their numerous servants who were present, 
 relating to the case of those who were under soul- 
 distressing convictions of their sin and danger, as 
 also of those who never had been under them. 
 Having dismissed them, I went to take my horse. 
 Ere I got to him, a noise was heard among the ser- 
 vants, and we were told that one of them was fallen 
 into great uneasiness and was crying bitterly. I 
 returned to the house and she was brought to me. 
 I had conversed but a very short time with her, when 
 a second was brought to me, then a third, in a little 
 after that two together, last of all a sixth, crying 
 out for their lost and undone state, and what should 
 they do. I prayed and conversed with them for 
 some time. I was much moved with this provi- 
 dence. " The Lord who leads the blind in a way 
 
as 
 
 that they know not," led me to this house without 
 any thought or purpose of mind ; yea contrary to 
 my inclination, which was to hasten forward. He 
 managed my aversion (which I now see to have been 
 sinful,) to converse with the first six under distress, 
 to bring about his own holy and glorious ends : 
 for if I had conversed with them, I had not seen 
 the other servants. His ways are a great deep. 
 Mr. Whitefield, when I told him this story, said, 
 " Only he must needs go through Samaria." I was 
 greatly pleased to observe the Christian affectionate 
 and zealous care Mr. and Mrs. Gray had for their 
 distressed servants. 
 
 May 16th I preached, as I had done for some time 
 past, from Gal. iv, 29. In the forenoon I insisted 
 upon a use of consolation, and in the afternoon 
 pressed all the unregenerate to seek to have Christ 
 formed in them. An extraordinary power of the 
 Spirit from on high accompanied the word preached. 
 There was a great mourning in the congregation, as 
 for an only son. Many cried out ; and these not 
 only women, but some strong and stout-hearted young 
 men, and some betwixt forty and fifty. 
 
 After the dismission of the congregation, an at- 
 tempt was made to get the distressed into my barn, 
 but it could not be done. The number of them 
 and of their friends attending them were so many, 
 I was obliged to convene them in the kirk. I sung 
 a psalm and prayed with them ; but when I attempt- 
 ed to speak to them I could not be heard, such were 
 their bitter cries and groans, and the voice of their 
 weeping. 
 
 After this I ordered that they should be brought 
 
39 
 
 to me in my closet one by one. I sent also for the 
 Rev. Mr. Oughterson, minister of Cumbernauld, to 
 assist me in dealing with the distressed that evening, 
 who readily came. In the mean time I appointed 
 psalms to be sung with those in the kirk, and that 
 the precentor, with two or three of the elders, should 
 pray with the distressed ; which the extraordinariness 
 of this event seemed to me to warrant. At the same 
 time I forbade any to exhort or speak to them in 
 the congregation, that I might cut off occasion of 
 calumny and objection from those who seemed to 
 desire it. 
 
 The noise of the distressed was so great that it 
 was heard from afar. It was pleasant to hear those 
 who were in a state of enmity with God, despisers 
 of Jesus Christ, and Satan's contented slaves, some 
 of them crying out for mercy, some that they were 
 lost and undone, others, " What shall we do to be 
 saved ?" others praising God for this day, and for 
 awakening them ; and others not only weeping and 
 crying for themselves, but for their graceless rela- 
 tives. And yet it would have moved the hardest 
 heart that, as the children of Israel under Pharaoh's 
 oppression, when I spake unto many of them they 
 hearkened not for anguish of spirit and the sense of 
 the cruel bondage they were under. 
 
 There appeared about thirty awakened this day, 
 belonging to this and the neighbouring congrega- 
 tions. About twenty of them belonged to this parish. 
 Some few to the parish of Campsie, and the remain- 
 der to that of Kirkintilloch. But I have found since, 
 in conversing with the distressed, that the number of 
 the awakened far exceeds thirty. 
 
40 
 
 Wednesday, 19th, We had serraonforthe first time 
 upon a week-day. I preached, as did also the Rev. 
 Mr. Warden, minister of Campsie, and the Rev. 
 Mr. M'Laurin, Glasgow, who had come hither the 
 night before upon my invitation. The number of 
 the awakened this day were as many as were upon 
 the Lord's day. The greatest number was from the 
 parish of Kirkintilloch ; there were also some from 
 the parishes of Campsie and Cumbernauld. The 
 number of the awakened belonging to this parish 
 amounted this week to forty. 
 
 May 20th, The minister of Kirkintilloch, Mr. 
 M*Laurin, and I, preached at Kirkintilloch. There 
 we saw Zion's mighty King appearing in his glory and 
 majesty, and his arrows sharp in the heart of his 
 enemies. Many were awakened there and brought 
 under great spiritual distress. 
 
 Having brought this Narrative to the first con- 
 siderable and remarkable outpouring of the Holy 
 Spirit upon this corner, before I proceed to the in- 
 tended method of this Narrative, it will no doubt be 
 satisfying to my readers to know the progress this 
 blessed work hath made, and the number of the 
 awakened in the several parishes into which, by the 
 Lord's mercy, it hath entered, as far as I am inform- 
 ed, or upon some good grounds can guess. 
 
 There have been at least three hundred awakened 
 in this parish since the beginning of this work, of 
 which about two hundred belong or did belong to 
 this parish. There were indeed about fourteen or 
 fifteen of them awakened when Mr. Whitefield 
 preached at Cumbernauld. In the parish of Cum- 
 bernauld there are above eighty. 
 
41 
 
 In the parish of Kirkintilloch there are known to 
 the minister about a hundred and twenty under a 
 more than ordinary concern about their salvation, 
 including the praying young, who are increased now 
 to a greater number than formerly mentioned. 
 
 In the parish of St. Ninians, the number of the 
 awakened must be considerable. The first remark- 
 able appearance of this good work there was at the 
 giving the holy supper, upon the first of this current 
 August. There were several awakened upon the 
 Saturday, rhany more upon the Lord's day, both in 
 the kirk, during the action sermon and the service, 
 and also in the congregation in the fields. There 
 were yet a far greater number upon the Monday, 
 which was one of the greatest days of the Media- 
 tor's power I have hitherto seen. Many of the 
 awakened belong to that parish, as also to the parish 
 of Gargunnock. By a letter from the Rev. Mr. 
 Mackie, minister of that parish, I am informed, that 
 the number of the awakened was increased upon the 
 Thursday thereafter, when they had sermon. He 
 appoints days for them to come to him for instruction 
 and direction. 
 
 In the parish of Gargunnock, lying west from 
 the parish of St. Ninians, there are, as I am well 
 informed, nearly a hundred persons awakened. There 
 were some of them first of all awakened at Kilsyth, 
 when the Lord's Supper was given, upon the second 
 Sabbath of July ; others at Campsie, when it was 
 given upon the last Sabbath of the same month ; 
 others at St. Ninians, when that sacrament was 
 given upon the first Sabbath of August. Upon the 
 Thursday thereafter, there were eighteen awakened 
 
42 
 
 in their own congregation, while the Rev. Mr. 
 Warden, their own aged and dihgent pastor, preached 
 to them. There was also a considerable awakenincr 
 
 o 
 
 the week thereafter, the son of the minister of Carap- 
 sie preaching there. The minister of this parish 
 hath always had a singular dexterity in instructing 
 and dealing with the consciences of the people under 
 his charge, and it is to be hoped that there will be 
 a good account of the awakened in that congregation, 
 by the Lord's blessing upon the skill and will he 
 hath given to his servant to win them to Jesus 
 Christ. 
 
 In the parish of Calder, according to the infor- 
 mation I have from their minister, there are above a 
 hundred awakened. 
 
 There are about the same number in the parish 
 of Campsie. 
 
 The case of the parish of Baldernock, lying 
 north-west from Calder, is of all others the most 
 singular and noticeable. There were above ninety 
 awakened persons in that parish about the sixth of 
 July last. They have been for some years past and 
 yet are without a pastor. Their late pastor, Mr. 
 Robert Wallace, who deceased among them, had the 
 charge of their souls above fifty years : he was 
 pious, faithful, diligent, and dearly beloved by his 
 people; and, as I am informed, there was no person 
 among them was carried away by the Secession. The 
 Lord hath honoured their schoolmaster, James For- 
 syth, to be greatly instrumental in this good work 
 among them. I shall give the following extract 
 from a letter of his, dated Baldernock, July 17th, 
 1712, concerning the impressions made upon and 
 
43 
 
 the awakening of several of the young ones : he 
 writes, " Since the first of February last, I endea- 
 voured to instruct the children under my charge, to 
 the utmost of my power, in the first principles of 
 religion — that they were born in a state of sin and 
 misery, and strangers to God by nature. I also 
 pressed them by all arguments possible, to leave off 
 their sinful ways, and fly to Jesus Christ by faith 
 and repentance ; which, by the blessing of God, hath 
 not been in vain. Glory to his holy name, that 
 backed with the power of his Holy Spirit what was 
 spoken in much weakness. I likewise warned them 
 against the commission of any known sin, and told 
 them their danger if they persisted in the same, and 
 that their sins would find them out. These exhor- 
 tations frequently repeated, yea almost every day, 
 came at last to have some impression on their young 
 hearts. And I think the sreat concern that was at 
 first araonff them was a mean in God's hand to brintj 
 the elder sort to a more serious concern, and to more 
 diligence in religious duties; yea, I heard some say, 
 that they were ashamed to hear and see these young 
 creatures so much taken up about their souls' salva- 
 tion- That is some account of the rise of this good 
 and happy work. There was one of the school- 
 boys that went to Cambuslang in March that was 
 first awakened ; he, after some few days, said to me, 
 in the school, will you let two or three of us meet 
 together to sing psalms and pray ? I said, I was 
 very well pleased to hear that they were inclined to 
 such a good exercise ; so they joined themselves to- 
 gether, and it hath had very good fruit. For some 
 few days after there were some of them under con 
 
44 
 
 cern, and that day fourteen days after they first met 
 there were ten or twelve awakened and under deep 
 convictions, some very young, of eight and nine years 
 of age, some twelve and thirteen. They still in- 
 clined more and more to their duty, so that they meet 
 three times a day — in the morning, at night, and at 
 noon. Also they have forsaken all their childish 
 fancies and plays; so those that have been awakened 
 are known by their countenance and conversation, 
 their walk and behaviour. The work among the 
 young ones in the school still increases, and there 
 are still some newly awakened. There were some 
 that by a word of terror in their lesson were very 
 distressed, and would cry out and weep bitterly. 
 There are some of them very sensible of their case, 
 both the sin of their nature and their actual transgres- 
 sions, and even of the sin of unbelief; for when I 
 would exhort any of them that were distressed, to 
 believe in Christ, because he is both able and willing 
 to save to the uttermost, they replied, that they 
 knew he was both able and willing ; but they could 
 not believe themselves, unless God gave them a heart 
 so to do ; for, they said, they felt their heart so hard 
 that they could do nothing." Such is the account 
 he gives of the younger sort. " As to the elder 
 sort," he says, " the first among them were awakened 
 at Cambuslang, others at Calder and Kirkintilloch ; 
 but the greatest part have been awakened at their 
 society meetings. They meet twice a week for prayer 
 and praise, where all the awakened in the parish, with 
 as many others as please to come, are admitted." 
 There are also several other Uttle meetings, almost 
 every day, in different places of the parish. At the 
 
4.5 
 
 second of these meetings there were nine awakened, 
 at the third there were four, at another meeting there 
 were five or six. He says that there is a greater 
 dihgence about the concerns of rehgion, even among 
 the careless and ignorant, than ever was known be- 
 fore, and that the younger sort are so taken up with 
 religion that they esteem it more than their necessary 
 food. There are several under deep conviction who 
 were formerly rude and profane. In another letter, 
 dated July 6th, 17i2, he says, that this good work 
 still continues among them, and that there are a con- 
 siderable number newly awakened in the parish be- 
 sides strangers that come to their meetings from other 
 parishes. There were two young women in a neigh- 
 bouring parish who had been at Cambuslang and 
 brought back an evil report of what they had been 
 witness to there ; they said they wondered what 
 made the people cry out. Upon the 22nd of June 
 they came to one of these meetings in Baldernock, 
 as was supposed, with no good design ; they had not 
 been above three quarters of an hour in the meeting 
 when they were brought under convictions and con- 
 tinued in distress the whole time the meeting lasted. 
 He says there are a goodly number of them who 
 have found relief, which seems to be real from scrip- 
 ture marks and evidences they give of it. 
 
 I have been more particular in this article con- 
 cerning Baldernock,^ that we who are ministers of 
 the gospel may learn from this, not to be lifted up 
 from any success we may have in our ministrations ; 
 seeing that though the Lord maketh especially the 
 preac'iing of the word an etfectual mean of convincing 
 ^ August 25th, the awakened there are now about a hundred. 
 
46 
 
 and converting sinners, and of building up them that 
 are converted, yet he also blesseth the reading of 
 the word, Christian communion, and religious edu- 
 cation, by parents, schoolmasters, and others, for the 
 foresaid blessed ends : and that he can and some- 
 times doth make use of weak and inconsiderable 
 instruments for beginning and carrying on a good 
 work upon the souls of men, while men of great gifts 
 and even godliness are not so successful. This is 
 the more to be regarded as the doing of the Lord, 
 that the people of Baldernock are not the less care- 
 ful to attend upon public ordinances, neither is their 
 esteem of them diminished. Their meetings do not 
 interfere with the dispensation of public ordinances 
 in their own congregation when they have it, nor 
 with that in the neiMibouring conorreffations when 
 they want it in their own. It is also hoped that the 
 reading of the foresaid article may excite school- 
 masters and others who have the education of youth, 
 to be diligent in instructing the youngest of them 
 in the principles of our holy religion, and to endea- 
 vour daily to make impressions upon their tender 
 minds, of their sinful and lost state by nature, and of 
 their only remedy by Jesus Christ. 
 
 In the parish of Killearn, lying about seven miles 
 to the north-west of Campsie, this good work is also 
 begun. The Rev. Mr. Bain hath been well aflPected 
 to it from the beginning, and was early witness to it 
 and assisting to carry it on at Cambuslang. There 
 was a considerable awakening in this parish when the 
 Lord's Supper was given there, upon the third Sab- 
 bath of July, especially upon the Monday, when the 
 Rev. Mr. Potter, professor of divinity in the uni- 
 
47 
 
 versity of Glasgow, and the Rev. Mackie, minister 
 of St. Ninians, preached. 
 
 In the country west from Glasgow there are very 
 joyful accounts of the entrance and progress of this 
 blessed work there. In the town of Irvine there 
 were a few awakened first at Cambuslang, but now 
 there are a good many awakened that never were at 
 Cambuslang, and are in very great distress and anguish 
 of soul, like those at Cambuslang and in this coun- 
 try. They are happy under the inspection and care 
 of their worthy minister, Mr. M'Kneight. In the 
 parish of Long Dreghorn, and other parishes about, 
 there are several awakened. In the town of Kil- 
 marnock there were about fifty from that place 
 awakened at Cambuslang, but there have been many 
 more since in their own congregations. This blessed 
 work hath made less progress to the eastward of Kil- 
 syth, the people being much distracted and divided 
 by the influence of the Seceders, and even furiously 
 prejudiced against the dispensation of ordinances in 
 this church, yet, blessed be the Lord, it extends 
 even to these congregations. In the parish of 
 Denny there are several, some of whom have been 
 awakened in their own church. There are several 
 in the united parishes of Dunnipace and Larbert, 
 some of whom have been awakened likewise there. 
 In the parish of Torphichen, south from Linlithgow, 
 there were seven awakened, when the Lord's Supper 
 was given there, upon the first Sabbath of August. 
 
 Though I am persuaded a particular account will 
 be given to the public, of the memorable communion 
 at Cambuslang last Lord's day, being the 15th of 
 this current August, yet I cannot but here insert, 
 
48 
 
 that I observed much of the Lord's presence with 
 ministers, and among the vast multitude of people 
 there. There were many unconverted sinners awak- 
 ened, and several had the love of God shed abroad 
 in their hearts, by the Holy Ghost given to them, 
 to such a measure that they were nigh overwhelmed 
 therewith. Particularly while they were hearing, 
 early upon Monday morning, a sermon preached by 
 the Rev. Mr. Webster, minister at Edinburgh. One 
 of them was a young woman, from the parish of Kil- 
 syth. She was brought to me, at my first alighting 
 at Cambuslang, after the sermon. She was so filled 
 with a sense of the love of God to her soul, and with 
 love to Jesus Christ, that she was all in tears and 
 could not contain herself. She had been awakened 
 at Kilsyth about the beginning of July, but had 
 attained to no sensible relief untill hearintj the afore- 
 said sermon. Before her awakening she was of a 
 blameless life and every way hopeful. Her convic- 
 tions were kindly and had a most desirable progress. I 
 called for her yesterday, and she gave me a satisfying 
 account of her closing with Christ in all his offices, 
 and of her attainments, during the foresaid sermon, 
 accompanied with such exercise of soul as we use 
 warrantably to give from the Holy Scriptures as evi- 
 dences of that which comes from God, in a saving 
 manner, upon the souls of his people. 
 
 Having thus narrated what I have learned con- 
 cerning the progress and extent of this good work 
 since it began here, I shall, for the greater distinct- 
 ness, divide the subject of this Narrative into the 
 following Articles. 
 
49 
 
 ARTICLE I. 
 
 Concerning the method I have observed in carrying on 
 this Work, 
 
 Though I am far from thinking the way I have 
 used to be the very best, and from proposing it as a 
 rule to any, seeing that by experience I have found 
 out some mistakes in my management, which I after- 
 wards rectified, and others possibly in perusing this 
 may observe more; yet the success I had therein, 
 and the hope that it may be useful at least to some 
 of my younger brethren when they shall be called, 
 as I pray they may be soon, to this pleasant service, 
 induceth me to give the subject of this Article. 
 
 When the first extraordinary awakening of num- 
 bers took place in this congregation, though I knew 
 the objections made against the outcries at Cambus- 
 lang and the bodily distresses many were under 
 there, and was satisfied in my own mind that there 
 was nothing in these objections; yet when I heard 
 these outcries, and saw the bodily distresses some of 
 the awakened were under, it proved at first very 
 uneasy to me — it appeared unpleasant, yea even 
 shocking ; 1 therefore resolved, that as soon as any 
 fell under remarkable distress they should be carried 
 out of the congregation, into a separate place 1 had 
 provided for them, and appointed some of the elders 
 to carry them off accordingly. I also prayed, that if 
 it were the holy will of God, he would bring them 
 to a sight of their sin and danger without these 
 bodily distresses, which were so unpleasant to behold, 
 
 C 64 
 
50 
 
 so distressing to the people themselves, and offensive 
 to several. The Lord in a little time discovered to 
 me my error and imprudence in this. For after I 
 had conversed for some time with the distressed, I 
 found the distress of their minds to be so great as 
 could not but naturally have such effects upon their 
 bodies. I enquired at many of them, what they 
 apprehended and felt in their minds before they fell 
 a-trembling, cried out, or fainted. They told me, 
 that they were under dreadful apprehensions of the 
 terrible wrath of God, due to them for their sins, es- 
 pecially for their slighting of Jesus Christ by un- 
 belief. This view made easy what before was shock- 
 ing to me. I looked upon it as the effect of a due 
 regard to the wrath of God, which sinners in a state 
 of nature are under and liable to. I beheld them 
 as enemies to the King of glory, falling under him, 
 riding in his glory and majesty, and making his 
 arrows sharply pierce their hearts. I found also that 
 the congregation, instead of being disturbed with 
 their outcries, were more disturbed by carrying them 
 off; and the people's attention much lessened in 
 hearing the word. Several left the place of hearing, 
 and went where the distressed were, to gaze upon 
 them. It was also a considerable inconvenience when 
 there were no ministers here to direct and comfort 
 the distressed, as they were left with those who could 
 give them tio assistance. The number of the awak- 
 ened were much diminished, and came soon to be 
 very few. I observed that some were awakened 
 while they had the distressed in their sight, and 
 heard exhortations given in the place where they 
 were convened : from this I was persuaded, that the 
 
51 
 
 example of others under spiritual terrors and distress 
 was one of the means the Lord was pleased to make 
 use of to bring beholders to consider their own state 
 and way, and to attend more carefully to what they 
 heard from the word of God. Several of the awak- 
 ened told me, that they were brought to a concern 
 about their souls by such a reasoning as this within 
 themselves: — These people under so much distress 
 are far from being so great sinners as 1 have been 
 and am: how stupid and hard-hearted then am I 
 who am altogether unconcerned. And if they be 
 afraid of the wrath of God, I have far greater reason 
 to be so. There appeared to me nothing more un- 
 reasonable in making use of the example of the dis- 
 tressed, to make other secure sinners afraid of sin 
 and the wrath of God, than there is in the law 
 punishing crimes publicly to make others afraid to 
 commit them. I was also convinced that it was 
 sinful in me to wish or desire that the infinitely wise 
 and sovereign Lord should order his own work in an 
 other way than what pleased himself. There were 
 also some brethren who did not think the way 1 had 
 taken, to remove the distressed, to be the best: and 
 therefore, after some weeks' trial, I altered it: I am 
 now of opinion, after all that I have seen and expe- 
 rienced relating to this work, that it is best to leave 
 the distressed to their liberty, and in the congrega- 
 tion, if they incline, untill it be dismissed. No mean 
 that Providence puts in our hands is to be omitted 
 that hath a tendency to awaken secure sinners. 
 
 I received a beautiful letter from a gentlewoman, 
 at some miles' distance from London, relating to this 
 part of my method. She had seen a letter of mine, 
 
52 
 
 printed at London, wherein I declared my resolution 
 to remove the distressed out of the congregation. 
 This occasioned her writing to me. It came to my 
 hand after I changed the aforesaid way. This ap- 
 pears to me to be the most proper place to insert this 
 line letter, which I am persuaded will be entertaining 
 to my readers. 
 
 Great-Gransden, npar Caxton. Huntingdonshire, 
 July 11th, 1742. 
 
 Rev. Sir, — I beg you will pardon my boldness in 
 giving you the trouble of a line from me. The occa- 
 sion is this: I read last week, with very great delight, 
 (in the Weekly History of the progress of the gospel, 
 })rinted at London,) the account of God's wonderful 
 work in the conversion of souls which your eyes have 
 seen of late. And also, with concern did I read the 
 account of your care to guard against objections, by 
 removing to your barn the wounded that could not for- 
 bear crying, and resolving to have a sermon but once 
 a week. And though a deep sense of my own littleness, 
 vileness, and unworthiness, forbid me to take any notice 
 thereof to you; yet am I encouraged thereto, inasmuch 
 as the superior members of Christ's body cannot say to 
 the inferior, no not to the meanest of all, I have no need 
 of thee. Let me intreat you therefore to put a favour- 
 able construction upon this freedom that a stranger 
 useth with youc A stranger did I say? So I am, sir, 
 as being unknown in the flesh : but, blessed be God, 
 we that were sometimes afar off, are made nigh to God 
 and to each other by the blood of Christ. Being then 
 in this respect no more strangers and foreigners, but 
 fellow-citizens with the saints and of the household of 
 Ciod, permit me, though in another room, to have a 
 little paper converse with you about our Lord's family 
 affairs. 
 
 Dear sir, — The triumphs of the Redeemer, the once 
 slain but now reigning Lamb, in the conquests of his 
 love and power over his redeemed ones that are stout- 
 hearted and far from righteousness, are exceedingly de- 
 
53 
 
 lightful to all that love him. They cannot but say, 
 Ride prosperously upon the word of truth ! Worthy is 
 the Lamb! and Let the whole earth be filled with his 
 glory! Amen and amen. My soul rejoiceth with poor 
 Scotland, for the Lord's loving kindness towards you, 
 and that the same happy work which was begun when 
 dear Mr. Whitefield was with you last, being carried 
 on by other servants of our precious Lord, increaseth 
 and reacheth even as far as unto you. Oh, sir, I doubt 
 not but, filled with wonder, you often say, "Whence is 
 it that my Lord should come to me — that he should 
 thus visit us!" Indeed, sir, it is a wonder of God's 
 free, sovereign grace, that is and will be justly the 
 matter of your present and eternal adoration. Our 
 Lord's voice to you is, " Rejoice greatly, O daughter of 
 Zion, for lo, I come, and will dwell in the midst of thee." 
 Oh, may Zion's King reign and prosper! May he be 
 seen among you in his glory and majesty! And may 
 thousands of stout-hearted sinners become his willing 
 people in the day of his power, when Christ brings 
 in his other sheep, his doves in flocks to their windows. 
 This is a work that fills heaven and earth, God, angels, 
 and saints with joy — a work that fills the world with 
 wonder, and wicked men and devils with envy, rage, 
 and contempt. But yet it is a work in which the glory 
 and majesty of the Godhead shines ! And though the 
 united powers of darkness, though earth and hell com- 
 bine against it, they shall never prevail. For God has 
 set his King upon his holy hill of Zion : and reign he 
 must untill all his people are saved to the uttermost, 
 and all his foes made his footstool. Amen, Halle- 
 lujah ! 
 
 Since then, my dear brother, the King of glory, the 
 Prince of grace, hath blessed you — not only with the 
 hearing of the coming of his kingdom, but also with the 
 sight of its majesty and glory — let me humbly intreat 
 you to beware that you do not displease him. I fear 
 your removing into a corner those wounded by his 
 arrows (as he rides on his throne) will do it, and pro- 
 voke him to depart from you. If the King of glorj- 
 descends in his majesty among you, and strikes secure 
 sinners with the terrors of his wrath, whereby they are 
 
54 
 
 made, from a felt sense of their perishing condition, to 
 cry out, "What must we do to be saved?" why must 
 these trophies of his victory be removed out of the as- 
 sembly ? This cry is what was common in the apostles' 
 time, and no doubt will be so again, and much more 
 abundant, as the glory of the latter day approacheth. 
 If it is the Lord's pleasure to work this way, let us with 
 joy adore his wisdom herein, and not be ashamed of it, 
 or as if we were endeavouring to hide it from the won- 
 dering multitude. No, though some should contradict 
 and blaspheme. Our Lord's work is honourable and 
 glorious, and the joy of his friends, however despicable 
 and hateful it may be to his enemies. Christ will plead 
 his own cause; "and wisdom is justified of her children.'* 
 And there is no end, nor can be any good fruit, of seek- 
 ing to obviate the objections of an ungodly world and 
 the company of carnal, worldly professors. Their cavils 
 will be innumerable. Like those of the Pharisees of 
 old, whose prejudice was unconquerable by all the evi- 
 dence of Divine power which was displayed in our 
 Lord's miracles: for still they had, and these will have, 
 something or other to carp at. Therefore let us who 
 love the Lord Jesus rejoice to see him work in his own 
 way, although by the power of his word he wounds 
 sinners so deeply as to force from them a very grievous 
 cry in the open congregation. Our dear Lord may 
 have a fourfolcrdesign herein : First, The display of his 
 omn'potent power in conquering the stout-hearted, to 
 the glory of his name and the joy of his children. 
 Secondly, The awakening of others of his chosen, yet 
 dead in sin. Thirdly, The hiding from the carnal eye 
 the inside glory of his work by the meanness of its out- 
 ward appearance, and the leaving those his implacable 
 enemies, who have sinned against the light, to be judi- 
 cially blinded; and so to fill up the measure of their sin, 
 in despising and opposing his work, and thereby to fit 
 themselves for their righteous condemnation at the great 
 day. Fourthly, The bearing witness before all, even 
 the most hardened sinners, of the misery of all men by 
 sin, and the foreshowing to them, as in a specimen, the 
 terrors of that day when he will come in the clouds, 
 and every eye shall see him, and all the kindreds of the 
 
* 55 
 
 varth shall wail because of him. And if these things, 
 sir, should be intended, I humbly think it is wisdom not 
 to remove the wounded into a corner, and thereby hide 
 the work of the Lord, when he thus makes bare his 
 arm ; and that so to do will displease him. 
 
 And as the distressed souls are numerous, and their 
 distress, their fears of eternal death, so great, I humbly 
 conceive that there is an extraordinary call for the preach- 
 ing of the gospel, the words of this life, in order to relieve 
 and comfort them, to draw them on to believe in Jesus, 
 to their present joy and their everlasting salvation. 
 
 Oh, dear sir, be not afraid to preach Christ's gospel, 
 nor to let it be preached, to perishing sinners, if it was 
 possible, from morning to evening, in season and out 
 of season: there can come no bad consequences of that. 
 Proclaim the glory of Christ's person, the fulness and 
 freeness of his salvation, his almightiness and willing- 
 ness to save sinners to the uttermost; that so the 
 wounded may be healed, and the distressed set their 
 hope in God. To deal with these souls in private, for 
 instruction and consolation, whom the Lord hath con- 
 verted in public, I humbly think is not to follow the 
 Lord in the way which he goes before you. Thus, sir, 
 having freely imparted my thoughts, I leave them 
 entirely unto the Lord, and desire he may direct you 
 to act as shall be most for his glory. Wishing all pros- 
 perity, and requesting your prayers, || , 
 
 I am, dear Sir, &c. 
 
 As to preaching the word of God upon work-days. 
 I resolved at first only to have it upon the Wednes- 
 day, which we accordingly had. Some days we had 
 three sermons, sometimes two, and at other times 
 one, as the Lord provided instruments. Thus we 
 continued for some weeks. I observed an uncommon 
 earnest inclination in the people of all sorts to hear 
 the word of God. I could not reasonably think 
 that this would last long, and therefore 1 thought 
 myself warranted, from the example of our Lord 
 
56 
 
 Jesus Christ, to have the word more frequently 
 preached to them while they were so pressing and 
 eager to attend to it. What determined me further 
 to this was, that the sword of the Spirit was at no 
 time now unsheathed but some were cut to the quick 
 by it; as also, in other congregations, where weekly 
 sermons were not set up, or but seldom kept, the 
 people were awakened and this good work went 
 on but slowly. I therefore embraced every op- 
 portunity of stranger ministers coming to the place 
 to give sermon to the people ; and that they who 
 needed rather a bridle than a spur in hearing might 
 not be hindered in their necessary worldly affairs, 
 these sermons were ordinarily in the evening, when 
 the day's work was near an end. These occasional 
 sermons were never without some good fruit in 
 awakening secure sinners, and also in comforting 
 some who had been formerly awakened. I have 
 never to this day heard of any parents or masters in 
 this congregation who complained that their children 
 or servants were drawn away from their duty by these 
 means. Yea, this very day I made inquiry at some 
 husbandmen, living in different parts of the parish, 
 if now, when harvest was begun, they observed any 
 part of the work and labour in the parish undone, 
 or farther behind, through the frequent attendance 
 upon public ordinances, or by the means of the many 
 awakened and spiritually distressed in the congrega- 
 tion. They replied, that there was no such thing 
 to be seen ; as also, that they had heard the poorest 
 say, that their work went better on than ordinary, 
 and that they found not any lack. They observed 
 also, that their hay harvest, which is a considerable 
 
57 
 
 labour in this parish, was got a third part of time 
 sooner over than ordinary, and noticed the singular 
 goodness of God therein. 
 
 I received a letter, about the beginning of this 
 work, written with great good sense and piety, which 
 contributed much to my having sermon more fre- 
 quently than I had designed at first, taking great 
 care, at the same time, that second-table duties 
 should not be neglected or hindered. I shall not 
 grudge to copy a good part of this letter. 
 
 May 22iid, 1742. 
 My very dear Friend, — I return you my hearty thanks 
 for your most acceptable letter of the 2ist, which I got 
 this morning. I have from the beginning looked on 
 the affair of Cambuslang as a very glorious work of 
 God, and my daily prayer about it has been that the 
 remarkable down-pouring of the Holy Ghost there 
 might, like the "cloud like a man's hand," quickly 
 overspread the whole hemisphere. We must reckon 
 upon it that, where the Lord Christ is in so glorious a 
 manner making conquests, Satan will be at work too ; 
 that busy, active, malicious spirit will be doing all he 
 can to dispraise the work of God, and furnish the 
 wicked and the lukewarm with something to say against 
 it ; too great care therefore cannot be taken to avert 
 reproach and calumny. Yet, at the same time, the fear 
 of man must not be so far given way to as to determine 
 you to leave any thing undone which may forward the 
 good work. If it was a ground of people's caviling at 
 Cambuslang, that they had sermon every day, and 
 thereby first-table duties justled with the second, it 
 possibly may be going too far on the other side, to have 
 but one sermon-day with you in the week ; while the 
 wind blows fair, crowd on all the sail you can ; but I 
 hope the Lord, whose work it is, will direct you to what 
 
 is best 1 have sent it to and some more 
 
 such, who will in secret, in private, and in public, bless 
 Zion's God for these glorious streams unexpectedly and 
 
 c 2 
 
58 "^ 
 
 4 
 
 surprisingly pouring out on spots of his vinej'ard, and 
 join in cries to him, not to stop till he has watered all 
 the garden. 
 
 The account of the Cambuslang affair last published 
 is, I think, put together with great discretion, and gives 
 no handle to the enemies of religion to work upon. If 
 no advantage is given to them, and they will notwith- 
 standing fall on the head corner-stone, it is their own 
 fault. 
 
 I hope the work with you will continue, and that you 
 will from time to time lay hold of a few moments, to be 
 as good as your word, in giving me an account of its 
 progress. — 1 offer my respects to good Mr. M'Laurin ; 
 may much of God be with you and him, and all the 
 lovers, all the helpers-forward of the work of our dear 
 Redeemer. I am most affectionately, &c. 
 
 As to the doctrines I preached in the congrega- 
 tion or elsewhere, there was as much as possible a 
 mixture of the law and the gospel in the same ser- 
 mon, and I observed such compositions most blessed 
 of God. The formerly converted, and the awakened 
 who had made progress, were, I perceived, most 
 affected with the sweet truths of the gospel. I have 
 seen the congregation in tears, and crying out, wheu 
 the gospel of grace from mount Zion, without any ex- 
 press mixture of the terrors of the law, was preached. 
 It is true indeed, that several of the awakened have 
 had their spiritual distress increased thereby, as also 
 some of the secure have been awakened : but then 
 it was from their being convinced that they had as 
 yet no interest in these glorious blessings, and so 
 were miserable, and that it would be the worst part 
 of their eternal misery to be deprived of themT 
 And thus it was as terrible to them to hear heaven 
 preached of as hell, seeing they saw themselves shut 
 
59 
 
 out from it by their unbelief. I observed that the 
 far greater part of every public audience were secure, 
 unconcerned, and fearless, and therefore I preached 
 the terrors of the law in the strongest terms I could, 
 that is to say, in express scripture terms. I feared 
 to daub or deal slightly with them, but told great 
 and small, that they were the children of the Devil 
 while they were in the state of unbelief, and that if 
 they continued so to the end, in our Lord's plain 
 terms, they would be damned. I resolved that I 
 would cry aloud and not spare, and preach with that 
 seriousness and fervour that became me as knowing 
 that my hearers must either be prevailed with or be 
 damned ; and that they might discern I was in good 
 earnest with them, and really meant as 1 spoke. 
 And lest any should ascribe the efiPect of these ser- 
 mons to the subject, I observed to my hearers fre- 
 quently that they had often heard all these truths 
 preached to them with as great keenness without any 
 such visible effect. I can instance and show ser- 
 mons containing the terrors of the law that I have 
 preached many years ago without known success, but 
 which 1 have again preached now, in weaker terms, 
 with great success ; so that all might see that it is 
 not from man, but the Spirit of the Lord, that there 
 is so great a difference as to efficacy. 
 
 I looked up and saw, what I never saw before, 
 the fields already ripe unto harvest. I heard the 
 Lord of the harvest commanding me to put in ray 
 sickle and reap ; I considered that I had now put 
 into my hand an opportunity that was not to last 
 long, the harvest being the shortest time of labour 
 in the whole year. And therefore I resolved to be 
 
60 
 
 stir myself and attend wholly to this very thing. I 
 looked upon my pulpit-work, though great, as but a 
 small part of my task. I knew that several of the 
 awakened were iirnorant, that all of them needed 
 particular direction, instruction, and consolation, 
 under their sharp convictions, and much wanted, 
 under the conduct of the Holy Spirit, a spiritual 
 guide to direct them to faith in Jesus Christ, to 
 which they were shut up. I appointed therefore 
 Monday, Tuesday, Thursday, and Friday, for the 
 awakened and spiritually-distressed to come to me 
 for the foresaid purposes, which they did, assiduously 
 and diligently, from morning to night ; the same 
 persons sometimes coming to me not only twice 
 in the week, which was ordinary, but oftener ; yea, 
 even upon Saturdays, which I often grudged, but 
 durst not send those away who had come from a 
 distance without conversing with them. At this 
 time I could not allow myself to be diverted from 
 this attendance by any visitants coming to my house, 
 ministers or others. I was also greatly assisted by 
 some ministers and preachers who stayed with me 
 for some time. Particularly at the beginning of 
 this work, Mr. Young, preacher of the gospel, who 
 had been much at Cambuslang, and had great ex- 
 perience and skill in dealing with the distressed, was 
 greatly helpful to me. But of all others the Rev. 
 Mr. Gillespie, minister of Carnock, was most re- 
 markably God's send to me. He came to me upon 
 the Monday before the Lord's Supper was given in 
 the congregation, and stayed ten days. Both of us 
 had as much work among the distressed as kept us 
 continually employed from morning to night ; and 
 
61 
 
 without him it would have been impossible for me 
 to have managed the work of that week. Without 
 such dealings with them, humanly speaking, many of 
 them must have miscarried, or continued much 
 longer under their spiritual distress. It is very true 
 that God will devise means to bring home his ban- 
 ished, as I have seen: but where there are min- 
 isters, these are the outward means. If people in 
 distress will not use them they themselves are to 
 blame, and they cannot expect a desirable outgate. 
 And if we will not apply ourselves diligently to the 
 care of distressed souls willing to make use of us, 
 the Lord will provide without us, that his own elect 
 shall not miscarry ; but woe will be to us — their 
 blood, as well as those who shall miscarry, will be 
 required at our hands. 
 
 I was not without, temptations to slacken my 
 hand. Both my own mind and others who wished 
 me well said, Spare thyself. I was afraid my body 
 would not stand through, and others told me I 
 should take care of my health : But when I consid- 
 ered my natural temper, that it must be employed 
 somehow, and that I spent nearly as much time in 
 reading, I thought I could suffer no more by this 
 application, and had not so much to fear from it as 
 from any other constant sedentary employment. But 
 most of all I was influenced from the consideration 
 of the Lord's call to this service, that my time, 
 health, and life were in his hand, that I had dedi- 
 cated all to his service and glory, that he had pro- 
 mised needful strength — that he would preserve my 
 health and life so long as he had use for them, and 
 that it would be highly unreasonable for me to de- 
 
6a 
 
 sire it longer, and I resolved not to spare myself. 
 It became soon the pleasantest work ever I engaged 
 in. I found the distressed profiting under the 
 means of grace by the Lord's blessing, first coming 
 to hate sin and mourn for it, out of a regard to God, 
 and pressing after an interest in the Lord Jesus 
 Christ. It diverted me to see young and old car- 
 rying their bibles with them, and either reading 
 some passage that had been of use to them, or look- 
 ing out and marking some passage I recommended 
 to them. The world appeared changed to me, and 
 as I noticed to them; for when I came to their doors, 
 once or twice in the year, to catechise them, the 
 least trifle hindered their attendance, but now they 
 were glad to come twice or thrice a week, and greedy 
 to receive instruction : and what cold soul would not 
 have rejoiced at such a change, and welcomed them 
 in the name of the Lord? Though I was wearied 
 when I went to bed, yet, like the labouring man, my 
 rest was sweet to me. The Lord gave me the 
 sleep of his beloved, and I was fresh by the morn- 
 ing. And now, after labouring so much for nearly 
 these four months, and preaching more than at any 
 time for a whole half year, I mention it the praise of 
 my Master's goodness, my body is like those of 
 Daniel and the three children, fatter in flesh than 
 when I began, and my bodily ails nowise encreased. 
 The way of the Lord hath been my life and 
 strength. 
 
 I shall subjoin to this branch a letter I received 
 from the Rev. Mr. Willison, minister at Dundee, 
 deserving the reader's perusal. 
 
63 
 
 Dundee, June 14th, 1742. 
 Rev. and dear Brother, — Yours to me of the 27th of 
 May last did fill me with wonder and joy, and was most 
 refreshing to many of the friends of Christ's kingdom 
 to whom I showed it. O that we could praise him, and 
 call heaven and earth to praise him, for the Comforter's 
 continuance at Cambuslang, and for his coming so 
 many miles on this side of Glasgow, in the same way 
 as to Cambuslang, as your letter bears ; blessed be his 
 name for visiting so many parishes at once, and Kil- 
 syth in such a wonderful manner, making your con- 
 gregation to mourn together as for an only son, so as 
 to find you work daily from morning to night, in deal- 
 ing with souls distressed with a sense of sin and misery 
 while without Christ. Blessed be his glorious name 
 for doing such wonderful things for you and your peo- 
 ple, and for giving you extraordinary strength and vi- 
 gour, both in body and mind, to fit you for the extra- 
 ordinary service he is calling you to, and to make you 
 delight in it, as the most pleasant work ever you was 
 engaged in. I desire to praise the Lord for putting 
 such high honour upon you and your brethren in 
 your country, and also to pray as I can for a more 
 plentiful effusion upon you, till it arrive to a flood 
 which may overflow the whole land : surely we in this 
 part of Scotland need it as much as any place I know. 
 Ah ! our ground is very dry ; but blessed be God, the 
 shower seems to point northward. We have a great 
 number of young people in this place who have changed 
 their way, are in love with sermons, and join in societies 
 for prayer, for religious conference, repeating sermons 
 and parts of the Bible, and are growing much in know- 
 ledge, &c. But, alas ! their convictions for sin do not 
 appear deep enough, nor the work on their spirits to 
 be so thorough as I observed at Cambuslang. Yet 1 
 desire to wait and pray, and to be remembered by 
 you and your people at the mercy-seat ; and also to be 
 thankful for our day of small things. Though our be- 
 ginnings be but small, yet, by the Divine blessing, our 
 latter end may greatly increase, if we could but believe, 
 wrestle, and pray in hope. I would fain hope that these 
 are but droppings before a shower which God is de- 
 
64 
 
 signing for Scotland, and that the time to favour his 
 Zion in it is near at hand. Elijah's little cloud is 
 spreading, and there is the sound of abundance of 
 rain. Surely after what we have seen already, we need 
 despair of nothing. If a spirit of faith and prayer 
 were poured out, we might hope the blessed work would 
 spread, and go through the length and breadth of the 
 land, which would heal our woful breaches, and make 
 us glad, according to the days wherein he hath afflicted 
 
 us, and the years wherein we have seen evil. Mr. 
 
 writes me a very distinct account of the progress of the 
 work about him, namely in the Barony, Bothwell, and 
 of some hopeful beginnings at Kilmarnock and Irvine; 
 and also promises to send me the journal of that per- 
 son you speak of, who hath got relief by faith in Jesus, 
 as soon as printed in the Weekly History, for which I 
 will be much obliged to him. I am persuaded the 
 printing such accounts will be most useful and edifying 
 
 to many. I entreat you to urge Mr. to go on in 
 
 publishing other cases of that sort. Some ministers 
 here are proposing to keep parochial thanksgiving days 
 for the good news you and others are sending us. I 
 am on Wednesday next to assist at one in Strickmar- 
 tine, a neighbouring parish ; surely it is a kindly way 
 of supplicating God for the like blessings. I intreat 
 you may pray for poor Dundee, and our parched shire 
 of Angus. May the Lord strengthen you more and 
 more in his service, and make you go on in it with 
 great joy and success. J. Willison. 
 
 After sermon, those who were awakened that day 
 were convened in ray barn. Sometimes they were 
 spoken to altogether, either by myself or some other 
 minister, if any happened to be with us ; as also, we 
 prayed with them. This, as was observed already, 
 had frequently, by the blessing of God, effect upon 
 the by-standers ; some being awakened by seeing 
 the distressed and hearing the exhortations given in 
 the barn. At other times, when I could not attend 
 
65 
 
 upon this, and there were no other ministers, some 
 of the elders were sent to pray and sing psalms with 
 them. They were then by the elders brought to me, 
 into ray closet, one by one, or if there were many, 
 two or three at a time. If they were able to give 
 an account of themselves, I enquired when they 
 came first to be so deeply concerned about the state 
 of their souls — what was the occasion of it — and 
 what they had heard that made the first impression 
 upon them. After which 1 gave them some gen- 
 eral exhortations and directions suitable to their par- 
 ticular case, as the Lord was pleased to help. 
 
 The general exhortations and directions I gave 
 them were to be very thankful to God, and bless 
 him who had sent his Holy Spirit to convince them 
 of sin because they believed not upon Christ, and 
 to make them sensible of their lost state, that they 
 might be delivered ; to entertain a constant fear lest 
 their convictions and uneasy sense of their sin and 
 danger should go off without conversion and com- 
 ing to Christ by faith, seeing this had befallen many 
 who had been under greater and longer distress than 
 many of them yet were ; and that if this happened 
 to them their case would be worse and more danger- 
 ous than it was before : And therefore they should 
 take good heed that they resist not the convictions 
 of the Spirit, but listen to them and admit them to 
 take possession of their soul ; that they need not be 
 overwhelmed, for how great soever their sins were, 
 if they would repent and believe upon the Lord 
 Jesus Christ, God promised to have mercy upon 
 them and save them ; and that they must not be too 
 impatient for comfort, nor too hasty to catch it, but 
 
66 
 
 that they must stay God's time, and wait upon him 
 patiently, in a diligent use of means, for a good issue. 
 I prayed with them, and so dismissed them, with- 
 out being more particular with them for the first 
 time. Several of them, through the greatness of 
 their anguish, were not able even to attend to such 
 short and general directions. I recommended it to 
 strangers to apply frequently to their own ministers 
 for instruction and direction under their spiritual 
 distress, trusting that there would be no minister, 
 wherever they were awakened, who would not make 
 them welcome, instruct, and direct them to Jesus 
 Christ. I endeavoured yet to persuade myself 
 that the jealousy some of the distressed entertain 
 of a bad reception is groundless. It were to be 
 wished that ministers who hear of any such in their 
 congregation would enquire after them, desire them 
 to come to them from time to time, and thereby 
 convince them that their jealousies are groundless, 
 that they compassionate their case and are ready to 
 assist them under the pangs of the new birth, that 
 they may not miscarry. Nothing so tender as an 
 afflicted conscience ; those who have it must be ten- 
 derly dealt and borne with. Let us all who are 
 called to the holy ministry often think upon Ezek. 
 xxxiv, 4. 
 
 As to the method of my after-dealing with the 
 awakened, as they came to me from time to time, 
 this cannot be well narrated without giving an ac- 
 count of the progress of the work of conviction 
 upon them, and therefore 1 shall refer it to that 
 Article. 
 
 I have kept a book in which, from day to day, 
 
67 
 
 I wrote down what was most material in the ex- 
 ercises of the distressed. This may appear an in- 
 supportable labour at first view, especially where the 
 number of the distressed were so many. Yet I 
 found it to be very easy: it saved much time to me. 
 An index I kept brought me soon to the part of 
 the book where the person's case was recorded. I 
 had then a full view of their case as it was when 
 they were first with me. I saw what progress 
 their convictions had made, and knew where I was 
 to begin with them, without examining their case 
 every time from the beginning anew, as otherwise I 
 would have been obliged to do : which would have 
 taken three or four times more time than I needed 
 to spend with them. It after all gave a full view of 
 their whole case when it came to an issue ; and made 
 me more able to judge of it. 
 
 I have laboured to be very cautious in pro- 
 nouncing persons to be brought out of a state of 
 nature into a state of grace. I have in many cases 
 declared to persons, that the grounds of ease and 
 rest they took up with were net solid nor good, 
 which frequently had a good effect ; and as to 
 others, that if their exercises were such as they 
 declared them to be, they were really the scripture 
 qualifications and experiences of the converted. But 
 of this more in another Article. 
 
 It made all this labour more pleasant to me, that 
 the Lord, even from the first week, brought some 
 every week to satisfying relief by faith in the Lord 
 Jesus. The first appearance of this filled me with 
 tears of joy. It was in a girl about twenty, the 
 first week after the 16th of May. 
 
68 
 
 An abstract of her case is as follows : — She 
 formerly lived for some years in this parish, but 
 at this time in the neighbourhood. She was first 
 brought under some concern at Cambuslang, by 
 hearing Luke, xi, 21, preached upon. She was 
 afraid the Lord had passed her by when she saw 
 others under spiritual distress. She wondered 
 what convictions were when she heard them spoken 
 of, and prayed for them. She was further awak- 
 ened to see her sin and danger at Kilsyth, upon 
 the 16th of May. She returned to me the same 
 week. I was greatly pleased with the progress 
 of her convictions, with her knowledge, and the 
 longing desires she expressed after Jesus Christ. 
 I said to her, sitting by me, essay to accept of the 
 Lord Jesus Christ, bestir yourself, rise up at his 
 call, and invite him to enter into your soul ; without 
 intending or meaning what she did. She arose 
 with great composure, stood and prayed in a scrip- 
 ture style, and with such connection as no person of 
 a public character needed to have been ashamed of 
 before the most critical. I could discern as much 
 of the spirit of grace and adoption in it as any 
 prayer I ever heard. I could not recover it after- 
 wards ; but resolved that I would desire her to pray 
 the next time she returned : For I looked upon 
 her as having received the spirit of faith, though 
 she continued disconsolate. Next week she re- 
 turned : and I caused her to pray after I had con- 
 versed and prayed with her. She did it in a 
 scripture style, with connection, and great earnest- 
 ness ; acknowledging sin, original and actual ; her 
 utter want of righteousness, and the wonderfulness 
 
69 
 
 of God's patience towards her: she prayed for raercy 
 to be drawn to Jesus Christ, and that she might be 
 clothed with his white raiment ; that he would speak 
 a word in season to her weary, heavy-laden, and 
 burdened soul ; and that he would give her to come 
 to him, who saith, " Come to me, all ye that are 
 weary and heavy-laden, and I will give you rest;" 
 that Satan might have no interest in her; and that 
 the Lord would do for her above all she could ask, 
 think, or crave ; giving glory to him who liveth for 
 ever. Sometimes in her address she said. Sweet 
 Jesus. She first came to sensible relief, the next 
 week, in hearing a sermon I preached from John, 
 xvi, 10. In her return home, by herself, these words 
 were strongly impressed upon her, " My heart is 
 fixed, O God, my heart is fixed; I will sing and 
 give praise." She fell down upon her knees, her 
 heart being filled with joy in the Lord and her 
 mouth with his praise. She said that, May 16th, 
 when she was under her greatest distress, the last 
 verses of the fourtieth of Isaiah came to her remem- 
 brance, " They that wait upon the Lord shall renew 
 their strength ; they shall mount up with wings as 
 eagles, they shall run and not be weary, they shall 
 walk and not faint." This gave her some support 
 and encouragement to wait upon the Lord. 
 
