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MEMOIRS 
 
 OF  TIIE  LATE 
 
 Rev.  ALEXANDER  STEWART,  D.  D. 
 
 ONE  OF  THE 
 
 MINISTERS  OF  CANONGATE,  EDINBURGH. 
 
 TO  WHICH  ARE  SUBJOINED, 
 
 A  FEW  OF  HIS  SERMONS. 
 
 ^rcotrt  Gftritton* 
 
 EDINBURGH 
 
 PUBLISHED  BY 
 
 WILLIAM  OXlPHANT,  22.  SOUTH  BRIDGE  STREET  ; 
 
 AND  SOLD  BY  M.  OGLE,  AND  CHALMERS  &  COLLINS,  GLASGOW  ; 
 L.GRANT  &  CO.  INVERNESS;  I.  FORSYTTI,  ELGIN;  J.  F  INLAY, 
 NEWCASTLE  ;     AND  T.  HAMILTON,  AND  J.  NISBET,  LONDON. 
 
 1822. 
 
John  Pillams,  Printer, 
 Edinburgh. 
 
PREFACE. 
 
 The  Church  of  Scotland,  though  not  unadorned  with 
 a  succession  of  faithful  men,  who  have  successfully 
 cultivated  the  field  of  her  ecclesiastical  jurisdiction,  has 
 not  been  careful  to  transmit  to  posterity,  published 
 memorials  of  the  lives  and  useful  labours  of  her  emi- 
 nent ministers.  Nor  would  it  be  difficult  to  account 
 for  the  omission,  without  detracting  from  the  merits  of 
 the  dead,  and  without  impeaching  the  gratitude  of  the 
 living. 
 
 However,  in  an  age  addicted  to  publicity  above  all 
 that  have  gone  before  it, — an  age  in  which  lives  of 
 children  are  compiled  with  care,  and  read  with  avidity, 
 and  in  which  fiction  is  often  called  in,  to  lend  a  more 
 graceful  drapery  for  the  ornament  of  simple  truth,  it 
 seems  not  only  allowable,  but  necessary,  occasionally 
 to  introduce  to  public  notice,  the  venerable  character 
 of  experienced  excellence,  and  matured  grace ;  and  if 
 that  character  have  the  relative  sanctity  of  office  at- 
 tached to  it,  it  is  not  the  less  worthy  of  observation. 
 They  deserve  well  of  the  Church,  who  provide  au- 
 thentic narratives  of  early  religion,  for  the  edification 
 of  her  youth ;  while  it  should  not  be  forgotten,  that 
 there  are  other  classes  of  the  Christian  community,  and 
 especially  those  who  aspire  at  being  teachers  in  the 
 church,  to  whom  a  delineation  of  genuine  religion,  \nt 
 
IV  PREFACE. 
 
 its  higher  acquirements,  may  prove  essentially  bene- 
 ficial. We  are  aware,  that  many  admirable  works  of 
 this  description  are  already  in  circulation ;  though,  we 
 apprehend,  the  catalogue  is  not  so  full,  but  that  there 
 is  room  for  an  occasional  addition  to  the  list. 
 
 Indeed,  he  who  proposes  to  introduce  such  a  cha- 
 racter as  that  of  the  subject  of  this  Memoir,  to  the 
 better   acquaintance  of   the  friends  of  religion,  needs 
 no  prefatory  apology,  at  least  for  the  design.     Few 
 knew  him,  while  living,  without  desiring  to  know  more 
 of  him  than  his  singular  modesty  easily  permitted  to 
 appear.     And  after  his  decease,  a  very  general  desire 
 was  manifested,  to  be  put  in  possession  of  such  fruits 
 of  his  study  and  experience,  as  it  was  supposed  such 
 a  man  must  needs  have  left  behind  him.     On  examin- 
 ing his  papers,  however,  it  was  found,  that  the  num- 
 ber of  his  Sermons  which  were  fully  written  out,  was 
 too  limited  to  admit  of  publication.     But  as  a  number 
 of  valuable  Letters  was  accessible,  which,  it  was  thought, 
 would  be  regarded  as  an  acceptable  contribution  to  the 
 treasury  of  religious  reading,  these,  together  with  the 
 Sermons,   it  was  resolved  to  give   to  the  Public;    it 
 being  always  kept  in  view,    that  in  whatever   shape 
 these  remains  might  be  edited,  some  account  of  Dr 
 Stewart's  Life  should  accompany  them. 
 
 At  first  it  was  intended  to  prefix  a  Memoir  distinct 
 from  the  Letters ;  but,  on  reflection,  it  appeared  that 
 the  materials  for  such  a  Memoir  were  scanty  without 
 the  Letters,  and  that  the  Letters  would  be  obscure 
 without  the  Memoir, — and  hence  the  plan  of  connect- 
 ing the  Letters  with  biographical  notices  was  adopted 
 as  most  eligible.     That  it  determines  the  selection  of 
 
PREFACE.  V 
 
 Letters  to  such  as  bear  most  directly  on  die  facts  and 
 events  of  the  personal  history,  irrespective  of  their  in- 
 trinsic worth, — and  that  it  breaks  the  continuity  of 
 narrative,  which  is  necessary  to  sustain  the  Reader's 
 interest  in  the  principal  subject, — presenting  a  variety 
 of  valuable  parts  at  the  expense  of  unity, — are  dis- 
 advantages incident  to  the  method  which  has  been 
 followed.  But  a  great  compensating  advantage  arises 
 from  the  introduction  of  so  great  a  quantity  of  Dr 
 Stewart's  own  reflections  and  views, — to  exhibit  which 
 in  a  useful  light,  was  the  chief  end  of  the  compila- 
 tion. 
 
 In  the  first  part  of  the  Memoir,  the  Reader  will 
 probably  think  that  there  is  an  unnecessary  dilation 
 of  the  subject,  and  that  several  reflections  of  the  Com- 
 piler might  have  been  spared.  His  object  was  to  con- 
 trast the  unrenewed  state  of  a  man  eminently  amia- 
 ble and  accomplished,  with  the  new  character  formed 
 by  divine  grace, — and  on  this,  he  conceived,  much  of 
 the  usefulness  of  the  work  depended. 
 
 In  the  statements  respecting  Moulin, — the  most  im- 
 portant scene  of  Dr  Stewart's  ministry, — it  may  be 
 thought  the  Narrative  should  have  terminated  with  his 
 separation  from  the  people  of  that  charge.  But,  we 
 apprehend,  few  Readers  would  have  been  satisfied  with- 
 out some  after-reference ;  and  a  better  principle  than 
 that  of  curiosity  would  prompt  the  inquiry,  How  fared 
 it  with  them  after  his  removal  ?  The  Compiler,  how- 
 ever, would  have  it  understood,  that  what  is  said  on 
 that  subject,  applies  only  to  the  time  specified,  and  has 
 no  more  necessary  application  to  the  present  state  of 
 that  parish,  than  a  description  of  Dr  Stewart's  early  la- 
 
VI  PREFACE. 
 
 bours  in  that  place,  would  have  had  to  the  character 
 of  his  subsequent  ministry. — This  remark  ought  to  pre- 
 vent injurious  conclusions  respecting  the  continuance  of 
 a  state  of  things  that  has  happily  long  since  passed 
 away. 
 
 The  Letters  are  published  without  alteration,  and 
 without  correction ;  and  though  nothing  was  doubtless 
 farther  from  the  thoughts  of  the  writer  than  their 
 publication,  they  will  not,  it  is  presumed,  injure  his 
 memory,  viewed  merely  as  literary  compositions,  and 
 presenting  a  specimen  of  the  simply  elegant  in  style, 
 — while  they  exhibit,  in  a  most  interesting  light,  the 
 warmth  of  his  friendships,  and  the  ardour  of  his  piety. 
 
 The  Reader  need  not  expect,  in  the  following  pages, 
 to  find  the  life  of  Dr  Stewart  connected  with  the  pro- 
 gress of  literature  in  the  period  in  which  he  lived. — 
 Neither  need  he  anticipate  the  discussion  of  debate- 
 able  opinions,  and  collateral  topics ;  for  though  a  re- 
 ference to  some  points  of  great  moment  and  interest 
 was  unavoidable  in  the  progress  of  the  narration,  dis- 
 cussion has  been  generally  shunned,  even  at  the  risk  of 
 appearing  superficial. 
 
 Nothing  was  intended,  but  simply  to  represent  the 
 principles  of  the  Christian,  in  connection  with  the  use- 
 ful exertions  of  the  minister  of  Christ.  When  the 
 work  was  devolved  on  the  Compiler,  he  was  fully 
 aware  that  the  official  occupation  of  his  time  would 
 allow  little  leisure  for  doing  justice  to  the  subject. — 
 However,  a  sense  of  duty  forbade  him  to  decline  it ; 
 and  he  now  commits  it  to  the  guidance  of  His  Spi- 
 rit, who  can  render  the  feeblest  instruments  powerful 
 to  accomplish  the  edification  of  his  Church. 
 
CONTENTS 
 
 Page 
 
 Memoirs  of  the  Rev.  Alexander  Stewart, 
 D.D 9 
 
 SERMON  I. 
 
 Zech.  xiii.  7. 
 Smite  the  Shepherd,  and  the  sheep  shall  be  scatter ed,  383 
 
 SERMON  II. 
 
 2  Sam.  xxiii.  5. 
 
 Although  my  Jwuse  be  not  so  with  God,  yet  he  hath 
 made  zcith  mc  an  everlasting  covenant,  ordered 
 in  all  things,  and  sure  ;  Jbr  this  is  all  my  sal- 
 vation, and  all  my  desire,  although  he  make  it 
 not  to  grow, 401 
 
 SERMON  III. 
 
 Mattii.  xiv.  31. 
 
 O  thou  of  little  faith,  ichcrcforc  didst  thou  doubt  ?...  119 
 
VIM  CONTENTS. 
 
 Page 
 
 SERMON  IV. 
 
 Luke  x.  11. 
 
 Notwithstanding,  be  ye  sure  of  this ;  thai  the  king- 
 dom of  God  is  come  nigh  unto  you, 435 
 
 SERMON  V. 
 
 Luke  xix.  41.  42. 
 
 And  when  he  was  come  near,  he  beheld  tJie  city, 
 and  wept  over  it,  saying.  If  thou  liadst  knorvn, 
 even  tlwu,  at  least  in  this  thy  day,  the  things 
 which  belong  unto  thy  peace !  but  now  they  are 
 hid  from  thine  eyes, 453 
 
 SERMON  VI. 
 
 Psal.  cxvi.  15. 
 
 Precious,  in  the  sight  of  the  Lord,  is  the  death  of 
 his  saints, 470 
 
MEMOIRS 
 
 REV.  ALEXANDER  STEWART,   D.  D. 
 
 Alexander  Stewart,  D.  D.  was  born  at  the 
 Manse  of  Blair  in  Athole,  on  the  29th  of  Janua- 
 ry 1764.  Of  this  parish,  his  great  grandfather, 
 a  younger  son  of  the  Laird  of  Invernahiel,  in 
 Argyleshire,  had  been  minister  some  time  du- 
 ring the  temporary  establishment  of  Episcopacy 
 in  Scotland  ;  but  on  the  Episcopal  form  giving 
 place  to  a  more  approved  order  of  ecclesiastical 
 polity,  Mr  Stewart,  not  choosing  to  conform, 
 was  either  ejected,  or  voluntarily  resigned  his 
 ministerial  charge.  Little  more  is  known  of 
 him,  than  that,  having  married  the  grand-daugh- 
 ter and  heiress  of  the  Bishop  of  Argyle,  he  pur- 
 chased several  estates  in  the  counties  of  Argyle 
 and  Perth.     Strathgarry,  one  of  these  estates. 
 
10  MEMOIRS  OF  THE 
 
 about  three  miles  from  Blair,  and  of  no  great  ex- 
 tent, descended  to  a  younger  son,  who  followed 
 no  profession,  and  left  the  paternal  inheritance 
 to  his  eldest  surviving  son,  who  was  also  minis- 
 ter of  Blair.  He  married  a  Miss  Isabella  Ro- 
 bertson, a  lady  of  gentle  and  rather  reserved 
 manners,  but  of  fervent  piety  ;  and  of  their  five 
 children,  Alexander,  the  subject  of  this  memoir, 
 was  the  youngest  *. 
 
 His  mother  was  well  advanced  in  life,  at  the 
 period  of  his  birth ;  and  having  had  no  child 
 for  nine  years  preceding,  she  no  doubt  regarded 
 him  with  peculiar  fondness.  But  whatever  in- 
 dulgence he  met  with  in  early  life,  it  certainly 
 produced  no  injurious  effects  on  his  natural  tem- 
 per, which  was  singularly  good.  His  excellent 
 mother  survived  the  birth  of  Alexander  about 
 three  years.    His  father,  who  was  much  respect- 
 
 *  The  rest  of  the  family  were  as  follow : 
 Duncan,  who  became  minister  of  Balquhidder,  and  died 
 
 1804. 
 Cecilia,  married  to  Gilbert  Stewart,   Esq.  of  Foncastle, 
 
 also  deceased. 
 Jane,  married  to  the  Rev.  A.  Small,  successively  minister 
 
 of  Kirkmichael,  Newtyle,  and  Kilconquhar.     Mrs 
 
 Small  still  survives. 
 Margaret,  who  died  in   181&    unmarried,  having  lived 
 
 mostly  with  her  brother  at  Moulin,   previous  to 
 
 his  translation  to  Dingwall. 
 
REV.  ALEXANDER  STEWART,  D.  D.  11 
 
 ed  for  his  piety  and  worth,  was  particularly  dis- 
 tinguished for  eloquence  in  Gaelic,  a  language 
 in  which  the  principal  part  of  public  worship  in 
 that  neighbourhood  is  still  conducted,  and  in 
 which  his    son  afterwards  attained  uncommon 
 skill.     He  was  a  popular  preacher,  and  appears 
 to  have  held  evangelical  principles.     He  died  in 
 1780.    For  some  months  previous  to  his  de- 
 cease, he  is  said  to  have  felt  a  presentiment  that 
 the  time  of  putting  off  his  earthly  tabernacle  was 
 at  hand,  in  the  expectation  of  which  he  put  his 
 house  in  order,  and  expressed  an  earnest  desire 
 to  administer  the  Lord's  supper  to  his  people, 
 as  for  the  last  time.     He  lived  till  the  stated 
 season  of  that  solemnity,  preached  from  Psal. 
 xliii.  3.     "  O  send  forth  thy  light  and  thy  truth ; 
 let  them  lead  me,  let  them  bring  me  unto  thy 
 holy  hill,  and  to  thy  tabernacles.     Then  will  I 
 go  unto  the  altar  of  God, — unto  God  my  exceed- 
 ing joy  I"   In  his  exhortation  at  the  communion 
 service,  he  was  observed  to  be  singularly  warm 
 and  pathetic,  repeating,  with  much  feeling,  these 
 words  :  "  Some  of  us  shall  drink  no  more  of  the 
 "  fruit  of  the  vine,  until  we  drink  it  new  in  our 
 "  Father's  kingdom."  The  remaining  part  of  the 
 week  was  passed  in  his  usual  health  and  pur- 
 suits ;  but  on  the  Saturday  evening,  after  due 
 preparation  had  been  made  for  the  expected 
 public  services  of  the  following  day,  he  began 
 
 a  2 
 
12  MEMOIRS  OF  THE 
 
 to  feel  himself  unwell,  and  having  slept  two 
 hours,  awoke  only  to  breathe  for  a  few  moments, 
 and  then  quietly  sunk  into  everlasting  rest. 
 
 Descended  of  such  parents,  Alexander  entered 
 life  in  circumstances  highly  advantageous ;  and 
 perhaps,  were  an  enlightened  mind  calmly  to 
 survey  the  various  conditions  in  which  human 
 beings  may  be  placed,  on  their  first  entrance  into 
 life ;  and  were  then  to  select  the  most  favour- 
 able for  improving  the  intellectual  powers,  and 
 for  acquiring  habits  of  virtue  and  religion,  the 
 house  of  such  a  minister  would  be  preferred, 
 where  literary  taste  is  encouraged  in  its  deve- 
 lopement,  and  directed  in  its  tendencies  ;  where 
 there  is  not  only  a  vigilant  guardianship  exer- 
 cised, to  prevent  the  deterioration  of  native 
 character,  but  likewise  the  constant  exhibition 
 of  a  higher  standard,  in  the  objects  on  which 
 the  affections  habitually  repose,  and  which  are 
 the  most  likely  to  engage  the  imitative  faculty, 
 while  the  best  methods  are  at  the  same  time 
 sedulously  employed,  to  lead  the  soul  to  the 
 true  knowledge  of  its  origin,  its  interests,  and 
 its  end.  And  though  it  be  seen,  in  the  instance 
 of  Alexander  Stewart,  that  no  training  of  man, 
 however  skilful,  avails  to  make  the  plant  of  cor- 
 ruption grow  up  into  a  right  tree,  whose  fruit 
 is  good ;  vet  he,  doubtless,  had  much  reason  for 
 thankfulness  to  the  Providence  that  placed  him 
 
REV.  ALEXANDER  STEWART,  D.  D.  13 
 
 under  the  care  of  parents  so  well  qualified  to  be 
 guardians  of  his  unthinking  days. 
 
 The  lines  had  indeed  fallen  to  him  in  pleasant 
 places.  The  scene  of  his  nativity  possesses  lo- 
 calities of  beauty  and  grandeur  seldom  su rpass- 
 ed.  The  pass  of  Killicranky,  which  a  distin- 
 guished modern  traveller  compares  to  the  far- 
 famed  Vale  of  Tempe,  lies  in  the  vicinity  of 
 Blair  Manse;  and  besides  that  enchanting 
 ground,  several  objects  not  less  striking  to  a 
 youthful  mind  surrounded  his  home,  and  would 
 have  some  influence  in  expanding  his  imagina- 
 tion, and  fostering  a  taste  for  the  sublime  and 
 beautiful  in  nature  and  in  art. 
 
 Of  his  early  studies  there  is  no  account ;  only 
 it  is  known  that  he  was  never  entered  at  a 
 public  school.  His  father,  it  seems,  was  one  of 
 those, 
 
 ■Who,  busy  as  they  are, 
 
 Yet  make  their  progeny  their  dearest  care, 
 A  father  blessed  with  an  ingenuous  son, 
 Father,  and  friend,  and  tutor  all  in  one." 
 
 And  perhaps  the  beautiful  simplicity  of  cha- 
 racter, by  which  his  son  was  distinguished 
 through  life,  was  not  a  little  owing  to  the  do- 
 mestic  culture  he  enjoyed,  and  the  unreserved 
 freedom  of  social  intercourse  with  persons  who 
 were  too  wise  to  practise  artifice,  or  to  initiate 
 
14  Memoirs  of  the 
 
 him  into  habits  of  insincerity,  in  order  to  fit  him 
 for  the  world.  And  in  this  respect,  private 
 education  has  one  singular  advantage  over  pub- 
 lic,— for  if  a  greater  emulation  to  excel  be  ex- 
 cited by  the  comparison  and  the  competition  of 
 a  numerous  school,  and  if  a  superior  address  and 
 knowledge  of  character  be  there  more  promptly 
 acquired,  it  is  often  at  the  expense  of  qualities 
 ornamental  in  youth,  and  elementary  of  future 
 worth. 
 
 Several  years  previous  to  his  father's  death, 
 he  had  been  placed  with  his  brother-in-law,  Mr 
 Small,  at  that  time  the  minister  of  a  neighbour, 
 ing  parish,  and  a  scholar  of  no  secondary  rate. 
 Under  such  skilful  direction,  he  appears  to  have 
 advanced  rapidly  in  classical  learning.  That  he 
 made  early  proficiency  is  certain,  for,  at  the  age 
 of  thirteen,  he  was  fully  qualified  to  commence 
 student  at  St  Andrews,  a  university  once  the 
 most  celebrated  seat  of  learning  in  Scotland. 
 There  his  industry  must  have  been  unremit- 
 ted, and  successfully  applied,  for  he  obtained  the 
 highest  honours  his  College  could  bestow  ;  and 
 though  among  his  contemporaries  were  several 
 scholars  of  note,  in  the  competition  for  prizes  he 
 was  generally  successful,  and  sometimes  carried 
 away  the  first. 
 
 What    his    motives    for    the    exertions    he 
 then  made   to   acquire  eminence  in  literature 
 
REV.  ALEXANDER  STEWART,  D.  D.  15 
 
 were,  we  cannot  now  ascertain ;  probably  they 
 terminated  in  something  he  himself  would,  in 
 more  enlightened  days,  disallow  and  condemn. 
 But,  in  the  mean  time,  that  God,  who  knows  all 
 his  works  from  the  beginning,  and  who  design- 
 ed him  for  a  path  in  which  sanctified  literature 
 was  essential  to  his  usefulness,  thus  gave  his 
 mind  a  determination  to  aspire  after  the  high- 
 est intellectual  attainments,  and  favoured  his 
 exertions  to  excel. 
 
 There  were  three  departments  of  study  in 
 which  he  appears  to  have  prosecuted  his  re- 
 searches with  great  diligence  and  success, — 
 grammar,  mathematics,  and  metaphysics,  for 
 which  he  had  a  mind  peculiarly  adapted.  He 
 possessed  a  certain  intuitive  clearness  of  percep- 
 tion, which  readily  seized  and  wielded  abstract 
 ideas,  and  delighted  in  tracing  their  analogies 
 and  relations.  His  mind  had  an  intellectual 
 vigour,  capable  of  pursuing  its  inquiries  long 
 and  far,  without  the  consciousness  of  fatigue; 
 and  though  classical  literature  was  not  neglect- 
 ed by  him,  the  abstract  sciences  seem  to  have 
 been  regarded  with  partiality,  and  prosecuted 
 with  uncommon  ardour. 
 
 At  the  age  of  eighteen,  he  entered  on  the 
 study  of  divinity,  with  a  view  to  qualify  him- 
 self for  the  ministry ;  about  which  time  he 
 went  to  reside  in  the  family  of  Mr  Graham  of 
 
16  MEMOIKS  OF  THE 
 
 Greigston,  as  private  tutor  to  his  sons.  There 
 is  reason  to  believe  his  residence  in  this  family- 
 was  highly  agreeable  to  himself;  and  as  their 
 country-house  was  only  five  miles  from  St  An- 
 drews,  in  which  the  family  were  accustomed  to 
 spend  their  winters,  he  had  every  facility  for 
 prosecuting  his  own  studies,  while  directing 
 those  of  his  pupils. 
 
 Mrs  Graham  was  a  woman  of  good  under- 
 standing and  cultivated  taste,  having  paid  more 
 attention  to  classical  learning  and  ethical  studies, 
 than  ladies  usually  think  necessary,  and  was 
 therefore  capable  of  appreciating  the  qualities 
 of  Mr  Stewart.  In  this  family  he  lived  four 
 years,  and  the  kindly  intercourse  that  was  main- 
 tained for  many  years  after,  was  a  proof  of  the 
 esteem  in  which  he  was  held,  and  the  fidelity 
 with  which  he  had  discharged  his  trust. 
 
 That  he  was  useful  to  the  souls  of  any  in  that 
 family,  it  cannot  be  said ;  for  hitherto,  though 
 generally  beloved  for  his  amiableness,  and  ho- 
 noured for  his  genius  and  accomplishments,  he 
 knew  not  the  things  of  his  own  peace,  and 
 could  not  guide  others  by  a  way  he  had  not 
 known. 
 
 From  the  opportunities  he  possessed  from  his 
 earliest  years  to  hear  religious  truths,  and  see 
 them  exemplified,  it  might  be  thought  he  could 
 hardly  grow  up  ignorant  of  religion.    If  religion 
 
REV.  ALEXANDER  STEWART,  D.  D.         17 
 
 mean  nothing  more  than  an  acquaintance  with 
 the  principles  of  revelation,  and  the  formal  ob- 
 servances of  external  duties,  he  was  religious 
 betimes.     But  if  religion  be  the  result  of  a  di- 
 vine influence  acting  on  the  mind,  to  turn  it  to 
 God,  communicating  light,  and  working  with 
 power,    to   produce  an  abiding  spirituality  of 
 character  in  the  knowledge  of  Christ ;  to  this  he 
 was  then,  and  long  after,    greatly  a  stranger. 
 From  his  letters,  however,  it  appears,  that  dur- 
 ing the  period  of  his  attendance  at  the  Divinity 
 Hall,  some  serious  impressions  of  a  religious 
 character  were  made  on  his  mind. 
 
 But  whatever  means  were  employed  to  cherish 
 those  new  impressions,  they  seem  to  have  quick- 
 ly died  away ;  and  he  appears  to  have  left  the 
 Divinity  Hall  with  little  knowledge  of  spiritual 
 things,  or  at  least  with  little  experience  of  their 
 abiding  power  * 
 
 *  Tt  might  be  supposed  a  student  of  divinity  must  have 
 many  advantages  for  having  religious  impressions  strength- 
 ened in  their  commencement,  as  well  as  for  acquiring  just 
 and  extensive  views  of  theological  truth,  while  he  is  at- 
 tending the  prelections,  and  has  access  to  the  counsels,  of 
 one  professedly  appointed  to  instruct  him  in  the  knowledge 
 of  divine  things.  To  undervalue  these  advantages,  would 
 be  highly  injurious  ;  and,  in  those  who  have  profited  by 
 them,  it  would   be   making  an   unworthy  return.     Yet  we 
 
18  MEMOIRS  OF  THE 
 
 But  whatever  else  he  brought  from  College, 
 he  certainly  carried  away  a  mind  rich  in  literary 
 
 must  here  presume  to  remark,  that  the  almost  total  silence 
 which  is  sometimes  maintained  in  divinity  lectures,  on  what 
 is  denominated  experience  in  religion,  is  not  likely  to  ope- 
 rate beneficially  on  the  minds  of  theological  students. 
 
 To  be  put  in  possession  of  the  completest  body  of  evi- 
 dence on  the  claims  of  revelation, — to  be  trained  to  defend 
 it,  and  qualified  to  carry  the  warfare  into  the  enemies'  coun- 
 try,— to  acquire  a  correct  knowledge  of  theology,  so  as  to 
 be  able  to  form  its  separate  parts  into  systematic  combina- 
 tion, and  to  perceive  how  each  part  adds  to  the  beauty,  and 
 the  consistency,  and  the  strength  of  the  whole,  is  indispen- 
 sably necessary  to  him  who  aspires  to  become  a  teacher  in 
 the  church. 
 
 But  if  no  means  are  used  to  promote  or  ascertain  per- 
 sonal piety  in  the  student ;  if  the  nature  and  necessity  of 
 experimental  religion  are  handled  superficially,  or  entirely 
 overlooked ;  a  defect  exists  for  which  no  adequate  compen- 
 sation is  made  by  theoretic  knowledge,  or  by  the  specula- 
 tive orthodoxy  of  a  systematic  creed.  We  are  aware  of  the 
 different  duties  which  belong  to  the  pulpit  and  the  chair; 
 and  that,  to  enter  into  the  details  and  the  casuistry  of  Chris- 
 tian experience,  though  befitting  the  preacher,  would  not 
 suit  the  nature  of  the  professor's  dignified  place.  Never- 
 theless, to  exclude  from  divinity-lectures  all  instruction  on 
 the  subject  of  internal  religion,  proves  injurious  on  this 
 ground :  the  theological  student  naturally  concludes,  that 
 he  needs  nothing  more  to  qualify  him  for  the  sacred  office 
 at  which  he  aspires,  than  what  his  instructor  brings  promi- 
 nently into  view  ;  and,  if  experimental  religion  is  altogether 
 
REV.  ALEXANDER  STEWART,  D.  D.  19 
 
 acquirements  of  the  first  order ;  and  when  he 
 came  to  be  proposed  as  a  candidate  for  license, 
 he  was  able  to  produce  the  most  flattering  testi- 
 monials from  the  Professors  under  whom  he  had 
 passed  through  his  academical  course. 
 
 About  this  time,  1785,  the  parish  of  Moulin, 
 adjoining  to  his  father's  scene  of  ministerial  la- 
 
 kept  back,  he  goes  forth  ignorant  of  its  necessity, — perhaps 
 a  railer  at  those  who  pretend  to  it. 
 
 That  a  deficiency  somewhere  exists  in  the  method  of  in- 
 struction,, might  be  inferred  from  the  apparent  want  of  zeal 
 for  the  grand  object  of  their  profession,  which  predomi- 
 nates among  theological  students.  A  lecturer  on  chemistry 
 or  mineralogy  sometimes  throws  such  an  intense  interest 
 over  the  subjects  of  his  department,  that  he  kindles  a  glow 
 of  enthusiasm  in  the  breasts  of  most  who  hear  him ;  and 
 the  student  goes  forth  to  analyze  a  fluid,  or  to  mark  the 
 fracture  of  a  rock,  with  greater  ardour  than  the  young 
 theologian  manifests  in  his  incomparably  more  sublime  pur- 
 suits. This  want  of  ardour  is  doubtless  partly  owing  to  the 
 cold,  and  abstract,  and  controversial  method  of  prelecting, 
 which  obtains  in  some  of  our  Divinity  Halls,  and  which 
 applies  few  generous  incentives  to  awaken  a  magnanimous 
 devotedness  to  the  Christian  cause,  irrespective  of  geogra- 
 phical marks,  or  local  establishments.  With  the  purest 
 theological  institutions  in  any  country,  and  with  an  excess 
 of  preachers  at  home,  the  ghurch  of  Scotland  has  sent  forth 
 fewer  Evangelical  labourers,  either  to  heathen  nations  or  to 
 colonies,  than  the  church  of  Rome,  or  almost  any  other 
 Christian  communion. 
 
20  MEMOIRS  OF  THE 
 
 bour,  becoming  vacant,  his  friends  employed 
 their  influence  to  procure  from  the  Duke  of  A- 
 thole  a  presentation  to  the  charge.  On  this  oc- 
 casion, his  College  furnished  him  with  honour- 
 able recommendations ;  and  many  individuals 
 being  zealous  to  promote  his  nomination,  (a- 
 mong  whom  the  late  Principal  Hill  deserves  to 
 be  particularized  for  his  activity),  after  some  de- 
 lay, his  appointment  to  Moulin  took  place. 
 
 Of  his  state  of  mind  at  the  time,  a  judgment 
 may  be  formed  from  the  following  letter,  de- 
 scribing his  first  visit  to  Moulin,  to  preach  be- 
 fore the  people,  previous  to  the  moderation  of 
 a  call.  "  I  have  had  a  most  agreeable  excursion 
 "  to  the  Highlands.  The  object  of  my  journey, 
 "  the  friendly  reception  I  met  with  wherever  I 
 "  came,  good  spirits,  choice  weather,  and  agree- 
 "  able  company,  all  conspired  to  heighten  the 
 "  enjoyment.  I  thought  I  had  never  seen  A- 
 "  thole  to  such  advantage  before.  Every  wood, 
 "  every  hill  and  stream,  looked  jocund.  I  felt 
 "  my  heart  warmed  when  I  approached  the  vil- 
 "  lage  of  Moulin,  with  an  affection  somewhat 
 "  similar,  I  suppose,  to  what  one  feels  for  his 
 "  new-born  offspring.  I  preached  on  the  28th 
 "  ult.  in  English  and  Gaelic.  The  church  was 
 "  very  full.  I  am  told  I  gave  satisfaction.  My 
 "  call,  as  far  as  can  be  judged,  was  unanimous. 
 "  The  people  shewed  great  earnestness  in  my  fa- 
 
REV.  ALEXANDER  STEWART,  D.  D.  21 
 
 "  vour.  This,  you  can  believe,  was  highly  pleas- 
 "  ing  to  me,  and  I  indulged  the  pleasure  without 
 "  scruple,  because  I  thought  myself  in  no  hazard 
 "  of  gratifying  my  vanity  by  that  indulgence ; 
 "  for  I  have  been  little  in  that  country  since  I 
 "  was  a  child,  and  therefore  am  little  known  or 
 "  liked  on  my  own  account.  The  people's  at- 
 "  tachment  to  me  proceeds  from  a  cause  vastly 
 "  more  grateful  than  the  highest  compliments 
 "  they  could  pay  to  my  own  merits,  that  is,  the 
 "  respect  they  retain  for  my  father's  memory. 
 "  I  was  happy  in  thinking  that  I  could  attri- 
 "  bute  their  attachment  wholly  to  that  cause. 
 
 "  The  living  of  Moulin  is,  upon  the  whole, 
 "  good ;  the  society  good ;  the  manse  not  so  good 
 "  as  I  could  wish,  but  I  have  seen  many  worse. 
 "  I  was  not,  when  I  saw  it,  nor  am  I  yet,  in  a 
 "  humour  to  find  fault.  The  situation,  the  pro- 
 "  spect,  is  in  summer  the  most  delectable.  A 
 "  piece  of  the  most  delightful  birch  wood,  in 
 "  the  neighbourhood,  afforded  me  one  of  the 
 "  most  delightful  strolls  I  ever  enjoyed.  It 
 "  seems  made  to  invite  the  early  contemplator 
 "  to  pursue 
 
 cc  The  wildly  devious  morning  walk." 
 
 u  The  country  in  general  abounds  in  birch,  a 
 "  harmless  kind  of  wood  that  excites  neither  the 
 "  dread  nor  the  detestation  of  the  beholder,  as 
 
22  MEMOIRS  OF  THE 
 
 "  in  a  neighbouring  country ;  but,  on  the  con- 
 u  trary,  possesses  every  beauty,  except  perhaps 
 "  the  beauty  of  utility ;  but  even  that  is  not 
 "  wanting,  for  it  is  much  used  on  the  roofs  of 
 "  cottages. 
 
 "  One  day  I  rode  out  of  my  way  on  purpose 
 "  to  see  the  pass  of  Killicranky,  a  deep,  narrow 
 "  gully,  of  about  a  mile  long.  The  Garry  runs 
 "  below,  black  and  deep,  but  not  rapid,  unless 
 "  when  swollen  with  rain.  The  banks  are  very 
 "  steep,  heathy,  and  covered  with  wood,  and 
 "  rise  to  a  very  considerable  height.  The  pub- 
 u  lie  road  is  cut  out  of  the  face  of  the  bank,  but 
 "  broad  and  well-finished.  Here  I  had  often 
 "  seen  the  torrent  boil  along  the  rocks,  and  heard 
 
 €t  The  angry  spirit  of  the  waters  shriek." 
 
 •  At  this  time  it  was  calm  and  silent,  but  its 
 "  very  silence  was  grim.  I  recollected  the  many 
 "  tales  I  had  heard  of  goblins  and  demons  being 
 
 *  seen  or  heard  to  yell  in  this  den.     I  began  to 
 
 *  think  the  vulgar  faith  in  such  apparitions  not 
 "  so  unnatural  as  I  used  to  account  it.  Such  is 
 "  the  influence  of  local  scenery  over  the  imagi- 
 "  nation,  and  the  power  of  the  imagination  over 
 "  the  understanding. 
 
 "  I  spent  a  night  at  the  Manse  of  Blair,  in  which 
 "  I  first  drew  breath.  The  glebe  is  pretty  large, 
 "  and  has  some  oak  and  birch  on  it.     I  walked 
 
REV.  ALEXANDER  STEWART,  D.  D.  23 
 
 "  out  alone  in  the  morning,  to  make  my  orisons 
 "  in  the  wood  where  I  had  often  strayed.  I 
 "  found  in  every  tree,  and  in  every  spring,  an 
 "  old  acquaintance : 
 
 •c  Dear  lovely  bowers  of  innocence  and  ease, 
 
 <e  Seats  of  my  youth,  where  every  spot  could  please," 
 
 "  said  I,  as  I  traversed  the  ground.  I  stood  on 
 "  a  hillock  and  looked  around  me. — The  view 
 "  was  worth  a  thousand  homilies !  The  days  of 
 "  other  years  rushed  on  my  mind ;  "  the  me- 
 "  mory  of  joys  that  are  past,  pleasant  and  mourn- 
 "  ful  to  the  soul."  The  sensations  and  emotions 
 "  which  this  visit  awakened  in  my  breast,  were 
 "  such  as  no  beauties  of  nature  or  art  could 
 "  have  raised.  They  were  such  as  Dr  Beattie 
 "  ascribes  to  the  power  of  national  music,  in  his 
 "  essay  on  that  subject.  The  passage  is  so  sin- 
 "  gularly  beautiful,  that  I  cannot  forbear  trans- 
 "  cribing  the  whole. 
 
 "  c  That  man  must  have  a  hard  heart,  or  a 
 "  dull  imagination,  in  whom,  though  endowed 
 "  with  musical  sensibility,  no  sweet  emotions 
 "  would  arise  on  hearing,  in  his  riper  years,  or 
 "  in  a  foreign  land,  those  strains  which  were  the 
 "  delight  of  his  childhood.  What  though  they 
 "  be  inferior  to  the  Italian  ?  What  though  they 
 "  be  even  irregular  and  rude  ?  It  is  not  their 
 "  merit  which,  in  the  case  supposed,  would  in- 
 
2i  MEMOIRS  OF  THE 
 
 "  terest  a  native,  but  the  charming  ideas  they 
 "  would  recal  to  his  mind;  ideas  of  innocence, 
 "  simplicity,  and  leisure,  of  romantic  enterprise, 
 "  and  enthusiastic  attachment ;  and  of  scenes 
 "  which,  on  recollection,  we  are  inclined  to 
 "  think  that  a  brighter  sun  illuminated,  a 
 "  fresher  verdure  crowned,  and  purer  skies,  and 
 11  happier  climes,  conspired  to  beautify,  than 
 "  are  to  be  seen  in  the  dreary  paths  of  care  and 
 "  disappointment.' 
 