 There were some disorders I could not foresee; 
 but as soon as they appeared, I was careful to destroy 
 them in the bud, and prevent them in time to come. 
 Many, when they saw the great fears and anguish 
 of those awakened upon the 16th of May, concluded 
 that they were sinners above all others, and that 
 they had been guilty of some sins more than ordi- 
 
70 
 
 nary, which came now to give them so much un- 
 easiness. They entertained a notion, that if they 
 would confess these extraordinary sins, it would give 
 ease to their minds, and glorify God. This was 
 followed with very bad consequences. One was, 
 that some, through these mistakes, attacked some of 
 the awakened under their greatest agonies and while 
 they knew not what to do, and exhorted them to 
 confess all their sins, and tell them what they had 
 done that so vexed them, which might turn to their 
 ease. One poor woman, who was awakened upon 
 the 16th of May, but went home without speaking 
 with me, came to be in such agonies that her neigh- 
 bours were obliged to watch with her all night, and 
 she, being dealt with as above, acknowledged that 
 she had been guilty of adultery with a man she 
 also named. She had been of an evil character for 
 cursing, scolding, and living ill with her husband, 
 but nobody had suspected her being unchaste. She 
 was brought to me early next morning. When I 
 heard the story it gave me great uneasiness, but 
 there was no preventing the spreading of it — it was 
 reported through the neighbourhood by the morning 
 light. I heard also of attempts of the same kind 
 made upon some others, but without reproachful 
 consequences. To prevent this for the time to come, 
 I publicly instructed the whole congregation that 
 they were not bound to confess their secret sins to 
 any but unto God, unless in case of his bringing 
 them to light in his providence ; or in the case of 
 wrong and injury done their neighbours, where re- 
 paration or satisfaction should be made, and brotherly 
 forgiveness sought ; or in case of great vexation of 
 
71 
 
 mind, and want of advice for relief about some par- 
 ticular sin, that they should do it to some minister, 
 or prudent Christian friend, who would keep it as an 
 inviolable secret to the day of judgment : forbidding, 
 at the same time, all to enquire into the secret sins of 
 their neighbours: showing unto them the evil of it ; 
 and most of all, their blazing abroad the secret faults 
 of their neighbour, when it could tend to no end 
 but the reproach of their neighbour and the scandal 
 and offence of others. This warning, by the Lord's 
 blessing, prevented any disorder of this sort for the 
 time to come. There was another evil consequence 
 of this mistake, that many — though all the first 
 awakened were of blameless lives except the foresaid 
 woman — imagining that they were troubled for some 
 uncommon sin, were thereby hardened against con- 
 victions, whilst they knew not themselves to be guilty 
 of any sin more than ordinary. They never reflected 
 upon the evil of the least sin, and upon the dreadful 
 evil of rejecting Jesus Christ by unbelief, worse than 
 the greatest sin against the law. These things were 
 observed to them in preaching and private confer- 
 ences ; but I am persuaded this had no great influ- 
 ence untill the Lord was pleased to awaken several 
 of the young ones, of whom they could have no 
 jealousy, that they had been sinners above all others. 
 This served effectually to remove the foresaid stum- 
 bling-block ; and several came to reason the other 
 way, that if such young ones, comparatively innocent, 
 were brought under such deep concern about their 
 sin and misery, how much reason had they to be 
 affected, let them be ever so free from gross sins. 
 There were some other disorders that were like 
 
72 
 
 to arise in this and neighbouring congregations that 
 were timeously noticed, rectified, or prevented ; and 
 the people in this congregation came willingly under 
 very strict and exact rules for the management of this 
 affair. 
 
 What made me in every thing to use the more 
 caution was, that I was persuaded the further pro- 
 gress this blessed work should make, the greater op- 
 position would be made to it ; and the more Christ 
 should triumph, the more Satan would rage, which I 
 now see has come to pass. For Satan seemed to be 
 astonished with the first appearance at Cambuslang, 
 so as not to know well by what methods to oppose 
 it, but now recovers and rallies all his forces to make 
 head. The Seceders made the most opposition at 
 the first, and that even in a fainter and wavering 
 way. But now Nullifidians of all sorts are making 
 head, such as Arians, who deny the supreme Deity 
 of our Lord and Saviour, and the satisfaction he 
 hath given to the justice of God for elect sinners ; 
 Arminians, who have never been friendly to the scrip- 
 ture doctrine of justification by faith alone without 
 the works of the law, and of the sinner's regenera- 
 tion and conversion by the supernatural power of the 
 Holy Ghost. And, last of all, those who cry up 
 morality without the faith and hope of the gospel 
 and that love to God that is engendered by it; and 
 so, out of a fondness for Pagan ethics and philoso- 
 phic institutions, defy our holy religion. There are 
 strong presumptions that the anonymous pamphlets 
 now flying so thick are from that sort. And no 
 wonder ; for the progress of this work threatens 
 shame and destruction to all their darling principles 
 and practices. 
 
73 
 
 ARTICLE II. 
 
 Concerning the Fruits of this Dispensation, which are 
 General as to the Body of the People, 
 
 The fruits of this remarkable out-pouring of the 
 Holy Spirit are either general, extending to the 
 body of the people, or more particular, the awakening 
 of many to an uneasy sight of their sin and danger, 
 the conversion of some of those who were visibly 
 awakened, the hopeful condition of some others of 
 the awakened, and the reviving and attainments of 
 former good Christians. 
 
 The first of these is the subject of this Article. 
 Among the instances of the good fruits of this work 
 upon the generality of the people are the visible re- 
 formation from many open sins in their lives : par- 
 ticularly cursing and swearing and minced oaths, 
 which formerly were frequent, but are now laid aside. 
 Drinking to excess is either forborne or much dis- 
 countenanced. In public occasional meetings, edi- 
 fying discourse hath taken the place of frothy, foolish, 
 censorious, or otherwise evil speaking. Instead of 
 worldly and common discourse upon the Lord's day, 
 there is that which is spiritual and good to the use 
 of edifying. There is little of sitting idle at their 
 doors, and profanely strolling in the streets on that 
 day, which was too common formerly in the town of 
 Kilsyth. There is a general desire after public or- 
 dinances ; and whereas before this I never could pre- 
 vail with the best to attend the preaching of the 
 word upon work days, and therefore could have no 
 
 D 64* 
 
74 
 
 stated weekly day for this, they now desire it, and 
 the generality of the people frequent it as regularly 
 as upon the Lord's day. The worship of God is set 
 up and daily kept up in many families which were 
 known entirely to neglect it aforetime. There are 
 many societies formed for prayer in the parish, both 
 of old and young, and these not only of persons who 
 have been awakened at this time, but of others. 
 Former feuds and animosities are in a great measure 
 laid aside and forgotten, and this hath been the most 
 peaceable summer amongst our neighbours that was 
 ever known in these bounds. I have heard little or 
 nothing of that pilfering and stealing that was be- 
 come so frequent and uneasy before this work began. 
 Yea, there have been several instances of restitution, 
 and some of these showing consciences more than 
 ordinarily tender. The change of the face of our 
 public meetings for worship is visible ; there were never 
 such attention and seriousness to be seen in them as 
 now. The change of the lives of the generality to 
 the better is observed by every one who knew the 
 place. One observing person in the congregation 
 said lately to me, that he was sure, if there was 
 nothing more, there was more morality among them. 
 It is strano-e that some who make so much noise about 
 morality should be such enemies to a work which 
 hath produced so much of it in the lives of a whole 
 country-side. 
 
 I subjoin to this Article an Attestation to the 
 principal facts contained therein, drawn up and sub- 
 scribed by the elders and deacons of the kirk-session, 
 and some heritors of the parish, who have access to 
 observe the daily conversation of the people. 
 
75 
 
 Attestation by Heritors^ Elders, and the Bailie of 
 
 Kilsyth, 
 
 Rev. Sir, — In compliance with your desire to know 
 what remarkable reformation and change we observe 
 and see upon the outward behaviour, lives, and conver- 
 sations of the people of this parish, we observe, that 
 whereas the profaning of the holy Sabbath by idle dis- 
 course, walking abroad in companies, and sitting about 
 doors, were the ordinary practice of numbers in and 
 about the town of Kilsyth : we now see not only this 
 abandoned, but instead thereof, the private and secret 
 duties of prayer practised, and spiritual and religious 
 conversation prevailing upon all occasions ; especially 
 in coming and going to and from the public ordinances; 
 and further, that the ordinary and habitual practice of 
 cursing, swearing, drinking to excess, stealing, cheating, 
 and defrauding, and all gross immoralities, are gener- 
 ally refrained from, and several that were ordinarily 
 guilty of such crimes now detest and abhor them. 
 Also malice, envy, hatred, strife, contention, and re- 
 venge, are so much decreased that we have had few or 
 no instances thereof this summer. But, on the con- 
 trary, love, peace, forgiving of injuries, and a charitable 
 christian temper and disposition of mind, now prevail 
 among several of those who have been most frequently 
 overcome by these unruly passions. 
 
 Tliere are also numbers of people who either wholly 
 or ordinarily neglected family worship that now ordi- 
 narily practise it, and have more than ordinary concern 
 for the glory of God and the good of their own souls. 
 
 There are not only a good many societies for prayer 
 set up of late, both of young ones and also of those of 
 riper years, but also several using endeavours and de- 
 sirous to be admitted whom formerly no arguments could 
 prevail with to join in such religious and necessary 
 duties, and many are observed now frequently retiring 
 to private places for secret prayer upon the Sabbath- 
 days in the interval of public worship. 
 
 The obscene, idle, wicked conversation of our ser- 
 vants and daily-labourers is now much abandoned and 
 
76 
 
 forsaken; serious, edifying, religious christian discourse 
 much practised, which used to be much neglected, 
 especially now in harvest-time. — Written by Mr. John 
 Buchanan, Session Clerk, and subscribed by the follow- 
 ing elders at Kilsyth, the 5th day of September, 1742; 
 and likewise the several heritors here present do attest 
 the truth of the same. 
 
 Robert Graham of Tliorarawer, Jolin Forrester, Elder, 
 
 John Graham of Auchincloch, John Achie, Elder, 
 
 Alexander Marshall of Ruchill, William Adam, Elder, 
 
 William Patrick of Oldhall, Mark Scott, 
 
 Walter Kirkwood, James Rankin, 
 
 John Buchanan, Clerk, James Miller, 
 
 Alexa)ider Patrick, Elder, John Sword, 
 
 James Rennie, Elder, Andrew Provan, 
 
 James Zuill, John Lapslie, Elder. 
 Henry Ure, Elder, 
 
 Kilsyth, September 8tb, 1742. 
 
 I, Alexander Forrester, Bailie-depute of Kilsyth, do 
 hereby certify, that so much of the spirit of mildness 
 and friendship prevails amongst the people in this place 
 that there hath been no pleas before our court for these 
 several months past ; whereas formerly a great many 
 were brought before me every week. 
 
 Alexander Forrester. 
 
 ARTICLE III. 
 
 Concerning those who have been Awakened, and 
 appear to be now Converted, in a Silent and Unob- 
 served Manner, for some Months past. 
 
 The first general distinction of the awakened for 
 some months past in this congregation is into those 
 who have been brought into a deep concern about 
 the state of their souls without beine; known or ob- 
 served by others, untill they attained such relief as 
 
7T 
 
 gives ground to judge it solid and scriptural, and 
 those whose concern and awakening was notorious, 
 and observed by all who saw them, from its sensible 
 effects upon them. 
 
 The first sort belong to this Article. Some have 
 declared, their greatest dissatisfaction with this work 
 was that the awakened did not conceal, at least from 
 the public, their spiritual distress, and that so much 
 noise was made about it ; and they would have been 
 pleased with instances of a work of conviction and 
 conversion carried on in a calm, silent, and quiet 
 manner. In all this they have the satisfaction they 
 demand, and at the same time an evidence of more 
 than an ordinary out-pouring of the Holy Spirit, 
 wherewith they should also be satisfied, seeing that 
 the instances are more numerous these six months 
 past than they have been for as many years before, 
 as far as I can judge ; and these instances of conver- 
 sion more unquestionable. 
 
 '. Blessed be the God of peace and of all grace, there 
 are not a few in this congregation, known to me at 
 this time, who have within these six months been 
 awakened to a serious concern about their souls' sal- 
 vation, brought under a deep work of humiliation, and 
 appear, as far as I am able to judge, to be converted; 
 and yet, as to some of them, their spiritual distress and 
 exercises, while they were under them, were not known 
 to me or to any else, and as to others, only to some 
 very intimate and near friend. I had occasion to 
 converse with some of them before the giving of the 
 Lord's Supper in the congregation in the month of 
 July last. Others I have called for and enquired 
 into the state of their souls and their experiences. 
 
78 
 
 And some have given me an account of themselves 
 in writing, whom I have also enquired after and con- 
 versed closely with. And I hope there are a con- 
 siderably greater number upon whom the Lord is 
 carrying on a good work of grace in this still and 
 unobserved manner. The general concern there is 
 in hearing the word of God, and diligence in the use 
 of means, joined with outward reformation, give great 
 ground to hope this. 
 
 Those of this sort with whom I have conversed 
 have had convictions, fears, distresses, and exercises 
 of the same kind with those whose distresses have 
 been manifested openly, and their experiences, as to 
 an escape by grace, have been much alike. 
 
 I shall insert the account some of these gave me of 
 themselves in this Article, and leave it to the reader 
 to judge for himself. 
 
 The first instance is contained in the second printed 
 Journal from Kilsyth, which is as follows : 
 
 C. D. came first under convictions, which made 
 him uneasy, upon the first Sabbath of March last. 
 By hearing the work of regeneration preached, as it 
 is the writing of God's law upon the sinner's heart, 
 from Heb. viii, 10, he was made to see that it 
 was not as yet written upon his heart, and the abso- 
 lute necessity of having it. At night his landlady 
 and he discoursed of God's raising the dead at the 
 general judgment. The consideration of these, and 
 of the dreadful state which the wicked shall be in, 
 made further deep impressions upon him. He says, 
 that he found every sermon he heard made these 
 impressions deeper; and that he was much displeased 
 with himself that his concern and anxiety about his 
 
79 
 
 spiritual and eternal state was not greater. Upon 
 the last Sabbath of April his convictions, and thereby 
 his distress, came to a great height, from his hearing 
 of a woman who was that day awakened, and brought 
 to my house in great distress. 
 
 He told me, that he could apply to himself the 
 most part of a sermon he heard from me upon the 
 19th of May last, concerning the Spirit's convincing 
 the world of sin ; such as, that he usually begins 
 with one sin, and carrieth it on to a conviction of 
 particular sins : which, he says, he could name par- 
 ticularly before the Lord : and that further, he was 
 convinced of bosom sins, and of the evil nature of 
 sin ; and that he was not so much affrighted with 
 the terror of hell as he was afflicted for offending a 
 holy God. And that further, he got such a sight 
 of the filthiness of sin, as to loathe himself because 
 of it. That he was also convinced of the evil of 
 unbeHef, of the first motions of sin, and the sinful- 
 ness of them, though not consented to ; of self-con- 
 ceit, a sense of the evil of which stuck as long with 
 him as any thing else, as he terms it. He was also 
 convinced of his inability to help himself, and of 
 his own want of righteousness, and that he could 
 never work out righteousness for himself. He says 
 further, that he was brought to see the sufficiency 
 of Christ and his righteousness, and that he vvas al- 
 ways ready (which are his own words) if he could 
 but trust in him. 
 
 Seeing he had told me, that he had never inform- 
 ed any person of his inward spiritual distress untill 
 he got an outgate, I asked him, what it was that 
 kept up his spirit under fear and trouble of mind 
 
80 
 
 continuing so long. He answered, that when his 
 heart was like to burst in prayer, that word in the 
 fourtieth Psalm and first verse came constantly into 
 his mind — " I waited patiently for the Lord, and 
 he inclined unto me, and heard my cry ;" and that 
 this encouraged him to wait for the Lord with pa- 
 tience and hope. 
 
 His first relief came after this manner : In the 
 society for prayer, to which he had joined himself, 
 he enquired. What is the most proper exercise for 
 a person under convictions ? It was answered him 
 by a judicious Christian, that it was to behold the 
 Lamb of God who taketh away the sin of the world, 
 which he essayed to do. 
 
 Upon the Sabbath after that, I gave the marks of 
 those who have Christ formed in them ; such as 
 having the Spirit of Christ, I John, iii, 24; Saving 
 faith, Eph. iii, 17 ; Devoting and dedicating our- 
 selves to the Lord, Rom. vi, 13; Impressions an- 
 swerable to the mediatory actions of Jesus Christ, 
 Rom. vi, 4 — 6 ; Habitual endeavour to imitate him, 
 1 John, ii, 6 ; Fervent longings after a perfect like- 
 ness to him, Phil, iii, 8 — 13; And lastly, A high 
 value for the word and institutions of Jesus Christ. 
 He says, that by the help of the Spirit he could ap- 
 ply them all to himself. And that during the public 
 prayer after sermon, he was in a frame surprising to 
 himself: that his whole heart and affections went out 
 in closing with Jesus Christ ; and that he was filled 
 with rejoicing and wonder at his love. 
 
 During that night and two days after, he was 
 much dejected and cast down, for fear that things 
 were not right with him, and lest it was not a real 
 work of grace upon him. 
 
81 
 
 He got out of this plunge, by the third verse of 
 the sixth chapter of Hosea, brought to his remem- 
 brance while he was retired : ** Then shall we know, 
 if we follow on to know the Lord : his going forth is 
 prepared as the morning; and he shall come unto us 
 as the rain ; as the latter and former rain upon the 
 earth." It was some days after that ere he could 
 find these words out. He was then filled with joy 
 in the Lord, and wonder at his love, and thought he 
 could do and suffer any thing for Jesus Christ, who 
 had done and suffered so much for him. He came 
 to be satisfied about the truth of the work of grace 
 upon him, and to be free from doubts about his in- 
 terest ; which, he says, continues in some good mea- 
 sure with him, and that though he is sometimes 
 dull, as he calls it; yet he is not a day to an end 
 without some reviving. 
 
 The above relation was made me by the foresaid 
 person upon the 27th of May last in ray closet, his 
 conversation appears to all who know him to be sober, 
 pious, and suitable to the narrative given. 
 
 The person concerned in this Journal continues, 
 by grace, this 16th of September, to walk tenderly, 
 and in every instance of life as becometh a good 
 Christian. 
 
 I have not taken down the relation others of this 
 sort have given me of their case. There is one who 
 comes near this class, seeing he never applied to any 
 minister, and opened his distress to few, if to any, 
 while he was under it. He lives upon the borders 
 of this parish, and attends ordinarily public ordinan- 
 ces here, because of his great distance from his own 
 parish church. He put a paper into my hand, upon 
 
 d2 
 
82 
 
 Sabbath the 8th of August, which he desired me to 
 peruse at leisure. I found it to contain an account 
 of God's dealing with his soul. It was written and 
 subscribed by him, at his dwelling-house, August 5th. 
 I shall subjoin an abstract of it, giving his own words 
 for the most part. 
 
 He says, he was much troubled untill he made 
 known to me what the Lord hath bestowed of his 
 infinite mercy upon him since the Lord's Supper was 
 given in this congregation. That first of all, while 
 he was hearing the action sermon, preached from 
 Zech. ix, 11, he was made to see himself bound in 
 that pit " wherein there is no water." And thought 
 in his mind as if one had spoken to him these words, 
 " Believe or thou shalt be damned;" upon which he 
 fell into great trouble of mind. When Mr. Thomas 
 Gillespie exhorted the last table, and told the worthy 
 communicants, that God and Christ were theirs, 
 heaven and earth were theirs, Bible and ministers 
 were theirs, he thought he had no right to anything 
 that was good. And being gone home, he wept all 
 night. — He writes further in these words. '* Com- 
 ing to the church on Monday, when Mr. Mackie 
 closed the work he expressed these words, ' O bless 
 God, unworthy communicants, that he is still waiting 
 to be gracious to you, although you have trampled 
 his Son's blood under your feet.' That word gave 
 me some comfort. And when he was done, ye gave 
 some directions, saying, Did we not envy them that 
 were going home with Christ in their bosom, and 
 we have the Devil in ours ? And earnestly entreated 
 us to part with the Devil, and take Christ. At which 
 words, I thought I saw the Devil in my own bosom. 
 
83 
 
 I came to your barn, and these words came into my 
 heart, ' Thou art damned already ;' and I came home; 
 for I thought it folly to speak to any minister, for 
 my case was past hope. And I prayed ihat the 
 Lord would not cast me into hell, till I gave him 
 thanks for all his mercies I had received since I came 
 into this world. And since I must be damned, I 
 prayed that the Lord would save all others, and I 
 would be content to go to hell myself alone. In this 
 sad condition, and much worse than I can tell, I con- 
 tinued for some time. And lying on my bed one 
 night bewailing my condition :" Afterwards he speaks 
 of impressions of pardon, his concern about confession 
 of sin, and the continuance of these impressions of par- 
 don, till he fell asleep, and adds, " When I awaked 
 all my comfort was gone, and I would have given a 
 thousand worlds for one smile again : but there is no 
 tongue can tell such grief and love my heart did burn 
 with. Methought my heart would break, when I 
 thought on the great love and good-will of Heaven 
 to mankind sinners; considering ray own unworthi- 
 ness, that ere ever I had thought of mercy he showed 
 me such kindness. O if I had ten thousand hearts 
 I would do nought else but show forth his praise ! 
 Likewise, I heard a minister preach at your church 
 on these words, ' Grieve not the Holy Spirit of God, 
 whereby ye are sealed unto the day of redemption.' 
 And another scripture cited, ' Quench not the Spirit.' 
 These two scriptures did me much good. So when 
 any good thought comes into my mind, I look into 
 the scripture, and if I find it there; I endeavour to 
 keep it ; and if I do not, I let it go, as not consistent 
 with the word of God. Blessed be God, I take 
 
84f 
 
 more delight in striving to please him than ever I did 
 to please my own evil conceit and fulfilling my worldly 
 lust. I had a great mind to go to the Lord's table 
 at the sacrament in our own church : but I thought, 
 that surely my sins were not yet repented of; for I 
 saw many persons sore and long troubled that I was 
 sure were not so great sinners as I, and I had not 
 suffered the one half that they had. That word was 
 put in my heart, ' Wilt thou eat my flesh, and drink 
 my blood, and hast no part in me ?' At which words 
 I almost despaired of mercy for the space of two days. 
 And while I lamented my condition in prayer to God, 
 these words were engraven in my heart, ' He that 
 doubteth shall be damned ; for thy sins are forgiven 
 thee ; why dost thou this ?' These words made me 
 as strong in love to my Redeemer as ever. So I 
 went to the Lord's table ; and received great and 
 unspeakable comfort, and coming home I could speak 
 to no man ; my heart was so ravished with joy ; for 
 I found that the Lord was reconciled to my soul. 
 As I was praying in the fields at night, there came 
 such a fear on me that I could not speak, but trem- 
 bled. Then I thought it was said to me, ' Fear 
 not, I am betrothed unto thee :' so all that slavish 
 fear left me, and I praised God with joy. Some- 
 times if I were praying, I can get nothing said, but, 
 O love, O love, redeeming love ! And these im- 
 pressions of God's love will come upon me so that I 
 must retire from all company for a little. And you 
 being the instrument in God's hand of first awakening 
 me, I could not rest till I revealed it to you, desiring 
 always your prayers, that God would enable me to 
 perform the duty called for at my hand. I have 
 
85 
 
 written this, because you have no time to discourse 
 with me* Blessed be God, that ever I heard you 
 preach one sermon." 
 
 Upon the 23rd of August last, he put another 
 paper into my hand of that day's date, a part of which 
 is as follows. 
 
 " Sir, — Since the 8th to the 15th day of this month, 
 I have been under great distress of mind. For 
 sometimes I thought, that I was sure of the Lord's 
 favour, and at other times put in great doubt, for 
 that the Lord was so just that he would assuredly 
 render unto every man according as his works should 
 be ; but that blessed scripture, as a smile from the 
 Lord's own mouth, was impressed on my heart, 
 "Come and let us reason together; though your 
 sins be as crimson, I will make them white as snow." 
 " Believe on the Son of God, and it is impossible 
 for thee to be damned." But alas ! my heart put 
 me in great doubt, by reason that all these lively 
 and heart-admiring thoughts of my Redeemer van- 
 ished away, and my heart grew as hard as a stone, 
 and I could see no loveliness in him for which 
 he was to be desired. So in this melancholy 
 condition I went to the sacrament at Cambuslang, 
 and being at the table, the Rev. Mr. Whitefield 
 expressed these words, ' O dear Redeemer, seal 
 these lambs of thine to the day of redemption.' 
 At which words my breath was near stopping, and 
 tlie blood gushed at my nose. He said, Be not 
 afraid, for God shall put up thy tears in his bottle. 
 These words were put into my heart, 'A new heart 
 will I give you, and a right spirit will I put within 
 you,' &c. I sat afterwards at the table overjoyed 
 
86 
 
 with the love of my dear Redeemer. This is my 
 petition unto you, that you would give me some 
 directions: for sometimes my heart is as cold as 
 ever it was in all my life, and I will struggle as with 
 one that is stronger than I, and would almost give 
 over to the world again if his mercy did not prevent 
 me. And I am greatly afraid that the Lord will let 
 me fall into the hand of my greatest enemies, and 
 then my last state shall be worse than the first. I 
 entreat you, as a well-wisher to my soul, to give me 
 some directions against this doubting spirit that is 
 in me; for sometimes the love I bear in my heart 
 to my Redeemer, and the love that I conceive that 
 he hath to me and to all who love him with un- 
 feigned hearts, is so great that I am obliged to pray, 
 to hold his hand, for I am overfilled with his love. 
 And at other times I am lukewarm and indifferent : 
 though I would pray till I could speak no more, all 
 is in vain till the Lord be pleased to blow again upon 
 my soul." 
 
 I conversed with him this day, and found that he 
 had a pretty distinct knowledge of the sinner's way 
 of relief by faith in the Lord Jesus. He professed 
 that he had accepted a whole Christ. And he looked 
 for acceptance with God, not on the account of his re- 
 pentance or duties, but only of Christ's righteousness. 
 And that he was sorry for his past sins, and resolved 
 against sin, in Christ's strength, for the time to come. 
 
 I enquired at him the meaning of some expres- 
 sions of his paper. Particularly his praying to be 
 allowed to confess his sins, &c. He said that he 
 did not think himself enough grieved for sins, nor 
 sufficiently humbled to believe upon Christ. Which 
 
87 
 
 hath been the temptation and mistake of many dis- 
 tressed souls, they have imagined such a measure 
 of humiliation, without which they conceived they 
 had no warrant to believe upon the Lord Jesus 
 Christ, not considering that humiliation is no war- 
 rant or ground to believe, but needful in the hand 
 of the Spirit to make sinners willing to part with all 
 sin, and believe upon the Lord Jesus. 
 
 He and another with him, who had also sent me 
 in writing a relation of the exercises of his soul, com- 
 plained bitterly of the hardness of their hearts at 
 that time. I found that they understood by the 
 hardness of their hearts, the want sometimes of a ereat 
 motion of their affections, and lively feelings of sin, 
 misery, mercy, &c., and of fears as sometimes they 
 had them. I told them that persons might have 
 their affections and concerns about spiritual thincps 
 greatly moved, and yet be really hard-hearted in the 
 scripture sense ; and others might be without fears 
 and a great stir upon their affections, and yet have 
 gracious, soft, and tender hearts : And that, if they 
 were wilUng to have Christ and grace, and to forsake 
 all their known sins, and to comply with the whole 
 will of God made known to them, and were affected 
 suitably with spiritual things, they had not the hard 
 heart which is so much spoken against and condemned 
 in scripture, — and which usually means an untract- 
 able, disobedient, and an obstinate will to the will of 
 God. And with this they were comforted. 
 
 This is a frequent complaint with many others when 
 they cannot feel their affections and passions moved 
 in the same degree they felt when they first closed 
 with Christ, though their wills continue as persuad- 
 
88 
 
 able, tractable, and obedient as when their affections 
 were most lively. 
 
 Besides those I came formerly to the knowledge 
 of, which belong to this Article, several others of the 
 same sort have been discovered to me in the month 
 of September last, while I conversed with them, in 
 order to their admission to the Lord's table. I had 
 a remarkable instance of one on Saturday last, being 
 the ninth cf this current October. He came to 
 speak with me upon a particular affair; I took occa- 
 casion from it to enquire into the state of his soul, 
 having never heard of his being under any concern 
 about it. To my great surprise, he gave me an ac- 
 count of the beginning and progress of such a work 
 upon him as appeared to me exceedingly hopeful. 
 Having time and leisure I wrote it down. And 
 seeing some of my friends desire I would give more 
 instances in this Article, I shall add this to those al- 
 ready given, 
 
 W. X., formerly careless, and far from being cir- 
 cumspect and blameless in his walk, saith, that in the 
 month of March, upon a certain Sabbath, when I 
 was lecturing upon the history of Christ's life, he 
 was tempted to think there was no such thing as I 
 read and explained, and that there was no God: this 
 filled him with great trouble. When he came home 
 the temptation ceased, and he became easy. 
 
 Next Lord's day some concern about the state of 
 his soul besan with him. When he went about 
 family worship after sermon, he thought the Bible 
 was dearer to him than ever before; and he began to 
 see somewhat of his vileness by sin, which continued 
 with and increased upon him, from time to time. 
 
89 
 
 while I preached several sermons from Gal. iv, 19. 
 His constant desire, wherever he went or whatever 
 he did, was to have Christ formed in him. 
 
 When I was at Cambuslang, May 18th, he was 
 there, and was, to his own feeling, brought under 
 fear of God's wrath ^ because of sin. He saith, 
 when he heard the cries of the spiritually- distressed, 
 he would have given a world to have been from 
 amongst them : but thought with himself, though 
 he might get from amongst them, yet he could not 
 flee the judgment of God. He thought there was 
 not so vile a sinner as he in the congregation. He 
 saith, though he did not cry, or have any appearance 
 of bodily trouble, yet he was in a flood of tears, and 
 his heart was as if it would have bursted through his 
 side. It was his great grief that he had sitten under 
 the gospel-offer all his days, and never had given 
 heed to it, but slighted and rejected it ; of all which 
 he was now clearly convinced. 
 
 Upon the 16th of May, he was made to see him- 
 self to be the vilest sinner present in the congrega- 
 tion, and that hell was ready to receive him as his 
 due. He went home in great inward distress, re- 
 tired to a chamber by himself, cried out in the 
 anguish of his soul, and betook himself to prayer, 
 Psalm Ixii, 5, as in the metre, came to his mind. 
 
 " My soul, wait thou with patience 
 Upon thy God alone. 
 On him dependeth all my hope 
 And expectation." 
 
 This remained with him a lonij time. His con- 
 victions continued and increased, so that he was 
 
90 
 
 made to see many particular sins he was guilty of, 
 which he never thought upon before; but especially 
 slighting Christ by unbelief. He saith, that from 
 the beginning of his concern, he was convinced of 
 the corruption of his nature, and that he was born a 
 natural enemy to God : and that as to sorrow for sin, 
 thouffh he was convinced that he deserved God's 
 wrath, yet the principal reason of his sorrow was, that 
 he had offended God and shghted Christ : and that 
 he cannot speak of this, to this day, without heart- 
 breaking. 
 
 In the end of May, or beginning of June, while 
 he was at his work with others, he was seized with 
 a great fear anent his state, and his being under the 
 wrath of God because of sin. He retired to a 
 private place, and attempted to pray. He could get 
 nothing said but " O for Christ formed in me !" 
 He returned to his work, and vvhile he was employed 
 in it, he was convinced that hitherto he had built his 
 hope upon his own righteousness, and sought to be 
 justified by his own works; and that he had all along 
 thought it was well with him upon this ground. He 
 , retired again, got more liberty in prayer, and bewailed 
 his former confidence in his own works and duties. 
 After this he was let into a sight of his heart sins : 
 he imagined he might get mercy notwithstanding of 
 his outward sins; but wondered if any got mercy 
 who had committed such heart sin as he. 
 
 When the Rev. Mr. Gillespie, minister of Car- 
 nock, preached here, about the beginning of July, 
 from Heb. vii, 25, he was made to see the sufficiency 
 of Christ's righteousness, and thought if he had a 
 thousand souls he would venture them all upon it. 
 
91 
 
 These words uttered, " Christ hath shed his blood 
 for thee," made deep impression upon him, and he 
 endeavoured to throw himself upon it. He found 
 some degree of love to Christ, and joy in him. Next 
 morning he was dejected, from a view of his former 
 profane life, and thought his former attainment was 
 but a flash, because he could find no evidence in 
 himself. His dejected frame continued with him to 
 the Lord's day following, when the holy supper was 
 given in the congregation. 
 
 Upon the morning of the said day, he rose early, 
 and went to the fields. After prayer and much con- 
 sideration there, he resolved not to go to the Lord's 
 table, seeing he had so often formerly trampled upon 
 Christ's blood by unworthy communicating. Li his 
 way homeward, he was afraid to stay away from the 
 Lord's table, because it would be disobedience to 
 Christ's dying command, and he was afraid to come, 
 lest he should eat and drink unworthily. The 
 former scripture, " O ray soul, wait thou upon thy 
 God with patience," came into his mind, as also, " I 
 will go on in strength of God the Lord." He re- 
 turned again to prayer ; but after all he came to the 
 church quite unresolved. During the action sermon, 
 preached from Zech. ix, 1 1, he was made to see him- 
 self unworthy, vile, and deserving of damnation; he 
 thought he would cast himself upon Christ, resolving 
 in his strength against sin, and if he perished, he 
 resolved to perish lying at the feet of his mercy. He 
 saith, that towards the end of the sermon, I said that 
 Christ in the gospel-ofier was the rope let down to 
 draw them out of that pit wherein there is no water, 
 and I cried to sinners to catch hold of this rope : his 
 
92 
 
 heart was then enabled to accept and take hold of 
 Christ, to his apprehension, in the sincerest manner : 
 he was ravished with love to the Lord Jesus Christ, 
 and found his soul so altered that he was persuaded 
 the Lord Jesus was come into his heart. He went 
 to the Lord*s table, and saith that he found his heart 
 contrary to whatever it was before, and that this con- 
 trariety continues with him. I enquired at him, 
 wherein he observed this contrariety. He answered, 
 he found a heart-hatred at all sin, and was more afraid 
 of sin than of hell. And whereas before he had no 
 delight in hearing, reading, or in prayer, but these 
 were a burden to him: now they are his delight. 
 Whereas formerly he had no concern about love to 
 Christ : now he hath it for his continual grief, that 
 he cannot get a heart to love the blessed Jesus 
 enough. Formerly any formal duties he did he 
 thought them good and right enough : now he sees 
 the continual need of the blood of Christ to wash 
 away the guilt of his best duties, and to be the ground 
 of his acceptance in the sight of God. Formerly he 
 had no regard to the laws of Jesus Christ: now he 
 sees them all to be so just and right, that he wonders 
 at his own wickedness in breaking such just laws. 
 Formerly he saw no need of the Holy Spirit to 
 sanctify and enable him to repent, believe, and do 
 holy duties, and never had the least thought about 
 this : he now cries for the teachings of the Holy 
 Spirit, and his grace to enable him. 
 
 During a sermon preached by the Rev. Mr. 
 Webster, minister of Edinburgh, from Eph. i, 7, 
 upon the Wednesday thereafter at Kilsyth, he was 
 further filled with peace and joy in believing. He 
 
93 
 
 continues for the most part in this comfortable situa- 
 tion. Sometimes he is greatly troubled with inclina- 
 tions to self-righteousness, and with vain thoughts in 
 the time of hearing, which are his grief and burden. 
 He saith, it is his great concern that this blessed 
 work make progress through the whole land, out of 
 love to the glory of God and the salvation of souls, 
 and that the kingdom of Jesus may be advanced. 
 
 There can be no objection taken from public out- 
 cries or bodily distresses, or having recourse to des- 
 pised ministers for direction under spiritual distress, 
 made against those in this Article, of whom I have 
 given only a few instances, though able to give many 
 more if it shall be found needful. I shall therefore 
 proceed to narrate the case of those from whose cir- 
 cumstances the principal objections against this blessed 
 work have been taken, and leave all to the judgment 
 of the Christian and unprejudiced reader. 
 
 ARTICLE IV. 
 
 Concerning those wJw cried out when they were awak- 
 ened, or made application to me^from time to time, 
 under their spiritual distress ; but were not under any 
 bodily affections. 
 
 They are greatly mistaken who imagine that all 
 those who have been observably awakened in this or 
 in other congregations have come under faintings, 
 tremblings, or other bodily distresses. These have 
 been by far the fewest number. As far as I and 
 others can judge, they have not been one to six. 
 
94 
 
 Others have indeed cried out when their spiritual 
 distress came to a height, and some cried not out at 
 all, with whom, notwithstanding their inward distress 
 was so great that they were obliged to apply to me 
 and the ministers to whose charge they belonged, 
 for advice and direction. 
 
 This Article gives instances of these two sorts, as 
 they are distinguished from the first sort mentioned. 
 
 There was a great variety in the expressions ut- 
 tered by those who cried out in public. Their 
 different outcries were such as these : I am undone. 
 What shall I do? " What shall I do to be saved?" 
 " Lord, have mercy upon me." Oh, alas ! O this un- 
 believing heart of mine. Some cried out bitterly, 
 without uttering any words. Others restrained crying 
 out while they were in pubHc, who did it bitterly 
 after they retired to their homes, and sometimes in 
 their way homeward, and thereby gave no disturbance 
 to the pubhc preaching of the word, as those disorderly 
 hearers (in the judgment of the adversaries to this 
 blessed work) gave to Peter's sermon, according to the 
 history of the second chapter of the Acts. Though 
 indeed, I must acknowledge, I would be glad to be 
 disturbed every sermon I preach by the outcries of all 
 the Christless persons hearing me, if so were the will 
 of God, to give them such a sight of their sin and 
 danger as must break out into immediate and unde- 
 layed inquiries after the way of escape. Let those 
 that never saw their own miserable condition in the 
 liffht of a clear and full conviction, wonder to see or 
 hear of others so deeply distressed in spirit as to make 
 such outcries; I do not; because I am sure spiritual 
 troubles do not exceed the cause and ground of them, 
 
95 
 
 let them be as great and deep as they will. And if 
 others have had the effect of conversion, by the 
 power of God's Spirit, in a gentler way ; or, have 
 had the discovery of the remedy as soon as the 
 misery, which must needs prevent a great part of this 
 trouble; let them not misjudge others, and set them- 
 selves up as standards ; seeing that they are strangers 
 to the doctrine of conversion, and the experiences of 
 the Lord's people, who know not that God's ways 
 of working in this are various, and different as to 
 circumstances, though producing the same blessed 
 effect. 
 
 The instances I give of those belonging to this 
 Article are, first of all, the fourth and the ninth 
 Journals from Kilsyth, in the Weekly History, 
 printed at Glasgow. Both of these persons continue 
 to this 19th of October to walk in the fear of the 
 Lord, and comforts of the Holy Ghost. The woman 
 hath had several more than ordinary sheddings abroad 
 of the love of God in her heart, by the Holy Ghost 
 given unto her. 
 
 Fourth Journal from Kilsyth. 
 
 G. H., of a blameless life, and an ordinary com- 
 municant for some years past, was awakened on May 
 16th ; her spiritual distress was considerably great. 
 The keeping a journal of the progress of the work of 
 
 God UDon her was omitted when she came to me from 
 
 1. 
 
 time to time. 
 
 June 8th, She was with me, and told me, it was 
 better with her than when she was with me on the 4th 
 current. She said she was somewhat comforted bv 
 
96 
 
 the instructions the Lord directed me to give her that 
 day; and began to be cheerful that night. Upon the 
 Saturday, she was filled with doubts and fears, lest 
 she was building upon a false foundation, and was so 
 uneasy at night that she could not sleep. Upon the 
 Lord's day, her spiritual distress increased to a great 
 height. In her way home, she was greatly afraid 
 lest death should seize her before she got to Christ. 
 She sat down by the way, and composed herself to 
 spiritual meditation, when the following scripture came 
 into her mind with great power, " Be still, and know 
 that I am God;" the effect of which was, that it 
 composed her to wait with patience untill the Lord's 
 time should come to relieve her, and that she was free 
 from distressing doubts and fears that disturbed her, 
 and was composed in prayer. 
 
 Upon the Monday, while she was employed in 
 her worldly affairs, she thought that she could have 
 been content to be constantly employed in praising 
 God. All that while that word was strongly en- 
 forced upon her, " Be still and know that I am God." 
 — In the evening, while she was late at her wheel in 
 her master's house, the following scriptures were im- 
 pressed upon her: " Fear not, for I am with thee ; be 
 not dismayed, for I am thy God: When thou pass- 
 est through the waters, I will be with thee ; and 
 through the rivers, they shall not overflow thee : 
 when thou walkest through the fire thou shalt 
 not be burnt; neither shall the flame kindle upon 
 thee. I will deliver thee in six troubles; yea, in 
 seven there shall no evil touch thee." She found 
 her heart begin to rise so with wonder at the mercy 
 of God that she was ready to cry out in his loud 
 
97 
 
 praises. She rose and ran to her own chamber, 
 situate upon one end of her master's house, and 
 broke out in the praise of God. She was so much 
 filled with love to Christ, and views of the greatness 
 of his love to her, that she was overwhelmed with 
 them. It was said to her, " Daughter, be of good 
 cheer, for thy sins are forgiven thee," which filled 
 her so with joy that she could not contain it : she 
 cried out, " Unto him that loved us, and washed us 
 from our sins in his blood, and hath made us kings 
 and priests unto God and his Father ; to him be 
 glory and dominion for ever and ever. Amen." 
 She says, she thought she could not cry loud enough 
 to express his praises, thinking that all that was 
 within her was but too little to do it, and that she 
 was so overwhelmed that her heart was like to come 
 out ; yet felt no pain but much sweetness. When 
 her master came to her, she cried out, " Come, all ye 
 that fear the Lord, and I will tell you what he hath 
 done for my soul ;" and said, " that if all they who- 
 ever were or shall be were present, she would think 
 it too little to tell it to them ; and if they who op- 
 posed this work of the Spirit of God were present, 
 she would tell it to his praise if they should kill her 
 (her master told me he heard these expressions) : 
 she said, that she was composed in a while after- 
 wards ; but could not be satisfied, is not satisfied, nor 
 ever will be satisfied with uttering his praises. 
 
 She proceeded further, and said to me, that she 
 would lay her mouth in the dust, and be deeply hum- 
 bled before the Lord so long as she lives, and that she 
 thinks she could lie down with Mary at Christ's feet, 
 and wash them with her tears, and wipe them with 
 
 £ 64. 
 
98 
 
 tlie hairs of her head. She said, Christ says, " I 
 love them that love me, and they that seek me early 
 shall find me." But alas ! cried she, I have been 
 too long of seeking him : I thought I had been 
 seeking him before ; but it was not a right seeking 
 him : so long as I regarded sin in my heart, the 
 Lord did not hear me. I asked her, how she was 
 all night. She said, that after she fell asleep she 
 slept pretty well : she thought somebody was op- 
 posing her, and saying, it was not the work of the 
 Lord, which awaked her with this in her mouth, "I 
 will not fear what flesh can do to me," and " O taste 
 and see that God is good !" 
 
 She said, that this morning she sung the forty- 
 sixth Psalm, beginning at the 10th verse, and when 
 she came away, she thought it was said to her, 
 " Why weepest thou ? Whom seekest thou ?" 
 (it is to be observed that she continued to shed 
 tears abundantly) : she said further to me, Worldly 
 thoughts are away from me now, and oh, if they 
 would never return again ! Ten thousand worlds 
 could never give me the love and joy which Christ 
 filled me with yesternight, and are not so much as 
 to be compared with them. Li the strongest man- 
 ner she expressed her hatred at sin, and resolutions 
 acrainst it in Christ's strength. And when I put 
 several questions to her, which she satisfactorily 
 answered, she said, Sir, though you put questions to 
 me as was done to Peter, Christ knows my heart, 
 and he who knows all things knoweth that I love 
 him. She said, she resolved to show her love to 
 Christ by keeping his commandments, and that she 
 was sensible her duties were worthless, and can never 
 
99 
 
 deserve any thing, but that she had taken Christ's 
 righteousness to be her righteousness in the sight 
 of God. She broke out in surprising words of love 
 and assurance, such as, " He is my sure portion, 
 whom I have chosen for ever." O what hath he 
 done for me when I had ruined myself by sin ori- 
 ginal and actual ! Though both my parents have 
 left me, yet the Lord hath taken me up. She said, 
 with great emotion, that she desired to have all the 
 world brought to Christ, and to feel what she felt 
 and doth feel, 
 
 June 10th. She told me this day, that she is still 
 under doubts and fears, lest she is too much encour- 
 aged ; but the following scripture impressed gives 
 her relief: "Let not your heart be troubled; ye 
 believe in God, believe also in me :" And that yes- 
 terday when she heard the judgment to come preached 
 upon, she was not afraid of the threatenings, for she 
 saw security in Christ for her ; and that she would 
 not be afraid if she saw him coming in the clouds, 
 but that it would be a blessed sight to her, for he was 
 her friend: And that such scriptures as these came 
 into her mind: " Be not afraid, for I am thy God;" 
 and " Why art thou disquieted, O my soul, why art 
 thou cast down within me ? Hope still in God; for 
 I shall yet praise him, who is the health of my coun- 
 tenance and my God." She said that she sung the 
 ninety-eighth Psalm with the congregation that day 
 with such joy and comfort as she never could before ; 
 and that she might say, as in the fourth Psalm, 
 that she had "more joy than corn and wine" could 
 give her. 
 
100 
 
 J^'inth Journal from Kilsyth : extracted from my book, 
 July 20th, 1742. 
 
 R. S. First touched with convictions upon the 
 Lord's day, May 16th. He heard sermons upon 
 the Wednesday at Kilsyth, and upon the Thursday 
 at Kirkintilloch : but struggled with his convictiont» 
 untill Thursday night, when he could hold no 
 longer, but, getting up from his father's fireside, ran 
 out to the fields, where he cried out violently under 
 his distress. He came to me on the morning of" the 
 21st of May with great outcries. He had a dis- 
 tressing sight of particular sins, such as Sabbath- 
 breaking, cursing, swearing, evil thoughts. He was 
 grieved for sin as an offence against God, and said 
 with great earnestness, he would give a thousand 
 worlds for Christ. 
 
 May 24th. He said, that he saw he had a vile 
 corrupt nature, and the evil of despising Christ 
 through unbelief, and said, he would not for all the 
 w-orld not have had this uneasy sight of sin, or be 
 freed from it untill he come to Christ. 
 
 .June 8th and 10th. His spiritual distress continu- 
 ino-, and complaining of the hardness of his heart, I 
 endeavoured to instruct him in the nature of faith, 
 and the way of salvation by Jesus Christ. 
 
 June ]7th. He said, he was very uneasy in the 
 r kirk upon Tuesday evening, after he heard the val- 
 uable Mr. Whitefield preach that day at Kilsyth. 
 He said, that his heart warmed to Jesus Christ. I 
 asked him. Why? He answered, "Because of his 
 love to poor sinners, and specially to me the chief 
 of all sinners." I enquired at him, if it was accom- 
 
101 
 
 panied with hatred at sin. He cried out for having 
 offended such a just and holy God, and that he hated 
 every thing that was offensive to him. He said, 
 that he had assayed to close with Christ, and that 
 his very heart warms when he speaks of him ; — 
 that this word came home to him, and runs continu- 
 ally in his mind : Matt, xi, 28, 29, " Come unto 
 me, all ye that labour and are heavy-laden, and I 
 will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and 
 learn of me, for I am meek and lowly in heart : and 
 ye shall find rest unto your souls." 
 
 June 24th. He said, he was some easier since he 
 was last with me, and that he had endeavoured to 
 close with a whole Christ, and counts all things but 
 loss and dung for the excellency of the knowledge of 
 Jesus Christ, and that he may win him, and that he 
 hath now an inclination to Christ, and that his heart 
 flutters in him like a bird when he thinks of him. 
 
 July 3rd. He told me, that he is now well, for 
 Sabbath last, while a minister was speaking of the 
 prodigal son, and that his father ran to meet him, 
 he thought with himself what a prodigal he had 
 been, and that Jesus Christ had come to him : he 
 was filled with such a sense of it that he was like 
 to flee from the seat where he was sitting. He 
 said, that he was filled with love to Christ from the 
 sense of Christ's love to him ; and that he had closed 
 with Christ in all his ofiices, and laid the stress of 
 his whole salvation upon him, &c. He said to me, 
 " Sir, many a day I have had a light heart in sin ; 
 but now my heart is light indeed, and my love to 
 Christ every day grows." 
 
 July 13th. He said, that when he was at the 
 
102 
 
 Lord^s table, to which he was admitted the last 
 Lord's day, he had the greatest comfort in closing 
 with a whole Christ in all his offices, and his heart 
 warmed to him. He had large views of what a vile 
 sinner he had been, and the wonders that grace and 
 mercy had done for him, particularly in bringing him 
 to his holy table. He said, he blessed the Lord 
 with heart and soul and spirit, and all thai was 
 within him, for Christ and what he had done for 
 him ; and that he had fears lest he should fall away, 
 and made application to Jesus Christ to keep him r 
 and that it was a joyful sight to him when he saw 
 the bread broken, a sign of Christ's body broken 
 for him, which he believed, as also that his blood 
 was shed for him. 
 
 I shall add to these other Journals extracted from^ 
 my book the two following, who neither cried out in 
 public, nor were under bodily distresses. 
 
 June 26th. Y. Z. says, he was frequently under 
 concern last winter, while the doctrine of regenera- 
 tion was preached; and that he examined himself by 
 the scripture marks of regeneration ; but could find 
 none of them in himself; yet his concern came no 
 length. He was brought under deeper concern on 
 Sabbath a fortnight past, in hearing the marks of 
 unbelievers in a sermon I preached from John, iii, 
 36. He says, these cut him wholly off. He was 
 convinced of particular sins, of the evil of unbelief, 
 the corruption of nature, and the need of a new 
 nature. He says, that he is sorry for sin, and would 
 be so though it did not make him liable to hell, be- 
 cause he hath offended and dishonoured God by his 
 sins. As to self-loathing, he saith, that he hates 
 
103 
 
 himself for his sins, and is convinced that no suffer- 
 ings of his can ever satisfy the offended justice of 
 God for the least of his offences, and that if he 
 could abstain from all sin for the time to come, and 
 keep the law perfectly, it could not satisfy for the 
 evil of sin already past ; and that this is only to be 
 obtained by the righteousness of Jesus Christ im- 
 puted to him. I instructed him in the nature of 
 faith, and pressed him to a distinct acting of it, with 
 a faith and persuasion of his attaining to all that he 
 receives and trusts in Christ for, according to the 
 promise of God. 
 
 July 6th. By the account he gives of himself, I 
 am persuaded he hath closed with Christ. I en- 
 deavoured to answer and satisfy many objections and 
 doubts he proposed to me : but did not insert them 
 in my book. I advised him to receive the Lord's 
 Supper, but he durst not adventure, being doubtful 
 about his faith and interest in Christ, though he 
 had been formerly a communicant. He hath since 
 attained to some satisfying scriptural marks and evi- 
 dences of his interest in Christ, hath partaken the 
 Lord's Supper, and continues to walk in the fear of 
 the Lord, and some measure of the comfort of the 
 Holy Ghost. 
 
 B. A. came to me, June 18th, and told me, she 
 hath been uneasy since the 16th of May, and that 
 her concern increased upon her on Sabbath, Monday, 
 and Tuesday last. She was convinced of unbelief, 
 and the evil of it; and was very uneasy about the 
 sin of unworthy communicating ; but did not seem 
 to be convinced particularly of her other sins against 
 the law, nor of the corruption of her nature, and 
 
104 
 
 -was sorry for sin only because of its making her 
 liable to the wrath of God. I gave her instructions 
 and directions suitable to the view I had of her case. 
 July 5th. She then saw particular sins, but was 
 most of all uneasy about unworthy communicating, 
 and the evil of unbelief. She professed, that she 
 was sorry for sin, because she had offended God by 
 it, and also that she loathed herself for her sins. 
 She did not as yet appear to be convinced of the 
 corruption of her nature. I advised her to cry to 
 God to convince her of it, to give her faith to em- 
 brace Christ as offered to her in the gospel, and that 
 with a dependence upon him she would assay to do 
 it. In all which I endeavoured to instruct her. 
 
 July 9th. She said, that she now saw that she 
 brought a corrupt nature with her into the world, 
 that is enmity to God and all good; and that she 
 is lost and undone by it. She said, that she had 
 accepted of Jesus Christ in all his offices, and his 
 righteousness to be hers in the sight of God, seeing 
 all her own righteousness " to be but as filthy rags." 
 She said, that she was much distressed yesterday 
 morning, but was comforted with Isaiah, Ixi, 10. 
 After instructions and directions I admitted her to 
 the Lord's table. 
 
 July 19th. She said, she was under much fear 
 and terror before she came to the Lord's table, but 
 " I will ffo in the streni^th of God the Lord." 
 When she was there she was filled with joy in Christ, 
 as a sufficient Saviour, She had a view of her sins 
 piercing him, and sorrow upon that account; she 
 continues to live and to walk as bccomcth a good 
 Christian. 
 
105 
 
 D. C. neither cried out in public, nor was she 
 under any bodily distress, though very much distressed 
 inwardly; was with me June 7th, as she had been 
 formerly. She was convinced then of particular 
 sins, the corruption of her nature, and the evil of 
 unbelief. I discoursed with her of the nature of 
 godly sorrow, self-loathing, and pressed her to seek 
 after them, and to plead in prayer, Ezek, xxxvi, 31. 
 She said, that a word came into her mind as strong 
 as if another had spoken it to her, " Draw nigh to 
 God, and he will draw nigh to thee." And at ano- 
 ther time, while she was alone and very uneasy, 
 " My heart is fixed, O God, my heart is fixed : I 
 will sing and give praise." I told her these words 
 pointed out to her her duty to draw nigh to God 
 through Jesus Christ, and to seek after a heart fixed 
 and established by grace, to sing and give praise to 
 him. 
 
 June 17th and 24th, She told me, both these 
 days, that she was more distressed than formerly, 
 from a distincter view of original sin and corruption 
 than ever she had before. I instructed her, that 
 there was a full and complete relief for her in Christ 
 Jesus from that and all her other sins. She said, it 
 gave comfort to her this last day that this scripture 
 came into her mind : " By his knowledge shall my 
 righteous servant justify many, for he shall bear their 
 iniquities." I told her that the use she should have 
 made of that was, to believe upon Jesus Christ, that 
 she might be justified by faith in him. 
 
 About the beginning of July she said, that she 
 had undergone many changes since she was with me. 
 I enquired if she had been endeavouring to e.nbrace 
 
 £ 2 
 
106 
 
 Jesus Christ as he was freely offered to her in the 
 gospel. She answered that she was willing to receive 
 him in all his offices, and to part with all things for 
 him; for he is before all things that ever were or 
 shall be ; and that she was willing to take Christ's 
 righteousness to be her whole righteousness in the 
 sight of God, renouncing all confidence in her works 
 and duties for acceptance before God. She said, that 
 Isa. xlv, 22, and xli, 10, being brought into her mind 
 when she was in great distress, gave her some sup- 
 port. She had great joy while in secret yesterday. 
 The ground of it was a view of Christ's mercy in 
 awakening and coming to so great a sinner, who had 
 grieved his Holy Spirit, and broken all her vows to 
 him : that he might have let her lie still in the Devil's 
 arms, and go to hell ; which would have been no loss 
 to him. She said, it was a great pleasure to her to 
 serve such a master, and one who had done so much 
 for her. She further said, that she was uneasy yes- 
 terday, about former unworthy communicating, while 
 she was hearing the lecture upon 1 Cor. xi, 23, and 
 that she now mourns for it, and flees to Christ's blood 
 to cleanse her from that guilt. I assured her, that 
 his precious blood, that cleansed these converts men- 
 tioned in the second chapter of the Acts from the 
 ffuilt of this blood, would cleanse her from it if she 
 really did so. She said also, that she endeavoured 
 to obey the gospel call yesterday to close with Christ, 
 and it gave her joy to think of the free access she 
 had to him, and that he would not cast her out. And 
 that yesterday, when she remembered what she heard 
 Mr. Whitefield say of the married man in Matthew, 
 xxii, that he should have come and brought his wife 
 
107 
 
 with hira, she thought that she would come, and if she 
 had ten thousand to bring with her, she would have 
 come with joy to such a Saviour if she could have 
 persuaded them to come. 
 
 An Account of the most Remarkable Particulars known 
 to me at the time, concerning the Progress of this 
 Blessed Work. 
 
 It is the desire of some, and I hope will be accep- 
 table to many others, to have an account of what shall 
 come to my knowledge of the progress of this work 
 from time to time. This I shall endeavour to give 
 in every print of this Narrative untill it be finished, 
 if the Lord will. 
 
 October 3rd. The Lord's Supper was given a 
 second time in this congregation. It was first pro- 
 posed to me privately by the Rev. Mr. M'Culloch, 
 minister of Cambuslang, when I was there at the 
 giving of the Lord's Supper, August 15th. All I 
 said then vvas, that I had never thought of it, and 
 that the Lord's Supper was to be given in the neigh- 
 bouring parish of Cumbernauld after harvest; which 
 appeared to me an objection against any such design. 
 After this I had the proposal much under my con- 
 sideration, but spoke of it to nobody. Many ob- 
 jections were mustered in ray mind against it. I had 
 a rooted aversion at any thing that looked like affec- 
 ting popularity, and was greatly afraid that the giving 
 the Lord's Supper a second time in the congregation, 
 and within a quarter of a year after it had been given, 
 might be misconstrued this way. While I was thus 
 tossed in my mind, and almost resolved against it, as 
 
108 
 
 member of the Session, whose judgment I greatly 
 value, came to me upon a certain Lord's day betwixt 
 sermons, and proposed it to me as his own desire and 
 also of several others in the congregation, that the 
 sacrament should be given a second time. I was 
 prevailed with to propose it to the Session in the 
 eveninsr. The members of the Session were de- 
 sired to advertise the several societies for prayer, to 
 seek light and direction from God, to enquire into 
 the sentiments of the people respecting it, and to 
 report to th*? next Session. After this the Session 
 met again and again, to pray and deliberate about it. 
 I was informed that it was the earnest desire of the 
 generality of the parish to have it. They urged 
 that the Lord had wrought great and extraordinary 
 things in the congregation this summer, in a work 
 of conviction and conversion, and that they thought 
 that the most solemn and extraordinary thanksgiving 
 was due to him from them ; and which they could 
 not offer to him in a more solemn manner than in 
 this ordinance of thanksgiving. They declared also 
 that they were willing to bear a considerable part of 
 the charges, and offered to bear the whole if it would 
 be accepted. I durst not, after all things considered, 
 refuse to give them the Lord's ordinance, which they 
 had a right to, and so earnestly desired ; especially 
 considering that the giving of it at most in country 
 congregations but once a year is a complaint against 
 our constitution. It was resolved then, with an eye 
 to the Lord, to give this ordinance upon the third 
 Sabbath of October. 
 
 I was assisted in the giving of it by the neighbour- 
 ing ministers and former assistants who could be with 
 
109 
 
 me ; such as the Rev. Mr. M'Laurin, Glasgow, Mr. 
 James Warden, Calder, Mr. Jolin Warden, Campsie, 
 Mr. James Burnside, Kirkintilloch, Mr. James 
 Mackie, St. Ninians, Mr. John Smith, Larbert, 
 Mr. Speirs, Linlithgow, Mr. Thomas Gillespie, 
 Carnock, Mr. Hunter, Saline, Mr. M'Culloch, 
 Carabuslang, and Mr. Porteous, Monivaird. Some of 
 these reverend brethren, who had not been formerly 
 my assistants, were invited to supply the place of 
 some of my neighbours, who could not be with me 
 at this time ; or to answer for the more than ordinary 
 demand for preaching and other ministerial work, 
 others of them came to join with us of themselves, 
 and kindly gave their assistance as they were called. 
 Mr. James Young, preacher of the gospel at Falkirk, 
 having been invited, assisted by preaching. 
 
 Upon the Fast-day sermon was in the fields to a 
 very numerous and attentive audience, by three 
 ministers without intermission because of the short- 
 ness of the day. Upon the Friday evening there 
 was sermon in the kirk, and there was a good deal of 
 concern among the people. Upon the Saturday 
 there was sermon both in the kirk and in the fields. 
 
 Upon the Lord's day the public service began about 
 half an hour after eight in the morning, and con- 
 tinned without intermission untill half an hour after 
 eight in the evening, when all was concluded. I 
 preached the action sermon, by the Divine direction 
 and assistance, from Eph. ii, 7, " That in the ages 
 to come he might show the exceeding riches of his 
 grace, in his kindness towards us, through Christ 
 Jesus." There were twenty-two services; each con- 
 sisting of about seventy persons, except the last, 
 
110 
 
 which had only a few, so that the number of com- 
 municants amounted to nearly fifteen hundred. The 
 evening sermon began immediately after the last ser- 
 vice. And though 1 desired that the congregation 
 in the fields should be dismissed after the last service, 
 yet they chose rather to continue together untill all 
 was over, when there was the most desirable frame 
 and observable concern among the people that had 
 ever been anj-" where seen ; it began to be consider- 
 able when the Rev. Mr. Warden, Campsie, preached, 
 and it continued and increased greatly while the 
 Rev. Mr. Speirs preached, who concluded the public 
 work of this day in the fields. 
 
 Upon the Monday there were sermons both in the 
 kirk and in the fields. There was a good deal of 
 observable concern and several brought under spiritual 
 distress in the fields. In the evening two ministers 
 had successively public discourses to the numerous 
 distressed convened in the church. As also upon the 
 Tuesday morning there was a sermon preached, and 
 a discourse by another minister, containing suitable 
 instructions and directions, both to the awakened 
 and to them who had never attained to any sense and 
 sicfht of their sin and danger. 
 
 The spiritual fruits of this solemn and extraordi- 
 nary dispensation of word and sacrament are, as far 
 as known to me ; First : Several Christless and 
 secure sinners were awakened to a sight of their sin 
 and misery, the most of whom were strangers from 
 other congregations at a distance. Zion's mighty 
 King brought the wheel of the law over them, and 
 sent them home with broken and contrite hearts. 
 
 Secondly: Some who came here without any sen- 
 
in 
 
 sible relief from the spiritual distress and law-work 
 they had been under for a long time, felt such a time 
 of the Mediator's power as enabled them to embrace 
 Jesus Christ with such distinctness as to know that 
 they had done it ; a sovereignly gracious Lord, who 
 comforts them that are cast down, filling them at the 
 same time with such a feeling of his love shed abroad 
 in their hearts by the Holy Ghost given unto them 
 that they could not contain, but were constrained to 
 break forth with floods of tears in their most sisrnifi- 
 cant expressions of their own vileness and unworthi- 
 ness, and of the deep sense they had of the exceeding 
 righes of God's grace in his kindness shown towards 
 them through Jesus Christ. 
 
 Thirdly : There were a great many who declared 
 to me, that while they were at the Lord's table, and 
 at other times during this attendance, they had more 
 than ordinary feelings of the love of God to their 
 souls, and outgoings of their love towards the alto- 
 gether lovely Jesus ; and these not only of the elder 
 sort, but some who were very young. A judicious 
 solid Christian told me, that he was so much in this 
 blessed situation that he could scarcely restrain him- 
 self from crying out. 
 
 There were many strangers from a great distance 
 who came hither to keep this feast to the Lord; several 
 of them of note and distinction in the world, of great 
 penetration and judgment, and long experience in 
 the Christian life, who declared themselves well satis- 
 fied with what they had heard, seen, and felt, by the 
 Lord's mercy, in this place, and returned to their 
 houses joyful and glad in heart for the goodness that 
 the Lord had showed unto his people. 
 
112 
 
 I record all this to the praise and glory of our 
 God, in and through Jesus Christ, and that I may 
 mention the loving-kindness of the Lord, and his 
 praises according to all that he hath bestowed on 
 us, and tlie great goodness towards the house of 
 Israel which he hath bestowed on them according to 
 his mercies and according to the multitude of his 
 lovinfj-kindnesses. 
 
 I shall here introduce some of the attestations 
 given to this work by some brethren who, having 
 been for some time here, were witnesses to it, and 
 had much opportunity to converse with several of 
 every sort who were subjects of it. 
 
 Attestation by the Rev. Mr. Gillespie^ 3Iinister of 
 Carnoch} 
 
 Carnock, 20th July, 171:2. 
 
 Having lately been at Kilsyth for some time, witli 
 pleasure and thankfulness I did observe what in my 
 humble apprehension is a saving work of the Spirit of 
 God upon the souls of a great many persons of ditlerent 
 ages, with whom I particularly conversed, brought under 
 
 ' Mr. Thomas Gillespie of Carnock was the founder of the 
 Synod of Relief. Conscientiously opposing the settlement of Mr. 
 Andrew Richardson at Inverkeithing, and refusing to be present 
 at his induction, he was deposed by the casting vote of the Mo- 
 derator. He had a chapel built Jor him in Dunfermline, which 
 is now a chapel of Ease in connection with the Church of Scot- 
 land. It is said that tliis was according to his own desire. He 
 was a man oi a very mild and amiable temper, and at the same 
 time very public-spirited and zealous for tlie interests of true god- 
 liness. The rigid enforcement of the law of patronage under the 
 Robertsonian administration caused the ejection of this excellent 
 man, and gave rise to a new secession. Mr. Telfer of Kilsyth, 
 in the year 1771, went to the violent settlement of Mr. Clark at 
 Eaglesham, wliich caused the Relief secession in this parish 
 (Kilsyth). If Patronage were abolished might not this division 
 be healed ? 
 
113 
 
 concern within these few months. Their ditf'erent 
 exercises, as related to me, appeared solid, scriptural, 
 and entirely agreeable uitli the sentiments of learned 
 judicious divines whom I have heard treat the subject 
 of conversion, or whose writings on that subject I have 
 perused. I found what I take to be evidence of love 
 to all who bear the image of Christ, and desire the sal- 
 vation of others, prevalent in the minds of these who 
 have attained in some measure peace in believing; and 
 in some a considerable degree of spiritual joy. By 
 what I can judge, the uncommon symptoms with which 
 the trouble of some is attended flow from the clear and 
 deep discovery they receive of the evil of sin, and the 
 danger and misery of being without interest in the 
 Saviour. I saw persons instantly seized with them in a 
 very affecting way, and entirely relieved upon attaining 
 the vvell grounded hope of being reconciled to God 
 through Christ. They seemed generally afraid of a 
 mistake, and of taking comfort without sufficient reason, 
 and disposed to weigh their experience in the balance of 
 Scripture. Most of them perceived and groaned under 
 the evil of unbelief; and the more bright views of the 
 sovereignty and riches of grace and the glory of Christ 
 any were blessed with, the more vile were they in their 
 own eyes, on account of sin that had crucified the 
 Saviour, an expression almost all of them used. I could 
 with all freedom say more, and descend to particulars 
 in different kinds were it needful. 
 
 Thomas Gillespie. 
 
 From the Rev. Mr. Speirs^ Minister of Linlithgow. 
 
 Linlithgow, 5th November, \1V2. 
 
 Rev. and dear Sir, — Since my return from your last 
 sacrament at Kilsyth, and that in your neighbouring 
 parish of Cumbernauld, I cannot but say that the reflec- 
 tion on these delightful seasons of communion with 
 God gives me a peculiar joy and satisfaction, and affords 
 matter of praise and thanksgiving to his holy name. 
 
 That the so much talked of extraordinary concern 
 about religion in your parish and in many other places 
 is neither the effect of mechanism nor delusion, but of 
 
114 
 
 the gracious operation of the Holy Spirit of God in 
 convincing and converting sinners to himself, has, I 
 think, been proved. A sufficient evidence thereof has 
 been laid before the world in your Preface and Nar- 
 ratives, the attested Narratives of the like gracious work 
 at Cambuslang, and Mr. Webster's letter to his friend 
 on the subject. 1 have seen also Mr. Halley's letters 
 giving account of the merciful visit that God has made 
 to his parish. 
 
 That there is not only a great visible outward refor- 
 mation of the manners of your people, but a real happy 
 change on the temper of their hearts and their w^hole 
 conversation, and that multitudes of once wicked sinners 
 are now minding the "one thing needful," and are taught, 
 by the grace of God, " to live, soberly, righteously, and 
 godly in this present evil world." 
 
 An evidence of all this is contained in the above 
 mentioned papers, and the concurring testimony of 
 many other worthy ministers and Christians, such as is 
 not to be borne down by the mockeries of the profane 
 nor the spiteful invectives of angry and prejudiced men. 
 To disbelieve and ridicule such an evidence is highly 
 unreasonable ; nay, I think, exceedingly dangerous, as 
 tending to weaken human testimony and moral evidence, 
 if not to banish it from amongst us. 
 
 I do not therefore propose to enlarge on the proofs of 
 this extraordinary dispensation of God's grace in so 
 many places of this church. That I take to be need- 
 less, especially from so obscure and inconsiderable a 
 hand as mine. But as many, for whom I am bound to 
 have a tender regard, have been desirous to know my 
 apprehensions concerning these spiritual exercises in 
 your parish and others around you, I readily embrace 
 this opportunity to declare that, upon trial and diligent 
 observation for several days in Cumbernauld and your 
 parish, I found the good report concerning these people 
 to be strictly and literally true, only that the one half 
 had not been told, and that the reality exceeded all de- 
 scription. 
 
 Oh ! the seriousness and reverence, the seeming de- 
 votion and engagedness in the great work they meet 
 about, that appears in every face in your public assem- 
 
115 
 
 blies for divine worship. It struck me at first sight — 
 it is obvious to all : it cannot miss to be helpful and 
 quickening to the ministers that are to bring the message 
 of God to them. Some few persons in the audience I 
 observed crying out and fainting in the congregation 
 when they heard the word of God, and as often it was 
 the mercies as the terrors of the gospel at which they 
 were moved. I know a great many objections have 
 been made against the goodness of the work on this 
 account. But besides that, there are a greater number 
 of serious souls against whom there is no such objection. 
 It is plain that these others cannot help it. They have 
 such awful views of eternal things, particularly of the 
 tremendous evil of their sins and the danger of an un- 
 converted state, that it is like to overwhelm them. Nor 
 need this seem strange to such as duly consider what is 
 said of a wounded spirit, and the case of those penitents, 
 Acts, ii, 37, who, when they heard the charge brought 
 against them of being the murderers of Christ, were 
 pricked in their heart, and said to the apostles " What 
 shall we do ?" And I think that to hear a whole multi- 
 tude of three thousand saying this together would make 
 a pretty loud cry. This is generally understood to be 
 an accomplishment of the prophecy, Zech.xii, 10, "They 
 shall look on him whom they have pierced, and mourn 
 as for a first-born." And, like " the mourning of Ha- 
 dadrimmon in the valley of Megiddon," which was cer- 
 tainly accompanied with most bitter lamentation through 
 the whole land. And as for the other sorrow to which 
 the grief of these penitents is compared, to wit, that 
 " for a first-born," all know it is so deep and so unfeign- 
 ed that parents of the greatest courage and resolution 
 have been made to cry out of it most bitterly. There 
 is an instance of such crying " for the death of the first- 
 born," Exod. xi, 6, as never had a parallel before, nor 
 will the like be heard till the soundingof the last trumpet. 
 It hath been said that this cannot but create a disturb- 
 ance to the worship of God, I think it produces a con- 
 trary effect. It is a mean of engaging the attention 
 and concern of their fellow-worshippers, and also of 
 exciting a reverence, tenderness, and such a desirable 
 liveliness of alFeetions in the ministers, as is rather a help 
 
116 
 
 than a hinderance to them in their sacred ministrations. 
 So I found it to be, I can say for myself. But there is 
 no end of objections : the most material have all been 
 answered by you, Mr. Webster, and others who have 
 written on the subject. These seventen hundred years 
 there has been a caviling humour against every fact 
 and every doctrine of religion, and though we are far 
 from putting these appearances of God in this church 
 on a level with the truth of Christianity itself, yet we 
 may learn, from the bitterness with which this good 
 work has been opposed, not to wonder that a caviling 
 humour should still prevail. 
 
 But, sir, you know I had particular access to con- 
 verse with numbers of these persons who have been 
 awakened to a sense of religion, and particularly when 
 you was privately examining and admitting the com- 
 municants. This gave me a special opportunity to learn 
 some useful lessons from your great tenderness and 
 painstaking in that matter ; and also of receiving full 
 satisfaction from the people themselves, as to the nature 
 of that good work that was carrying on in their souls. 
 And now I can say that so far as I am capable to judge 
 from the word of God, their spiritual exercises were 
 agreeable to the scriptural doctrine concerning the me- 
 thod of a sinner's (I mean an adult person's) conver- 
 sion and regeneration. 
 
 In general their convictions answer the descriptions 
 of the sick and sensible sinners whom Christ came to 
 call to repentance, the " weary and heavy-laden," whom 
 he invites to come unto him for rest to their souls. 
 
 Indeed we know there are very various measures and 
 degrees of conviction in the children of God ; some 
 may have been early and habitually holy persons and 
 watchful against sin, and who never had nor needed to 
 have the experience of such deep convictions and 
 awakenings as are needful in the bringing of many 
 others from darkness to light, and from the power of 
 Satan to God. Even in these also, who are thus con- 
 verted in their advanced years, there is an observable 
 variety in the holy scriptures. Such I observed in these 
 happy persons I conversed with. It is too deep for us 
 to pretend to ascertain the proportions, or give the 
 
117 
 
 reasons of God's dealings in this manner. He givetli 
 no account of his matters. But without pretending to 
 be wise above what is written, from the conversation I 
 had for several days with these persons, comparing 
 their cases with the word of God, I may venture to ob- 
 serve, that convictions may be proportioned, as to the 
 measure and continuance of them in some, to the great- 
 ness of their sins and the wickedness of their former 
 lives; in others, to their degrees of knowledge about the 
 scheme of salvation and the wa}' of relief by faith in 
 Christ Jesus ; in others, which may be the last for ought 
 we know, in younger persons or less enormously wicked, 
 convictions may be proportioned to some special trials 
 or conflicts, or some other great purposes that God 
 designs them for in the Christian life. As we may 
 argue at least by analogy, from the case of the apostle 
 Paul, concerning whom it has been remarked, that God 
 laid his foundation as low as the gates of hell, that he 
 might raise a superstructure to the third heavens. 
 
 Yet, without pretending further to account for this 
 variety, the fact is certain that these convictions, how- 
 ever diversified, have in many now happily issued in 
 true repentance towards God and faith towards our 
 Lord Jesus Christ : and now they have many of them 
 attained to rest and consolation to their wounded and 
 afflicted souls. And the method of attaining to this is 
 given in the holy scriptures, to wit, by the humbled 
 and convinced sinners' receiving Christ in all his offices, 
 and resting on him alone for salvation. 
 
 And the evidences they were able to give of this are 
 the most satisfying ; to wit, an unfeigned godly sorrow 
 for their sins, as ingratitude and dishonourable to God, 
 piercing to the dear Son, and grieving to the Holy 
 Spirit. That nowttiey felt an ardent love to Christ in 
 their souls, a delight in him, as King to subdue their 
 enmity and corruption and reign over them, as well as 
 a High Priest to free them from wrath and condemna- 
 tion. Now sin was their aversion and horror, and to 
 be holy and serve God their delight and endeavour 
 through the assistance of his Holy Spirit. Now they 
 had the experience of love to their neighbours, to all 
 men. And many of them spoke of a willingness, if 
 
118 
 
 duty called to it, to lay down their lives for Christ and 
 to promote the good of their brethren. 
 
 And how edifying and instructing at the same time 
 was it to observe the humility and reverence, and tlie 
 teachableness and desire of instruction with which these 
 people spoke on all occasions. Some melted in tears 
 when they thought on what once they were, and were 
 telling what now God had done for their souls. How 
 ravishing and delightful to hear some of these happy 
 persons uttering forth the praises of redeeming love, 
 and the distinguishing mercy of God to them — their 
 tongues, like the pen of a ready writer, when they spoke 
 concerning the King, speaking in an elevated and 
 exalted strain their admiration and gratitude, the sense 
 of divine love filling them with such joy "unspeakable 
 and full of glory" as we saw was like to overpower and 
 overwhelm their frail natures, making them express a 
 desire to depart, if it was the will of God, and join the 
 company of the redeemed in singing salvation to God 
 and the Lamb, after the manner of heaven. 
 
 Surely God was in yonder place, and it seemed to be 
 no other than the house of God and the gate of heaven. 
 Many I doubt not can say so from their sweet expe- 
 rience. How greatly are you, sir, and your brethren 
 around you, indebted to the free grace of God, that has 
 made you the happy instruments of such a blessed 
 change. Oh, let us still have your prayers, that these 
 divine influences may reach us and all the corners of the 
 land. I shall only add, that surely mockers and gain- 
 sayers of this work are to be pitied. What a mournful 
 consideration is it, that so many of our seceding brethren 
 (good men it is to be hoped in the main) should yet be 
 found joining the company of the profane, in reproach- 
 ing these goings of our God in his sanctuary. May the 
 Lord in mercy open their eyes, and show them their 
 mistakes ; and lay a restraint on their tongues, which 
 some of them have opened in so daring a manner. May 
 the Lord endow them with his Spirit, and particularly 
 with these his fruits, in righteousness, humility, and love, 
 that shine so bright in the persons they have so oddly 
 misrepresented. This would be a happy mean yet of 
 healing the breach, wide as it is, and uniting us together, 
 
119 
 
 in the Spirit in the bond of peace. This is easy for 
 God. Has he not done greater things than these even 
 among you ? Let us not give over praying for such a 
 desirable event. Especially let us continue to pray to 
 God, and give him no rest till he establish and make 
 Jerusalem a praise in the whole earth. 
 
 Robert Speirs. 
 
 From the Rev. Mr. Ogilvie^ one of the ministers of 
 
 Aberdeen. 
 
 Aberdeen, 27th October, 17i2. 
 Revo and very dear Sir, — According to my promise 
 at parting, this serves to acquaint you that in the Lord's 
 goodness I reached this place in safety. Not only my 
 own inclination, but some things also in providence in 
 this city, and the desires of many of the inhabitants 
 here, obliged me to undertake a journey to your country 
 at no very agreeable time of the year. I went that I 
 might witness for myself, as the Lord should give me 
 access, and declare to others, what he is now carrying 
 on amongst your people and in other congregations in 
 your neighbourhood. While I was with you, I had the 
 pleasure not only of the most particular accounts from 
 yourself of this great work, but spoke also with a good 
 many of your people: some of them, I must own, gave 
 such pleasant accounts both of their distresses and de- 
 liverance from them as fully satisfied me, and I believe 
 would do so to any one else, that the Lord has done 
 great things for them, whereof they were glad, and had 
 just cause to be so. Their accounts they gave with so 
 much thankfulness and humility as lefc no room with me 
 to question their sincerity. They seemed to be walking 
 in the joy of the Lord, and in the comforts of the Holy 
 Ghost, giving all the glory to his great name and free 
 grace, to whom alone it was due, and (to use the words 
 of one of them as nearly as I can) their only ground of 
 doubt was, if they could believe, that "tlie high and 
 lofty One" would stoop so low as to regard persons so 
 worthless and so vile as they still saw themselves to be. 
 Others of them, so far from snatching at these too soon, 
 were still in distress, and refused to be comforted. It 
 
120 
 
 gave me a particular satisfaction to observe that neither 
 you nor they laid any manner of stress on these impres- 
 sions, which their inward joys or griefs had made on 
 their bodies: you both agreed (and I think most justly) 
 in ascribing these to their bodily constitutions, in which 
 you effectually put to silence those who would reproach 
 this great work, M'ith being of a kin to what some years 
 ago appeared with those called Camizars. Every one 
 knows the usual effects of grief or joy on the bodies of 
 those who have these in any uncommon degree. I am 
 myself, since 1 left you, as well as before, informed of a 
 good many instances this way, which would do much, 
 were they known, to prevent a good many of those re- 
 proaches which are thrown on this great work because 
 of these. But then, I doubt not in the least, that Satan 
 will be ready enough to catch all opportunities from 
 these, and therefore shall not question that you will be 
 on your watch both to guard against and detect impos- 
 tors, as well as to be careful to encourage those who are 
 truly by grace reached and awakened. Where these 
 bodily distresses do not proceed from a just sense of sin 
 and its awful consequences and God-dishonouring nature, 
 or from just and scriptural discoveries of the great Re- 
 deemer in his fulness and glory, I would be apt to sus- 
 pect them myself, and to do what I could to discourage 
 them with the people, and so I am persuaded will you. 
 If any thing unusual should happen to persons in these 
 bodily distresses (which I hope will in mercy be prevented) 
 that can be no objection to any who think justly against 
 what may be really the Lord's work with others. 
 Satan's interest has in your country, I hope by grace, 
 got a great stroke, and pure and undefiled religion is ad- 
 vancing, and no doubt the malice of that deceiver, who 
 is skilful to. destroy, will be at work, and ministers cannot 
 be enough on their guard; and as you are not ignorant 
 of his devices, so I doubt not but your guard against, 
 and care to detect them will be accordingly. I shall be 
 fond to know, in return to this, how matters go with you 
 and in your neighbourhood, and to hear of our Re- 
 deemer's growing victories. I return my hearty thanks 
 to yourself and Mrs. Robe, for your kindness while I 
 stayed at your house, and assure you that, with my best 
 
121 
 
 wishes to you and all that is yours, I sincerely am, with 
 great esteem, your most affectionate Brother, 
 
 James Ogilvie. 
 
 Attestation hy Mr. James Young ^ jyreacher of the gospel, 
 luho hath been at Falkirh and in other parishes of 
 the neighbourhood since the beginning of this work, 
 and was greatly helpful in carrying it on, both by 
 preaching and conversing with the distressed, 
 
 Falkirk, 1st October, 1742. 
 
 Rev. Sir, — In answer to your demand, I send you an 
 account of my plain sentiments upon the work that has 
 appeared in Kilsyth and neighbourhood for some months 
 past, which, after many trials and converses I have had 
 with those awakened persons, I cannot but consider as a 
 great and glorious appearance of God in his sanctuary, 
 and look on these places as a field which the Lord has 
 blessed, and plentifully rained down divine influences 
 upon: which charitable judgment I have formed upon 
 many instances, some of which I shall run over, so far as 
 I can recollect them at the time. 
 
 The most part of these persons have appeared in great 
 distress and agony of soul, under a sense of their sins and 
 fears of the wrath to come; and have been deeply struck 
 with the malignity and demerit and the number and ag- 
 gravations of their actual sins, as abominable to God and 
 deserving his endless indignation. They have been led 
 into a deep view of their original guilt and pollution, and 
 abased themselves and repented in dust and ashes when 
 they have "looked to the rock whence they were hewn, 
 and to the hole of the pit whence they were digged;" 
 but especially of unbelief in Christ, and neglecting the 
 great salvation, the chief of all their sins, as " crucifying 
 the Lord of glory afresh, and putting him to an open 
 shame." And upon this account their sorrows have been 
 great and their complaints melting, looking "to him 
 whom they have pierced and mourning." To them 
 under such exercises Christ Jesus has seemed as " the 
 chief among ten thousand, and altogether lovely," and 
 
 F 6i 
 
122 
 
 •. k 
 
 the complete salvation, through his atoning blood and 
 righteousness and by his sanctifying Spirit, " as the one 
 thing needful, and all their desire" — to save not only 
 from hell and wrath, but also from sin; to purify their de- 
 filed natures, and justify their guilty souls; to form them 
 after the image of God, as well as to advance them to the 
 privileges of his children; and to make them pure and 
 holy in all manner of conversation, and meet for the 
 heavenly inheritance, as well as to raise them to this 
 blessed hope, and receive them at last into eternal life. 
 And how anxious have their concerns been, and panting 
 their supplications — "Lord, I believe ; help mine unbe- 
 lief" — I am stout-hearted and far from righteousness, 
 cause me to incline mine ear, give me a heart to come to 
 thee, "that I may have life" — and "make us a willing 
 people in the day of thy power." 
 
 Some have been very ignorant under the first awak- 
 enings, and afterwards, through the blessing of God, 
 have made a good proficiency in the knowledge of 
 Christ and the mysteries of his gospel : such have been 
 evidently taught of God, and instructed by the great 
 Apostle and High Priest, " who has compassion on the 
 ignorant and them that have gone out of the way." 
 
 Others, through the piercing impressions of their 
 sins, and shocking terrors of the Divine wrath, set in 
 array against them, disturbing their minds and disorder- 
 ing their bodies, could not at first, but afterwards have 
 given very rational and distinct accounts of the grounds 
 and methods of their awakenings, such as distinguish 
 them from being the result of mechanism or diabolical 
 influence, who since have been settled in the faith of 
 Jesus, and arrived at strong consolation. Nay, some 
 that could not read, nor had been taught to read, being 
 now in old age, have upon the first convictions applied 
 to the means of instruction, and with remarkable suc- 
 cess do grow in the knowledge of Christ, as they have 
 come to the faith of him. 
 
 I have seen some filled with all joy and peace in be- 
 lieving, and abounding in hope through the power of 
 the Holy Ghost, and when asked a reason of the hope 
 tliat is within them, have been able to give it with 
 meekness and fear, upon distinct scripture characters, 
 
123 
 
 and rejoicing in Christ Jesus. They have no confidence 
 in the flesh, and rejoice with fear and trembling, "re- 
 membering that they are yet in the body," disturbed 
 with indwelling sin, and exposed to manifold tempta- 
 tions : to such the mortification as well as the pardon 
 of sin, and the brightenings of the Divine image, as 
 well as the uplifting of the Divine favour upon their 
 souls, and holiness and joy in the Holy Ghost, are the 
 equally sure springs of their assured peace and strong 
 consolation : with some of such I have spoken at other 
 times, who after such blessed attainments have sunk 
 into spiritual despondencies, through the hidings of the 
 Divine favour and the fresh impressions of their guilt ; 
 and while they have been ready to acknowledge the 
 justice of the dispensation, and confess and lament their 
 own sins as the provoking causes of it, have sung both 
 of mercy and judgment, and come to this good assur- 
 ance of faith in God their Saviour, to trust in him 
 " though he should slay them, to trust in the name of 
 the Lord, and stay themselves on their God, from 
 whom comes all their expectation, and in whom all 
 their salvation lies." 
 
 I have seen some young ones under deep and sharp 
 convictions of their sinful and guilty state, which they 
 have expressed in very feeling and melting language, 
 and while they have been early seeking Wisdom and her 
 ways, have found her and felt them to be " pleasantness 
 and peace :" the love of their espousals has been richly 
 recompensed with the consolations of God, which are 
 not small ; and, having first sought the kingdom of 
 God, have felt it in their sweet experience to be "right- 
 eousness and peace, and joy in the Holy Ghost :'' "out 
 of the mouths of babes and sucklings God has perfected 
 praises" to himself, " to still the enemy and the 
 avenger." 
 
 But not to enlarge on more instances, I shall only 
 mention this, which I have all along observed to the 
 honour of this work : While some have been awakened 
 in reading the Scriptures or some devotional books ; 
 others by private conversing with others; others have 
 by a particular recollection some time after of part of a 
 sermon heard ; others by being present at some Chris- 
 
12^ 
 
 tian fellowships for prayer : and many have had a 
 great and serious concern hanging on their minds for 
 some time, before it has unavoidably broken forth into 
 some public profession : Yet in the preaching of the 
 gospel, the arrows of conviction have stuck deep and 
 sharp in the hearts of the most part of them : and if 
 awakenings have not first been produced by this mean, 
 at least they have been increased and carried on to a 
 sound conversion to God and the faith of Christ — this 
 being the power of God to every one that believes. 
 
 Sir, I am glad to understand, from several good hands, 
 that the goodness of their lives justifies the truth of 
 their professions: that besides their punctual attendance 
 on and serious application to the public institutions of 
 divine worship, and their frequent and stated obser- 
 vance of Christian fellowship as they have opportunity, 
 they likewise have a special care to have "a conscience 
 void of oifence, both towards God and man, and de- 
 nying all iingodliness and worldly lusts, live soberly, 
 righteously, and godly in this present evil world," 
 making conscience of observing their stational and re- 
 lative duties, and attending to both tables of the divine 
 law. I pray they may adorn the doctrine of God their 
 Saviour in all things, and have a conversation becoming 
 the gospel of Christ, being filled with all the fruits of 
 the Spirit, which are in all goodness, righteousness, and 
 truth ; and being stedfast and unmovable, and always 
 abounding therein to the end of their life, to give a 
 more sensible and striking testimony to the word of his 
 grace, convincing an infidel and thoughtless generation 
 that there is a Holy Ghost attending this gospel, whence 
 it is heard as the voice of God and not of man, and be- 
 comes " the power and wisdom of God to the salvation 
 of those that believe," and silencing the clamours of 
 others, who rashly speak evil of the right ways of the 
 Lord, and disown the stately steps of his majesty in the 
 sanctuaries of our Zion. May the Lord grant you 
 many more seals of your ministry, that many may be 
 your crowns of joy and rejoicing in the day of his com- 
 ing; and spread this cloud of the divine influences far 
 and wide, so that from the utmost ends of the earth 
 songs of praise may be heard, even glory to the 
 righteous Lord. James youNG. 
 
125 
 
 From the Rev. Mr. Blair ^ Minister at Brechiru 
 
 Brechin, 15th December, 1742. 
 
 Rev. and dear Sir, — The accounts of the extraor- 
 dinary work in your congregation and neighbourhood 
 having reached even unto us, I determined with myself 
 to have all the satisfaction respecting an event so un- 
 common that the nature and circumstances of the thing 
 could possibly admit of, and therefore, in October last, 
 undertook a journey your length. What I saw and 
 heard, and found upon the best inquiry 1 was able to 
 make during my stay with you, I shall now relate hon- 
 estly, and without any thing of party-zeal, which I am 
 afraid too much influences the sentiments and conduct 
 of many at this day, to the great prejudice of the com- 
 mon cause of Christianity. 
 
 As you was pleased to invite the Rev. Mr. Ogilvie 
 and me, to preach both on the Lord's day and Monday 
 thereafter, 1 could observe many hearing the word with 
 such attention, tenderness, and so much of a melting 
 frame, as I had never seen with such numbers, and 
 scarcely with any, in all my life. Some on the Sabbath 
 evening, when you was concluding the work of the day 
 with an address to the audience, I heard utter the most 
 bitter cries, and such as I own filled me with some- 
 thing of a horror and surprise, and seemed to bespeak 
 a great deal of bitterness and remorse in the minds of 
 those from whom they came. The same evening I 
 saw many under bodily convulsions ; but with these I 
 saw more affected, and particularly a child about six 
 or seven years of age, on the Monday, which did not a 
 little raise my wonder. 
 
 On Monday, after sermons, I had a particular con- 
 versation with a good many of those who had been 
 some way or other affected under the ministry of the 
 word. Some of these I found under sharp convictions 
 of sin, and of divine wrath due to them on account 
 of it, and who seemed to walk in darkness and to 
 see no light. Most of them could tell me the word that 
 first reached them and awakened their guilty fears, and 
 that an interest in Jesus Christ, as it was the only thing 
 
126 
 
 that could bring them to solid peace, so it was the t bin 
 of all others they most desired. In your house, and at 
 the same time, I talked with others, who had got an 
 outgate from their distress ; and indeed the account 
 they gave of themselves to me was most satisfying. 
 They could tell the text of scripture which first proved 
 the mean of their awakening, the words of promise 
 whieh supported and kept them from sinking into des- 
 pondency in the time of their trouble, that gave them 
 some good hope through grace, and encouraged them 
 to look to an exalted Prince and Saviour for relief. 
 They could tell the time and the duty wherein they 
 thought they were helped actually to close with Jesus, 
 found their fears dispelled, and the comforts of the 
 Holy Ghost flowing in upon their minds. This last 
 sort appeared to me to be very humble and self- denied, 
 jealous over themselves, lest they should fall away, 
 make shipwreck of faith and a good conscience, and 
 become a disgrace to their profession. They spoke of 
 the grace of God, and of the love of Christ with such 
 marks of wonder and admiration, of love and aiFection, 
 as seemed to me most uncommon, and did express a 
 most heavenly and spiritual frame of soul. They 
 seemed most ardently to wish the advancement af 
 Christ's kingdom and interests in the world, and that 
 all men might partake of his grace, to the saving of their 
 souls. They professed themselves the sincere lovers o-f 
 all who truly love the Lord Jesus, even such as might 
 differ from them in some lesser points, and seemed to 
 question the reality of the Lord's dealings with them. 
 
 Besides the satisfaction I had from this interviev*^ 
 with the people themselves, the account I had of the 
 Lord's dealings with them from your written Journal, 
 and which you took from their own mouths, puts it 
 beyond all Joubt with me, that God indeed was among 
 you. From this I saw that the conversions which ob- 
 tain with you are far from being sudden transitions 
 from horror and fear to immediate serenity and joy; 
 that they are, on the contmry, a work carried on dis- 
 tinctly and by degrees, the Spirit now convincing them 
 of the evil of one sin, and afterwards of another — 
 now discovering to them some of Christ's mediatory 
 
127 
 
 excellencies, and by and by others of them, respecting 
 which formerly they either knew little or were little 
 affected with what knowledge of them they had, and 
 after several intermediate acts determining their closure 
 with a Saviour. 
 
 Upon the whole, ray judgment of the work is, that it 
 is of God : and as this is my sentiment, I cannot but 
 wish it to prosper in your hands, and that from you it 
 may spread till it has reached to every congregation in 
 the land, even to those who now regard it no otherwise 
 than delusion, that they also may see the salvation of 
 our God, and may join with us in blessing the Lord, 
 who begins to visit a guilty land, and to heal its back- 
 slidings, unless we, like the foolish Gadarenes, lay an 
 impediment in the way, by diregarding the work of his 
 hands, and imputing it to a diabolical influence. I am, 
 with much regard, your affectionate Brother, 
 
 David Blair. 
 
 Attestation by Mr. M^Laurin, one of the Ministers of 
 Glasgow, being part of a Letter from him to a cor- 
 respondent at a distance, 
 
 Glasgow, 28th January, 1743. 
 Rev. and dear Brother, — I now send you the contin- 
 uation of the Kilsyth Narrative, and know that it will 
 not be disagreeable to you that I write at the same 
 time some remarks I have had occasion to make on 
 that good work ; being the same which 1 intend to offer, 
 such as they are, as my Attestation to it ; judging my- 
 self under obligations to contribute my endeavours to 
 do justice to it, from the opportunities I have had of a 
 more particular knowledge of it ; not only by corres- 
 pondence with the writer of the Narrative, and confer- 
 ences with him and the neighbouring ministers ; of 
 whose congregations, as favoured with the like good 
 work, he gives some account : but also by intimate con- 
 versation with several of the subjects of that work 
 themselves, about their religious impressions, and with 
 others about their practice ; which, as you know well, 
 are the chief means of enabling us to form any judg- 
 jnent of matters of this kind. 
 
128 
 
 By such means of information I have had that satis- 
 faction that could be expected by one not residing, but 
 bestowing the pains I have mentioned, among that peo- 
 ple ; that the work in general is such as the published 
 Narrative represents it ; and so like that at Cambuslang 
 that, in describing the one, people may justly be said, 
 as to the most material things, to give a description of 
 them both. 
 
 More particularly, I had the satisfaction to observe, 
 in conversing with these people, very promising in- 
 stances of such suitable impressions both of the hate- 
 fulness and danger of sin, joined w4th ardent desire of 
 relief from its guilt and power, in the way the gospel 
 reveals, as could not but give encouragement to expect, 
 through the grace of God, a happy issue in due time ; 
 convictions that w^ere not slight and superficial ; but 
 very deep and penetrating, and much resembling those 
 recorded in Scripture, as in Acts, ii, 37 ; not merely 
 general and confused, but distinct and particular, at 
 least gradually becoming such ; extending to sins of 
 heart and life, original and actual, and against both 
 tables of the lav.- ; much sorrow of soul both for the 
 alienation of the unrenewed heart from the living God, 
 and for corrupt passions contrary to the love men owed 
 to one another : as to which last I observed evidences, 
 not easily to be forgotten, of the severest remorse for 
 malice formerly indidged, plainly implying no small 
 admiration that the gospel-offers of remission should 
 extend to so hateful an evil. 
 
 I had occasion to observe and compare the new con- 
 victions of persons who perhaps were never known to 
 have any considerable concern about religion before ; 
 and the peculiar bitterness attending remorse for back- 
 sliding into bad courses, after some profession of reli- 
 gion and concern about it in former times ; producing 
 shame and confusion of face, and indeed no wonder, to 
 which might be well applied the words in Psalm xi, 12. 
 Nor could it but be very affecting to hear the accounts 
 Avhich a certain backslider, but I hope a returning one, 
 gave of the distress his conscience laboured under 
 when awakened to a sense of his aggravated apostacy ; 
 as particularly how, when intending to sing in family 
 
129 
 
 worship the first eight lines of a certain psalra, (it was 
 the hundred and second,) he found his heart too much 
 overwhelmed to make it out; being so overpowered 
 with a sense of his unworthiness, as I heard himself tell, 
 that he could not take the \vords of that psalm into 
 his mouth. 
 
 The convictions I observed among these people be- 
 hoved to appear the more promising on account of their 
 being directed by apprehensions of the spirituality of 
 the divine law, as extending to the rooted dispositions 
 of the heart: and it was very satisfying to observe 
 careful improvement made of directions to particular 
 self-searching, by going through the several command- 
 ments of the law, in order, by Divine assistance, to dis- 
 cover and recollect the evils of heart or life, or both, 
 against them all, by which the depravity of the unre- 
 generate heart exerts and manifests itself, with diversity 
 of circumstances, in different persons. 
 
 Both here and in other corners where the like good 
 work has appeared, it has given particular satisfaction 
 to observe people's sorrow for sin so strongly influenced 
 by other motives than mere dread of punishment, not 
 excluding the regard due to that like\f ise : even by an 
 ingenuous sense of the evil of sin, as an offence against 
 so just, so holy, so gracious a God ; and so compassion- 
 ate a Redeemer ; so that their convictions appeared to 
 be happy accomplishments of the promise in Zech. xii, 
 10. It was indeed their looking to Him who was pierced 
 for their sins that seemed chiefly to make them mourn 
 for them. 
 
 If there were some whose sorrow for sin seemed to 
 want, at least for some time at first, this last and per- 
 haps some of the other above mentioned characteristics; 
 it was encouraging to observe, at least, a laudable in- 
 genuity in acknowledging such defects, joined with a 
 hopeful docility in hearkening to proper instructions in 
 order to proficiency, by God's blessing, as to more just 
 impressions of the evil of sin, and of the excellency of 
 the appointed remedy. 
 
 In perusing the Narrative, you will easily observe, 
 that it is far from speaking of those who have on this 
 occasion been brought under some convictions of sin 
 
 f2 
 
130 
 
 and concern about salvation, as if all of them ought to 
 be considered as real converts or had already given 
 such evidences of that happy change as the nature of 
 the thing admits; but only speaks thus of a goodly 
 number of them. And as the author, who is a stran- 
 ger to you, is one whom I have had the advantage of 
 being particularly acquainted with for a long time, this 
 seems to demand it of me, as a piece of justice due to 
 him and his public labours, on this occasion, to give 
 you what assurance my testimony, on so long acquain- 
 tance, is capable of giving, not only of his probity in 
 narrating facts, but also of his caution in making de- 
 ductions from them — he being far from precipitancy in 
 building such favourable conclusions as some parts of 
 his Narrative contains on too slender grounds: of which 
 particular and I think satisfying proofs might be men- 
 tioned. 
 
 As I spent some time in that corner, not only in May 
 last, when this work was but beginning to appear, but 
 also in the months of July and October following, as- 
 sisting at the administration of the Lord's Supper at 
 Kilsyth, as I have been in use to do yearly of a long 
 time, this eould not but give me opportunity to observe 
 the great alteration to the better in the state of religion 
 in that corner, the gradual progress of this good work 
 in general, and the proficiency of particular persons in 
 the way of God ; and how convictions which had been 
 attended at first with considerable distresses issued in a 
 desirable serenity of mind ; attended with good evi- 
 dences of well-founded peace : showing that the sor- 
 rows which had met with too little compassionate regard 
 from some fellow-creatures had met with compassion 
 from Him "whose mercies are over all his other works," 
 and who has promised to " revive the hearts of the 
 humble and contrite ones," else " the spirits which he 
 has made would fail before him." 
 
 I persuade myself, that the Journals published in the 
 Narrative and in the weekly papers, some numbers of 
 which were formerly sent to you, containing accounts 
 of the rise and progress of the religious exercises of 
 some particular persons, who seemed to have attained 
 to joy and peace in believing, must give no small satis- 
 
131 
 
 faction to you and other persons of candour about these 
 people's regards to the mercy of God in the mediation 
 of his Son, as attended with the characters which dis- 
 tinguish faith unfeigned from its counterfeits ; and as 
 founding a reasonable judgment of charity that they 
 receive Christ in all his mediatory offices, and for all 
 the salvation that he has purchased. 
 
 As I have had opportunities of conversing with some 
 of these persons, and with others whose attainments 
 resembled theirs, I think it very natural for those who 
 have had such opportunities to reflect on the great dif- 
 ference betwixt conversing with such people themselves, 
 and receiving accounts of them from others : and on 
 the difficulty of conveying to others by description, 
 adequate notions of all the things which must justly 
 make a favourable impression on the minds of those 
 who are present. It must be owned indeed, that it is 
 but reasonable caution not to lay too great stress on 
 people's serious manner of expressing their religious 
 concern till that favourable presumption is confirmed 
 by more decisive evidences : yet as the appearances of 
 seriousness on such occasions admit of very different 
 degrees, one of your experience must have observed 
 degrees of it which have something in them so con- 
 vincing, however hard to be described, as scarcely to 
 leave room for hesitation, about the sincerity of the 
 speakers, in the minds even of the more cautious 
 hearers. A good deal of this appeared to me very ob- 
 servable among the people I speak of when expressing 
 their sense of the most important things, and giving 
 vent to their chief sorrows or joys ; like persons having 
 very near views of their appearance before the supreme 
 tribunal, and wisely overlooking the inconsiderable in- 
 terval, so justly called in Scripture a moment, that 
 separates betwixt the present instant of time and end- 
 less eternity. 
 
 The Attestations of the session or consistory, and of 
 the present Magistrate of Kilsyth, will give you a 
 pleasant view of the good fruits of this work on the 
 lives and practice of that people. Some instances of 
 restitution among them, which happened after this good 
 work began, I had occasion to be well informed of soon 
 
132 
 
 after they happened ; and, as to one of them, had the 
 pleasure to be employed by Mr. Robe in conveying the 
 sum given him, by one unknown to me, to the person 
 for vi'hom it was intended. The thing is well known 
 to several of good character here; though the restorer 
 is concealed, as no doubt he ought. Some eminence 
 in the amiable graces of charity, meekness, and humi- 
 lity, appears plainly observable in the subjects of this 
 good work here, as well as of others like it in other 
 places of late ; I mean in those whose proficiency af- 
 fords the evidences which found a judgment of charity 
 as to a real change on people's hearts. 
 
 It rendered the work in these parts to the north and 
 east of this city the more remarkable, that it extended 
 to so many contiguous congregations, and made so 
 much progress in so short a time. As it was on the 
 18th of May that, upon a friendly invitation, I went 
 first to Kilsyth after this work appeared, among other 
 marks of an uncommon concern about religion in that 
 country-side, I observed evidences of it in people's 
 eagerness to embrace opportunities of conversing with 
 those whom they judged capable of giving them useful 
 instructions, even in traveling on the highway. And 
 in my return home, at the end of that week, I had the 
 pleasure to find that on the road between Kilsyth and 
 Kirkintilloch, and in the bounds of the latter, in three 
 small villages within the space of less than two miles, 
 there were about fourteen persons, some of them very 
 young, lately awakened : all of whom, excepting two 
 or three, who were out of the way, I saw and conversed 
 with, and observed a seriousness about them that could 
 not but give particular satisfaction. 
 
 If it is a hopeful sign of sincerity when people have 
 deep concern about perseverance, and take the alarm 
 when they apprehend such things in themselves as look 
 like beginnings of backsliding, the self-diffidence and 
 jealousy of that kind which I observed among these 
 people behoved to be very encouraging. When I stayed 
 some days at Kilsyth, in October last, I observed 
 that the minister had found it proper to warn some 
 publicly, without naming any, who as he heard were 
 like to lose their good impressions, to come and con- 
 
133 
 
 verse with him at his house ; and, being there when 
 they came, had the pleasure to observe a happy disap- 
 pointment of his fears about them ; it appearing plainly 
 that they were so far from being turned careless and 
 unconcerned about religion, that they were under no 
 small concern that their religious affections were not 
 quite so lively as some time formerly ; and it was 
 from their own complaints on this head that the report 
 of their being like to lose their good impressions had 
 proceeded. 
 