 "  I  hope  I  have  profited  both  in  mind  and 
 "  body  by  this  jaunt.  During  twelve  days  ab- 
 "  sence,  I  rode,  or  walked,  or  both,  every  day, 
 "  except  two,  from  seven  to  twenty-four  miles. 
 "  The  change  of  scene,  and  company,  kept  my 
 "  mind  in  a  state  of  cheerfulness,  and  the  exer- 
 "  cise  kept  the  animal  spirits  in  play.  1  fre- 
 u  quently  read  on  the  road,  walking  with  my 
 "  bridle  in  my  hand." 
 
 In  this  extract,  there  is  much  feeling  and 
 much  taste  displayed ;  but  the  feeling  is  not  spi- 
 ritual, nor  the  taste  sanctified.  Imagination 
 wanders  over  the  romantic  field,  but  never  comes 
 in  contact  with  a  religious  reality ;  the  "  morn- 
 ing orisons"  he  poured  forth  "  in  the  wood," 
 no  doubt  flowed  from  a  heart  full  of  tenderness 
 and  emotion ;  and  it  is  not  for  us  to  determine 
 the  measure  of  acceptance  with  which  such  sin- 
 cere, though  ill-informed  effusions,  may  come  up 
 
REV.  ALEXANDER  STEWART,  D.  D.  25 
 
 before  the  Hearer  of  prayer.  As  yet,  however, 
 he  knew  not  his  own  character  in  the  judgment 
 of  God,  and  could  hardly  be  humble ;  he  knew 
 not  the  character  of  the  Being  he  addressed,  and 
 could  not  be  rationally  devout ;  neither  had  he 
 any  proper  discernment  of  spiritual  objects,  and 
 could  not  ask,  in  faith,  for  blessings  untasted  and 
 undesired.  In  youth,  when  the  mind  of  sensi- 
 bility looks  abroad  on  the  scenes  that  call  up 
 the  powers  of  a  warm  imagination,  there  is  often 
 a  vague  aspiration  of  the  soul  heavenwards;  there 
 is  a  movement  of  nature  towards  something 
 grand  and  vast,  and  some  undefined  idea  of 
 Deity  breaking  in  upon  the  soul ;  the  language 
 of  adoration  flows ;  and  this  fervent  oratory 
 passes  for  prayer.  But  when  the  high-wrought 
 feeling  subsides,  it  appears  like  the  bubble  form- 
 ed on  the  agitated  water,  which  breaks  and 
 leaves  the  stream  to  flow  on  ; — so  these  transient 
 and  superficial  acts  of  devotion  pass  away  with 
 their  exciting  causes,  and  produce  no  alteration 
 on  the  general  tenor  of  life  and  character.  A 
 Rousseau  thinks  himself  devout,  and  pours  the 
 language  of  adoration  from  a  full  heart,  when 
 he  is  only  sacrificing  to  the  idol  of  his  own  ima- 
 gination, and  disclaims  the  true  God  whom  the 
 Scriptures  reveal.  The  fallacy  of  youthful  fer- 
 vour is  sometimes  never  detected,  until  a  pain- 
 
 6 
 
I 
 
 26  MEMOIRS  OF  THE 
 
 •  fill  consciousness  of  guilt  brings  the  soul  to  cry 
 simply  for  mercy  ;  and  then  the  presumption  of 
 its  high-toned  orisons  is  recollected  with  shame. 
 
 In  his  first  visit  to  the  scene  of  his  intended 
 labours,  there  appears  nothing  of  serious  reflec- 
 tion on  the  probable  consequences  of  his  assum- 
 ing so  important  a  charge.  To  guide  souls  to 
 eternity  is  no  trivial  office ;  and  he  who  feels  his 
 own  responsibility,  and  is  aware  how  much  his 
 own  eternal  state,  and  theirs  also,  may  depend 
 on  the  relation  he  is  about  to  form  with  a  con- 
 gregation, can  hardly  survey  the  countenances 
 of  his  listening  audience  for  the  first  time,  with- 
 out an  overwhelming  sense  of  the  magnitude 
 and  the  difficulty  of  the  ministerial  profession. 
 "  Who  is  sufficient  for  these  things?"  an 
 apostle  asks  trembling.  "  Who  is  not  sufficient 
 for  these  things  ?"  the  carelessness  and  the  in- 
 competency of  many  self-sufficient  candidates  for 
 the  charge  of  souls,  seem  to  demand. 
 
 The  people  of  Moulin,  it  appears,  received 
 their  new  minister  with  abundance  of  respect 
 and  cordiality.  They  had  been  accustomed  to 
 venerate  the  father,  and  were  disposed  to  enter- 
 trin  a  hereditary  regard  for  the  son.  His  first 
 appearances  were,  no  doubt,  able  and  prepossess- 
 ing in  their  own  style ;  and  of  any  thing  beyond 
 correct  moral  sentiment,  and  easy  elocution,  they 
 
REV.  ALEXANDER  STEWART,  D.  D.  27 
 
 were  ill  qualified  to  judge.  Indeed,  the  igno- 
 rance that  prevails  in  many  places,  as  to  the 
 truths  of  religion,  is  often  not  sufficiently  regard- 
 ed. Even  where  the  gospel  has  been  preached* 
 we  may  sometimes  meet  with  instances  of  sur- 
 prising ignorance,  respecting  the  first  principles 
 of  Christian  doctrine,  and  the  common  elements 
 of  Christian  experience.  And  if  this  occur  even 
 among  the  stated  hearers  of  evangelical  truth, 
 what  is  to  be  expected  from  those  to  whom  the 
 peculiar  doctrines  of  the  gospel  are  seldom  or 
 never  delivered  ? 
 
 Yet  experience  proves,  that  people  who  re- 
 main in  a  very  unenlightened  state  themselves, 
 commonly  give  a  preference  to  an  evangelical 
 ministry  ;  but  that  the  judgment  of  those  peo- 
 ple, in  such  preference,  is  not  founded  on  any 
 just  discernment  of  its  nature,  appears  from  this, 
 — that  if  a  preacher  discourse  fluently,  and  seem 
 much  interested  himself,  though  very  sparing 
 in  the  production  of  evangelical  sentiment,  they 
 will  give  him  credit  for  being  an  able  minister 
 of  the  New  Testament. 
 
 And  perhaps  the  chief  reason  why  so  many 
 people,  not  personally  religious,  hang  upon  the 
 lips  of  an  evangelical  clergyman,  is  the  earnest- 
 ness of  his  manner,  and  the  seriousness  of  his 
 appeals,  (necessarily  arising  from  his  deep  con- 
 cern for  their  salvation),  appeals,  which,  though 
 b  9 
 
28  MEMOIRS  OF  THE 
 
 the  hearers  remain  unimpressed  with  the  spirit 
 of  his  doctrine,  give  a  sort  of  natural  interest  to 
 attendance  on  ordinances,  which  dies  away  under 
 the  languid  and  the  lifeless  ministrations  of  a 
 man  too  moderate  to  break  in  upon  the  repose 
 of  feelings  he  thinks  it  impious  to  awaken  on 
 sacred  ground. 
 
 That  the  people  to  whom  Mr  Stewart  was 
 sent,  were  very  incompetent  judges  of  his  qua- 
 lifications, will  appear  from  the  authentic  ac- 
 count he  himself  has  given  in  a  narrative  he 
 published  in  his  more  enlightened  days.  "  The 
 "  inhabitants  of  the  Highlands,"  says  he,  "  have, 
 "  as  you  know,  the  Scriptures  in  Gaelic,  their 
 "  native  tongue.  The  New  Testament,  the 
 "  Book  of.  Psalms,  and  the  Assembly's  Shorter 
 "  Catechism,  have  long  been  read  in  the  schools. 
 "  By  these  means,  the  people  in  this  part  of  the 
 "  country  had  some  knowledge  of  the  principal 
 "  events  in  the  history  of  the  creation  and  fall 
 "  of  man,  and  of  our  Saviour's  life,  death,  resur- 
 "  rection,  and  ascension.  They  knew  also  some 
 "  of  the  great  outlines  of  Christian  doctrine; 
 iC  but  in  general,  their  knowledge  of  the  princi- 
 "  pies  of  Christianity  was  superficial  and  con- 
 "  fused,  and  their  religious  opinions  were  in  ma- 
 u  ny  important  points  erroneous.  Very  few,  in- 
 "  deed,  knew  the  way  in  which  the  gospel  in- 
 "  forms  us  a  sinner  may  be  reconciled  to  God. 
 
KEV.  ALEXANDER  STEWART,    D.  D.  29 
 
 "  The  opinion  of  their  own  works  recommend- 
 "  ing  them  to  the  favour  of  God,  and  procuring 
 "  a  reward  from  his  bounty,  was  almost  univer- 
 "  sal.  It  discovered  itself  in  their  ordinary 
 "  speech,  in  their  common  remarks  on  more  so- 
 "  lemn  occasions,  and  in  almost  every  religious 
 "  sentiment  that  was  uttered.  Their  apprehen- 
 "  sions  of  the  demerit  and  consequences  of  sin, 
 "  were  exceedingly  defective.  I  have  heard  many 
 "  on  a  sick-bed,  after  acknowledging  in  common 
 "  form  that  they  were  sinners,  deny  that  they  ever 
 "  did  any  ill.  And  in  the  view  of  death,  they  have 
 "  derived  their  hopes  of  future  happiness  from  the 
 "  reflection,  that  they  never  had  wronged  any  per- 
 "  son.  Very  few  seemed  to  annex  any  meaning  to 
 "  their  words,  when  they  said  they  expected  par- 
 "  don  for  Christ's  sake.  Being  without  the  true 
 "  knowledge  of  God,  of  Christ,  of  the  Gospel, 
 "  of  their  own  character  and  state,  they  lived,  as 
 "  might  be  expected,  to  themselves  and  to  the 
 "  world.  They  were  not,  indeed,  addicted  to 
 "  open  vice,  if  we  except  lying  and  swearing. 
 "  They  were  rather  distinguished  for  sobriety, 
 "  industry,  and  peaceable  behaviour ;  but  they 
 "  were  destitute  of  religious  principle.  Men 
 «*  may  love  and  adore  an  unseen  God,  but 
 t  they  cannot  love  or  serve  an  unknown  God. 
 "  They  may  dread  pain,  or  death,  or  eternal  mi- 
 *'  scry,  but  that  is  not  to  fear  God.   Our  people 
 
30  MEMOIRS  OF  THE 
 
 "  were  alike  strangers  to  the  true  fear  and  true 
 "  love  of  God.  They  had  evidently  little  con- 
 "  cern  about  the  present,  or  the  future  state  of 
 "  their  souls.  They  attended  church,  and  par- 
 "  took  of  the  sacraments,  and  rested  from  their 
 "  work  on  the  Sabbath.  But  these  outward  ob- 
 "  servances  were  almost  the  only  appearances  of 
 "  religion.  There  was  little  reading  of  the  Scrip- 
 "  tures  at  home ;  little  religious  instructing  of 
 "  children ;  hardly  any  family- worship ;  no  reli- 
 u  gious  conversation ;  no  labouring  in  any  man- 
 "  ner  for  the  meat  which  endureth  unto  ever- 
 "  lasting  life.  Even  on  the  Lord's  day,  most  of 
 "  the  time  was  spent  in  loitering,  visiting,  and 
 "  worldly  talk ;  and  on  other  days,  religion  was 
 "  scarcely  thought  of." 
 
 Such  was  the  state  of  the  people  among  whom 
 Mr  Stewart  was  appointed  to  labour.  Let  us  next 
 hear,  from  the  same  authentic  report,  what  his 
 own  feelings  were  on  coming  among  them.  "I 
 "  was  settled,"  says  he,  "  minister  of  this  parish 
 "  in  1786,  at  the  age  of  twenty-two.  Although 
 "  I  was  not  a  ■  despised  of  what  was  sacred,  yet 
 "  I  felt  nothing  of  the  power  of  religion  on  my 
 "  soul.  I  had  no  relish  for  its  exercises,  nor  any 
 "  enjoyment  in  the  duties  of  my  office,  public 
 "  or  private.  A  regard  to  character,  and  the 
 "  desire  of  being  acceptable  to  my  people,  if  not 
 "  the  only  motives,  were  certainly  the  principal 
 
REV.  ALEXANDER  STEWART,  D.  D.  31 
 
 "  motives  that  prompted  me  to  any  measure  of 
 "  diligence  or  exertion.  I  was  quite  well  pleas- 
 "  ed  when  a  diet  of  catechising  was  ill  attended, 
 "  because  my  work  was  the  sooner  over ;  and  I 
 "  was  always  satisfied  with  the  reflection,  that  if 
 "  people  were  not  able,  or  did  not  choose  to  at- 
 "  tend  on  these  occasions,  that  was  no  fault  of 
 "  mine.  I  well  remember,  that  I  often  hurried 
 "  over  that  exercise  with  a  good  deal  of  impa- 
 "  tience,  that  1  might  get  home  to  join  a  dancing 
 "  party,  or  read  a  sentimental  novel.  My  pub- 
 "  lie  addresses  and  prayers  were,  for  the  most 
 "  part,  cold  and  formal.  They  were  little  re- 
 "  garded  by  the  hearers  at  the  time,  and  as  little 
 "  recollected  afterwards.  1  preached  against  par- 
 "  ticular  vices,  and  inculcated  particular  virtues. 
 "  But  I  had  no  notion  of  the  necessity  of  a 
 "  radical  change  of  principle ;  for  I  had  not 
 "  learned  to  know  the  import  of  those  assertions 
 M  of  Scripture,  that  "  the  carnal  mind  is  enmity 
 "  against  God ;"  that  if  any  man  be  in  Christ,  he 
 "  is  a  new  creature  ;  and  that,  "  except  a  man 
 "  be  born  of  water  and  of  the  Spirit,  he  cannot 
 "  enter  into  the  kingdom  of  God."  I  spoke  of 
 M  making  the  fruit  good ;  but  I  was  not  aware 
 "  that  the  tree  was  corrupt,  and  must  first  be  it- 
 f  self  made  good,  before  it  could  bear  good 
 "  fruit.  The  people,  however,  were  satisfied 
 "  with  what  they  heard,  and  neither  they  nor  1 
 
32  MEMOIRS  OF  THE 
 
 "  looked  farther.  Almost  the  only  remark  made 
 "  by  any  on  the  discourse,  after  leaving  church, 
 <c  was,  "  What  a  good  sermon  we  got  to-day  P 
 "  to  which  another  would  coldly  assent,  adding, 
 m  "  Many  good  advices  do  we  get,  if  we  did  but 
 "  follow  them."  Such  a  heartless  compliment 
 °  was  all  the  improvement  made  of  the  discourse, 
 "  and  I  believe  all  the  fruit  of  my  preaching. 
 "  The  hearers  readily  gave  me  credit  for  a  desire 
 "  to  do  my  duty ;  and  they  as  readily  took  credit 
 "  to  themselves  for  a  willingness  to  be  taught 
 "  their  duty.  But  whether  any  improvement 
 "  was  actually  going  forward,  whether  there 
 "  was  any  increase  of  the  fruits  of  righteousness, 
 "  was  a  point  which  gave  neither  minister  nor 
 "  people  much  concern. 
 
 "  If  there  were  any  persons  in  the  parish  at 
 "  the  time,  who  lived  a  life  of  faith,  under  the 
 "  influence  of  pure  evangelical  principles,  I  did 
 w  not  know  them,  nor  was  I  qualified  to  discern 
 "  and  understand  what  spirit  they  were  of.  I 
 "  have  since  had  reason  to  believe  that  there 
 "  were  a  very  few  spiritually-minded  persons ; 
 "  but  their  life  was  hid,  and  they  had  left  this 
 "  world,  all  but  one  or  two,  before  they  could 
 "  acknowledge  me  as  a  brother.  I  was  in  a 
 "  great  measure  ignorant  of  the  peculiar  doctrines 
 "  of  Christianity,  the  corruption  of  the  human 
 "  will,  the  fulness  and  freeness  of  the  redemption 
 
REV.  ALEXANDER  STEWART,   D.  D.  33 
 
 "  which  is  in  Christ,  justification  by  faith,  and 
 "  the  necessity  of  the  Holy  Spirit's  agency  on 
 "  the  human  soul ;  and  what  I  knew  not  myself 
 "  I  could  not  declare  to  others.  I  never  thought 
 "  of  praying  for  divine  direction  in  my  search 
 "  after  divine  truth.  I  believe  I  had  read  the 
 "  Confession  of  Faith  of  our  church  before  I  de- 
 "  clared  mv  belief  of  its  contents ;  but  I  had 
 "  taken  little  pains  to  compare  it  with  the  Scrip- 
 "  tures.  I  certainly  did  not  distinctly  under- 
 "  stand,  nor  was  I  at  all  persuaded  of  the  truth 
 "  of  many  propositions  contained  in  it.  Yet  I 
 "  do  not  remember  that  I  had  any  scruples  about 
 "  subscribing  it  as  the  confession  of  my  faith, 
 "  or  about  declaring  my  assent  to  it  solemnly, 
 "  in  the  presence  of  that  congregation  whereof 
 "  I  was  about  to  take  the  pastoral  charge." 
 
 From  such  a  ministry,  operating  on  such  a 
 population,  what  result  was  to  be  expected  ?  A 
 ministry  which  takes  human  nature  as  it  finds 
 it,  and,  without  enforcing  the  necessity  of  rege- 
 neration, labours  to  smooth  and  polish  it  into 
 character  by  precepts  of  morality,  and  dissuasives 
 from  vice ; — a  ministry,  which,  overlooking  the 
 momentous  fact  of  man's  enmity  to  God,  ne- 
 glects to  preach  reconciliation  through  the  blood 
 of  the  cross,  and  leaves  sinners  unbesought  to 
 reconciliation,  and  the  abandonment  of  disaffec- 
 tion towards  their  Maker; — a  ministry,  which 
 
34  MEMOIRS  OF  THE 
 
 proposes  salvation  to  men,  not  on  the  grant  of  a 
 Saviour  held  forth  as  the  object  of  immediate 
 trust,  but  on  some  uncertain  terms  of  sincere 
 obedience,  and  dispensing  grace,  the  extent  of 
 which  no  man  pretends  to  define ; — a  ministry, 
 that  has  not  for  its  object  the  calling  of  sinners 
 to  repentance  towards  God,  and  faith  towards 
 our  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  that  they  may  be  saved 
 freely  by  grace,  and  enjoy  the  comfort  of  hope, 
 as  well  as  of  holiness,  in  the  present  time; — such 
 a  ministry  cannot  be  effectual,  because  it  falls  not 
 in  with  the  method  of  saving  sinners  which  God 
 has  revealed  in  the  New  Testament  dispensation. 
 He  who  works  according  to  this  method,  may 
 not  always  succeed ;  but  to  succeed  in  working 
 against  it,  is  impossible. 
 
 That  Mr  Stewart's  early  ministrations  were 
 exceedingly  defective  in  point  of  doctrine,  there 
 is  sufficient  evidence  extant,  in  a  small  manu- 
 script volume  of  sermons  which  were  preached 
 in  that  period ;  and  which  he  kept  back  from 
 the  flames,  to  which  the  rest  of  them  were 
 heartily  consigned,  as  a  monument  of  his  for- 
 mer ignorance,  with  the  following  judgment  in- 
 scribed : — 
 
REV.  ALEXANDER  STEWART,  D.  D.  35 
 
 Juveniles  ineptia?, 
 
 temporibus  ignorantise  caecitatisque  editae, 
 
 odore  Evangelii  nullo  imbuta?, 
 
 multis  scatentes  erroribus, 
 
 miserandae,  abjiciendae; 
 
 tantum  dementia  Dei  misericordis, 
 
 Filii  sui  unigeniti  gratia, 
 
 ignoscenda?. 
 
 1817*. 
 
 The  volume  is  dated  1788,  the  above  charac- 
 ter was  inscribed  in  1817.  The  first  discourse 
 has  for  its  motto,  "  Be  ye  stedfast  and  immove- 
 "  able,  always  abounding  in  the  work  of  the 
 "  Lord,  forasmuch  as  ye  know  that  your  labour 
 "  is  not  in  vain  in  the  Lord."  And  the  follow- 
 ing extract  from  the  first  page  will  shew  what 
 his  doctrinal  views  at  that  time  were.  "  In  a 
 "  world  abounding  with  iniquity,  the  exhorta- 
 "  tion  which  a  preacher  of  the  gospel  has  often- 
 
 *  Thus  translated  by  his  son,  Mr  D.  S.  medical  student. 
 
 Youthful  Trifles, 
 
 produced  in  the  season  of  ignorance  and  darkness, 
 
 possessing  nothing  of  the  savour  of  the  gospel, 
 
 abounding  in  errors, 
 
 fit  only  to  be  pitied,  fit  only  to  be  destroyed ; 
 
 to  be  pardoned  solely  by  the  clemency  of  a  merciful  God, 
 
 through  the  grace  of  his  only-begotten  Son. 
 
36  MEMOIRS  OF  THE 
 
 "  est  occasion  to  repeat  to  his  hearers,  is,  to  for- 
 "  sake  their  sins,  to  turn  from  their  evil  ways, 
 "  to  cease  to  do  evil,  to' learn  to  do  well.  We 
 "  hope  that  this  exhortation  is  not  repeated  so 
 *  often  in  vain.  We  hope  there  are  persons 
 "  who  may  have  been  addicted  to  evil  habits, 
 "  on  whom  the  Spirit  of  God  may  have 
 "  wrought,  by  the  preaching  of  the  word,  or 
 "  the  administration  of  ordinances,  with  such 
 "  power  as  to  make  them  forsake  their  evil 
 "  practices.  Such  a  hope  we  must  be  allowed 
 "  to  indulge,  for  it  is  one  of  our  chief  encourage- 
 "  ments  in  the  prosecution  of  our  labour.  But, 
 "  my  friends,  after  you  have  attained  thus 
 "  much ;  after  you  have  once  purified  your 
 "  hearts,  and  reformed  your  lives ;  neither  your 
 u  labour  nor  ours  is  yet  at  an  end.  A  reso- 
 "  lution  once  formed  is  of  no  use  unless  it  be 
 "  kept.  Purposes  of  amendment  and  improve- 
 "  ment  are  good  for  the  time  in  which  they 
 "  are  made ;  but  if  they  be  afterwards  broken, 
 "  what  profit  do  they  bring  ?  Therefore  it  is 
 "  still  our  part  to  urge  the  exhortation  in  my 
 "  text,  and  it  is  your  part  to  lay  it  to  heart,— 
 "  not  to  think  it  enough  that  you  have  once  at- 
 t«  tained  a  certain  degree  of  holiness,  or  imagine 
 "  that  your  business  is  then  done,  but  to  exert 
 "  all  your  powers  to  continue  stedfast,  immove- 
 "  able;  to  go  on  improving  and  abounding  more 
 
REV.  ALEXANDER  STEWART,  D.  D.  37 
 
 "  and  more  in  the  work  of  the  Lord."  Here, 
 in  referring  to  what  he  taught,  and  what  they 
 had  received,  (and  we  have  quoted  all  the  doc- 
 trine the  sermon  contains),  there  is  no  mention 
 of  the  name  which  is  above  every  name ;  and 
 it  is  remarkable  that  the  Saviour  is  passed  by, 
 as  a  person  with  whom  neither  the  preacher 
 nor  his  hearers  had  any  thing  to  do.  How 
 different  is  this  from  the  spirit  of  him  who 
 "  determined  to  know  nothing  save  Jesus 
 "  Christ,  and  him  crucified."  How  could  souls 
 be  won  to  Christ,  when  his  name,  glory, 
 and  work,  were  concealed?  What  stedfast- 
 ness  could  they  realize,  but  stability  in  self- 
 righteousness,  who  were  not  rooted,  and 
 grounded,  and  built  up  in  Christ  ?  Such  a  mi- 
 nistry might  succeed  in  all  its  aims,  and  yet 
 not  save  a  single  soul ;  for  it  is  possible  to  be 
 all  Mr  Stewart  commends,  and  yet  want  that 
 faith,  without  which  it  is  impossible  to  please 
 God. 
 
 In  their  minister,  the  people  of  Moulin  had 
 an  example  of  conduct  morally  correct  and 
 honourable;  they  had  a  guide  amiable  in  so- 
 ciety, respectable  for  his  talents  and  literature, 
 and  by  no  means  inattentive  to  official  duties, 
 either  in  public  or  in  private ;  and  they  were 
 mutually  pleased. 
 
 Perhaps  not  a  few  parishes  in  Britain,  who 
 
38  MEMOIRS  OF  THE 
 
 rise  no  higher  in  point  of  religious  character 
 than  they,  labour  under  greater  disadvantages, 
 as  to  means  of  instruction.  Such  means,  how- 
 ever, proved  ineffectual  there,  and  must  in  every 
 place  alike  fail ;  because  they  are  not  the  means 
 appointed  by  God  for  reconciling  the  world  unto 
 himself,  that  they  may  be  saved. 
 
 In  the  first  years  of  his  ministry,  Mr  Stewart 
 seems  to  have  prosecuted  his  favourite  studies 
 in  metaphysics  and  philology.  The  Gaelic  lan- 
 guage, in  particular,  became  an  object  of  fa- 
 vourite research  ;  and  though  he  had  few  helps, 
 and  at  the  time  of  his  ordination  was  but  barely 
 competent  to  preach  in  it  with  freedom,  he  soon 
 became  critically  versed  in  its  unwritten  idioms 
 and  syntax.  "  When  I  come  to  speak  of  my 
 <:  Gaelic  studies,"  says  he,  in  a  letter  written 
 during  his  attendance  at  the  Divinity  Hall,  u  I 
 "  am  somewhat  at  a  loss  what  to  say  in  vindica- 
 u  tion  of  myself.  I  find  I  am  not  able  to  give  a 
 "  regular  account  of  my  plan  of  study,  or  of  my 
 "  progress.  All  I  can  say  is,  that  I  have  been 
 "  reading  the  Gaelic  Testament,  and  the  small 
 "  treatise  I  have  from  you  ;  but  with  what  pro- 
 u  fit  I  cannot  well  determine.  When  I  meet 
 "  with  a  word  or  phrase  that  I  do  not  under- 
 *  stand,  I  have  neither  master,  dictionary,  nor 
 "  grammar  to  apply  to,  which  much  retards  my 
 "  progress  in  learning  the  language.      When 
 
REV.  ALEXANDER  STEWART,  D.  D.  89 
 
 "  you  consider,  then,  my  unfavourable  situation 
 H  in  this  respect,  I  hope  you  will  think  I  am 
 i(  not  wholly  without  excuse,  if  my  knowledge 
 "  does  not  increase  fast.     I  am  not  a  little  cha- 
 
 *  grined  at  being  disappointed  of  Mr  John  S.'s 
 "  Gaelic  grammar,  on  which  I  had  depended  so 
 "  much.  The  Hebrew  goes  on  better.  I  am 
 m  provided  with  a  good  Bible,  grammar,  and 
 "  diction ary,  besides  an  analysis  of  the  Book  of 
 "  Genesis.  I  go  on  analysing  passages  of  Scrip- 
 "  ture  with  some  facility.  I  thank  you  with  all 
 "  my  heart  for  your  exhortation  to  go  on  with 
 
 *  my  studies.  You  pathetically  lament  your 
 "  own  inability  to  accomplish  the  wish  of  your 
 "  heart,  and  do  justice  to  the  languages ;  and 
 "  while  you  exclaim, 
 
 "  O  mihi  praeteritos  referat  si  Jupiter  annos," 
 
 "  you  call  upon  those  that  are  young  to  take 
 "  up  the  task.  Whatever  else  is  in  your  power, 
 "  I  am  confident  of  one  thing  that  has  not  left 
 "  you,  and  that  is,  the  power  of  rousing  the  ar- 
 "  dour  of  the  young, — of  some  of  them  at  least. 
 "  I  never  read  your  letter  over,  without  being 
 
 *  animated  with  the  keenest  desire  of  becoming 
 "  acquainted  with  the  language,  manners,  and 
 "  history  of  my  honest  progenitors ;  and  then, 
 "  transporting  myself  some  generations  back- 
 
40  MEMOIRS  OF  THE 
 
 "  wards,  I  converse  with  the  hardy  sons  of  the 
 "  hills.  I  admire  and  imbibe  your  generous 
 "  spirit  and  enthusiastic  patriotism,  which  in- 
 "  deed  has  characterized  my  country." 
 
 This  patience  of  study  was  crowned  with  suc- 
 cess ;  for  both  in  Gaelic  and  in  Hebrew  he  ac- 
 quired such  skill,  as  to  be  eminently  useful  to 
 the  church  in  his  own  time,  while  he  has  left 
 fruits  of  his  proficiency  to  benefit  future  ages. 
 
 Of  his  metaphysical  acumen,  .he  gave  a  speci- 
 men on  the  publication  of  Dr  Gregory's  literary 
 and  philosophical  essays,  in  which  it  was  pro- 
 posed to  demonstrate  the  moral  liberty  of  man 
 on  mathematical  principles.  Mr  Stewart  wrote 
 him  a  letter  of  many  folio  pages  on  these  essays ; 
 controverting  his  positions,  and  pointing  out 
 what  appeared  to  him  inconclusive  in  the  cele- 
 brated physician's  reasonings.  These  animad- 
 versions passed  through  the  hands  of  the  great- 
 est metaphysician  of  his  time,  Professor  Dugald 
 Stewart ;  and  Dr  Gregory  deemed  them  worthy 
 of  a  long  and  elaborate  reply.  This  correspon- 
 dence might  gratify  a  philosophical  reader,  but 
 we  must  hasten  to  circumstances  in  Mr  Stewart's 
 life  more  generally  interesting,  and  to  himself  of 
 far  greater  importance. 
 
 For  some  years  after  his  settlement  at  Moulin, 
 his  mind  seems  to  have  been  left  unimpressed 
 with  any  serious  concern  either  about  his  own 
 
REV.  ALEXANDER  STEWART,  D.  D.  41 
 
 spiritual  state,  or  that  of  others.     The  set  time 
 to  favour  him,  however,  was  approaching ;  and 
 among  the  means  employed  to  interest  his  heart 
 in  divine  things,  his  connection  with  Mr  Black, 
 then  minister  of  St  Madoes,  occupies  a  promi- 
 nent place.     Mr  Black  was  nearly  of  the  same 
 age  with  himself;  but  having  been  called  to  an 
 early  knowledge  of  the  truth,  he  was  in  spiritual 
 life  greatly  his  elder ;  for  while  the  one  walked 
 uncertainly,  and  with  doubtful  perceptions  of 
 the  truth,  in  the  twilight  of  grace,  the  other, 
 with  open  face  and  assured  steps,  enjoying  the 
 Sun  of  Righteousness  as  he  went,  proceeded 
 from  strength  to  strength  in  the  everlasting  way. 
 Directed  by  an  invisible  power,  Mr  Stewart 
 had  been  led  to  pay  a  visit  to  Mr  Black,  at  St 
 Madoes.     Instead  of  repelling  his  advances,  and 
 looking  down  with  a  mixture  of  pity  and  dis- 
 dain on  the  unequal  attainments  of  his  guest, 
 Mr  Black  received  him  with  great  frankness, 
 and  without  bringing  forward  his  own  peculiar 
 views,  left  what  he  had,  as  it  were,  incidentally 
 seen  and  heard,  to  operate  with  silent  influence 
 on  his  heart.    "  Wisdom  is  justified  of  her  chil- 
 dren," and  this  unobtrusive  conduct  of  Mr  Black 
 produced  the  happiest  effects.     Mr  Stewart  al- 
 ways referred  to  a  conversation  with  his  friend 
 at  St  Madoes,  as  connected  with  the  commence- 
 ment of  his  spiritual  life.    Mr  Black,  as  they  sat 
 
42  MEMOIRS  OF  THE 
 
 together  in  an  arbour  in  the  garden,  took  occa- 
 sion to  describe  the  triumphant  dying  scene  of 
 a  deceased  sister.  Such  a  fact  was  not  to  be  ac- 
 counted for  on  Mr  Stewart's  principles ;  and  the 
 event  made  an  impression  on  his  mind  never 
 afterwards  wholly  effaced.  Many  years  after  this 
 incident,  he  writes,  "  The  dear  name  (of  Mr 
 *  Black)  is  always  associated  with  my  first  per- 
 "  ceptions  of  divine  truth  and  redeeming  love. 
 "  My  thoughts  took  a  long  flight  backwards,  and 
 "  the  parlour  and  the  garden  at  St  Madoes,  ap- 
 "  peared  to  me  like  "  an  upper  chamber  in  Je- 
 "  rusalem,  and  like  the  garden  of  Gethsemane." 
 Happy  is  it  when  Christians  so  improve  such 
 apparently  casual  interviews,  that  the  savour  of 
 them  is  grateful  to  the  mind  after  many  days. 
 
 There  was  something  now  at  work  in  Mr 
 Stewart's  heart,  that  would  not  let  him  rest 
 from  inquiries  after  truth ;  and  though  several 
 years  revolved  before  any  decided  manifestation 
 of  change  appeared,  yet,  from  that  hour,  his  mid- 
 night darkness  had  passed,  and  he  was  hastening 
 gradually  and  imperceptibly  to  the  day  of  greater 
 things. 
 
 In  1791,  he  entered  into  a  correspondence 
 with  Mr  Black,  which  was  continued,  with 
 great  regularity  and  the  utmost  freedom  of 
 communication  on  either  side,  until  the  period 
 of  Mr  Black's  lamented  death.      From   these 
 
REV.  ALEXANDER  STEWART,  D.  D.  43 
 
 letters,  which  of  themselves  would  make  an  in- 
 teresting volume,  we  shall  select  a  few,  which 
 will  exhibit  the  progressive  state  of  Mr  Stewart's 
 mind  in  the  knowledge  of  religious  truth,  better 
 than  any  other  method  of  representation  we 
 could  adopt.  These  letters  are  perfectly  artless ; 
 and  of  an  active  minister's  letters,  it  may  be  re- 
 marked in  general,  that  a  want  of  leisure,  and 
 the  tedium  of  composition  derived  from  the 
 quantity  of  written  preparation  needful  for  the 
 pulpit,  seldom  allow  them  to  be  any  thing  more 
 than  the  unstudied  and  hasty  expression  of  pre- 
 sent feeling  and  present  duty.  The  first  letter 
 addressed  to  Mr  B.  is  dated  Moulin,  October 
 3.  1791,  and  is  as  follows: — 
 
 "  Dear  Sir, 
 ?'•  I  cannot  but  regret  that  I  missed  the  plea- 
 "  sure  of  seeing  you  when  you  called  a  fortnight 
 "  ago  at  Moulin,  though  sister  told  me  your 
 "  stay  was  but  short  I  must  make  it  up  to 
 "  myself  by  staying  the  longer  next  time  I  go 
 
 "  to  St  Madoes.     Mr too,  favoured  me 
 
 "  with  a  call.  As  soon  as  I  heard  of  it,  it 
 "  struck  me  that  it  was  a  favour  I  was  not  en- 
 "  titled  to.  He  is  a  man  for  whom  I  have  a 
 "  regard,  though  I  have  as  yet  little  acquaint- 
 "  ance  with  him,  but  that  is  really  my  own 
 "  fault,  for  he  has  been  kind  enough  to  make 
 
 c  2 
 
44  MEMOIRS  OF  THE 
 
 "  advances  toward  an  acquaintance,  though  I 
 "  have  been  so  negligent  as  not  to  return  them. 
 "  I  will  certainly  wait  on  him  the  next  time  I 
 "  go  to  Perth,  but  1  have  need  of  the  good  of- 
 "  fices  of  a  friend  to  introduce  me,  and  bespeak 
 "  his  good  opinion. 
 
 "  I  thank  you  sincerely  for  your  present  of 
 "  Scott's  Narrative.  I  had  taken  the  liberty  to 
 "  carry  it  to  one  or  two  places,  and  shew  it  to 
 "  some  of  my  friends,  who  were  much  gratified 
 "  with  the  perusal  of  it.  The  writer  is  a  strik- 
 "  ing  example  of  the  efficacy  of  the  ordinary 
 "  appointed  means  of  divine  grace  in  enlighten- 
 11  ing  the  understanding  and  reforming  the 
 "  heart ;  and  in  that  view,  I  think,  his  example 
 "  affords  strong  encouragement  for  using  these 
 "  means,  studying  the  scriptures,  and  prayer. 
 "  In  this,  I  apprehend,  chiefly  consists  the  dif- 
 "  ference  between  his  case  and  that  of  eminent 
 "  saints,  from  St  Paul  downwards,  who  have 
 "  been  converted  by  extraordinary  means.  One 
 "  feels  a  curiosity  to  see  his  letters  to  Mr  New- 
 "  ton  at  the  time  he  began  a  correspondence 
 "  with  him  on  subjects  of  controversy;  how- 
 "  ever,  it  is  probable  nothing  more  would  be 
 "  learned  from  them,  than  from  the  account  he 
 "  himself  gives  of  their  spirit  and  intention. 
 