 When this good work began, I could with the more 
 freedom urge Mr. Robe, however hurriedly, to favour 
 me with accounts from time to time of its progress ; 
 because such intelligence would be very acceptable and 
 edifying to many others, particularly in this city. And 
 though it could not be expected that Letters written 
 by one having so much desirable work on his hands 
 should be very full and particular ; or that one writing 
 to a friend, and in such haste, should have such regard 
 to style as in things intended for public view ; yet as 
 these Letters give a pleasant view of the gradual pro- 
 gress of that work, together with several remarkable 
 particulars ; and also of the warm impressions which a 
 train of so extraordinary and desirable events behoved 
 to make on the mind of one, by duty and inclination, 
 so deeply interested, at or near the very time that they 
 happened, or while they were yet fresh in his memory, 
 expressed in the natural manner usual between intimate 
 correspondents ; for these reasons I reckoned it no small 
 favour that I have succeeded in obtaining his consent 
 that Extracts of these Letters should be published. 
 
 John M'Laurin. 
 
 Extracts of Letters mentioned at the close of the preced- 
 ing Attestation; which Mr. Rohe, when prevailed on 
 to yield to their publication^ referred so entirely to his 
 correspondent^ as to the choice of the Excerpts to he 
 published, that he only, and not Mr. Robe, is account- 
 able for the choice niade^ 
 
 Kilsyth, May 15th, 1742. 
 After speaking of what happened in his journey 
 
134 
 
 from Cambuslang, an account of which is pubHshed 
 at the close of this Narrative, he says, " The Lord 
 is shooting his arrows fast; praise to him that they 
 are not arrows of destruction as we deserve ; may his 
 holy arm get him the victory over Satan in these 
 wounded souls." 
 
 He is come to this country-side. There was a 
 great day of power at Calder on Tuesday last. We 
 had a good day on Sabbath last : I now know of six 
 that came under convictions that day; and there may 
 be others. O cry to him for a plentiful effusion of 
 his Spirit, and for much zeal, skill, and humility, 
 with singleness, to me. O if I could praise and 
 magnify him I would fain do it : pray that I may be 
 kept out of my own eye, and that I may have Christ 
 and the good of souls only in sight. 
 
 Postscript, May 16th. This has been indeed one 
 of the days of the Son of man. The King of glory 
 hath shot his arrows very thick into the hearts of his 
 enemies, not for their destruction, but to fall under 
 him. There was a great cry of awakened sinners 
 this day : all of them under as great agonies as we 
 conceive those of the second chapter of the Acts; 
 besides others that were carried away by their friends, 
 whose names I have not yet gotten; I have dealt 
 with them all this evening, as also Mr. Oughterson, 
 having sent for him. O praise him, and pray much 
 for us, and tell every body to praise him for his mercy 
 to us, and that he will stay a long time with us after 
 
 this manner. There are no fewer than five in — -, 
 
 family under deep distress : two daughters and 
 
 three servants. O it is a gracious visit: he hath 
 wounded and will heal. Write this good news to 
 
135 
 
 ]\|j.^ ^ Q Iq^ heaven and earth praise him : 
 
 I expect you, and am, &c. 
 
 May 23rd. The Lord hath been graciously present 
 this day: his Spirit is yet poured forth from on high, 
 notwithstanding of our stupidity and ingratitude: 
 there was an uncommon concern upon the congrega- 
 tion and attendance to the word : there are seven 
 to our knowledge awakened this evening that were 
 not known before: some newly-awakened this day: 
 others, whose convictions began last Sabbath, were 
 brought to a distressing and complaining height this 
 day. I am persuaded there are many more, of whom 
 I expect to hear to-morrow. There were two others 
 came to us upon Saturday after you left us ; both of 
 them above forty years of age; one the same day 
 above fifty; another betwixt sixty and seventy. I 
 rejoice at the Lord's coming near old sinners. I am 
 much dissatisfied with myself, that I am not in rap- 
 tures of love, joy, and gratitude. I know I need 
 not desire you and others of the Lord's people both 
 to pray and praise for us. 
 
 May 28th. I have the great pleasure to tell you 
 that the Lord yet continues to pour forth his good 
 and free Spirit upon unworthy us. Wednesday last 
 
 the congregation was much moved. Mr. 
 
 and Mr. and I preached. The awakened 
 
 were added to. My list amounts to seventy-six, of 
 which there are about forty-eight in this parish; 
 besides seven I am assured of, two of which belong 
 to Denny, two to Airth or Larbert, two to Cumber- 
 nauld, and one to this parish. Some are come to 
 solid relief; others are, I hope, not far from it. 
 
 June 2nd. I have just time to write you this. 
 
136 
 
 Mr. preached with me to-day, and that to 
 
 a considerable multitude. There appeared a concern 
 among the people, though no outcry. I wait for the 
 fruits which I hope a sovereignly gracious God will 
 show in his own time. I have some newly awakened 
 since I wrote to you, besides others I hear of: this 
 night there were three with me who never spoke to 
 me before. 
 
 N. B. They keep their distress as long as they 
 can hold. There was another with me yesterday who 
 was new; and one this morning, awakened last Lord's 
 day. 
 
 June 8th. I have just time to write this to you, 
 having scarcely a moment's spare time, the distressed, 
 or those who are come to relief, coming continually 
 to me. The parish list is now sixty. I can give 
 no distinct account of those here awakened in other 
 congregations. The Lord is continuing graciously 
 with us. Four or five new ones have been with me 
 since Sabbath last. Several are come to solid relief. 
 I had one this day filled with inexpressible joy. I am 
 wonderfully strengthened- — have great pleasure and 
 am unwearied. O praise him who does it; — pray 
 for a more plentiful outpouring of the Holy Spirit. 
 
 June 9th. I wrote to you by the post this morning. 
 We have had a glorious day this day. Many are 
 added to the awakened, either altogether new, or 
 those who were formerly slightly touched have been 
 deeply awakened. There are eight I am certainly 
 informed of; besides a great many others that I judge 
 pretty probable. Five of the first are in this parish. 
 There was a general concern in the congregation : 
 among these they say are and , newly 
 
13T 
 
 married. I find when I am weakest and have least 
 expectation from my sermon, the Lord shows himself 
 most. I preached from John, xvi, 11. I was far 
 from being pleased with the composition. Mr. 
 
 's helper preached a good sermon from Matth. 
 
 xi, 28. I am much straitened for help; but the 
 Lord stands by me; blessed be he, and he will do 
 it. Receive a third Journal. I have a beautiful 
 one, of one who was inexpressibly filled with the love 
 of Christ shed abroad in her heart — and they tell me 
 continues yet overcome with it. Some old Chris- 
 tians are getting wonderful reviving and manifesta- 
 tions of the love of God. 
 
 June 11th. Because I know what joy and thank- 
 fulness it gives you to hear of our dear Lord's ap- 
 pearing in his glory and majesty in conquering his 
 enemies to himself, I embrace the opportunity to 
 write to you that this hath been a good week; one 
 of the best I ever saw, though of the greatest labour, 
 yet of the greatest pleasure. I had a closet full of 
 little ones yesternight making a pleasant noise and 
 outcry for Christ ; and two of the youngest, one of 
 them but ten years of age, fainting and so distressed 
 they could scarcely go home. I cannot write to 
 you the wonders I saw : one of eleven years of age 
 crying out that she was sick of sin, and crying out 
 with hands uplifted to heaven when I told her that 
 if she were willing to take Christ he would heal her, 
 I am willing with all my heart and from the bottom 
 of my heart to take him. I bade her wait with 
 patience, and told her she minded the fourtieth Psalm : 
 she noted over the first twelve lines with great calm- 
 ness. I hear they were very distressed last night and 
 
138 
 
 this day. I would fain hope that relief may not be 
 far from her. O pray for the poor young babes. 
 
 tells me just now she is come to joy and peace 
 
 in believing, for which I beg you will praise the 
 
 Lord, and employ others to do it. Poor little 
 
 speaks to the distressed like herself. This is a 
 pleasant country-side to what it was. I wish you 
 were here. Wednesday was a wonderful day, when 
 we were afraid that the work was like to stop. There 
 have been ten new ones belonging to this congrega- 
 tion since last Lord's day; so that if I count rightly 
 they are about seventy in number ; besides those who 
 belong to other congregations, of which I can have no 
 account. 
 
 June 17th. Receive a fourth Journal, which I 
 have with much difficulty, for want of time, got ex- 
 tracted from my book. It concerns the woman 
 overcome with love. She uttered many things 
 which I could not take down, and I seldom insert 
 any thing from my memory. The girl was with 
 me this day, and continues in the same good frame, 
 only her tears are dried up, and she hath got a hum- 
 ble joy in her face. There is an elder Christian in 
 her neighbourhood who hath got a considerable re- 
 viving and marvelous manifestations of the love of 
 Jesus Christ, showing themselves to be genuine by 
 their effects. 
 
 From Lord's day se'night the King of kings has 
 been riding gloriously upon the white horse, shoot- 
 ing his arrows thick into the hearts of his enemies, 
 making them sensible of their evil state of unbelief 
 — making them to cry out for fear of the Lord and 
 the glory of his majesty, at the same time subduing 
 
139 
 
 others to himself. We had twelve awakened last 
 week belonging to the parish, fifteen on Sabbath 
 last, four of whom were strangers belonging to 
 Cumbernauld, Campsie, and Kirkintilloch. Tues- 
 day we had fifteen, and one stranger : and this day 
 I had two who were among the first, but never 
 came to me untill this day; which make forty in all 
 belonging to the parish since Sabbath before last. 
 I make no doubt but there are a great many strangers 
 not known to me besides. I have also had some 
 with me who are come, I hope, to solid relief. 
 Though I am continually employed, yet the Lord 
 gives such bodily strength that I am not much 
 wearied; and is not wanting to me otherwise. He 
 gives uncommon strength for uncommon service, 
 which I acknowledge to his glory; and entreat that 
 you and others may help me to praise him for it. 
 There was a good woman, who I doubt not was a 
 real Christian, who blamed the people much for 
 crying out, and said, can they not be serious enough 
 without crying. Sabbath was eight days she was 
 made to cry out herself, and was not able to come 
 from the place of meeting to my house without being- 
 supported by two men. She acknowledges this day 
 that she justly suflPered for her rashness. Last 
 Lord's day there were a good many awakened at 
 Cumbernauld. I cannot precisely tell how many 
 the number of the awakened are with us now, for I 
 have not time to number them. 
 
 June 28th. I am so wearied this night that though 
 I would incline to write at good length, I am not 
 well able; yet, blessed be the Lord, I have gotten as 
 much strength as has been sufficient for the day's 
 
uo 
 
 work. There are now, praises to the builder up of 
 Zion appearing in his glory, such a number of the 
 awakened as gives me no respite ; neither do I allow 
 myself to desire it, seeing I am not called to work in 
 my own strength. The Lord was graciously with 
 us yesternight : there were seven newly awakened 
 yesterday. The child of six was in great distress 
 during the most part of the sermon : I asked at her 
 at night what she would give to get Christ ; she 
 answered with a great deal of composure, I would 
 part with my life to have him : at which I was 
 amazed. 
 
 Blessed be the Lord, we are every day getting 
 encouragement by some being brought to relief. 
 Those who have got it walk answerably. We are, 
 God willing, to observe Wednesday as a day of 
 thanksgiving to the God of our extraordinary mercy. 
 I beg you and others will remember us that day. 
 
 June 30th. The Lord hath been graciously pre- 
 sent with us this day. I looked upon it as a token 
 for good that we had a great congregation, seeing 
 it was set apart for solemn thanksgiving to God. I 
 am persuaded it was the best observed day of thanks- 
 giving, in every way, ever was in Kilsyth; yet vastly 
 short of what should been rendered, according to 
 the benefit. We look to the great altar, sacrifice, 
 and High Priest for acceptance. I preached from 
 Matt, xxi, 16 ; from which I prosecuted these two 
 purposes. That extraordinary comings of the Lord 
 Jesus to his temple and ordinances should be wel- 
 comed with extraordinary praises, and that he is 
 pleased when it is so. Secondly : That when he 
 comes he will provide for his praise by those who are 
 
141 
 
 unlikely in the world's eye ; which made two ser- 
 mons in the forenoon : we had a good sermon from 
 Mr. Young in the afternoon. There were three 
 newly awakened brought to me this day, belonging 
 to this congregation : there were doubtless many 
 more, for the concern was great. — Five were added 
 to the awakened at Cumbernauld last Lord's day. 
 Blessed be the God of our salvation, the face of the 
 congregation and country-side is changed. 
 
 July 2nd. Blessed for ever more be our God in 
 Christ, for his continued marvelous grace : I have 
 fifteen newly awakened this week before this day. 
 I know of two more this day, and expect others to- 
 morrow. I have been at Cumbernauld ail this day, 
 and I think the body of this parish. There was a 
 very great cry in the congregation, not only while 
 the terrors of the law were preached, but the com- 
 forts of the gospel. The former five were awakened 
 this day. I hear more and more of the vast change 
 there is upon the face of this parish ; iniquity as 
 ashamed hides its head; the wolf and the lamb dwell 
 together. — I am obliged to stop at the cry of a num- 
 ber of distressed coming into the closet. 
 
 There hath been brought to me about a dozen in 
 great distress, most of them young; some of them 
 awakened at home this day, and some at Cumber- 
 nauld. One of them was awakened while I was 
 speaking to the rest : one weeding corn to day. 
 They were in such distress that I could only speak 
 in general to them. One of them was looked on 
 
 as . O amazing grace. I beg you will pray for 
 
 me. I will have people to converse with me all day 
 to-morrow, and no body to preach for me on the 
 
142 
 
 Lord's day; yet I will not fear, for I trust in the 
 Lord : I doubt not but he will be my strength to all 
 he calls me to. 
 
 July 5th. The Lord is making us fishers of men 
 indeed : he is present; and while we toiled years in 
 his absence, and to apprehension caught nothing, 
 at every letting down of the gospel-net now some are 
 caught; he is driving them into the net; and mak- 
 ing some pray to be enclosed. Endless praises be 
 and will be to him for it. Yesterday was a Bochim 
 in the congregation for unworthy communicating ; 
 and this evening there was a great cry in the church. 
 
 Mr. G , minister at Carnock, who came here 
 
 this afternoon, preached. Last week the newly- 
 awakened were about thirty-six, of whom about 
 twelve or fourteen were awakened at Cumbernauld 
 on Friday last. Yesterday and this day there were 
 fifteen new, all belonging to this congregation : three 
 
 of them were awakened while Mr. • preached. 
 
 We never had so great a number in so short a time. 
 Every day I have some acquainting me with their 
 relief, which I find in the most to be solid and good. 
 I have conversed with about forty this day from the 
 town of Kilsyth, besides others. I trusted in the 
 Lord for yesterday and was helped. — I had with me 
 on Saturday an honest man from Muthil, where Mr. 
 Halley is minister, who informs me that since March 
 there have been fifty awakened in that parish : for 
 which I bless the Lord. — There is a person in this 
 country who is jealous that his family owed to the 
 
 late about ten shillings : he hath put it into 
 
 my hands to give it to his heirs. I know no hand 
 so fit as yours to do it, seeing it may be some time 
 
143 
 
 ere I come to town, and do not know his heirs: you 
 will please to receive it from the bearer. 
 
 July 8th. There were eighteen awakened yester- 
 day, Sabbath last, and since, all belonging to the 
 congregation. There were only two to-day, one in 
 Denny, and the other in Campsie- 
 
 July 15th. I have been busy in dealing with the 
 distressed a good part of this day. We have only, 
 as far as I know yet, about a dozen or thirteen 
 newly-awakened of those who belong to this congre- 
 gation since Thursday last, and about fourteen we 
 know of from Gargunnock, Kippen, and Campsie : 
 besides these, one from Muthil, and one from Car- 
 nock. There was a trilapse in fornication dropt 
 down yesterday in the barn just as I was dismissing 
 the distressed : she had to be led home, was with me 
 to-day, and is in a hopeful way. May the good 
 and free Spirit of the Lord remain with us. I am 
 willing, with a dependence on grace, to take no rest; 
 to direct those under his conduct to Jesus Christ. 
 Though we have had some every day : yet we have 
 had fewer belonging to this parish these eight days 
 past than for some weeks before : yet, blessed be 
 the Lord, it is made up with strangers who have 
 carried it home to their own couo;reorations, who 
 I hope shall be made as leaven to leaven the whole 
 lump. 
 
 July 19th. We had a good day from the presence 
 of the Lord yesterday : there was a great noise 
 among the dry bones both forenoon and afternoon. 
 There were a good many strangers from beyond 
 Stirling and from Fife ; there were two of these at a 
 distance observed to be under deep concern : but 
 
144 
 
 they went away without speaking. Eight have been 
 with rae : one from Gargunnock awakened yesterday 
 afternoon: (blessed be the Lord it is going com- 
 fortably over the mountain :) two from Kirkintilloch, 
 and one from Cumbernauld, and only four of our 
 own. Blessed be the Lord for all. 
 
 I shall carry on this Narrative, by inserting the 
 following- letter I have received this week, from a 
 country-man who lives about fourteen miles distant 
 from this. It is an attestation to this work as from 
 the Spirit of Jesus Christ, from his own feeling and 
 experience. The natural simplicity with which it 
 is written is its beauty: and I doubt not it will be 
 acceptable to many readers. 1 have concealed the 
 person's name for the same reason : I did so in all 
 the Journals. It is dated February 4th. 
 
 Rev. and honoured Pastor, — Pardon me for 
 taking this freedom to write to you ; I being un- 
 known to you in the flesh. The occasion of my 
 writing is, because I have read some writings of 
 yours and others which have been very encouraging 
 to my soul. I am but young in years and weak in 
 knowledge, and do not oflPer this as perfect, or able 
 to stand a trial, having attained but a little know- 
 ledge of the truth, and therefore hope you will have 
 charity on my failings ; there being too many writ- 
 ings that are written through pride and self-conceit : 
 which are the occasion of much sin, every one being 
 right in his own eyes. O how very few are there 
 that ask counsel of the Lord ! the evidences do 
 clearly appear at this day. Since ever it pleased 
 the Lord to open my eyes, to let me see the need 
 I have to repent of ray evil ways, the glory of God 
 
145 
 
 was more dear to me than all things in this life, 
 which made me have a desire to the Associate Bre- 
 thren, because I thought they were contending for 
 the truth ; but, blessed be God, his thoughts are not 
 our thoughts ; who moved me to ask counsel at him- 
 self, and who kept me from these by-paths into 
 which he has permitted them to go. But while I 
 thought on these things, I heard the news of a sur- 
 prising work at Cambuslang, which some called the 
 work of the Lord, others the work of the Devil. 
 This no doubt was the occasion of much sin ; yet I 
 entertained good thoughts of it ; but having no foun- 
 dation to build upon, I had a great desire to see the 
 truth of it ; but could not go at that time, the labour 
 being throng : it was remarkable in Kilsyth before I 
 could win. I was the first that went from this place, 
 and was greatly edified in hearing your preface be- 
 fore you sung Psalm xlv, 3. 
 
 The word came with much power upon my own 
 soul, your text being that day on these words, "He 
 that beiieveth not is condemned already." Such 
 home expressions I had not heard before ; which did 
 work with power upon my soul, and made me think 
 no wonder that the people that were struck with the 
 arrows of conviction, and the belief of the wrath of 
 God abiding upon them, were made to cry out. 
 About the close of your sermon, there came such a 
 powerful influence of the Holy Spirit that I was 
 swallowed up in the love of God, and made perfectly 
 to believe that it was the work of God. There were 
 few who knew that I was there; but before I got 
 home many had got information, who came and asked 
 me what I thought of it ; I told them that it was 
 
 G 64> 
 
146 
 
 the work of the Lord. O but our hearts be unsta- 
 ble as water ! Hearing so many speak against it, 
 and giving great reasons for the same, made me 
 jealous, tJiinking it might not be as I thought, 
 which made my heart long to go again. Next day 
 you lectured, and one Mr. Jackson, minister at Big- 
 gar, preached; who had a most powerful sermon on 
 these words, " Cast thy burden on the Lord, and he 
 shall sustain thee." I came away with such peace and 
 joy in believing — O my soul, bless the Lord, and 
 foreet not all his benefits — that ever since I had no 
 doubts about it. Next I went to the second sacra- 
 ment at Cambuslang to be more confirmed in the 
 truth of it. I did not go to the table ; because I 
 wanted to hear and see every circumstance of it : 
 then my heart longed to communicate with those 
 children of God, hoping that the Lord would bestow 
 on me some of the crumbs that fell at their tabic. 
 I was glad when I heard you was to have another 
 sacrament, at which I did communicate. What I 
 did feel on my soul, and how God did work in me, 
 and what I did see and hear, I shall not give an ac- 
 count of, because time nor paper could not contain 
 it ; but I desire to bless the Lord that ever I was 
 honoured to see so much of his remarkable power 
 and glory : " Make a joyful noise unto God, all ye 
 lands; sing forth the honour of his name, make his 
 praise glorious ; say unto God, How terrible art thou 
 in thy works ? Through the greatness of thy 
 power shall thine enemies submit themselves unto 
 thee ; all the earth shall worship thee, and sing un- 
 to thy name : Come and see the works of God, he 
 is terrible in his doings toward the children of men." 
 
147 
 
 But, alas ! how unthankful have I been to him for 
 the same ; but blessed be his name, who marks not 
 iniquity, but delights in mercy for his own name's 
 sake. What reason have we to be thankful to his 
 name ! Fie hath not dealt so with every nation. 
 But such is the pride of our heart, we will not be 
 beholden to the Lord for counsel; and when we do 
 forsake the Lord's counsel, no wonder we wander 
 into many dangerous paths. I am sorry for the 
 Associate Brethren that they are so far left to them- 
 selves as to be offended at the ways of the Lord, ot 
 whose Christianity I have no doubt, but desire to 
 speak with charity lest I should speak too far. But 
 I think there is something in them of that spirit that 
 was in that godly man Jonah, " But it displeased 
 Jonah exceedingly, and he was very angry, and he 
 prayed to the Lord and said, I pray thee, O Lord. — 
 Therefore, O Lord, 1 beseech thee take away my 
 life, for it is better for me to die than to live." I 
 think there is something like this in them; because 
 the Lord in the midst of deserved wrath is remem- 
 bering mercy, " and whom he will he hardeneth." 
 O that the Lord may open their eyes, that they may 
 see their great evils that they have been guilty of. 
 O that the Lord may lay it to their consciences ; but 
 not to their charge. O Lord, come to our hearts in 
 a day of thy power, and look on us in the face of 
 thy beloved Son, " in whom thou art well pleased ;" 
 and shed abroad thy love in our hearts, then shall 
 we love one another from love to thee, who art love. 
 O for a right and charitable frame of spirit ; but alas, 
 we spy " the mote in our brother's eye, but perceive 
 not the beam in our own." " Who is a wise man. 
 
148 
 
 and endued with knowledge amongst you, let hitn 
 show, out of a good conversation, his works with 
 meekness of wisdom : But if ye have bitter envying 
 and strife in your hearts, glory not, and lie not 
 against the truth." O but the word of God be 
 sweet words : the word is the only rule to direct us 
 how we may glorify and enjoy him. O Lord, open 
 our eyes, to see light in thy light, for all other lights 
 are but darkness : and as our blessed Saviour ex- 
 presseth it, " If the light that is in thee be darkness, 
 how great is that darkness !" Alas, that there is so 
 much of that kind of darkness ; the most part have 
 heads full of knowledge, but hearts wanting grace. 
 No wonder they speak evil of the true Light ; be- 
 cause the " carnal mind is enmity against God. If 
 it be so, that they have enmity against God, will 
 they not have the same at his children? Many 
 would follow Christ if they would be allowed to have 
 friendship with the world : but when the cross comes, 
 they, like Demas, forsake him, for they love the 
 world more than Jesus. Indeed, when first the 
 Lord did work upon my soul to accept of Jesus 
 Christ, I thought the cross was a burden to me, 
 which made me many a time hearken to carnal rea- 
 soning: things of this world I could not part with, 
 because they were sweet to my fleshly heart : but, 
 blessed be God, I can say with Augustine, How 
 sweet is it to want my former sweetness. I would 
 not exchange one quarter of an hour of the love of 
 God upon my soul that I have had at some times 
 for all the pleasures of ten thousand worlds, were 
 they all at my command. O my soul, forget not all 
 his benefits, " Herein is love, not that we loved 
 
149 
 
 God ; but that he loved us, and sent his Son to be 
 a propitiation for our sins." O but I have a cold 
 luke-warm heart, that is so little afFected with his 
 love. Indeed the going to Kilsyth and Cambuslang 
 has made me to be hated by some that formerly 
 loved me ; but I desire to bless the Lord that led 
 me by his Spirit. I many a time think that such 
 days of power have not been seen under the gospel 
 since the apostles' first preaching the glorious gospel. 
 O Lord, never let my soul forget what I saw at Kil- 
 syth and Cambuslang of thy glorious power. On 
 Saturday night before the sacrament I did not go to 
 seek lodging with the rest of our town's-people that 
 were there: after the sermon I went to the brae-head 
 eastward, and looked around : the candles were 
 burning in every place. That blessed echo of 
 prayers and sweet singing of songs made me almost 
 faint for joy, and lament over my dead heart that 
 was so lifeless, and put me in mind of the sweet 
 songs that are sung in heaven at God's right hand ; 
 and the word that God did enable his servants 
 to speak at your sacrament was so refreshing and 
 sweet to my soul that I was in a strait when to go to 
 the table, because the tables were still throng : I 
 could not think of losing that precious day of grace 
 in standing at the church door before I could get in; 
 the tables were all served but one before I did com- 
 municate, and there the Lord did manifest himself 
 to me as he does not to the world: I never did think 
 to see so much of heaven on this side of time as I 
 was eye- and ear- witness to that night. "O Lord, 
 our Lord, how excellent is thy name in all the earth ! 
 who hast set thy glory above the heavens. Out of 
 
150 
 
 the mouths of bahes and sucklmgs hast thou ordained 
 strength, because of thine enemies, that thou mightest 
 still the enemy and the avenger. The Lord is gra- 
 cious and full of compassion ; his tender mercies are 
 over all his works. All thy works shall praise thee, 
 () Lord, and thy saints shall bless thee. They shall 
 speak of the glory of thy kingdom, and talk of thy 
 power. To make known to the sons of men his 
 mighty acts, and the glorious majesty of his king- 
 dom. What tongue can speak of thy power and 
 thy glory ?'"' We will but darken the light of thy 
 power when we speak of it. O Lord, let that cloud 
 that has appeared in the west of Scotland, spread 
 east, west, south, and north, "that thy glory may fill 
 the whole earth, as the waters cover the seas." O 
 Lord, let thy heavenly dew come down upon our 
 souls, that as the willows by the water-courses and as 
 the cedars in Lebanon we may grow in holiness, and 
 flourish in grace as the palm-tree. O Lord, let not 
 our sins provoke thee to restrain the down-pouring 
 of thy Spirit on these sinful lands. O Lord, for 
 thy name's sake, pass not by this poor parish ; and, 
 O Lord, may those that thou hast in a remarkable 
 way brought in to thyself to be thy children, by 
 their good works evidence themselves, they being 
 the fruits of true faith and love ; help them to for- 
 give their enemies, and to pray that their sins may 
 be forgiven them. They have been praying for the 
 day of the Lord : and now, because it has not come 
 in the way that they looked for, they are grieved 
 and wish it away again ; it is darkness and not light 
 to them. — O, dear sir, exhort them to beware of 
 carnal security, and the pride of humility, for I have 
 
151 
 
 found them to be two great sins. " I have not 
 written unto you because ye have not known the 
 truth ; but because ye have known it, and that no lie 
 is of the truth.'* 
 
 ARTICLE V. 
 
 Concerning those on whose Bodies Spiritual Operations 
 had real and sensible influence in a more unusual luay. 
 
 Learned and godly Rutherford hath, in the 
 Contents prefixed to his Survey of the Spiritual 
 Antichrist, a title in these words : " The real influ- 
 ence of Spiritual Operations on the Body :" from this 
 I have taken the hint in the terms I have used in 
 this Article. The preceding claim all who burst 
 forth into tears and weeping, groaned deeply, or made 
 bitter outcries when they were awakened : This gives 
 the history of those whose bodies were more griev- 
 ously affected. This I shall endeavour to do with 
 all the faithfulness and openness that becometh an 
 honest man, and with all the distinctness I can attain. 
 
 The first sort are those who complained of pains 
 in their bodies, namely in their arms and legs, that 
 they were ready, as they expressed it, to break. I 
 have two very strong men in my remembrance while 
 I write this ; and they are the only instances I re- 
 member. They had been for several hours under 
 distress before I saw them. They had both a dis- 
 tinct and particular conviction of sin because of un- 
 belief, and clear views of the dreadful wrath of God 
 they were under and liable to because of it. The 
 arrows of the Almighty had pierced them to the 
 
152 
 
 quick, the poison whereof drank up their spirits. I 
 found that from their awakening they, had, in utter- 
 ing their complaints and fears, and in their frequent 
 and earnest cries to God, wrestled and tossed much 
 with their bodies. To this, as well as to the uncom- 
 mon earnestness of their minds, I ascribed these pains 
 of their bodies, in their arms, thighs, and legs, that 
 they complained of. I remember one of them said, 
 he had wrestled so that his strength was quite gone. 
 They had been nearly a night and a day in this sit- 
 uation. The Psalmist's words might well be applied 
 to them, " When I kept silence, my bones waxed 
 old, through my roaring all the day long : for day and 
 night thy hand was heavy upon me. My moisture 
 is turned into the drought of summer." Next day 
 their fears were abated, convictions began to do kind- 
 ly with them, supports and hopes were given by a 
 gracious God, and they complained no more of their 
 bodily pains; yet they attained no sensible abiding 
 relief and comfort for several weeks. They both 
 continue to this 11th of March, 1743, to be know- 
 ing, strict, and exemplary Christians. 
 
 The second sort are those who were seized with 
 trembling in their bodies when awakened. Of all 
 the bodily effects this was the most frequent. Their 
 bodies would have shaken so that the one nearest to 
 them was necessitated to hold them fast ; and some- 
 times that person came to be awakened, and needed 
 soon another to do the same kindly office to him or 
 her. All of those I conversed with gave still a pre- 
 sent sense of their being sinners, and liableness to 
 the wrath of God for sin, less or more distinctly, as 
 the cause of their trembling. So that they might 
 
to 
 
 153 
 
 have used the Psalmist's words in some degree, **My 
 flesh trembleth for fear of thee; and I am afraid of 
 thy judgments." I could not miss to think of the 
 scripture instances of Felix's trembling under con- 
 victions, which went no further; the very case of 
 too many with us : also of Saul and the jailor 
 trembling when first awakened, which issued in real 
 conversion, as it did with several of ours, through the 
 grace of our God. 
 
 A third sort of their fears produced convulsive-like 
 motions in some men or boys, and what I took to be 
 hysteric fits in women or girls. There were but 
 very few men who were thus affected ; not above 
 three or four that I can remember : in none of them 
 they came to such a height as to deprive them of 
 their judgment and senses for any time : and they 
 were all men of weak spirits and bodily constitutions, 
 and but small measure of knowledge. There were 
 about half a dozen of boys, in whom also convulsive 
 motions appeared to come to a greater height, and 
 to make them insensible for some time. There were 
 also some few women and several young girls who 
 were seized with such fits whenever their thoughts 
 about their sinful lost state, and being without God 
 and Christ, increased their fears to a great height. 
 1 observed as to them likewise, that some of them 
 were very ignorant; others, though they had some 
 notional knowledge, yet had no distinct view of the 
 sinner's way of relief by Jesus Christ. And others 
 again were of tender and weakly constitutions, and 
 possibly have been under some degree of hysteric 
 fits formerly. A good many of these, who were 
 diligent in the use of means, came by the power of 
 
 G 2 
 
154 
 
 God's grace to a good and comfortable issue, or are 
 in a hopeful way. Several who were grossly igno- 
 rant did not apply themselves with a patient diligence 
 in the use of means to get knowledge, and their 
 general convictions of a sinful state and fears came to 
 nothing. These convulsive efFects prejudiced many 
 of the common sort against this blessed work. They 
 know no other convulsions but the epilepsy, or what 
 they call the falUng-sickness. They know not that 
 there are many sorts of convulsions which are not the 
 falling-sickness, or the fits, another name ordinary 
 among them; and therefore whatever they hear called 
 convulsions, hysteric fits, &c., they understand in the 
 worst sense, for the falling- sickness, which they have 
 great dread for. Some of the seceding ministers 
 knowing this prejudice and weakness of the vulgar 
 have, without the least shadow of truth, represented 
 this at a distance in the worst shape, as epilepsies, 
 and accompanied with foamings and other epileptic 
 symptoms, whereas, as far as I could either observe 
 or hear, there was not one who was seized with epi- 
 lepsy or falling-sickness, or foamed : but some op- 
 posers have forged it, as it is well known they have 
 done many other things. And as I have known no 
 instance of the epilepsy, so it is worthy of observation 
 that there is no instance wherein any of these trou- 
 bles became.periodical with any of them, though they 
 recurred frequently upon them before their fears were 
 removed. Some of those women appeared to faint 
 in these hystericisms, and could not speak, but yet 
 heard and understood what was said to them : And 
 the spirit of sal-ammoniac or hartshorn put to their 
 noses was useful to revive them. Their pulse was 
 
155 
 
 not much disordered. Others neither heard nor 
 were otherwise sensible; spirits put to their noses had 
 little influence upon them : their pulse was disordered 
 and their colour changed. There were also some 
 who fainted and fell over as dead without any unusual 
 motion upon their bodies. All these gave the in- 
 ward fears of their souls as the cause of the disorder 
 of their bodies, and the ground and reason of their 
 fears their being convinced and made sensible in a way 
 they never were before that they were sinners. 
 
 Those of the third class were but few compared 
 with the number of the other sorts of the awakened. 
 The reader may judge by this one instance. Upon 
 the 16th of May, when there were nearly thirty 
 awakened, and known to me that night, there was 
 not one of these in the third class mentioned that I 
 can remember, or any other I have enquired at. 
 And yet it is worth notice, that in proportion to this 
 number, as many of this third as of any other class 
 were, through the tender mercy of the Most High, 
 brought to a good issue ; there was only one of this 
 sort whom I discovered to be like those in Lochlairn. 
 The disorder of her body appeared to me more af- 
 fected than natural : she was very easy-like in her 
 aspect when she came out of it : she was grossly 
 ignorant, and I could find in her no distinct sight 
 and sense of sin ; and though she was at pains for a 
 few weeks to learn to read, yet she gave it over. 
 I charged her not to be any more so affected in her 
 body when she was hearing the word ; which had 
 the effect that she never appeared so afterwards, and 
 she continues stupid, careless, and ignorant as for- 
 merly. Possibly there might be some others of this 
 
156 
 
 same sort who, being thus affected, came to me once 
 or twice, and I heard no more of them — this being 
 a case that could not be counterfeited for any time. 
 There have also been instances here, of those on 
 whom the joys and comforts of the Holy Ghost have 
 had sensible influence. Some who had been under 
 deep apprehensions of Divine wrath, and sunk un- 
 der a sense of their guilt, when the Lord enlightened 
 their minds in the knowledge of Christ, opened their 
 hearts to receive him as offered to them in the gos- 
 pel, so explicitly and expressly as to know^ they had 
 done it : and at the same time had views of the ex- 
 ceeding riches of his grace, of the glory of Jesus 
 Christ, and of his ability and willingness to save- 
 them : They have been surprised with such measures 
 of joy and admiration as have made their hearts to 
 leap; some to cry out with a loud voice, expressing 
 their admiration, and showing forth the praises 
 of the Lord ,* others also to break forth into loud 
 weeping, with a flood of tears from a sense of their 
 own unworthiness and vileness; some have had their 
 bodies quite overcome for a time, and ready if not 
 actually to faint through the feeling of such unex- 
 pected comforts and joys. I have seen those who 
 have had their countenance quite changed. An ob- 
 servable serenity, brightness, and openness was and 
 continued upon their face. So that it was the ob- 
 servation of some concerning them, that they had 
 got new faces : the Lord's countenance hath been 
 also the health of some, recovering them from long 
 weakness and bodily distress. 
 
 Under this article a historical account is to be 
 given of those whose imaginations appeared to have 
 
157 
 
 been affected. There have been exceedingly great 
 misrepresentations of this both here and elsewhere. 
 The instances of such are very few, and so inconsid- 
 erable that they gave me no manner of uneasiness. 
 Very near the beginning of this work, I instructed 
 the congregation, by the help of grace, in the strong- 
 est, plainest, and most express manner I could, that 
 Jesus Christ in the body cannot be seen by any with 
 their bodily eyes in this life; " For the heavens must 
 receive him untill the times of the restitution of all 
 things :" — That such a sight of him, if it were at- 
 tainable, would not save them ; seeing many had it 
 in the days of his flesh who yet continued and per- 
 ished in their unbelief, and therefore if any of them 
 should afterwards think they got any such sights, 
 they would be \vell persuaded that it was owing 
 only to the strength of their imagination, to the dis- 
 order of their head, and of the humours of their 
 bodies at that time, and that it was not real ; and 
 that they would especially guard against building any 
 hope upon it, or thinking that their case was bettered 
 by it. This possibly might be one reason why there 
 was so little of this to be observed here. I found 
 none who appeared to have had impressions upon 
 their imaginations but were ready to receive instruc- 
 tion, and easily persuaded that no weight was to be 
 laid upon any of these things. This made me easy 
 and not much alarmed with the few instances I met 
 with or heard of this kind ; especially considering 
 that they evidently appeared to be the natural re- 
 sult, in some constitutions, of the earnestness of their 
 mind and some present disorder of their bodies, and 
 as I was far from looking upon these things as any 
 
15S 
 
 part of the work of the Spirit, or any sign of it ; 
 so I was as far from looking upon them as incon- 
 sistent and incompatible with it. I had read and 
 known so many instances of these things ere now 
 that I was in no danger of either. In one of the 
 spring months, before there was any appearance of 
 this work, I met with a remarkable instance of this 
 kind, which was afterwerds considerably useful to 
 me. It was fn a man who had been a Christian of 
 considerable standing, and of good repute for under- 
 standing, profession, and practice, who was sick for 
 some months, of which sickness he afterwards died. 
 At a time when I visited him, he said there was 
 something he wanted to enquire at me and be satis- 
 fied about. I assured him I was ready to satisfy 
 him what I could. He said, that some days before 
 that he had been much in earnest and serious prayer 
 or meditation ; he thought he saw our Lord Jesus 
 Christ as he hung upon the cross — the wounds in his 
 hands and feet, and the blood running from his pre- 
 cious wounds. His affections had been greatly 
 moved, as they were also when he repeated the story 
 to me, and enquired at me what he should think of 
 it. I instructed him as I best could, that he could 
 see no such things by his bodily eyes : that it was 
 owing merely to his being much affected in his think- 
 ing upon the death of Jesus Christ, to the strength 
 of his imagination, and to the present bad habit of 
 his body; that it was another sight of Jesus Christ 
 as he was pierced that he was to seek after and be 
 exercised in, namely, that mentioned iij Zech. xii, 10. 
 This I am persuaded he had attained before that, at 
 tiiat time, and afterwards. This the honest man was 
 
159 
 
 convinced of and satisfied with. It never entered 
 into my mind to assign it to the Devil, seeing I could 
 find a sufficient cause for it in the man himself; much 
 less to conclude it inconsistent with a work of grace 
 upon the good man, especially seeing he laid no 
 weight upon it, wanted to be instructed what to 
 judge of it, and readily received instruction; so that 
 if I had seen any of the awakened who had been in 
 this honest man's situation it would have given me 
 no manner of fear or uneasiness about them. There 
 is nothing I know here that came this length. 
 
 I shall give 'a faithful history of all I can certainly 
 remember or have recorded relative to this subject. 
 
 Of the many hundreds I have conversed with, 
 there is only one who said she thought she saw hell 
 open as a pit to receive her, one time while she was 
 standing upon the stair that leads to my closet ; and 
 this was nearly a month after her first awakening. I 
 told her it was owino; to her imagination, and that 
 she must see the wrath of God due to her for her 
 sins in the threateninfj of the law. Her convictions 
 made but slow progress, yet at length they appeared 
 to have come to a desirable issue; and she continues, 
 by what I hear, to behave as becoraeth a Christian. 
 It is to be observed, that her awakening began with 
 her being convinced that she was in a Christless state, 
 and of the sadness of such a state. 
 
 There were none who ever said to me, that they 
 thought they saw the blessed Jesus in any form. I 
 heard indeed of three, a woman and two girls, who 
 at one particular time, after much distress of body 
 and mind, said to those with them, that they saw 
 Jesus Christ : but I met with them afterwards, and 
 
160 
 
 examined into it, and they appeared to be ashamed 
 of it, and were convinced that they had really seen 
 nothing. And they did not love to speak of it, they 
 were so far from building any good hope upon it : 
 and by what I could find, those about them, and re- 
 port from hand to hand, had aggravated things much : 
 however the woman hath all the evidences can be 
 desired of her being a tender Christian, though at 
 the same time of a weak head; and both the girls 
 are most hopeful. 
 
 There were three women who said to me, that 
 once, when they were under deep concern and great 
 earnestness, they thought they saw a great and glo- 
 rious light for a very short time. But when I ex- 
 amined into the circumstances, I found that their 
 eyes had been shut at the time, and so easily con- 
 vinced them that it was not real but imaginary, and 
 that no weight was to be laid upon it by them. 
 These three are likewise promising and hopeful. 
 
 I had a few instances, who alleged that they had 
 been frightened with the appearance of the Devil; 
 but when I examined narrowly into it, I could find 
 no further reason for it than their legal and slavish 
 fears, under a conviction of God's being their enemy, 
 and that of all his creatures, because of their sins, 
 which were set in order before their eyes. What in 
 some of these instances they apprehended to be the 
 Devil, seemed to be no more than some dog that 
 came in their way in the night-time, while they were 
 going to pray or had been praying in some solitary 
 place. It did not appear strange to me, to find a few 
 instances (within six) among country people who are 
 from their infancy bred up with stories about fright- 
 
161 
 
 ful appearances, especially in their present situation, 
 when the arrows of the Ahnighty were within then), 
 the poison whereof drank up their spirits, and the 
 terrors of God did set themselves in array against 
 thera, Job, vi, 4. It gave me some pleasure to ob- 
 serve, that no fright of that kind could drive thera 
 from their prayers. 
 
 That 1 may conceal nothing — a judicious young 
 man, and whose convictions seemed to issue in real 
 conversion, having used to go in the night-time to 
 his father's barn and continue there in prayer for 
 some considerable time, said he was frequently dis- 
 turbed with a noise, as if the roof of the house would 
 have come down upon him. I assigned all the or- 
 dinary causes for it I could possibly think upon ; but 
 he affirmed it could be none of these : he still kept 
 to the place, though it continued for the most part of 
 several weeks. A young woman, of a good character 
 from her infancy, and upon whom I hope a saving 
 change hath been wrought last summer, some little 
 before this signal appearance of God in this congre- 
 gation dreamed, that a man came to warn all the 
 people about the town that the Lord was coming ; 
 and the warning was given in the words of Micah, 
 " The Lord's voice crieth unto the city, and the man 
 of wisdom shall see thy name. Hear ye the rod and 
 who hath appointed it," — telling her chapter and 
 verse : Also in the words of Isa. Iviii, 1, " Cry 
 aloud, spare uot, lift up thy voice like a trumpet, and 
 show my people their transgressions, and the house 
 of Jacob their sins." Upon this she awakened and 
 ran to her bible, and was surprised to find chapter 
 and verse answer exactly to what she had dreamed. 
 
162 
 
 She professed she had no occasion to notice particu- 
 larly these scriptures before ; and knew not untill she 
 looked into her bible that they were as she had 
 dreamed. There are some few instances of persons 
 who have in their sleep been directed to scriptures 
 exactly suited to the present case of their souls. 
 
 I shall conclude this Article with an account of 
 this good work in congregations to the northward of 
 Glasgow, since October last. 
 
 The observable state of things in this congregation, 
 during the months of November, December, and 
 January, was, that those who had been awakened, 
 but had attained to no desirable outgate, continued to 
 make progress, and to profit by the use of the outward 
 and ordinary means of grace, especially the younger 
 sort, whose progress was very sensible. They who 
 appeared to have received the Lord Jesus Christ 
 continued to all outward appearance to walk in him, 
 and to grow in grace and in the knowledge of our 
 Lord Jesus Christ, as they continue through grace 
 to do unto this day, March 26th, 1743. There are 
 not above two or three of them known to me whom 
 I have had reason to rebuke for any thing amiss in 
 their walk. Many of them came frequently to me 
 these months, and since, with fears and doubts about 
 their spiritual state : some of their doubts and fears 
 arose from their feeling vanity of mind, wandering of 
 their hearts in the time of holy duties, evil thoughts, 
 hardness of heart, and other inward corruptions; so 
 that they complained that they were worse and wick- 
 eder than ever they found themselves to be before, 
 not considering that formerly they were dead, but 
 now they had life and feeling : that formerly they 
 
163 
 
 were darkness, and now they ,were light in the Lord* 
 Others complained of their want of love to Christ, 
 and of spiritual deadness, because lively motions of 
 their affections were abated. Some of these wanted 
 to know by what marks and signs they might know 
 that they loved our Lord Jesus Christ in sincerity. 
 Others were afraid, and jealous that their faith might 
 not be of the right «ort, and lest they should deceive 
 themselves. Many of them complained much of 
 atheistical thoughts, blasphemous injections, as it 
 were inward dissuasions from prayer and other holy 
 duties, and other sorts of the fiery darts of the wicked 
 one. The societies for prayer continued and in- 
 creased, so that at present they are above twenty-two, 
 which meet once in the fortnight, once in the week, 
 and some of them oftener. The outward reformation 
 of the congregation continues. And during these 
 months mentioned there was great diligence in at- 
 tendance upon gospel ordinances, and great appear- 
 ance of seriousness and concern in hearing, without 
 any considerable outcry. There were few or none 
 newly awakened known to me these months, though 
 I find since that there were some, who had concealed 
 themselves for a time ; only there were some few in 
 and about the town of Kilsyth, then and since, to 
 the number of twenty-three, who of themselves asso- 
 ciated for prayer. I hope it shall issue well with 
 some of tliem, through the tender mercy of the 
 Most High, though there are grounds of fear as to 
 others of them. 
 
 Since the beginning of February the operations 
 of the Holy Spirit have been again more sensible, 
 both as to the awakening of secure sinners, and re- 
 
164 
 
 viving those formerly converted. All or most of the 
 societies of the congregation set apart Tuesday the 
 eighth of February, for thanksgiving to the God and 
 Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, for this surprising 
 and unlooked-for appearance of his grace in so many 
 congregations of this backslidden church and land, 
 and for prayer that it may be general through the 
 length and breadth of the land. There was also 
 transmitted to us, a memorial from the societies for 
 prayer at Edinburgh, inviting the praying societies 
 in this congregation and the congregations about, to 
 join with them, upon the 18th day of February, in 
 thanksgiving and prayer to God upon the foresaid 
 account. 
 
 This congregation kept the same day congrega- 
 tionally. The Rev. Mr. Spears, minister of Lin- 
 lithgow, assisting me in the public work, when there 
 was a very great concern in the congregation. And 
 Mr. Spears and I had much to do in the evening, in 
 conversing with those under distress who had as yet 
 got no outgate ; as also with several of those who 
 had got an escape through grace, but were under 
 great distress at the time, through various tempta- 
 tions. The societies for prayer met at night ; the 
 societies in the congregations about kept this day, 
 or some part of it. The minister of Kirkintilloch 
 preached upon the Thursday, being the 17th, and 
 I think the societies of that parish met upon the 
 same day. 
 
 1 remark this more particularly, to manifest and 
 set forth the glory and praise of our God, who is 
 the hearer of prayer, and who hath been gracious to 
 us at the voice of our cry, for his Son, and for his 
 
165 
 
 holy name's sake. The month of February has 
 been the most remarkable month for the presence 
 of the Lord among us, not only in this congrega- 
 tion but some others about, of any since October 
 last. From Sabbath the thirteenth to Sabbath the 
 twentieth of February there were ten awakened either 
 altogether new, or such upon whom their first awak- 
 ening had long since come to nothing ; since which 
 there have been about eight with me, most of them 
 under fourteen. All this besides thirteeen young 
 boys, who had associated themselves for prayer, with- 
 out any desiring them, and who are since taken un- 
 der such notice as is needful for them. Last month 
 and this hath also been a time of reviving, strength- 
 ening, and confirming to former Christians, and of 
 relieving some of the late converts from their dis- 
 tresses. Of all this I have good documents, some 
 of which shall be given upon the article of reviving 
 in this Narrative, if the Lord permit. 
 
 There are at this time nearly seventy, if not above, 
 from eight to eighteen years of age or thereby, most 
 of whom meet in societies twice a week, and spend 
 the time in prayer, singing some part of a psalm, 
 reading the Scriptures, and repeating their catechism. 
 They are at least once a week under the inspection 
 and direction of some elder Christian who meets 
 with them. About two weeks ago I received a let- 
 ter directed to them, from an English gentlewoman, 
 who is author of the letter to the negroes converted 
 in America. It is so good, and may be so encour- 
 aging and useful to all such young ones who set 
 themselves to seek the Lord, that I give it a place 
 here. 
 
166 
 
 Great Gransden, February 24th, 1742-3. 
 Rev. Sir, — While I was reading the account which 
 you gave me of these dear lambs which are seeking 
 after Jesus, and particularly of those who told you, that 
 at times they were as ill as ever, on account of their 
 feeling of indwelling sin, and fears about their accep- 
 tance with God thereupon, I felt a yearning of bowels 
 towards them, and was inclined to write a line to them. 
 And if, sir, you think it proper, I request the favour of 
 you, to get the underwritten read to them by one of 
 those experienced Christians who assemble with them 
 when they meet in society ; perhaps a word from a 
 stranger may be taken notice of by them. However I 
 leave it with the Lord, and submit to your prudence, to 
 act as he shall direct you. Wishing great prosperity in 
 the Lord and his work. I remain, &c. 
 
 To the dear young lambs in Kilsyth, that are seeking 
 after Christ, a friend of theirs sendeth greeting: wish- 
 ing all salvation through the Saviour's name. 
 
 My dear little Children, — With joy I received an 
 account from the dear servant of Christ, your honoured 
 minister, Mr. Robe, that the Lord has inclined your 
 hearts to seek after him, that the great Shepherd is ga- 
 thering you with his arm, that some of you are carried 
 in his bosom ; and that some of you who are got in to 
 Christ are distressed at times with the feeling of in- 
 dwelling sin, and fears about your interest in God, and 
 acceptance with him on that account. 
 
 And unto you, my dear children, who are seeking 
 after Jesus, and have not as yet sensibly found him 
 whom your souls love, to you let me say, follow on to 
 know the Lord, and you shall know him. — You were 
 born sinners, guilty and filthy you were in your first 
 father Adam ; you sinned in and fell with him in his 
 first transgression. And as his degenerate offspring, 
 you were conceived in sin and shapen in iniquity, and 
 came into the world with a sinful nature, all over de- 
 filed from head to foot, with hearts full of enmity against 
 God, and bent to backslide from him; and you have 
 
167 
 
 gone astray even from the womb, and the righteous 
 law of God curseth every transgressor, and the wages 
 of sin is death : and while souls abide in their natural 
 state they are in apparent danger of God's eternal ven- 
 geance. — But, oh ! behold, God so lo'^d the world that 
 he gave his only-begotten Son, that whosoever believeth 
 in him should not perish but have everlasting life. 
 Jesus has^ borne the wrath and curse of God, for the 
 law condemned sinners that deserved to die the death ; 
 Christ has died in tlie sinner's room; the blood of the 
 Son of God has been shed instead of the sinner's ; Jesus 
 gave his life a ransom for sinners, to satisfy offended 
 justice, and procure our redemption from all misery 
 unto all glory, to save us from sin and hell and to bring 
 us unto God. And God is so well pleased with what 
 his dear Son has done and suffered for sinners, that he 
 can be gracious to them, and has promised to exalt his 
 grace, -magnify his mercy in forgiving their sins and 
 saving their souls unto life eternal, even to the chief of 
 sinners ; to every and all of them that come unto him 
 by Jesus Christ will God be thus gracious. — Are you 
 convinced then, my dear children, that you are miser- 
 able sinners, and must perish for ever, if God of his 
 infinite mercy doth not save your souls? Then consi- 
 der that Christ is the way to the Father. God invites 
 and commands you to believe on his dear Son, to come 
 unto Christ for life, and by him to God the Father, for 
 all that grace and salvation which your perishing souls 
 want. Christ is able to save you to the uttermost ; and 
 lo he is willing to save every poor sinner that comes to 
 him ; the Saviour invites heavy-laden sinners, even all 
 that are weary and burdened with sin, to come unto 
 him, and has promised to give them rest if they do. 
 And no one soul that cometh unto him will he in any- 
 wise cast out. Come then, my dear children, cast 
 yourselves, as perishing sinners, at the Saviour's feet, 
 and you shall find mercy. The arms of Christ stand 
 wide open to receive returning sinners; and if you 
 would find mercy with him, bring nothing with you 
 but your misery. Christ saves all freely, without money 
 and without price, without any worth or worthiness. 
 The Saviour does not look for these, in the souls that 
 
168 
 
 he saves ; but only calls them to come to him in all 
 their misery, to receive that full and complete salvation 
 which he prepared for them, and will bestow upon them 
 freely. And no soul that comes, let him be ever so 
 poor and miserable, wretched and blind and naked, shall 
 be sent empty away. And wait, my dear children, wait 
 patiently for the Lord ; for he hath said, " They shall 
 not be ashamed that wait for me." And with Christ, 
 in Christ, you shall find life, eternal life, and shall ob- 
 tain favour of the Lord. 
 
 And unto you, my dear children, that have found 
 Jesus, and the comforts of his love in his precious pro- 
 mises to your souls ; unto you I say, that none of all 
 vour enemies — sin, Satan, and wicked men — shall ever 
 pluck you out of your Saviour's hands. He will give 
 you eternal life, and you shall never perish. The Lord 
 that hath begun to save you will save you to the utter- 
 most. He that hath forgiven your sins will subdue 
 your iniquities. " The God of peace will bruise Satan 
 under your feet shortly." That little spark of grace 
 which he hath enkindled in your souls shall not be 
 quenched by these waters of sin, that sea of corruption 
 which still abides in your depraved nature. Though 
 sin and grace war in your dear souls, yet grace shall 
 get the victory over sin. The Lord Jesus, the Captain 
 of your salvation, will vanquish all your corruptions, 
 trample these your enemies under his feet, and cause 
 you to set your feet upon their necks ; yet a little while, 
 and these enemies, which pursue and affright your souls 
 to-day, you shall see no more for ever : they shall sink 
 as lead into the mighty waters of the boundless, all- 
 overflowing grace of God, and the infinite merit of the 
 Saviour's blood ; and you, as the redeemed of the Lord, 
 shall sing the Lamb's new song, and say, "Unto him 
 that loved us, and washed us from our sins in his own 
 blood, and hath made us kings and priests unto God 
 and his Father, to him be glory and dominion for ever 
 and ever. Amen." Oh, dear souls I you who have a 
 painful feeling of the working of sin within you have 
 the forgiveness of sins through the Lamb's blood : your 
 sins are forgiven you for his name's sake, and God has 
 wrought the new life of grace in your souls, or else the 
 
169 
 
 workings of sin would not grieve you. If you have a 
 painful feeling of the body of death, it is because you 
 are alive from the dead : and because Christ lives, you 
 shall live also ; because he lives for you and in you, and 
 his life will swallow up all your death. That death of 
 sin which now works in you shall shortly be swallowed 
 up of perfect holiness, joy, and life for evermore. And 
 meantime your Saviour will succour you under all your 
 sorrows, compassionate your souls under all your griefs 
 from the being and working of indwelling sin, and give 
 seasonable grace to strengthen you against corruption 
 and temptation. The grace of Christ is sufficient for 
 you, and his strength shall be made perfect in your 
 weakness. And lo, your interest in Christ, and in God 
 through him, doth not in the least depend upon your 
 frames, nor shake and totter as they alter. Your Be- 
 loved is yours, and you his : he hath betrothed you un- 
 to himself for ever, and hateth putting away : he will 
 never cast you off for your vileness, for all that you 
 have done. And God has engaged, in his new covenant, 
 to be a God, a Father to you, and you shall be his 
 people, his sons and his daughters ; and hath sworn that 
 he will no more be wroth with you, that his kindness 
 towards you shall never depart, but stand firmer than 
 the mountains and hills, outlive time and run oh its 
 own everlasting round to an endless eternity. — And as 
 for your acceptance with God, it is quite out of your- 
 selves ; it stands alone in the person, blood, and righ- 
 teousness of Christ, who is yesterday, to-day, and for 
 ever the same. God the Father has made you accepted, 
 everlastingly accepted in Christ, the beloved of his soul. 
 And in him you have an everlasting standing in divine 
 favour that is quite independent upon your own inhe- 
 rent goodness. God accepts you, my dear children, for 
 Christ's sake, on the account of what he is and hath 
 done, and not on the account of what you are or can 
 perform ; salvation is all of grace, a mere free gift to 
 the chief of sinners. The wages of sin is death ; but 
 the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our 
 Lord. Therefore, my dear little children, abide in 
 Christ by faith. Run daily, as perishing sinners, unto 
 him the great Saviour ; and there you shall be for ever 
 
 11 64 
 
170 
 
 safe from the storms of God's wrath, and eternally so- 
 laced with his present favour. Into the arms of Christ 
 I commit you, as his tender lambs, to be carried safe in 
 his bosom, through a world of trials into a world of 
 glory : and am yours most tenderly in Jesus," &o. 
 
 Third Journal from Kilsyth, sent by a letter from the 
 Minister, June 9th, 1742. 
 
 E. F., about twenty-five years of age, blameless 
 in his former life, and professing religion, began to 
 be convinced more than ordinarily about his spiritual 
 state, from the day he heard the Rev. Mr. Willison 
 of Dundee preach here about the 23rd of ApriL 
 This concern increased the Lord's day thereafter, 
 upon his seeing a young girl awakened and fainting 
 in the congregation. He says, that he reasoned 
 thus within himself, that when a girl so young was 
 so deeply affected with a sense of her sin and danger, 
 his case was sad, who was so little affected. 
 
 Upon the Lord's day, being the 16th of May, 
 when there were many brought into spiritual distress, 
 his anxiety about his soul greatly increased. 
 
 Monday morning he went to a sheep-cote for 
 prayer. By the way he was much concerned, fear- 
 ing that the Lord had passed him by, and earnestly 
 desiring that the Holy Spirit might come for his 
 conviction and awakeninfj. As soon as he came 
 thither and bowed his knees to pray, he said, ** O 
 mighty God of Jacob, why passest thou by me ? send 
 thy Holy Spirit to convince and awaken me, and give 
 me a discovery of myself." Upon which he fell into 
 great distress, seeing himself lost and undone, and 
 thought he got a sight of all his sins, both original and 
 
171 
 
 actual, and that so particularly that he could confess 
 them by name unto the Lord. He says, that his 
 particular sins came continually into his mind one 
 after another; and that he could not leave the place 
 without confessing them to the Lord : which kept 
 him from eight till ten in the morning. He says 
 further, that he saw the dreadful evil of unbelief, and 
 was made to cry out against it as a damnable sin ; 
 and broke out in thankfulness to God for awakening 
 him, and thought it was so great a mercy, that he 
 could not be thankful enough for it, nor could he, 
 as he says, get the greatness of the mercy out of his 
 raind. He was brought to me the same day, under 
 the greatest agonies of any I have seen. Upon the 
 18th of May, his case appeared to me very hopeful, 
 and continued so in his coming to me from time to 
 time. 
 
 May 31st, he told me he was grieved for sin, be- 
 cause offensive to God, but thinks he cannot get 
 grief enoucrh for his sins. I told him, if he had such 
 a sense of sin, and degree of humiliation, as made 
 him willing to part with all sin, that was the measure 
 to be desired. He said, that he was afraid lest there 
 be yet some sin that he is not willing to part with, 
 that the Lord doth not send relief to him. I told 
 him it was too much of a legal spirit to expect relief 
 upon the account of any thing attained by him ; and 
 that he must look for it upon Christ's account, and 
 wait patiently the Lord's time, who is sovereign in 
 giving comfort as well as grace; and that he must 
 search and try whether there be not some sin he is 
 not willing to part with, and which, if he did not, 
 would separate between God and him. He said, 
 
172 
 
 vvorldliness was a dreadful sin, and frequently came 
 into his mind in duty. I advised him to humble 
 himself before God for it, and to cry to him to search 
 and try him, and to see every wicked way in him. 
 He said, he desired to part with that and all other 
 sin. 
 
 I asked him what views he had of Christ. He 
 said he saw him to be an all-sufficient Saviour, able 
 and willing " to save to the uttermost ;" but that all 
 the fault was in his own unwillingness ; and that he 
 assayed frequently to close with Jesus Christ. I 
 asked him what he took closincr with Christ to be. 
 He answered, that he took closino; with Christ to be 
 a receiving him as a Prophet to teach him the way 
 of salvation, as a Priest to atone for him and to be 
 his righteousness in the sight of God, and as a King 
 to rule over him and to subdue sin and corruption in 
 him; and that without Christ's righteousness imputed 
 to him he can never be accepted in the sight of God. 
 I told him, he must also rely upon Jesus Christ for 
 salvation, with some confidence and persuasion of 
 faith, to obtain it according to the promise. He said, 
 that it was there where it stuck with him. I advised 
 him to go and mourn for this unbelief, and to pray 
 for the spirit of faith, and to assay this way of be- 
 lieving. 
 
 June 4th, he came to tell me that he had gotten 
 sensible relief. He said, that upon Wednesday, 
 June 2nd, in hearing the sermon upon the Spirit's 
 convincing the world of righteousness, from John, 
 xvi, 10, he had considerable satisfaction : he was 
 made to see the insufficiency of his own righteousness, 
 and the sufficiency of Christ's, and that he could 
 
173 
 
 not be justified in the sight of God without it, and 
 \vas wilHng to disclaim his own and accept of Christ's. 
 He told me further, that coming to hear sermon upon 
 the said Wednesday, his master by the road told him 
 several marks of grace, which he thought he could 
 find in himself: namely, hatred at all sin, because 
 contrary to God ; love to the people of God, as the 
 people of God; and an earnest desire to have all 
 others brought to Christ, especially his relations ; 
 and that he went home meditating upon the ser- 
 mon. 
 
 Next day, namely, June 3rd, one I know to have 
 been a good Christian a long time, and of the best 
 memory I have known, was with him the most part 
 of the forenoon, and repeated to him, at his desire, 
 all the heads of the foresaid sermon several times over, 
 and prayed with him. In the afternoon he went to 
 a barn and assayed to close with Christ, which he 
 was enabled to do with distinctness, where he got such 
 clearness as not to doubt of his interest in him, and 
 broke out into the high praises of God. He was 
 refreshed with the following scripture : " Behold I 
 stand at the door and knock ; if any man hear my 
 voice, and open the door, I will come in to him, and 
 will sup with him, and he with me." He sought 
 and found it out, and in reading over the third chapter 
 of the Revelation, where it is, he was filled with won- 
 der at the greatness of God's grace in bestowing such 
 privileges upon and exalting man after this sort ; and 
 his heart was filled with such joy and love to Christ, 
 that he was like to leap off" the seat where he was 
 sitting. He says, that he was much afi^ected in read- 
 ing the 12th verse of the said chapter, and that he 
 
1T4 
 
 could scarcely believe that it was so with him : wherein 
 he was like unto the disciples "who believed not for 
 joy," but wondered, when they had a risen Jesus 
 among them. He was directed to the seventy- first 
 Psalm, in the words whereof he praised God, and 
 said, he could not end untill he sung the last line of 
 the 6th verse, "I ever will praise thee." He said, 
 he was afraid lest he should fall back again into 
 worldliness, and be ensnared by bad company. I 
 told him he must say and do as David did, " Depart 
 from me, ye evil-doers ; for I will keep the command- 
 ments of my God," 
 
 James Robe. 
 
 Sixth Journal from Kilsyth : Extracted from my book, 
 June 30th, 1742. 
 
 L. M., aged about twenty-eight years, and for- 
 merly of a blameless life, was awakened on May 17th, 
 by seeing and conversing with his brother under spi- 
 ritual distress. On the niijht of the ITth he was so 
 deeply distressed that he could sleep very little, but 
 was like one distracted with terrors. Next morning 
 his distress was encreased by reading that passage of 
 Alleine's Alarrh wherein he discourseth of God's be- 
 ing an enemy to unconverted sinners ; which passage 
 he met with at the first opening of the book. 
 
 May 18th, He was brought to me under great ago- 
 nies affecting his body though a very strong man. 
 I observed his reason clear and undisturbed, and that 
 he gave a distinct account of himself. He was ex- 
 ercised with a view of particular sins, and in a lively 
 manner felt himself to be a guilty condemned sinner ; 
 
175 
 
 had a deep impression of original sin and corruption 
 as rendering him Hable to eternal wrath, though he 
 had not been guilty of any actual sin ; had a deep 
 sense of the sinfulness of sin as done against God, 
 and of the sin of unbelief as hardening his heart 
 against the voice of Christ in reading and hearing 
 his word : he was struck with the dreadful fears of 
 falling into the state of torment ; and saw the great 
 goodness and long- suffering of God in not cutting 
 him off in the act of some sin or other. He was 
 supported somewhat with the views of the remedy 
 Christ Jesus, and that he came into the world to save 
 sinners, which he desired to lay hold on for the 
 ground of his hope. After this day he conversed 
 with me and some other ministers several times. 
 
 May 20th, He seemed to have attained to some 
 composure by assaying to close with Jesus Christ. 
 
 May 28th, He declared that when he was engaged 
 in prayer, he felt his soul going out in the accep- 
 tance of a whole Christ as his only Saviour, in all his 
 offices for his salvation : his Prophet to teach him 
 by his word and Spirit ; his Priest to reconcile him 
 to God by his sacrifice ; and his King to subdue his 
 sin, sanctify, and rule him ; disclaiming all confidence 
 in his duties and desiring to rely on him alone for 
 salvation ; withall giving away himself to the Lord 
 to be saved upon his own terms, to live unto him 
 and serve him in newness of life ; resolving, in the 
 strength of Jesus Christ, to live a holy life to his 
 glory, and yet not to rest on it as a ground of peace 
 and acceptance. He said, he was greatly afraid lest 
 he should fall back into sin and be a scandal on reli- 
 gion, after what God had done for him ; and that 
 
176 
 
 he was exercised with the fears of hypocrisy and pre- 
 sumption in receiving Christ, against which it re- 
 lieved him to look to Christ anew, who came to save 
 the chief of sinners, and is offered to him in common 
 with others, 
 
 June 26th, He told me, that after some new awak- 
 enings he had attained to greater degrees of sensible 
 relief. Particularly the reading of the Rev. Mr. 
 Whitefield's text, Mark, xvi, 16, in the congregation, 
 struck him to the heart, and he cried, " Lord, I be- 
 lieve, help my unbelief:" after which, during a good 
 part of the sermon, he endeavoured to close with 
 Christ in all his offices, and was filled with wonder 
 at the grace of God, who had done such wonderful 
 things for him, a poor miserable blind and naked 
 sinner. He got over all his former doubts and fears ; 
 had great stirrings of love to Christ : and could not 
 tell what way to praise God, wishing that all the 
 saints would praise him, for he could not do it enough, 
 " Christ was once offered to bear the sins of many ; 
 and unto them that look for him will he appear the 
 second time without sin unto salvation," was brought 
 to him in great light, and he had some views of the 
 glory and excellency of Christ and of his love to him. 
 That night his lively frame went off for three days ; 
 but yet he was without doubts and fears. 
 
 Friday night, as he says, he attained to a lively 
 frame, and observed that the Holy Spirit had set all 
 his affections astirring, and warmed them after Christ, 
 as he terms it. 
 
 Saturday morning, he found himself loaded with 
 spiritual joy, and when he went to prayer many pro- 
 mises were brought home to him; he saw them to be 
 
177 
 
 ^* Yea and amen in Christ Jesus," and that they not 
 only belonged to hira, but had what he calls a heart- 
 feeling of thera. He says, he had a great sense of 
 Christ's love to hira, and was filled with joy. This 
 frame continued with hira through the day. In the 
 evening, reading the seventh and eighth chapters of 
 the Roraans, he thought he had a heart-feeling of 
 every thing in them, and as he says, he could not 
 apply one promise by another, for he thought that 
 all belonged to him. And that he hath the ground- 
 ed faith and persuasion of the eighth chapter of the 
 Romans from the 35th verse to the end. He said 
 further, that his case and exercise were an allusion, 
 as he called it, to the men at sea mentioned in Psalm 
 cvii, from the 23rd to the 28th verse, which he read 
 to me. 
 
 The above persons, as they were blameless in their 
 lives before, are now spiritual and edifyingin their ordi- 
 nary converse, and exemplary in their conversation; 
 and their lives have been unexceptionable, edifying, 
 and christianly useful, to this 21st of April. 
 
 James Robe. 
 
 Seventh Journal from Kilsyth, extracted from my Bookf 
 July 7th, 1742. 
 
 N. O. came to me under much trouble of mind, 
 June 2nd. He told me he found himself first 
 affected upon the 19th of May, while he was hearing 
 the word of God preached in this congregation, and 
 that his spiritual distress has continued to increase 
 upon him, and that many particular sins he hath 
 
 H 2 
 
178 
 
 clone stare liim in the face and make him uneasy, and 
 that he can name them to God in confession when 
 he prays. 
 
 June 3rd. He told me that his sight of particular 
 sins is encreasing, and that he is convinced he hath 
 been in a state of unbelief all his life, and that it is 
 a dreadful sin, and further, that he sees the corrup- 
 tion of his nature to be such that unless it be taken 
 away from him he cannot be healed or saved. He 
 said that he was born an heir of hell, and was under 
 the wrath of God and condemning sentence of his 
 law also, because of his actual transgressions. T 
 enquired at him the reason why he was sorry for his 
 sins : he answered, because the justice of God threa- 
 tened him in the word with wrath for sin, and that 
 he could not be saved unless he was sorry for his 
 sins. I instructed him that he must be sorry for his 
 sins because he had offended a just, holy, merciful, 
 and gracious God by them, and that this must be 
 the chief and principal reason of his sorrow for sin, 
 else it would not be godly sorrow, working repentance 
 unto salvation, never to be repented of, and that the 
 other, which was only sorrow for sin because of wrath, 
 though reasonable and allowed, yet it was but legal 
 and selfish where there was no more. 
 
 June 7th, He was with me, and declared that he 
 was sorry for his sins because he had offended God 
 by them, and that he had never done any duty ac- 
 ceptably, though there is no dependence upon duties 
 for acceptance with God when done. I asked him, 
 what use he endeavoured to make of hearing yester- 
 day the dreadful misery unbelievers are under and 
 
179 
 
 Hable to because of unbelief preached : he answered, 
 he endeavoured to do as the prodigal did, to return 
 to his Father's house, to lay aside his unbelief, and 
 to believe upon the Lord Jesus Christ ; I instructed 
 him then, as I had done formerly, in the nature of 
 faith, and pressed it upon him. 
 
 June 17th, He said, that since he had been with 
 me, he had been more distressed than ever ; for Sa- 
 turday night last he read a sermon of Mr. Andrew 
 Gray upon " praying without ceasing," and finding 
 himself come so far short of what he saw in that ser- 
 mon, he fell into a swoon, and lay a long time insen- 
 sible, and that of all his other sins his unbelief most 
 affected him. 
 
 June 28th, He said, that he had now great joy 
 because he could mourn much for unbelief, and en- 
 deavoured to lay it aside. He said that at Calder 
 he was enabled distinctly to accept of Jesus Christ, 
 which was followed with such joy that he thought if 
 he had the tongues of all the angels in heaven and men 
 upon the earth, he would not get enough of praise 
 to God ; and that for the most part of that night 
 he was employed in prayer and praise. He was cast 
 down upon the Thursday because of felt unbelief, 
 but upon the Wednesday he was brought again to a 
 comforted frame by the blessing of the Lord upon 
 some things he heard spoken from Psalm cxxxviii, 
 before the singing of it in the congregation. He was 
 with me this day, and continues to believe upon the 
 Lord Jesus Christ with peace and joy. 
 
 James Robe 
 
180 
 
 ARTICLE VI. 
 
 Concerning the Variety and Number of the Persons 
 who have been Under the Influence of this Blessed 
 Work in this and some neighbouring Parishes, 
 
 The work of God's Spirit, which is the subject of 
 this Narrative, as to its extent hath not been confined 
 to one sort of persons, but hath been extended to some 
 of every denomination and kind. 
 
 Those who have been the subjects of the awakening, 
 and, I am persuaded, also of the regenerating influ- 
 ences of the Holy Spirit, have been of all ages. 
 
 Many solid divines are of opinion that there are 
 but few of those who live under the gospel from their 
 infancy who are converted after they are thirty years 
 of age. And, indeed, for some number of years past, 
 it hath been rarely heard of before this present time, 
 that any number were converted after middle age. 
 This should excite all persons under that age speedily 
 and earnestly to seek after grace and to come to 
 Christ, lest either they be cut oflPby death in their 
 youth, and so their life be eternally among the unclean, 
 or enter into that period of life wherein the conversion 
 of sinners is rarer than in tliat wherein they are. But 
 at the time that we write of there were many per- 
 sons past middle-age, even as far as hoary hairs, that 
 were awakened ; and of these a goodly number con- 
 verted. The greatest part of them between thirty 
 and forty years of age ; a few between forty and fifty ; 
 much like the same number between fifty and sixty ; 
 not above two or three above sixty ; only one near or 
 above eighty. I speak of those known to me in this 
 
181 
 
 parish or neighbourhood. I can say no great things of 
 these old persons beyond awakening, and a professed 
 serious concern to learn the way of salvation by Jesus 
 Christ ; so great was their ignorance, the weakness of 
 their faculties, and the confusion either of their ideas 
 or want of words to express them. As this is an ex- 
 press warning to every young reader, I entreat thee 
 to stop a Uttle and think upon it if thou be such a 
 one, not to delay conversion and turning to God by 
 Jesus Christ untill the shadows after mid-day lengthen 
 upon them ; so the instances given, joined with the 
 calls and promises of the gospel, serve greatly to give 
 hope and encouragement to the oldest Christless sinner 
 to return to God by faith in Jesus Christ. You 
 who read this, being old and yet unconverted, have 
 indeed great reason to be ashamed that so many young 
 ones have got the start of you ; but you have no 
 reason to forbear a diligent use of means to be con- 
 verted, from a despair of attaining it when you are 
 old or of finding mercy in case you shall be converted. 
 The comparatively fewer instances of people con- 
 verted after middle age than of those before it should 
 excite to greater diligence, but by no means should 
 take away hope to succeed, seeing there are instances. 
 Say not, old sinner, as Nicodemus, " Shall a man 
 return into his mother's womb, being old ?" Re- 
 generation is a spiritual work, and you are capable of 
 it though you are old. God promiseth to pour out 
 his Spirit upon old ones, Acts, ii, 17. He can raise 
 up to himself a temple from a ruinous heap of stones 
 that is ready to drop in pieces. Let not therefore the 
 greater difficulties of conversion in your age weaken 
 your hands; let them rather quicken you to strive with 
 
182 
 
 greater earnestness to attain that which others, with 
 all your disadvantages, have notwithstanding attained. 
 
 There were a very considerahle number of young 
 men and women from twenty to thirty years of age, 
 awakened and hopefully converted; and also, I trust, 
 they are by grace this day " strong, have the word of 
 God abiding in them, and by faith overcome the 
 wicked one." I am persuaded, that if the awakened 
 of this period are compared wdth the awakened either 
 under or above it, it may be found that fewer of them 
 in proportion have miscarried or failed of the grace of 
 God than of those others. 
 
 There have been not a few under twenty years of 
 age awakened, and several of them savingly wrought 
 upon. " Out of the mouths of babes and little chil- 
 dren God hath ordained to himself praise, to still the 
 enemy and the avenger." One of six years of age 
 was awakened ; she was in great distress, and cried 
 out much when she was first awakened. When she 
 was brought to me after sermon, I was greatly sur- 
 prised with such an instance. I enquired at her where- 
 fore she cried, and what ailed her: She answered, 
 Sin. I asked her how she came to feel that sin 
 ailed her : she answered, " From the preaching." I 
 asked her what she had heard in the preaching that so 
 much affected her: she answered, '* She heard me say, 
 that they who got not an interest in Christ would go 
 to hell." And she said that she would fain have an in- 
 terest in him. This was upon the 23rd of June, 1742. 
 Upon the 27th of June, being the Lord's-day, she 
 was greatly distressed during the whole time of the 
 sermon. Amoncr other thinfrs 1 asked her at nitrht, 
 what she would give for an interest in Christ : she 
 
183 
 
 answered that she would give her life for Christ, 
 July 6, Her distress continuing, she was again with 
 me : she said, that it was sin ailed her; for it deserved 
 God's wrath and curse both in this life and in that 
 which is to come. She was brought to me from time 
 to tirade untill winter, and I instructed her as the Lord 
 enabled me. I enquired at her if she know any sins 
 in particular she had done against God: she answered, 
 " Lying and banning." " She frequently told me, 
 in answer to such questions, that she prayed most of 
 all to get an interest in Christ ; and that she wanted 
 to get Christ to save her from her sins ; and that she 
 was willing to have him to be her Saviour. Her 
 parents went out of the parish to some distance, and 
 I have not heard of her for some years past. There 
 was another of seven years of age awakened the same 
 summer ; she lived near me and came often to me ; 
 she attained to a good measure of knowledge; she 
 was a member of one of the meetings of the young 
 ones : and, as I was informed, she prayed far beyond 
 what could have been expected from her age. She 
 is since deceased : she died professing to be sensible 
 of her need of Christ. 
 
 There were above seventy from nine to seventeen 
 or eighteen years of age awakened. There were some 
 of these who at length lost the impressions made upon 
 them, and their convictions in time came to nothinsf. 
 There are above forty of them who, after long instruc- 
 tion, and a profession of their acceptance of the Lord 
 Jesus Christ as their Saviour, and of God in him for 
 their chief good and last end, have been admitted to 
 the Lord's table frequently ; and, by what I can know 
 of them, walk as becometh the gospel. Some of 
 these were awakened at ten, eleven, and twelve years 
 
184 
 
 of age ; they gave hopeful evidences of a saving 
 change, and continue so to do. I could give a par- 
 ticular account of the progress of the work of God 
 upon their souls, from the Journal that I kept, as has 
 been done in the preceding part of this Narrative, but 
 forbear, lest I increase the bulk of this book. 
 
 It is an observation of practical writers, that there 
 are no sort of sinners excepting one that Christ, in a 
 way ofsaving grace, does not call some of effectually to 
 himself; so it was in this place. There were several, 
 who had made some profession of religion, and were 
 blameless in their lives, who were at this time greatly 
 awakened and thoroughly convinced of their being 
 Christless unbelievers ; and a work of conversion was 
 hopefully carried on upon them. There were also 
 several who had been guilty of gross sin, — such as 
 adulterers, cursers and swearers, drunkards, and dis- 
 honest persons, who were greatly awakened; and some 
 of these gave ground to hope their saving conversion; 
 and that it might be said to them, what the apostle 
 saith to the Corinthians, " And such were some of 
 you, but ye are washed, but ye are sanctified, but ye 
 are justified, in the name of the Lord Jesus and by 
 by the Spirit of our God." There were some of 
 good knowledge andunderstanding who were awaken- 
 ed and convinced, that they knew nothing yet as they 
 ought to know ; and willingly became fools, that they 
 might be spiritually and really wise : " counting all 
 things but loss for the excellency of the knowledge 
 of Jesus Christ our Lord." There were some grossly 
 ignorant persons also awakened, who were at little 
 pains to get knowledge, and make proficiency therein; 
 and there is good ground to hope well of some of 
 them, even " that God who made the light to shine 
 
185 
 
 out of darkness, shined into their hearts, to give unto 
 them the light of the knowledge of his glory in the 
 face of Jesus Christ." 
 
 There were many men awakened, and to appearance, 
 savingly changed, as well as many women. There 
 were many of strong, courageous, and stout spirits, as 
 well as some of timorous and weak minds and spirits, 
 who were subdued to Christ in this the day of his 
 power. There were many of healthy bodies and 
 constitutions who were made sensible of their spiritual 
 sickness ; and of their need of Jesus Christ the Phy- 
 sician of souls, and whom he both wounded and healed : 
 and there were also a few of melancholic and hysteric 
 dispositions who were healed by Christ's stripes; and 
 there is nothing of what is called religious melancholy 
 remaining with them, as far as is known to me. I 
 know no instance here of any persons whose bodily 
 health or understandings have been hurt by the most 
 violent effects of their awakening ; but, since the 
 ceasing of their awakenings, either in a right or in a 
 wrong way, they have been as healthy as before. Yea, 
 there is an instance of a young woman who had been 
 for some years under a wasting and consumptive dis- 
 temper, keeping her bed for the most part, who 
 obliged her friends to carry her one evening to hear 
 God's word, where she was awakened. She was so 
 low that I thought she would live but a few days ; 
 yet from that time she recovered, and in appearance 
 the Lord made both her soul and body whole. 
 
 It would run too far to be more particular; neither 
 do I find it advisable to enter upon other Articles pro- 
 posed in the beginning of this Narrative : I shall there- 
 fore proceed to the conclusion of it. 
 
186 
 
 ARTICLE VII. 
 
 Concerning the Perseverance of those who Appeared to 
 be Hopefully Changed During the Extraordinary 
 Season of Grace* 
 
 There were many, in the years 1742 and 1743, 
 while we had the desirable days of the Son of man 
 in this and other congregations, who called upon us 
 not to be too hasty in pronouncing the then extra- 
 ordinary work to be good untill we saw the fruits of it 
 in the after lives and conversations of those who were 
 the subjects of it ; and who asserted, that we could 
 affirm nothing of the conversion of such persons untill 
 it was manifested by persevering in goodness for some 
 time. I do not remember that I ever heard such 
 persons condescend on how many years such subjects 
 were to be continued under trial ere we could war- 
 rantably entertain and declare such a charitable per- 
 suasion of a good work being begun and carrying on 
 in them, as one Christian may have of another. They 
 have never hitherto told us whether this time of pro- 
 bation was to extend to two, three, four, or nine years, 
 or untill the death of the subjects of this good work. 
 I have formerly, in my Monthly History for the years 
 1743, &c., testified to the public the continuance of 
 many of them in such a way as " showed their faith 
 by their works." I published also in that history 
 the express declaration of others, testifying the same 
 • concerning those within their knowledge: particularly 
 a long accurate letter from the Rev. Mr. Warden, 
 
187 
 
 then minister of Campsie, but now at Perth, dated 
 December 16th, 1743. 
 
 I am now to conclude my Narrative of this extra- 
 ordinary work at Kilsyth, &c., with this Article con- 
 cerning the perseverance of those who appeared to 
 be converted in this and other parishes of the neigh- 
 bourhood, in the years 1742 and 1743. It hath 
 been long delayed, and, in the opinion of several who 
 often called upon me to finish it with such an Article, 
 is too long. This delay was partly owing to design 
 and partly to other reasons needless to insert here. 
 
 This Article comes now to be published more 
 seasonably than it could have been any time before 
 this. The false and malicious reports spread in several 
 places in Scotland, at a distance from this, Cambus- 
 lang, &c., that this extraordinary work was come to 
 nought, and that all the subjects of it were turned 
 worse and wickeder than they were before, were suffi- 
 ciently contradicted by what I published in the Monthly 
 History. 
 
 We are greatly rejoiced, and excited to praise the 
 God of all grace, by accounts we have had from Hol- 
 land of such an extraordinary work of the Holy Spirit 
 being begun at Niewkerk, Putten, &c., in the 
 Duchy of Guelderland, about the latter end of 1749; 
 and of its continuance since, and spreading into 
 Juliers, &c. We are not surprised to find that there 
 is the same opposition to it that there was in Scot- 
 land, and in all other places where this blessed out- 
 pouring of the Holy Spirit was. The kingdom of 
 Satan and his methods in supporting it, and of op- 
 posing the advancement of the Mediator's kingdom 
 of grace, are much the same in all parts of the earth. 
 
188 
 
 The spreading of lies, slanderous reports, and ridi- 
 culous stories of the subjects of this work, was one 
 of the methods the evil spirit made use of to preju- 
 dice those at a distance against it, and to hinder its 
 progress ; and in this he had too great success. 
 Yet this lasted but for a time, and the good work was 
 rendered more illustrious and evident thereby : for 
 many, both ministers and others, came from distant 
 places to enquire into the nature of this work, and, 
 by being eye-witnesses and conversing with the sub- 
 jects of it, went away fully satisfied of its goodness, 
 and of the falseness of the evil reports spread of it, 
 blessed God for what they had seen; yea, some of 
 those who came full of prejudice against it became 
 the subjects of it : " They fell down on their faces, 
 worshipped God, and reported that God was in such 
 places of a truth." 
 
 About the beginning of this work in Scotland, 
 many false reports were sent from New- England in 
 anonymous pamphlets, letters, &c., from those in the 
 opposition there, representing what had been of it 
 in these provinces as enthusiasm and delusion; 
 denying any remarkable work of conversion to be 
 carried on ; and magnifying imprudences, irregulari- 
 ties, and exceptionable things, which in some places 
 were intermixed with this work, and which the most 
 of the promoters and friends of it condemned as much 
 as they, and opposed to the utmost of their power. 
 But in a very little time, the falsehood of these 
 reports were made manifest here, and occasioned 
 more abundant, explicit, and public attestations to 
 the goodness of this work in New-England, and the 
 hopefulness of the subjects of it. It had also this 
 
189 
 
 ffood effect, that it made ministers called to be im- 
 mediately concerned in this work here to watch dili- 
 gently against the very first first appearance of these 
 exceptionable things, which, by the Divine blessing, 
 had its desired effect: for, as may be observed from 
 the above impartial Narrative, little if any of these 
 things mixed with this work here. And it is to be 
 
 o 
 
 hoped, that those worthy ministers of Christ in the 
 Netherlands, whom the Lord of the vineyard may 
 honour to be employed in this glorious work, will use 
 the same caution. 
 
 We are informed that the same method of oppo- 
 sition is made use of in Holland against this blessed 
 work, and that there are some who confidently report 
 there, that this work in Scotland was all enthusiasm, 
 that it is come to nothing, and that the subjects 
 of it are fallen away, and become worse than they 
 were before. 
 
 This hath occasioned a minister in Holland to 
 renew his repeated entreaties to me, to finish my 
 Narrative, by giving an account of what can be said 
 of the perseverance of the hopeful subjects of this 
 work. Others in this country have joined him in 
 this desire. I have a letter from a gentleman of 
 piety and good judgment, at some distance from this, 
 who had seen a copy of the above minister's letter. 
 He writes me as follows: — " He entreats you to pub- 
 lish something to show that the blessed work at Kil- 
 syth, Cambuslang, &c., was not abortive; but that 
 the happy fruits thereof endure. Dear sir, if I 
 could say any thing further to the same purpose, 
 gladly would I do it. You see in the above minis- 
 ter's letter, that even in that country this slander is 
 
190 
 
 propagated; — that it is said all was fancy and en- 
 thusiastical fits, and the subjects of it fallen back to 
 sin. Dear sir, doth not all this call you to do jus- 
 tice to the work of God; and not let it and the 
 sincere followers of the Larab be slandered and re- 
 proached?" There hath been no time since tbe 
 beginning of this Narrative when the concluding of 
 it with this Article could have been so seasonable as 
 now, as has been already observed. I am therefore 
 persuaded that by the wise and overruling providence 
 of God, to W'hom all his works are known from the 
 beginning, it hath been reserved to this time, when 
 it serves to contradict those most false and slanderous 
 reports, and to promote the interests of religion, and 
 the kingdom of Jesus Christ in a church and country 
 of all others most dear to us. 
 
 I shall therefore not only give a sincere and im- 
 partial account of what I know of the perseverance 
 of the subjects of this work in this congregation and 
 neicrhbourhood, but also insert the declarations of 
 several well known ministers of the gospel in this 
 church concerning the perseverance of many in their 
 parishes, or otherwise known to them : some of which 
 I have had by me for some time past, and others of 
 them are newly received: and if there had been time 
 for it many more might have been obtained and 
 inserted here. 
 
 In the parish and congregation of Kilsyth, there 
 were many awakened and under a work of conviction 
 to public knowledge and observance, whose convic- 
 tions and impressions ceased, without coming to any 
 good issue, some sooner, some later. There have 
 been some here under greater terrors and a sharper 
 
191 
 
 awakening than many of those were, who by grace' 
 appeared to attain a desirable and hopeful issue of 
 their spiritual distress, who came to nothing — they 
 rested short of Christ, became secure again, and 
 returned to their former life. Some of these last 
 were many weeks, if not months, under great terror 
 and distress. Some of those who lost their impres- 
 sions came to no saving issue, by being engaged too 
 much in worldly affairs. " The cares of this life 
 choked the word, and they became unfruitful." 
 Some through ignorance, and not being diligent to 
 learn the way of salvation through Jesus Christ; 
 some through the influence of evil company, and 
 consulting with flesh and blood; some through the 
 outcry raised by the Seceders, that all their convic- 
 tions were but delusions and from the Devil, one 
 way or another they resisted the Holy Spirit, and 
 provoked him to withdraw his influences, and so the 
 work of the Spirit upon them ceased, and came to no 
 saving issue. 
 
 There are instances of those under convictions, 
 who not only returned to their former careless and 
 sinful lives, but are worse than they were formerly, 
 as they were expressly warned, from the word of 
 God, would be the case, if their convictions issued 
 not in their saving conversion. It hath happened 
 unto them, as our blessed Lord declared to the Jews, 
 " When the unclean spirit is gone out of a man, he 
 walketh through dry places, seeking rest, and findcth 
 none. Then he saith, I will return into my house 
 from whence 1 came out; and when he is come, he 
 lindeth it empty, swept, and garnished. Then goeth 
 he, and taketh with himself seven other more wicked 
 
192 
 
 than himself, and they enter in and dwell there; 
 and the last state of that man is worse than the first." 
 This hath hefallen a few who were under notorious 
 awakening and convictions; but a greater number 
 who were under degrees of awakening and conviction, 
 appearing only in the general reformation of the parish 
 for a time. Of which general reformation there is 
 a particular account given in the former part of this 
 Narrative. This hath long since ceased, and the 
 gross sins of drunkenness, uncleanness, profaning 
 the holy name of God, strife and debate, abound 
 among these more than ever I knew in this place, 
 unless it was at the time of my first coming to it. 
 It is true indeed that there are several both of the 
 notoriously awakened, and of those whose impres- 
 sions appeared in some outward reformation, who 
 continue more reformed outwardly than they were 
 before this work, upon whom I can discern no evi- 
 dence of their having undergone a saving change. 
 They seem to rest upon their convictions and amend- 
 ment of life, as their righteousness in the sight of 
 God ; and to rest in them without seeking any thing 
 further. 
 
 This was feared and looked for from the beginning 
 of this extraordinary work. We never either thought 
 or said that such a work of awakening and conviction 
 was saving conversion, though we looked upon it 
 then, and continue still to judge it, the work of the 
 Holy Spirit, answering many good ends to the glory 
 of God, and the real good of this part of his church. 
 Neither did I ever pronounce such persons converted 
 because of their outcries and other effects of their 
 inward fear, though they continued long in such a 
 
193 
 
 situation ; or because of any steps or degrees they 
 attained of mere conviction. Many miscarrying 
 under a work of conviction is and always hath been 
 as ordinary in the church as many blossoms perishing 
 every year without coming to fruit, yea, many more 
 than ever ripen. It is judged with great probability 
 that there are few who live any long time under the 
 preaching of the word but who are under some con- 
 vincing work of the Holy Spirit some time in their 
 life; and yet the far greater part live and die uncon- 
 verted. This is the deplorable case of many more 
 than what is generally imagined; and where the new 
 creature is perfectly formed in one awakened person, 
 there are many abortions and miscarriages. 
 
 Although there hath been so many awakened who 
 sooner or later lost all their uneasy impressions with- 
 out coming to rest in Christ ; yet, blessed be the God 
 and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, there were a 
 considerable number who gave good reason to me 
 and others to hope well of them, and charitably to 
 conclude that they had undergone a saving change. 
 It is known to several of my brethren, that I was 
 not forward in expressing my good thoughts of the 
 attainments of particular persons, but rather upon the 
 reserve and slow in what concerned this. But what 
 could I do with those who, after often-repeated 
 instruction, converse with them, and inquiry into the 
 progress of this work upon them, gave such an account 
 of their convictions and their progress — of their 
 being enlightened in the saving knowledge of Christ — 
 of their receiving him by faith in all his offices — of 
 their consolation and other exercises, as agreed with 
 the Holy Scriptures, corresponded with the expe- 
 
 I 64 
 
194 
 
 rienccs of formerly converted persons, and was evi- 
 denced by the outward universal reformation of their 
 lives ? Was I not to look upon all this as good 
 ground to conclude in charity that they were become 
 real Christians? And might I not, when I found it 
 was needful, declare to such persons, that such things, 
 if they were in them as they declared, were those 
 things that accompany salvation ; and that though 
 they were sometimes in darkness, yet they were now 
 light in the Lord, and should be very careful to walk 
 as children of the light; warning them in the strong- 
 est terms, of the dreadfulness of the sin and danger 
 of backsliding and apostacy, with other suitable ex- 
 hortations and directions ? These, a very few ex- 
 cepted, continue to this day to have their conversa- 
 tion such as becoraeth the gospel, and to manifest 
 their faith by good works, to the glory of God. 
 Three or four of these excepted have fallen into gross 
 sin, from which I hope they have recovered by re- 
 pentance, and bring forth fruits meet for it. 
 
 There are two things I expressly assert, and am 
 able to make good, that of those who were judged 
 hopefully converted, and made a public profession of 
 religion, there have been fewer instances of scandal 
 and apostacy than might be and was expected : yea, 
 further, that in proportion to their numbers there 
 hath been fewer instances of apostacy of these than 
 of those who gave me hopes of their conversion in 
 former years. 
 
 It is most certain, that the great earnestness ap- 
 pearing in them by their extraordinary diligence in 
 external duties, outward expressions of their affec- 
 tions, and their employing what many thought too 
 
195 
 
 much time in religious concerns, is ceased ; and they 
 are come to Hve and to mind the lawful affairs and 
 business of this life as others before them did. 
 The ceasing of this earnestness was one of the prin- 
 cipal reasons why enemies concluded, and gave out, 
 that all the good these persons pretended to, and 
 were thought to have attained, was evanished and 
 gone : whereas, if it had continued they would have 
 objected that it could be no work of God that hin- 
 dered such persons from being useful to themselves 
 and others in the stations and relations wherein'' he 
 had placed them. This hath also proven discour- 
 aging to some of these Christians themselves, and 
 made them call in question the goodness of their 
 state. But such would do well to remember that, 
 as Mr. Henry expresseth it, " we cannot judge of 
 ourselves by the pangs of affliction : these may be 
 more vehement and sensible at first; and their being 
 less so afterwards ought not to discourage us. The 
 fire may not blaze so high as it did, and yet may 
 burn hotter and stronger." 
 
 It is to be lamented, that many of them have lost 
 much of the liveliness they had for some years, and 
 are seized with that spiritual deadness which at 
 this day is so much the sad disease of the people of 
 God every where in this church. x4.nd I am afraid 
 that the Lord hath the charge against us he had 
 against the church at Ephesus, " Nevertheless, I 
 have somewhat against thee, because thou hast left 
 thy first love." Some of them are sensible and com- 
 plain of it, and I hope are using proper means for 
 help, though 1 am persuaded it is but faintly. They 
 also appear at times to be under greater degrees of 
 
196 
 
 concern than others in hearing the word of God. 
 There are also some who continue not only living 
 but lively Christians. And yet the Lord's message 
 to the foresaid church of Ephesus is undoubtedly to 
 be applied to the most of his people here, both for- 
 mer and later converts, " Remember therefore from 
 whence thou art fallen, and repent, and do the first 
 works ; or else I will come unto thee quicly, and re- 
 move thy candlestick out of its place, except thou 
 repent.'' 
 
 It is no evidence that the hopeful subjects of the 
 extraordinary work here do not persevere, that sev- 
 eral of the numerous societies for prayer are ceased, 
 more than it is that all the real Christians in this 
 parish were fallen away because all these societies 
 were ceased for some considerable time before this 
 work appeared here. Some of these societies are 
 failed, because the members of them, being single 
 and unmarried persons, are removed to other places 
 at a distance either by marriage, or entering into some 
 other families as servants. In some cases two smaller 
 societies are become one. And in some instances 
 persons have forsaken these meetings, and particular 
 meetings have ceased, without being able to assign 
 any satisfying reason for it ; and no other can be 
 given besides degrees of backsliding and their love 
 waxing cold. This last hath been the sad case of as 
 many of those who were professors before this extra- 
 ordinary work as of those who have become such 
 since. If there be no more to bring into the account, 
 it will neither infer apostacy, nor that such persons 
 were never converted. Elder Christians, who either 
 never joined in any society for prayer, or who have 
 
197 
 
 given up with them after joining, would think they 
 were hardly dealt with to be censured as apostates, 
 or persons who never had a saving work, merely upon 
 this account ; and is it not as hard and unjust to 
 treat any of the hopeful subjects of the late good 
 work after this sort ? and yet both these denomina- 
 tions have great reason to charge themselves with 
 shameful backsliding, and to be afraid lest, having 
 begun to depart from the living God, it proceed from 
 an evil heart of unbelief, and may at length issue 
 in total and final apostacy. If he that standeth should 
 take heed lest he fall, much more should he who in 
 some instances and degrees hath fallen already, and 
 is not what once he appeared to be. 
 
 I have this further to add concerning the hopeful 
 subjects we speak of, that I never had such satisfac- 
 tion and clearness in admitting any others to the 
 Lord's table as I have had in admitting them; and 
 that few or none besides gave me such comfort and 
 satisfaction concerning their spiritual state and con- 
 dition as these do when they are sick and dying or 
 in any other state of trial and affliction. A few of 
 them, after that they had lived several months or 
 years, to outward appearance, worthy of the Lord, 
 to all well-pleasing, have been taken from us by 
 death. Those who made the greatest noise about 
 forbearing to pronounce this extraordinary work good 
 untill we should see the after-lives of the subjects of 
 it, and whether they persevered or not in the good- 
 ness they professed, must acknowledge, if they deal 
 fairly and candidly, that these persons were hopefully 
 converted; seeing that they continued to walk like 
 such, from the supposed time of their conversion 
 
198 
 
 unto the end of tlieir trial for eternity. And is it 
 not reasonable, and a part of that charity which 
 "thinketh no evil, and hopeth all things," to hope that 
 those who have continued so many years blameless 
 and harmless, as the children of God without rebuke, 
 in the midst of a perverse and crooked nation, among 
 whom they shine as lights, shall continue so unto the 
 end? 
 
 For this reason I required the following Attesta- 
 tions of the kirk session to the perseverance of those 
 persons only who had been blameless in their lives, 
 according to the measure of good Christians; leaving 
 out those who had fallen into gross sins, although 
 they had given good evidences of their repentance ; 
 as also those who had some things which some one 
 or other of the session complained of, and wanted to 
 have them admonished for, even where these things, 
 if true, were not sufficient grounds to doubt of their 
 conversion. Yea, it was said in the session by some 
 of its members, and not contradicted by others, that 
 there were several omitted in the list of persons pro- 
 posed to the session as hopeful as those who were 
 inserted, and who are from time to time admitted to 
 the Lord's table ; and who would have been admitted 
 if the holy supper had been dispensed in the congre- 
 gation at this time ; though, indeed, after warnings 
 and admonitions suitable to the verity and importance 
 of the complaints made. But I choose rather to 
 lessen the number of the persons attested, to cut oft* 
 occasion of caviling and objection from those who 
 desire and wait for it. 
 
 I shall now subjoin an extract from the session 
 minutes of the Attestation referred to. 
 
199 
 
 Manse of Kilsyth, March 19th, 1751. 
 
 The session being met for prayer, according to a 
 former appointment, the minister read to them the 
 names of above a hundred persons, who were most of 
 them brought under notorious sriRiTUAL concern 
 in the years 1742 and 1743, and of whom he had good 
 ground to entertain good hopes. 
 
 The under-subscribing members of the session, elders 
 and deacons, hereby testify and declare. That all those 
 of them who are now alive have been, from year to 
 year, admitted by the kirk session to the Lord's table, 
 since their first admission, either in these forementioned 
 years or since ; and, in as far as is known to the said 
 members, they have had their conversation such as be- 
 cometh the gospel ; as also, that four or five of the said 
 list, who are now removed by death, behaved untill their 
 said removal as became good Christians. The above 
 testimony, written by Ebenezer Paterson, session clerk, 
 is subscribed, day and date foresaid, by 
 
 John Leslie, Elder, 
 Alexander Patrick, Elder, 
 Henry Ure, Elder, 
 James Miller, Elder, 
 John Rankine, Deacon. 
 
 March 24th, 1751. 
 The which day, the session being met, the persons' 
 names that were read in the meeting of the session 
 upon the 19th of this current being read before the 
 members present, the then absent members did now 
 subscribe the foresaid testimony, namely, 
 
 Robert Graham, Elder, Wm. & David Shaw, Deacons, 
 
 Andrew Provan, Elder, James Rankine, Deacon, 
 
 Henry Marshall, Elder, James Zuill, Deacon, 
 
 David Auchinvoll, Deacon, Mark Scott, Deacon. 
 Walter Kirkwood, Deacon, 
 
 I now proceed to insert letters I have received, 
 testifying the perseverance of considerable numbers 
 of those awakened, and judged to be converted, in 
 other parishes, in the years we write of. 
 
200 
 
 Letter from the Rev. 3Tr. Warden^ Minister at Perth, 
 
 Perth, March 26th, 1748. 
 Rev. and very dear Sir, — In answer to yours, desir- 
 ing me to inform you of what I know as to the perse- 
 verance of those persons who were the subjects of that 
 spiritual concern which appeared so remarkably in the 
 years 1742 and 1743, 1 might refer you to what I wrote 
 you of the 16th of December, 1743. The particulars 
 of that, I can, with great freedom and solemnity reattest : 
 but if you would have me to express more, I do hereby 
 attest, That of persons in the parish of Campsie whose 
 concern was known to me, there was not above four 
 persons of whom, at my leaving that place, I should 
 conclude were fallen from their profession. There were 
 others of whom I knew little, particularly as 1 had very 
 few opportunities of conversing with them ; but whose 
 practice, as far as I could observe, was unblamable. 
 And with great pleasure I yet think on many of them, 
 of whom I could not but entertain the highest opinion 
 and the greatest hopes. A solid and lively sense of 
 divine things seems to fill them with love to God, 
 humility, self-deniedness, meekness, and charity ; and 
 a jealousy of themselves and their own attainments 
 seems to animate them with a peculiar earnestness in 
 every religious exercise. In a word, their devotion is 
 exemplary, and remarkably produces the fruits of reli- 
 gion in a regular and industrious discharge of relative 
 and social duties. I hope God will strengthen what he 
 has wrought for them and their fellow-Christians in 
 Kilsyth and the neighbourhood. That God may make 
 us yet see more of his grace and power attending the 
 ministration of the gospel is the sincere prayer of, 
 Yours, &c., John Warden. 
 
 Letter from the Rev, Mr. l^r shine, Jun., of Carnoch, 
 Minister of Kirkintilloch.^ 
 
 Kirkintilloch, April 2oth, 1748. 
 Rev. and dear Brother, — When I had the pleasure, 
 about a fortnight ago, of seeing you here, you asked 
 
 ^ Dr. John Erskine, a master in our Israel, by whose truly 
 
201 
 
 my sentiments in writing, as to the extraordinary reli- 
 gious concern in this parish in the years 1742 and 1743. 
 I now comply with your request ; and allow you to 
 make any use you think fit of what follows. 
 