 "  Sister   and   I   have  lately  been  reading  a 
 "  volume  of  sermons  by  Mr  Haweis,  the  same, 
 
REV.  ALEXANDER  STEWART,  D.  D.  45 
 
 "  I  think,  to  whom  Mr  Newton  addressed  the 
 "  letters,  containing  an  account  of  his  life  be- 
 "  fore  his  conversion.  These  sermons  contain  a 
 "  compendium  of  Christian  doctrine,  arranged 
 "  in  a  systematic  form,  and  are  executed  in  a 
 "  masterly  manner.  From  many  hints  and  re- 
 "  commendations  in  Newton's  letters,  and  from 
 "  this  memoir  of  Scott's,  I  long  to  try  to  preach 
 *  a  course  of  such  sermons  in  Gaelic  to  my 
 "  people,  (English  is  out  of  the  question) ;  but 
 "  I  have  a  diffidence  of  my  qualification  for  it, 
 "  and  a  shyness,  I  believe  I  may  properly  call 
 "  it,  of  discussing  or  inculcating  subjects  which 
 "  they  have  not  been  much  accustomed  to  hear, 
 "  which  has  hitherto  prevented  me  from  doing 
 "  more  than  touching  on  these  subjects  occa- 
 "  sionally.  I  dare  say  I  have  just  the  same 
 "  dread  of  being  charged  with  filling  my  people's 
 "  heads  with  uncharitable  notions  and  specula- 
 "  tive  whims,  instead  of  teaching  social  duties, 
 a  as  Mr  Scott  had  of  being  termed  a  Methodist. 
 "  Yet  it  is  as  clear  as  day-light,  that  one  may 
 "  just  as  well  think  to  gather  grapes  of  thorns, 
 "  as  to  make  virtues  grow  on  the  wild  stock  of 
 "  man's  natural  heart.  The  operation  of  en- 
 "  grafting  must  surely  be  first  performed,  or 
 "  Apollos,  or  Paul  himself,  may  water  for  ages 
 "  without  effect.  I  hope  you  received  a  note  I 
 "  sent  several  weeks  ago,  with  some  kind  of  c\ 
 
46  MEMOIRS  OF  THE 
 
 "  planation  of  those  names  of  places  you  had 
 "  mentioned  to  me.  I  am  just  now  employed 
 "  in  collecting  a  few  more  articles  of  information 
 "  for  Sir  J.  Sinclair,  which  I  hope  will  finish 
 "  my  work  in  that  way. 
 
 "  May  I  expect  a  letter  from  you  at  your 
 "  leisure  ?  The  avocations  of  the  summer  and 
 a  autumn  are  nearly  over.  As  the  evenings 
 "  lengthen,  I  wish  to  settle  myself  down  to  the 
 "  enjoyments  and  pursuits  of  the  fire-side.  I 
 41  have  had  in  my  time  one  hobby-horse  after  an- 
 11  other.  One  while  mathematics,  another  while 
 "  grammar,  another  while  statistics.  I  tired  of 
 "  them  all.  My  mind  has  not  that  spring  in  it 
 "  which  will  carry  it  keenly  forward  through 
 "  any  pursuit  for  a  length  of  time  without  some 
 "  spur.  I  wish  to  fix  my  attention  at  last  on 
 "  some  more  interesting  objects,  and,  like  Scott, 
 "  study  my  Bible.  In  this  and  other  objects 
 "  connected  with  it,  I  shall  wish  to  ask  some- 
 "  times  your  help  or  encouragement.  I  know, 
 "  however,  that  I  shall  often  feel  the  same  diffi- 
 "  dence  and  reluctance  in  writing  you  on  such 
 "  subjects,  as  I  do  in  playing  the  fiddle  before  a 
 "  connoisseur,  but  I  shall  get  over  it." 
 
 The  above  letter  is  very  characteristic  of  that 
 openness  of  heart,  and  freedom  in  disclosing  his 
 sentiments,  for  which  the  writer  was  distinguish- 
 
REV.  ALEXANDER  STEWART,  D.  D.  47 
 
 ed  through  life.  On  this  occasion,  his  corre- 
 spondent acted  a  wiser  part  than  to  check  the 
 communications  of  his  friend,  by  premature  ani- 
 madversions ;  and,  by  a  compliance  with  that 
 rule, — "  him  that  is  weak  in  the  faith  receive  ye, 
 f  but  not  to  doubtful  disputation,"  proved  the 
 efficacy  of  its  lenient  spirit.  That  he  regarded 
 the  proposed  correspondence  in  a  providential 
 light,  appears  from  the  following  extract  from 
 his  diary  in  reference  to  it : 
 
 "  Oct  10.  1791.— Received  a  letter  lately 
 "  from  Mr  Stewart  of  Moulin,  in  which  he  ex- 
 "  presses  a  wish  to  be  taught  the  way  of  God 
 "  more  perfectly.  Scott's  Force  of  Truth  seems 
 "  to  have  been  blessed  to  him.  I  answered  his 
 "  letter  last  week." 
 
 In  answering  his  letter,  without  receding  from 
 his  own  ground,  he  spake  kindly  to  his  friend, 
 and,  as  if  the  distance  was  small  between  them, 
 encouraged  him  to  come  on.  "  I  was  favour- 
 "  ed,"  says  he  in  reply,  "  with  yours  of  the  2d 
 "  curt,  which  gave  me  sincere  pleasure.  The 
 "  confidence  you  are  pleased  to  place  in  me, 
 "  merits  a  suitable  return,  and  however  unqua- 
 "  lifted  I  feel  myself  to  give  the  least  advice  to 
 "  one  from  whom  I  should  be  most  willing  to 
 "  receive  instruction ;  I  am  exceedingly  ready 
 "  to  enter  into  a  friendly  correspondence  on  the 
 "  important  topics  you   have  suggested,  which 
 
48  MEMOIRS  OF  THE 
 
 "  may  prove  mutually  pleasing  and  profitable. 
 "  From  the  frankness  with  which  you  have 
 "  communicated  your  thoughts  to  me,  I  confess 
 "  I  feel  an  interest  in  what  relates  to  you,  and 
 "  a  sincere  desire  to  enter  into  closer  and  more 
 "  intimate  habits.  It  gives  me  pleasure  to  find 
 "  you  have  read  Scott's  narrative  with  so  much 
 "  satisfaction.  His  case,  though  remarkable,  is 
 "  not  altogether  singular.  There  have  been  se- 
 "  veral  instances  of  persons  entering  into  the 
 "  office  of  the  ministry,  totally  devoid  of  real 
 "  religion,  who  have  afterwards  been  brought 
 "  to  a  happy  change  in  their  sentiments  and  con- 
 "  duct.  Mr  Walker  of  Truro  (whose  works, 
 "  if  you  are  not  already  acquainted  with  them, 
 "  are  well  worthy  of  your  perusal)  is  as  striking 
 "  an  instance  of  it  as  Mr  Scott.  The  means  em- 
 "  ployed  were  of  the  ordinary  kind  too.  If  I 
 "  recollect  right,  it  was  by  means  of  a  conversa- 
 "  tion  with  a  pious  friend,  that  Mr  Walker  re- 
 "  ceived  his  first  serious  impressions  of  the  truth. 
 "  The  effects  produced  were  great.  From  being 
 "  a  dry  useless  preacher  to  a  careless  unconcern- 
 "  ed  congregation,  he  became  a  zealous  and  faith- 
 "  ful  minister  of  the  gospel,  and  was  the  honour- 
 "  ed  instrument  of  the  conversion  of  many  souls. 
 "  I  have  likewise  by  me  a  short  account  of  Mr 
 "  Sheriff,  the  first  minister  of  Lady  Glenorchy*s 
 "  Chapel,  in  Edinburgh,  who  experienced  a  like 
 
REV.  ALEXANDER  STEWART,  D.  D.  49 
 
 "  happy  change,  a  considerable  time  after  he  was 
 "  a  preacher.  He  died  a  young  man,  in  the  midst 
 "  of  his  years  and  usefulness,  but  not  before  he 
 <c  had  given  a  very  full  and  comfortable  testi- 
 "  mony  to  the  truth  of  those  doctrines,  which 
 "  are  derided  by  the  world  under  the  name  of 
 "  Methodism  and  Enthusiasm. 
 
 "  I  heartily  approve  of  your  design  of  preach- 
 "  ing  to  your  people  a  set  of  sermons  on  the 
 "  great   and   leading   doctrines   of   the  gospel. 
 "  A  general  neglect  of  that  kind  of  preach- 
 "  ing,  is,  I  am  persuaded,  the  chief  reason  why 
 "  so  many  ministers  do  so  little  good  in  their 
 "  parishes.     Till  men  are  thoroughly  convinced 
 "  of  their  lost  and  undone  state  by  nature,  and 
 "  brought  to  a  simple  reliance  on  the  blood  and 
 "  spirit  of  Christ,  as  the  only  appointment  of 
 u  God  for  the  salvation  of  sinners,  all  attempts 
 "  to  reform  the  life  and  manners  are  vain  and 
 "  fruitless.     Outward  restraints  may  have  a  tem- 
 "  porary  effect,  but  the  heart  will  remain  un- 
 "  changed,   and  the  power  of  sin  unsubdued, 
 "  till  the  grace  of  God  in  the  gospel  is  under- 
 "  stood,  felt,  and  believed.    A  skilful  physician 
 "  will  probe  the  wound   before  he  attempts  to 
 <c  administer  the  healing  balm,  and  a  faithful 
 "  minister  must  plainly  lay  before  his  people 
 "  their  sin  and  danger,  if  he  would  hope  to  be 
 '*'  successful  in  promoting  their  reformation." 
 
50  MEMOIRS  OF  THE 
 
 In  his  next  letter,  Mr  Stewart  gives  an  ac- 
 count of  the  state  of  religion  in  his  parish,  which 
 shews,  that  even  then  he  was  diligent  and  con- 
 scientious, and  much  interested  to  have  his  peo- 
 ple embrace  all  he  himself  knew  of  divine  truth. 
 "  They  are  in  general  far  from  being  ignorant. 
 "  As  few  of  them  read  Gaelic,  and  scarcely  one 
 "  of  them  can  read  English  with  any  profit,  their 
 "  knowledge  and  opinions  on  religious  subjects 
 "  are  almost  entirely  derived  from  their  teach- 
 "  ers.     I  find  them  sufficiently  ripe  on  the  doc- 
 "  trine  of  the  atonement  of  Christ,  but  they 
 "  seem  to  have  less  apprehension  of  that  of  im- 
 f  puted  righteousness.     I  have  found  it  requi- 
 "  site  to  insist  a  good  deal  on  this  point  in  my 
 "  preaching,  and  at  my  diets  of  examination 
 u  a  stranger  would  be  ready  sometimes  to  mis- 
 "  take  me  for  an  Antinomian.     I  hope,  how- 
 "  ever,  there  is  little  hazard  of  such  an  error 
 "  gaining  ground  here,  for  they  have  very  con- 
 "  vincing  ideas  of  the  obligations  of  morality. 
 "  On  examining  the  schools  through  my  parish, 
 i(  of  which  there  are  several,  taught  by  persons 
 "  who  undertake  the  business  of  their  own  ac- 
 "  cord,  I  find,  that  though  the  children  learn 
 "  to  read  tolerably,  and  to  repeat  questions,  &c. 
 "  yet  they  learn  very  little  of  Christian  know- 
 "  ledge.     I  have  therefore  proposed  to  some  of 
 "  my  heritors  to  get  a  Sunday's  school  erected  in 
 
REV.  ALEXANDER  STEWART,  D.  D.  51 
 
 "  this  village,  where  the  children  may  be  taught 
 "  the  catechism  in  Gaelic,  and  be  made  to  un- 
 "  derstand  and  attend  to  what  they  repeat. 
 "  The  gentlemen  approve  of  it,  and  I  hope  I 
 "  shall  soon  get  it  established.  My  English 
 N  discourses  are  of  so  little  use,  that  it  is  with 
 "  reluctance  I  sit  down  to  compose  one.  I  am 
 "  frequently  for  weeks,  perhaps  months,  with- 
 "  out  writing  any  English.  This  season,  as 
 "  Christmas  and  New-Year's  day  both  fell  on 
 "  Sunday,  I  thought  I  could  not  well  avoid 
 "  writing  a  sermon  for  each  of  them.  My  texts 
 u  were,  Luke  ii.  13,  14.  and  Job  xiv.  14. 
 
 "  You  may  be  a  little  surprised,  perhaps,  at 
 "  my  writing  always  about  myself,  and  my 
 "  doings.  This  was  my  intention  from  the 
 "  time  that  I  solicited  the  favour  of  your  cor- 
 
 *  respondence,  that  I  might  have  the  benefit 
 w  of  your  remarks  and  corrections.  Thus  far 
 "  1  have  told  only  what  could  give  myself  plea- 
 "  sure  in  the  telling.     By  and  bye,  if  I  am  en- 
 
 *  couraged,  my  confessions  must  come  in  their 
 "  turn.     That  is   indeed  a  less  pleasant  task, 
 
 *  but  I  hope  it  may  turn  out  a  profitable  one." 
 Mr  Black's  letter  in  answer  to  this,  is  well 
 
 worth  inserting. 
 
 "  1  received  your  letter  in  due  course,  and 
 "  with  much  satisfaction.  I  acknowledge  my- 
 "  self  to  blame  for  not  answering   it   sooner. 
 
52  MEMOIRS  OF  THE 
 
 "  There  is  no  subject  can  be  more  agreeable  or 
 "  interesting  to  me,  than  what  relates  to  your- 
 "  self.  I  shall  use  the  like  freedom  in  my  turn, 
 "  and  by  a  candid  communication  of  my  un- 
 "  disguised  sentiments,  endeavour  to  repay  the 
 "  confidence  with .  which  you  are  pleased  to 
 "  honour  me.  I  believe^  from  the  strain  of 
 "  your  letters,  that  our  sentiments  in  material 
 "  points  pretty  much  coincide.  The  doctrine 
 "  of  imputed  righteousness  which  you  mention 
 "  having  insisted  on  so  much  of  late,  appears  to 
 "  me  the  grand  and  important  article  which 
 "  marks  the  difference  between  the  preachers  of 
 "  free  grace,  and  those  of  the  legal  or  Arminian 
 "  cast.  If  this  doctrine  be  well  understood,  and 
 "  firmly  believed,  it  will  pave  the  way  for  the 
 "  reception  of  all  the  other  doctrines  of  grace. 
 "  And  upon  no  other  scheme,  I  think,  can  the 
 "  glory  of  the  Redeemer,  and  the  hope  of  poor 
 "  sinners,  be  firmly  established.  I  would  not 
 "  violently  contend  for  any  term  or  mode  of 
 4(  expression,  that  is  not  evidently  scriptural; 
 "  but,  till  a  better  can  be  found,  why  should 
 "  we  give  up  the  term  imputed  righteousness, 
 "  since  the  idea  expressed  by  it  is  abundantly 
 "  plain  and  simple,  and  we  think  clearly  found- 
 M  ed  in  scripture.  When  a  Sinner  is  truly  con- 
 "  vinced  of  sin,  and  perceives  the  dreadful  dan- 
 ."  ger  to  which  he  is  exposed  by  his  wilful  and 
 
REV.  ALEXANDER  STEWART,  D.  D.  53 
 
 "  numberless  transgressions  of  the  law  of  God, 
 "  the  most  important  question  to  him  in  the 
 "  world  is,  How  shall  I  escape  the  wrath  of 
 "  God?  How  shall  I  obtain  the  favour  of  my 
 *'  Maker?  The  gospel,  in  this  case,  points  to 
 "  the  atonement  of  Christ,  and  discovers  to  the 
 "  anxious  sinner's  mind,  in  his  all  perfect  sa- 
 "  crifice,  a  full  security  against  the  day  of  wrath. 
 "  But   the   gospel   does   more.      It   speaks  of 
 u  eternal  life  as  the  hope  of  believers.     Upon 
 "  what  foundation  does  this  hope  rest  ?  Upon 
 "  my  own  imperfect  doings,  or  my  Saviour's 
 "  finished   obedience  ?     It  makes  little  difFer- 
 "  ence  to  say,  that  the  works  of  believers  are 
 "  wrought  by  the  Spirit  of  Christ,  and  in  this 
 "  view  may  in  some  degree  be  meritorious.  Still 
 "  they  are  imperfect  works,  and  the  hope  that 
 "  is  built  on  them  must  be  a  fluctuating  hope: 
 "  To  entitle  me  to  entertain  the  well-grounded 
 "  hope  of  eternal  life,  I  must  be  able  to  plead, 
 "  at  the  tribunal  of  God,  a  righteousness  broad 
 "  as  the  commandments  of  God,  and  free  from 
 "  the  least  mixture  of  sin.     And  such  a  right- 
 "  eousness  the  gospel  reveals  for  the  salvation 
 "  of  every  guilty  sinner,  who  sees  and  feels  his 
 "  need  of  it,  and  is  willing  to  be  saved  in  this 
 "  humbling,  self-abasing  manner.     This  I  take 
 "  to  be  the  plain  meaning  of  imputed  righteous- 
 "  ness ;  and  here  is  the  spring  of  all  true  holi- 
 
54  MEMOIRS  OF  THE 
 
 u  ness.  The  belief  of  this  precious,  peace-in- 
 "  spiring  truth,  gives  a  vigour  and  energy  to 
 "  the  mind  unknown  before.  The  love  of 
 "  Christ  constrains  to  obedience.  But  I  cannot 
 "  now  enter  on  the  practical  influence  of  this 
 "  blessed  doctrine.  I  hope  you  know  some- 
 "  thing  of  it  in  experience.  A  good  life  is  the 
 "  best  refutation  of  the  objections  of  adversa- 
 "  ries." 
 
 "  P.  S.  If  you  had  an  opportunity,  I  should 
 "  be  glad  to  be  favoured  with  a  reading  of  some 
 "  of  your  late  compositions  for  the  pulpit,  part- 
 "  ly,  on  the  peculiar  doctrines  of  the  gospel." 
 
 The  request  in  the  postscript  drew  from  Mr 
 Stewart  the  following  : — "  Your  favour  of  the 
 "  13th  January  reached  me  in  course.  I  wish 
 "  to  get  rid,  as  soon  as  may  be,  of  the  forma- 
 "  lities  of  apologies ;  however,  I  must  mention 
 u  as  the  chief  cause  of  my  long  silence,  a  visit 
 "  I  made  to  Fife,  to  see  my  friends  in  St  An- 
 "  drews,  and  at  Kilconquhar,  the  name  of  Mr 
 "  Small's  new  parish.  This  not  only  occupied 
 "  some  weeks  of  my  time,  but  likewise  put  it 
 "  out  of  my  power  to  comply,  so  soon  as  I  wish- 
 "  ed,  with  your  kind  request  of  sending  you 
 "  some  of  my  compositions  for  the  pulpit,  for 
 "  I  wished  to  carry  some  of  my  late  produc- 
 "  tions  with   me  to  read  to  Mr  Small,  before  I 
 
REV.  ALEXANDER  STEWART,  D.  D.         55 
 
 "  should  send  them  out  of  my  custody.     Since 
 "  my  return,  I  have  been  occupied  one  week 
 "  with  a  fair  which  is  held  annually  in  this  vil- 
 "  lage,  and  which  breaks  in  much  on  my  time, 
 "  and  another  with  a  visit  from  my  brother. 
 "  I  now  comply  with  pleasure  with  your  re- 
 "  quest,  and  send  you  two  sermons  by  way  of 
 "  specimen,  composed,  the  one  for  Christmas 
 "  last,  the  other  for  New- Year's  Day,  but  not 
 "  delivered  till  the  8th  of  January.  It  would  be 
 "  a  childish  kind  of  shyness  to  refuse  to  sub- 
 "  mit  these  to  your  judgment,  because  I  hope 
 "  to  profit  by  your  remarks,  whether  you  ap- 
 "  prove  or  censure.     They  are  free  from  one 
 "  blemish,  that  is,  an   elaborate  and  polished 
 "  style.     However  sensible  I  am  to  the  beauties 
 "  of  style,  yet  I  cannot  help  considering  a  high 
 "degree   of   polish  and   ornament   as   out  of 
 "  place,  and  improper  in  compositions  for  the 
 "  pulpit.     In  the  discourse  upon  Luke  ii.  13, 
 "  14.  I  have  stated  some  of  the  leading  doc- 
 "  trines  of  Christianity  in  a  way  which  I  be- 
 "  lieve  to  be  agreeable  to  reason.      You  can 
 "  judge  how  far  my  sentiments  are  conformable 
 "  to  the  Calvinistic  scheme,  of  which,  (so  far 
 "  as  I  know  it  from  what  Calvinistic  writers 
 "  say  of  it  in  their  writings,  for  I  have  not 
 "  read  Calvin's  works),  I  profess  myself  a  sin- 
 "  cere  votary.     The  sermon  from  Job  xiv.  14. 
 
56  MEMOIRS  OF  THE 
 
 "  is  my  first  attempt  to  arrange  and  put  into 
 "  writing  my  thoughts  on  a  subject  of  some 
 "  obscurity  and  difficulty.     I  have  endeavour- 
 u  ed  to  follow  scripture  closely  as  my  guide ; 
 "  and  I  have  attained  to  a  decided  opinion  on 
 "  the  subject.     I  am  by  no  means  sure  that  I 
 "  have  been  successful  in  stating  my  opinion 
 "  distinctly  ;  and  still  less,  that  I  have  support- 
 "  ed  it  properly.     On  this  head  I  must  request 
 "  your  judgment  and  remarks;  for  you  will  al- 
 "  low  me  to  observe,  that  by  asking  a  reading 
 "  of  these  discourses  on  the  footing  of  friend- 
 "  ship  and  intimacy,  you  have  come  under  a 
 "  kind  of  tacit  obligation  to  say  how  far  they 
 "  please  you.     This  I  shall  look  for  at  your 
 "  leisure  and  conveniency.     I  lately  received, 
 "  though  I  know  not  by  whom  transmitted,  a 
 "  copy  of  the  resolutions  of  the  Members  of 
 "  your  Presbytery  friendly  to  the  abolition  of 
 "  the  Slave-Trade,  and  of  the  abridgement  of 
 "  the  evidence  before  the  House  of  Commons, 
 "  drawn  up  at  their  desire.     I  believe  I  shall 
 "  find  use   for   this   pamphlet,  in   handing   it 
 "  about  among  some  of  my  neighbours.    I  have 
 "  circulated,  also,  some  copies  of  an  address  on 
 "  the  propriety  of  abstaining  from  sugar  and 
 "  rum,  and  not  altogether  without  effect;    at 
 "  least,  the  effect  of  this  short  spirited  address 
 "  on  myself  and  household  has  been  steady,  for 
 
REV.  ALEXANDER  STEWART,  D.  D.  57 
 
 "  we  have  not  tasted  a  particle  of  sugar  for  some 
 "  weeks  past.  People  may  say  that  it  is  pre- 
 "  suming,  or  assuming,  or  interfering,  or  med- 
 "  dling  too  much,  for  the  clergy  to  come  for- 
 a  ward  with  petitions  to  Parliament ;  but  none 
 *  can  tell  me  that  I  do  any  thing  inconsistent 
 "  with  my  duty,  when  I  sacrifice  my  taste  to 
 "  my  feelings,  and  to  my  indignant  sense  of 
 "  wrong,  so  far  as  to  abstain  from  this  abhorred 
 "  luxury,  till  the  rearing  of  it  is  put  upon  a 
 "  different  footing  from  the  present.  I  am  im- 
 "  patient  to  see  what  will  be  done  in  Parliament 
 "  this  session." 
 
 Perhaps  some  may  judge  Mr  Stewart's  absti- 
 nence from  colonial  produce,  on  the  ground  of 
 the  inhumanities  that  accompany  the  manufac- 
 ture of  it,  a  needless  scruple.  And  probably, 
 among  all  who  at  that  time  raised  an  indignant 
 voice  against  the  atrocities  of  the  slave-trade, 
 not  many  had  sufficient  resolution  to  deny  their 
 taste  for  the  sake  of  principle.  His  determina- 
 tion, at  least,  shewed  a  decision  of  mind,  which, 
 though  in  a  little  thing,  little  minds  will  never 
 imitate.  A  single  conquest  of  this  kind  does 
 much  to  promote  the  ascendancy  of  mind  ;  and 
 it  is  by  inuring  the  senses  to  the  controul  of 
 an  enlightened  judgment,  that  men  proceed  in 
 
 D 
 
58  MEMOIRS  OF  THE 
 
 the  formation  of  high  and  independent  charac- 
 ter. 
 
 When  he  consented  to  submit  his  pulpit  com- 
 positions to  Mr  Black's  review,  it  doubtless 
 sprung  from  some  distrust  of  his  own  senti- 
 ments, and  a  desire  to  obtain  the  opinion  of  one 
 whom  he  considered  well  qualified  to  say  whe- 
 ther his  views  were  correct ;  and  as  he  was  will- 
 ing to  learn,  so  his  friend  was  not  reluctant  to 
 give  the  judgment  he  sought.  His  letter  affords 
 an  example  of *  faithfulness  without  censure,  and 
 commendation  without  compromising  truth ; 
 and  as  it  may  give  some  insight  into  the  strain 
 of  Mr  Stewart's  preaching  at  that  time,  it  may 
 not  be  improperly  inserted  at  length. 
 
 "  I  wTrote  you,  about  two  months  ago,  a 
 "  hasty  scrawl,  in  which  I  promised  to  give 
 "  you  my  sentiments  at  large,  on  the  sermons 
 u  you  were  kind  enough  to  send  me,  and  which 
 "  I  now  return  with  many  thanks.  I  have  read 
 "  them,  upon  the  whole,  with  pleasure,  but 
 "  shall  take  the  liberty  now  to  make  some  re- 
 "  marks,  where  I  think  they  are  liable  to  ex- 
 "  ception. 
 
 "  The  first  discourse  on  Ananias  pleases  me 
 "  much.  In  the  second  discourse  on  the  same 
 "  subject,  you  speak  of  "  adherence  to  truth 
 
REV.  ALEXANDER  STEWART,  D.  D.  59 
 
 "  improving  into  complete  righteousness,  and 
 "  obtaining  eternal  life  from  the  God  of  salva- 
 "  tion."  This  appears  to  me  an  unscriptural 
 u  mode  of  speaking.  I  know,  "  that  without 
 "  holiness  no  man  shall  see  the  Lord ;"  and  that 
 "  all  pretensions  to  faith,  which  are  not  justified 
 "  by  a  life  of  sincere  obedience  to  the  will  of 
 "  God,  are  vain  and  delusive ;  but  I  read,  at  the 
 "  same  time,  that  eternal  life  is  the  gift  of  God, 
 "  and  that  the  complete  righteousness,  on  ac- 
 "  count  of  which  we  are  accepted  in  the  sight 
 "  of  God,  is  not  a  righteousness  wrought  in  us, 
 "  or  done  by  us,  but  imputed  for  our  justifica- 
 "  tion,  and  received  by  faith.  The  passage  al- 
 "  luded  to  in  the  24th  Psalm,  I  suppose,  ap- 
 "  plies  to  Christ. 
 
 "  The  two  discourses  on  Christian  stedfast- 
 "  ness,  contain  many  excellent  practical  instruc- 
 "  tions,  but  I  cannot  help  thinking  they  might 
 "  have  been  written  in  a  more  evangelical  strain; 
 "  the  exhortations  to  duty  might  have  been  in- 
 u  terwoven  more  closely  with  the  peculiar  doc- 
 "  trines  of  the  gospel.  I  would  not  say  "  that 
 "  Gkyd  hath  promised  his  grace  on  condition  of 
 "  our  exerting  our  own  endeavours,"  because 
 "  this  supposes  that  these  endeavours  give  some 
 u  claim  to  the  divine  assistance ;  but  1  would 
 "  say,  that  the  promise  of  divine  assistance  does 
 "  not  supersede  the  necessity  of  our  own  exer- 
 
 d  2 
 
(30  MEMOIltS  OF  THE 
 
 "  tions,  but  affords  the  highest  encouragement 
 "  to  perseverance  in  them.  So  I  think  the  mat- 
 "  ter  is  clearly  stated,  Phil.  ii.  12,  13.  The 
 "  promise  of  divine  assistance  is  proposed  as  the 
 t(  motive  to  labour  and  diligence.  The  para- 
 "  graph  beginning — "  Your  Creator,"  &c.  in 
 "  my  humble  apprehension,  is  liable  to  much 
 "  greater  exception.  I  do  not  believe  that  man, 
 "  in  his  natural  state,  has  in  him  "  the  princi- 
 u  pies  of  virtue."  He  has  reason  and  conscience, 
 "  it  is  true,  but  these  are  so  depraved  and  cor* 
 "  rupted  by  sin,  that  till  the  soul  is  renewed  by 
 "  the  Spirit  of  God,  he  is  incapable  of  doing  any 
 "  thing  that  is  truly  good,  or  acceptable  in  the 
 "  sight  of  God.  The  way  of  proposing  religion 
 "  as  a  task,  which,  with  the  assistance  of  divine 
 "  grace,  must  be  done  in  order  to  obtain  the 
 "  promised  reward,  is,  I  conceive,  unsafe,  be- 
 "  cause  it  leads  men  to  entertain  ideas  of  their 
 "  own  powers,  and  of  their  own  merit,  which 
 "  appear  to  me  to  have  no  foundation  in  the 
 "  word  of  God.  Men  must  be  dealt  with  as 
 "  sinners,  who  are  saved  wholly  by  grace ;  and 
 "  duty  should  be  pressed  not  as  a  task,  giving 
 "  some  sort  of  claim  to  future  reward,  but  as  a 
 "  service  of  love  and  gratitude,  flowing  from 
 "  new  evangelical  principles,  and  producing  a 
 "  mcetness  for  the  glorious  inheritance  of  the 
 "  saints  in  light. 
 
REV.  ALEXANDER  STEWART,  D.  D.  61 
 
 "  The  sermon  "  on  the  death  of  Stephen,"  is 
 "  beautifully  written. — "  The  faithful  servant 
 4'  o£Go&  forced  to  swallow  the  draught."  Does 
 "  not  this  suppose  a  reluctance  inconsistent 
 "  with  resignation?  "Favours  of  fortune" — 
 "  I  would  rather  say  providence.  I  am  best  of 
 "  all  pleased  with  the  following  discourses  on 
 "  affliction  in  youth.  They  discover  con- 
 "  siderable  acquaintance  with  human  nature, 
 "  and  human  life,  and  I  hope  I  have  read  them 
 "  with  profit.  "  Piety  springing  up  naturally  in 
 "  the  soul," — not  very  consistent  with  what  the 
 "  scripture  says, — "  The  imagination  of  men's 
 "  hearts  are  evil,  only  evil,  from  their  youth." 
 
 "  Thus,  my  dear  friend,  I  have  given  you 
 "  my  sentiments  with  the  utmost  freedom.  I 
 "  hope  you  will  excuse  the  long  delay,  and  gra- 
 "  tify  me  with  a  letter  soon.  What  do  you 
 "  think  of  the  present  state  of  things  in  the 
 "  country  ?  I  shall  be  glad  to  hear  you  are  well. 
 il  May  the  Lord  abundantly  bless  your  minis- 
 !"  try,  and  spare  you  long  for  usefulness." 
 
 Mr  Stewart's  next  letter  enters  still  more 
 fully  into  his  own  state  of  mind,  and  will  be 
 perused  with  interest. 
 
62  MEMOIRS  OF  THE 
 
 Moulin,  January  27-  1793. 
 "  I  have  put  off  writing  to  you  from  week 
 "  to  week,  till  I  should  get  your  observations 
 "  on  my  discourses,  which  1  received  two  days 
 "  ago.  I  should  be  sorry,  by  any  further  delay, 
 "  to  give  you  room  to  suspect  that  your  criti- 
 "  cisms  could  fail  of  being  highly  acceptable. 
 "  I  think  I  am  sincere,  and  1  hope  you  will  be- 
 "  lieve  me  to  be  so,  when  I  say  that  I  perfectly 
 "  approve  and  concur  in  your  censures.  I 
 "  think  I  told  you  when  I  sent  them,  that  I 
 "  now  discovered  many  things  in  them  myself, 
 "  which  I  could  by  no  means  sustain  as  just 
 "  and  orthodox.  I  allowed  these  passages,  how- 
 "  ever,  to  remain,  and  to  pass  under  your  re- 
 "  view,  purposely,  that  you  might  have  some- 
 "  thing  which  you  might  censure  with  freedom 
 "  and  confidence,  in  hopes  that  you  might 
 "  then  venture  to  point  out  other  errors  or 
 "  faults,  which  might  more  easily  have  escaped 
 "  myself,  or  which  perhaps  I  might  not  be  so 
 11  ready  to  acknowledge.  You  will  readily  observe 
 11  from  this  acknowledgement,  that  my  senti- 
 "  ments  on  some  important  points  of  doctrine 
 "  have  altered  a  good  deal  in  the  course  of  a  few 
 "  years,  and  even  since  I  entered  on  the  office  of 
 "  the  ministry.  Whatever  erroneous  opinions 
 "  I  formerly  entertained,  I  cannot  say  that  my 
 "  persuasion  of  their  truth  was  firm,  or  that  my 
 
REV.  ALEXANDER  STEWART,  D.  D.  63 
 
 mind  was  fully  made  up  on  them.  Indeed, 
 I  seem  to  myself  to  have  been  an  indolent 
 inquirer,  and  to  have  taken  up  my  religious 
 opinions  at  hazard,  from  such  books  as  hap- 
 pened to  come  in  my  way,  and  which  I  heard 
 well  spoken  of.  I  have  learnt,  however,  that 
 many  of  these  were  unscriptural  and  errone- 
 ous. I  have  been  much  indebted  on  this  oc- 
 casion to  the  writings  of  Doddridge,  Baxter, 
 Newton,  &c.  I  have  often  consulted  with 
 great  satisfaction  Mr  Scott's  book  which  you 
 gave  me,  and  for  which  I  hope  I  have  thank- 
 ed you  before  now.  After  attending  carefully 
 to  my  own  mind,  I  think  I  do  give  a  firm 
 and  hearty  assent  to  the  doctrines  which  these 
 writers  maintain,  and  which  appear  to  be  ex- 
 pressly asserted  in  the  scriptures.  How  hap- 
 pens it,  can  you  tell  me,  that  this  persuasion, 
 or  this  belief,  (if  I  may  venture  to  call  it  so), 
 makes  so  very  little  impression  on  my  heart, 
 and  is  accompanied  with  so  little  emotion  or 
 desire  ?  I  feel  wonderfully  little  of  those  ar- 
 dours of  gratitude  and  love,  of  fear,  or  of  de- 
 sire, which  are  always  described  as  the  effects 
 of  a  firm  belief  of  the  gospel.  But  indeed  I 
 need  not  ask  you  a  question  which  I  can  too 
 well  answer  myself.  But  it  is  no  matter  ;  I 
 will  read  with  pleasure  any  answer  with 
 which  you  may  favour  me.      I  send  along 
 
64  MEMOIRS  OF  THE 
 
 "  with  this,  two  volumes  of  Cowper's  poems, 
 
 "  which  I  think  you  once  told  me  you  had  not 
 
 "  seen.  I  am  sure  you  will  be  pleased  with  them. 
 
 "  I  suspect  I  promised  you  a  perusal  of  them  ; 
 
 "  if  I  did,  I  have  been  too  late  in  sending  them. 
 
 "  You  ask  me  my  opinion  on  the  state  of 
 
 4C  public  affairs.      I  could  say  a  great  deal,  I 
 
 "  think,  on  this  subject.     A  more  critical  pe- 
 
 "  riod,  and  more  fraught  with  important  and 
 
 "  even  alarming  consequences,  has  seldom  oc- 
 
 "  curred.     Last  night's  post  brought  us  the  in- 
 
 "  telligence  of  the  execution  of  the  unfortunate 
 
 "  King  of  France.     Wretched  king  of  a  more 
 
 "  wretched  state !    What   a  spectacle  is  that 
 
 "  people  become  to  the  world  !    The  judgment 
 
 "  of  Ephraim  seems  to  have  been  pronounced 
 
 i(  against  them,  "  Let  them  alone."     It  is  a 
 
 "  most  awful  object  for  a  spectator  to  observe 
 
 "  from  a  distance.    Hurricanes  and  earthquakes 
 
 *  are  nothing  to  it.     kS  Happy  the  man,"  says 
 
 "  Cowper,  "  who  sees  a  God  employed  in  all 
 
 "  the  good  and  ill  that  chequer  life."     It  is  the 
 
 "  only  consideration  that  can  inspire  composure, 
 
 "  that  the  Lord  reigns  over  all,  that  he  himself 
 
 "  rides  in  the  whirlwind, "  and  directs  the  storm," 
 
 "  This  kingdom,  too,  has  received  a  gentle  but 
 
 "  serious  warning.     I  am  hopeful  that  the  Al- 
 
 "  mighty  has  directed  our  legislators  to  such 
 
 "  measures  as  may  be  the  means  of  preserving 
 
REV.  ALEXANDER  STEWART,    D.  D.  65 
 
 u  quietness  at  home,  and  perhaps  of  warding 
 "  off  danger  from  abroad.  I  do  not  think  there 
 44  is  yet  any  reason  to  apprehend  commotions, 
 44  or  an  attempt  at  revolutions  in  this  country. 
 44  But  if  we  are  to  guess  at  the  fate  that  awaits 
 *'  us  from  the  progress  of  irreligion  and  licen- 
 44  tiousness  among  us,  what  have  we  not  to  ap- 
 44  prehend  ?  And  if  we  do  not  take  warning 
 k4  by  the  fate  of  France,  and  amend  at  least 
 44  some  of  our  ways,  who  knows  how  soon  our 
 44  turn  may  come  to  be  torn  asunder  by  civil 
 44  tumults  ? — for  licentiousness,  turbulence,  vio- 
 44  lence,  and  anarchy,  seem  to  be  but  the  natu- 
 44  ral  consequences  of  that  wealth  and  prospe- 
 44  rity  in  which  we  at  present  glory  so  much. 
 44  At  this  day,  when  we  say,  with  no  little  self- 
 44  applause  and  exultation,  u  that  we  are  rich, 
 44  and  increased  in  goods,"  how  little  do  wre  re- 
 44  fleet  that  we  are,  in  the  most  important  re- 
 44  spects,  "  wretched,  and  miserable,  and  poor, 
 44  and  blind,  and  naked !"  If  I  were  a  politician, 
 44  I  would  ask,  where  is  the  necessity  for  such 
 44  mighty  preparations  for  war  with  France? 
 44  It  is  enough  for  me,  however,  to  believe  that 
 44  Providence  has  some  wise  end  or  other  to 
 44  serve  by  that  measure,  and  that  his  people 
 44  are  secure  under  his  protection,  whatever  dis- 
 *4  turbances  happen  around  them. 
 
66  MEMOIRS  OF  THE 
 
 "  I  long  to  ask  a  favour  of  you, — will  you 
 44  tell  me  how  soon  I  may  do  it  ?  It  is  to  get  a 
 44  reading  of  some  of  your  discourses.  If  I  shall 
 "  read  them  with  partiality,  which  must  be  the 
 44  case,  it  shall  be  with  so  much  the  more  pro- 
 14  fit." 
 
 From  Mr  Black  in  answer. 
 
 44  Dear  Sir,       St  Madoes,  ISth  March  1793. 
 
 44  I  thank  you  sincerely  for  your  last  letter. 
 44  Your  taking  in  so  good  part  the  few  plain  re- 
 44  marks  I  made  on  your  discourses,  was  nothing 
 44  more  than  I  expected ;  yet  it  cannot  fail  to 
 44  heighten  the  regard  I  formerly  entertained 
 44  for  you.  I  am  persuaded  the  change  which 
 44  has  taken-  place  in  your  sentiments  within 
 44  these  few  years,  is  not  only  comfortable  to 
 44  your  own  mind,  but  likewise  highly  bene- 
 44  ficial  to  your  people.  There  is  but  one  way 
 44  of  preaching,  as  our  friend  Mr  Newton  ob- 
 44  serves,  which  God  in  every  age  has  been 
 44  pleased  to  own  and  bless.  By  the  wise  men 
 44  of  the  world,  this  way  is  accounted  foolishness, 
 44  and  those  who  adopt  it  are  deemed  weak  hot- 
 44  brained  enthusiasts ;  but  it  is  found  in  expe- 
 44  rience  to  be  the  power  of  God,  and  the  wis- 
 44  dom  of  God.  It  is  my  earnest  wish  and 
 44  prayer  that  you  may  be  more  and  more  con- 
 
REV.  ALEXANDER  STEWART,  D.  D.  67 
 
 "  firmed  in  the  belief  of  those  precious  truths, 
 "  that,  feeling  the  comfort  of  them  in  your  own 
 "  soul,  you  may  boldly,  faithfully,  and  success- 
 "  fully  preach  them  to  others. 
 
 "  The  question  proposed  in  your  letter, 
 "  How  happens  it,  that  the  persuasion  or  be- 
 "  lief  of  the  doctrines  of  the  gospel  makes  so 
 "  little  impression,  and  is  accompanied  with  so 
 11  little  emotion  or  desire  ?  is  a  question  that  has 
 u  often  occurred  to  myself,  in  respect  to  which 
 "  I  have  equal,  if  not  greater  cause,  to  make 
 "  the  same  complaint  that  you  do.  I  wish  you 
 "  had  added  some  resolution  of  the  question. 
 "  In  my  own  case,  I  have  attributed  the  want 
 "  of  those  lively  feelings  you  speak  of,  very 
 11  much  to  the  weakness  of  faith ;  and  I  think 
 "  there  is  little  doubt,  were  our  faith  of  divine 
 "  truth  stronger,  more  like  what  the  apostle 
 "  calls  "  the  substance  of  things  hoped  for,  and 
 "  the  evidence  of  things  not  seen,"  the  im- 
 "  pressions  upon  our  minds  would  be  more 
 "  powerful,  and  the  emotions  of  love,  gratitude, 
 "  desire,  &c.  proportionally  greater.  In  some 
 "  happy  moments,  when  the  objects  of  faith 
 "  appear  with  the  brightest  evidence  to  our 
 "  minds,  the  devout  affections  of  the  soul  are 
 "  most  powerfully  awakened.  But  I  do  not 
 "  suppose  that  we  are  to  judge  of  the  strength 
 "  of  our  faith,  altogether  by  the  warmth  of  our 
 
68  MEMOIRS  OF  THE 
 
 "  affections.    It  cannot  be  expected,  in  the  pre- 
 u  sent  state  of  human  nature,  that  this  warmth 
 "  of  affection  can  be  always  alike.     It  is  partly 
 "  excited  by  novelty  and  other  circumstances, 
 "  and  must  of  course  abate  when  these  circum- 
 "  stances  cease  to  operate.     You  love  a  friend 
 "  whom   you   have   found   worthy  of  esteem, 
 "  with  a  warm  and  steady  affection.     But  the 
 "  first  transports  of  affection  quickly  subside, 
 "  and  your  friendship  gradually  ripens  into  a 
 "  calm  and  settled  regard.     You  cannot  always 
 "  be  thinking  of  your  friend,  for  the  mind  con- 
 "  tin u ally  bent  upon  one  object  loses  its  tone ; 
 "  but  supposing  your  friend  in  distress  or  in 
 "  danger,  or  supposing  you  meet  him  after  a 
 "  long  absence,  your  affections  are  immediately 
 •'  stirred,  and  you  find  the  principle  of  friend- 
 "  ship,  though  less  sensible  in  its  operations, 
 "  greatly  confirmed  or  increased  by  length  of 
 "  time.      I   leave  the  application   to  yourself, 
 "  only  observing,  that  as  the  certain  fruit  of 
 "  faith  is  love,   so  the  best  evidence  of  love  is 
 "  obedience,  and  that  practical  habits  of  self-de- 
 "  nial,  and  a  readiness  to  take  up  the  cross, 
 "  when  worldly  interest  and  duty  come  in  com- 
 "  petition,  is  a  surer  mark  of  love  to  Christ,  and 
 "  of  a  firm  belief  of  the  gospel,  than  the  great- 
 "  est  ardours  of  affection  when  these  are  want- 
 «  ing. 
 
REV.  ALEXANDER  STEWART,  D.  D.  69 
 
 "  The  author's  names  you  mention  as  having 
 "  been  useful  to  you,  are  men  whose  writings  I 
 "  highly  esteem.  I  would  recommend  another 
 "  of  the  same  stamp,  a  man  of  great  genius,  as 
 "  well  as  piety,  from  whom  I  have  received  much 
 "  profit,  as  well  as  delight ;  1  mean  Dr  Watts. 
 "  His  sermons,  and  other  prose  works,  if  you 
 "  have  not  read  them,  are  well  worth  your  per- 
 "  usal.  Dr  Watts  was  a  real  poet,  and  his  style 
 "  possesses  all  the  fire  and  animation  of  poetry. 
 "  I  thank  you  kindly  for  sending  me  Cowper's 
 "  poems ;  they  are  truly  excellent,  and  this  is  a 
 "  kind  of  reading  in  which,  with  you,  I  find  great 
 "  pleasure.  I  hope  you  will  allow  me  to  keep 
 "  them  a  little  while,  and  I  promise  you  they 
 "  shall  be  returned  carefully.  I  agree  perfectly 
 "  with  you  in  your  judgment  of  public  affairs. 
 "  It  is  an  eventful  period,  but  we  know  who  is 
 "  at  the  helm,  and  that  it  shall  be  well  with  the 
 "  righteous,  happen  what  may.  I  look  upon 
 p  the  French  as  under  the  most  awful  infatua- 
 "  tion,  and  hope  the  measures  adopted  by  go- 
 "  vernment  will  give  a  timely  check  to  their 
 "  wild  ambition." 
 
 How  far  Mr  Stewart  acquiesced  in  his  friend's 
 observations,  will  appear  from  what  he  wrote  in 
 reply. 
 
70  MEMOIRS  OF  THE 
 
 Moulin  Manse,  11th  May  1793. 
 "  Your  answer  to  my  complaints  of  insensibi- 
 "  lity  to  divine  truths,   and  the  illustration  you 
 "  give,   seem   perfectly  just.     Steady  resolute 
 "  obedience,  or  the  conformity  of  the  will  to  the 
 "  will  of  God,  is  no  doubt  the  most  unequivo- 
 "  cal,  and  therefore  the  most  satisfactory  evi- 
 "  dence  of  faith  and  of  love.     But  still  we  are 
 "  told,  that  M  with  the  heart  man  believeth." 
 "  This  expression  has  always  struck  me  strong- 
 "  ly,  as  marking  the  difference  between  specu- 
 "  lative  belief,  and  operative  (to  apply  a  new 
 "  epithet)   faith,    that    faith    which    worketh, 
 M  whether   by  love,   or  by  any  other  passion 
 "  which  it  awakens  and  puts  in  motion.  Giving 
 "  an  assent  to  the  truth  of  facts  or  of  declara- 
 "  tion,  is  what  I  would  call  belief;  feeling  one's 
 "  own  interest  in  the  truth  of  those  facts  or  de- 
 "  clarations,  is  what  I  would  generally  under- 
 "  stand  by  faith.     I  remember  Mr  Robert  Wal- 
 "  ker,  in  one  of  his  sermons,  maintains,  that  the 
 "  reason  why  men  are  so  little  impressed  with 
 "  the  important  truths  of  the  gospel,  is,  that 
 "  they  do   not   seriously  believe    them.     This 
 "  seems  to  imply,  that  belief  is  necessarily  ac- 
 "  companied  with  corresponding  emotions,  de- 
 "  sires,  resolutions,  endeavours,  and  action.  For 
 "  my  own  part,  I  should  think  that  a  man  may 
 
REV.  ALEXANDER  STEWART,  D.  D.  71 
 
 "  be  thoroughly  convinced,  may  fully  believe 
 "  certain  truths,  and  yet  may  have  no  percep- 
 "  tible  emotions  or  desires  corresponding  to  the 
 "  belief.  Indeed,  I  cannot  help  considering  my- 
 "  self  as  an  instance  in  point.  I  think  I  believe, 
 "  as  confidently  as  1  believe  my  senses,  many 
 "  scriptural  doctrines,  even  those  that  seem  at 
 "  first  sight  most  repugnant  to  reason,  and 
 "  which  once  I  thought  inadmissible ;  and  yet 
 "  it  is  wonderful  to  myself  how  little  I  am  af- 
 "  fected  by  them.  Perhaps,  however,  this  same 
 "  interval  of  insensibility  may  have  its  use. 
 "  When  those  emotions  and  desires  of  which  I 
 "  now  find  the  want,  come  to  be  felt,  I  may  be 
 "  the  more  strongly  convinced,  that  however 
 "  belief  might  be  supposed  to  be  a  natural  act 
 "  of  the  understanding,  yet  faith,  in  its  full  ex- 
 "  tent,  must  be  confessed  to  be  the  immediate 
 "  gift  of  God*." 
 
 *  A  case  such  as  Mr  Stewart  here  describes,  is  by  no  means 
 uncommon  ;  for,  how  often  is  the  understanding  passive  to 
 doctrines,  by  which  the  heart  remains  unimpressed,  and  an 
 assent  is  yielded  to  every  truth  relating  to  Christianity,  ac- 
 companied with  no  sensible  power  over  the  affections. 
 There  are  many  who  exclude  no  doctrine  of  Revelation  from 
 their  creed,  and  who  refuse  to  no  statement  of  Christianity 
 a  professed  assent,  who,  nevertheless,   seem  to  possess  few 
 
72  MEMOIRS  OF  THE 
 
 If  Mr  Stewart's  distinction  between  faith  and 
 belief  be  admitted,  there  is  a  great  propriety  in 
 
 of  its  serious  consolations.  Of  these,  some  never  seem  to 
 advert  to  their  own  deficiency  in  the  comforts  of  religion, 
 and  count  anxiety  concerning  it  no  favourable  indication  of 
 a  man's  understanding  ;  while  others,  whose  attention  has 
 been  called  to  the  subject,  by  a  powerful  feeling  of  un- 
 easiness and  defect,  among  other  means  for  relief,  are  some- 
 times led,  like  Mr  Stewart,  to  seek  counsel  from  more  ex- 
 perienced friends.  Without  professing  to  give  a  formal 
 solution  of  the  question  proposed,  Mr  Black  remarks  on 
 it  with  his  usual  seriousness  and  reference  to  holy  living. 
 Mr  Stewart  suggests  a  distinction  between  belief  and  faith, 
 which  leaves  the  truth  believed  as  cold  and  abstract  from 
 comfortable  feeling  as  before.  And  in  this  state  of  mind, 
 such  a  view  as  that  unfolded  in  a  well-known  book  on  Sanc- 
 tification,  appears  well  adapted  to  excite  dormant  emotions, 
 and  call  the  livelier  feelings  of  the  heart  into  action,  and  by 
 means  of  the  appropriating  exercises  of  faith,  to  lead  more 
 directly  to  the  attainment  of  joy  and  peace  in  believing.  For, 
 by  proposing  to  the  soul,  convinced  of  its  own  need,  and 
 owning  the  record  to  be  true  which  God  hath  given  of  his 
 Son,  an  immediate  consent  of  the  will  to  receive  Christ  on 
 the  divine  grant,  for  present  and  everlasting  salvation,  with 
 full  recumbency  on  him,  the  principle  of  belief  which  lay 
 passive  in  the  understanding,  is  brought  into  contact  with 
 its  object  in  the  affections  ;  and  if  the  receiving  act  of  faith 
 take  place,  in  the  persuasion  that  Christ  and  all  his  saving 
 benefits  are  freely  given  unto  us  of  God,  then,  concluding 
 them  to  be  ours,  we  can  hardly  fail  to  rejoice,  and  may 
 warrantably  rejoice,  in    the  began   confidence  of  salvation, 
 
REV.  ALEXANDER  STEWART,    D.  D.  73 
 
 pressing  on  a  multitude  of  believers  the  apostle's 
 question,  "  Have  ye  received  the  Holy  Ghost 
 since  ye  believed  ?"  When  "  the  spirit  of  wis- 
 dom and  revelation  in  the  knowledge  of 
 Christ"  is  given,  and  when  "  the  light  shineth 
 out  of  darkness,  to  give  the  light  of  the  know- 
 ledge of  the  glory  of  God,  in  the  face  of 
 Jesus  Christ,"  faith  is  no  more  a  cold,  lifeless, 
 heartless  thing.  The  glory  of  its  object  rouses 
 attention,  and  awakens  love,  and  the  believer 
 walks  in  the  comfort  of  the  Holy  Ghost,  as  Mr 
 Stewart  afterwards  happily  knew  by  experience. 
 Agreeably  to  his  request,  Mr  Black  sent  him  a 
 parcel  of  his  sermons  for  perusal,  requesting  at 
 the  same  time,  his  judgment  on  their  structure 
 and  contents.    Without  giving  the  whole  of  his 
 
 assuring  ourselves  that  all  we  need  is  in  Christ,  and  that 
 with  him  God  has  given  us  all  things  in  grant,  and  will  in 
 due  time  enlarge  the  coasts  of  our  possession. 
 
 Belief  and  comfort  unite  in  such  a  frame  of  mind ;  for 
 thus  may  union  with  Christ,  the  fountain  of  consolation, 
 be  attained.  And  nothing  seems  more  accordant  with 
 the  precepts,  promises,  and  examples  of  the  New  Testa- 
 ment, relative  to  faith,  than  thus  to  count  the  Saviour 
 worthy  of  our  immediate  gratitude,  love,  and  trust,  simply 
 confiding,  and  nothing  doubting  his  power  and  willingness 
 to  save  and  sanctify  us  through  faith  in  his  name.  This 
 trust  the  Holy  Spirit  will  ratify  and  seal,  Eph.  i.  13.  GaL 
 iii.  2. 
 
74  MEMOIRS  OF  THE 
 
 criticisms,  we  shall  only  insert  his  animadver- 
 sions on  "  a  single  point,  which,"  says  he,  "  I 
 "  am  not  prepared  to  disprove,  but  to  which  I 
 "  do  not  fully  assent.  It  is  stated,  that  "  a  man 
 "  may  be  perfectly  orthodox  in  his  creed,  and 
 "  yet  remain  a  stranger  to  purity  of  heart,"  &c. 
 a  I  have  been  accustomed  to  think,  that  there 
 "  are  doctrines  revealed  in  Scripture,  to  which 
 "  "  the  natural  man"  cannot  even  give  a  rational 
 *  assent,  that  is,  believe  to  be  true  in  the  com- 
 "  mon  sense  of  the  expression.  In  other  words, 
 "  is  it  not  as  impossible  for  a  man  to  believe 
 "  certain  doctrines  of  revelation,  without  hav- 
 "  ing  his  mind  enlightened  by  the  Holy  Spirit, 
 "  as  it  is  to  obey  the  precepts  of  the  gospel, 
 "  without  having  his  heart  renewed  by  the 
 "  Holy  Spirit?  Is  not  this  opinion  supported 
 "  by  Matth.  xvi.17.  1  Cor.  xii.  3.  John  v.  1,  4,  5. 
 "  Eph.  i.  18.  and  especially  1  Cor.  ii.  14.?" 
 
 Mr  Black  wrote  the  following,  in  answer  to 
 the  criticism  of  his  friend : — 
 
 St  Madoes,  Q3d  September  1793. 
 
 "  I  cannot  soon  repay  what  I  owe  you  for 
 "  your  last  long  and  affectionate  letter.  The 
 "  critique  you  have  been  so  good  as  send  along 
 "  with  the  discourses,  I  highly  value.  It  is 
 "  favourable  indeed,  much  beyond  the  merit  of 
 
REV.  ALEXANDER  STEWART,   D.  D.  75 
 
 "  the  discourses,  but  as  I  know  my  friend  is  far 
 "  above  flattery,  so  I  can  make  some  allow- 
 "  ance  for  the  favourable  eye  with  which  the 
 "  most  candid  and  impartial  must  always  per- 
 "  use  the  performance  of  one  whom  they  love 
 "  and  esteem.  But  1  assure  you,  my  dear  friend, 
 u  your  approbation,  and  the  coincidence  of  sen- 
 "  timent  which  this  approbation  necessarily 
 "  supposes,  are  on  many  accounts  to  me  highly 
 
 *  gratifying.  It  is  a  small  matter  to  be  judged 
 "  of  man's  judgment,  nor  does  our  faith  stand 
 "  in  the  wisdom  or  opinion  of  men,  but  in  the 
 "  power  of  God ;  at  the  same  time  there  is 
 "  something  truly  delightful  in  finding,  that 
 "  others  who  are  seeking  after  the  knowledge 
 
 *  of  divine  truth,  entertain  the  same  sentiments 
 "  with  yourself  on  the  great  and  leading  articles 
 "  of  the  Christian  faith.  I  am  happy  to  find 
 "  I  have  expressed  myself  on  these  fundamental 
 "  points  in  such  a  manner  as  to  meet  in  general 
 "  your  full  assent  and  approbation. 
 
 "  The  remark  you  make  on  the  expression, 
 "  "  a  man  may  be  perfectly  orthodox  in  his  creed, 
 "  and  yet  a  stranger  to  purity  of  heart  and  life," 
 "  has  frequently  occurred  to  myself;  nor  am  I 
 "  quite  certain  but  you  are  in  the  right.  On 
 "  the  one  hand,  it  is  clear  that  there  are  certain 
 "  doctrines  which  appear  to  the  natural  mind 
 "  as  foolishness,  and  which  no  man  can  receive, 
 
 E  2 
 
76  MEMOIRS  OF  THE 
 
 "  but  by  the  Holy  Ghost.  On  the  other  hand, 
 "  it  is  equally  evident  from  the  word  of  God, 
 "  that  there  is  such  a  thing  as  a  dead  faith,  and 
 "  that  a  man  may  talk  and  write  learnedly  on 
 "  the  peculiar  doctrines  of  the  gospel,  who  is  far 
 "  from  feeling  their  influence,  or  living  under 
 "  their  power.  I  do  not  say  that  such  a  one 
 "  truly  understands  or  believes  the  gospel,  but 
 "  at  least  he  thinks  he  does  so ;  he  has  a  con- 
 u  nected  system  in  his  head,  and  can  reason  and 
 "  argue  on  the  most  important  points  of  scrip- 
 "  ture  doctrines,  with  as  much  clearness  and 
 "  precision  as  the  most  established  believers. 
 "  Perhaps  some  error  lies  at  the  bottom,  which 
 "  only  the  great  Searcher  of  hearts  can  discover. 
 "  Faith  is  the  gift  of  God,  nor  can  all  the  read- 
 "  ing  and  reasoning  in  the  world  impart  it 
 "  without  divine  influence.  It  is  the  light  of 
 u  the  gospel  shining  into  the  mind.  Read 
 "  1  Cor.  xiii.  1,  2.  and,  if  you  please,  give  me 
 "  your  opinion." 
 
 This  letter  also  contained  Mr  Black's  congra- 
 tulations on  his  friend's  marriage,  which  had 
 taken  place  a  few  weeks  prior  to  his  writing. 
 Miss  Louisa  M'Pherson,  the  object  of  his  choice, 
 was  a  young  lady,  who,  he  informs  his  corres- 
 pondent, "  besides  the  more  common  qualifica- 
 "  tions  of  good  dispositions,   economical  skill, 
 
REV.  ALEXANDER  STEWART,  D.  D.  77 
 
 "  &c.  possesses  the  more  uncommon  recommen- 
 "  dation  of  a  heart  deeply  impressed  with  a  ge- 
 "  nuine  sense  of  religion.  Mutual  esteem,  ap- 
 "  probation  of  friends,  and  reasonable,  though 
 "  moderate  prospects  with  regard  to  worldly  for- 
 "  tune,  all  concur  to  brighten  the  prospect  of 
 "  our  expected  union.  In  these  circumstances 
 "  I  feel  a  pleasure  in  communicating  my  hap- 
 *'  ness  to  my  kind  sympathising  friends,  and 
 v  cvyx*tflt  fMt  is  the  only  language  in  which  I  am 
 "  disposed  at  present  to  address  them." 
 
 But  whatever  accession  to  happiness  his  mar- 
 riage had  afforded,  and  whatever  he  had  gained 
 in  point  of  correct  principle  in  his  researches 
 after  truth,  his  heart  still  remained  in  a  very 
 unsatisfied  state,  as  the  following  plaintive  letter 
 to  Mr  Black  will  tell. 
 
 «  Moulin,  27th  April  1794. 
 
 "  I  remember  1  said  in  one  of  my  letters  a 
 "  considerable  while  ago,  that  in  writing  to  so 
 "  intimate  a  friend  as  I  wished  to  reckon  you, 
 "  I  might  probably  speak  sometimes  of  my  own 
 "  tenderest  concerns,  and  perhaps  use  the  lan- 
 "  guage  of  complaint.  I  had  this  strongly  in 
 "  my  mind  when  I  solicited  your  correspon- 
 "  dence.  I  have  different  times  wished  to  do 
 "  it,  to  communicate  to  you  my  apprehensions 
 
78  MEMOIRS  OF  THE 
 
 "  and  regrets,  and  reasons  for  being  dissatisfied 
 "  with  myself,  and  I  have  as  often  been  hinder- 
 "  ed  by  a  shyness,  natural  enough  perhaps,  but 
 H  which  has  deprived  me  of  many  advantages. 
 "  For  some  weeks  past,  in  particular,  I  have  at- 
 "  tempted  repeatedly  to  unburden  myself,  and 
 "  request  your  friendly  counsel. 
 
 "  You  can  hardly  imagine  what  a  severe  re- 
 "  buke,  though  you  did  not  mean  it  as  such, 
 "  was  conveyed  in  a  passage  of  your  last  letter, 
 "  where  you  say,  that  "  when  you  observe  my 
 "  growing  acquaintance  with  divine  truth,  you 
 "  wish  to  be  provoked  to  a  holy  emulation  in 
 "  the  same  glorious  path."  A  wretched  pattern 
 "  indeed  should  I  be  to  any  one  that  wished  to 
 "  make  progress  in  that  path  !  Yet,  if  I  have 
 "  made  any  attainment  at  all  in  religion,  I  be- 
 "  lieve  it  is  in  knowledge,  which  I  hope  is  more 
 "  correct  than  it  once  was,  in  what  respects  the 
 "  distinguishing  and  essential  truths  of  Christia- 
 "  nity.  I  was  more  interested  than  you  might 
 "  suppose  in  the  question  I  once  proposed  to 
 "  you,  Whether  a  firm  belief  of  religious  truths 
 "  was  not  to  be  reckoned  the  work  of  the  Holy 
 "  Spirit,  as  well  as  the  faithful  performance  of 
 "  religious  duties?  I  was  anxious  to  have  this 
 "  question  answered  in  the  affirmative,  for  it 
 k<  seemed  to  be  the  only  evidence  I  could  bring 
 
REV.  ALEXANDER  STEWART,  D.  D.  79 
 
 "  of  my  being  at  all  under  the  guidance  of  the 
 "  Divine  Spirit.  Yet  I  was  afraid,  and  am  so 
 "  still,  that  this  evidence  is  not  conclusive.  I 
 "  had  read  in  scripture  of  a  dead  faith ;  you 
 "  stated  the  same  thing  in  your  discourses,  and 
 "  I  had  undeniable  experience  in  myself  of  its 
 "  reality ;  for  if  ewer  faith  could  be  called  dead, 
 •'  mine  deserved  that  name.  As  to  any  fruits  of 
 "  the  Spirit,  either  in  the  desires  of  my  heart, 
 "  or  in  active  exertions  in  my  divine  Master's 
 "  service,  I  was  as  barren  as  the  fig-tree  in  the 
 "  parable,  which  only  cumbered  the  ground. 
 "  One  of  the  most  melancholy  circumstances  in 
 "  my  case,  and  the  most  unequivocal  mark  of 
 "  my  being  in  a  state  of  spiritual  decay,  is,  that 
 "  the  spirit  of  prayer,  if  ever  I  possessed  it,  has 
 "  quite  left  me.  I  cannot  rouse  myself  to  offer 
 "  any  petition  with  earnestness,  and  indeed  I 
 "  hardly  know  what  I  ought  to  pray  for.  A 
 "  listlessness  and  indolence  hang  about  me, 
 "  and  withstand  every  attempt  at  exertion  of 
 u  any  kind.  I  find  my  books  a  great  snare  to 
 "  me.  I  would  seek  no  other  employment,  the 
 "  whole  day  long,  than  poring  over  some  classi- 
 "  cal,  or  philosophical,  or  historical,  or  statistical 
 "  composition.  I  generally  find  the  perusal  of 
 "  a  religious  book,  unless  it  contain  something 
 "  metaphysical  or  critical,  insipid  and  tiresome. 
 "  If  it  is  of  a  pathetic  and  impressive  kind,  I 
 
80  MEMOIRS  OF  THE 
 
 "  find  it  extremely  irksome,  for  I  am  perfectly 
 "  sensible  how  I  ought  to  be  affected  by  what  I 
 *  read,  but  at  the  same  time  conscious  that  I  am 
 "  not  affected  in  that  manner,  and  this  makes 
 "me  uneasy. 
 
 "  Though  I  am  convinced  that  my  case  is  a 
 "  dangerous  one,  I  cannot  say  that  it  gives  me 
 ■f  much  real  alarm ;  but  I  believe  the  cause 
 "  of  that  is  the  very  languor  and  insensibility 
 "  which  constitute  my  disease.  I  am  in  hopes 
 "  that  I  may  yet  be  delivered  from  it  myself, 
 "  but  I  lament  its  continuance  on  account  of 
 "  my  people,  for  I  think  that  in  my  present 
 "  frame,  my  ministrations  can  be  of  little  ser- 
 "  vice  to  them.  Many  pathetic  addresses  do  I 
 "  meet  with  in  Doddridge's  writings,  which  I 
 "  dare  not  use  in  my  own  discourses.  They  are 
 "  so  remote  from  what  my  own  dull  feelings  in 
 "  their  present  state  would  suggest,  that  I  can- 
 "  not  adopt  nor  utter  them. 
 
 "  I  have  not  occasion  to  go  far  to  seek  a  re- 
 "  medy  for  my  complaints.  I  have  the  holy 
 "  scriptures  at  hand,  which  contain  the  words 
 "  of  eternal  life,  and  which  testify  of  the  Lord 
 "  Jesus.  Nor  am  I  without  the  assistance  of 
 "  pious  and  judicious  writers.  But  the  diffi- 
 "  culty  is,  to  bring  myself  to  quit  my  ordi- 
 "  nary  reading,  and  apply  to  these  with  ear- 
 "  nestness  and   diligence.      I   must    prescribe 
 
REV.  ALEXANDER  STEWART,  D.  D.  81 
 
 "  to  myself  a  fixed  regimen  in  reading,  for  I 
 "  find  that  intemperance  in  that  respect  is  at 
 "  present  the  most  dangerous  to  me  of  any. 
 "  Let  me,  however,  request  of  you,  my  dear 
 "  friend,  to  give  me  your  advice  and  assistance 
 "  as  soon  as  you  conveniently  can,  and  let  me 
 "  especially  have  your  prayers,  that  the  Dresser 
 "  of  the  vineyard  may  be  pleased  to  dress  about 
 "  this  fig-tree,  that  it  may  yet  bear  some  fruit, 
 "  to  the  praise  of  his  skill  and  his  goodness." 
 
 As  all  solicitude  about  eternal  things  is  by 
 some  thought  to  proceed  from  a  weak  under- 
 standing, declining  health,  or  disappointed  hopes, 
 it  may  be  here  observed,  that  Mr  Stewart's 
 heaviness  of  spirit  could  be  accounted  for  on  no 
 such  grounds  ;  for,  instead  of  disappointment,  he 
 had  abundance  of  respect  from  all  who  knew 
 him,  with  as  large  a  portion  of  domestic  hap- 
 piness as  usually  falls  to  the  lot  of  man.  As  to 
 health,  he  was  at  this  time  in  the  prime  of  a 
 solid  and  unbroken  constitution,  and  he  was  so 
 far  from  having  any  constitutional  tendency  to 
 what  is  called  lowness  of  spirits,  that  his  cheer- 
 fulness tended  to  an  extreme ;  and  when  he  was 
 a  much  older  man,  he  complained  of  it  as  a  de- 
 fect in  his  character,  that  he  possessed  too  little 
 gravity ; — and  not  only  had  he  a  vigorous  mind, 
 but  he  kept  it  in  vigorous  exercise,  for,  besides 
 the  utmost  diligence  in  parochial  duties,  he  was 
 
82  MEMOIRS  OF  THE 
 
 then  engaged  in  perfecting  himself  in  the  Gaelic, 
 into  which  he  had  rendered  Watt's  "  Preserva- 
 tive from  vice  and  folly,"  for  the  benefit  of  his 
 flock.  This  was  his  first  essay  in  translating 
 into  Gaelic,  though  a  little  before  this  he  had 
 surprised  Dr  D.  Smith,  one  of  the  first  Gaelic 
 scholars  of  his  time,  with  an  elaborate  theory  of 
 the  Gaelic  noun.  "  I  am  forced,"  said  that 
 veteran  scholar,  "  to  admire  your  scheme  of  it, 
 "  though  it  be  different  from  my  own,  which 
 "  will  as  soon  as  possible  be  submitted  to  your 
 "  inspection,  along  with  a  draught  of  the  Gaelic 
 "  verb."  Such  deference  shewn  to  a  young 
 man  in  his  first  essay  in  a  language  long  culti- 
 vated by  Dr  Smith,  gives  a  high  idea  of  Mr 
 Stewart's  active  researches  and  proficiency. 
 
 In  such  studies,  diversified  with  the  best  so- 
 cial endearments,  and  relieved  occasionally  with 
 music,  (in  the  theory  and  practice  of  which  he 
 was  no  mean  proficient),  with  the  esteem  of  many 
 friends,  and  every  expectation  he  could  have 
 reasonably  indulged  with  respect  to  this  world, 
 fully  realized,  Mr  Stewart  found  himself  not 
 happy.  On  the  principles  of  the  world,  his  in- 
 felicity is  inexplicable,  but  easily  accounted  for 
 on  religious  views.  His  God  had  begun  a  good 
 work  in  him,  and  as  it  advanced,  a  dissatisfaction 
 with  objects  of  an  opposite  character,  and  a  dis- 
 taste for  things  congenial  to  the  natural  mind,  was 
 
REV.  ALEXANDER  STEWART,  D.  D.  83 
 
 the  necessary  result.  It  is  the  property  of  grace, 
 that  it  works  to  the  mortification  of  what  is  con- 
 trary ;  and  the  least  true  influence  of  it  in  the 
 heart,  though  perhaps  not  in  force  to  subjugate 
 the  whole  soul,  will  render  a  man  incapable  of 
 enjoyment  in  the  pursuit  of  vanity.  There  may 
 be  resistance  or  flight,  but  the  heart  carries  along 
 with  it  the  seed  of  life,  which,  as  it  expands, 
 chokes  the  weeds  of  corruption,  and  at  length 
 spreads  its  own  heavenly  savour  through  the 
 soul.  Mr  Stewart  was  already  under  a  process 
 of  spiritual  renovation,  which,  if  we  may  use 
 the  figure,  issued  in  death  to  the  world.  He 
 had  of  the  Spirit  enough  to  make  him  disrelish 
 things  earthly,  but  not  enough  to  furnish  him 
 with  prevailing  peace  and  joy. 
 
 In  the  above  letter,  we  notice  an  instance  of 
 Mr  Stewart's  honesty  in  not  appearing  more 
 skilful  in  the  word  than  he  really  was ;  where 
 he  mentions  his  not  delivering  to  his  people  the 
 pathetic  addresses  of  other  divines,  because  they 
 were  remote  from  his  own  actual  feelings.  It 
 was  a  question  with  that  profound  thinker  Cecil, 
 how  far  a  minister  should  go  beyond  his  own 
 experience  in  preaching  the  gospel  to  others. 
 For  ministers  maybe  regarded  in  the  light  ot  wit- 
 nesses ;  and  as  one  remarks,  "  those  are  very  im- 
 "  properly  called  witnesses  of  the  truth  of  any 
 "  thing,  who  only   declare  they  are  very  much 
 
84  MEMOIRS  OF  THE 
 
 "  of  opinion  that  such  a  thing  is  true.  Those 
 "  only  are  proper  witnesses,  who  can,  and  do 
 "  testify,  that  they  have  seen  the  truth  of  the 
 "  thing  they  assert."  "  We  speak  that  we  do 
 "  know,  and  testify  that  we  have  seen,"  not 
 "  merely  what  others  have  known,  and  what 
 "  others  have  seen."  And  any  testimony  we 
 bear  beyond  actual  experience,  in  representing 
 the  internal  workings  of  true  religion,  though 
 it  may  be  a  testimony  for  truth,  is  not  a  testi- 
 mony for  known  truth. 
 
 It  may  be  said,  were  every  minister  to  tell  no 
 more  than  he  has  himself  proved  on  experience, 
 our  pulpit  discourses  would  become  tame,  and 
 wonderfully  limited  in  range  of  topic,  and  in 
 point  of  interest.  It  may  be  so;  but  if  our  po- 
 verty is  positive,  and  our  apparent  riches  nothing 
 but  the  parade  of  borrowed  affluence,  it  were  at 
 least  more  beneficial  to  ourselves  to  appear  what 
 we  are,  than  to  obtain  credit  for  what  we  are  not, 
 a  credit  too,  the  facility  of  which  prevents  in- 
 dustry, and  is  commonly  ruinous  to  proficiency 
 in  the  end. 
 