 The Rev. Mr. Burnside was at that time minister 
 here. I never had the happiness of hearing him preach ; 
 but from his general character at Edinburgh, as well as 
 here, 1 may venture to say, no man had less of a turn 
 to enthusiasm. I believe many who entertain preju- 
 dices against the late revival, and whose testimony in 
 this case none will suspect, can abundantly attest this. 
 None ever charged him with endeavouring in his pulpit 
 performances to work up people to a mechanical devo- 
 tion, by addressing the passions without informing the 
 judgmenU Nor had he any friendship for outcries, 
 bodily agitations, and a noisy religion. He used the 
 utmost pains to discourage every thing of that kind. 
 Perhaps, in some instances, his caution carried him too 
 far; and led him to oppose things which, though no 
 
 admirable sermons we may all profit. The writer of this heard 
 him frequently in the Old Greyfriars', Edinburgh. His matter 
 was weighty, scriptural, unctuous ; — his manner solemn and pi- 
 thy and earnest, — broader as to Scottish accent and pronuncia- 
 tion than was common even at that period, (years 1792-3-4). 
 The life of this excellent man and eminent ornament of the 
 Church of Scotland, written by Sir Henry Moncrieflf, contains 
 inter alia an excellent defence of the work at Cambuslang and 
 Kilsyth. Had Dr. Erskine's views of church matters, and the 
 doctrine and mode of preaching he pursued been the prevailing 
 system, instead of that supported by his colleagues, Principal 
 Robertson and Finlayson, the history of the Church of Scotland 
 for the last eighty years would certainly have exhibited a very 
 diflFerent aspect in regard to spiritual prosperity and practical 
 efficiency. A better spirit has for the last thirty years revived 
 among us. May the work prosper abundantly. The age of 
 Cummin, of Robertson and Hill, has been the leaden and the 
 secular age of the Church of Scotland. The memory of John 
 Erskine is truly savoury. Methinks I still see his venerable figure, 
 and hear his earnest affectionate address. When in the General 
 Assembly the cause of foreign missions was opposed on the 
 srround that Paul did not preach to the rude people of Malta, Dr. 
 Erskine said, "Rax me the Bible," and read the account of that 
 visit, and said, " Paul prayed, and surely it would be in the name 
 of Jesus, and he would tell them why he did so," &c. I was 
 present at this interesting scene in 1792. — Ed. 
 
 I 2 
 
202 
 
 evidences of a saving change, were in themselves good 
 and commendable. In such a situation, the temptation 
 to feign convictions or to affect outward manifestations 
 of religious concern could be but small. I have not 
 learned one instance here in which there was the least 
 reason to suspect such base hypocrisy ; but have been 
 informed, that many did their utmost to restrain their 
 concern from discovering itself publicly, but found it 
 too overpowering to conceal. 
 
 While Mr. Burnside endeavoured calmly and judi- 
 ciously to inculcate the important doctrines and duties 
 of religion, the truths delivered fell with weight on the 
 consciences of the hearers. By a moderate computa- 
 tion, above a hundred in this congregation became 
 deeply concerned about their eternal interest, and en- 
 gaged in a serious inquiry, " What they should do to 
 be saved." Of this I think there is all the evidence the 
 nature of the case can admit. These convictions were 
 not raised in them while attending the ministrations of 
 Mr. Whitefield or any stranger, but while hearing their 
 own minister and those in his immediate neighbour- 
 hood. I know of but two exceptions, namely, a per- 
 son who, if I remember right, dated her conversion 
 from a sermon preached by the Rev. Mr. Ogilvie at 
 Aberdeen, and another who, by hearing Mr. Whitefield, 
 was first convinced of the danger of a self-righteous 
 spirit. 
 
 If we are to examine religious appearances by the 
 marks contained in 1 John, iv, I think I must conclude 
 that there was then a glorious work of the Spirit in this 
 place. The perseverance of those then awakened does 
 not seem necessary to justify such a conclusion. For 
 the Spirit may really strive with men without working 
 a saving change upon them. And if that be the case, 
 no wonder that those who quench his motions, "return 
 with the dog to his vomit, and with the sow that was 
 washed to her wallowing in the mire." 
 
 But I have little need of this observation in the 
 present case. Drunkenness, uncleanness, evil speaking, 
 litigiousness, and an awful disregard of every thing ser- 
 ious, do indeed lamentably prevail here; but then, it is 
 not among the subjects of these religious impressions. 
 
203 
 
 but among those who stood it out unconcerned in that 
 remarkable day of grace, and who were some of them 
 mockers and opposers of the work of God. Indeed, 
 eight or nine, who were once greatly concerned about 
 religion, though they have not fallen into gross out- 
 breakings, seem to have returned to former carelessness 
 and stupidity ; and as many more, though still con- 
 cerned about salvation, are, I am afraid, seeking it in a 
 wrong way, and building on a sandy foundation. But 
 is it not matter of wonder that no more such instances 
 have appeared, and that so great a proportion of the 
 awakened should not only hold on their way, but wax 
 stronger and stronger ? 
 
 I do not, however, pretend to assert, that all who 
 seem to be persevering in religion are indeed real 
 converts. Probably there may be foolish virgins mixed 
 with the wise. Man can judge only by the outward 
 appearance, — it is God that knoweth the heart. Tares 
 may so nearly resemble the wheat that it may be im- 
 possible to know the one from the other till the Lord 
 of the harvest make the distinction. But this is no 
 reason of entertaining harsh sentiments of particular 
 persons, whose experience seems scriptural and their 
 walk blameless; though it is a very strong reason for 
 insisting often on those refuges of lies, which prove 
 fatal to multitudes of professed Christians. 
 
 It is not surely the interest of the prince of dark- 
 ness to conduct men to the " light, that their deeds 
 may be reproved thereby." — What then shall I con- 
 clude, when persons educated in the grossest ignorance, 
 incapable of reading a chapter in their bibles, who 
 scarcely ever bowed a knee to God, who went to church 
 only to see or be seen, without lending the least atten- 
 tion to the preacher, whose only happiness was the lust 
 of the flesh, the lust of the eye, or the pride of life, and 
 who made no scruple of the hidden works of darkness 
 or dishonesty, having no dread of an after account ; — 
 what shall I conclude when many such are pricked to 
 the heart, and cr}-, " Men and brethren, what shall we 
 do ?" — when they apply their hearts to wisdom, and 
 lift up their voice for understanding, seeking it as sil- 
 ver, searching for it more than for hid treasures — when 
 
204 
 
 they seem to discern such a beauty and excellency in 
 the way of salvation through Christ as convinces them 
 that so glorious a scheme could have none but God for 
 its author, and determines them to venture upon Jesus, 
 as able and willing to save to the uttermost — when, 
 " as new-born babes, they desire the sincere milk of the 
 word, that they may grow thereby," and for that end 
 apply themselves with diligence and success to learn 
 those things which their parents had neglected to teach 
 them in their younger years — when their knowledge of 
 the doctrines and duties of religion seems daily in- 
 creasing — when their conversation is such that enemies 
 to religion have no handle to traduce fhem save for 
 their zeal in the matters of their God — and when their 
 zeal does not run out on trifles, or things of lesser 
 moment in religion, but for the advancement of the 
 kingdom of grace in their own hearts, and in the world 
 in general ? Shall I not say, " This is the Lord's doing, 
 and wondrous in our eyes"? Is it possible for any 
 Christians to have due opportunities for observing such 
 things, and yet not to rejoice ? And yet this and more 
 than this 1 might say with justice of many in this con- 
 gregation, particularly in the southern parts of it, which 
 before were remarkable to a proverb for ignorance and 
 profanity. The children of those who scarcely can tell 
 there is a Redeemer have advanced so in knowledge and 
 holiness, in the space of these five years, as may put 
 those to the blush who have had the advantage of a 
 most pious education, and are Christians of an old 
 standing. 
 
 I know nothing of any here having made the least 
 pretension to visions, dreams, supernatural revelations, 
 &c. And I know not above four or five whose faith 
 seems founded upon imagination. — One error indeed, 
 that several seem to entertain, though I do not think it 
 occasioned by the late religious concern, or by the doc- 
 trine preached here and in the neighbourhood, namely, 
 that persons have no warrant to trust in Christ for sal- 
 vation, or at least, to conclude themselves already in a 
 justified state, till some text of Scripture declaring that 
 their sins are forgiven be impressed on their minds, 
 has had these three bad effects : Some have thought it 
 
205 
 
 was vain for them to attempt to believe till they heard 
 this inward voice of the Spirit ; others, who have really 
 closed with the Saviour, have continued doubtful about 
 their interest in Christ, for want of such impressions ; 
 and, which is most dangerous of all, four who appear 
 to have had no spiritual discoveries of the ability and 
 willingness of Christ to save, and the free and full offers 
 of salvation through him to the chief of sinners, have 
 yet rashly concluded from such impressions that their 
 sins were forgiven. But I have reason to think, that 
 other places hav^e felt more the pernicious effects of this 
 notion than the congregations where the revival took 
 place. Yours, &c., John Erskine. 
 
 P. S. Being much in Edinburgh in the years 1742 
 and 1743, 1 had particular occasion to observe that Mr. 
 Whitefield's sermons were honoured to excite serious 
 thoughtfulness in the minds of many about religion, 
 and to turn the general strain of their conversation to 
 subjects useful and improving. Rashness in communi- 
 cating experiences was the only disorder that prevailed 
 among them. But I am afraid the goodness of many 
 (who seemed at that time seeking the way to Zion) 
 has proved " as a morning cloud and early dew, which 
 soon passeth away." Though, blessed be God, others, 
 and some of them persons of character and distinction, 
 give ground to hope better things of them, even things 
 that accompany salvation. 
 
 In another letter, the Rev, Mr. Erskine writes 
 
 me as follows. 
 
 Kirkintilloch, Feb. 22, 1751. 
 
 Rev. dear Brother, — My sentiments of the religious 
 concern in this place are the same as when I wrote you 
 in April, 1748. If I understand any thing of the Bible, 
 it obliges me to judge charitably of every professed 
 Christian who understands the fundamental doctrines 
 of Christianity, and whose conversation is as becometh 
 the gospel; I mean, whose behaviour is pious and de- 
 vout, sober and temperate, humble and patient, just and 
 honest, meek, charitable, and forgiving. Such has been 
 
206 
 
 the behaviour of most of the subjects of the late reli- 
 gious concern in this place. The joy which some of 
 them have expressed in the immediate view of death 
 and eternity, the patience and resignation others of 
 them have discovered under very heavy afflictions, 
 their meekness under injuries and reproaches, their 
 contributing, to their power, yea, and some of them 
 beyond it, for relief of the afflicted and for propagation 
 of the gospel, and the candid teachable disposition I 
 have observed in the most of them, even when I have 
 thought it my duty to oppose some of their favourite 
 opinions or practices, are things which argue them ani- 
 mated by another spirit than most among whom they 
 live. If any have discovered that these things are con- 
 sistent with delusion, I am sure they have not learned 
 it from Paul's account of the fruits of the Spirit, Gal. v, 
 22, or James's description of the wisdom that is from 
 above, James, iii, 17. If their religion was confined to 
 the church or closet, and did not discover itself by a 
 regard to stational and relative duties, the severest re- 
 flections thrown upon them by some who speak evil of 
 the things which they know not would be excusable. 
 But these censures flow from a disposition which all 
 censure in others, but most are too guilty of themselves ; 
 I mean a readiness rather to believe evil reports without 
 evidence, than favourable reports however well attested. 
 I am persuaded, however, that a thorough acquaintance 
 with these people would effectually remove the preju- 
 dices of fair and honest minds. I wish by all means 
 you would not defer publishing the conclusion of your 
 Narrative. Perhaps it is better to do it with fewer and 
 more imperfect attestations than to wait much longer. 
 
 Yours, &c. 
 
 John Erskine. 
 
 Letter from the Rev. Mr. Halley, Minister of Muthil. 
 
 Muthll, February 26th, 1751. 
 
 Rev. dear Brother, — Yours of the 20th I received 
 upon the 23th instant, and in answer thereto, the re- 
 flection upon and remembrance of the glorious doings 
 
207 
 
 of our God and King in his sanctuary in this place, in 
 the years 1742 and 1743, gives me still much pleasure, 
 and cannot but beget a longing to see such days of the 
 Son of man again. But God is a sovereign disposer of 
 his grace, both as to persons, times, and places. "The 
 wind bloweth where it listeth." However, I am fully 
 persuaded that the gracious fruits of that glorious work 
 will abide with many in this congregation to eternal 
 ages. As I never expected the continuance of the 
 extraordinary awakenings that were in these years, so 
 as little did I expect that all that were awakened should 
 arrive at a real conversion. I doubt not but when the 
 Spirit of the Lord is in some extraordinary way con- 
 curring with gospel ordinances for the conversion of the 
 elect, others may feel of his common operations, which 
 may evanish as a morning cloud. About six of these 
 persons that were the subjects of that glorious work (I 
 have all reason to believe) are gone to partake of the 
 rest remaining for the people of God. As they had a 
 gospel-walk, and were exercised unto godliness in the 
 usual way, so at their death they gave a notable testi- 
 mony to the truth and reality of religion and experi- 
 mental godliness. With some of them who had been 
 long in the dark about their state, at evening it was 
 was light, doubts and fears dispelled, and an abundant 
 entrance was ministered unto them to the heavenly 
 kingdom of our Lord. There are a great many in this 
 and some neighbouring parishes, yet in the land of the 
 living, who were the subjects of that work, to whom it 
 has been a saving so far as men can judge, if we are to 
 judge the tree by its fruits, their walk being (as to 
 human observation) such as becometh the gospel, 
 nothing (so far as I have been informed) appearing 
 about them inconsistent with a gracious state. There 
 are indeed both with them and Christians of a longer 
 standing, great complaints of much deadness, withdraw- 
 ing of the Spirit, and suspending of his influences from 
 public ordinances, private and secret duties, which I 
 am informed is a general calamity over the whole 
 national church at this day, and no wonder that it be 
 so, all things considered. Your affectionate Brother, 
 
 William Hal ley. 
 
208 
 
 Letter from the Rev. Mr. JBaine, Minister at Killearn. 
 
 Killearn, April 18th, 1751. 
 Rev. and dear Sir, — I cannot but reflect with sorrow, 
 that during the late revival the subjects of religious 
 concern in this place were but few, there being scarcely 
 eight persons upon whom it was then visible ; but it 
 will give you pleasure to know, and you may rely on it, 
 that of these there are three or four who continue to 
 give most satisfying evidence of their being affectionate 
 disciples of the Redeemer ; and particularly some of 
 them are among the most eminent private Christians I 
 was ever acquainted with, being remarkably poor in 
 spirit and humble in their walk with God, frequently 
 blessed with high measures of sensible communion with 
 him, and fervent love to the whole of human kind, even 
 their enemies. What pity that some of our dear brethren 
 in the ministry, and others who have no access to see 
 this grace of God, or by some unlucky means disbelieve 
 it, should be deprived of a cause of joy which makes 
 glad the inhabitants of heaven itself. With my best 
 wishes for yourself and family, I am, &c., 
 
 James Baine. 
 
 I shall here subjoin an extract from one of the 
 papers of the Rev. Mr. Gillies, one of the ministers 
 of Glasgow, directed to the inhabitants of the South 
 parish, and the hearers in the College-kirk, dated 
 Saturday, February 16th, 1751, as an express attesta- 
 tion to the perseverance of many of the subjects of 
 the revival in 1742, and which no person has pre- 
 sumed to contradict ; for, after he had inserted an 
 account of the revival in Holland, he adds : 
 
 You see, my dear friends, this work has been so re- 
 markable as to raise the attention of many in that 
 country where Providence has sent it, and to produce 
 several writings both for and against it. We need not 
 
209 
 
 think it strange that it should meet with opposition, 
 though there were no other reason but men's liableness 
 to misinformations and mistakes. But I know that 
 many of you to whom I now write, from the accounts 
 you have got of its nature, and of its being the same in 
 kind with the religious concern that appeared in this 
 corner, at Cambuslang, &c., in the year 1742, will have 
 no hesitation to pray for its progress. Many of you, 
 from what you saw of that concern, and some of you 
 from what you felt, were convinced that it was the work 
 of the Spirit of God. And, blessed be his name, I am 
 now personally acquainted with several of you who were 
 subjects of it, and who continue, to the glory of free 
 grace, to bring forth the fruits of a sober, righteous, and 
 godly conversation. 
 
 I know there are some melancholy instances of back- 
 sliding : our Lord has plainly taught us to expect such 
 things. But that the revival which was at Cambuslang 
 and other places in this country in 1742 has come to 
 nothing, has not been followed with any good fruit in 
 people's lives, (as I understand some in Holland, who 
 are not as yet favourable to the work there, are in dan- 
 ger to imagine,) you and I both know to be otherwise. 
 And I think it my duty to declare so much to his glory 
 who I am persuaded was the Author of that work. 
 
 A Letter Signed hy Twenty-five Members of Session 
 in Glasgow. 
 
 Glasgow, March 25th, 1751. 
 
 Reverend Sir, — We, under-subscribers, members of 
 the Kirk-Sessions of Glasgow, understanding that ye 
 are collecting informations respecting the reputed sub- 
 jects of the revival of religion in 1742 and about that 
 time, in answer to an enquiry, Whether all of them, or 
 the generality of them, have proven backsliders, as it 
 would appear is alleged by some at distant places ? we, 
 judging it our duty to embrace this opportunity, do 
 attest, from our personal knowledge of several of these 
 persons, and from credible information from persons of 
 undoubted characters who know many of them, that the 
 
210 
 
 said unfavourable allegation and accusation are not 
 facts ; but to this present time goodly numbers of them, 
 both in town and country, who were looked upon to 
 have obtained a gracious outgate under their awaken- 
 ings and convictions, and were admitted to the ordinance 
 of the Lord's Supper, give the same kind of evidence 
 of their perseverance that founds a judgment of charity 
 in other cases. That whereas an estimate was made in 
 1743 of our additional communicants, and was published 
 in your Monthly History for December, being No. II, 
 whereby it is noticed, that the increase of the number 
 of tables v^hen the Lord's Supper was given in October, 
 1743, was about eighteen tables, each three tables, almost 
 in all the churches, containing about or nearly two 
 hundred communicants, which was in all about twelve 
 hundred, we reckon that that computation was very 
 moderate ; and think it requisite to observe, that, pre- 
 ceding the time of this revival, for a course of j'ears, 
 ordinarily there was at most only about fifty-four tables 
 of communicants at giving of the Lord's Supper in this 
 place, containing about three thousand six hundred com- 
 municants ; and that since that to this time there have 
 been little or no decrease of these numbers, amounting 
 in all to four thousand eight hundred persons ; and that 
 the number of backsliders since that time, so far as we 
 know or have been able to learn, is comparatively small ; 
 that several of those persons who were the subjects of 
 the late revival as above, and have since died, gave 
 comfortable evidence of their perseverance to the end. 
 Had it been needful and expedient, we could have been 
 more particular, both as to the number and names of 
 those we write of. That preceding this reviving period, 
 religion seemed to be at a low ebb, and like to dege- 
 nerate in its life and power to mere form. The benefits 
 of this revival and spring-tide of Divine influences were 
 not confined simply to those above noticed, said to be 
 the subjects of that blessed work, who indeed shared 
 deeply in the convincing and regenerating, yea and com- 
 forting operations of the ever-blessed and Holy Spirit ; 
 but also great numbers who, in the judgment of charity, 
 might be termed God's people, many of whom of long 
 standing, and who attended at these places where that 
 
211 
 
 blessed work was, did share deeply in these uncommon 
 and extraordinary blessings and showers of the Divine 
 influences to their great joy, confirmation, and upbuild- 
 ing, so that it is with much pleasure they do reflect 
 upon and speak of that ever-memorable period ; and 
 we may add that a very uncommon liberty, life, and 
 strength, was bestowed upon numbers of the ministers 
 who were employed at these places, (some of whom at- 
 teuded from very distant corners,) and that they were 
 helped to speak in evidence and demonstration of the 
 Spirit and of power. We shall conclude with noticing, 
 that we have reason to bewail the misimprovement, by 
 ourselves and others, of such blessed days of the Son of 
 man ; and we desire to join with you and others in sup- 
 plicating him with whom the residue of the Spirit is, 
 for a more plentiful efi^usion than ever of the Holy Spirit 
 from on high upon this and all the reformed churches ; 
 so that their branches may yet spread, and that they may 
 revive as the corn, grow as the vine, and cast forth their 
 roots like Lebanon. Wishing you all success and wel- 
 fare, we are, &c. 
 
 Letter from the Rev. Mr.Maclaurin, one of the Ministers 
 
 of Glasgow. 
 
 Glasgow, May 8th, 1751. 
 Rev. dear Brother, — When you are publishing attes- 
 tations of the perseverance of goodly numbers of the 
 subjects of the revivals in 1742 and about that time — 
 however much we here came short, at that period, of 
 other places near us; yet, as that period did and still 
 does appear to me the most extraordinary I ever saw, 
 as to evidences of the success of the gospel ; and, as I 
 am almost the only minister of this town that was in 
 that station here during the whole of that period ; and 
 have had all along the evidence which things of this 
 kind admit of, and which is sustained in other cases, of 
 the perseverance of goodly numbers of these people — I 
 judge it encumbent on me, on these accounts, to join 
 with others in attesting what is so fit to be remembered 
 and recorded. 
 
212 
 
 If facts, thai have the important character of public 
 notoriety, are on thataccount attended with distinguished 
 moral evidence, that character appears plainly applicable 
 to the fact relating to the increase of persevering com- 
 municants, so well attested by twenty-five members of 
 Sessions of this city, in a letter signed by them and 
 directed to you. It is proper to observe, that though it 
 were only supposed that one-fourth part of the increase 
 mentioned in that estimate were inhabitants, it must far 
 surpass any thing of that kind known here these twenty- 
 eight years that I have been a minister in this place, or, 
 so far as I can learn, in the memory of any now living in 
 it ; though it is still to be much regretted that there are 
 not many more communicants, I mean worthy ones, in 
 so populous a place ; that after so uncommon an increase 
 of communicants as in the estimate referred to, had 
 there been so numerous backslidings as some aspersions 
 must imply, a proportional number of suspensions from 
 the sacrament must be presumed to have ensued, which 
 is not the case ; that continued admissions are really 
 continued attestations of the perseverance now enquired 
 into ; that the attestations implied in such admissions, 
 and those contained in the above-mentioned paper, 
 have the concurring characters which in other cases 
 render testimony valid, namely, that the witnesses are 
 sufficient as to their character, their number, and their 
 means of knowing what they testify ; that among real 
 backsliders there are, through Divine mercy, instances 
 of returning backsliders ; that some, who at first were 
 much suspected to be deceivers, have, for a tract of time, 
 given to those who know them best strong proofs of 
 their uprightness ; that persons whose conduct has oc- 
 casioned reproach to the revivals are not always found 
 upon inquiry to be persons whose profession of religion 
 began at that period ; that the unfavourable things above 
 mentioned are far from being said in the way of mere 
 charitable conjecture ; that instead of that, they are the 
 consequences of such evidence as arises partly from ex- 
 tensive personal acquaintance with these persons, partly 
 from occasional inquiries about them from time to time, 
 partly from more laborious scrutinies set on foot pri- 
 vately, both formerly and of late, among persons atten- 
 
213 
 
 tive to such thinus ; and, lastly, that if any who possibly 
 know only backsliders can be supposed to claim a right 
 of judging harshly of those whom they own they do not 
 know by those whom they do know merely because the 
 religious profession of both began about the same time 
 or place ; it must be easy for the unprejudiced to ob- 
 serve what principles such reasoning must be built on, 
 what consequences it must infer, and what affinity it 
 has to some people's way of judging of all professors of 
 religion in general, at whatever time their profession 
 began. I am yours, &c. 
 
 John Maclaurin. 
 
 Narrative of the Revival of Religion at Cambuslang, 
 in a Letter to a Friend, 
 
 Sir, — As the report of the good work at Cambus- 
 lang, which has for several weeks engaged the atten- 
 tion of numbers in this city and neighbourhood, is 
 now spread over a great part of the nation, it is no 
 wonder that one who lives at the distance you do 
 thould be curious to have a true relation of it ; and 
 as I would be glad of any opportunity to serve you, 
 it is very agreeable to me to think I can gratify you 
 in this matter; especially in what concerns the people 
 in that parish and some others near to it, having had 
 opportunity to converse fully with the minister of 
 Cambuslang, and with many of the people there who 
 are under this spiritual exercise, and also with some 
 other ministers who have several in their parishes that 
 appear to be under the same happy impressions. 
 
 There is one thing in the outset I must apprise 
 you of, namely, that I am to confine myself to a 
 simple narration of facts, as the evidences on which 
 the opinion of many concerning the present happy 
 change that is wrought on the people is founded ; 
 
214 
 
 without entering into any reasoning, but leaving it 
 to yourself to draw proper conclusions from the facts, 
 after comparing them with Scripture rules and in- 
 stances. 
 
 I must also acquaint you, as it was natural to 
 expect when, on a singular occasion of this sort, 
 great numbers of people from adjacent towns and 
 country came flocking to a place that became so 
 remarkable, that in such a promiscuous multitude 
 some counterfeits would readily happen, it was the 
 early care of ministers who interested themselves 
 most in that matter, to enter into a strict examination 
 of those who appeared to be under a more than ordi- 
 nary concern, so as to obtain satisfaction to them- 
 selves whether the work was solid, being justly ap- 
 prehensive that the powers of darkness would not fail 
 to employ their devices to bring contempt on what 
 might tend so much to the honour of the gospel. 
 
 In those watchful endeavours it must be owned 
 that some impostors were found to have mixed with 
 the sincere ; but there is reason to bless God that, so 
 far as yet appears, they have been very few ; and as 
 these have been severely rebuked, so the most awful 
 warnings have been given against all such insincere 
 pretensions, which warnings, there is ground to be- 
 lieve, have had very good effects. 
 
 Now, sir, to give the short history of this matter. 
 
 The minister of that parish, in his ordinary course 
 of sermons for nearly a twelvemonth before this work 
 began, had been preaching on those subjects which 
 tend most directly to explain the nature and prove the 
 necessity of regeneration, according to the different 
 lights in which that important matter is represented 
 
215 
 
 in Holy Scripture ; and for some months before the 
 late remarkable events, a more than ordinary concern 
 about religion appeared among that people, one good 
 evidence of which was, that about the end of January 
 last a petition was given in to the minister, subscribed 
 by about ninety heads of famiUes, desiring a vt^eekly 
 lecture should be set up, which was readily granted, 
 and the day fixed on was Thursday, as the most con- 
 venient for the temporal interests of the parish. 
 
 On Monday, the 15th of February, there was a 
 general meeting at the minister's house of the parti- 
 cular societies for prayer, which had subsisted in the 
 parish for several years before ; on Tuesday there 
 was another meeting for prayer there, the occasion of 
 which was a concert with several serious Christians 
 elsewhere about solemn prayer relating to the public 
 interests of the gospel, in which concert only a small 
 number of people in Cambuslang were engaged at 
 first, but others getting notice of it desired to join, 
 and were admitted. The people who met for prayer 
 these two days apprehended that they had been so 
 well employed and found so much leisure for it that 
 they had a third meeting on Wednesday ; but on all 
 thesethree days they returned tiraeously in the evening 
 to their own houses — so far is it from being true that 
 they rushed from some of these meetings to the church 
 and continued immured there for some days and nights, 
 as was reported. 
 
 Before Thursday, February 18th, they had week- 
 day sermons only on Thursdays, according to the 
 above mentioned desire of the parish ; and before 
 that day, though several particular persons came to 
 the minister from time to time under deep concern 
 
2!6 
 
 about their salvation, yet tliere came no great numbers 
 toijether. 
 
 But on that day after sermon a considerable num- 
 ber of people, reckoned by some present about fifty, 
 came together to the minister's house under convic- 
 tions and alarming apprehensions about the state of 
 their souls, and desiring to speak with him. 
 
 From this unexpected number coming in an eve- 
 ning, in so great distress, and the necessity of the 
 minister's exhorting them in general, and conversing 
 with many of them separately, you will easily per- 
 ceive that he behoved to spend that night with them, 
 as he did most part of two or three more since this 
 work began, which is now about twelve weeks. 
 
 After this numbers daily resorted to that place, 
 some to hear the word, some to converse with people 
 who were under this remarkable concern, and others, 
 with different views ; and the desires and exigencies 
 of those were such that the minister found himself 
 obliged, without any previous intimation, to provide 
 them daily sermon, a few days excepted, and after 
 sermon usually to spend some time with them in 
 exhortations, prayers, and singing of psalms, being 
 especially encouraged thereto by the extraordinary 
 success M'ith which God was pleased, from time to 
 time, to bless his own ordinances, insomuch that, by 
 the best information that could be had, the number 
 of persons awakened to a deep concern about salva- 
 tion, and against whom there are no known exceptions 
 as yet, has amounted to above three hundred. And, 
 through divine mercy, the work seems to be still 
 making considerable progress every week, and more 
 for some weeks of late than sometimes formerly. 
 
217 
 
 Of the number just now mentioned the far greater 
 part have given already, both to ministers and other 
 serious Christians, a good account of what they have 
 felt in their convictions and humiliation for sin, of 
 the way of their relief by faith in the mercy of God 
 through Christ, and of the change they feel in the 
 prevalent inclinations and dispositions of their hearts. 
 
 As to their devotion and other parts of their 
 practice, which is that which chiefly attracts the 
 attention and regard of this country, there are com- 
 fortable accounts given of it by those who have the 
 best and most frequent opportunities of knowing 
 their daily behaviour. 
 
 The parish of Cambuslang being of so small ex- 
 tent that most of the people live within a mile of 
 the church, and some who have the best intelligence 
 being almost every day with the minister, he and 
 they have abundant opportunities to know the prac- 
 tices of such of the people I am speaking of as live 
 within their bounds, and the account they give of it 
 is, that they appear to be in a very hopeful way ; 
 and the like good accounts of such of those people 
 as belong to the neighbouring parishes are given by 
 several ministers and others. 
 
 Among the particular good fruits already appear- 
 ing, both in Cambuslang and elsewhere, the follow- 
 ing instances seem very encouraging : a visible re- 
 formation of the lives of persons who were formerly 
 notorious sinners ; particularly, the laying aside of 
 cursing and swearing and drinking to excess, among 
 those who were addicted to these practices ; remorse 
 for acts of injustice, and for violation of relative 
 duties, confessed to the persons wronged, joined with 
 
 K 64 
 
218 
 
 new endeavours after a conscientious discharge of 
 such duties ; restitution, which has more than once 
 heen distinctly and particularly inculcated in public 
 since this work began ; forgiving of injuries ; all de- 
 sirable evidences of fervent love to one another, to 
 all men, and even to those who speak evil of them ; 
 and among those people both in Cambuslang and 
 other parishes, more affectionate expressions of regard 
 than ever to their own ministers, and to the ordi» 
 nances dispensed by them ; the keeping up divine 
 worship in families where it was neglected very often 
 by some and entirely by others ; the erecting of new 
 societies for prayer, both of old and young, partly 
 within the parish, where no less than twelve such 
 societies are newly begun, and partly elsewhere, 
 among persons who have been awakened on this 
 occasion ; and together with all these things, ardent 
 love to the Holy Scriptures, vehement thirsting after 
 the public ordinances, earnest desires to get private 
 instructions in their duty from ministers and others, 
 with commendable docility and tractableness in re- 
 ceivinff such instructions. 
 
 This thirst after knowledge is particularly remark- 
 able in those who were more ignorant ; several who 
 cannot read, and some of them old persons, being so 
 desirous to be better acquainted with the word of 
 God that they are resolved to learn to read, and 
 some of the younger sort actually putting themselves 
 to school. 
 
 I would further add, that these good impressions 
 have been made on persons of very different charac- 
 ters and ages; on some of the most abandoned as 
 well as the more sober; on young as well as old : on 
 
219 
 
 the illiterate as well as the more knowing; on per* 
 sons of a slower as well as those of a quicker and 
 more sprightly genius ; and, which seems to deserve 
 special attention, on persons who were addicted to 
 scoffing at sacred things, and at this work in parti- 
 cular at the beginning of it. 
 
 The sum of the facts I have represented to you 
 is, that this work has been begun and carried on 
 under the influence of the great and substantial doc- 
 trines of Christianity, pressing jointly, " the necessity 
 of repentance towards God, of faith in the Lord 
 Jesus Christ, and of holiness in all manner of con- 
 versation ;" that it came after such preparatives as an 
 extensive concern about religion gradually increasing; 
 together with extraordinary fervent prayer in large 
 meetings, particularly relating to the success of the 
 gospel; that great and successful pains have been 
 taken to discover and discountenance hypocritical 
 pretences, and to warn people against what might 
 have the least appearance of enthusiasm or delusion ; 
 that the account given by a very large number of 
 people of their inward exercises and attainments 
 seems to agree with the Scripture standard; and 
 that they are bringing forth in practice " fruits meet 
 for repentance," comprehending the several branches 
 of piety, and of the most substantial morality that 
 can entitle men to the regard of the friends of reli- 
 gion and virtue. 
 
 And now, sir, I have given you a plain and sim- 
 ple account of the most material facts relating to 
 this extraordinary work at Cambuslang, and those 
 awakened there belonging to other parishes, together 
 with the proper documents by which these facts are 
 
220 
 
 supported ; in all which I have avoided disputing, 
 and studied brevity. 
 
 I leave it to you to judge how far such facts make 
 it evident that this work is from God, when (to use 
 the words of a pious divine treating of a subject of 
 the same nature) " He that was formerly a drunkard 
 lives a sober life, when a vain, light, and wanton per- 
 son becomes grave and sedate, when the blasphemer 
 becomes a praiser of God, when carnal joy is turned 
 into heaviness, and that professedly on account of 
 their souls' condition ; when the ignorant are filled 
 with knowledge of divine things, and the tongue 
 that was dumb in the things of God speaks the lan- 
 crua^e of Canaan, — when secure sinners have been 
 roused with a witness about the state of their souls, 
 Luke, xi, 21, 22, those who were ignorant can speak 
 skilfully about religious things, and even the grace- 
 less are increased in knowledge, — swearers drop 
 their oaths and speak reverently of God : vain per- 
 sons who minded no religion, but frequented taverns 
 and frolics, passing their time in filthiness, foolish 
 talking and jesting, or singing paltry songs, do now 
 frequent christian societies (for prayer), seek christian 
 conversation and talk of soul- concerns, and choose to 
 express their mirth in psalms and hymns and spiri- 
 tual songs : they who were too sprightly to be devout, 
 and esteemed it an unmanly thinoj to shed tears for 
 their souls' state, have mourned as for an only son, 
 and seemed to be in bitterness as for a first-born, 
 Zech. xii, 10 : — And persons who came to mock at 
 the lamentations of others have been convinced, and 
 by free grace proselyted to such ways as they for- 
 merly despised. I am, yours, &c. 
 MayStl), 1742. 
 
221 
 
 Attestation to the facts in the preceding Narrative, by 
 Mr. M'-Culloch, Minister at Cambuslang. 
 
 May 8tli, 1742. 
 
 I have perused the preceding short Narrative, and 
 can attest the facts contained in it; partly from per- 
 sonal knowledge, partly from the most credible informa- 
 tions; but think it a loss that it is not more full. I 
 have seen a larger Paper compiled by different hands; 
 which, besides the facts related in this, contains several 
 useful reasonings, tending to prove that the favourable 
 judgment formed by many, and even by some who 
 through want of due information hesitated at first about 
 this work, is supported by all that kind of evidence that 
 things of this nature are capable of in such a space of 
 time. And consequently, that there is good ground to 
 hope that by the Divine blessing, the confirmation aris- 
 ing from perseverance will be daily increasing, as 
 hitherto it has been. 
 
 The said large Paper contained also a vindication of 
 this \vork from various objections, and false and injuri- 
 ous aspersions thrown on it in print, by some who have 
 not yet appeared to own their accusations; which in 
 justice they ought to do or retract them. But though 
 it has not been thought expedient to publish that larger 
 Account at present, I understand the Compilers of it 
 can easily, if it shall be thought needful afterwards, pre- 
 pare it for the press. 
 
 For my own part, I desire to join in hearty prayers 
 with the people of God, that he "may revive his work 
 in the midst of the years," in this and all the churches, 
 and make it to triumph over all opposition; and con- 
 clude with the words of the prophet, "Not by might 
 nor by power, but by my Spirit, saith the Lord. Who 
 art thou, O great mountain? before Zerubbabel [the 
 Lord Jesus Christ] thou shalt become a plain, and he 
 shall bring forth the head-stone thereof with shoutings, 
 crying, Grace, grace unto it." 
 
 William M'Culloch. 
 
222 
 
 An Account of the Second Sacrament at Cambuslang^: 
 in a Letter from Mr. M''Culloch to a Brother. 
 
 Reverend and dear Brother, — You know that we 
 had the sacrament of the Lord's Supper dispensed 
 here on the eleventh of July last. It was such a 
 sweet and agreeable time to many, that a motion was 
 made by Mr. Webster, and immediately seconded by 
 Mr. Whitefield, that we should have another such 
 occasion again in this place very soon. The motion 
 was very agreeable to me, but I thought it needful 
 to dehberate before coming to a resolution. The 
 thing proposed was indeed entraordinary, but so had 
 the work in this place been for several months past. 
 Care was therefore taken to acquaint the several 
 meetings for prayer with the motion, who relished it 
 well, and prayed for direction to those concerned to 
 determine in this matter. The Session met next 
 Lord's day, and taking into consideration the divine 
 command to celebrate this ordinance often, joined 
 with the extraordinary work that had been here for 
 some time past, and understanding that many who 
 had met with much benefit to their souls at the last 
 solemnity had expressed their earnest desire of see- 
 ing another in this place shortly, and hearing that 
 there were many who intended to have joined at the 
 last occasion, but were kept back through inward dis- 
 courao-ements or outward obstructions, and were wish- 
 ing soon to see another opportunity of that kind here, 
 to which they might have access ; it was therefore 
 resolved (God willing) that the sacrament of the 
 Lord's Supper should be again dispensed in this 
 
223 
 
 parish on the third Sabbatli of August next, being 
 the fifteenth day of that month. And there was 
 first one day, and then another, at some distance of 
 time from that, appointed for a general meeting at 
 the manse of the several societies for prayer in the 
 parish, who accordingly met there on the days ap- 
 pointed, with some other Christians from places in 
 the neishbourhood : and when the manse sometimes 
 could not conveniently hold them they went to the 
 church; and at one of these meetings, when light 
 failed them in the church, a good number, of their 
 own free motion, came again to the manse, and con- 
 tinued at prayers and praises together till about one 
 o'clock next morning. 
 
 The design of these meetings, and the business 
 which they were accordingly employed in (besides 
 singing of psalms and blessing the name of God to- 
 gether) w^as to ask mercy of the God of heaven to 
 ourselves ; to pray for the Seceders and others who 
 unhappily oppose this work of God here and in some 
 other parts where it takes place, that God would for- 
 give their guilt in this matter, open their eyes, re- 
 move their prejudices, and convince them that it is 
 indeed his work, and give them repentance to the 
 acknowledgment of this truth ; that the Lord would 
 continue and increase the blessed work of conviction 
 and conversion here and in other places where it is 
 begun in a remarkable measure, and extend it to all 
 the corners of the land; and that he would eminently 
 countenance the dispensing of the sacrament of the 
 Holy Supper a second time in this place, and thereby 
 make the glory of this latter solemnity to exceed that 
 of the former. Much of the Lord's gracious pre- 
 
224 
 
 sence was enjoyed at these meetings for prayer, re- 
 turns of mercy were vouchsafed in part, and are still 
 further expected and hoped for. 
 
 This second sacramental occasion did indeed much 
 excel the former, not only in the number of ministers, 
 people, and communicants, but, which is the main 
 thing, in a much greater measure of the power and 
 special presence of God in the observation and sensi- 
 ble experience of multitudes that were attending. 
 
 The ministers that assisted at this solemnity were 
 Mr. Whitefield, Mr. Webster from Edinburgh, Mr. 
 Maclaurin and Mr. Gillies from Glasgow, Mr. Robe 
 from Kilsyth, Mr. Currie from Kinglassie, Mr. 
 M'Kneight from Irvine, Mr. Bonner from Torphi- 
 chen, Mr. Hamilton from Douglas, Mr. Henderson 
 from Blantyre, Mr. Maxwell from Rutherglen, and 
 Mr. Adam from Cathcart. All of them appeared 
 to be very much assisted in their work. Four of 
 them preached on the Fast day, four on Saturday, on 
 Sabbath I cannot well tell how many, and five on 
 Monday; on which last day it was computed that 
 above twenty-four ministers and preachers were pre- 
 sent. Old Mr. Bonner, though so frail that he took 
 three days to ride eighteen miles, from Torphichen to 
 Cambuslang, yet his heart was so set upon coming 
 here that he could by no means stay away, and when 
 he was helped up to the tent, preached three times 
 with great life, and returned with much satisfaction 
 and joy. Mr. Whitefield's sermons on Saturday, 
 Sabbath, and Monday, were attended with much 
 power, particularly on <*abbath night about ten, and 
 that on Monday, several crying out, and a very great 
 but decent weeping and mourning was observable 
 
225 
 
 through the auditory. On Sabbath evening, while 
 he vvas serving some tables, he appeared to be so filled 
 with the love of God as to be in a kind of extacy or 
 transport, and communicated with much of that 
 blessed frame. Time would fail me to speak of the 
 evidences of the power of God coming along with the 
 rest of the assistants; and I am in part prevented by 
 what is noticed by Mr. Robe in his Narrative. 
 
 The number of people that were there on Saturday 
 and Monday was very considerable. But the number 
 present at the three tents on the Lord's day was so 
 great that, so far as I can hear, none ever saw the 
 like since the Revolution in Scotland, or even any 
 where else, at any sacramental occasion : some have 
 called them fifty thousand ; some forty thousand ; 
 the lowest estimate I hear of, with which Mr. White- 
 field agrees, who has been much used to great multi- 
 tudes, and forming a judgment of their number, 
 makes them to have been upwards of thirty thousand. 
 The number of coramuniciints appears to have been 
 about three thousand. The tables were double, and 
 the double table was reckoned to contain one hundred 
 and fourteen, or one hundred and sixteen, or one 
 hundred and twenty communicants. The number 
 of tables I reckoned had been but twenty-four : but 
 1 have been since informed that a man who sat near 
 the tables and kept a pen in his hand, and carefully 
 marked each service with his pen, assured that there 
 were twenty-five double tables or services, the last 
 table wanting only five or six persons to fill it up. 
 And this account seems indeed the most probable, 
 as agreeing nearly with the number of tokens dis- 
 tributed, which was about three thousand. And 
 
 K 2 
 
226 
 
 some worthy of credit, and that had proper oppor- 
 tunities to know, gave it as their opinion, that there 
 was such a blessed frame fell upon the people, that if 
 there had been access to get tokens, there would have 
 been a thousand more communicants than what were. 
 
 This vast concourse of people, you may easily 
 imagine, came not only from the city af Glasgow, 
 and other places near by, but from many places at a 
 considerable distance: it was reckoned there were two 
 hundred communicants from Edinburcrh, two hundred 
 from Kilmarnock, one hundred from Irvine, and one 
 hundred from Stewarton. It was observed, that 
 there were some from England and Ireland here at 
 this occasion: a considerable number of Quakers were 
 hearers: a great many of those that had formerly been 
 Seceders were hearing the word, and several of them 
 were communicants. A youth that has a near view 
 to the ministry, and had been for some time under 
 great temptations that God's presence was no more 
 to be enjoyed either in the church or among the Se- 
 ceders, communicated here, and returned with great 
 joy, full of the love of God. 
 
 There was a great deal of outward decency and 
 regularity observable about the tables. Public wor- 
 ship began on the Lord's day just at half past eight 
 in the morning. My action sermon, I think, was 
 reasonably short : the third or fourth table was being 
 served at twelve o'clock, and the last table about sun- 
 set; when that was done, the work was closed with a 
 few words of exhortation, prayer, and praise, the 
 precentor having so much daylight as to let him see 
 to read four lines of a psalm. The passes to and 
 from the tables were with great care kept clear for 
 
227 
 
 the communicants to come and go. The tables filled 
 so quickly, that often there was no more time between 
 one table and another than to sing four lines of a 
 psalm. The tables were all served in the open air, 
 beside the tent, below the brae : the day was temper- 
 ate — no wind or rain in the least to disturb. Several 
 persons of considerable rank and distinction who were 
 elders most cheerfully assisted our elders in serving 
 the tables, such as the Honourable Mr. Charles 
 Erskine, Advocate, Bruce of Kennet, Esq., Gillen 
 of Wallhouse, Esq., Mr. Warner of Ardeer, and 
 Mr. Wardrope, Surgeon in Edinburgh. 
 
 But what was most remarkable was the spiritual 
 glory of this solemnity, I mean the gracious and 
 sensible presence of God. Not a few were awak- 
 ened to a sense of sin, and their lost and perishing 
 condition without a Saviour. Others had their bands 
 loosed, and were brought into the marvelous liberty 
 of the sons of God. Many of God's dear children 
 have declared, that it was a happy time to their souls, 
 wherein they were abundantly satisfied with the good- 
 ness of God in his ordinances, and filled with all joy 
 and peace in believing. I have seen a letter from 
 Edinburgh, the writer of which says, that *' having 
 talked with many Christians in that city who had been 
 here at this sacrament, they all owned, that God had 
 dealt bountifully with their souls at this occasion." 
 Some that attended here declared, that they would 
 not for a world have been absent from this solemnity. 
 Others cried. Now let thy servants depart in peace, 
 from this place, since our eyes have seen thy salvation 
 here. Others wished, if it were the will of God, to 
 die where they were attending God in his ordinances. 
 
228 
 
 without ever returning ajjain to the world or their 
 friends, that they might be with Christ in heaven, as 
 that which is incomparably best of all. 
 
 I thought it my duty to offer these few hints con- 
 cerning this solemnity, and to record the memory of 
 God's great goodness to many souls at that occasion. 
 And now I suppose you will by this time find your- 
 self disposed to sing the ninety- eighth Psalm at the 
 beginning, or the close of the seventy-second, or some 
 other Psalm of praise. May our exalted Redeemer 
 still go on from conquering to conquer, untill the 
 whole earth be filled with his glory. Amen, so let 
 it be. In him, I am. Yours, &c. 
 
 William M*Culloch. 
 
 ATTESTATIONS TO THE FACTS IN THE NARRATIVE^ 
 RELATIVE TO THE FRUITS OF THIS WORK. 
 
 Attestation by Mr. Willisoriy Minister at Dundee. 
 
 Glasgow, 15th April, 174.2. 
 Reverend and dear Brother, — Seeing some are de- 
 sirous to have my thoughts of the work at Cambuslang, 
 I am willing to own that I have traveled a good way 
 to enquire and get satisfaction about it. And having 
 resided several days in Mr. M'Culloch's house, I had 
 occasion to converse with many who had been awak- 
 ened and under convictions there ; I found several in 
 darkness and great distress about their souls' condition, 
 and with many tears bewailing their sins and original 
 corruption, and especially the sin of unbelief and slight- 
 ing of precious Christ, and some who had been in this case 
 for these several weeks past; yet I saw nothing in any 
 tending: to despair, but on the contrary, their exercise 
 pointed still at the great remedy, for oft they would be 
 breaking out in hopeful expression, such as, " Though 
 he slay me, I will trust in him." Others I found in. a 
 most desirable frame, overcome with a sense of the 
 
229 
 
 wonderful love and loveliness of Jesus Christ, even sick 
 of love, and inviting all about them to help theni to 
 praise him. 
 
 I spoke also with many who had got relief from their 
 soul-trouble, and in whom the gracious work of the 
 Spirit of God appeared in the fruits and effects of it, 
 according to my apprehension; such as their ingenuous 
 confessing of their former evil ways, and professing a 
 hatred of sin; very low and abasing thoughts of them- 
 selves; renouncing the vanities of the world, and all 
 their own doings and righteousness, and relying wholly 
 upon Christ for "righteousness and strength;" and ex- 
 pressing great love to Christ, to the Bible, to secret 
 prayer, to the people of God, and to his image in 
 whomsoever it was, without respect of persons or 
 parties; and also love to their enemies; and when they 
 heard of some who called the work at Cambuslang a 
 delusion of the Devil, they showed no resentment 
 against them, but wished their eyes might be opened, 
 and earnestly wished they could bring all their enemies 
 and all the world to their dear Redeemer. 
 
 I conversed with some who had been very wicked, 
 and scandalous, but now wonderfully changed: though 
 some were very rude and boisterous before, they now 
 had the mildness and meekness of the lamb about them. 
 'Vvhen they spoke of their former ways they blsuhed 
 and wept and said, none in all the country round were 
 so vile as they, and earnestly desired to exalt free grace: 
 and when I was cautioning them against new tempta- 
 tions and relapses, they showed a sense of their own 
 weakness, and were afraid on that account to come 
 near their old companions, though they would fain have 
 had them also brought to Christ: they said they would 
 wish rather to die than to go back to old sins, and if 
 ever they should be left to any of them they would 
 incline to leave the country, because of the dishonour 
 it would bring on the work of God, which they could 
 not bear to see. 
 
 Though I conversed with a great number, both men 
 and women, old and young, 1 could observe nothing 
 visionary or enthusiastic about them ; for their discourse 
 was solid, and their experiences scriptural; and all 
 
230 
 
 the comfort and relief they got from trouble still came 
 to them by some promise or word of Scripture cast 
 into their minds; and it was pleasant to hear them 
 mention the great variety of these words up and down 
 the Bible. And some who could not read told their 
 words of consolation, not knowing well if they were in 
 the Bible or not; and, upon asking if they were Bible 
 words or not, they greatly rejoiced to find they were. 
 
 I had heard much of this surprising work by letters 
 and from eye-^f itnesses before I came, but all that made 
 slight impressions on me when compared with what I 
 was eye- and ear-witness to myself. 
 
 Upon the whole, I look on the work at Cambuslang 
 to be a most singular and marvelous outpouring of the 
 Holy Spirit, which Christ hath promised; and I pray 
 it may be a happy forerunner of a general reviving of 
 the work of God in this poor decayed church, and a 
 blessed mean of union among all the lovers of our dear 
 Jesus. 
 
 I am sorry I cannot stay to assist you further in this 
 good work; my business and circumstances oblige me 
 to return homewards. May the Lord himself strengthen 
 and encourage you in his work, and graciously carry 
 on what he has begun, and take to him his great power, 
 that he may reign gloriously through all the land. I 
 remain with all sincerity. Your most affectionate 
 Brother, John Willison. 
 
 Attestation by Mr. Connelly Minister in Kilbride. 
 
 Kilbride, April 19th, 174.2. 
 
 Rev. and dear Brother, — Many have asked my 
 opinion of the work at Cambuslang, which I freely 
 gave, (as I now write to you,) that I looked upon it as 
 a work of God's Spirit: when I compared the exercise 
 of several persons that had been there, with the Scrip- 
 ture accounts of conviction and conversion, I have been 
 under a necessity to conclude that it is neither delusion 
 nor imposture, as has been given out by those who are 
 unacquainted with the dealings of God of that kind, or 
 under the influence of party zeal. 
 
231 
 
 Some have I seen crying out of the evil of sin and 
 of their danger by it, sadly bewailing their guilt and 
 misery, expressing a most earnest desire of an interest 
 in Christ, which they said they would value more than 
 all the world, but bitterly complaining of want of love 
 to him, want of faith in him, and undutiful carriage 
 towards him through their past life; and if now it 
 might be their attainment, for former coldness and 
 deadness to have love to Christ; for unbelief, faith in 
 him ; and for an undutiful behaviour towards him, a 
 sincere and hearty embracing of him in the gospel 
 offer; and living the rest of their time to the praise 
 and glory of his name : this they would account their 
 greatest happiness, and the remedy of all the evils in 
 their case; and for this effect they begged the help of 
 prayers. 
 
 Others I have seen who lamented their lost time and 
 opportunities, and the vanity and folly of their youth, who 
 said, many good sermons and prayers they had heard, 
 but all had been lost to them, and had no good effect 
 upon them, being wholly carried away with youthful 
 vanities and follies ; but who added, now we are resolved 
 in the strength of the grace of Christ (for, said they, 
 of ourselves we can do nothing) to improve time and op- 
 portunities better, to value sermons and prayers, to read 
 the Scriptures, to keep company with the fearers of 
 God, and to shun fellowship with the wicked as much as 
 possible, blessing God that he had not taken them away 
 before they saw the necessity of all these. 
 