 That  an  honest  testimony  to  what  we  know 
 and  feel,  would  have  a  better  influence  on  our  own 
 minds,  than  to  outrun  experience,  and  venture 
 on  some  things  beyond  conviction,  seems  unques- 
 tionable ;  and  it  may  be  illustrated  in  the  cases 
 of  Mr  Stewart  and  a  friend  of  his  in  the  minis- 
 
REV.  ALEXANDER  STEWART,  D.  D.         85 
 
 try,  who  not  long  after  wrote  him,  "  There  are 
 "  a  thousand  warm  and  affectionately  pious  ex- 
 "  pressions  which  I  have  used  in  the  pulpit  to 
 "  my  people,  which  yet  I  am  well  aware  I  have 
 "  never  felt  the  full  power  and  force  of  on  my 
 "  own  heart,  but  I  consider  it  my  duty  to  use 
 "  them,  and  more,  1  use  them  with  pleasure." 
 
 Now,  here  are  two  ministers  officially  guiding 
 souls  to  eternity,  the  one  fears  the  least  devia- 
 tion from  the  line  of  experience,  the  other  expa- 
 tiates at  large  on  untried  ground,  and  fears  no- 
 thing. Which  of  them  acts  the  wiser  part  ?  Let 
 the  result  determine.  Mr  Stewart  soon  gained 
 great  progress,  while  there  is  no  evidence  to  shew 
 that  the  other  did  not  remain  stationary. 
 
 One  may  be  eloquent  and  full  of  fine  imagi- 
 nations in  displaying  the  facts,  illustrating  the 
 evidences,  or  in  enforcing  the  duties  of  Christia- 
 nity. But  when  it  comes  to  the  experimental 
 part  *,  the  power  of  faith,  the  workings  of  the 
 
 *  We  need  hardly  remark,  that  to  exclude  experimental 
 preaching  were  to  render  the  ministry  of  the  word  meagre 
 and  unfit  for  edifying  the  body  of  Christ ;  and  nothing  can 
 be  more  void  of  interest  and  utility,  than  the  dry  argumen- 
 tative discourses  of  those  who  are  perpetually  proving  what 
 no  man  doubts ;  vindicating  revelation  without  producing 
 or  applying  what  is  revealed ;  and  enforcing  Christianity 
 without  shewing  what  are  the  motives,  privileges,  and  hopes 
 of  a  Christian  man. 
 
86  MEMOIRS  OF  THE 
 
 Spirit,  the  joys  of  salvation,  and  the  gracious 
 frame  of  a  sanctified  heart,  let  him  beware  of 
 testifying  what  he  hath  not  seen  nor  felt,  other- 
 wise he  will  expose  himself  to  just  censure,  when 
 he  descends  from  the  pulpit  quite  another  cha- 
 racter than  he  personated  in  it, — a  miserable  in- 
 consistency too  often  exhibited !  And  though  he 
 may  excuse  himself  on  the  ground  that  it  is  more 
 edifying  to  his  advanced  hearers,  not  to  keep 
 back  truths  that  lie  beyond  his  own  experience, 
 but  may  only  be  equal  to  the  measure  of  theirs, 
 yet  it  can  hardly  profit  his  people  to  deal  insin- 
 cerely with  the  word  ;  and  if  he  lack  experience, 
 let  him,  like  the  subject  of  this  memoir,  be  sen- 
 sible of  his  want,  and  not  rest  from  the  faithful 
 use  of  means,  until  it  be  abundantly  supplied. 
 Unproved  armour,  however  shining,  is  not  pro- 
 fitable in  the  conflict  we  wage  ;  and  thus  accou- 
 tred, we  shall  not  be  formidable  to  the  enemy. 
 
 How  diligently  Mr  Stewart  used  accessible 
 means,  and  how  conscientiously  he  adjusted  the 
 strain  of  his  preaching  to  the  discoveries  he 
 made  in  the  knowledge  of  the  truth,  neither 
 going  before  light,  nor  declining  to  follow  its 
 progress,  will  appear  from  the  following  state- 
 ment of  his  own  narrative ; — which,  however, 
 refers  to  a  period  of  his  ministry  prior  to  the 
 date  of  the  last  inserted  letters. 
 
 w  The  writings  of  pious  men,  which  were  put 
 
REV.  ALEXANDER  STEWART,    D.  D.  87 
 
 u  into  my  hands  by  one  or  another  Christian 
 "  friend,  were  made  the  means  of  bringing  me 
 "  acquainted  with  the  truths  of  the  gospel. 
 "  Among  these  I  may  mention  the  works  of 
 *  the  Rev.  John  Newton  and  Thomas  Scott, 
 "  as  eminently  useful  to  me.  I  was  slow  in  re- 
 "  ceiving  and  embracing  the  doctrines  main- 
 "  tained  by  these  writers.  By  degrees,  how- 
 "  ever,  I  was  persuaded  they  were  agreeable  to 
 "  scripture,  and  that  no  doubt  they  must  be  ad- 
 "  mitted  as  true.  I  therefore  durst  not  preach 
 "  any  thing  which  I  conceived  to  be  directly 
 "  contrary  to  these  doctrines,  but  I  brought  them 
 "  forward  rarely,  incorrectly,  and  with  auk- 
 "  ward  hesitation.  The  trumpet  was  sounded, 
 u  but  it  gave  an  "  uncertain  sound."  My 
 "  preaching  now  consisted  of  a  mixed  kind  of 
 "  doctrine.  I  taught  that  human  nature  is 
 "  corrupt,  and  requires  to  be  purified, — that 
 u  righteousness  cannot  come  by  the  law, — that 
 "  we  cannot  be  justified  in  the  sight  of  God  by 
 "  our  own  works, — that  we  can  be  justified  only 
 "  by  the  righteousness  of  Christ,  imputed  to  us, 
 "  and  received  by  faith.  But  in  explaining 
 "  the  nature  of  saving  faith,  I  conceived  it  as 
 "  including  many  of  its  effects  ;  not  only  a  cor- 
 "  dial  acceptance  of  the  plan  of  redemption  by 
 "  a  Mediator,  but  also  ardent  gratitude  to  God 
 "  our  Saviour,  on  account  of  that  redemption. 
 
88  MEMOIRS  OF  THE 
 
 devotedness  to  his  service,  good-will  to  our  bre- 
 thren of  mankind ;  in  a  word,  every  pious  and 
 benevolent  disposition  of  heart.  I  thought  and 
 taught,  that  on  our  possessing  this  faith,  we 
 should,  in  consideration  of  it,  have  an  interest 
 in  the  redemption  purchased  by  Christ,  and  con- 
 sequently be  accepted  by  God,  and  rewarded 
 as  righteous  persons.  Thus,  by  a  short  circuit, 
 I  arrived  at  the  same  point  from  which  I  had 
 set  out,  still  resting  a  sinner's  acceptance  with 
 God,  on  the  conformity  of  his  will  to  the 
 divine  law,  or,  in  other  words,  on  the  merit 
 of  his  good  dispositions,  and  thus  endeavour- 
 ing to  establish  a  human  righteousness  under 
 the  name  of  faith  in  Jesus  Christ.  It  was 
 plain,  indeed,  that  this  conformity  of  the  will 
 to  the  divine  law,  could  be  but  imperfect  in 
 this  life ;  yet,  imperfect  as  it  was,  it  must,  in 
 my  apprehension,  be  the  ground  of  our  justifi- 
 cation and  acceptance  with  God.  Here  1  stum- 
 bled on  that  stumbling-stone  of  sincere  obe- 
 dience, in  substance,  at  least,  if  not  in  so  many 
 words,  imagining,  like  many  in  whose  writ- 
 ings I  have  since  met  with  that  opinion,  that 
 the  great  favour  procured  to  men  by  Christ's 
 sufferings  and  mediation,  was  a  relaxation  of 
 the  divine  law,  and  that  an  imperfect  obe- 
 dience, dignified  with  the  name  of  sincere,  was 
 all  that  was  now  required.    This  was  "  another 
 
REV.  ALEXANDER  STEWART,  D.  I).  89 
 
 "  gospel,  which  never  could  be  owned  by  God 
 "  as  the  gospel  of  his  Son,  nor  accompanied  by 
 "  that  sanctifying  power  which  belongs  exclu- 
 "  sively  to  the  truth.  If  it  set  any  of  my  people 
 "  on  thinking,  it  only  bewildered  and  misled 
 "  them.  They  remained,  as  before,  unenlighten- 
 "  ed  and  unchanged." 
 
 Mr  Black  was  not  unmindful  of  the  case  so 
 feelingly  described  in  the  letter  last  inserted. 
 
 "  My  dear  Sir,     St  Madocs,  10th  June  1794. 
 
 "  Had  I  not  been  particularly  engaged  at 
 "  the  time  when  I  received  your  last  letter, 
 "  I  should  not  have  allowed  it  to  remain  so 
 "  long  unanswered.  It  called  forth  my  sin- 
 "  cerest  sympathy,  and  demanded  an  early 
 "  acknowledgement.  The  case  described  in  it 
 "  has  been  so  often  my  own  case,  that  I  confess 
 M  to  you  I  felt  some  kind  of  satisfaction  in 
 "  hearing  the  same  complaints  made  by  a  Chris- 
 "  tian  friend,  which,  alas !  I  have  had  but  too, 
 "  too  much  occasion  to  make  myself.  Indolence, 
 "  especially  in  the  concerns  of  religion,  I  think 
 "  my  constitutional  sin.  I  have  seldom  been 
 u  able  to  maintain  liveliness  in  devotion  for  any 
 "  length  of  time;  and  though  1  could  never  lay 
 "  aside  secret  prayer,  but  have  always  been 
 "  kept  to  it  from  a  sense  of  duty,  yet,  alas  !  God 
 
 w 
 
90  MEMOIRS  OF  THE 
 
 "  knows  what  poor,  fruitless,  formal  services 
 "  have  often  been  presented  at  his  footstool. 
 "  This  uncomfortable  frame  of  mind  I  have 
 "  experienced  particularly  in  the  season  of 
 "  worldly  prosperity,  when  outward  circum- 
 "  stances  were  going  well  with  me,  which 
 "  makes  me  almost  afraid  of  those  successes 
 "  which  are  naturally  so  flattering  to  our 
 "  wishes,  and  so  eagerly  desired  by  many. 
 
 "  I  mention  these  things  relating  to  myself, 
 "  not  with  any  view  to  soothe  or  satisfy  your 
 "  mind  in  its  present  declining  state,  (for  it  is 
 "  the  office  of  Christian  friendship  rather  to 
 "  provoke  unto  love  and  to  good  works),  but 
 "  merely  to  shew,  what  I  know  the  great  enemy 
 "  of  souls  will  be  ready  to  deny,  that  your  case, 
 "  however  melancholy,  is  not  singular,  nor  in- 
 M  compatible  with  former  experience  of  the 
 "  grace  of  God.  You  are  dissatisfied  with  your- 
 *c  self.  You  bemoan  your  present  circumstances, 
 "  not  perhaps  with  all  the  feeling  you  think 
 "  the  case  requires,  for  the  want  of  proper  feel- 
 "  ing  is  the  very  distemper  under  which  you 
 "  groan,  and  the  removal  of  that  insensibility 
 cs  would  prove  your  cure ;  but  at  least  you  must 
 "  allow  it  is  matter  of  sincere  regret,  nor  could 
 "  any  worldly  object  inspire  you  with  such  joy 
 "  as  the  returning  light  of  God's  countenance. 
 "  Now,  my  dear  Sir,  let  me  ask  you,  who  or 
 
REV.  ALEXANDER  STEWART,  D.  D.  91 
 
 "  what  has  taught  you  the  difference  between 
 "  the  presence  and  absence  of  God  in  the  duties 
 "  of  devotion  ?  Was  there  not  a  time,  when,  if 
 M  you  prayed  at  all,  your  conscience  was  satis- 
 "  fied  with  the  mere  outward  performance  of 
 "  duty,  without  looking  farther,  and  when  the 
 "  language  of  Christians  respecting  their  frames, 
 "  and  fears,  and  backslidings,  and  declensions, 
 f  sounded  somewhat  strange  in  your  ears? 
 "  BlessGod  if  it  is  otherwise  now.  Guard  against 
 "  desponding ;  continue  to  wait  on  God,  praying 
 "  as  the  Psalmist  does,  Psal.  cxlii.  7. 
 
 "  In  the  close  of  your  letter,  you  suggest 
 "  very  suitable  means  for  recovery  from  your 
 "  present  uncomfortable  situation.  Doubtless, 
 "  faith  and  prayer  are  the  natural  and  proper 
 "  remedies.  One  thing  allow  me  to  hint,  which 
 "  I  have  found  useful  to  myself;  I  mean,  to  set 
 "  apart  some  time  extraordinary  for  devotion, 
 u  more  or  less,  as  your  circumstances  will  allow. 
 "  You  may  possibly  feel  considerable  reluc- 
 "  tance  to  this  proposal.  The  indisposition  to 
 "  prayer  you  complain  of,  may  appear  an  in- 
 "  vincible  objection.  But  do  try, — persevere  in 
 "  humble  importunity,  and  with  a  believing 
 "  dependence  on  the  intercession  of  our  great 
 "  High-Priest,  and  it  shall  not  be  in  vain. 
 "  You  seem  to  think  that  your  present  languid 
 "  frame  will  lessen  your  usefulness  among  your 
 
 f  2 
 
92  MEMOIRS  OF  THE 
 
 "  people.  I  am  of  a  different  opinion.  I  be- 
 "  lieve,  in  the  issue,  it  will  greatly  increase  it. 
 
 "  It  is  necessary,  my  dear  Sir,  that  we  should 
 "  know  experimentally  the  bitter  as  well  as  the 
 "  sweets  of  religion,  that  we  may  be  able  to 
 "  speak  a  word  in  season  to  the  weary  soul ;  and 
 "  when  the  Lord  is  pleased  to  return  your  for- 
 "  mer  comforts,  you  will  have  cause  to  bless 
 "  him  for  all  the  way  by  which  he   hath   led 
 
 you." 
 
 u 
 
 The  general  strain  of  this  letter  is  truly  ex- 
 cellent, com eying  both  sympathy  and  direction ; 
 and  Mr  Stewart  needed  both ;  though,  per- 
 haps, there  was  less  need  of  arguments  to  re- 
 concile him  to  his  situation,  than  of  exhortation 
 to  look  for  a  higher  dispensation  of  the  Spirit, 
 and  to  press  towards  it  in  faithful  hope. 
 
 That  dispensation,  however,  was  at  hand.  His 
 mind,  for  a  while,  had  been  like  an  Arctic  day,  at 
 that  period  when  the  sun  approaches  the  ho- 
 rizon, without  surmounting  it.  He  enjoyed  a 
 partial  light  with  little  warmth,  and  without 
 any  enlivening  discoveries  of  the  Author  and 
 Finisher  of  faith ;  but  it  was  not  long  until  he 
 could  say,  u  mine  eyes  have  seen  thy  salvation." 
 Various  secondary  causeshad  co-operated,  through 
 the  disposition  of  the  Spirit,  to  form  his  mind 
 into  deeper  seriousness  and  concern ;  and  among 
 
REV.  ALEXANDER  STEWART,  D.  D.  93 
 
 these  causes,  his  own  narrative  enumerates  the 
 following. 
 
 "  The  biographical  sketches  in  the  Evangeli- 
 14  cal  Magazine,  were  principal  means  of  im- 
 "  pressing  my  heart,  of  opening  my  eyes  to 
 "  perceive  the  truth,  of  exciting  a  love  to  godli- 
 "  ness,  and  a  desire  after  usefulness.  The  power 
 "  of  divine  grace  appeared  illustrious  in  the 
 "  composure,  the  joy,  the  triumph,  with  which 
 "  many  pious  Christians  left  the  world.  I  saw 
 "  their  triumphant  hope  supported,  not  by  a 
 "  complacent  reflection  on  a  well-spent  life,  but 
 "  by  a  confidence  in  the  unmerited  love  of 
 "  Christ,  and  in  his  power  and  willingness  to 
 "  save  even  the  chief  of  sinners.  I  was  particu- 
 "  larly  struck  with  the  account  of  ministers  who 
 "  had  laboured  with  much  diligence  and  success, 
 "  and  had  died  at  an  early  period  of  life,  full  of 
 "  good  fruits ;  while  I,  who  had  already  lived 
 "  longer,  and  been  longer  in  the  ministry  than 
 "  they,  could  not  say  that  I  had  taken  any  pains 
 "  with  my  people,  nor  that  I  had  been  the 
 "  means  of  reclaiming  one  sinner  from  the 
 "  error  of  his  way,  or  of  saving  one  soul  from 
 "  death.  The  conversation  and  example  of 
 "  some  persons  of  a  truly  spiritual  mind,  to 
 "  whose  acquaintance  I  was  admitted,  and  who 
 "  exhibited  to  my  view  what  I  found  only  de- 
 "  scribed  in  written  memoirs,  conduced  much 
 
94?  MEMOIltS  OF  THE 
 
 "  to  impress  on  my  mind  the  truths  with  which 
 "  I  was  gradually  becoming  more  acquainted. 
 "  I  cannot  omit  mentioning,  in  this  connection, 
 "  the  blessing  I  enjoyed  in  the  preaching,  the 
 "  prayers,  and  the  conversation  of  that  much- 
 "  favoured  servant  of  Christ,  the  Rev.  Charles 
 "  Simeon,  of  King's  College,  Cambridge.     He 
 "  wTas  a  man  sent  from  God  to  me,  was  my 
 "  guest  for  two  days  in  June  1796,  preached  in 
 "  my  church,  and  left  a  savour  of  the  things  of 
 "  God,  which  has  remained  with  us  ever  since." 
 Indeed,    from   the  latter  circumstance,   Mr 
 Stewart  always  dated  his  own  entrance  into  the 
 fulness  and  freedom  of  a  state  of  grace  in  Christ 
 Jesus ;  and  a  visit  apparently  casual  and  unde- 
 signed on  the  part  of  Mr  Simeon,  constituted  the 
 most  important  era  in  Mr  Stewart's  mortal  life. 
 That  Mr  Simeon's  visit  was  connected  with 
 an  actual  change  in  Mr  Stewrart,  his  subsequent 
 life,  compared  with  the  preceding  part  of  it, 
 furnished  the  most  unequivocal  evidence.     But 
 if  it  be  inquired,  What  was  the  amount  of  the 
 change  ?  it  belongs  not  to  us  to  form  an  esti- 
 mate.    It  is  sufficient  to  observe,  that  from  this 
 time  his  heart  teas  enlarged,  as  well  as  his  un- 
 derstanding enlightened ;  and  that  he  spoke  the 
 language  of  faith,  and  did  the  works  that  neces- 
 sarily spring  from  it.     That  he  was  without  the 
 Spirit  until  then,  we  dare  not  affirm ;  but  that 
 
REV.  ALEXANDER  STEWART,  D.  D.  95 
 
 an  extraordinary  influence  then  rested  on  him, 
 both  of  light  and  power,  it  were  against  the 
 clearest  testimonies  to  deny.  For  henceforth 
 his  faith  grew  exceedingly,  his  knowledge  in 
 divine  things  made  him  a  master  in  Israel.  He 
 was  conscious  of  a  newness  of  life,  with  its  spi- 
 ritual concomitants  of  feeling  and  desire, — and 
 whereas  before,  he  spake  of  Christ  doubtingly, 
 and  preached  him  with  hesitation  or  unconcern, 
 he  now  found,  that  to  him  to  live  was  Christ ; 
 and  that  to  fulfil  his  ministry,  was  to  preach 
 Christ,  and  him  crucified, — as  "  the  wisdom  of 
 God,  and  the  power  of  God  unto  salvation." 
 To  attempt  to  account  for  Mr  Stewart's  altered 
 character, — altered,  too,  at  a  given  time  and 
 place, — an  alteration  that  shewed  itself  to  be  per- 
 manent and  uniform  as  life  itself, — to  explain 
 this  phenomenon  in  the  moral  world,  without 
 having  recourse  to  the  communication  of  a  su- 
 pernatural principle,  operating  with  power  to 
 the  conversion  of  the  heart,  and  formation  of 
 the  new  character,  were  to  resort  to  the  unphilo- 
 sophical  method  of  accounting  for  changes  with- 
 out assigning  a  sufficient  cause.  For  without 
 divine  influence,  there  is  nothing  attending  Mr 
 Simeon's  visit  that  will  account  for  the  circum- 
 stances connected  with  it. 
 
 The  following  letter  was  written  by  Mr  Si- 
 meon on  his  return  home.,  and  may  afford,  to 
 
96  MEMOIRS  OF  THE 
 
 those  who  have  never  seen  that  eminently  use- 
 ful servant  of  Christ,  some  idea  of  the  singular 
 spirit  of  grace  dwelling  in  him,  with  which  every 
 feature  seems  animated,  and  every  movement 
 and  action  evidently  characterized. 
 
 "  My  very,  very  dear  Friend, 
 
 "  Among  the  many  rich  mercies  which  God 
 
 "  vouchsafed  to  me,  in  my  late  excursion,  I 
 
 "  cannot  but  consider  the  sweet  interview  which 
 
 "  I  enjoyed  with  you  as  one  of  the  greatest. 
 
 "  There  is  an    unaccountable   union  of  heart 
 
 "  with,  or,  if  I  may  so  express  myself,  an  out- 
 
 "  going  of  the  soul  towards  some  persons,  which 
 
 "  we  feel  instantaneously,  and  we  know  not 
 
 "  why.     There  is   something  that   irresistibly 
 
 "  impresses  the  mind  with  affection,  and  dis- 
 
 "  poses  one  to  communicate  one's  ideas  with 
 
 "  freedom  and  familiarity;  such  I  felt  almost 
 
 "  the  first  instant  I  saw  my  dear  friend  at  Mou- 
 
 "  lin.     I  hope  it  is  an  earnest  of  that  everlast- 
 
 "  ing  union  which  our  souls  shall  enjoy  in  the 
 
 •'•  regions  of  light  and  love.     Often  have  I  re- 
 
 "  fleeted  on  the  peculiar  circumstances  which, 
 
 "  contrary  to  my  own  intention,  brought  me  to 
 
 "  stop  under  your  hospitable  roof.    It  had  been 
 
 "  Mr  H.'s  purpose  and  my  own  to  have  been 
 
 'k  with  you  on  Friday  to  tea,  and  either  have 
 
 '*  stopped  with  you  that  night,  or  gone  to  Blair, 
 
REV.  ALEXANDER  STEWART,  D.  D.  97 
 
 "  as  might  appear  expedient.  Our  horses  were 
 "  actually  saddled  and  brought  to  the  door,  and 
 "  we  were  going  to  mount.  But  I  felt  a  very 
 "  unusual  languor  and  fatigue,  by  means  of  the 
 "  long  walk  we  had  taken  at  Dunkeld ;  and  on 
 "  my  proposing  to  abide  there  that  night,  Mr 
 "  H.  readily  acquiesced.  Even  then  we  had 
 "  no  idea  of  spending  the  Sabbath  at  Moulin. 
 "  Our  great  object  was  to  get  to  Glasgow  by  a 
 "  certain  day;  and  though  this  was  far  from 
 "  being  our  reason  for  accepting  your  invitation 
 "  to  return  from  Blair,  yet  the  circumstance  of 
 "  our  being  somewhat  advanced  in  our  journey 
 "  weighed  a  little  in  the  scale,  perhaps  as  much 
 M  as  one  part  in  twenty.  The  circumstance  of 
 u  your  having  the  sacrament,  of  our  being  able 
 "  to  enjoy  the  company  of  your  other  visitors, 
 "  of  there  being  no  service  at  Blair,  and  of  our 
 "  having  a  longer  intercourse  with  yourself, 
 "  were  our  principal  inducements  to  return  to 
 "  you.  But  had  not  so  many  circumstances 
 "  concurred,  it  is  more  than  probable  we  should 
 "  have  abode  at  Blair.  It  has  often  brought  to 
 "  my  mind  that  expression  of  the  Evangelist, 
 "  "  he  must  needs  go  through  Samaria."  Why 
 "  so?  It  lay  in  his  way,  you  will  say,  from 
 "  Judea  to  Galilee ;  true,  but  how  often  had 
 "  he  taken  a  circuit,  going  through  the  towns 
 "  and  villages  round  about.     But  the  Samaritan 
 
98  MEMOIRS  OF  THE 
 
 "  woman  was  there,  and  for  her  God  designed 
 "  an  especial  blessing.  What  thanks  can  we 
 "  ever  render  to  God  for  those  turns  in  his  pro- 
 "  vidence,  which  at  the  time  appear  insignifi- 
 "  cant,  but  afterwards  are  found  to  have  been 
 "  big  with  the  most  important  consequences  ! 
 "  It  is  our  privilege  to  expect  those  invisible 
 "  interpositions,  if  we  commit  our  way  to  him  ; 
 "  and  every  instance  that  comes  to  our  notice 
 "  should  encourage  us  to  acknowledge  him  in 
 "  all  our  ways.  I  am  exceedingly  comforted, 
 "  my  dear  brother,  with  the  account  which 
 "  you  give  of  your  soul.  O  how  desireable  is 
 "  it  for  all,  but  especially  for  ministers,  to  have 
 "  their  souls  deeply  and  devoutly  impressed  ! 
 "  What  is  religion  without  this  ?  What  are 
 "  duties  without  this  ?  Alas  !  a  dry,  insipid, 
 "  unsatisfying,  unproductive  form.  I  pray  God 
 "  that  what  you  now  experience  may  only  be 
 "  as  the  drop  before  the  shower.  Surely  this  isx 
 "  happiness,  to  taste  the  love  of  God,  to  find 
 "  delight  in  his  service,  and  to  see  that  we  are 
 "  in  a  measure  instrumental  to  the  imparting  of 
 M  this  happiness  to  others, — this,  I  say,  is  a  feli- 
 "  city  which  nothing  but  Heaven  can  exceed. 
 "  Often  have  I  implored  this  blessing  upon  your- 
 "  self  and  upon  your  sister,  (with  whose  un- 
 "  affected  piety  my  soul  was  much  refreshed), 
 "  and  upon  your  whole  family ;    and   1  hope, 
 
REV.  ALEXANDER  STEWART,  D.  D.  99 
 
 "  that  to  my  dying  hour,  my  prayers  and 
 "  thanksgivings  upon  your  account  shall  yet 
 "  ascend  up  before  God.  I  hope,  too,  that  you 
 "  will  bear  my  unworthy  name  upon  your  heart, 
 "  whenever  you  get  within  the  vail. 
 
 "  The  account  you  give  me  of  the  dear  poor 
 "  woman  rejoices  my  heart.  How  often  does 
 "  God  magnify  the  exceeding  riches  of  his  grace 
 "  towards  objects  whom  the  world  looks  upon 
 "  with  contempt ;  and  angels  esteem  it  an  ho- 
 "  nour  to  minister  to  those  who  have  hardly  the 
 "  necessaries  of  life  !  I  admire  this  !  I  adore  God 
 "  for  it ;  it  is  to  me  a  delightful  proof  of  his 
 "  goodness,  and  of  his  all-sufficiency  to  make  us 
 "  happy.  Pray  give  my  fervent  love  to  her.  If 
 "  I  could,  I  should  very  cheerfully  send  her 
 "  something  more  substantial.  I  bless  God  for 
 4i  Mrs  S.'s  recovery,  and,  with  Christian  respects 
 "  to  her  and  your  sister,  remain  yours,"  &c. 
 
 Immediately  on  his  going  away,  Mr  Stewart 
 thus  addressed  his  correspondent  in  Edinburgh. 
 
 w  What  thanks  do  I  not  owe  you  for  having 
 "  directed  my  two  late  visitors  to  call  at  my 
 "  cottage,  as  I  have  thus  had  the  honour  and 
 "  blessing  of  "  entertaining  angels  unexpect- 
 "  edly  ;"  messengers  of  grace  I  must  reckon 
 "  them,  as  their  visit  has  been  thus  far  blessed 
 "  to  me,  more  than  any  outward  dispensation 
 
100  MEMOIRS  OF  THE 
 
 "  of  Providence  that  I  have  met  with.  They 
 "  were  so  kind  as  put  up  with  such  accommo- 
 "  dation  as  we  could  afford  them,  though  our 
 "  house  was  a  good  deal  out  of  order,  on  ac- 
 "  count  of  Mrs  Stewart's  illness,  and  spent  two 
 "  nights  with  us.  Mr  Simeon  gave  us  his 
 "  friendly  assistance,  on  occasion  of  dispensing 
 "  the  Lord's  supper,  and  frankly  preached  two 
 "  discourses  on  the  Sabbath,  besides  serving  a 
 "  table  in  English.  This  was  the  whole  of  the 
 "  English  service  for  that  day.  His  sermons, 
 "  and  the  conversation  and  prayers,  I  have  no 
 "  doubt,  of  both  gentlemen,  have  indeed  been 
 "  eminently  blessed  to  me.  Since  I  first  en- 
 M  tered  on  my  sacred  office,  I  have  not  felt 
 "  such  a  lively  season  as  the  last  week  has 
 "  been.  I  had  some  private  conversation,  too, 
 "  with  my  kind  friend  Mr  H.  which  proved 
 "  not  a  little  edifying  to  me.  I  shall  not  fail 
 "  to  return  his  visit  when  I  go  next  to  Edin- 
 "  burgh.  When  I  have  such  friends  as  him 
 "  and  you  to  see,  with  the  prospect  of  being 
 "  introduced,  perhaps,  to  Dr  Buchanan,  pos- 
 "  sibly  to  Dr  Davidson,  &c.  I  think  it  will 
 "  be  incumbent  on  me  to  make  my  visits  to 
 "  Edinburgh  more  frequent  than  they  have 
 "  been  hitherto.  And  I  am  sure  I  shall  have 
 "  vastly  more  enjoyment  in  collecting  spiritual 
 "  knowledge,  and  deriving  vigour  and  anima- 
 
REV.  ALEXANDER  STEWART,  D.  D.        101 
 
 "  tion  from  the  fountain  of  life,  through  the 
 "  conversation  and  counsel  of  the  servants  of 
 "  the  Lord,  than  ever  I  found,  or  can  find,  in 
 "  the  conversation  of  all  the  Literati  or  Meta- 
 "  physicians  that  your  University  contains. 
 "  That  I  shall  ever  see  Mr  Simeon  again  in 
 "  the  flesh,  is  hardly  probable.  I  hope,  how- 
 "  ever,  he  will  not  entirely  forget  me.  It  will 
 "  be  an  encouragement  to  him  to  offer  up  a  pe- 
 "  tition  sometimes,  in  behalf  of  me  and  my 
 "  people,  to  be  assured  that  his  prayers  have 
 "  already  been  in  part  answered.  In  some 
 "  duties  to  which  I  have  been  called  these  few 
 u  days, — in  conversing  with  two  or  three  per- 
 "  sons  in  my  neighbourhood  about  their  spiri- 
 "  tual  state, — in  exhorting  the  surviving  friends 
 "  of  those  who  have  died  of  fevers, — and  in  pri- 
 "  vate  prayer,  1  have  found  a  degree  of  freedom, 
 "  ease,  and  alacrity,  to  which  I  was  before  a 
 "  stranger.  I  mention  these  things  that  you 
 "  may  inform  Mr  Simeon  of  them,  for  his  satis- 
 "  faction,  and  that  you  may  both  join  me  in 
 "  blessing  the  Lord,  the  giver  of  every  good 
 "  and  perfect  gift,  for  having  visited  me  in 
 "  mercy,  and  pray  that  I  may  receive  yet  more 
 "  abundant  supplies  of  his  grace. 
 
 "  I  go  to-day  to  visit  a  young  man,  whom 
 "  his  friends  report  to  me  as  deranged.  He 
 "  used  to  be  diligent  in  reading  his  Bible.     It 
 
102  MEMOIRS  OF  THE 
 
 "  seems  he  was  strongly  affected  in  time  of 
 "  sermon,  on  our  last  sacrament  day,  and  since 
 "  that  time  he  seeks  retirement,  reads  much, 
 "  sings  Psalms,  and  sometimes  bursts  into  tears, 
 "  all  which  makes  his  family  think  him  crazed. 
 "  I  long  to  see  him,  and  examine  into  these 
 "  promising  symptoms.  Perhaps  a  blessing 
 "  may  follow  them  to  himself,  and  to  some  of 
 "  his  relatives.  His  mother  is  a  serious  woman, 
 "  and  used  to  take  pains  in  instructing  her  chil- 
 "  dren.  A  sister  of  this  young  man  was 
 "  awakened  two  or  three  years  ago,  and  con- 
 "  tinued  some  time  in  great  trouble,  and  un- 
 "  der  distressing  temptations,  but  was  relieved, 
 "  and  continues  a  watchful  and  devout  Chris- 
 "  tian.  Single  instances  of  this  kind  are  strik- 
 "  ing  and  worthy  of  remark,  especially  in  a  dry 
 "  and  barren  land,  where  we  have  few  such. 
 "  But  perhaps,  through  the  free  and  powerful 
 "  grace  of  God,  when  we  are  dug  about  and 
 "  dunged,  we  may  yet  flourish." 
 
 On  comparing  this  letter  with  the  one  to  Mr 
 Black  last  inserted,  he  who  can  perceive  no  dif- 
 ference of  mind  and  spirit  in  the  writer,  must 
 be  blind  indeed.  The  one  was  full  of  com- 
 plaint, and  expressive  of  the  most  desponding 
 frame,  the  other  only  talks  of  giving  thanks, 
 and  blessing  the  Giver  of  every  good  and 
 perfect  gift,  for  having  visited  him  in  mercy. 
 
REV.  ALEXANDER  STEWART,  D.  D.        103 
 
 Before  this  period,  he  seemed  careless  about 
 fellowship  with  the  brethren ;  but  now  his 
 heart  flowed  out  in  love  to  them  all,  and  he 
 cannot  but  indulge  himself  in  the  prospect  of 
 seeing  Dr  B.  or  Dr  D.  and  others  in  Edin- 
 burgh, of  whose  Christian  character  he  had 
 doubtless  often  heard,  but  never  until  now  ex- 
 pressed a  wish  for  nearer  intercourse.  The  learn- 
 ed, whom  he  had  so  much  admired,  he  could 
 contentedly  give  up  for  the  Christians  he  loved. 
 
 It  was  the  remark  of  one  of  his  friends,  many 
 years  after  this  date,  that  "  his  affections  were 
 wonderfully  improved  on  his  change ;"  and  it 
 is  very  easy  to  account  for  the  alteration  ;  for 
 the  love  of  God  shed  abroad  in  the  heart  by  the 
 Holy  Ghost,  does  not  only  correct  and  sanctify 
 the  natural  tempers,  and  reduce  their  selfishness, 
 but  is  in  itself  a  new  affection, — an  affection, 
 the  property  of  which  is,  to  unite  in  the  bond 
 of  love  all  in  whom  it  dwells. 
 
 It  cannot  escape  observation,  that  Mr  Stewart 
 was  no  sooner  set  free  from  bondage,  than  he 
 goes  forth  to  seek  the  enlargement  of  other 
 captives.  In  none  of  his  former  letters  to  Mr. 
 Black,  is  there  any  mention  of  being  conversant 
 with  the  distressed  in  mind  ;  but,  being  convert- 
 ed, he  strengthens  the  brethren,  and  breathes 
 the  compassion  of  his  Divine  Master,  who  wills 
 not  mourners  in  Zion  to  sit  comfortless. 
 
104  MEMOIRS  OF  THE 
 
 The  next  letter  to  Mr  Black,  together  with 
 his  answer,  are  interesting. 
 
 "  I  have  little  other  news  to  tell,  or  subject 
 "  that  I  care  to  write  about,  except  of  the 
 "  Lord's  goodness  to  me,  and  how  he  has  been 
 *  multiplying  his  favours.  Ever  since  the 
 "  blessed  period  of  Mr  Simeon's  visit,  my 
 "  thoughts  have  continued  more  steadily  fixed 
 "  on  divine  things,  and  my  communion  with 
 "  God  has  been  more  lively  by  many  degrees, 
 "  than  I  remember  to  have  experienced  before. 
 
 "  The  state  of  my  mind  has  not  indeed  been 
 H  uniformly  the  same  during  this  period.  A 
 "  ride  I  took  to  Perth  threw  me  a  good  deal 
 "  into  vain  company  for  two  days,  and  brought 
 H  on  a  considerable  languor  and  deadness,  but 
 "  my  kind  Physician  soon  recovered  me.  At 
 "  other  times,  I  felt  myself  dull  and  stupid  for 
 "  nearly  a  whole  day,  and  been  revived  in  the 
 "  evening  in  a  few  minutes,  while  engaged  in 
 "  secret  prayer.  My  views  of  the  Lord's  good- 
 "  ness  and  mercy  in  the  work  of  redemption 
 "  are  clearer,  at  least  they  are  much  more  im- 
 "  pressive,  than  they  used  to  be.  Indeed,  they 
 "  quite  confound  and  overpower  me  at  times ; 
 "  and  yet  these  attributes  must  appear  still 
 "  more  glorious,  when  I  shall  get  a  distinct 
 "  sight  of  what  I  have  not  yet  discovered,  but 
 
ItEV.  ALEXAND  ER  STEWART,  1).  D.         105 
 
 "  very  imperfectly,  that  is,  ray  own  unworthi- 
 "  ness  and  guilt.  Indeed,  I  have  no  more 
 "  doubt  of  my  own  total  unworthiness  and  de- 
 44  pravity,  than  I  have  of  God's  holiness ;  but  I 
 "  am  sure  I  shall  one  day  be  much  more  sen- 
 "  sible  of  it  than  I  am  at  present. 
 
 "  I  have  enjoyed  not  a  little  of  my  divine  Mas- 
 "  ter's  countenance  and  aid  in  my  public  duties 
 44  of  late,  particularly  while  assisting  at  dispens- 
 
 "  ing  the  sacrament  at  B and  at  K .   At 
 
 44  the  latter  place,  I  met  with  one  or  two  young 
 "  communicants,  whose  state  of  mind,  in  respect 
 44  of  knowledge  and  apprehensions,  seemed  very 
 "  promising.  I  conversed  with  one  of  them 
 "  several  times,  found  he  understood  and  read 
 "  English  well.  1  gave  him  some  of  the  Cheap 
 44  Repository  pamphlets,  which  he  read  to  some 
 "  of  his  neighbours  with  much  pleasure.     At 
 
 14  B ,  and  afterwards  at  K ,  1  made  an 
 
 44  experiment  which  I  never  tried  before,  which 
 44  was,  to  preach  English  from  short  notes  or 
 44  outlines,  without  having  composed  or  writ- 
 "  ten  it  out  beforehand.  I  was  anxious  to  try 
 "  this,  partly  from  a  persuasion  that  even  an 
 44  English  discourse  might  find  some  hearers 
 44  who  would  understand  and  attend  to  it,  if  it 
 44  were  fitted  to  draw  their  attention ;  and  part- 
 44  ly  from  an  emulation  of  Mr  Simeon's  energetic 
 "  manner,  in  which  I  saw  strikingly  exempli- 
 
 G 
 
106  MEMOIRS  OF  THE 
 
 "  fied  the  superior  effect  of  preaching  above  that 
 "  of  reading,  or  even  repeating,  a  written  dis- 
 "  course.  I  did  succeed  far  beyond  my  expec- 
 "  tation,  for  I  found  my  thoughts  and  language 
 "  flow  with  more  freedom  and  energy  than  in 
 "  the  Gaelic,  to  which  I  had  long  been  accus- 
 "  tomed.  I  consider  this  talent  of  preaching  in 
 "  English,  even  in  such  measure  as  I  seem  al- 
 "  ready  to  possess  it,  as  a  mere  gift  newly  be- 
 w  stowed  on  me,  for  I  never  had  the  least  prac- 
 "  tice  in  speaking  either  in  clubs  or  in  ehurch- 
 "  courts. 
 
 "  I  have  just  got  from  Edinburgh,  Edwards 
 "  on  Religious  Affections ;  a  book  from  which 
 "  I  hope  to  reap  considerable  benefit.  Do,  my 
 "  dear  friend,  pray  with  me,  and  for  me,  that  I 
 "  may  be  fed  and  nourished  with  the  sincere 
 "  milk  of  the  word,  that  I  may  grow  thereby 
 "  in  grace,  and  in  the  knowledge  of  our  com- 
 "  mon  Lord." 
 
 From  Mr  Black. 
 
 "  I  cannot  express  the  heartfelt  joy  which  I 
 "  have  received  from  your  two  last  letters.  I 
 "  desire  to  join  with  you  in  giving  all  the  praise 
 "  to  Him,  to  whom  alone  it  is  due,  who  hath 
 "  shewed  you  the  power  of  his  works,  and  what 
 
REV.  ALEXANDER  STEWART,  D.  D.         107 
 
 *  great  things  he  can  and  will  do  for  those  that 
 "  hope  in  his  mercy. 
 
 "  Indeed,  the  more  I  think  upon  the  means 
 "  of  your  present  revival,  the  more  I  am  filled 
 "  with  astonishment  at  the  methods  of  the 
 "  Lord's  dealing  with  his  people.  Mr  Simeon's 
 "  visit  to  Scotland  was  altogether  unexpected. 
 "  He  has  told  me,  that  till  he  saw  Dr  Buchanan, 
 "  he  had  no  more  idea  of  coming  to  Scotland, 
 "  than  of  going  to  the  East  or  West  Indies. 
 "  His  calling  at  Moulin  was  equally  unlooked 
 "  for.  The  letter  which  introduced  him,  was 
 "  quite  a  random  thought  that  occurred  to  me, 
 "  I  cannot  tell  why  or  how.  Upon  what  tri- 
 "  vial  circumstances  do  many  of  the  most  impor- 
 "  tant  events  of  our  lives  turn  !  Two  strangers 
 "  from  a  distance  must  be  sent  to  Moulin  at  a 
 "  season  of  peculiar  solemnity,  to  become  the 
 "  instruments  of  good  to  your  soul,  and  through 
 "  you  to  the  souls  of  many. 
 
 "  O  my  dear  Sir,  "  magnify  the  Lord  with 
 "  me,  and  let  us  exalt  his  name  together." 
 "  He  "  is  excellent  in  counsel,  and  wonderful 
 "  in  working;"  and  your  experience  is  now  add- 
 "  ed  to  that  of  thousands,  who  can  declare,  that 
 "  verily  there  is  a  God  that  heareth  prayer. 
 
 "  I  rejoice  to  learn  that  this  lively  comfort- 
 "  able  frame  of  mind  still  remains,  and  that  it 
 
 *  is  attended  with   renewed  alacrity  In   your 
 
108  MEMOIRS  OF  THE 
 
 "  public  work.  Long  may  it  continue  so,  for 
 "  your  own  comfort,  and  the  benefit  of  your 
 "  people  !  But  changes,  inward  as  well  as  out- 
 Ff  ward,  you  must  expect  to  meet, — with  many 
 "  a  dark  and  rugged  step.  But,  O !  what  a  privi- 
 "  lege  is  it  to  know  where  relief  is  to  be  found ; 
 "  to  know  experimentally  the  power  and  grace 
 a  of  our  Almighty  Physician,  and  under  a 
 "  daily,  deep  conviction  of  our  guilt  and  help- 
 "  lessness,  to  be  committing  our  souls,  our  fa- 
 "  milies,  our  flocks,  our  every  concern,  into  his 
 "  faithful  hands,  who  careth  for  us.  I  have 
 "  great  cause  to  lament  a  prevailing  deadness 
 "  and  languor  of  spirit  in  secret  devotion,  and 
 "  cannot  say  but  I  was  considerably  moved, 
 "  when  I  read  of  the  happy  change  which  had 
 "  taken  place  with  you  in  this  respect.  O  pray 
 "  for  me,  my  dear  friend,  that  I  may  be  visit- 
 "  ed  as  you  have  been,  with  the  quickening  in- 
 u  fluence  of  divine  grace,  that  my  views  of  the 
 "  glory  of  God,  displayed  in  the  work  of  re- 
 "  demption,  may  be  more  enlarged,  and  my  im- 
 "  pressions  of  divine  truth  more  deep,  lively, 
 "  and  abiding." 
 
 How  much  Mr  Black  rejoiced  in  the  happi- 
 ness of  his  friend,  appears  also  from  his  diary, 
 under  the  date  of  Oct.  9.  1796. 
 
 "  Oct.  9.  1796.— Greatly  comforted  of  late 
 
REV.  ALEXANDER  STEWART,  D.  D.         109 
 
 4<  with  accounts   from  my  friend  and  fellow- 
 
 44  labourer  Mr  Stewart  of  Moulin,  whose  soul 
 
 44  has  been  wonderfully  quickened,  and  much 
 
 k<  refreshed  by  a  visit  from  Mr  Simeon  of  Cam- 
 
 "  bridge,  whom  I  was  led  in  a  very  providen- 
 
 "  tial  manner  to  introduce  to  Mr  Stewart's  ac- 
 
 44  quaintance.    It  has  proved  like  the  beginning 
 
 44  of  a  new  life  to  him,  and  I  trust  the  blessed 
 
 "  effects  of  it  will  be  experienced  by  his  people 
 
 "  as  well  as  by  himself.     Indeed,  this  seems  in 
 
 44  some  measure  to  be  already  the  case.     Bless- 
 
 u  ed  be  God  for  this  token  of  his  goodness,  this 
 
 44  fresh  evidence  of  the  power  of  his  grace." 
 
 Whatever  might  be  the  opinion  of  others 
 with  respect  to  the  reality  and  the  nature  of 
 the  change  he  had  experienced,  he  himself  was 
 at  no  loss  as  to  its  character,  as  appears  from 
 an  extract  from  his  next  letter  to  Mr  Black. 
 
 44  The  sentiments  I  have  felt  since  Mr  Si- 
 "  meon's  visit,  you,  and  I  believe  Mrs  Black, 
 u  have  been  pleased  to  call  a  revival.  I  am  not 
 "  sure  but  an  expression  of  my  sister's,  or  of 
 M  my  own,  might  have  suggested  the  word. 
 44  The  word,  however,  does  not  strictly  apply : 
 u  It  was  no  revival.  1  never  was  alive  till 
 44  then.  I  think,  however,  I  was  in  a  state  of 
 u  preparation.      I   was   gradually   acquiring   a 
 
110  MEMOIRS  OF  THE 
 
 "  knowledge  of  divine  truth.  It  was  given 
 "  me  to  see  that  such  truths  were  contained  in 
 41  the  scriptures,  but  I  did  not  feel  them.  In- 
 44  deed,  I  yet  feel  them  but  very  imperfectly. 
 44  I  know  nothing  to  which  I  can  so  fitly  com- 
 u  pare  myself  as  to  Ezekiel's  dry  bones,  when 
 44  they  were  covered  with  flesh  and  skin,  but 
 44  were  without  life  or  sensation.  It  was  re- 
 44  served  for  Mr  Simeon  to  be  the  man  who 
 44  should  be  appointed  to  prophesy  to  the  wind, 
 "  and  say,  "  Come  from  the  four  winds,  O 
 44  breath,  and  breathe  upon  this  dead  body,  that 
 "  it  may  live."  " 
 
 We  have  already  stated,  that  no  sooner  was 
 Mr  Stewart  converted,  than  he  essayed  to  join 
 himself  to  the  brethren ;  while,  towards  his  for- 
 mer associates,  and  early  friends,  he  seems  to 
 have  experienced  much  of  that  feeling,  in  which 
 the  apostle  of  the  Gentiles  made  this  protesta- 
 tion of  his  concern  for  the  conversion  of  his 
 countrymen  the  Jews, — "  I  say  the  truth  in 
 "  Christ,  I  lie  not,  my  conscience  also  bearing 
 44  me  witness  in  the  Holy  Ghost,  that  I  have 
 44  great  heaviness  and  continual  sorrow  in  my 
 44  heart.  For  I  could  wish  that  myself  were 
 44  accursed  from  Christ  for  my  brethren,  my 
 u  kinsmen  according  to  the  flesh,"  Rom.  ix.  1, 
 2,  3. ;  and,  "  Brethren,  my  heart's  desire  and 
 
REV.  ALEXANDER  STEWART,   D.  D.         Ill 
 
 "  prayer  to  God  for  Israel  is,  that  they  might  be 
 "  saved,"  Rom.  x.  1. 
 
 Under  the  influence  of  this  spirit,  he  first  ad- 
 dressed himself  to  a  clergyman  of  taste,  talents, 
 and  literary  acquirements  similar  to  his  own, 
 with  whom  he  had  been  long  in  habits  of  close 
 intimacy  and  correspondence,  and  whom  he  now 
 wished  to  introduce  to  the  knowledge  of  evan- 
 gelical truth.  His  friend  in  reply  stated,  with 
 great  good  humour, — That  he  had  never  in  his 
 life  been  a  reprobate ; — that  he  had  been  able  to 
 behave  with  moral  decency  and  propriety,  in 
 many  trying  situations,  where  many  would  have 
 yielded  and  fallen,  without  the  good  principles 
 he  had  imbibed  from  the  early  affectionate  les- 
 sons of  a  worthy  father,  attributing  his  good 
 behaviour  to  the  principles  of  anorality  and  piety 
 he  had  imbibed  in  his  early  youth,  at  the  same 
 time  confessing  he  had  gained  little  in  the  way 
 of  that  true  believing  love,  which  makes  every 
 thing  delightful ; — that  though  he  never  had  felt 
 any  remarkable  enthusiasm  in  the  cause  of  piety 
 and  religion,  he  had  never  been  a  deserter  or 
 betrayer  of  that  cause; — and  that,  though  he 
 was  not  reckoned  one  of  the  godly,  yet  he  never 
 could  join  with  many  even  of  his  brethren,  whom 
 he  had  seen  ridiculing  and  laughing  at  the  over- 
 righteous,  as  they  termed  them,  having  always 
 had  too  poor  an  opinion  of  himself,  or  rather  that 
 
112  MEMOIRS  OF  THE 
 
 doubt  of  himself,  that  he  could  respect  another's 
 sentiments,  though  very  different  from  his  own, 
 because  he  never  was  such  a  complete  believer,  as 
 to  think  himself  in  possession  of  the  only  truth. 
 Mr  Stewart  renewed  his  benevolent  efforts  to 
 impress  the  mind  of  his  friend,  and  wrote  the 
 following  in  reply,  in  which  he  attempts  what 
 is  in  general  so  difficult, — to  bring  the  unen- 
 lightened mind  to  a  sense  of  its  ignorance,  and 
 a  conviction  that  there  is  something  in  religion 
 it  has  not  yet  learned. 
 
 "  Moulin,  May  30.  1797. 
 
 "  Your  letter  found  me,  t'other  day,  at  D. 
 "  where  I  preached  by  appointment  of  pres- 
 44  bytery.  You  may  not  readily  give  me  cre- 
 "  dit,  though  I  tell  you,  how  much  1  was  gra- 
 "  titled  with  the  perusal  of  it.  You  reckoned 
 44  it  but  "  poor  confused  stuff."  I  easily  dis- 
 "  tinguished  all  that  would  have  that  appear- 
 44  ance  to  you ;  but  I  distinguished  also  some 
 44  bright  luminous  rays,  not  of  genius,  not  of 
 44  fancy,  but  of  something  which  our  puritani- 
 44  cal  forefathers  would  probably  have  called 
 44  grace;  in  short,  some  sentiments,  of  which,  if 
 44  I  am  not  mistaken,  it  may  be  affirmed,  that 
 44  "  flesh  and  blood  have  not  revealed  them  to 
 44  you,  but  our  Father  who  is  in  heaven." — 
 44  Why,  you  must  know  that,  among  other  new 
 
REV.  ALEXANDER  STEWART,  D.  D.         113 
 
 acquisitions,  I  seem  to  have  got  a  new  way 
 of  judging  of  people's  minds.  I  have  learnt 
 this,  or  rather  have  begun  to  learn  it,  by  read- 
 ing the  history  of  others,  but  more  by  at- 
 tending to  the  progress  of  my  own  sentiments. 
 I  hardly  remember  that  ever  I  was,  any  more 
 than  you,  a  determined  opposer  of  any  doc- 
 trines which  /  knew  to  be  contained  in  scrip- 
 ture ;  but  I  am  now  perfectly  sensible  that  I 
 was  really  ignorant  of  some  of  the  most  es- 
 sential and  peculiar  doctrines  of  Christianity, 
 and  this  not  only  when  I  was  a  student,  but 
 many  years  after  I  had  become  a  teacher  of 
 others.  The  discovery  of  my  ignorance  was  j  ust 
 the  first  step  towards  having  it  corrected.  Now, 
 I  am  strongly  of  opinion  that  you,  my  dear 
 friend,  are  in  the  same  way  of  making  the 
 same  discovery  concerning  yourself.  1  am  a- 
 ware  that  you  may  reckon  this,  at  first,  rather 
 an  odd  assertion  ;  and  indeed,  my  dear  friend, 
 it  is  perhaps  but  the  first  of  several  assertions, 
 by  which  your  candour  and  forbearance  with 
 me  may  be  put  to  the  proof.  As  to  the  im- 
 putation of  ignorance,  one  in  your  situation 
 may  be  supposed  to  reply,  '  Ignorant  of  the 
 gospel !  pardon  me,  my  dear  Sir  ;  I  have  not 
 been  so  long  conversant  with  the  best  writers, 
 and  ablest  divines,  and  read  and  thought  to 
 so  little  purpose,  as  that  I  should  now  be  un- 
 
114  MEMOIRS  OF  THE 
 
 44  acquainted  with  the  truths  of  Christianity. 
 "  As  I  know  these  things,  happy  were  I  if  I 
 "  did  them.  Here,  I  acknowledge,  1  fail;  but 
 "  if  my  practice  corresponds  with  my  know- 
 u  ledge,  all  would  be  well.'  I  am  sure  this  is 
 44  precisely  what  I  should  have  said  myself,  a 
 "  few  years  ago.  Allow  me  to  state,  as  a  coun- 
 "  terpart  to  this,  a  case  which  has  often  occur- 
 "  red  to  my  thoughts.  Suppose  that,  in  the 
 "  last  year  of  our  Lord's  ministration,  some  old 
 44  acquaintance  should  have  inquired  at  one  of 
 44  the  disciples,  Philip  for  instance,  '  I  wonder 
 44  what  sort  of  a  person  this  Jesus  of  Nazareth 
 44  is ;  pray,  Philip,  do  you  know  him  ?'  Philip 
 44  would  of  course  answer,  '  To  be  sure  I  do 
 44  know  him,  no  person  knows  him  better;  I 
 44  have  not  been  two  days  together  out  of  his 
 44  company  these  three  years.  Many  a  wonder- 
 44  ful  work  have  I  seen  him  do,  many  a  charm- 
 44  ing  discourse  have  I  heard  from  his  mouth. 
 44  O  !  neighbour,  if  you  but  knew  him  as  well  as 
 44  I  do  !'  Yet  this  was  actually  the  man  to  whom 
 44  our  Lord  found  occasion  to  say,  "  Have  I 
 44  been  so  long  time  with  you,  and  yet  hast  thou 
 44  not  known  me,  Philip?"  Query, — May  not 
 44  the  same  words  perhaps  be  applicable  to  one 
 44  disciple  which  were  applied  to  another,  now  as 
 u  well  as  then  ? 
 
 41  In  general,  all  who  have  had  an  ordinary 
 
REV.  ALEXANDER  STEWART,  D.  D.  115 
 
 "  religious  education,  seem  to  be  satisfied  that 
 44  they  possess  a  sufficient  knowledge  of  the 
 "  doctrines  of  our  religion,  and  never  think  of 
 44  calling  their  knowledge  in  question.  By  at- 
 44  tending  to  one  or  two  pointed  declarations  of 
 44  scripture,  I  dare  say  you  will  agree  with  me 
 44  in  thinking,  that  a  just  and  correct  knowledge 
 44  of  divine  truth,  is  neither  so  generally  pos- 
 44  sessed,  nor  so  faintly  and  equivocally  marked 
 u  in  people's  conduct  and  language,  as  is  gene- 
 44  rally  supposed.  Our  Saviour,  in  interceding 
 44  for  his  disciples,  prays, fc<  Sanctify  them  through 
 44  thy  truth  ;  thy  word  is  truth,"  John  xvii.  17. ; 
 44  intimating,  that  the  truths  revealed  and  as- 
 44  serted  in  scripture,  when  known  and  received, 
 f  are  the  means  of  producing  an  universal  holi- 
 44  ness  of  disposition  and  life.  "  This  is  life 
 44  eternal,  that  they  should  know  thee,  the  only 
 44  true  God,  and  Jesus  Christ,  whom  thou  hast 
 44  sent,"  John  xvii.  3.  "  Yea,  doubtless,  I 
 44  count  all  things  but  loss,  for  the  excellency  of 
 44  the  knowledge  of  Christ  Jesus  my  Lord," 
 44  Phil.  iii.  8.  Such  was  the  judgment  of  one 
 44  who  knew  what  it  was  to  want,  and  also  to 
 44  possess  this  knowledge.  "  If  thou  knewest 
 44  the  gift  of  God,  and  who  it  is  that  saith  to  thee, 
 44  Give  me  to  drink,  thou  wouldest  have  asked 
 44  of  him,  and  he  would  have  given  thee  living 
 '  water,"  John  iv.  10,     This  implies  that  divine 
 
116  MEMOIRS  OF  THE 
 
 "  truth,  particularly  what  relates  to  the  person, 
 "  character,  and  offices  of  Christ,  when  clearly 
 i(  understood  and  known,  has  an  instantaneous 
 "  effect  on  the  heart ;  it  excites  a  spiritual  appe- 
 "  tite,  and  leads  to  its  highest  gratification. 
 "  Whoever  knows  the  gift  of  God  to  sinners, 
 "  its  necessity  and  its  worth,  will  earnestly  ask, 
 "  and  will  infallibly  receive,  the  highest  spiri- 
 "  tual  blessings.  When  such  effects  are  ascrib- 
 "  ed  to  the  knowledge  of  the  gospel,  and  when 
 "  these  effects  are  so  rarely  to  be  seen,  it  is  but 
 "  a  logical  inference,  that,  even  in  this  Christian 
 "  land,  and  among  us  divines,  the  true  know- 
 "  ledge  of  scripture-truth  is  but  rare  also. 
 
 "  I  will  adduce  another  test  of  a  man's  possess- 
 "  ing  true  knowledge.  Now,  prepare  yourself 
 "  here  for  some  of  my  oddities  ;  for,  depend  on 
 "  it,  you  will  find  oddities  in  me  as  I  advance. 
 "  The  gospel  has  been  called  good  tidings,  good 
 "  tidings  of  great  joy  ;  and  the  appellation  well 
 "  suits  its  nature.  One  would  think  it  would 
 "  also  prove  welcome  tidings  to  every  one  that 
 "  hears  it.  Accordingly,  while  an  Evangelist 
 "  merely  proclaims  that  the  way  to  heaven  is 
 "  open,  1  believe  his  tidings  are  welcome  e- 
 "  nough  ;  but,  along  with  his  proclamation  of 
 "  peace  on  earth  and  good-will  to  men,  there 
 u  are  other  facts  announced,  connected  with  a 
 *'  sinner's  salvation,  which  arc  not  so  readily  ad- 
 
REV.  ALEXANDER  STEWART,  D.  D.        117 
 
 "  mitted.  There  are  truths  relative  to  man's 
 "  condition  as  a  sinner,  and  to  the  way  of  sal- 
 "  vation  provided  for  him,  which  we  cannot 
 "  positively  know  till  they  are  told  us;  and 
 "  which,  when  told,  we  can  hardly  believe,  or 
 "  allow  to  be  true.  St  Paul  found  this  to  be 
 "  the  case,  and  asserts  it  in  very  explicit  terms. 
 "  "  The  natural  man  receiveth  not  the  things  of 
 "  the  Spirit  of  God,  for  they  are  foolishness  to 
 "  him,"  1  Cor.  ii.  14.  Our  Saviour's  declara- 
 "  tions  concerning  himself,  were  received  in  the 
 "  same  manner,  even  by  many  of  those  who 
 "  had  welcomed  him  as  the  Messiah.  They 
 "  said,  "  This  is  a  hard  saying,  who  can  bear 
 f*  it  ?  And  many  went  back,  and  walked  no 
 "  more  with  him,"  John  vi.  60,  66.  You  find 
 "  in  Nicodemus,  a  man  of  rank  and  education, 
 5  the  same  difficulty  of  admitting  or  assenting 
 "  to  what  Christ  had  affirmed.  Even  after  our 
 "  Lord  had  stated  to  him,  that  his  words  were 
 "  to  be  understood  figuratively,  and  that  he 
 "  spoke  of  a  spiritual  renovation,  still  the  diffi- 
 "  culty  remained,  and  "  how  can  these  things 
 "  be  ?"  are  the  last  words  of  Nicodemus  which 
 "  we  find  recorded  in  the  conversation,  John 
 "  iii.  1,  21. 
 
 "  Now,  my  dear  Sir,  if,  in  the  course  of  your 
 "  examination  or  learning  of  religious  truths, 
 "  you  have  met  with  nothing  but  what  was 
 
118  MEMOIRS  OF  THE 
 
 "  plain  and  intelligible, — if  you  have  met  with 
 "  nothing  that  has  puzzled  your  understanding, 
 "  that  startled  your  belief,  that  made  you  recoil 
 "  at  the  sense  the  words  seemed  manifestly  to 
 
 *  convey, — in  short,  that  forced  you  to  exclaim 
 u  with  Nicodemus,  though  more  than  half 
 "  shocked  at  your  own  distrust  of  the  word  of 
 "  God,  "  How  can  these  things  be  so  ?"  it  is 
 "  more  than  probable  that  there  are  doctrines  in 
 "  the  scriptures,  and  necessarily  connected  with 
 
 *  our  reception  of  the  rest,  which  you  have 
 "  not  yet  known.     Marvel  not,  my  friend,  at 
 
 *  my  strong  language,  but  ponder  it,  and  then 
 "  judge. 
 
 M  Now,  I  am  sure  that  I  have  at  last  put 
 "  your  candour  to  the  proof,  and  have  exposed 
 "  myself  to  as  hard  thoughts  of  me,  as  ever 
 "  you  entertained  of  a  gloomy  enthusiast.  I 
 "  am  sure  you  cannot  be  equally  well  satisfied 
 "  with  this  letter  as  with  the  former  ones.  I 
 "  must  stop  to  bear  my  testimony  to  the  cha- 
 
 *  meter  which  you  so  justly  give  yourself.  I 
 "  remember  well,  that,  from  the  first  of  our 
 "  acquaintance,  you  shewed  a  steady  attach- 
 "  ment  to  principles,  both  moral  and  religious, 
 "  far  beyond  what  /  felt ;  you  shewed  your 
 "  abhorrence  of  various  indecencies  and  profani- 
 "  ties,  with  which  I  was  little  affected.  If  to 
 "  this  natural  force  of  mind,  there  was  added 
 
REV.  ALEXANDER  STEWART,  D.  D.        119 
 
 "  an  ardent  love  to  a  Redeemer,  and  lively  af- 
 "  fection  to  his  people,  with  a  cordial  zeal 
 "  for  extending  his  kingdom,  and  saving  the 
 "  souls  of  men,  what  a  great  character,  what  a 
 "  valuable  member  of  a  Christian  community, 
 "  would  it  form !  But,  to  form  this  character, 
 u  "  the  truth  as  it  is  in  Jesus,"  must  be  known 
 "  and  felt." 
 
 Many  subsequent  letters  passed,  with  se- 
 riousness on  the  one  side,  and  candour  on  the 
 other,  but  no  approximation  of  sentiments  took 
 place. 
 
 Mr  Stewart's  next  attempt  to  communicate 
 his  own  views  of  religion,  was  made  to  a  lady 
 of  great  respectability,  with  whom  he  had 
 lived  on  the  most  friendly  terms  for  several 
 years ;  and  in  what  manner  his  benevolent  de- 
 sign was  interpreted,  an  extract  from  her  reply 
 will  shew. 
 
 "  Sept.  9.  1797. 
 "  Since  you  no  longer  find  pleasure  in  dances, 
 "  dinners,  and  suppers,  it  is  natural  for  you  to 
 "  decline  them ;  at  the  same  time,  there  is  a 
 "  degree  of  civility  due  to  those  that  pay  you 
 "  civility,  that  1  should  have  thought  might 
 1  have  carried  you  an  hour  or  two  to  that  said 
 "  ball  you  mention,  without  in  the  least  de- 
 
120  MEMOIRS  OF  THE 
 
 "  grading  you  in  any  shape.     But  that  is  my 
 "  ignorance. 
 
 "  When  you  feel  in  your  heart  an  ardent  de- 
 "  sire  to  see  your  friends  in  *  *  *  *,  they  will 
 "  be  happy  to  see  you.  But  I  acknowledge 
 "  myself  one  to  whom  your  visit  will  afford  no 
 "  sort  of  satisfaction,  if  you  are  to  view  it  as  a 
 "  sacrifice,  a  murdering  of  your  time,  a  paying 
 "  of  a  debt,  or  coming  as  if  to  pay  the  interest 
 "  of  money  borrowed.  No,  no,  my  friend,  the 
 "  pleasure  of  friendly  intercourse  must  be  mu- 
 "  tual,  or  not  at  all.  I  entertained  no  hope  of 
 "  seeing  you  this  season,  so  what  you  say  on 
 "  that  subject  does  not  the  least  surprise.  Such 
 "  sinners  as  we,  would  perfectly  pollute  you. 
 
 "  Strange,  indeed,  to  suppose  that  I  would 
 "  not  read,  or  would  read  with  negligence,  any 
 "  paper  you  should  send  me  !  Into  what  is  your 
 "  mind  about  to  contract  ?  I  read  the  letter  over, 
 "  and  over,  and  over  again,  with  all  the  atten- 
 "  tion  I  am  capable  of,  and  there  is  nothing  in 
 "  it  to  which  I  make  the  smallest  objection  ;  at 
 "  the  same  time,  I  cannot  help  observing,  that 
 "  the  writer  of  it  has  an  opinion,  both  of  his 
 "  own  divine  inspiration,  and  that  of  his  friends, 
 "  that  suits  not  at  all  with  my  faith.  Warmly 
 "  to  pursue  the  study  of  the  gospel,  is  highly 
 "  proper  and  meritorious  in  all,  more  especially 
 "  clergymen.     But  it  appears  strange  to  me, 
 
REV.  ALEXANDER  STEWART,  D.  D.         121 
 
 11  that  studying  the  gospel  of  peace  should  sour 
 "  you  at  the  whole  world,  and  make  you  think 
 "  that  all  who  are  not  exactly  up  to  your  way 
 "  of  thinking,  are  no  longer  worthy  of  your  re- 
 "  gard  or  attention.  I  really  believe  that  you 
 "  even  refuse  us  the  hope  of  being  saved." 
 
 The  benevolence  of  Mr  Stewart  was  not  re- 
 pressed by  this  letter,  without  making  another 
 calm  appeal  to  the  judgment  and  the  heart.  He 
 therefore  again  writes :— r- 
 
 "  Moulin,  Oct.  6.  1797. 
 "  I  am  sorry  to  find  that  you  are  so  much 
 u  hurt  by  what  you  call  my  Puritanical  princi- 
 "  pies.  I  am  the  more  surprised  at  it,  as  I  do 
 "  not  recollect  that  in  any  of  my  letters  for  the 
 "  last  twelvemonth,  I  formally  stated  any  prin- 
 "  ciples  at  all.  I  suspect  either  that  you  must 
 "  have  heard  of  them  at  second  hand  only,  or 
 "  rather  that  you  have  conjectured  or  inferred 
 "  them  from  the  style  of  my  letters,  but  with- 
 "  out  knowing  precisely  what  were  the  princi- 
 "  pies  which  I  avowed.  In  fact,  I  was  in  no 
 "  haste  to  declare  them.  For,  however  much 
 "  satisfaction  it  would  give  me  to  find  the  friends 
 "  I  love  best,  agree  with  me  in  sentiment,  yet  I 
 "  do  not  think  myself  entitled  to  impose  my 
 "  creed  on  any  one.     All  I  would  seek  to  do  in 
 
 H 
 
122  MEMOIRS  OF  THE 
 
 "  this  matter  is,  to  induce  others  to  examine 
 "  closely  their  own  principles,  and  likewise  those 
 "  inculcated  in  scripture, — to  compare  the  two 
 "  sets  together,  and  see  whether  they  coincide. 
 "  This  indeed  I  consider  as  a  work  of  the  high- 
 "  est  importance.  From  being  led,  no  matter 
 "  how,  to  make  this  inquiry  into  my  own  case, 
 "  I  found  that  the  scriptures  plainly  and  posi- 
 "  tively  asserted  facts  of  which  I  had  hardly  any 
 "  notion, — that  some  of  the  religious  principles 
 "  which  I  had  maintained,  disagreed  with  the 
 "  scriptures.  I  saw  the  fullest  reason  to  be  sa- 
 "  tisfied  that  the  Bible  must  be  right,  and  that  I 
 "  must  have  been  wrong.  I  knew,  at  the  same 
 "  time,  that  my  principles  agreed  in  the  main 
 "  with  those  of  many  of  my  friends,  with  whose 
 "  sentiments  on  religious  subjects  I  had  sufficient 
 "  opportunity  to  be  acquainted.  I  saw  at  once 
 "  that  I  had  been  in  an  error,  so  must  they  also. 
 "  I  have  been  officious  enough  to  tell  them  so, 
 "  for  I  have  more  than  one  correspondence  of 
 "  the  kind  on  my  hand.  Indeed,  I  consider  it 
 "  as  the  highest  service  I  can  do  them.  Can  you 
 "  wonder,  then,  my  dear  parental  friend,  if  I 
 "  should  be  particularly  anxious  to  do  it  to  you, 
 "  to  whom  I  am  under  so  many  obligations,  and 
 "  to  whom  I  have  so  many  reasons  to  be  grate- 
 "  ful  ?  With  this  view,  I  sent  you  the  copy  of 
 "  a  letter,  (which  by  the  way  was  written  a  few 
 
REV.  ALEXANDER  STEWART,  D.  D.        123 
 
 "  months  ago  by  myself  to  an  old  college  inti- 
 "  mate),  the  purpose  of  which  was  to  persuade 
 "  my  correspondent,  from  scriptural  declarations, 
 "  and  scriptural  examples,  that  he  might  posi- 
 "  tively  be  in  a  state  of  ignorance,  and  conse- 
 "  quently  of  error,  with  regard  to  some  of  the 
 "  truths  which  essentially  concerned  his  eternal 
 "  welfare.  This  is  precisely  the  point  I  would 
 "  at  present  urge  with  you.  I  do  not  seek  to 
 "  state  of  my  own  accord  what  those  truths  are, 
 
 *  for  then  I  might  be  told  that  I  was  laying 
 "  down  my  own  opinions,  arrogating  to  myself 
 "  inspiration,  infallibility,  and  I  know  not  what. 
 "  I  wish  rather  that  you  should  discover  them, 
 
 *  in  consequence  of  your  own  inquiry  ;  at  the 
 "  same  time,  it  would  give  me  singular  pleasure 
 "  to  accompany  and  assist  you  in  the  search,  and 
 "  when  we  should  have  made  the  discovery,  we 
 "  should  rejoice  together  much  more  than  ever 
 "  Pythagoras  or  Archimedes  did  at  the  discovery 
 "  of  a  mathematical  truth.  But  this  might  be 
 "  a  work  of  time. 
 
 "  In  one  thing  I  think  you  will  agree  with 
 "  me,  that  if  the  discovery  of  truth  be  really 
 "  our  object,  it  would  be  needless  to  stop  or  go 
 "  out  of  our  way  to  examine  the  claims,  or  the 
 "  dogmas  of  the  sectarists.  We  must  first 
 "  know  the  truth  ourselves,  before  we  can  pre- 
 "  tend  to  judge  who  among  our  forefathers,  or 
 
 H  2 
 
124  MEMOIRS  OF  THE 
 
 "  our  countrymen,  may  have  found  it,  or  who 
 
 "  may  have  missed  it.     Let  Protestants  or  Pa- 
 
 "  pists,    Puritans   or   Methodists,    Churchmen 
 
 *  or  Dissenters,  Reliefers  or  Seceders,    be   in 
 
 "  the  right  or  in  the  wrong,  that  can  be  no 
 
 "  rule  to  us;  if  fools  or  villains,  if  fanatics  or 
 
 "  persecutors,  if  a  Pizarro  or  a  Philip  the  Se- 
 
 "  cond,  profess  to  believe  the  gospel,  and  call 
 
 "  themselves    Christians,     that     cannot     have 
 "changed  the  nature  of  the  truth  itself,  nor 
 
 "  be  any  reason  why  we  should  disbelieve  or 
 
 "  disregard  it.     We  are  not  obliged  to  follow 
 
 "  the  creed  of  Calvin,  or  of  Luther,  any  more 
 
 "  than  that  of  Oliver  Cromwell,  or  of  Thomas 
 
 "  Paine.     Our  business  is  with  the  doctrines  of 
 
 "  Christ   and   his   apostles, — with   those  scrip- 
 
 "  tures  which  were  given  by  inspiration  of  God, 
 
 u  and  which  alone  can  make  us  wise  unto  sal- 
 
 "  vation.     For  the  same  reason,  it  is  unneces- 
 
 "  sary  to  spend  time  in  defending  myself  or  my 
 
 "  expressions  from  the  charges  of  illiberality, 
 
 "  want  of  charity,  &c.  which  you  have  hinted  at 
 
 "  in  your  last  letter.    As  for  that,  transeat  cum 
 
 "  cceteris.     The  great  point  which  claims  the 
 
 "  attention  of  each  of  us,  is,  not  what  is  the 
 
 "  opinion  of  such  a  favourite  author,  or  such  an 
 
 "  esteemed  friend  ?    Is  it  liberal,  or  charitable, 
 
 "  or  the  contrary  ?     But,    what   says   the  di- 
 
 "  vine  oracle  ?    What  has  the  Lord,  our  Crea- 
 
REV.  ALEXANDER  STEWART,  D.  D.        125 
 
 *  tor,  our  Sovereign,  our  Judge,  been  pleased 
 "  to  tell  us?  Whatever  information  he  has 
 "  thought  fit  to  communicate,  it  surely  behoves 
 "  us  to  attend  to  it  most  seriously,  to  receive  it 
 "  with  submissive  docility,  and  to  apply  it  di- 
 "  rectly  and  diligently  to  our  own  use. 
 