 Others I have conversed with who, like doves of the 
 valleys, were mourning for their iniquities, principally 
 because they did strike against God and wound their 
 Redeemer, using the expressions. Psalm li, 4, and 
 Zech. xii, 10, but with good hope, through the merits 
 of Christ and mercy of God in him, that it would be 
 well with them. 
 
 Others I have observed at one time much dejected 
 and under a cloud, at another time possessed of a good 
 measure of spiritual joy, as it happens with the best of 
 saints. 
 
 Others I have heard crj^, they had spent their money 
 for that which is not bread, and their labour for that 
 
232 
 
 which did not satisfy, having given their time and 
 strength to the world and the things of it, which now they 
 resolved against, there being matters of greater mo- 
 ment, which they saw and were convinced they should 
 be mainly taken up about. 
 
 And to trouble you with no more, (for I could write 
 you a volume on this subject,) a young woman, who 
 after having given me a distinct account of her distress 
 and outgate, said, I have lived above twenty years in 
 the world, arid all that time the Devil had possession of 
 my heart, and 1 am sure he is a bad guest; but, blessed 
 be God, I hope he is now in a great measure dispos- 
 sessed, and shall never, through the strength of Christ, 
 recover that power over me that formerly he had. 
 Meantime I observe to you, this person had ail along 
 been of a blameless life, and not chargeable with any 
 scandal, but with tears regretted her careless way of 
 going about secret duty, reading the Scriptures and 
 hearing sermons, or neglecting these altogether ; but 
 with much humility and seriousness, in the strength of 
 DivMne grace, expressed her resolution that she would 
 do so no more. 
 
 Upon the whole, in most of all I have seen and con- 
 versed with, I observed, and have daily occasion to 
 observe, the effects of godly sorrow mentioned by the 
 apostle, 2 Cor. vii, 11. 
 
 Praying the pleasure of the Lord may more and 
 more prosper in your hands, and begging the help of 
 your prayers for me and this people, I am, yours most 
 affectionately, 
 
 Matthew Connell. 
 
 Attestation by Mr. John Hamilton, Mi7iister of the 
 Barony. 
 
 Glasgow, 26th April, 1742. 
 
 I understand it is expected from me, that I should 
 declare my sentiments of the extraordinary work at 
 Cambuslang, as a good many of my parishioners have 
 lately been awakened there to a great concern about 
 their souls' happiness. 
 
 As soon as I was informed of their condition, I made 
 
233 
 
 it my business to wait on them, and found a consider- 
 able number of persons under the deepest exercise of 
 soul, crying out most bitterly of their lost and misera- 
 ble estate by reason of sin, of their unbelief in despising 
 Christ and the offers of the gospel, of the hardness of 
 their heart, and their former gross carelessness and in- 
 difference about religion : and though some of them 
 said they had regularly attended the preaching of the 
 gospel, yet they acknowledged with much regret their 
 misimprovement of it — how many sweet sermons they 
 had heard without any benefit, and their coming to 
 church with no design to be instructed, but only, as 
 they said, to see and be seen. 
 
 I have heard them expressing a great deal of sorrow 
 for these things, and seemingly, in the most serious and 
 sincere manner: and not so much, as some of them 
 have told me, from the fear of punishment, to which 
 they had thereby exposed themselves, as from a sense 
 of the dishonour they had done to God and the blessed 
 Redeemer, and frequently aggravating their sins from 
 this consideration, that they had been the betrayers and 
 murderers of the Lord of glory. 
 
 And thougli I have seen some of them under ex- 
 treme affiiction and distress, 1 could never observe the 
 least disorder in their judgments ; bnt their complaints 
 were always suitable to their condition. Neither have 
 I observed any of them carried away with despairing 
 thoughts of the mercy of God ; but all of them seemed 
 to be seeking relief in the method the gospel proposes; 
 and expressed the warmest desires after an interest in 
 Christ, to obtain which they said they would cheerfully 
 lay down their lives, and part with every thing that 
 was dear to them in the world. 
 
 I have at several different times conversed with many 
 of these persons, and have received no small satisfaction 
 from such conversations. When speaking of prayer, 
 they have told me how much that duty had been ne- 
 glected by them, and in what a cold lifeless manner it 
 was performed : from which therefore they neither 
 did nor could reap any satisfaction ; but now, said they, 
 it was an exercise in which they found much sweetness 
 and comfort. 
 
234 
 
 Their love to the Holy Scripture all of them express 
 in the most lively and moving manner, frequently call- 
 ing it a precious and invaluable treasure, greatly sur- 
 prised how they could possibly slight it so much in 
 time past, and declaring they now saw many things in 
 it highly useful and comfortable to them, which they 
 never before imagined had been there. 
 
 They express a great love to and desire after the 
 public ordinances ; when I have asked some of them, 
 if they had such affection as the Psalmist speaks of in 
 Psalm cxxii, when it was said to him, " Let us go up to 
 the house of the Lord," they have told me, that though 
 it was quite otherwise with them before, yet now they 
 found a vast pleasure in attending the church and 
 public worship of God, and a great unwillingness in 
 them to withdraw from it when the service was over. 
 
 They are likewise exceedingly desirous of more pri- 
 vate instruction in their duty, and take all opportu- 
 nities of waiting on those who can be of use to them ; 
 and such of them as are near at hand do frequently 
 come to my house, and receive my advice and assis- 
 tance ; and I never saw persons more docile than they 
 are. I must own indeed that when I first conversed 
 with them I found some of them pretty ignorant of the 
 principles of religion; but this was what they seemed 
 deeply grieved and afflicted for, and much condemned 
 their former sloth and negligence, and since that time 
 have been making use of the proper means of know- 
 ledge, and I think I can say, with no contemptible 
 success, considering the short time they have had. 
 
 Some of them seem to discover devout breathings of 
 soul after God and the blessed Redeemer, and resolu- 
 tions through grace to depend upon him in the worst 
 of circumstances, often making use of these words in 
 Job, " Though he slay me, yet will I trust in him.'' 1 
 have been much surprised to see how readily, nay 
 even judiciously, some of them who had been for- 
 merly ignorant and unconverted have spoken of some 
 of the most important points of practical religion, and 
 with what facility they have adduced passages of 
 Scripture very suitable to what they were speaking 
 about. 
 
235 
 
 There is another branch of Christian duty that I do 
 think they are likewise studying a conformity to, and 
 tliat is love to mankind. I have heard them often 
 wishing and desiring that all men might be brought 
 to Christ and the knowledge of the truth, and particu- 
 larly expressing a great regard for all that are the 
 Lord's people. So far as I have yet access to know 
 them, they seem to be of a meek and quiet spirit, and 
 willing to forgive ; telling me, they desire to wish well 
 and to pray even for the happiness of those who had 
 been injurious to them. 
 
 More might be said upon this subject, but I choose 
 rather to be sparing till time make a clearer discovery 
 of them. 
 
 The persons I have conversed with were of differ- 
 ent characters : Some of them had all along been 
 pretty sober and regular in their lives, and duly enough 
 attended the ordinances of the gospel ; others of them 
 were very careless this way, and addicted to many sins : 
 but even those who were more blameless in their lives 
 have declared, that their hearts till now were never 
 touched with any thing they heard from the word of 
 God, that they had never lived under the influence of 
 religion, and were grossly unconcerned about their 
 salvation. 
 
 These now are the appearances I observe among 
 some of my people who were awakened to a concern 
 about their souls at Cambuslang, which do strongly in- 
 cline me to think that it is the work of God. 
 
 John Hamilton. 
 
 Attestation by Mr. William Hamilton, Minister at 
 Bothivell. 
 
 Both well, 7th May, 1742. 
 Rev. and dear Brother, — I have seen the attestation 
 by the Rev. Mr. Connell in Kilbride, as also that by 
 the Rev. Mr. Hamilton in Barony of Glasgow. As I 
 have no new thing to add, so I heartily join in the same 
 sentiments with my above named brethren, both as to 
 the reality of that extraordinary work at Cambuslang> 
 
236 
 
 being in very deed a gracious work of tiie Spirit of 
 God, designed, I firmly believe, for the saving convic- 
 tion and conversion of many perishing; souls, not only 
 in that parish, but in the neighbourhood. May the 
 Lord, in his infinite mercy, shed abroad the influ- 
 ences of his saving grace through all the corners of 
 the land. 
 
 There are a good number of my people, mostly 
 young, whoiiave been awakened at Cambuslang, and I 
 have much the same account to give of them with my 
 above named brethren : all of them are very serious 
 and concerned about their soul's case, and are very 
 solicitous to have others brouijht to an acauaintance 
 with Christ, and the way of salvation through him : 
 which I hope has had this blessed effect, that there 
 seems to be a more than ordinary seriousness among 
 a goodly number in several corners of this congrega- 
 tion, more conscience made of family worship in sev- 
 eral families who made but too little account of it 
 before ; as likewise there are some new societies for 
 prayer and Christian conference set up in this congre- 
 gation, wherein several persons besides these awakened 
 at Cambuslang have joined. I hope these things, 
 through the blessing of God, may prove the beginning 
 of much good in this and other places. May that 
 blessed God, v. ho has begun a good work, either with 
 you or in any other place, carry on and perfect the 
 same untill the day of Jesus Christ. 
 
 May the Lord direct and assist you, and all his ser- 
 vants, to a right and faithful management of our great 
 Master's work amongst our hands. I add no more, 
 but am with the greatest sincerity, your affectionate 
 Brother, William Hamilton. 
 
 Attestation by Mr. Hamilton^ 3Iinister in Douglas. 
 
 May 6th, 1742. 
 
 Rev. and dear Brother, — While I was with you, it 
 
 gave me great pleasure to see so much concern upon 
 
 people's spirits about the salvation of their precious and 
 
 immortal souls, a thing very rare amongst us. Some 
 
237 
 
 whom I had occasion to discourse with appeared to be 
 in the utmost distress upon account of sin, both original 
 and actual, and that principally as it is that abominable 
 thing which God hates. Others, whose consciences 
 God had awakened with a sense of guilt, but had now 
 got believing views of Christ Jesus as a most complete 
 Saviour, both able and willing to save, and whom God 
 had determined by the power of his Spirit to yield 
 themselves to the Lord, in a very strong manner ex- 
 pressed love to their God and Saviour, and to all his 
 commands, both of the first and second table of the 
 law; and declared that it was their firm purpose and 
 resolution, through the assistance of the Holy Spirit, 
 to walk in all the commandments and ordinances of the 
 Lord blameless ; and seemed more afraid of offending 
 God than of any sufferings they might be exposed to in 
 the world: and their practices, so far as I can hear, are 
 as yet agreeable to their resolutions ; so that I not only 
 hope, but think I have good ground to believe, that that 
 work begun and for some time past carried on amongst 
 the people of Cambuslang, and strangers that hav^e re- 
 sorted thither from many distant parts, shall appear to 
 the conviction of all good men to be the work of God, 
 from the after holy life and conversation of not a few 
 of those whose consciences have at this time been 
 awakened to a sense of their lost and undone state by 
 nature. That the Lord may more and more assist, 
 strengthen, and support you, and give you and all 
 faithful ministers of the gospel many seals of their 
 ministry, is the hearty prayer of, 
 
 Your affectionate Brother, 
 
 William Hamilton. 
 
 Attestation by Mr, M^Kneight, Minister at Irvine. 
 
 Irvine, 6tli May, 1742. 
 llev. and dear Brother. — As I had, by information 
 from letters, conceived a good opinion of the extraordi- 
 nary and surprising work at Cambuslang before I went 
 thither, upon an invitation from you, to preach there 
 last Sabbath, so my said opinion has been very much 
 
238 
 
 confirmed by what I was eye- and ear-witness to during 
 my abode with you, from Saturday to Tuesday last, 
 being still more and more persuaded, that it is the real 
 work of the Spirit of God. 
 
 While I joined with your congregation in public 
 worship, I observed amongst the vast numbers that 
 flocked to hear the gospel preached at Cambuslang, 
 not only the serious looks, the grave deportment, and 
 the close attention of the multitudes to what was spoken, 
 but also the weeping eyes of many who appeared to be 
 in the greatest distress and trouble. 
 
 Again, in the evenings, after public worship was 
 ended, and when I had occasion to converse with several 
 of these afflicted persons, I found their wounds and an- 
 guish of soul, together with their tears, did proceed not 
 from a whimsical and enthusiastic imagination, but 
 from a deep conviction of the great evil and demerit of 
 sin original and actual, particularly of their sin of un- 
 belief, and slighting precious Christ and the gracious 
 offers of salvation by him; and when I exhorted 
 and directed them to believe in the Lord Jesus Christ, 
 as the apostle Paul did the convinced and trembling 
 jailor, Acts, xvi, 31, they answered, "Lord, help me to 
 believe," gladly would I believe, but I cannot. How- 
 ever, while under their soul-exercises for sin, and be- 
 cause of God's wrath, I heard them expressing ardent 
 desires after Christ, and an interest in him, and salvation 
 by him ; and a great thirst after the word, the know- 
 ledge of God and of divine things, and after a saving 
 faith in a crucified Jesus, which gave me ground to 
 hope that our dear Redeemer Jesus would soon accom- 
 plish these longing desires in relieving them from their 
 distresses of both body and mind. 
 
 Likewise, I conversed with others who were under 
 piercing and deep convictions for sin, and have felt 
 " the sharp arrows of the Almighty sticking fast in their 
 souls," and to whom the Spirit of God had, upon their 
 believing in Jesus Christ, applied his precious blood to 
 heal these wounds, and hereon hath granted them relief 
 and comfort, and hath delivered "their souls from 
 death, their eyes from tears, and their feet from falling;" 
 for which distinguishing mercies they were exalting 
 
239 
 
 free grace, saying with the apostle Paul, " It is by grace 
 Me are what we are, and blessed be the God and Father 
 of our Lord Jesus Christ, who hath blessed us with all 
 spiritual blessings in heavenly places in Christ." 
 
 When I conversed with them, they declared distinctly 
 the way and manner that their convictions began and 
 wrought, and how the relief they got from soul-troubles 
 came to them. They also discovered the gracious 
 work of the Spirit of God upon their souls, in their 
 confession of sin with shame, sorrow, and blushing ; in 
 their professing a hatred of it, and loathing themselves 
 on the account thereof, crying out, "Behold, we are 
 vile, we abhor ourselves, and repent in dust and ashes;" 
 in their love to God and his ordinances, in renouncing 
 their own righteousness, and in relying wholly on Christ 
 for righteousness and strength ; in their high esteem of 
 and ardent love to their dear Redeemer ; in their charity 
 and love to one another and to all Christians, and espe- 
 cially to those who are the real disciples of the Lord 
 Jesus, and bear the image of their heavenly Father; in 
 their tender sympathy with and affectionate concern for 
 those who fall under distress and anguish of spirit for 
 sin ; and in their endeavours to relieve them, by good 
 advices and proper exhortations, and to comfort the 
 dejected and disquieted in mind with the consolations 
 wherewith they themselves had been comforted. These 
 are a few of the good fruits of the Spirit of God I ob- 
 served among several I conversed with at Cambuslang. 
 
 Therefore I cannot but bear a testimony, that in my 
 apprehension the surprising work with you, dear brother, 
 for these several weeks past is of God. And if the 
 work be of God, then neither the Devil nor all his 
 agents shall be able to overthrow it ; yea I hope, through 
 the Divine blessing on the seed sown and to be sown, 
 to hear more of its remarkable success with you. As 
 I desire to join you in giving thanks to God for this 
 remarkable countenancing of your sacred ministrations 
 to many in your parish and neighbourhood, so I entreat 
 you may constantly remember me and my flock at the 
 throne of grace, and join with us in earnest and repeated 
 prayers to God, that the like observable outpourings of 
 the Holy Spirit may visit my congregation and the 
 
240 
 
 neighbouring parishes ; to revive his work in the west 
 country ; and may it spread not only through all the 
 churches in Britain and Ireland, but throughout all the 
 churches in the world, for building Zion ; yea that the 
 heathen may be given to Christ for his inheritance, and 
 the utmost ends of the earth for his possession. 
 
 That a rich and powerful blessing from heaven may 
 crown your ministerial labours with more and more 
 success is and shall be the earnest prayer of your affec- 
 tionate brother. William M'Kneight. 
 
 Attestation by Mr. John Maclaurin, one of the Ministers 
 of Glasgow. 
 
 Glasgow, 12th May, 1742. 
 
 Having had occasion not only to converse with several 
 in this city who have been lately awakened at Cambus- 
 lang to a deep concern about salvation, and upon inquiry 
 to get good accounts of their behaviour, but also to 
 bestow some pains in conversation and inquiries of that 
 kind in the parish of Cambuslang itself, I am in a con- 
 dition to affirm, on good grounds, several of the most 
 material things in the above Narrative and Attestations ; 
 but in regard to the intended brevity of this paper, I 
 judge it proper to avoid too particular repetition of 
 things already attested by so many good hands. 
 
 By the accounts which several of these people give of 
 their impressions of things of eternal importance, with 
 great appearances of sincerity, supported by the accounts 
 given by others of their conduct, they seem, in the 
 judgment of charity, to be persons to whom the follow- 
 ing scripture characteristics agree ; namely, That they 
 are of broken hearts and contrite spirits ; that they 
 come to God through Jesus Christ as the way, the life, 
 and the truth ; that they endeavour, by the grace of 
 God, to give all acceptation to the true and faithful 
 saying, that Christ came to save sinners ; that they 
 have the love of God shed abroad in their hearts, and 
 earnest desires to have his law written on their hearts ; 
 while they are still deeply sensible of the remainders of 
 evil that cleave to them and others in this imperfect 
 state. 
 
241 
 
 By the accounts given of their practice, by those 
 who have the nearest view of it, they appear to have 
 forsaken the sins to which they were addicted, to de- 
 light in the duties to which they were averse, to watch 
 against temptations to which they formerly yielded ; 
 and instead of separating one part of religion from an- 
 other, to have a strict regard to the precepts of both 
 tables of the divine law : herein exercising themselves 
 to have " consciences void of offence toward God and 
 toward men." 
 
 From the best observations I could make on their 
 disposition and behaviour, compared with the observa- 
 tions made by otliers, they seem, in a particular manner, 
 te excel in meekness, humility, self-denial, and charity, 
 in the wisdom from above, described in Scripture as 
 " first pure, then peaceable, gentle and easy to be in- 
 treated, full of mercy and good fruits," &c., in aversion 
 from things "that tend to strife rather than to edifica- 
 tion," and in ardent desire for the conversion and sal- 
 vation of others. 
 
 I would not be understood to assert such things of 
 all whom I know to have pretended to seriousness about 
 religion on this occasion, being particularly concerned 
 to attest from personal knowledge, in conjunction with 
 Mr. M'Culloch, that part of the above Narrative which 
 relates to pains taken, with some success, in detecting 
 deceivers, a correspondence having been set on foot 
 and indeed being kept up still, and several here having 
 begun and resolving to continue a proper scrutiny from 
 time to time, in order to such discoveries. 
 
 Meantime, whatever ungrateful discoveries may have 
 been made already, which indeed are not many, or may 
 hereafter be the result of such inquiries, people of can- 
 dour will own, that the faults of a few particular per- 
 sons ought not to be charged on a body of serious 
 people, who, to other evidences of sincerity, add that 
 of a hearty concern, that deceivers or backsliders may 
 be detected, admonished, and, by the Divine blessing, 
 reclaimed. 
 
 Whereas an unknown person very lately wrote a 
 letter to Mr. M'Culloch, dated 29th April, in which 
 was inclosed another letter with a twenty-shilling note 
 
 L U 
 
242 
 
 to Mr. J. J., merchant in this city, on account of wrong' 
 done to his father of two or three shillings' value many 
 years ago, and that unknown person desires, that in the 
 printed account that was expected of the work at Cam- 
 buslang there might be some instructions about restitu- 
 tion ; it is thought sufficient, in regard of the shortness 
 of this paper, to refer that person and others to the 
 scriptures cited in our larger Catechism, where it treats 
 of the eighth commandment, and to approved Com- 
 mentaries on the Ten Commandments in general, as- 
 serting and proving the necessity of that duty. 
 
 While friends of religion will judge themselves obliged 
 to desire, that all who have been awakened to serious 
 concern about it may prove real converts, persevering 
 to the end ; they and others should remember, that 
 though several should backslide, which God of his mercy 
 prevent, it can be no argument against the sincerity of 
 the rest. 
 
 So far as we have credible accounts of works to 
 which this bears a resemblance, it does not appear, by 
 what* I can recollect or learn from persons well skilled 
 in church history, that ever there were so great numbers 
 awakened to so deep concern about their souls, attended 
 with so promising evidences as those mentioned in the 
 above Narrative and Attestations, without a happy issue; 
 it appears therefore agreeable to the rules of charity 
 and just reasoning, to hope for the like good issue as to 
 this present case. 
 
 It consists with my knowledge, that as to such of the 
 people, whom this paper treats of, as seem to have at- 
 tained to joyful hopes, on which some particular Scrip- 
 ture promises appear to have a remarkable influence, 
 care is taken to examine them, and to direct them to 
 examine themselves about the essential evidences of 
 interest in Christ, and so of all the promises in general. 
 
 John Maclaurin. 
 
 Attestation by two Preachers^ to the Success of the Gos- 
 pel at Cambuslang for several weeks hypast. 
 
 May , 1742, 
 
 Having had access to examine several persons that 
 
243 
 
 kave been awakened to a serious concern about salva- 
 tion, by means of the ministrations of the gospel there, 
 we find with many of them what we cannot but con- 
 struct, in the judgment of charity, to be promising ap- 
 pearances or hopeful beginnings of a good work of 
 grace ; such as a deep sense of their sinful and guilty 
 state, and apprehension of the extreme need of the Sa- 
 viour Jesus Christ, to be justified by his blood, and 
 sanctified by his Spirit ; their plain confession of their 
 great ignorance and blindness in the things of God and 
 mysteries of his kingdom, and earnest desire to know 
 the truth as it is in Jesus, and laborious diligence to be 
 better acquainted with tlie first principles of his doc- 
 trine ; deeply lamenting their heart pollutious and abo- 
 minations, as well as their great neglect of God's wor- 
 ship, and careless regard of the great salvation formerly, 
 and with some their gross vices and scandalous profa- 
 nations of God's name and day ; their frequent com- 
 plaints of the sin of unbelief in Christ, and of the deadness 
 and hardness of their hearts, and anxious concerns and 
 prayers to have them softened with the spiritual views 
 of Christ as crucified, into the exercises of godly sor- 
 row and repentance, and reduced in captivity to the 
 obedience of the faith ; their cautious guard against sin 
 and temptation ; their tender circumspection over them- 
 selves, lest the corrupt conversation of others, the hearing 
 of which is sometimes unavoidable, might stifle their 
 serious concern, and extinguish religious impressions ; 
 their frequent watchfulness unto the duties of worship, 
 reading the Scriptures as it becomes the oracles of the 
 living God, hearing the gospel preached with serious 
 attention, as the voice of Christ speaking to them; pray- 
 ing to God as the searcher of the hearts and trier of the 
 reins ; humbly supplicating him, with a deep sense of 
 their own unworthiness and demerit, as the Father of 
 all mercies and God of all grace in Christ, and making 
 conscience of having him frequently in their thoughts, 
 and being tenderly sensible when the Spirit breathes 
 on their souls in such exercises as a Spirit of life 
 and liberty, and anon when he withholds his sensible 
 influences and consolations of grace their hearts are 
 troubled. 
 
24-4 
 
 And when we consider that the j'^oung are early 
 enquiring the way to Zion, seeking the Lord with 
 weeping and supplication, that sinners are taught God's 
 ways, and transgressors converted to him, the openly 
 profane and protligate, who were running headlong in 
 the paths of the destroyer, and enticing and corrupting 
 others into the same pernicious courses, stopped in 
 their Iiot career, and reformed by sovereign victorious 
 grace, frequenting Christian fellowships, and abounding 
 in Christian conference, and heartening and encour- 
 aging others to walk in wisdom's ways, which are 
 pleasantness and peace ; we have good ground to rejoice 
 at this remarkable success of the gospel, and to bless 
 the name of God for giving such a sensible testimony 
 to the word of his grace, and to plead in prayer to him, 
 filling our mouths with this argument, that as he has 
 begun to lift up a cloud of his gracious presence on 
 this spot of his vineyard, that he would spread it far 
 and wide, so that in many places the gathering of the 
 people may be to our Shiloh, and many may be 
 observed to fly unto him as clouds and as doves to 
 their windows, even to fly for refuge from the wrath to 
 come, and to lay hold on the hope set before them. 
 
 James Young. 
 Alex. Duncan. 
 
 Attestation hy Mr. David Connel, Preacher of the 
 Gospel. 
 
 Kilbride, I4tli May, 1712. 
 
 You desire some account from me of what I have 
 observed or known with regard to the work at Cam- 
 buslang, which I shall give without art or disguise. 
 
 I have conversed with a good many in this parish 
 that have been affected there. Some have told me that 
 by what they heard in sermon they had great desire 
 raised in their minds to be burdened with sin, that so 
 they might come to Christ ; and then have got so great 
 a sense of sin and guilt as they could well bear. Others 
 that have come to me in great distress, when I asked 
 them how they came to be in that condition, answered, 
 that while they were hearing some private exhortations 
 
245 
 
 of the minister, a great many of their sins were brought 
 to their remembrance. They thought they had been 
 doing nothing but sinning all their days, that they were 
 empty of all good, and that they were undone without 
 Christ. Some have told me, they met with great op- 
 position in going to attend upon the ordinances, but 
 they became resolute and went ; and what places of 
 Scripture first fastened any sense of sin upon their 
 minds; how this was more and more increased, and what 
 text kept them from despair amidst the greatest terror 
 one could really be under. Others, that all things in 
 the world were now become tasteless to them, seeing 
 the danger their souls were in. I have seen some sit- 
 ting alone all in tears, and when 1 asked them what 
 was the matter, they said, they were afraid lest their 
 convictions should go off without any good effects, and 
 expressed a strong desire after Christ. Others that 
 seemed to be under great concern, being asked what 
 they wanted, said, conviction of sin and faith in Christ. 
 I have been greatly surprised, to hear such a distinct 
 account of the provoking nature of sin, and the terms 
 of our acceptance with God, given by those that are 
 reputed the most ignorant, and who 1 believe knew 
 scarcely any thing at all of religious matters till this 
 work began. I cannot say that among all I have con- 
 versed with here I have found one in despair, but have 
 heard them expressing a great, sense of their inability 
 to believe. 
 
 I have heard them expressing the highest esteem of 
 the mercy of God, and the mediation of Christ ; the 
 most earnest desire after an interest in him ; and tell- 
 ing the promises and declarations of mercy, and repre- 
 sentations of Christ in the Scripture, that were the 
 foundation of their hope, and praising Christ as one 
 altogether lovely. 
 
 1 have heard them expressing a sense of the evil of 
 sin, and their own vileness by it : earnest desires after 
 perfection in holiness, and fears lest they should fall 
 back into their former sinful state ; mentioning the 
 promises that supported them under these fears, and 
 telling what love and joy and praise these produced 
 when cast into their minds. 
 
246 
 
 Their earnest desires and diligent endeavours after 
 more knowledge, the deep sense and a sweet relish of 
 divine truths they seem to have, their readiness to ap- 
 ply what they hear to themselves, even those things 
 that discover more of the corruption of their hearts, 
 or errors of their lives to them, the pouring out of their 
 souls to God in prayer, which they speak of, the per- 
 plexity and dejection I have seen them in, when, as 
 they told me, they have not been able to do this, the 
 steadiness arid fixedness of their minds on spiritual 
 things, not only in stated duties, but when about their 
 worldly affairs, that they inform me of; their grief 
 when vain thoughts fill their minds, and restlessness 
 till they recover their former spirituality, their charita- 
 ble dispositions towards men, of which I could give 
 a variety of instances; their great care to do the will 
 of God, and fear lest they trust in their own righteous- 
 ness : these and other things I have observed in or 
 heard from them and about them put it out of doubt 
 with me that the finger of God is in this work, 
 which I pray may more and more appear. I am, 
 yours, &c., David Connel. 
 
 Attestation of the Rev. Mr. 3I'Culloch, Minister of 
 Camhuslang, relating to the Fruits and Effects of 
 the Extraordinary Work at that Place, in 1742, in 
 a Letter to the Rev. Mr. Robe. 
 
 Cambuslang Manse, April 30, 1757. 
 
 Rev. and dear Brother, — Hearing that you are 
 very soon, as a close to your Narrative, to publish 
 some Attestations to the fruits of the revival of re- 
 Ii(Tion in this country in the year 1742, at the desire 
 of some ministers I drew up and herewith send you 
 my Attestation relating to the effects of the extra- 
 ordinary work here in 1742, which you may pub- 
 lish along with your own Attestation and those of 
 
247 
 
 others. When the God of all grace is pleased, in 
 infinite mercy, to send a revival of religion to a 
 church or any particular corner in it, among other 
 artifices whereby Satan and his instruments endea- 
 vour to obstruct its progress, a very usual and suc- 
 cessful one is to raise prejudices against it in people's 
 minds, by suggesting and alleging, that though the 
 like awakenings and promising appearances, (or as 
 opposers use to speak, religious stirs and commotions) 
 formerly obtained in as high or even a higher degree 
 elsewhere, yet there was no good followed, but a 
 great deal of evil. 
 
 Thus, as I am credibly informed, it is at the time 
 of the present revival of religion, in several places of 
 the United Provinces, as particularly, at Nieukirk, 
 Rheid, Aalten, Groningen, &c., while the friends 
 of that work there take notice how much it resembles 
 the work at Cambuslang in 1T42, the opposers rea- 
 dily grant there is a resemblance ; but then they add, 
 that the work at Cambuslang in 1742 never pro- 
 duced any valuable effect, that the subjects of that 
 work are worse than before, that it was a schismatical 
 work, &c. 
 
 In order therefore to set this matter in a clear 
 light, and that I might be able to give a brief but 
 just account of a work that happened in a parish 
 whereof I have the pastoral inspection and charge, 
 and which I cannot but look upon to have been a 
 glorious work of God's grace, I thought it my duty 
 to make a particular inquiry concerning the beha- 
 viour of the known subjects of the work at Cambus- 
 lang in 1742, that is, those persons not only living 
 in the parish of Cambuslang, but who came from 
 
248 
 
 imany other places, near or more remote, and who 
 upon resorting to Cambuslang, in 1742, are known 
 to have there fallen under awakenings, convictions, 
 and a deep concern about eternal salvation, for the 
 first time, or at least, the first time that their con- 
 victions and concern seemed to prove eflPectual, and 
 to come to a gracious issue. 
 
 I do not here propose to speak (if it be not a few 
 words by the by) of those who resorted hither in 1742, 
 and who were true Christians before that. Of these 
 there were many hundreds, I doubt not but I may 
 say thousands, from places near and far oflP, who then 
 flocked hither, and joined in hearing of the word, 
 and great numbers of them, upon producing sufficient 
 testimonials, were admitted to partake of the sacra- 
 ment of the Lord's Supper ; and thereby the number 
 of communicants, which here used to be but about 
 four or five hundred before 1742, came to be greatly 
 increased in that and following years; so that at the 
 second sacrament the number of communicants in 
 1742 was reckoned at three thousand; in 1743, 
 about two thousand; in 1744, about fifteen hundred; 
 in 1745, about thirteen hundred ; in 1746, about 
 twelve hundred, &c., and all along to this present 
 year 1751, the number of communicants here has 
 greatly exceeded what used to be before 1742. 
 
 The unweariedness of the Lord's people in re- 
 ligious exercises at these times, especially at the 
 sacramental occasions in 1742, 1743, and 1744, was 
 wonderful. What eager attention to hearing the 
 word as upon the stretch and for eternity ! What 
 an awful, serious, solemn air appeared in the manner 
 of their worship ! W^hat vehement workings of joy 
 
249 
 
 and sorrow and other passions appearing in their 
 looks ! What engaffed attendance on God in his 
 ordinances ! hearing three sermons on each of these 
 three days, Thursday and Saturday and Monday ; 
 double the number on the communion Sabbath, be- 
 sides partaking of the sacrament, joining in public 
 prayers and praises, spending almost the whole of 
 Saturday and Sabbath nights in praises and prayers 
 with others or apart by themselves. 
 
 And their attainments were answerable to their 
 exercises ; thus at least it was with many of them, 
 according to the account they gave to me, or to others, 
 from whom I had it, and whom I could entirely 
 credit. Many attained to the full asssurance of 
 faith, had a sense of God's love to them, and the ex- 
 ercise of ardent love to him, and after believing in 
 Christ, were sealed with the holy Spirit of promise. 
 Some eminently pious ministers, who assisted here, 
 testified, that they had never seen so much of hea- 
 ven on earth. A very aged and worthy minister at 
 going away from this, cried out at the stair-head in 
 the manse, " Now, Lord, lettest thou thy servant 
 depart in peace, for mine eyes have seen thy salva- 
 tion :" others of them after going home, wrote, that 
 they would not for a world have been absent from 
 Cambuslang, or missed what of God they enjoyed 
 there. 
 
 But passing from speaking further of those who 
 were true Christians before their coming here in 
 1742, I proceed to speak a little of those hearers 
 who in the parable of the sower and the seed are 
 compared to the highway-side ground, the stony 
 ground, and the thorny ground, and then of those 
 
 L 2 
 
2a0 
 
 made good ground, where the word took root and 
 prospered. 
 
 I. There were those who may be compared to 
 the highway-side ground, who hear the word, and 
 understand it not, through their own fault; because 
 they take no heed to the word and take no hold of 
 it, nor come with any design to get good, but com- 
 monly for fashion's sake, to see and to be seen, and 
 mind not what is said ; so that what comes in at the 
 one ear goes out at the other, and makes no impres- 
 sion; and the Devil, that wicked one, comes and 
 catcheth away that which was sown, and makes an 
 easy prey of such careless trifling hearers. And 
 such, no doubt, made a part of the vast multitudes 
 that assembled here in 1742, though it must be 
 owned that there was generally a more close engaged 
 attention to the word, by what one could judge from 
 outward appearance, than what is ordinary. 
 
 II. There were a sort of hearers of the word here 
 in 1742 who might be called the stony-ground 
 hearers, who were much affected with the word while 
 they were hearing it, or for a short time, and yet 
 received no saving benefit by it. The motions of 
 soul they had answerable to what they heard were 
 but a mere flash, like Ezekiel's hearers to whom he 
 was a lovely song, and Isaiah's hearers that seemed 
 to dehght to know God's ways, or Herod who heard 
 John Baptist gladly, and others who rejoiced in his 
 light; and yet all these came to no good issue. And 
 thus many here in 1742 received the word with 
 gladness, and yet came to nothing — by and by they 
 were offended. 
 
 III. There were some here in 1742 who were 
 
251 
 
 inuch affected in hearing the word and other acts of 
 worship, and appeared to be such as in the parable 
 are called the thorny-ground hearers; these held out 
 longer than the stony-ground hearers, and yet at 
 length came to no better issue than they. These 
 seemed for a good while to have a mighty concern 
 about religious matters, but having never been born 
 again by the incorruptible seed of the word — the 
 great commanding overswaying principle of the love 
 of God above all other objects having never been 
 put into their souls, and the heart having never been 
 crucified to the world by a virtue and power flowing 
 into it from the death and cross of Christ eyed by 
 faith — the thorns of worldly cares and lusts, mur- 
 muring and unthankfulness, and inordinate fancies of 
 what they would be in the world, came at length to 
 sink them gradually into worldliness and sensuality; 
 and after they had for a time escaped the pollutions 
 of the world, through the knowledge of the Lord 
 and Saviour Jesus Christ, they appear now to be 
 entangled therein and overcome, and the latter end 
 is like to be worse with them than the beginning. 
 
 It must be owned that there is a considerable 
 number (though what number I cannot determine) 
 of these three several sorts of hearers already men- 
 tioned that have greatly backslidden since 1742, and 
 are still going on in their defection and apostacy, 
 and enlarging the breach between God and them, 
 and do not seem to be once thinking or resolving on 
 a penitent return to God and their duty : but, blessed 
 be his name, there are some few of these (though 
 alas ! but a very few, from what I know) who seem 
 to be greatly humbled for their revoltings in heart. 
 
252 
 
 and outbreakinas in life, and whose souls are echoincr 
 back to the Lord's call to backsliders to return, 
 saying, " Behold, we come unto thee, for thou art 
 the Lord our God." 
 
 Before I proceed to speak of the fourth sort of 
 hearers, compared to the good ground, I w^ould offer 
 a few remarks as to the three sorts already described^ 
 from one or otiier of which the backsliders came, and 
 how they came to be so. 
 
 (L) As to the first sort, compared to the high- 
 "wayside-ground hearers, these may be divided into 
 three classes, L There was no doubt a considerable 
 number of thoughtless careless persons, who came 
 here for fashion's sake, without any care to have 
 their hearts prepared for receiving the seed of the 
 word, or attending to it seriously when they came, 
 or to have that seed covered by after-meditation and 
 prayer : and as to these, it could not be expected 
 that they should continue in that good which they 
 never had, though they have fallen from that good 
 they once seemed to have. 2. There were some 
 that were gross counterfeits, who, a little after the 
 awakening broke out here in 1742, crowded in among 
 the really distressed, and observing and imitating 
 their manner, pretended to be also in spiritual dis- 
 tress, when they were no such thing. But these 
 were detected to be mere pretenders, either by their 
 own confession soon after, or were plainly enough 
 discerned to be so by others: and these being early 
 discovered and checked (especially with the assist- 
 
 ance of at Glasgow,) the number 
 
 of these counterfeits, from what I know, was never 
 any way considerable, and in a short time they dis- 
 
253 
 
 appeared, from what we could observe or hear. There 
 were also numbers of idle boys in Glasgow, appren- 
 tices and others, who pretending or seeming to be 
 under some concern about their souls, came often 
 out to Cambuslang, to hear and join in prayer in the 
 fields together, as they pretended : but these ap- 
 pearances with them generally came to nothing, and 
 they brought much reproach on the work here, by 
 so often leaving their masters' work, and strolling 
 idly through the fields. 3. There were those who 
 came here in 1742 with a design to find matter of 
 diversion, or to cavil, and to mock such as were in 
 spiritual distress. The bands of such mockers were 
 no doubt generally made stronger by their so coming, 
 and so behaving when they came : and yet some of 
 these were made happy monuments of victorious 
 grace and of sovereign preventing mercy themselves : 
 A remarkable instance of which I had lately sent me 
 in a letter, from an aged and experienced Christian 
 of great integrity, whom I can fully credit, especially 
 in testifying what he cannot but certainly know. 
 Part of which letter I shall here subjoin ; which I do 
 the rather because it serves to confute what some 
 opposers have asserted, that there are no instances 
 of any grossly vicious sinners reformed or converted 
 at Cambuslang in 1742. Glory to God, there is 
 a number of other instances of this sort that can be 
 given. 
 
 " I have to say, for my own part," says the writer 
 of said letter, " that 1 am able to go to death with it, 
 that the Spirit of God was so powerfully at work in 
 Cambuslang, that not only sinners who knew nothing 
 of God before were reached both by conviction and 
 
254 
 
 conversion, but even saints themselves were made to 
 attain to that which they had been strangers to in 
 the matters of religion. I am able, if time would 
 allow, to give a most satisfying account of not a few, 
 both men and women, who I hope will bless God to 
 all eternity for that happy time : particularly there 
 were among others two young men, living not far 
 from me, who came over to you, in 1742, on pur- 
 pose to mock the work : and as they had formerly 
 been horrid cursers and swearers, tlie one swore to 
 the other, he would go to see the falling at Cambus- 
 lang, asking his comrade if he would go with him to 
 that place. The other swore he would go too, but 
 that they should not make him fall, for that he would 
 run for it. And upon their going there together, 
 they were both caught the same day, and for a 
 quarter of a year after they continued under very 
 deep convictions, and have ever since kept fellow- 
 ship meetings weekly : and I have been sometimes 
 with them, and heard them both pray and converse 
 in Christian experience, to my great satisfaction." 
 
 As to the contents of this letter, I only add, I. 
 That the writer of it, a little after writing it, sent 
 me a very particular satisfying account of a consider- 
 able number of the subjects of the work here in 
 1742, known to him and living near him, as to their 
 blameless walk from that time to this ; 2. And as to 
 these two youths, it is well known here, that instead 
 of being able to run away, if either found himself in 
 hazard of being affected, as they proposed, they fell 
 both under awakenings together, or very nearly so, 
 and were glad to get into a stable hard by, and to 
 get to their prayers there, on their knees, among the 
 
255 
 
 horses ; and 3. As to what these youths called th« 
 falling at Cambuslang, it was a way of speaking 
 among mockers at that time, occasioned by their 
 seeincp some fall down in time of sermon. 
 
 (2.) As to the second and third sort, compared to 
 the stony- and thorny-ground hearers, the greater 
 number of those that afterwards proved remarkable 
 backsliders were no doubt of this sort of hearers ; 
 and the greater number of those that made the 
 greatest noise were also of the same. 
 But more particularly, I remark here, 
 1. There were here in 1742 many instances of 
 persons who in time of sermon fell under various 
 bodily agitations and commotions, as crying out aloud, 
 tremblings, faintings, or swoonings, falling down as 
 dead, &c.; concerning which bodily seizures, I think 
 we may safely affirm, that one cannot certainly con- 
 clude merely from these seizures, that he himself or 
 another is under the influences of the Holy Spirit, 
 either in convincing, comforting, or sanctifying the 
 soul; because it is possible these seizures may 
 proceed from the mere power of imagination, or some 
 sudden fright or bodily disorder : nor yet should one 
 suspect himself or another to be a stranger to the 
 convincing, comforting, or sanctifying influences of 
 the Holy Spirit, merely because of his being unac- 
 quainted with these bodily seizures ; because some 
 are brought under a sense of a lost and perishing 
 condition by nature, and by actual transgressions, 
 with fewer terrors and less violence and distress than 
 others; and are happily brought home to Christ in 
 a more mild, gradual, and gentle manner — are allured 
 by the displays of the love and loveliness of Christ, 
 
258 
 
 and sweetly drawn to him with cords of love and 
 bands of a man. 
 
 2. Such is the strict and near union of soul and 
 body, that when any thing much affects the one, the 
 other is consequently affected also in proportion. 
 Thus it is in many outward occurrences in life : when 
 a remarkably sorrowful or joyful event is suddenly 
 made known to persons equally concerned in it (as 
 the sudden news brought to a family, that a beloved 
 son of that family, abroad, is dead, or suppose tidings 
 brought afterwards that he is alive, father and mo- 
 ther, brothers and sisters,) all would be affected, but 
 they would be differently affected, and would show 
 themselves outwardly to be so, according to their 
 different tempers of mind and constitutions of body. 
 And why may it not be rationally expected, that the 
 unspeakably more awful and concerning tidings 
 brought to men's ears in hearing of the word should 
 deeply affect their minds ; and that these inward 
 affections should discover themselves outwardly also, 
 according to persons' different tempers and constitu- 
 tions ; especially while the threatenings of the law 
 and promises of the gospel are powerfully applied to 
 particular hearers, by the Holy Spirit, as certainly 
 and undeniably belonging to them ? 
 
 3. By all that I can observe or hear, there are 
 more of those that were under deep concern here iu 
 1742, that appear still to persevere in a good way 
 and in the gospel-becoming practice, that never cried 
 out aloud in time of public worship, or that were 
 never observably under those bodily agitations above 
 mentioned, than of those that were under such out- 
 ward commotions, and that made the greatest noise. 
 
257 
 
 There are indeed some of both sorts whose exercises 
 seem to have come to a gracious issue, but many 
 more of the former than of the latter sort. 
 
 4. Some under a kindly sense of sin, as a dis- 
 honour done to an infinitely holy and glorious God, 
 others under the terrors of the Lord that fell upon 
 their consciences, and fears of perishing for ever, 
 trembled and swooned and fell down as dead, or cried 
 out aloud ; but where there were only terrors and 
 fears of wrath, and no kindly sense of the evil of sin, 
 when these terrors came to abate and wear off, per- 
 sons returned to their former sins and carnal security, 
 and their awakenings left them as bad as they were 
 before : by their quenching the Spirit, and shaking 
 off their convictions, without improving them to seek 
 after and apply to Christ the remedy, they contracted 
 and fell under a greater degree of hardness and blind- 
 ness than formerly. 
 
 5. There were also several here in 1742, who 
 after they had been for some short time under much 
 distress and terror, in fears of wrath, while hearing 
 sermons or in other duties, have been all at once 
 filled with transporting joys, and some of them have 
 cried out aloud in the congregation, in some short 
 expression of their joys : and upon inquiry afterward 
 into the ground of these joys, it appeared that in 
 some they took rise from a display or manifestation 
 inwardly to the soul, in a heart-overcoming way, an- 
 swerable to the outward displays of the glory of Christ 
 in the gospel, or of his love or the fruits of it, or the 
 person's interest in these, made evident; and these 
 so far as I know still persevere ; but in others these 
 joys appeared to proceed from the person's hearing 
 
258 
 
 or reading some promise of Scripture, and strongly- 
 apprehending that it belonged to them ; whereupon 
 they seemed to be filled all at once with transporting 
 joys ; and these have, many of them at least, fallen 
 away ; and from several instances of this kind we 
 have known here we cannot but conclude, that great 
 and strong terrors, by themselves, or when followed 
 with sudden and extatic joys, are no certain argu- 
 ments of a gracious change, nor of a person's being 
 under saving influence. 
 
 6. When the heart has not been humbled and 
 broken for sin and from it, and when the soul has 
 not been first united to the Lord Jesus, and made 
 one spirit with him, who is the fountain of life, where 
 the person has not first accepted of Christ in his gra- 
 cious gospel-offers, and closed with him in all his re- 
 deeming ofiices — outgates from distressing terrors, by 
 sudden transporting joys, though appearing to be 
 conveyed by means of some Scripture-promises, are 
 always suspicious and delusory, and at best but the 
 joy of the stony-ground hearers, who receive the 
 word with joy and anon are offended. And of this 
 sort we had several instances in 1742, some of them 
 also appearing under a blooming profession in 1743, 
 reckoning that the bitterness of eternal death and all 
 danger of it was past ; but the dominion of pride, 
 worldhness, and other corruptions remaining un- 
 broken in them, and finding the difficulties and dis- 
 agreeableness to their unrenewed nature of a holy, 
 humble, self-denying life, they were offended and 
 displeased with that kind of life, and so fell away to 
 former sensuality. 
 
 7. As to outcries in the time of public worship, it 
 
259 
 
 is best to avoid extremes. On the one hand, hearers 
 would not indulge themselves in outcries in public 
 when they are under no necessity to cry by overpow- 
 ering fears or joys, and when they could refrain from 
 crying if they were willing ; for by crying in that 
 case, they do in a culpable and disorderly manner mar 
 the attention of others and their own to the word ot 
 God's srace ; and ministers would not set themselves 
 industriously to excite such outcries among the hear- 
 ers, but rather to set the terrors of the law, and the 
 unsearchable riches of Christ, and the grace of the 
 gospel before them, leaving it to God to take his 
 own way with them, who can, if he please, order the 
 outcries of some to the awakening of others ; of which 
 there have been some instances here. On the other 
 hand, such hearers as can attend with calmness and 
 composure would not too harshly censure those as 
 mad and outrageous who at any time are necessitated 
 to cry out in the congregation by overbearing joys or 
 fears ; nor would ministers too severely rebuke or 
 charge every such person to hold their peace ; be- 
 cause, though there may be hypocritical cries, yet 
 the real griefs or joys of some serious or gracious 
 souls may be such as they cannot contain them ; and 
 while they endeavour to stifle and give no vent to 
 them, nature may receive a dangerous shock. Some 
 such hearers in this place in 1742, endeavouring with 
 all their might to restrain themselves from crying, fell 
 ableeding at mouth or nose, or both, and continued 
 to do so for a considerable time before the bleeding 
 could be got stopt — to the great weakening of the 
 person's own strength, and to the disturbing of others 
 about them, a great deal more than by the outcries 
 of others. 
 
260 
 
 8. Meantime we see the mine the Devil has been 
 springing, for undermining true religion and serious 
 godliness, and blowing up into the air the honour 
 due to it. How deep his plot — how cunning his 
 stratagems for that purpose ! When he saw there 
 was a number here under deep convictions, and a 
 kindly concern about their salvation that was like to 
 issue well, about the end of 1741 and beginning of 
 1 742, in order to brincr disfjrace on that work of the 
 Spirit of God, he quickly pitches on several poor 
 abandoned wretches, his slaves of whom he had got 
 fast hold and was not like to lose, and teaches some 
 of them to mimic such as were in soul -distress, 
 causes others of them to cry out publicly, and to fall 
 down as dead for some time, representing to their 
 fancies various objects in the air, when they were 
 awake or asleep, and suggesting various things to 
 their minds at the same time, urging them afterwards 
 to tell what they saw or heard, as visions, dreams, or 
 revelations from heaven, exciting them to go and 
 join in meetings for prayer, and to hold on in this 
 way under a high profession, some for weeks, some 
 for months, and others for years; and then at length 
 to push them into uncleanness, drunkenness, lying, 
 cheating, and all abominations, even to the throwing 
 off (with some) the very profession of religion; which 
 it is to be wished they had never put on. Could a 
 more dangerous mine be sprung, could a more effec- 
 tual way be taken to make men turn Atheists and 
 Deists, and to despise serious godliness, and all ap- 
 pearances of it, as if all had been mere sham, grimace, 
 and pretence? And thus it was like4o have been, 
 had not God preserved a remnant of those that were 
 
261 
 
 then under awakenings, and enabled them, by the 
 holiness of their after-lives, to give evidence of the 
 gracious change then wrought on their hearts. And 
 this leads to speak, 
 
 IV. Of the fourth sort in the parable, compared 
 to the good ground hearers. I do not here speak of 
 those who were as good ground before 1742, but of 
 those whose hearts were then made good : who in 
 hearing the word were then made to receive it so as 
 in their after-life to bring forth the fruits of righ- 
 teousness, though in different degrees, in some thir- 
 ty-, in some sixty-, in others a hundred-fold. A 
 temper of mind and course of life agreeable to the 
 gospel, this is fruit that will abound to the account 
 of those with whom it is found. And, glory to God, 
 setting aside all those that appeared under awaken- 
 ings here in 1742, who have since remarkably back- 
 slidden, whether persisting in their backsliding, or 
 returning from it, there is a considerable number of 
 the then awakened that appear to bring forth such 
 fruits. I do not talk of them at random, nor speak 
 of their number in a loose, general, and confused 
 way; but have now before me, at the writing of this, 
 April 27th, 1751, a list of about four hundred per- 
 sons awakened here at Cambuslang in 1742, who 
 from that time to the time of their death, or to this, 
 that is, for these nine years past, have been all en- 
 abled to behave in a good measure as becoraeth the 
 gospel, by any thing I could ever see, and by the 
 best information I could get concerning them by word 
 or writing, from others of established characters for 
 religion, who knew them and their manner of life all 
 along. 
 
262 
 
 But that what I say in this matter may not be 
 misunderstood, I remark, 
 
 First, Negatively, 1. I do not hereby pretend to 
 savj that they are free of all faults and follies, as if 
 nothing at all amiss could be justly charged on any 
 of them ; but would only say, that after much in- 
 quiry made, from what I know, they have been helped, 
 since the time of their awakening to their death, or 
 to this time, to carry in a good measure, suitable to 
 their Christian profession, proper charitable allow- 
 ances and abatements being made for involuntary in- 
 firmities and imprudencies, common to them with 
 other Christians in this imperfect state ; and that 
 they have not been suffered to fall into any thing 
 gross or openly offensive in their life. 
 
 2. I do not pretend to say that this list before me 
 is complete, or contains the whole number of those 
 awakened here in 1742 that persevere. It is to be 
 hoped that many of those quite unknown to me may 
 be as good Christians as any of those that are in it. 
 It is but very lately that I got particular accounts of 
 a considerable number of them who are choice prac- 
 tical Christians of whom I knew nothing before. 
 Opposers at no great distance, hearing of the falls 
 and miscarriages of some of the awakened, immedi- 
 ately raised a great clamour and noise, as if all were 
 come to nothing; and that noise, it seems, has reach- 
 ed Holland and other distant places : but there is 
 ground to suspect, that the more narrow the inqui- 
 ries into this work and what the effects of it are, it 
 will still appear in a more favourable and advanta- 
 geous light. 
 