 "  Many  an  hour  have  we  spent  together  in 
 "  studying  languages,  metaphysics,  &c.  Now 
 "  that  a  vastly  more  interesting  object,  the  ac- 
 "  quiring  of  saving  knowledge,  has  presented 
 "  itself,  you  may  believe  me,  that  I  would 
 "  gladly  join  with  you  in  the  pursuit  of  that 
 "  object  with  more  relish  and  eagerness  than 
 "  ever  I  engaged  in  a  philosophical  discussion. 
 "  Could  you  give  me  the  prospect,  by  reading 
 "  or  conversation,  to  lead  you  to  the  knowledge 
 "  of  some  of  those  important  spiritual  truths,  of 
 "  which  we  both  were  certainly  ignorant  a  short 
 "  while  ago,  then  I  would  fly  to  visit  you  with 
 "  a  more  "  ardent  desire"  than  ever,  and  I 
 "  would  even  postpone  some  employments, 
 "  which  I  would  not  suspend  on  any  considera- 
 "  tions  of  mere  compliment  or  civility.  But  if, 
 u  on  the  contrary,  I  should  find  that  my  visit 
 "  had  served  no  such  useful  purpose,  then,  in- 
 "  deed,  I  must  confess  that  I  would  account  it 
 "  nothing  else  than  what  you  call  it, — a  sacri- 
 "  fice, — an  unprofitable  sacrifice. 
 
 "  I  have  no  doubt  that  you  wilJ  be  ready  to 
 
126  MEMOIRS  OF  THE 
 
 "  tell  me,  that  you  have  often  read  the  Bible 
 "  with  attention  and  pleasure,  and  that  you 
 "  are  still  equally  willing  to  read  it.  I  had 
 "  done  so  too,  and  I  supposed  I  knew  suffi- 
 "  ciently  its  general  scope  and  tenor,  though 
 "  not  the  precise  meaning  of  every  particular 
 "  passage.  But  I  find  I  had  more  to  learn 
 "  than  I  thought  of.  And  whatever  measure 
 "  of  knowledge  I  may  have  yet  attained,  I  am 
 "  sure  I  have  still  much  to  learn,  and  have  no 
 "  doubt  but  that  I  may  derive  more  light  and 
 "  knowledge  from  these  sacred  books  every  day 
 "  I  live.  As  we  are  both  but  learners,  what 
 "  should  hinder  us  from  pursuing,  as  formerly, 
 "  our  studies  together  ?  If  I  should  happen  to 
 "  think  myself  a  lesson  or  two  a-head  of  you  at 
 "  our  outsetting,  we  may  go  on  as  fellow-stu- 
 "  dents  notwithstanding.  One  preliminary  step, 
 "  I  think,  would  be  very  useful,  that  is,  to  re- 
 "  vise  those  arguments  by  which  the  inspira- 
 "  tion  of  the  scriptures  is  evinced.  There  is 
 "  very  ample  and  convincing  proofs  that  those 
 "  books  we  call  inspired,  were  certainly  written 
 *  by  divine  direction  and  superintendence'.— 
 "  And  it  is  of  consequence,  when  we  read  them, 
 "  that  that  conviction  should  be  fresh  and  live- 
 "  ly,  in  order  that  every  word  we  read  may  be 
 "  received,  not  as  the  word  of  man,  but  of  God. 
 u  I  read  lately,  along  with ,  Doddridge's 
 
REV.  ALEXANDER  STEWART,   D.  D.         127 
 
 "  Dissertation  on  the  Inspiration  of  the  New 
 "  Testament,  in  the  third  volume  of  his  Family 
 "  Expositor,  which  I  think  plain,  judicious, 
 "  and  impressive.  His  three  sermons  on  the 
 "  Evidences  of  the  Gospel,  are  also  plain  and 
 "  convincing.  Either  of  these  performances, 
 "  or  both  if  at  hand,  might,  I  think,  be  perused 
 "  with  advantage,  before  entering  on  a  course 
 "  of  scripture  reading. 
 
 "  You  might  be  sensible,  dear  Madam,  that 
 "  to  search  the  scriptures  with  care,  is  not  the 
 "  business  of  divines  exclusively.  All  are 
 "  equally  interested  in  knowing  what  God  has 
 "  revealed  to  man.  It  would  therefore  be 
 "  highly  desireable  to  associate  with  us  in  these 
 "  sacred  studies,  as  many  as  we  can  persuade  to 
 "  join  us.     Might  not  you  easily  engage  Mr 
 
 "  — to  accompany  you  in  your  reading  ? 
 
 "  Or,  if  he  should  not  read  along  with  you,  he 
 "  might  read  the  same  book  at  home  to  Mrs 
 
 "  ,  to  whom  I  understand  he  is  in  the 
 
 "  use  of  reading  for  their  mutual  entertainment, 
 "  and  thus  you  could  talk  over  the  subject  at 
 "  meeting,  and  see  which  had  profited  most. 
 
 "  When  would  see  you  in  earnest 
 
 "  about  such  an  object,  he  too  might  be  induced 
 
 "  to  join  you.     At  any  rate,  I  hope  A 
 
 "  would  willingly  attend  you  in  each  stage  of 
 "  your  progress.     And  thus  you  might  be  the 
 
MEMOIRS  OF  THE 
 
 "  means  of  bringing  others,  as  well  as  yourself, 
 "  to  the  knowledge  of  those  facts  and  doctrines 
 "  on  which  depends  the  everlasting  happiness 
 "  of  their  souls  and  of  yours.  So  it  appears,  that 
 "  when  I  can  scrape  together  a  little  time,  I  can 
 "  still  write  a  long  letter  on  a  subject  which  in- 
 "  terests  me.  I  wish,  dear  Lady,  your  bodily 
 "  health  and  ease  were  such  as  to  allow  me  to 
 "  expect  a  long  letter  in  return.  I  remember 
 "  the  time  when  neither  of  us  counted  paper  or 
 "  postage.     And  what  was  the  subject  ?" 
 
 In  answer  to  another  letter  in  which  Mr 
 Stewart  had  attempted  to  explain  the  condition 
 on  which  men  stand  with  respect  to  the  divine 
 dispensations, — she  writes  as  follows : 
 
 July  14.  1798. 
 
 "  I  have  repeatedly  and  attentively  read  over 
 "  your  last  letter,  also  the  distinction  that  you 
 "  make  between  the  covenant  of  works  and  the 
 "  covenant  of  grace.  I  have  looked  out  all  your 
 "  quotations,  considered  all  with  the  utmost  at- 
 "  tention  I  can  command ;  and  have  also  talk- 
 "  ed  over  the  subject  with  our  mutual  friend 
 
 «  Mr ;  and  after  all,  I  am  no  more  inclined 
 
 "  to  give  up  the  covenant  of  works,  than  you 
 "  are  to  give  up  the  covenant  of  grace.  Your 
 "  argument,  in  my  opinion,  strikes  at  the  root 
 
REV.  ALEXANDER  STEWART,    D-D.         129 
 
 "  of  all  moral  virtue,  and  must  prove  the  ruin, 
 "  not  the  salvation,  of  mankind.  My  creed  is, 
 "  that  we  must  strive  what  we  can  to  take  the 
 "  advantage  of  both  these  covenants,  by  the 
 "  strictest  attention  we  can  pay  to  our  moral 
 "  duty  ;  and  when  our  nature  fails  us,  we  are  to 
 "  trust  to  the  covenant  of  grace  and  mercy, 
 "  through  our  Redeemer. 
 
 "  Your  new  creed  appears  to  me  to  lean 
 "  strongly  towards  the  doctrine  of  necessity. 
 "  Some  of  your  quotations  are  necessity  as  strong 
 "  as  can  be  worded ; — "  that  the  elect  were 
 "  chosen  before  the  creation  of  the  world,"  &c. 
 "  I  believe  that  the  worthy  and  the  good  were 
 "  the  elect  chosen,  but  not  that  they  were 
 "  picked  out  individually.  Sure  I  am,  that  you 
 "  are  no  such  enemy  to  morality  in  your  con- 
 M  duct,  as  you  are  in  your  doctrine.  Give  up 
 "  the  covenant  of  works !  No,  surely,  never 
 "  while  I  retain  my  senses." 
 
 Mr  Stewart's  answer  shall  close  this  corre- 
 spondence. 
 
 Moulin,  Juhj  21.  1798. 
 "  I  am  happy  that  1  have  an  opportunity  of 
 "  acknowledging  thus  early  your  very  valuable 
 
 "  favour  of  the .     I  am  much   indebted 
 
 "  to  you   for  the  patient  attention  with  which 
 
130  MEMOIRS  OF  THE 
 
 "  you  have  studied  my  letters  and  quotations ; 
 "  and  for  your  full  and  candid  avowal  of  the  re- 
 "  suit.  This  avowal  is  to  me  very  satisfactory. 
 "  The  common  error  of  weak  minds,  with  re- 
 "  spect  to  religious  doctrines,  and  which  I  meet 
 "  with  every  day,  is,  that  they  fancy  they  be- 
 "  lieve  such  or  such  propositions,  and  aver  that 
 "  they  do  believe  them,  when  in  reality  they 
 "  do  not.  Your  clearer  head,  and  more  solid 
 "  judgment,  have  saved  you  from  this  error,  for 
 "  you  seem  to  have  ascertained  distinctly  what 
 "  you  do,  and  what  you  do  not  believe.  The  ex- 
 "  periment  is  now  fairly  made,  how  far  a  person's 
 "  natural  understanding  will  admit  the  truth 
 "  of  scripture  doctrines  on  the  authority  of  di- 
 "  vine  testimony.  The  result  corresponds  exact- 
 "  ly,  in  your  case,  with  what  scripture  itself  tells 
 "  us  must  always  happen,  1  Cor.  ii.  14.  I  think, 
 M  too,  you  must  observe  the  truth  of  what  I  re- 
 "  marked  some  time  ago,  that  there  were  facts 
 "  asserted  in  the  Bible  which  you  probably  did 
 "  not  yet  know,  and  which,  when  you  should 
 "  be  told  them,  you  probably  would  not  believe. 
 "  The  experiment  is,  I  think,  decisive,  and 
 "  proves  the  necessity  of  the  agency  of  a  supe- 
 "  rior  power,  to  turn  men  from  u  darkness  unto 
 "  light,"  from  a  state  of  blindness  to  a  state  of 
 "  vision ;  Acts  xxvi.  18.  and  John  ix.  39- — 41. 
 "  before  they  will  believe,  or  distinctly  appre- 
 *  bend,  many  truths  relative  to  salvation.    This 
 
REV.  ALEXANDER  STEWART,  D.  D.       131 
 
 "  point  being  ascertained,  I  expect  no  more 
 
 "  from  argument ;   and  I  am  perfectly  willing, 
 
 "  with  you,  to  put  an  end  to  controversy  on 
 
 "  the  subject.     I  would  only  request  you  to  fix 
 
 *  your  attention  occasionally  on  the  proofs  of 
 
 "  the  divine  origin  of  the  Christian  religion,  and 
 
 "  the  inspiration  of  the  scriptures  ;  and  also  on 
 
 "  the  difference  between  the  points  therein  as- 
 
 "  serted,  and  your  own  creed ;  and  to  observe 
 
 "  how  far  the  difference  is  trivial  or  important. 
 
 "  It  will  be  worth  while  to  observe,  what  are 
 
 "  the  effects  of  our  respective  creeds.    Whether 
 
 "  mine  will  prove  the  destruction  of  moral  virtue, 
 
 "  as  you  apprehend  its  tendency  to  be,  time  and 
 
 "  trial  must  shew.    I  dare  not  make  professions, 
 
 "  nor  hold  myself  up  as  a  model.     My  feelings 
 
 "  and  affections  have  been  all  my  life  remark- 
 
 "  ably  cold,  and  my  constitution  very  phleg- 
 
 "  matic.    However  satisfied  I  am  with  my  prin- 
 
 "  ciples,  I  cannot  say  the  same  of  my  temper 
 
 "  and  practice.     I  am  convinced,  however,  that 
 
 "  the  direct  tendency  of  the  truths  of  the  gos- 
 
 "  pel,  so  far  as  they  actually  influence  the  mind, 
 
 "  that  is,  just  as  far  as  they  are  actually  believ- 
 
 "  ed,  is  to  make  men  honest,  kind,  generous 
 
 "  to  others,  humble,  devout,  obedient  toward 
 
 "  God,  patient,  contented,  happy  in  themselves. 
 
 "  And  I  know  that  the  grace  of  God  is  sufficient 
 
 "  to  make  mc  feel  the  influence  of  these  truths ; 
 
132  MEMOIRS  OF  THE 
 
 "  so  that  my  temper  and  conduct  shall  be  more 
 "  and  more  formed  by  their  influence,  and  on 
 "  that  I  found  my  hope  of  improvement.  I 
 "  know,  too,  that  the  same  power  can  give  you 
 "  a  new  heart,  Ezek.  xi.  19.  20.  to  believe 
 "  and  submit  to  his  way  of  salvation.  I  thank 
 "  you  for  your  kind  admonition  with  re- 
 "  spect  to  rash  or  unwarrantable  judgment.  I 
 "  am  convinced  such  a  temper  must  be  very 
 "  different  from  the  true  Christian  spirit.  You 
 "  see,  however,  that  in  the  present  case  I  do 
 "  not  judge  of  you  so  rashly  as  you  may  have 
 "  supposed,  for  1  do  not  give  you  up  as  lost  for 
 "  ever.  So  far  from  it,  that  I  have  an  earnest 
 "  hope,  (and  I  do  not  this  moment  know  any 
 "  earthly  price  for  which  I  would  give  it  up), 
 "  that  the  Holy  Spirit,  who  hath  brought  one 
 "  of  us  to  the  knowledge  of  the  truth,  when  we 
 "  were  both  alike  strangers  to  it,  and  averse 
 "  from  receiving  it,  just  like  the  rest  of  the 
 u  world,  (Eph.  ii.  3.)  will,  in  his  own  time  and 
 "  manner,  bring  the  other  likewise,  (2  Tim. 
 "  ii.  25.).  I  am  far  from  despairing  that  we 
 "  shall  yet  agree  more  cordially  than  ever,  though 
 "  for  the  present  we  differ.  In  the  mean  time, 
 "  let  us  by  all  means  study  mutual  forbearance 
 "  and  kindness.  I  am  sure  I  have  much  reason 
 "  to  admire  yours,  which  has  been  long  tried, 
 il  and  continues  undiminished.     I  am  bv   no 
 
REV.  ALEXANDER  STEWART,  D.  D.        133 
 
 "  means  for  giving  up  corresponding.  I  shall 
 "  only  beg  this  much  allowance  for  my  pecu- 
 "  liarities,  considering  how  I  am  impressed  with 
 "  the  importance  of  religious  truths,  and  the 
 "  necessity  of  having  all  my  feelings,  purposes, 
 w  and  actions,  regulated  by  a  regard  to  religious 
 "  principles,  in  the  minutest,  as  well  as  in  the 
 "  most  important  particulars,  that  you  bear 
 "  with  me,  whenever  my  letters,  or  my  conver- 
 "  sation,  happen  to  discover  that  spirit.  Indeed, 
 "  I  cannot  endure  the  thought  of  being  asham- 
 "  ed  of  my  Master,  or  of  shrinking  from  avow- 
 "  ing  my  attachment  to  him." 
 
 We  deem  it  worth  while  to  turn  aside  for  a 
 little,  to  notice  those  indirect  exertions  made  by 
 Mr  Stewart,  to  diffuse  the  good  which  he  himself 
 had  freely  received.  These  earnest  exertions 
 demonstrate  the  reality  of  the  change  he  had  un- 
 dergone, and  beautifully  illustrate  the  benevo- 
 lence inseparable  from  Christian  character.  But 
 it  is  now  time  to  introduce  Mr  Stewart  in  his 
 altered  character,  ministering  to  his  own  people, 
 and  the  happy  effects  cannot  be  so  well  repre- 
 sented, as  by  laying  before  the  reader  his  own 
 narrative  of  the  events  subsequent  to  Mr  Si- 
 meon's visit  *. 
 
 *  This  narrative,  so  often  referred  to,  was  given  to  the 
 public  in  1800,  in  form  of  a  Letter  to  Mr  Black.     That  it 
 
134  MEMOIRS  OF  THE 
 
 "  From  that  time,  I  began  to  preach  Jesus 
 "  Christ,  with  some  degree  of  knowledge  and 
 "  confidence.  From  August  1797  to  January 
 "  1798,  I  preached  a  course  of  sermons  on  the 
 "  fundamental  doctrines  of  Christianity ;  follow- 
 "  ing,  for  the  most  part,  the  selection  and  order 
 "  of  texts  in  the  tract  en  titled  "Short  Sermons*." 
 
 was  well  received  by  the  friends  of  religion,  it  is  hardly 
 necessary  to  state.  Indeed,  a  work  like  that  at  Moulin 
 had  for  years  been  unknown  among  our  languishing  half- 
 dead  congregations.  Nor  would  it  be  easy,  among  publi* 
 cations  of  a  similar  kind,  to  name  one  of  greater  interest, 
 whether  we  consider  the  candour,  modesty,  and  intelligence 
 of  the  writer,  or  the  intrinsic  importance  of  the  contents. 
 Letters  from  entire  strangers,  both  in  England  and  Ame- 
 rica, bore  testimony  how  well  the  narrative  was  received ; 
 and,  among  others,  we  may  mention  the  venerable  Newton, 
 who,  both  at  the  time  of  its  appearance,  and  several  years 
 after,  expressed  a  most  favourable  judgment  of  the  publi- 
 cation. 
 
 *  The  texts  in  the  above-named  pamphlet  are  as  follows  : 
 
 Matth.  xvi.  26.  What  is  a  man  profited,  if  he  gain  the 
 whole  world,  and  lose  his  own  soul  ?  Or  what  shall  a  man 
 give  in  exchange  for  his  soul  ? 
 
 1  John  iii.  4.  Sin  is  the  transgression  of  the  law. 
 
 Rom.  iii.  23.  All  have  sinned,  and  come  short  of  the  glory 
 of  God. 
 
 Gal.  iii.  1 0.  Cursed  is  every  one  that  continueth  not  in 
 all  things  that  are  written  in  the  book  of  the  law  to  do  them. 
 
REV.  ALEXANDER  STEWART,  D.  D.        135 
 
 "  I  was  now  enabled  to  shew,  from  scripture, 
 "  that  all  men  are  by  nature  enemies  to  God, 
 u  disobedient  to  his  law,  and  on  that  account 
 *  exposed  to  his  just  indignation  and  curse.  I 
 ■  therefore  addressed  them,  not  as  persons  who 
 u  were  already,  from  education,  birth-right,  or 
 u  local  situation,  possessed  of  saving  faith  and 
 "  other  Christian  graces,  but  as  sinners,  under 
 
 Rom.  vi.  23.   The  wages  of  sin  is  death. 
 
 Acts  xvi.  30.  What  shall  I  do  to  be  saved  ? 
 
 Mark  i.  15.  Repent  ye,  and  believe  the  gospel. 
 
 1  Tim.  i.  15.  This  is  a  faithful  saying,  and  worthy  of  all 
 acceptation,  that  Jesus  Christ  came  into  the  world  to  save 
 sinners,  of  whom  I  am  the  chief. 
 
 John  vi.  37-  Him  that  cometh  unto  me,  I  will  in  no  wise 
 cast  out. 
 
 Rom.  v.  1.  Being  justified  by  faith,  we  have  peace  with 
 God,  through  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ. 
 
 1  Peter  ii.  7-  Unto  you  which  believe  he  is  precious. 
 
 Heb.  xii.  14.  Follow  holiness;  without  which,  no  man 
 shall  see  the  Lord. 
 
 Tit.  ii.  1 3.  Looking  for  that  blessed  hope,  and  the  glo- 
 rious appearing  of  the  great  God,  and  our  Saviour  Jesus 
 Christ. 
 
 Luke  xi.  13.  If  ye  then,  being  evil,  know  how*  to  give  good 
 gifts  unto  your  children ;  how  much  more  shall  your  hea- 
 venly Father  give  the  Holy  Spirit  to  them  that  ask  him  ? 
 
 Heb.  xii.  27.  It  is  appointed  unto  men  once  to  die,  and 
 after  this  the  judgment. 
 
 Heb.  ii.  3.  How  shall  we  escape,  if  we  neglect  so  great 
 salvation  ? 
 
136  MEMOIRS  OF  THE 
 
 "  sentence  of  death,  and  who  had  "  not  as  yet 
 "  obtained  mercy."  I  did  not,  as  before,  mere- 
 "  ly  reprove  them  for  particular  faults  or  vices, 
 "  and  urge  them  to  the  practice  of  particular 
 M  virtues;  but  told  them,  that  the  whole  of  their 
 "  affections  and  inclinations  needed  to  be  point- 
 "  ed  in  a  new  direction,  and  even  their  virtues 
 u  to  be  new-modelled.  I  shewed,  that  this, 
 "  supposing  it  done,  could  not  atone,  however, 
 "  for  past  offences,  nor  wipe  away  guilt  already 
 u  contracted ;  and  that  sin  could  not  be  remit- 
 "  ted  without  satisfaction  made  to  the  broken 
 "  law  of  God  ;  that  neither  could  purity  of  heart, 
 "  and  constant  obedience  in  future,  recover  their 
 "  title  to  the  reward  of  eternal  life,  which  had 
 "  been  at  first  conferred  as  a  free  gift  by  God,  and 
 "  was  now  wholly  forfeited  by  sin :  yet  that 
 "  their  case  was  by  no  means  desperate ;  for  we 
 "  had  the  glad  tidings  to  tell,  that  God  had 
 "  made  provision  for  the  complete  salvation  of 
 "  sinners ;  that  he  had  appointed  his  own  eter- 
 "  nal  Son,  in  the  human  nature,  to  procure  for 
 "  sinners  the  pardon  of  sin,  and  a  title  to  glory, 
 "  by  his  own  obedience  and  sufferings ;  that,  in 
 "  conferring  these  blessings,  God  acts  as  the  so- 
 "  vereign  dispenser  of  his  own  gifts,  not  in  con- 
 "  sideration  of  any  merit  (for  there  is  none)  in 
 "  the  person  on  whom  he  bestows  them ;  that  a 
 "  conformity  of  our  will  to  the  law  of  God,  which 
 
REV.  ALEXANDER  STEWART,  D.  D.         137 
 
 "  I  formerly  considered  as  the  ground  of  our 
 "  acceptance,  was  itself  a  gift  bestowed  by  God, 
 "  in  consequence  of  his  having  first  justified, 
 u  accepted,  and  adopted  us  to  be  his  children  ; 
 "  that  in  this  great  salvation  wrought  out  by 
 "  Christ  for  sinners,  love  to  God  and  man,  an 
 "  abhorrence  of  evil,  and  a  disposition  to  what 
 "  is  good,  were  included  as  essential  parts,  in- 
 H  separably  connected  with  the  rest ;  insomuch, 
 "  that  if  a  man  is  not  renewed  in  the  spirit  of 
 "  his  mind,  neither  are  his  sins  pardoned,  nor 
 "  his  person  accepted  with  God.  I  urged  them 
 "  to  attend  to  what  the  word  of  God  declared 
 "  to  be  their  condition ;  not  to  be  deceived  with 
 "  vain  hopes  of  recommending  themselves  to 
 "  his  favour  by  their  own  exertions ;  but  as 
 M  humble  needy  supplicants,  to  apply  to  him, 
 
 *  through  the  merits  of  Christ,  for  pardon,  and 
 "  the  gift  of  his  Spirit  to  make  them  serve  him 
 "  with  fidelity  and  delight ;  to  be  diligent  in 
 "  studying  the  word  of  truth,  which  alone  can 
 "  make  us  wise  unto  salvation  ;  and  having  ob- 
 "  tained  grace  from  God,  to  practise  diligently 
 "  every  active  and  every  self-denying  duty,  and 
 "  to  abound  in  good  fruit,  to  their  own  advance- 
 "  ment  in  holiness  and  comfort,  to  the  temporal 
 
 *  and  spiritual  benefit  of  their  fellow-creatures, 
 "  and  to  the  praise  of  him  who  had  called  them 
 "  out  of  darkness  into  his  marvellous  light.     I 
 
 i 
 
138  MEMOIRS  OF  THE 
 
 "  thought  it  right  often  to  caution  them  against 
 "  judging  of  their  state  by  transient  impressions 
 "  or  emotions  of  which  they  might  be  conscious; 
 "  but  only  by  a  prevailing  habitual  preference 
 "  of  God's  honour  and  service  to  their  own  gra- 
 "  tification,  appearing  in  the  uniform  tenor  of 
 "  their  purposes  and  actions. 
 
 u  The  novelty  of  the  matter,  and  some 
 "  change  in  my  manner  of  preaching,  excited 
 "  attention.  People  began  to  think  more,  and 
 "  sometimes  to  talk  together,  of  religious  sub- 
 "  jects,  and  of  the  sermons  they  heard.  But  I 
 "  did  not  yet  know  of  any  deep  or  lasting  im- 
 "  pressions  having  been  made.  The  two  per- 
 "  sons  before  mentioned  as  earliest  converted, 
 "  had  by  this  time  got  clearer  views  of  the4gos- 
 "  pel,  were  enabled  to  derive  comfort  from  the 
 "  word  of  salvation,  and  began  to  bear  their 
 "  testimony  to  the  grace  of  God  their  Saviour. 
 "  They  were  in  use  of  visiting  occasionally  a 
 "  poor  infirm  woman,  who  had  long  walked 
 "  with  God,  and  who  now  lived  alone  in  a 
 "  mean  cottage  in  the  neighbouring  village. 
 "  It  was  proposed  that  they  should  come  to- 
 "  gether  to  her  house  at  a  time  appointed,  and 
 "  that  I  and  some  of  my  family  should  join 
 "  them,  and  spend  an  evening  hour  or  two  in 
 "  reading,  conversation,  and  prayer.  In  pro- 
 u  cess  of  time,  different  persons,  who  were  in- 
 
REV.  ALEXANDER  STEWART,  D.  D.         139 
 
 "  quiring  after  the  one  thing  needful,  hearing 
 "  how  we  were  employed,  and  believing  that 
 "  God  was  with  us,  were  at  their  own  request 
 "  admitted  of  our  party.  In  this  poor  woman's 
 "  little  smoky  hovel,  we  continued  to  hold  our 
 "  weekly  meetings,  to  August  1799,  when  she 
 "  was  called  away  to  join  the  general  assembly 
 "  of  the  first-born  above.  Her  growth  in  grace 
 "  had  been  very  conspicuous,  and  her  death  was 
 "  triumphant. 
 
 "  In  summer  1798,  the  Lord's  supper  was 
 "  dispensed  in  our  congregation,  at  the  usual 
 "  time  of  the  year.  For  some  weeks  before,  I 
 "  endeavoured  in  preaching  to  explain  more 
 "  fully,  and  with  more  application  to  the  con- 
 "  science,  the  nature  of  the  ordinance,  and  the 
 m  character  of  those  who,  under  the  denomina- 
 "  tion  of  disciples,  were  commanded  to  keep  it. 
 "  The  exhortations  and  warnings  then  given, 
 "  appeared  to  be  accompanied  with  a  divine 
 "  blessing.     Some  of  the  ordinary  communi- 
 
 •  cants,  judging  themselves  to  be  in  an  uncon- 
 "  verted  state,  kept  back,  of  their  own  accord, 
 
 *  from  partaking  of  the  sacrament.  Others, 
 "  after  conversing  with  me  privately  on  the 
 "  subject,  took  the  same  resolution.  Many  of 
 "  those  who  might  otherwise  have  applied  for 
 "  admission,  forbore  to  apply.  I  inferred  this 
 "  from  the  comparatively  small  number  of  per- 
 
140  MEMOIRS  OF  THE 
 
 "  sons  applying.  For  some  years  before,  the 
 "  number  of  candidates  for  admission  each  sum- 
 "  mer  amounted  to  thirty,  forty,  and  sometimes 
 "  near  fifty.  In  summer  1798,  there  were  not 
 "  above  twelve ;  of  whom  nine  were  admitted. 
 "  The  sacrament  was  dispensed  the  same  year 
 "  again  in  November,  on  which  occasion  there 
 "  were  only  six  more  new  communicants  ad- 
 "  mitted. 
 
 "  Although  the  number  of  communicants 
 "  was  thus  for  the  time  diminished,  yet  the 
 "  number  of  those  who  were  brought  under 
 "  concern  about  their  eternal  interests  was  in* 
 "  creasing.  This  concern  shewed  itself  chiefly 
 "  among  the  younger  people  under  twenty-five 
 "  or  thirty.  Their  knowledge  was  yet  imper- 
 "  feet.  A  natural  shyness  often  hindered  them 
 "  long  from  discovering  to  others  what  they 
 "  thought  or  felt.  They  had  as  yet  no  friend 
 "  or  intimate  whom  they  judged  able,  from  ex- 
 "  perience,  to  understand  their  situation,  or  to 
 "  give  them  counsel.  Some  of  them  began  to 
 "  visit  one  of  the  two  earlier  converts  formerly 
 "  mentioned,  from  whose  reading  and  conver- 
 "  sation  they  derived  considerable  benefit.  By 
 "  means  of  this  common  friend,  they  were 
 "  brought  more  acquainted  with  each  other. 
 "  One  might  now  observe  at  church,  after  di- 
 "  vine  service,  two  or  three  small  groups  form- 
 
REV.  ALEXANDER  STEWART,  D.  D.        141 
 
 "  ing  themselves  round  our  few  more  advanced 
 "  believers,  and  withdrawing  from  the  crowd 
 "  into  the  adjacent  fields,  to  exchange  Chris- 
 44  tian  salutations,  and  hold  Christian  converse 
 •'  together;    while    a    little    cousin,    or  other 
 
 *  young  relative,  followed  as  a  silent  attend- 
 "  ant  on  the  party,  and  listened  earnestly  to 
 "  their  religious  discourse. 
 
 M  As  the  sacrament  of  the  Lord's  Supper  had 
 "  been  much  abused,  by  admitting,  without 
 "  strict  examination  or  special  instruction,  all 
 "  candidates  who  could  give  a  tolerable  answer 
 "  to  common  questions,  and  who  were  free  from 
 "  grosser  immoralities ;  so  it  must  be  confessed, 
 "  that  the  sacrament  of  baptism  had  been  still 
 "  more  profaned.  Nothing  but  one  kind  of 
 ■  scandal  was  understood  to  preclude  a  man 
 "  from  admission  to  this  ordinance.     Gross  ig- 
 
 *  norance,  or  immoral  behaviour,  only  laid  a 
 "  man  open  to  some  admonition  or  reproof;  or 
 "  at  most  laid  him  under  the  necessity  of  pro- 
 "  curing  another  sponsor ;  but  hardly  ever  hin- 
 "  dered  the  baptism  of  his  child.  Nothing  sub- 
 a  jects  a  man  to  greater  disgrace  and  obloquy 
 "  among  us,  than  to  have  his  child  remain  un- 
 "  baptised.     The  dominion  of  custom  in  this 
 
 *  matter  is  so  despotic,  that  most  parents 
 u  would  chuse  rather,  to  carry  their  children  a 
 "  hundred  miles  to  be  baptised  by  a  Popish 
 
142  MEMOIRS  OF  THE 
 
 "  priest,  than  to  be  refused  baptism  when  they 
 "  demand  it.  The  superstitious  notions,  and 
 "  other  abuses  attending  our  celebration  of  this 
 "  sacrament,  called  loudly  for  reformation. — 
 "  Last  year,  I  preached  a  short  course  of  ser- 
 "  mons  on  baptism.  At  the  same  time,  agree- 
 "  ably  to  a  recent  resolution  and  recommenda- 
 "  tion  of  the  presbytery  to  which  I  belong,  I 
 "  revived  the  laws  of  the  church  which  had 
 w  fallen  into  disuse,  relative  to  this  ordinance, 
 "  particularly  that  which  prohibits  private  bap- 
 "  tism,  Acts  of  Assembly,  1690.  X.  Whenever 
 "  I  baptise  a  child  on  a  week  day,  whether  in 
 "  the  church  or  elsewhere,  I  give  previous  inti- 
 "  mation  of  sermon ;  and,  after  preaching,  I  ad- 
 "  minister  the  ordinance  in  the  presence  of  the 
 ff  congregation  *.     By  these  means,  many  have 
 
 *"  In  process  of  time,  I  found  that  this  practice  need- 
 "  ed  some  restriction.  It  was  always  desirable  that  both 
 "  parents  should  be  present  at  baptism,  as  being  parties 
 "  peculiarly  interested  in  the  solemn  transaction.  They 
 "  could  rarely  attend  on  the  ordinance  in  church,  without 
 "  risking  the  health  of  the  new-born  infant,  and  of  the 
 "  mother  not  yet  fully  recovered.  It  was  likewise  inconve- 
 u  nient  for  private  families,  especially  in  such  circumstan- 
 "  ces,  to  have  a  mixed  congregation  of  people  assembled  at 
 "  their  houses ;  nor  could  many  be  accommodated.  There- 
 "  fore,  instead  of  intimating  sermon,  I  have  now  been  long 
 "  accustomed  to  allow  the  head  of  the  familv  to  ask  such 
 
REV.  ALEXANDER  STEWART,  D.  D.         143 
 
 "  been  brought  to  understand  better  the  nature 
 "  of  this  sacrament,  and  to  attend  to  it  with 
 "  more  reverence.  It  had  been  long  customary 
 "  for  the  parent  to  give  an  entertainment,  ac- 
 ¥  cording  to  his  station,  to  his  neighbours  and 
 ."  connections,  immediately  after  the  baptism; 
 "  by  which  means  this  sacred  ordinance,  in- 
 "  stead  of  being  regarded  as  a  most  solemn  re- 
 "  ligious  service,  had  degenerated  into  an  occa- 
 "  sion  of  carnal  mirth  and  festivity.  The  more 
 "  religiously  disposed  amongst  us  have  set  the 
 "  example  of  discontinuing  this  practice. 
 
 "  The  following  month,  March  1799,  I  be- 
 "  gan  a  course  of  practical  sermons  on  Regene- 
 "  ration,  which  I  continued  to  the  beginning  of 
 "  July  following.  These  were  attended  with  a 
 "  more  general  awakening  than  had  yet  appear- 
 "  ed  amongst  us.  Seldom  a  week  passed  in 
 <c  which  we  did  not  see  or  hear  of  one,  two,  or 
 "  three  persons,  brought  under  deep  concern 
 "  about  their  souls,  accompanied  with  strong 
 "  convictions  of  sin,  and  earnest  inquiry  after  a 
 
 "  friends  or  neighbours  as  he  chooses  to  have  present; 
 "  and  I  read  and  expound  a  portion  of  scripture,  in  pre- 
 "  sence  of  the  parents  and  the  company  assembled.  This 
 "  private  exposition  and  application  of  the  word  of  God,  I 
 m  have  found  profitable,  as  well  as  the  more  public  preach- 
 "  ing  of  it." 
 
144  MEMOIllS  OF  THE 
 
 "  Saviour.  It  was  a  great  advantage  to  these 
 "  that  there  were  others  on  the  road  before 
 "  them ;  for  they  were  seldom  at  a  loss  now  to 
 "  find  an  acquaintance  to  whom  they  could 
 "  freely  communicate  their  anxious  thoughts. 
 "  The  house  of  one  of  our  most  established 
 "  Christians  became  the  chief  resort  of  all  who 
 "  wished  to  spend  an  hour  in  reading  or  con- 
 "  versing  about  spiritual  subjects.  Some  who 
 u  had  but  newly  begun  to  entertain  serious 
 "  thoughts  about  religion,  and  who  had  not  yet 
 "  come  so  far  as  to  speak  out  their  mind,  would 
 "  contrive  an  errand  to  this  person's  house,  and 
 "  listen  to  her  talk.  She  was  visited  at  other 
 "  times  by  those  who  were  drawn  only  by  cu- 
 "  riosity  or  a  disputatious  spirit,  who  wanted 
 "  to  cavil  at  her  words,  or  draw  her  into  con- 
 "  troversy.  Such  visitors  she  did  not  avoid, 
 "  and  at  last  they  ceased  to  trouble  her. 
 
 "  Other  experienced  Christians  among  us 
 "  have  been  extremely  useful  to  their  younger 
 "  brethren  and  sisters.  Their  conversation  and 
 "  example  have  been  principal  means  of  turn- 
 "  ing  the  attention  of  the  young  to  religion, 
 "  and  of  edifying  those  who  have  been  already 
 *  awakened.  Such  persons  I  find  most  ser- 
 "  viceable  auxiliaries.  If  they  be  neither  pro- 
 "  phets,  nor  apostles,  nor  teachers,  yet  their 
 "  usefulness  in  the  church  entitles  them  to  the 
 
REV.  ALEXANDER  STEWART,  D.  D.        145 
 
 •  appellation  of  helps,  1  Cor.  xii.  28.  Nor  do 
 "  I  think  an  apostle  would  hesitate  to  acknow- 
 "  ledge  them,  both  men  and  women,  in  the  re- 
 "  lation  of  fellow-labourers,  Phil.  iv.  3.  Nor 
 "  has  success  in  this  divine  work  been  confined 
 "  to  instruments  raised  up  among  ourselves. 
 "  The  same  happy  effects  have  in  a  certain 
 "  measure  attended  the  preaching,  the  prayers, 
 "  or  conversation  of  pious  brethren,  who  have 
 "  assisted  at  the  celebration  of  the  Lord's  sup- 
 "  per,  or  made  us  other  occasional  visits. 
 