 3. It is not meant that all the regularly behaving 
 
263 
 
 subjects of that work are yet alive to answer for 
 themselves. It may be hoped in charity that many 
 of them are gone to heaven : but those only of the 
 now deceased subjects of this work are reckoned in 
 this number who, from the time of their awakening 
 here in 1742 to the time of their death, were ena- 
 bled to persevere in the ways of God, without falling 
 openly into anything offensive or unsuitable to their 
 Christian profession. And these are the most un- 
 exceptionable of all others, as having by an edifying 
 life given evidence of the gracious change wrought 
 on their hearts, and then finished their course ; and 
 several, though not all of them, having finished it 
 with joy, and died triumphantly, and in the full as- 
 surance of eternal life. 
 
 4. When I mention the work here in 1742, and 
 such comfortable abiding effects of it ; I would not 
 have that work as producing any of those blessed ef- 
 fects ascribed to any creature, but that the entire glory 
 of it should be given to God whose work it was. It 
 is true that there were many ministers then came 
 here, from places near and more remote, and some of 
 them men of great eminence, who preached here at 
 my desire, and I used also to preach along with them 
 at their desire ; and several of these ministers, after 
 public worship was over, also joined with me in ex- 
 hortations to souls appearing in spiritual distress, 
 who resorted to the manse. But what could all 
 these avail without the Divine power and blessing? 
 whoever plant or water, it is God that gives the in- 
 crease : ministers are but instruments in his hand : 
 no praise was due to the rams' horns, though Jericho's 
 walls fell down at their blast. If God will vouchsafe 
 
264 
 
 that his Spirit shall breathe through ministers, or by 
 his word in the mouth, it is God and not the means 
 must have the praise. It is very fit and reasonable, 
 that he who builds the temple should bear the glory : 
 and Christ is both the foundation and founder of the 
 church, and of every particular living temple in it, 
 and even all in all : and therefore let all the glory be 
 ascribed to him. 
 
 5. When I speak of so many persevering subjects 
 of the work here in 1742, I do not pretend to deter- 
 mine that all these are converted. A true believer 
 may, without extraordinary revelation, be infallibly 
 assured, that he himself is in a state of grace, and 
 shall persevere therein to salvation ; and yet this is 
 not the attainment of every true believer, nor perhaps 
 of the greater part of believers : but the like assur- 
 ance is not to be expected, in an ordinary way, with 
 respect to the goodness of the state of others; "the 
 white stone and new name" is known absolutely to 
 none but those that receive it : the gift of discerning 
 spirits, so as to have an absolute infallible knowledge 
 of the goodness of another's state, is quite miraculous ; 
 and whatever of this gift obtained in the apostolic 
 and primitive times, for any man now to pretend to 
 it seems to be an assuminjy of what beloncrs to God 
 alone; and to run into this plan in church-matters 
 is to turn all into the wildest disorder and confusion. 
 But, 
 
 Second, and Positively : Whatever justly deter- 
 mines us to entertain favourable sentiments of others' 
 being true Christians, and in a gracious state, will 
 be found to agree to those persons I speak of; though 
 no doubt, with a diversity, as among an equal num- 
 
265 
 
 ber of other Christians. The holiness of some Chris- 
 tians shines so clearly in their lives as suffices to 
 found a moral certainty, or very high degree of pro- 
 bability, and even to exclude all reasonable ground 
 of doubt concerning the goodness of their state ; 
 while others afford ground but for a lower degree of 
 probability, yet enough on which to found a judgment 
 of charity that they are in a gracious state; some of 
 both these sorts are, no doubt, to be found among 
 the persons of whom I now speak. 
 
 Now there are these two things especially upon 
 which we found our charitable thoughts of others as 
 true Christians, namely, a christian profession, joined 
 with an answerable conversation, leaving the certain 
 and ^nal judging of hearts and states to God, who 
 otfiy can judge them with infallible certainty, we are 
 bound in charity to think men are good men as long 
 as their profession of faith and lives are agreeable to 
 the word of God, the only rule of faith and life. 
 
 Some indeed further require, that persons who 
 would have a place in their charity should give some 
 account of their experiences of the grace of God : 
 and this is what a great number, perhaps above a 
 fourth part of the persevering subjects herein 1742, 
 have done : they gave me very particular accounts 
 of God's dealings with their souls, in their first 
 awakenings and outgates, with their following soul- 
 exercises and experiences, distresses, deliverances, 
 and comforts, in 1742, 1743, and 1744, and some 
 of them also continued these accounts to 1748. And 
 I set down very many of these from their mouths, 
 always in their own sense, and very much also in 
 their own words : and many of these accounts have 
 
 M C4 
 
266 
 
 appeared to competent judges, to whom they have 
 been shown and who have perused them with care, 
 to be very rational and scriptural, and worthy to see 
 the light ; which perhaps may be done hereafter. 
 
 But passing these things at the time, and confin- 
 ing ourselves to the two things before mentioned 
 that usually and justly determine us to look upon 
 others as Christians where they meet together a 
 Christian profession with an answerable practice : 
 and both concur here. 
 
 All the persevering subjects of the work here in 
 1742 agree in professing their faith in Christ the 
 Mediator, by whose mediation alone we can come to 
 God the Father as our God and Father in him, 
 through the power and grace of the Holy Spirit : 
 they all profess to hope for salvation according to the 
 gospel plan, by the imputed righteousness of Christ, 
 entitling to eternalhfe and all blessings; and the 
 sanctifying influences of the Spirit of Christ, dis- 
 posing for eternal life, and all holy services and en- 
 joyments here and hereafter. 
 
 But then, as our Saviour allows us to judge of 
 the tree by its fruits, and true faith must be showed 
 by good works, or holy obedience in the life, these 
 things are also manifest in the lives of the persever- 
 ing subjects I speak of: I am not at present free to 
 publish any of their names, or those of the attestors, 
 nor is it at all proper or needful to do so ; but all the 
 above number are severally attested, either by minis- 
 ters, elders, or private Christians of established 
 character, who have known them and their manner 
 of life from 1742, and all these Attestations in sum 
 bear not only, that such persons they mention were 
 
26T 
 
 awakened at Cambuslang in 1*742, or were under 
 convictions and remarkable concern there at that 
 time, but that they have all along from that 
 to their death, or to this time, behaved well, 
 and as became their christian profession, charitable 
 allowances being made for involuntary weaknesses 
 and infirmities, as to other Christians, in this imper- 
 fect state, as is said before. 
 
 But beside these generals, I shall here subjoin a 
 few particulars, partly from my own knowledge and 
 observation, partly by credible information from 
 others, relating to their temper and practice. 
 
 By the practice of justice and charity, relative 
 duties, public-spiritedness, humility, meekness, pa- 
 tience, and a close and diligent attendance on gospel 
 ordinances, heavenly-mindedness,watchfulness against 
 all sin, especially those sins that used formerly easily 
 to beset them, &c., they adorn the doctrine of God 
 our Saviour, glorify their heavenly Father, and ex- 
 cite others to do so on their account. 
 
 Those of them that were cursers and swearers 
 have laid aside that language of hell, and have learned 
 much of the language of heaven, and to speak with 
 holy awe of God and things divine. 
 
 Such of them as used to be often out in taverns, 
 drinking and playing at cards, &c., till very late, or 
 morning-hours rather, for these nine years past, shun 
 all occasions of that kind, and keep at home at night, 
 spending the night in christian conference, things 
 profitable for their families, and in secret and family- 
 devotion. The formerly drunken or tippling sot, 
 that used to lie in bed till eight or nine in the 
 morning, till he slept out last night's drunkenness, for 
 
26S 
 
 these nine years, gets up at three or four in the 
 morning, and continues at reading his Bible and 
 other good books, secret prayer and meditation, &c., 
 till seven or eight o'clock in the morning, that he 
 calls his household together for family-devotion ; 
 and does the like in the evening and at night. 
 
 Some wives who before 1742 were at variance 
 with their husbands, have since that time got on the 
 ornament of a meek and quiet spirit, and live in much 
 love and peace with them. Others, when the hus- 
 band's passions break out against them in boisterous 
 and stormy language, run to another room to their 
 knees, asking of God forgiveness and a better temper 
 to the husband, and patience and meekness to herself, 
 and after some time, returns from her knees, with 
 the law of kindness on her lips to the husband, tell- 
 ing him, he is the best husband she could have got; 
 for that he is the occasion of her going oftener to 
 her knees than probably she would have gone if she 
 had got one more loving and kind. 
 
 The formerly covetous and worldly-minded and 
 selfish have got a public spirit, and zealous concern 
 for promoting the kingdom and glory of Christ in 
 the conversion and salvation of souls ; and for this 
 end, are careful not only to live inofiPensively them- 
 selves, but usefully to others, so as all about them 
 may be the better for them : they join cheerfully to 
 their abihty, and some even beyond it, (so that I 
 have sometimes seen it needful to check some of 
 them for too large quotas or offers) in collections for 
 promoting the interest of religion, or for the relief 
 of those straits, in places near hand or far oft': they 
 carefully observe the times fixed in the concert 
 
269 
 
 for prayer, and joining at such times in earnest plea- 
 dings at a throne of grace, for the spreading and suc- 
 cess of the gospel, and the outpouring of the Spirit 
 from on high on the churches. 
 
 They flock with great eagerness to the hearing of 
 the word, in the several places where they reside, 
 and, "as new-born babes, desire the sincere milk of 
 the word, that they may grow thereby." Such ear- 
 nest desires, of a number in this parish, after the word 
 encouraged me in the beginning of the year 1142 to 
 set up a weekly lecture on Thursdays, and to con- 
 tinue it from that time to this, all the year round, 
 and even in harvest too, only altering the time of it 
 then to the evening, to which the reapers come run- 
 ning from the fields, where they had been toiling all 
 day. At other times of the year, some servants of 
 their own free motion and choice are known some- 
 times to have sit up all night at their master's work, 
 that they might have liberty to attend the weekly lec- 
 ture next day without giving their master cause to 
 complain. 
 
 They are careful to prepare for the sacrament of 
 the Lord's Supper, and frequent in partaking of it. 
 In Scotland, country parishes usually have that sacra- 
 ment dispensed but once a year, and sometimes not 
 so often; but ever since 1742 we have it here twice 
 a year. These have been indeed remarkable times 
 of" communion with God : then especially, they have 
 seen the goings of our God and our King in the 
 sanctuary : they have been made to sit under Christ's 
 shadow with great delight, and his fruit has been 
 sweet to their taste : they have been feasted in the 
 banqueting-house, his banner over them was love. 
 
270 
 
 And meeting also with like entertainments at com- 
 ra union-occasions in other places, they resort to raany 
 such solemnities in different parts, especially in the 
 season wherein they most abound, as in June, July, 
 and Au£ust. 
 
 To conclude: They abound much in prayer, both 
 in single or secret prayer, each apart by himself*, and 
 in social prayer, jointly with others, not only private, 
 with the family they belong to, and more public and 
 solemn, with the congregation, but in fellowship 
 meetiop-s, or lesser societies that use to meet weeklv 
 for prayer and praises to God and christian confer- 
 ence. In 1731, when I came to this parish, there 
 were three of these meetings in it. In 1742 they 
 increased to a dozen or more ; now they are de- 
 creased to six. In every town or village almost in 
 this side of the country, where there is any compe- 
 tent number of serious lively Christians, and where 
 religion is in a thriving way, there are of these so- 
 cieties for prayer ; and the persevering subjects of 
 the work I speak of, in parishes where any such per- 
 sons are, always make a part of these societies. 
 Tradesmen, who are members of them, and who work 
 for so much a day, allow their employers to deduct 
 so much from their day's wages as answers to the 
 time they happen to be absent at the meeting for 
 prayer. Some of these societies, besides their or- 
 dinary fixed times for meeting, which is usually once 
 a week in the evening, have also their meetings for 
 fasting and prayer upon extraordinary occasions ; as 
 sudden tidings of remarkable losses or dangers to any 
 of their concerns, or of events whereby i{ appears that 
 the interest of religion is in great danger. Ant! 
 
271 
 
 sometimes the Lord gives much of his gracious pre- 
 sence and of a spirit of prayer to his people in these, 
 though, alas ! not so much as in former times. 
 
 I now close with this short caution : If this paper 
 shall fall into the hands of any concerned in the work 
 of which it treats, who shall pervert any thing here 
 said, towards encouraging himself in pride or carnal 
 security, as supposing that he is reckoned here 
 among the persevering subjects of that work; — To 
 such I say, perhaps it is not as you imagine ; but 
 suppose it be so, what are you the better for that ? 
 What was Judas the better for being in the list, and 
 in such repute among the other apostles? Men 
 may approve thee, and God condemn thee : and if 
 thou valuest thyself merely upon the approbation of 
 others, this delusion will ruin thee for ever. Be not 
 high-minded, but fear : those who have indeed been 
 enabled to persevere, and may hope by grace still to 
 persevere in the ways of God, and are the humble 
 and lowly, the modest and self-denied ; while the 
 haughty and high-minded, the presumptuous and 
 self-confident, have been suffered to fall, or may ex- 
 pect that a dangerous fall is very near. 
 
 *'Now to him that is able to keep us from falling, 
 and to present us faultless before the presence of his 
 glory with exceeding joy — to the only wise God our 
 Saviour, be glory and majesty, dominion and power, 
 both now and ever. Amen." 
 
 Upon the whole, I think I may say, "The Lord 
 has done great things for us, whereof we are glad." 
 To him alone be all glory and praise, of whatever 
 good was got or done in t!:at remarkable work ol' 
 his grace. Amen. I am. Your affectionate Brother, 
 
 William M' Culloch. 
 
272 
 
 Attestation of the Kirk Session of Cambuslang, 
 
 Cambuslang Manse, April 30th, 1751. 
 
 We, the under-subscribing elders, members of the 
 kirk session of Cambuslang, having heard the fore- 
 going Attestation read to us by our Pastor, and having 
 maturely considered the same, paragraph by paragraph, 
 do heartily join with him in said Attestation ; and 
 hereby make it our own, being persuaded that it con- 
 tains a jusc and true account of the extraordinary 
 work here in 1742, and the comfortable and abiding 
 effects of it on many, probably more than the four 
 hundred mentioned in the foregoing Attestation ; and 
 particularly, as to about seventy of that four hundred, 
 who lived in this parish in the year 1742 ; and who 
 were among the awakened here that year, and from 
 that time to this, or to the time of their death, lived, 
 (so far as we know ourselves, or by creditable infor- 
 mation) in a blameless inoffensive way, and as becomes 
 their Christian profession. 
 
 And to what is above said, we add the following 
 "•eneral observations. 
 
 o 
 
 1. The awakening in 1742 was so far from being a 
 schismatical work, as it has been traduced by opposers, 
 that numbers who had gone into a course of separa- 
 tion and division from their own ministers, and from 
 the communion of the Presbyterian church, established 
 by law in Scotland, returned to their own pastors, and 
 to communion with the national church, acknowledging 
 God was in the midst of her of a truth. And many 
 who were at the very point of deserting the communion 
 of this church, and separating from their own pastors, 
 were kept back from schismatical courses ; and express 
 a most tender regard to all true ministers of Christ, es- 
 pecially to those who were their spiritual fathers in the 
 Lord ; and Continue in full communion with this na- 
 tional ciiurcii to this very day. 
 
 2. Though the most of the subjects of the awaken- 
 ing, whose exercises contained a mixture of strong 
 fancy and imagination, are relapsed to their former sin- 
 ful courses ; yet there are several instances of persons 
 
273 
 
 whose exercises were mixed with fanciful apprehension, 
 and which they gave out to be real representations of 
 objects and visions, who are of the number of those 
 who are persevering in a justifiable Christian profession 
 and unblemished conversation. 
 
 The decrease of the number of meetings for prayer, 
 from about a dozen or more in this parish in 1742 to 
 the number of six this current year, mentioned by our 
 pastor in his Attestation, was occasioned not only by 
 the backsliding of several, that at the beginning of the 
 revival formed themselves into these meetings, but also 
 by the death of several of the members, the removal 
 of others from this parish, and by marriages of others; 
 who were obliged to mind the affairs of their families. 
 By all which, some of these meetings were quite broken 
 up ; and the remaining persevering members have 
 joined themselves to the subsisting societies within this 
 parish, or to other societies for prayer where providence 
 hath now cast their lot. 
 
 4. The reason why we declare there are probably 
 more than the four hundred persevering subjects of 
 awakening contained in our minister's Attestation is, 
 that when the list of the above subjects came to hand 
 from other parishes, there were no account sent up 
 from the West country, where we know great numbers 
 of the subjects of the late work lived and do live; and 
 we doubt not, numbers of these have brought and are 
 bringing forth fruit with patience. 
 
 And now, upon the whole, we, the under-subscribers, 
 with the greatest freedom, after the most impartial in- 
 quiry and diligent care for information about the pre- 
 mises, being all the elders belonging to the kirk session 
 of this parish, save one occasionally absent from this 
 meeting, day and date aforesaid, do hereto subscribe 
 our names. 
 
 Alexander Duncan, Elder, 
 Archibald Fife, Elder, 
 _Ingrann j\Iore, Elder, 
 Claud Soraers, Elder, 
 Bartholomew Somers, Elder. 
 
 M 2 
 
274 
 
 Extract of a Letter from a Gentleman in Edinburgh, 
 to Mr. Robe in Kilsyth^ inclosing the folloiviug 
 Preface to the Cambuslang Narrative^ latelg trans- 
 lated into Dutch, and printed in Holland. 
 
 October 2nd, 1742. 
 My dear Friend, — I had yesterday a letter from Mr. 
 Kennedy at Rotterdam, of the 4th past, old style, who 
 writes me, he got by accident a Narrative of the work 
 at Cambuslang with the Attestation ; which is printed 
 in Dutch, and the inclosed is a copy of the Preface he 
 wrote to it, and which was also printed in Dutch. I 
 am persuaded it will be agreeable to you and your 
 brethren to know that we have the united prayers, 
 on our behalf, of all the Lord's people in the United 
 Provinces. — I hope you have already had much of the 
 Lord's countenance in what is past of the solemnity 
 with you, and that he will eminently own his own work 
 and ordinance to-morrow and next day, to the bringing 
 in of many sinners, and building up many of his own 
 children ; may the stately steps of our King, our God, 
 be seen in his sanctuary with you. I will be glad to 
 hear that he has eminently visited you at this time, and 
 that the work is going on and increasing in many other 
 places, &c. 
 
 TO THE CHRISTIAN READER. 
 
 Hugh Kennedy, Minister of the Scots Church 
 OF Jesus Christ in Rotterdam, wishing grace, 
 
 MERCY AND PEACE. 
 
 The conversion of elect sinners to God is one of the 
 most glorious and admirable effects of sovereign omni- 
 potent wisdom, power, and grace, and affords matter of 
 solemn joy to all the saints; for every one thus added 
 to the church of Christ- brings so much more of his 
 presence and Spirit into the assembly where he wor- 
 ships; and adds the more strength and beauty to the 
 Redeemer's interest in the world; he adds also to the 
 joy of heaven — the good angels rejoice exceedingly to 
 
275 
 
 hear of one sinner, much more of a multitude of sinners, 
 rescued from the cruel tj'ranny of Satan, and brought 
 into the kingdom of God, who shall be sharers and 
 companions with them in the eternal bliss and glory, 
 and gladly become ministering spirits for the good of 
 those heirs of salvation; and such converts will, in a 
 very particular manner, be a crown and joy to all such 
 who are any way concerned in bringing them to God! 
 And can there be a more ravishing sight on this side 
 of heaven than to behold perishing sinners, on their re- 
 turn to God, under the sweet but almighty conquering 
 power of the grace of Jesus Christ-? 
 
 These considerations moved me with the most sen- 
 sible joy when I read this Narrative of a most gracious 
 and wonderful pouring down of the Spirit upon many 
 persons at Cambuslang, a place within four miles of 
 Glasgow. It is as life from the dead after a long time 
 of barrenness and formality ; and though a constant 
 lively course of religion may in itself be more valuable, 
 yet the sudden conversion of many careless sinners, 
 from the way of sin and wrath, must yield a more sur- 
 prising pleasure, and none but men very much strangers 
 to a heavenly spirit, or under the influence of fearful 
 prejudices, will do any thing to reproach such a work, 
 to hinder it, or be exasperated and grieved at it. 
 
 I am confident this Narrative will afford a very high 
 pleasure and satisfaction to all in the United Provinces 
 who love our Lord Jesus in sincerity, and long for his 
 coming and kingdom. They will be glad to hear of 
 the conversion of poor sinners, because it accomplishes 
 God's great design of grace and love, and is the bring- 
 ing of those to Christ whom the Father has given him 
 from eternity, and in whom he will be for ever glorified. 
 In this confidence I have cheerfully promoted the 
 translation of this Narrative into the Dutch tongue, 
 that so I might some way contribute to help the joy of 
 those whose happiness in time and eternity I most sin- 
 cerely pray for. 
 
 I know the ministers who have attested this Narra- 
 tive to be men of such excellent knowledge in the 
 truths and ways of God, such solid piety, and of such 
 fidelity and integrity, that their testimony in this matter 
 
276 
 
 Ts worthy of all credit, and may safely be depended on- 
 While others are speaking and publishing their senti- 
 ments concerning this work with all freedom, these 
 faithful ministers of Jesus Christ judge themselves ob- 
 liged to do so also. 
 
 They had more opportunity than any others lo inform 
 themselves concerning the ways of the Lord with these 
 people, and their manner of life, purpose, faith, charity; 
 and what they have seen and heard that declare 
 they unto us; and I for my part do cheerfully receive 
 their testimony, because I know them to be men of 
 good sense and learning, and of strict veracity, and also 
 free from enthusiastic impressions, unless serious reli- 
 gion and experimental piety be so called, as, alas! we 
 have melancholy occasion to observe they often are. 
 
 There appear plain marks of sincerity and impartiality 
 in the following account ; and the same things have 
 been Avritten to me by other friends of unquestionable 
 capacity and integrity, whom I know and correspond 
 with, and who have diligently visited that people among 
 whom the Redeemer is now riding forth in the chariot 
 of the everlasting gospel, conquering and to conquer. 
 And this blessed work is, since the publication of this 
 Narrative, spreading and going forward in several other 
 places; particularly in Kilsyth, a parish about six miles 
 to the north of Glasgow, there are above a hundred 
 careless sinners lately awakened to a deep concern 
 about their souls and eternity, and appear to be in a 
 hopeful way. 
 
 I am persuaded, that all who really make God's pure 
 and perfect word the only rule of their religion ; who 
 believe the great and universal guilt, corruption, and 
 impotency of the human nature in its fallen state, and 
 the absolute necessity of the Spirit of God to convince 
 men effectually of sin and righteousness and judgment 
 to come; to enlighten the blind mind, to awaken the 
 secure sleepy conscience, to bow the stubborn will, and 
 open the hard natural heart to receive Jesus Christ; I 
 say, all who believe these things will own the work of 
 God mentioned in this Narrative to be highly consistent 
 with the Scripture account of conversion, and with all 
 just observation of the doings of the Lord in the 
 
277 
 
 churches, when he is about to carry on salvation-work 
 with any remarkable success ; and I am very sure, the 
 common sense and reason of mankind cannot show 
 the contrary, but that the same almighty power, which 
 first breathed a living soul into man, can, by a further 
 inspiration and influence, coming along with the pure 
 and faithful dispensation of the gospel, raise men to 
 a higher and nobler condition than that in which they 
 find themselves by nature. 
 
 The wisest of the heathen philosophers were so far 
 sensible of the horrible depravity of human nature in 
 its present state, that to the reforming of the heart and 
 lives of men, they were persuaded there was need of 
 a supernatural and divine assistance, or of the imme- 
 diate interposition of God himself; but the doctrines 
 concerning the universal corruption of the human na- 
 ture since the fall of man, and of the absolute irapo- 
 tency, nay, enmity of corrupted nature to any thing 
 spiritually good, and consequently of the absolute in- 
 dispensable necessity of the Spirit and grace of God, 
 to begin, to carry on, and to perfect the whole work 
 of a poor sinner's conversion, sanctification, and salva- 
 tion, are principles most clearly revealed and strongly 
 established by the word of God, justified by the ex- 
 perience of all the saints, and allowed in speculation 
 by all who call themselves reformed Christians. 
 
 I confess, the Holy Spirit has been in a great and 
 lamentable measure so long departed from the churches 
 called Christian, that many who wear that name are 
 tempted to think, that all his affecting mighty opera- 
 tions upon the souls of men by the preaching of the 
 gospel belonged only to the first ages of Christianity, 
 and to the extraordinary ministrations of the apostles ; 
 and that now, no more is necessary to make men good 
 Christians but a mere rational conviction of the defor- 
 mity of vice, and of the beauty and excellence of vir- 
 tue, nor any other Christianity necessary but an exter- 
 nal profession of the name of Christ, with a general 
 assent to the truths of Christianity, and a life unblame- 
 able in the eye of human laws, though, at the same 
 time, the sinner be an absolute stranger to the faith of 
 God's elect, and to the indwelling of the Spirit of 
 
278 
 
 Christ, having made no particular application of Jesus 
 Christ to himself, nor being brought to rest upon him 
 alone for the whole of his salvation from first to last ; 
 and yet it is as certain as God's woi"d is true, that un- 
 less the most honest and best moralist in the world be 
 born again of the Spirit, he cannot enter into the king- 
 dom of God ; and if any man, be he otherwise what 
 he will, have not the Spirit of Christ, he is none of his ! 
 
 Great, and, alas ! too successful endeavours have 
 been used, to bring men to rest upon a ministry and 
 ordinances without the Spirit ; the eternal Spirit ha^ 
 been dreadfully slighted, his gifts, his grace, and pecu- 
 liar operations upon the souls of men in their conver- 
 sion, sanctification, consolation, and establishment in 
 the ways of God, scoffed at, reproached, and contempt 
 thrown on those who were most earnest in recommend- 
 ing these things, and yet, perhaps, such men would 
 think themselves wronged not to be accounted Chris- 
 tians. 
 
 How irrational and inconsistent is the judgment of 
 the men of the world, who know not the things of the 
 Spirit of God! One man who has a mere form of 
 godliness, but shows no relish nor power of it, but only 
 sometimes attends ordinances, being instructed out of 
 the law, and seems to live a chaste, honest, and sober 
 life, and the world allows he does so by the grace of 
 God ; another who was regardless of all religion, a 
 Sabbath-breaker, a drunkard, an unclean sinner, a pro- 
 fane swearer, a despiser of Jesus Christ and the great 
 salvation, but by a day of power is put into a deep 
 concern about his soul, and earnestly cries, " What 
 shall I do to be saved?" and becomes just, sober, 
 chaste, holy, lively, and zealous for the Divine glory, 
 and yet men say, it is a delusion — all enthusiasm ! 
 What absurd reasoning is this ! what high and aggra- 
 vated provocation to the Spirit of all grace ! Whether 
 men will hear, or whether they will forbear, it will one 
 <lay be found an awful truth, that publicans and har- 
 lots shall enter into the kingdom of heaven, when the 
 professed children of the kingdom, who discover such 
 bitter enmity at the gracious operations of the Spirit 
 of the Lord, shall be thrust down to utter darkness 
 
279 
 
 unless they repent. The Lord seems to have some 
 great event upon the wheel just now ; and I would fain 
 hope the glory of the latter days is not far off. The 
 present convulsions and reelings among the nations, as 
 well as the stirring among the dry bones in Scotland, 
 America, and other places, confirm me more and more 
 in this opinion. God has given the New Testament 
 church a great promise concerning the signal effusion 
 of the Holy Spirit, the accomplishment of which is in 
 every age to be expected by faith, John xiv, 16, 17, 
 and xvi, 7 — 10. Iience the Holy Ghost is called the 
 Spirit of that promise, Eph. i, 13, the Spirit that in 
 the new covenant is promised, and believers in all gen- 
 erations receive, the promise of the Spirit through faith, 
 Gal. iii, 2, 14. The residue of the Spirit is with our 
 God, who, in a way of sovereignty, pours out the Holy 
 Spirit, when, where, upon whomsoever, and in whatever 
 measure and degrees he pleases! but yet will for this 
 be enquired of by the house of Israel to do it for 
 them, Ezek. xxxvi, 27, 37. 
 
 Therefore I earnestly bespeak the prayers of all the 
 faithful in Jesus Christ into whose hands this Narra- 
 tive may come, for the successful carrying on of the 
 Lord's work in Scotland, that great and godlike work 
 of quickening the dead, justifying the guilty, and 
 sanctifying the impure, which I hope is begun and 
 going on ! and also for a notable reviving to the Lord's 
 Avork in these United Provinces, that the cloud which 
 at present is but like a man's hand may grow great and 
 cover the whole face of the heavens, that the blessed 
 gospel may yet be preached among us as with the 
 Spirit sent down from above, that ministers may be 
 made divinely wise to win souls to Christ, and be sent 
 forth in all corners and churches of this land, with as 
 full a blessing of the gospel of Christ as any other 
 places have experienced, and much more abundantly 
 by the will and grace of the Lord ! And finally, pray 
 that the Lord may heal all our sad breaches and back- 
 slidings, allow us his special presence, and leave some 
 notable blessing in the midst of us; and that his al- 
 mighty M'atchful providence may be a wall of fire 
 about these Provinces, and all their valuable interests. 
 
280 
 
 and his gospel dispensed in the power and demon- 
 stration of the Holy Spirit, may be the glory in the 
 midst of them, till time shall he no more. This is 
 and through grace shall be the fervent prayer of your 
 very affectionate friend and servant in the Lord, 
 
 Hugh Kennedy. 
 Rotterdam, July 26tb, 1742. 
 
 Narrative of the Revival of Religion in other places. 
 
 It will be agreeable tidings, to all who desire and 
 pray for the coming of the kingdom of God, to be 
 informed that this outpouring of the Holy Spirit 
 is considerably observable to the northward beyond 
 what hath been formerly mentioned in this Narrative. 
 I shall first give some particular account of the re- 
 markable coming of the Comforter to the parish of 
 Muthil, to convince many there of sin, of righteous- 
 ness, and of judgment. 
 
 This parish is situate in the shire of Perth, and 
 presbytery of Auchterarder. They have been many 
 years under the pastoral care of the Rev. Mr. 
 Halley, an able and sufficient minister of the New 
 Testament, and one who is known to be laborious 
 and faithful. The reader will be informed of it much 
 better by a letter I received from the said reverend 
 brother, on the 2nd of this current October, than by 
 any abstract I can give: which letter is as follows : — 
 
 Muthil, 28th September, 1742. 
 
 Rev. dear Brother, — For some time past I have 
 
 been much refreshed with tidings of great joy, not 
 
 only from abroad, namely. New- England, and other 
 
 remote parts, but also from different corners of our 
 
281 
 
 land, particularly from the parish whereof you have 
 the pastoral charge, from whence I hear of a 
 gathering of the people to the blessed Shiloh, 
 That you may rejoice with me, and help with your 
 prayers at the throne of grace, I thought it proper 
 to acquaint you with something of the like glorious 
 work in this congregation. I do not in this mis- 
 sive pretend to give you a full and particular account 
 of what the Lord has done amongst us for some 
 time past. In general, for about a year past, there 
 has been an unusual stirring and seeming concern 
 throush this confrregatiou, and some now and then 
 falling under convictions. A closer attention to the 
 word preached, and a receiving of it with an appa- 
 rent appetite, was by myself and others observed, 
 untill the time of the sacrament of the Lord's Sup- 
 per was dispensed here, which was the third Sab- 
 bath of July last, at which time, I think, our con- 
 quering Uedeemer made some visible inroads upon 
 the kingdom of Satan. I hope there are not a few, 
 both in this and other congregations, that can say, 
 " That God was in this place, and that they felt his 
 power, and saw his glory." But whatever the Lord 
 was pleased to shed down of the influences of his 
 Spirit upon that solemn occasion, comparatively 
 speaking, may be accounted but a day of small 
 things in respect of what a gracious God has been 
 pleased to do amongst us since. I must acknow- 
 ledge, to the praise of our gracious God, that an 
 unusual power hath attended the word preached 
 every Sabbath day since, few if any Sabbaths having 
 passed but some have been awakened, and particu- 
 larly last Lord's day, which, 1 hope 1 may say, was 
 
282 
 
 a day of the Son of man in this place ; for, besides 
 the general concern that was seen in this congrega- 
 tion, about eighteen persons, which I came to know 
 of that night, were pricked to the heart, and deeply 
 wounded with the arrows of the Almighty, and I 
 expect to hear of a great deal more of them. I have 
 been very agreeably entertained with the visits of 
 distressed souls crying out for Christ, and " What 
 shall we do to be saved ?" And I may say, that 
 the work of the law has been severe, and outwardly 
 noticeable upon all that I have conversed with; their 
 convictions have been deep, cutting, and abiding, 
 not (as we have formerly seen) " like a morning 
 cloud and early dew, that soon passeth away." And 
 yet I have not observed in any that I have spoken 
 with the least tendency to despair; but giving, so 
 far as I can judge, satisfying evidences of a kindly 
 work of the Spirit, and the law acting the part of 
 a schoolmaster, leading them to Christ, in whom, I 
 hope, a great many of them are safely landed, and 
 have had their souls filled with joy and peace in be- 
 lieving, and some have received such a measure of 
 the joys of heaven that the narrow crazy vessel 
 could hold no more. Though some old people have 
 been awakened, yet this work is most noticeable 
 among the younger sort : and some very young 
 (within twelve years of age) have been observably 
 wrought upon, and the fruits are very agreeable, 
 amongst others, their delight in prayer and their 
 frequent meeting together for that end. And they 
 who have noticed them have informed me of their 
 speaking in prayer the wonderful things of God. 
 As the Lord has been pleased observably to own 
 
283 
 
 us in the public ordinances, and to make us see his 
 goings in the sanctuary, so I think no less have we 
 felt a down -pouring of his Spirit upon the occasion 
 of our evening exercises upon Sabbath nights. For 
 immediately after public worship is over, such crowds 
 of people come to the manse as fill the house and 
 the close before the doors, discovering a great thirst 
 after the word, and such an unusual concern in hear- 
 ing of it that their mourning cries frequently drown 
 my voice, so that I am obliged frequently to stop 
 till they compose themselves. And many on these 
 occasions fall under deep and abiding convictions. 
 So that I am taken up in dealing with them for 
 some hours after the meeting is dismissed. Many 
 here give such evidences of a saving real work of the 
 Spirit, that to call it into question would put old 
 experienced Christians to doubt of their own state, 
 yea, to call in question the experiences of the saints 
 recorded in Scripture. And yet there are here, as 
 well as elsewhere, who are contradicting and blas- 
 pheming ; they are objects of pity, and ought to be 
 prayed for. I give you this account of the Lord's 
 work in this parish for your own private satisfaction, 
 and of those with you who may join with us in 
 prayer and praises to our gracious God, who has 
 done such great things for us. We are mindful of 
 you and your congregation, and of the work of God 
 in other parts, not only in public and in private, but 
 in our praying societies, several whereof have been 
 of late erected in this parish, and many people 
 flocking to them. We expect the like from you 
 and your people. That the Lord may carry on his 
 work with you and us, and other parts of the land; 
 
284 
 
 and that he may signally countenance that solerau 
 occasion you have in view next Lord's day is the 
 earnest desire and prayer of your affectionate Bro- 
 ther, William Halley. 
 
 I received, on the 29th of October, a letter from 
 the same worthy brother, giving a further account of 
 the progress of the good work at Muthil. It is a 
 follovveth : — 
 
 Rev. and very dear Brother, — Yours of the 17th 
 instant I received upon the 20th, by which I was 
 exceedingly refreshed with the account of the con- 
 tinuance and progress of the Lord's work in that 
 plot of his vineyard whereof you have the pastoral 
 charge. These things brought about with you here 
 and elsewhere are the doings of the Lord, and won- 
 derful in our eyes, and considering the almost uni- 
 versal deadness, degeneracy, despising of gospel 
 ordinances, slighting the ambassadors of Christ, and 
 the many other crying abominations of the land, this 
 reviving, this surprising visit, may fill us with won- 
 der and amazement, and make us say, " When the 
 Lord returned again the captivity of our Zion we 
 were like men that dream." But "his ways are not 
 as our ways." Glory to him, " he has seen our ways, 
 and is healing them." It gave me much pleasure 
 to hear Mr. Porteous and some of my people giv- 
 ing such an account of the work of God with you 
 at your last sacrament. Such of my flock as attended 
 that solemn occasion, I hope, have not lost their 
 travel. About seven-and-twenty of them, all in a 
 company coming home, were, by a kind providence, 
 overtaken upon the road, by Mr. Porteous, Mrs. 
 
285 
 
 Erskine, and Mr. David Erskine, who, by the 
 blessing of the Lord were made eminently useful 
 to them. For such was the distress of many of 
 them, that in all appearance they would have lodged 
 in that desert place all night if the Lord, by means 
 of these instruments, had not sent them some support 
 and relief: so much did their soul-distress affect their 
 bodies that they seemed not able to travel much far- 
 ther. I doubt not but it will give you like satisfac- 
 tion to be informed that the same good work upon 
 souls is daily advancing and going on in this parish. 
 Every Sabbath day since I wrote to you last, I may 
 say, to the glory of free grace, has been a day of the 
 Son of man. The arrows of the Almighty King 
 are still flying thick amongst us, and wounding the 
 hearts of his enemies, and laying them down groan- 
 ing at the feet of the Conqueror, crying under a 
 sense of guilt and the frightful apprehensions of 
 wrath, and thirsting after a Saviour. For many 
 months past, I have observed a general and unusual 
 concern upon the whole congregation, their close at- 
 tendance upon ordinances, though many of them be 
 at a great distance, their hungry-like attention to 
 the word, the serious and concerned-like airs ap- 
 pearing in their faces. Many being so deeply af- 
 fected in hearing that frequently a general sound of 
 weeping through the whole congregation rises so 
 high that it much drowns my voice. Their car- 
 riage and spiritual converse in coming and going 
 from public ordinances, and the many prayers that 
 are put up through this parish, are good and pro- 
 mising appearances, which make me, through the 
 blessing of God upon his ordinances, to expect yet 
 
286 
 
 greater things than these I have aheady seen. I 
 told you in my last, what multitudes of people at- 
 tended our evening exercise upon Sabbath nights. 
 But now, though the day be short, I am obliged 
 to go to the kirk with them, where almost the 
 whole congregation (which is very great) wait and 
 attend.' Many of thera not regarding the difficulty 
 of traveling through a long dark moor under night: 
 and a good number after they have heard a lecture 
 and two sermons, and the evening exercise, stay and 
 retire to the school-house, and there spend some 
 hours in prayer, and the Lord has signally owned 
 them, not only to their own mutual edification, but 
 to the conviction of by-standers, and such as have 
 heard them without the walls of the house. Our 
 praying societies are in a most flourishing condition, 
 and still more members flocking to them ; their 
 meetings are frequent, and the Lord is observably 
 present with them. The meetings for prayer 
 amongst the young boys and girls give me great 
 satisfaction, one whereof began soon after the sacra- 
 ment, and is now increased to about the number of 
 twenty. Till of late they met in the town ; but 
 several of them fell under such a deep concern that 
 I was sent for to speak with them, where I found 
 some of them in tears. Since that time (that I 
 may have thera near me) I give them a room in the 
 manse, where they meet every night. And O how 
 pleasant is it to hear the poor young lambs address- 
 ing themselves to God in prayer, — with what fer- 
 vour, with what proper expressions do I hear them 
 pouring out their souls to a prayer-hearing God ; so 
 that standing at the back of the door, I am oftc 
 
287 
 
 incited into tears to bear them. We have another 
 praying society of young ones lately erected in ano- 
 ther corner of the parish, where one Mr. Robertson 
 teaches one of the charity schools. The young ones 
 of late desired his permission to meet in the school- 
 house for prayer, which he very readily granted to 
 them, (for it is his great pleasure to promote and en- 
 courage religion both in young and old,) and there 
 about twenty of them met twice every week, though 
 many of them have a good way to travel in the 
 night-time. I may say in general, that such a 
 praying disposition as appears amongst this people, 
 both young and old, was never seen nor heard of 
 before, which gives me ground to expect more of 
 divine influences to come down amongst us, for 
 where the Lord prepares the heart he causes his ear 
 to hear. As to the parish of Madderty, respecting 
 which you desire to be informed ; soon after the 
 sacrament at Foulis, a neighbouring parish, some 
 few boys met in the fields for prayer, and when ob- 
 served, were brought to a house, to whom many 
 others, both young and old, resorted since, and are 
 now, according to my information, in a very flourish- 
 ing condition. This Presbytery is resolved to di- 
 vide themselves into societies for prayer, for the 
 progress of this blessed work, and to have frequent 
 meetings for this end. What Perth presbytery 
 hath done I have no certain account of, only I heard 
 what you seem to have been informed of. I will 
 accept of it as a great favour to be allowed a frequent 
 correspondence with you, that we may be mutually 
 informed what the Lord is doing amongst us, and 
 thereby be excited to more diligence in prayer and 
 
288 
 
 praises. I am afraid that my last letter to you, 
 wants that politeness and exactness that is proper 
 for a public view ; but if the publishing of it may 
 contribute any thing to the spreading of the Re- 
 deemer's praises, I allow you to make it a part of 
 your Narrative, though the doing of it may leave 
 some refltiction upon me. I hope, though otherwise 
 unacquainted, we shall daily meet at the throne of 
 grace in prayer. That this little cloud, that at first 
 appeared but like a man's hand in the west of 
 Scotland, may spread over the whole land, and send 
 down a plentiful rain to water the whole of the 
 Lord's inlieritance amongst us, that the pleasure of 
 the Lord may more and more prosper in your hand, is 
 the earnest prayer of your most affectionate Brother, 
 
 William Halley. 
 
 1 shall here introduce some of the attestations 
 given to this work by some brethren, who having 
 been for some time here, were witnesses to it, and 
 had much opportunity to converse with several of 
 every sort who were the subjects of it. 
 
 In the month of January when I heard last from 
 Muthil, the Rev. Mr. Halley writes, that the work 
 of God was still going on in his congregation, and 
 that there were then several newly awakened, con- 
 cerning whom he writes that "they appeared to have 
 been touched to the quick, the arrows of the Almighty 
 shot to their very hearts, trembling like the Jailor, 
 crying out against sin, breathing and thirsting after 
 a Saviour. My bowels were moved for them, and 
 I hope the bowels of a compassionate Redeemer were 
 yearning over them, when they were like Ephraim 
 
289 
 
 bemoaning themselves. I must tell you as a token 
 for good, a praying disposition among this people not 
 only continues, but is upon the growing hand. Be- 
 sides what of that is with particular persons and fa- 
 milies, our praying societies are encreasing. We 
 have now thirteen of them, and a new one going to be 
 set up. I cannot express how much I am charmed 
 with the young ones. We have now three praying 
 societies of them. One of them, at about two miles 
 distance from this, paid me a most agreeable visit 
 upon the first Monday of the year, a day that young 
 people especially used to be otherwise employed. 
 We had, I think, upwards of forty of them ; they 
 continued in prayer and other exercises till about ten 
 at night. But O, to hear the young lambs crying 
 after the great Shepherd ! to hear them pouring out 
 their souls with such fervour, with such beautiful ex- 
 pressions, with such copiousness and fulness, did not 
 only strike me with admiration, but melted me down 
 in tears. I wished in my heart that all contradictors, 
 gainsayers, and blasphemers of this work of God had 
 been where I was that night. He also writes that 
 the Rev. Mr. Porteous, minister of Monivaird, told 
 him there was some stirring in his parish. 
 
 Since the preceding account was put into the 
 printer's hands, I have received the following later 
 accounts. The Rev. Mr. Halley, in a letter to me 
 of the 29th of March, writes, that the concern in that 
 " congregation continues in hearing the word, though 
 not with such a noise and outcrying as formerly. And 
 though the public awakenings be not so discernible 
 as they were some time ago, yet few Sabbaths pass 
 but we have some pricked in their hearts, and with. 
 
 N 64 
 
290 
 
 great anguish of spirit, crying, what shall we do ? 
 A law work is still severe and of long continuance 
 with many ; but the Lord is supporting, helping them 
 to wait, and keeping them thirsting after relief in 
 Christ. Others who, as I judged, had their wounds 
 bound up, have them fall a-bleeding again ; and when 
 the Lord hides his face they are exceedingly troubled, 
 and are almost as much upon the rack as formerly. 
 They are but novices in religion, and know but little 
 of the Lord's ordinary way with his people, which 
 makes them think that there is no sorrow like to 
 their sorrow, no case like theirs. But they vvill gather 
 experiences, and the Lord will teach them, that he 
 is dealing no otherwise with them than he uses to do 
 with them that love and fear him." 
 
 In the parish of Cumbernauld the concern among 
 that people hath continued public and discernible all 
 this winter ; there being persons newly awakened 
 from time to time. There is great opposition to the 
 Lord's work in that congregation by the Seceders, and 
 persecution, as far as mocking and the tongue can 
 go, as there is also in the east end of this parish. It is 
 remarkable that the first time the Seceders preached 
 at Cumbernauld, which was in February last, there was 
 a greater stir and more sensible outcry in the congre- 
 gation at the kirk than had been for some consider- 
 able while before. Also, next Lord's-day, when the 
 Seceders had sermon, there was a lad who, when he 
 was entering into the place of their meeting, cast 
 his eye towards the kirk, when this thought came 
 into his mind. What reason can I give for forsaking 
 the minister and followins; these folk ? which troubled 
 him so that he went straight from the place of their 
 
291 
 
 meeting to the kirk, where he was awakened and 
 brought to a deep concern about his sinful and lost 
 state. It is also talked that he was carried to the 
 seceding preacher, who advised him to mind and 
 apply himself to his work. A judicious Christian in 
 the bounds having said that was the way Cain took, 
 who went to build cities, suffers their spite for this 
 just thought. 
 
 Those in the other parishes to the west of this, 
 who appeared to have got a desirable issue of their 
 awakening, continue to make progress and to walk 
 as becometh Christians, and have the same tempta- 
 tions, doubts, fears, and difficulties that converts in 
 former times had. 
 
 The minister of St. Ninians, by a letter to me of 
 the 19th current, writes that "Impressions upon our 
 people are far from wearing off; their behaviour is 
 such as that their enemies themselves cannot quarrel ; 
 and hitherto they behave very well — it would give you 
 great pleasure to hear them pray and converse. Our 
 audience is most attentive to the preaching of the 
 word." 
 
 The minister of Gargunnock, by a letter to me of 
 the 17th current March, writes, " that the concern 
 there in a great measure continues, their fellowship 
 meetings increase ; that even the children's meetings 
 for prayer continue, their outward concern continues 
 even in the public ; a diligent attending upon ordi- 
 nances, love to our God and Redeemer remains, and 
 to all the children of our Lord's family, and especially 
 crying to Christ and rejoicing in him with a sober 
 and blameless conversation." He writes also, " that 
 there are still some under spiritual concern in the 
 parish of Kippen." 
 
292 
 
 There are several hopeful appearances in the Rev; 
 Mr. Porteous's parish of Monivaird, such as an un- 
 usual attention to the word, setting up the worship of 
 God in many families where it was formerly neglected, 
 the setting up and increase of praying societies, and a 
 noticeable concern among many young ones, of whom 
 they have two society meetings. 
 
 There have also been, for some time past, public 
 and discernible awakenings in the parish of CricfF, 
 where the Rev. Mr. Drummond is minister. Several 
 there have fallen under spiritual trouble and distress. 
 And several praying societies are setting up there. 
 
 At Cumbernauld the concern still continues public 
 and discernible, and new awakenings from time to 
 time. I am likewise informed that in the parishes of 
 Kirkintilloch and Campsie there are instances of new 
 awakenings. 
 
 Besides the places already mentioned m this Nar- 
 rative, where there have been or are yet discernible 
 and remarkable awakenings; there are good informa- 
 tions from several other corners concerning various 
 promising tokens for good, which afford probable evi- 
 dences not only of some success of the gospel, but of 
 superior degrees of success, surpassing former years : 
 such as more careful attendance on sermons both on 
 Sabbath-days and week-days, and on catechising ; 
 more seriousness in hearing ; more inclination to 
 societies for prayer, most remarkably, though not 
 merely, among the younger sort, which seems by the 
 Divine blessing to set others a-thinking; more resort 
 to ministers for private instruction ; religion more the 
 subject of conversation ; and comfortable accounts 
 given by private Christians, not only to their minis- 
 
293 
 
 tersjbut to one another, of the benefit which they hope 
 they reap by the ordinances in their respective con- 
 gregations ; as also earnest longing and much fervent 
 prayer for a greater and more general reviving. 
 
 Such comfortable accounts are not only from some 
 country congregations, but from some of the principal 
 cities of this land. At Dundee, meetings for prayer 
 and a praying disposition in them, with Christian 
 knowledge, do still increase. Upon the last week of 
 March they had two new ones set up, so that they 
 have now above twenty of these meetings, and in 
 several of them between twenty and thirty persons. 
 There are also come to my hand certain informations 
 of a promising concern beginning to appear in some 
 congregation in the south-west corner of Fife, be- 
 sides what has been at Toryburn. I have also lately 
 letters from some of the Lord's people from Angus 
 in the north, and near the borders to the south-east, 
 expressing the most earnest desires and longing for 
 such a reviving in the corners where they dwelL 
 
A PROPOSAL 
 
 SUBMITTED TO THE CONSIDERATION OF GOD's PEOPLE 
 •^ OF EVERY DENOMINATION. 
 
 That they agree to meet at the throne of grace every 
 Sabbath morning, in their closets, some time between 
 the hours of seven and nine o'clock, to unite in Prayer 
 for the most important and the most necessary of all 
 blessings. 
 
 1st, The outpouring of the Holy Spirit upon the 
 churches of Christ. 
 
 2nd, For the spread of the Gospel in its purity and 
 power throughout the world. 
 
 Let these be the principal subjects of this social and 
 devout concert for prayer, with which others may be 
 mixed as conveniency may suggest. It will especially 
 be easy to perceive the importance of importunity on 
 such occasions for the interest of Christ in that parti- 
 cular place where Providence has cast our lot, and 
 which is hereby earnestly recommended. And for this 
 purpose, that God's people may be much in prayer for 
 the ministers of Christ in general, and for their own 
 minister or ministers in particular, that they may be 
 assisted and succeeded in the discharge of their high 
 trust. Much need not be said to engage those whose 
 hearts are right with God, to join in this concert for 
 prayer. They will easily recollect that God uniformly 
 represents himself in Scripture as " a God that hears 
 prayer;" and that while he promises the several bless- 
 ings of the covenant of grace, with blessings of a tem- 
 poral nature, Ezek. xxxvi, 23, he notwithstanding adds, 
 verse 37, " Thus saith the Lord God, I will yet for this 
 be enquired of by the house of Israel, to do it for 
 them." 
 
 It is in answer of prayer God usually imparts any 
 special blessing to his people. Thus prayer becomes 
 
295 
 
 both our duty and our privilege. Tiie Christian's own 
 comfort and progress in holiness — the conversion of 
 sinners; and the encouragement and usefulness of the 
 ministers of Christ, are all powerful inducements to a 
 compliance with this proposal, and as such are suggested 
 and ursfed. 
 
 The universal spread of the gospel of Christ in due 
 time, which is the second thing mentioned in the pro- 
 posed concert, is matter of express and frequent promise 
 in the sacred oracles, and therefore a proper subject of 
 prayer for the people of God in every age, especially 
 extraordinary prayer. 
 
 The concert for prayer that is hereby recommended 
 is not a new thing ; it has been the practice of pious 
 people in different times and parts of the church, and 
 which God has been pleased to approve by special tokens 
 of his favour. 
 
 Who then will join in this duty, so peculiarly neces- 
 sary in our day ? 
 
 New- York, May J 2, 1&06. 
 
 PafNTED BY WILLIAM COLLINS & CO., GLASGOW. 
 
B. 
 
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