 "  It  is  observable,  that  the  work  of  conver- 
 "  sion  has  been  begun  and  carried  on  among 
 "  this  people,  in  a  quiet  manner,  without  any 
 "  confusion,  and  without  those  ungovernable  agi- 
 "  tations  of  mind,  or  convulsions  of  the  body, 
 "  or  shrieking,  or  fainting,  which  have  often  ac- 
 "  companied  a  general  awakening  in  other  places. 
 "  One  young  woman  was  so  much  moved  in 
 "  church,  in  March  1799?  that  she  wept  bitterly, 
 "  and  her  friends  thought  it  prudent  to  convey 
 "  her  out  a  little  before  the  congregation  was  dis- 
 "  missed.  She  was  for  five  or  six  days  unfit  for 
 "  going  about  her  usual  work.  In  June  follow- 
 "  ing,  at  the  time  of  our  sacrament,  she  felt  emo- 
 "  tions  of  joy  for  a  few  days,  to  such  a  degree  as 
 "  to  withdraw  her  regard,  in  a  great  measure, 
 "  from  sensible  objects.  Spiritual  affections  were 
 "  unusually  strong  in  her,  and  spiritual  objects 
 
146  MEMOIRS  OF  THE 
 
 "  appeared  visible  and  near;  but  her  sentiments 
 "  were  quite  correct  and  scriptural.  A  few  days 
 "  afterwards,  when  her  emotions  had  subsided, 
 "  she  told  me  that  she  was  at  the  time  sensible 
 "  that  her  mind  was  somewhat  unsettled,  but 
 "  that  she  found  comfort  in  recollecting  the  a- 
 "  postle's  words,  "  If  we  are  beside  ourselves,  it 
 "  is  to  God."  This  was  exactly  her  case.  She 
 "  continues  a  humble  lively  Christian,  and,  ex- 
 "  cept  these  two  short  intervals,  she  has  regu- 
 "  larly  performed  her  ordinary  work,  as  a  maid- 
 "  servant,  to  the  satisfaction  of  her  master  and 
 "  mistress,  in  whose  service  she  still  remains. 
 "  Another  woman,  the  mother  of  a  family,  in 
 "  April  last,  was  so  much  moved  in  hearing  ser- 
 "  mon,  that  of  her  own  accord  she  left  the 
 "  church.  Excepting  these  two  instances,  I 
 "  know  of  none  whose  emotions  under  the 
 "  preaching  of  the  word  discovered  themselves 
 w  in  any  other  manner  than  by  silent  tears. 
 
 "  Having  lately  made  an  enumeration  of  those 
 "  of  our  congregation,  whom,  to  the  best  of  my 
 "  judgment,  I  trust  I  can  reckon  truly  enlight- 
 "  ened  with  the  saving  knowledge  of  Christ,  I 
 "  find  their  number  about  seventy.  The  greater 
 "  part  of  these  are  under  thirty  years  of  age.  Se- 
 "  veral  are  above  forty  ;  six  or  seven  above  fifty ; 
 "  one  fifty-six;  and  one  above  seventy.  Of 
 "  children  under  twelve  or  fourteen,  there  are  a 
 
REV.  ALEXANDER  STEWART,  D.  D.         147 
 
 "  good  many  who  seem  to  have  a  liking  to  re- 
 "  ligion ;  but  we  find  it  difficult  to  form  a  de- 
 "  cided  opinion  of  their  case.  Of  persons  who 
 "  have  died  within  these  twelve  months,  three 
 "  we  are  persuaded,  and  we  hope  two  or  three 
 "  others,  have  slept  in  Jesus. 
 
 "  A  very  considerable  number  are  friendly  to 
 "  religion,  and  countenance  and  defend  the 
 "  truth,  even  while  they  do  not  as  yet  appear 
 "  to  live  under  its  power.  A  few  among  our- 
 "  selves  did  for  a  while  jeer  and  deride  the  god- 
 i*  ly  ;  but  such  persons  are  left  in  so  small  a  mi- 
 "  nority,  that  they  have  ceased  to  be  trouble- 
 "  some.  The  scriptures,  too,  are  so  generally 
 "  read  and  referred  to,  that  the  truth  itself  serves 
 "  to  stop  the  mouth  of  scoffers.  We  are  some- 
 "  times  told  that  the  sentiments  and  language 
 "  of  our  people  are  much  misrepresented,  and 
 "  are  the  object  of  much  wonder,  and  ridicule, 
 "  and  invective  in  other  places.  But  we  only 
 ft  hear  of  such  things ;  they  are  hardly  permitted 
 "  to  come  nigh  us.  The  chief  opposition  arises 
 "  from  those  who  possess  superior  scholarship, 
 "  and  acquaintance  with  the  scriptures.  These 
 "  contend,  that  there  can  be  nothing  substan- 
 "  tial  or  necessary  in  that  experimental  know- 
 "  ledge  which  illiterate  persons  may  pretend  to 
 "  have  attained ;  and  that  it  is  mere  arrogance 
 "  in  them  to  imagine  that  they  can  have  a  larger 
 
148  MEMOIRS  OF  THE 
 
 "  share  of  saving  knowledge  than  men  who 
 "  are  greater  scholars,  and  better  versed  in  the 
 "  scriptures.  "  Are  we  blind  also  ?"  has  ever 
 "  been  the  indignant  language  of  carnal  wisdom, 
 "  of  literary  pride,  and  of  self-righteous  pre- 
 "  sumption. 
 
 "  It  is  evident,  that  the  scriptures  represent 
 "  all  mankind  as  divided  into  two  classes.  These 
 "  are  distinguished  from  each  other  in  the  most 
 "  explicit  manner ;  and  the  distinction  is  mark- 
 "  ed  by  the  strongest  language,  and  the  most 
 "  significant  comparisons.  They  are  called  the 
 "  children  of  God,  and  the  children  of  the  devil, 
 "  1  John  iii.  10  ;  the  children  of  the  kingdom, 
 "  and  the  children  of  the  wicked  one,  Matth. 
 "  xiii.  38  ;  the  just  and  the  wicked,  Matth.  xiii. 
 u  49 ;  they  who  are  dead  in  trespasses  and  sins, 
 "  and  they  who  are  quickened  together  with 
 "  Christ,  Eph.  ii.  1 — 6.  They  are  compared  to 
 "  wheat  and  tares,  Matth.  xiii.  25 ;  to  good  and 
 "  bad  fishes,  Matth.  xiii.  47,  48 ;  to  sheep  and 
 "  goats,  Matth.  xxv.  32.  In  the  general  tenor 
 "  of  my  preaching,  especially  in  discussing  the 
 "  important  doctrine  of  regeneration,  I  have 
 "  endeavoured  to  keep  in  view  this  distinction, 
 *  and  to  exhibit  it  clearly  to  the  notice  of  my 
 "  hearers.  Many  have  been  not  a  little  ofFend- 
 u  ed  at  such  a  discrimination  ;  have  found  fault 
 "  with  the  preacher ;    have  complained   of  un- 
 
REV.  ALEXANDER  STEWART,  D.  D.         149 
 
 "  charitable  judgment,  pleading  that  it  was 
 "  God's  prerogative  to  judge  the  heart;  that 
 "  they  hoped  theirs  was  good,  though  they 
 "  did  not  make  such  a  parading  profession  of 
 "  religion,  &c.  The  truth  has  prevailed,  how- 
 "  ever,  and  some  have  confessed  to  me,  that 
 "  their  first  serious  thoughts  about  the  state  of 
 "  their  souls  arose  from  the  surprise  and  resent- 
 "  ment  they  felt  on  being  classed,  under  the 
 *  character  of  unbelievers,  along  with  murder- 
 "  ers  and  idolators,  Rev.  xxi.  8.  But  in  giving 
 "  such  offensive,  though  necessary  warnings,  I 
 "  had  much  need  of  the  Spirit  of  Christ,  to  re- 
 "  press  all  asperity  of  language  and  manner,  to 
 "  awaken  tender  compassion  for  those  whom  I 
 7  addressed,  and  to  enable  me  to  speak  the  truth 
 "  in  love. 
 
 "  I  observe  among  our  young  converts  a  con- 
 "  siderable  variety  of  frames,  but  a  striking  uni- 
 "  formity  of  character.  They  are  dejected  or 
 "  elevated,  according  as  their  regard  is  more 
 "  fixed  on  their  own  deficiencies  and  corrup- 
 "  tions,  or  on  the  glorious  sufficiency  of  Christ. 
 "  But  all  of  them  are  characterised  by  lowli- 
 "  ness  of  mind,  by  a  warm  attachment  to  each 
 "  other,  and  to  all  who  love  the  Lord  Jesus, 
 f  and  by  the  affections  set  on  things  above.  I 
 "  know  no  instances  among  them  of  persons 
 "  trusting  for  comfort  or  direction  to  dreams  or 
 
150  MEMOIRS  OF  THE 
 
 visions,  impulses  or  impressions ;  and  hardly 
 an  instance  of  seeking  comfort  from  external 
 signs  or  tokens,  arbitrarily  assumed  by  the 
 inquirer,  after  the  example  of  Abraham's  ser- 
 vant, Gen.  xxiv.  14.  and  of  Gideon,  Judges 
 vi.  36—40. 
 
 "  We  have  not  yet  to  lament  any  great  fall- 
 ing off  in  those  who  appeared  to  have  once 
 undergone  a  saving  change.  There  may  be 
 persons  who  were  for  a  time  inquiring  with 
 some  apparent  earnestness,  and  afterwards  fell 
 back  to  their  former  unconcern.  I  have  rea- 
 son to  suspect  that  there  may  be  several  in 
 this  situation,  though  I  have  not  access  to 
 know  the  exact  state  of  their  minds.  May 
 the  Lord  discover  it  to  themselves  in  time  ! 
 But  all,  so  far  as  I  know,  who  seemed  to  have 
 been  once  truly  humbled  for  their  sins,  and 
 made  to  feel  in  their  hearts  the  grace  of  God 
 in  the  gospel,  continue  thus  far  to  maintain 
 a  humble,  spiritual,  conscientious  walk.  They 
 have  a  constant  appetite  for  the  sincere  milk 
 of  the  word,  and  for  Christian  fellowship  with 
 one  another.  The  younger  sort  have  lost 
 their  former  levity  of  speech  and  behaviour, 
 and  are  become  devout  and  sober-minded; 
 those  more  advanced  in  life,  have  laid  aside 
 their  selfishness  and  worldly-mindedness,  and 
 are  grown  humble,  contented,  and  thankful. 
 
REV.  ALEXANDER  STEWART,  D.  D.        151 
 
 *  The  external  effects  of  a  general  concern  about 
 "  religion  have  appeared  in  the  behaviour  even 
 "  of  those  who  do  not  seem  to  have  experienced  a 
 u  change  of  heart.  While  the  younger  people  at- 
 "  tended  a  Sabbath-school,  those  who  were  grown 
 "  up  used  to  spend  the  evening  of  that  day  in 
 "  sauntering  about  the  fields  and  woods  in  gos- 
 "  siping  parties,  or  visiting  their  acquaintance  at 
 "  a  distance,  without  improving  their  time  by 
 "  any  profitable  exercise.  Now  there  is  hardly 
 u  a  lounger  to  be  seen,  nor  any  person  walking 
 "  abroad,  except  going  to  some  house  or  meet- 
 "  ing,  where  he  may  hear  the  scriptures  read. 
 "  Swearing,  profane  talking,  foolish  and  inde- 
 "  cent  jesting,  have  in  a  great  measure  ceased. 
 "  — At  late  wakes,  where  people  assemble  to 
 "  watch  by  the  body  of  a  deceased  neighbour, 
 "  the  whole  night  used  to  be  spent  in  childish, 
 "  noisy  sports  and  pastimes.  Even  the  apart- 
 "  ment  where  the  corpse  lay  was  the  scene  of 
 "  their  revelry.  This  unnatural  custom,  which 
 "  is  still  pretty  general  over  a  great  part  of  the 
 "  Highlands,  is  almost  wholly  discontinued  in 
 "  this  part  of  the  country.  They  still  assemble 
 "  on  such  occasions,  but  they  pass  the  time  in 
 "  reading  the  Bible,  or  some  religious  book,  and 
 "  in  sober  conversation. 
 
 "  In  reply  to  your  request  of  relating  a  few 
 "  of  the  more  remarkable  cases  of  conversion, 
 
152  MEMOIRS  OF  THE 
 
 "  which  have  occurred  among  this  people,  I 
 "  must  say,  that  I  have  little  uncommon  to  com- 
 "  municate.  I  have  mentioned  already,  that 
 "  almost  all  our  converts  have  been  brought  to 
 "  serious  concern  and  inquiry,  in  a  quiet  gra- 
 "  dual  manner.  To  an  intelligent  observer,  the 
 "  change  in  the  conversation,  temper,  deport- 
 "  ment,  and  the  very  countenance  of  indivi- 
 u  duals,  is  striking;  the  change,  too,  on  the 
 "  general  aspect  of  the  manners  of  the  people  is 
 "  conspicuous.  The  effect  is  thus,  on  the  whole, 
 "  obvious ;  yet  there  are  few  particulars  in  the 
 "  case  of  each  person,  which,  taken  singly,  will 
 "  appear  uncommon,  or  worthy  of  being  detail- 
 "  ed  in  a  separate  narrative.  We  have  no  in- 
 "  stances  of  persons  remarkable  for  profligacy  of 
 "  manners,  or  profaneness  of  speech,  who  have 
 "  been  reclaimed  from  such  enormities,  because 
 "  there  were  none  of  that  description  to  be 
 "  found  in  our  society.  The  change  has  been 
 "  from  ignorance  and  indifference,  and  disrelish 
 "  of  divine  things,  to  knowledge,  and  concern, 
 "  and  spiritual  enjoyment.  Neither  are  there 
 "  among  us  examples  of  persons  suddenly  struck 
 "  and  impressed  by  some  alarming  event,  or 
 "  singular  interposition  of  Providence.  The 
 "  word  of  truth  proclaimed  in  public,  or  spoken 
 "  in  private,  has  been  almost  the  only  outward 
 M  mean  of  producing  conviction  of  sin,  and  con- 
 
REV.  ALEXANDER  STEWART,  D.  D.  153 
 
 "  fidence  in  the  Saviour.  In  every  single  case, 
 44  the  power  of  God  is  visible  in  the  effect  pro- 
 44  duced ;  but  there  is  little  "  diversity  of  ope- 
 44  ration."  Instead  of  endeavouring  to  paint 
 44  the  beauties  of  holiness  in  the  scene  around 
 44  me,  I  rather  wish  to  prevail  with  you  and 
 "  other  friends,  who  know  how  to  enjoy  such  a 
 44  spectacle,  to  "  come  and  see."  " 
 
 Without  making  any  remark  on  this  interest- 
 ing statement,  we  shall  insert  a  few  letters  writ- 
 ten while  the  great  work  was  going  on. 
 
 He  had  met  with  a  severe  domestic  trial  in 
 the  loss  of  Mrs  Stewart,  who,  at  the  time  of  Mr 
 Simeon's  visit,  was  affected  with  the  pulmonary 
 disorder  that  brought  her  to  an  early  grave. 
 And  to  shew  how  a  Christian  can  bear  the  be- 
 reavement of  the  dearest  creature-comforts,  we 
 shall  insert  the  letter  he  wrote  to  Mr  B.  an- 
 nouncing her  decease : — 
 
 Moulin,  Feb.  7.  1799. 
 
 44  Now,  my  dear  brother,  have  I  joyful  news 
 
 44  to  tell !    My  Louisa  is  safely  arrived  a$  her 
 
 '  heavenly  home.     Her  passage  was  remarka- 
 
 44  bly  smooth,  and  her  exit  speedy.     Yesterday 
 
 4  morning  her  spirit  took  its  departure  about 
 
 1  10  o'clock,  and  long  ere  now  it  is  with  God 
 
 '  who  gave  it.     Her  strength  had  been  declin- 
 
 K 
 
154  MEMOIRS  Of  THE 
 
 "  ing  every  day, — she  could  speak  but  little 
 "  and  with  difficulty, — but  her  speech  was  full 
 "  of  her  Saviour's  kindness  and  love  to  her  soul. 
 "  Two  or  three  days  before  her  death,  she  was 
 "  threatened  with  some  degree  of  suffering,  from 
 "  the  feebleness  of  her  frame,  but  it  came  no  far- 
 "  ther.  The  Lord  was  pleased  to  deal  most  ten- 
 "  derly  with  her  and  us,  for  she  breathed  her 
 "  last  without  a  struggle,  or  a  feature  discom- 
 "  posed. 
 
 "  But  a  few  years  ago,  my  address  to  my 
 "  friends,  and  to  you,  I  remember,  in  particu- 
 "  lar,  was  ™y#*gifc  f*h  on  what  we  all  reckoned  a 
 "  joyful  occasion.  Through  the  grace  of  God 
 "  vouchsafed  to  my  dear  partner  and  myself,  I 
 11  am  enabled  from  my  heart  to  repeat  the  same 
 "  address.  I  do  not  forbid  you,  my  dear  friends, 
 "  to  weep, — it  is  the  expression  of  many  a  ten- 
 "  der  and  spiritual  emotion, — but  I  do  call  on 
 "  you  not  to  grieve  or  mourn  for  me  as  for  one 
 "  without  hope.  Rather  let  us  praise  the  Lord, 
 "  and  exalt  his  name  together,  for  his  many 
 "  loving-kindnesses  and  tender  mercies,  saying 
 "  with  Job,  "  Blessed  be  the  name  of  the 
 11  Lord*!" 
 
 *  Mrs  Stewart  left  two  children, — Alexander,  about  to 
 become  a  preacher,  and  Catharine,  married  to  the  Rev. 
 H.  Allan,  minister  of  Kincardine,  Ross-shire. 
 
REV.  ALEXANDER  STEWART,  D.  D.         155 
 
 Thus  strongly  did  Mr  Stewart  enjoy  the  con- 
 solations of  Christ  in  the  season  of  nature's  tri- 
 bulation ! 
 
 To  assuage  the  grief  of  his  friend  for  the  loss 
 of  a  loved  son,  Horace,  among  other  expedients, 
 advises  him  to  divert  the  mind  from  the  ob- 
 ject lost,  and  fix  the  attention  on  the  new 
 conquests  of  Augustus  : — 
 
 Desine  mollium 
 
 Tandem  querelarum :  et  potius  nova 
 Cantemus  Augusti  trophaea 
 Caesaris,  et  rigidum  Niphatem 
 Medumque  flumen  gentibus  additum 
 Victis,  minores  volvere  vortices : 
 Intraque  praescriptum  Gelonos 
 Exiguis  equitare  campis." 
 
 But  if  attention  to  the  victories  of  Caesar  could 
 afford  a  suitable  diversion  to  the  labouring  mind, 
 Mr  Stewart  had  a  much  nobler  field  of  relief 
 presented  to  him  in  the  conquests  of  Christ, 
 whose  victorious  grace  was  subduing  many 
 hearts  around  him,  as  the  extracts  that  follow 
 set  forth  more  particularly  than  was  compatible 
 with  the  plan  of  his  general  narrative. 
 
 To  Mr  Black. 
 
 Moulin,  Oct  20.  1800. 
 "  O  my  dear  brother,  had  you  but  been  with 
 "  us  for  a  week  past,  how  your  heart  would 
 K2 
 
156  MEMOIRS  OF  THE 
 
 "  have  rejoiced !  Such  hungering  and  thirst- 
 "  ing  after  communion  with  God !  such  genu- 
 "  ine  humility  and  contrition  for  sin  !  such  de- 
 11  votedness  to  the  Saviour !  old  converts  quick- 
 "  ened,  and  new  ones  added  to  the  Lord  !  Yes- 
 "  terday  was,  I  trust,  a  great  day  of  the  Son  of 
 "  man.  I  almost  felt  my  own  nerves,  rigid  as 
 "  they  are,  touched,  and  my  sympathy  (my  ad- 
 "*  miration  I  am  sure)  excited,  in  various  pri- 
 "  vate  conversations  which  I  had  during  the 
 "  week.  Glenbriarachan,  which  I  visited  on 
 "  Tuesday,  I  found  blossoming  like  the  rose. 
 "  I  had  observed,  for  some  months  past,  a  kind 
 "  of  concern,  a  kind  of  "  voluntary  humility," 
 "  appearing  among  them,  rather  bordering  on 
 "  ostentation ;  but  now  their  expressions  of 
 "  concern  and  humiliation  were  fewer,  more 
 "  unaffected,  and  seemed  to  come  more  directly 
 "  from  the  heart.  But  I  must  refer  to  sister's 
 "  journal,  as  I  am  called  to  speak  with  one  of 
 "  our  new  evellies,  (awakened),  and  our  hour 
 "  of  worship  is  not  distant.  One  after  the  other 
 "  is  calling,  but  1  must  defer  them  till  after 
 "  worship." 
 
 To  the  same. 
 
 "  O  for  the  pen  of  a  ready  writer  to  tell  of  the 
 "  Lord's  abundant  goodness !    One  lad  in  the 
 
REV.  ALEXANDER  STEWART,  D.  D.        157 
 
 "  parish  of  Blair,  whom  I  visited  a  few  days  ago, 
 "  and  who  seems  to  have  walked  with  God  for 
 "  many  years,  appears  to  be  going  home  bearing 
 "  ample  testimony  to  the  grace  of  God  his  Sa- 
 "  viour.  Several  called  here  yesterday,  hunger- 
 "  ing  and  thirsting  as  much  as  ever.  Widow 
 "  M.  entered  joyfully  into  her  rest.  But  what 
 "  chiefly  engages  our  praises  at  present,  is  the 
 
 "  case  of  a  Robert  R, ,  tenant  in  Glenbriar- 
 
 "  achan,  (still  a  favoured  spot).  His  wife  was 
 "  among  the  first-fruits  in  the  glen;  and  now  the 
 "  husband,  laid  on  a  sick-bed,  has  been  visited 
 "  with  the  joys  of  salvation,  and  proclaims  the 
 "  freeness  and  fulness  of  divine  grace.  It  is  a 
 "  singular  sight  to  see  his  wife,  with  the  near 
 "  prospect  of  widowhood,  and  a  family  of  small 
 "  children,  his  two  sisters,  brother-in-law,  &c. 
 "  all  rejoicing  by  his  bed-side.  Mrs  B.  or  you, 
 "  I  am  sure,  will  not  fail  to  make  our  dear 
 "  brethren  partakers  of  our  joy." 
 
 To  the  same. 
 
 "  I  have  to  inform  you  how  much  we  have 
 "  been  gratified  by  a  kind  visit  from  Mr  ****. 
 "  He  preached  here  the  last  Sabbath  of  Decem- 
 "  ber.  I  had  been  in  the  pulpit  twice  before ; 
 "  once  to  salute  my  people,  and  request  their 
 "  prayers  and  thanksgivings  in  my  behalf;  and 
 
158  MEMOIRS  OF  THE 
 
 "  another  time  to  baptise  a  child.  The  day  Mr 
 "  ****  preached,  I  succeeded  him,  and  gave 
 "  briefly  in  Gaelic  the  substance  of  his  discourse, 
 "  which  had  been  a  long  one.  He  staid  here 
 a  Monday.     That  day,  he  and  I  took  a  walk  to 
 
 "  see  John  C ,  mentioned  by  sister  in  her 
 
 "  last  letter  to  Mrs  Black.  This  man  had  been 
 "  brought,  a  few  weeks  ago,  to  a  clear  and  com- 
 "  fortable  knowledge  of  the  gospel,  chiefly  by 
 "  means  of  a  young  woman,  whom  he  had  hired 
 "  for  the  five  weeks  of  harvest,  on  purpose  to 
 "  enjoy  her  religious  company.  About  a  month 
 "  ago,  his  wife  was  in  great  bodily  distress;  but 
 "  it  was  a  season  of  love  to  her  soul.  She  was 
 w  enlightened  with  the  knowledge  of  her  Sa- 
 "  viour,  and  enabled  to  trust  and   rejoice  in 
 
 "  him.     Margaret  K ,   the  young  woman 
 
 "  whose  conversation  had  been  blessed  to  the 
 u  husband,  was  their  constant  attendant.  The 
 "  wife  has  been  much  distressed  since  her  ill- 
 "  ness,  and  her  recovery  very  doubtful.  Mr 
 «  ***#  an(j  j  found  her  in  a  very  weakly  state  ; 
 "  but  both  she  and  her  husband  were  quite  re- 
 "  signed  and  cheerful.  Unfortunately,  neither 
 "  of  them  can  speak  a  word  of  English,  so  that 
 a  Mr  ****  had  no  conversation  with  them,  but 
 "  he  was  much  delighted  with  the  mans  ani- 
 "  mated  and  heavenly  countenance.  A  heavy 
 "  fall  of  snow,  which   prevented  all  intercourse 
 
REV.  ALEXANDER  STEWART,  D.  D.        159 
 
 "  for  some  days,  has  occasioned  our  not  hearing 
 "  accounts  of  the  woman's  health  for  five  days. 
 "  I  have  had  calls  from  two  young  women,  who 
 "  spent  one  or  two  half-years  in  service  in  this 
 *  parish.  They  were  in  that  time  awakened,  I 
 "  trust  effectually,  and  pretty  well  instructed  in 
 "  the  truth.  At  Martinmas,  they  quitted  their 
 "  service,  and  returned  to  their  native  parish  of 
 "  Blair  Athole,  where  they  lived  in  the  same 
 "  village,  and  are  mutual  aids  and  comforts  to 
 "  each  other.  They  read  and  converse  much 
 "  together,  and  not  seldom  bear  their  testimony 
 "  against  the  profanity  of  swearers  and  Sabbath- 
 "  breakers  in  their  village.  Their  unusual  man- 
 "  ners  and  sentiments  draw  upon  them  many 
 "  taunts,  and  on  the  Moulin  people,  among 
 "  whom  they  learned  such  odd  notions;  but 
 "  they  have  been  enabled  to  abide  stedfast,  and 
 "  I  hope  humble. 
 
 "  Such  things  having  now,  by  the  peculiar 
 "  blessing  of  God  and  his  abounding  grace,  be- 
 "  come  pretty  frequent,  are  much  talked  of. 
 "  They  have  excited  the  attention  and  wonder 
 "  of  many,  and  the  diversion  and  hatred  of 
 "  some,— just  as  might  have  been  expected.  I 
 "  hear  of  few  scoffers  among  ourselves,  where 
 "  the  behaviour  of  our  young  converts  is  seen 
 "  and  known  ;  but  I  hear  they  are  the  subject 
 "  of  much  obloquy  in  the  neighbouring  parishes, 
 
160  MEMOIRS  OF  THE 
 
 "  where,  on  account  of  the  distance,  there  is 
 "  more  room  for  misrepresenting  their  senti- 
 "  ments  and  conduct,  and  where  they  are  gross- 
 "  ly  misrepresented.  Hitherto  the  Lord  has 
 "  watched  over  them  most  tenderly,  so  that  I 
 "  have  not  heard  of  one  who  has  fallen  off,  or 
 "  brought  a  stain  on  his  profession.  On  the 
 "  contrary,  those  who  live  nearest  to  this  place, 
 "  and  whom  I  know  best,  appear  evidently  to  be 
 "  growing  in  grace  and  knowledge.  We  have 
 "  many  inquirers  after  the  truth,  who  are  yet 
 i(  but  exploring  their  way ;  and  some  who,  from 
 "  opposing  and  reprobating  its  doctrines,  are 
 "  brought  to  listen  to  them  with  acquiescence, 
 
 "  at  least,  if  not  with  a  desire  to  learn.     S 
 
 "  is  attended  every  day,  and  almost  at  all  hours, 
 "  by  persons  of  every  description.     She  and  a 
 
 "  tradesman  in  this  village,  W.  W ,  a  Mar- 
 
 "  garet  K ,  are  my  principal  "  helps,"  1  Cor. 
 
 "  xii.  28.  Expositors  would  be  at  no  loss  to 
 "  understand  that  term,  if  they  were  a  few 
 "  weeks  among  us. 
 
 "  What  a  treasure  has  been  distributed  among 
 "  us  !  and  in  what  frail  earthen  vessels  !  Truly 
 "  the  excellency  of  the  power  is  of  God,  and 
 "  not  of  us.  O  that  our  hearts  were  more  en- 
 "  larged,  and  our  tongues  more  ready,  and  our 
 "  voices  more  tuned,  to  praise  Him  who  hath 
 u  made  the  day-spring  from  on  high  to  visit  us  ! 
 
REV.  ALEXANDER  STEWART,  D.  D.         161 
 
 *  But  how  dry  !  how  barren  !  I  used  to  give 
 "  little  credit  to  the  complaints  of  good  men, 
 "  such  as  Mr  Newton,  when  lamenting  their 
 
 *  want  of  love,  and  their  indisposition  to  la- 
 "  bour ;  but  now  I  give  them  full  credit.  I  am 
 "  sure  they  said  no  more  than  they  must  have 
 "  felt,  and  I  dare  say  they  felt  no  more  than 
 "  was  real." 
 
 Referring  to  these  communications,  his  cor- 
 respondent inserted  the  following  reflections  in 
 his  diary : — 
 
 Edinburgh,  July  20.  1800. 
 
 "  Felt  a  little  quickened  by  a  sweet  letter 
 
 *  the  other  day  from  dear  brother  Stewart, 
 "  containing  an  account  of  the  wonderful  things 
 "  that  the  Lord  is  carrying  on  in  his  parish. 
 "  O  may  the  Lord's  work  still  continue  and  in- 
 "  crease  exceedingly,  that  there  may  be  joy  in 
 "  heaven  over  more  repenting  sinners,  and  that 
 "  the  thanksgivings  of  many  upon  earth  may 
 "  redound  to  God  on  their  account !  And  O 
 u  that  it  would  please  God  to  visit  all  our  con- 
 "  gregations  with  the  refreshing  influence  of  his 
 "  Spirit,  that  sinners  every  where  may  be  seen 
 "  flying  to  Christ  as  clouds,  and  as  doves  to 
 "  their  windows  !  God  of  all  grace,  send  a  plen- 
 "  teous  rain !" 
 
162  MEMOIRS  OF  THE 
 
 When  the  news  of  those  things  had  spread 
 abroad,  it  excited  an  uncommon  interest  among 
 all  who  loved  Zion's  prosperity.  Good  men  and 
 good  ministers  could  hardly  be  satisfied  without 
 repairing  to  the  scene ;  and  it  was  after  a  visit 
 of  Mr  Black  to  Moulin,  he  thus  wrote  in  his 
 diary : — 
 
 Aug.  24.  1800. 
 
 "  Returned  from  St  Madoes,  Perth,  and  Mou- 
 "  lin,  where  I  spent  the  last  two  weeks,  upon 
 "  the  whole,  I  trust,  profitably  to  my  own  soul, 
 "  if  not  to  the  souls  of  others.  My  visit  to 
 "  Moulin  was  peculiarly  gratifying.  Such  a  re- 
 "  vival  I  never  witnessed  before, — it  is  truly 
 "  the  doing  of  the  Lord,  and  marvellous  in  our 
 "  eyes.  Much  as  I  had  heard  of  it  before,  it 
 "  far  exceeded  expectation.  I  preached  on 
 "  Matth.  xxii.  42. ;  the  congregation  attentive, 
 "  and  some  of  them  much  affected.  Had  a 
 "  great  deal  of  conversation  in  private  with 
 "  many  of  those  under  religious  concern,  and 
 "  considerably  under  the  influence  of  doubts  and 
 "  fears.  They  spoke  feelingly  of  the  hardness  of 
 "  their  hearts,  and  of  their  indisposedness  for  every 
 "  thing  that  is  good.  At  the  same  time,  their  hearts 
 u  seemed  to  be  much  alive  to  God.  They  have 
 "  a  keen  appetite  for  the  word  of  God,  and  an 
 "  evident  love  for  the  Saviour,  though  they 
 "  will  not  allow  it  themselves.     A  deep  sense 
 
REV.  ALEXANDER  STEWART,  D.  D.  163 
 
 "  of  their  own  unworthiness,  and  a  strong  affec- 
 "  tion  for  one  another,  are  the  most  prominent 
 "  features  in  their  character.  Some  are  more 
 "  advanced  and  greatly  enlightened  in  the 
 "  knowledge  of  divine  truth.  These  serve  as 
 "  guides  to  the  rest,  and  are  made  exceedingly 
 "  useful  by  their  example  and  conversation. 
 
 "  Dear  Mr  Stewart  himself  is  mercifully  pre- 
 "  served  humble  amidst  all  the  honour  that 
 "  God  is  conferring  upon  him.  O  may  the 
 "  good  Shepherd  watch  over  him,  and  the  dear 
 "  flock  committed  to  his  charge  !  And  may 
 "  the  divine  influence  be  spread  abroad  through- 
 "  out  all  our  congregations,  that  every  where 
 "  there  may  be  a  shaking  among  the  dry  bones, 
 "  and  that  a  great  harvest  of  souls  may  be 
 "  gathered  to  the  Saviour !" 
 
 Sept.  28.  1800. 
 
 "  Dear  brother  Stewart  spent  eight  days  with 
 u  us,  and  his  company  and  conversation  were 
 "  truly  enlivening." 
 
 Jan.  18.  1801. 
 
 "  Amidst  the  complaints  of  deadness  and  un- 
 "  profitableness,  two  things  have  done  me  good, 
 "  — the  reading  of  Mr  Pearce's  Memoirs,  a 
 "  sweet  and  precious  testimony  to  the  power  of 
 "  divine  grace ;  and  the  accounts  of  the  success 
 "  of  the  gospel  at  Moulin,  communicated  from 
 "  time  to  time  by  dear  brother  Stewart." 
 
164  MEMOIRS  OF  THE 
 
 April  19.  1801. 
 
 "  Returned  from  Perth  last  week,  where  I 
 "  had  been  assisting  in  dispensing  the  Lord's 
 "  supper.  Had  a  sweet  day  on  the  Sabbath. 
 "  Preached  on  Gen.  xxxii.  26.  with  much  com- 
 "  fort,  and  was  greatly  refreshed  next  day  with 
 "  hearing  dear  brother  Stewart  on  Col.  iii.  15." 
 
 Sept.  6.  1801. 
 
 "  After  being  considerably  feverish,  and  much 
 "  weakened,  it  pleased  the  Lord  mercifully  to 
 "  restore  me,  so  that,  before  I  went  to  Moulin, 
 "  I  enjoyed  my  usual  state  of  health.  I  preach- 
 "  ed  there  the  following  Lord's  day,  and  truly 
 u  it  did  my  heart  good  to  see  so  many  friends 
 "  of  the  Lord  walking  in  truth,  and  in  love  to 
 "  one  another." 
 
 April  25.  1802. 
 
 "  Preached  at  Moulin  to  brother  Stewart's 
 "  affectionate  and  highly-favoured  flock.  Some 
 "  things  I  heard  lately  respecting  them,  gave 
 "  me  concern,  and  I  was  afraid  I  saw  in  these 
 "  things,  (small  and  inconsiderable  as  they  seem 
 w  at  present),  the  beginnings  of  dissension.  But 
 "  from  conversation,  and  further  inquiring,  I 
 "  trust  my  fears  will  prove  groundless.  O  may 
 "  the  Lord  keep  his  good  hand  about  his  dear 
 "  people  in  that  corner,  and  maintain  what  he 
 ••  has  wrought." 
 
REV.  ALEXANDER  STEWART,    D.  D.         165 
 
 It  is  pleasing  to  contemplate  Mr  Stewart  in 
 the  fidelity  and  in  the  success  that  accompanied 
 his  public  ministry ;  but,  in  order  to  give  the 
 reader  a  more  complete  idea  of  his  character,  it 
 is  necessary  to  exhibit  him  in  some  of  the  more 
 private  walks  of  duty.  There  were  two  things 
 that  pervaded  his  ministerial  intercourse  with 
 his  parishioners, — an  affectionate  desire  to  bene- 
 fit them,  and  the  faithful  application  of  the  most 
 probable  means  to  do  them  good.  From  the 
 day  he  knew  the  grace  of  God  in  truth,  his 
 heart  was  opened  with  undissembled  love  to 
 genuine  Christians,  and  with  tender  compassion 
 for  the  condition  of  men  living  without  hope 
 and  without  God  in  the  world. 
 
 As  an  instance  of  his  kindly  affection  to  those 
 around  him,  it  may  be  mentioned,  that  at  the 
 hour  of  evening  worship,  a  bell  rang  to  give  no- 
 tice to  the  bordering  villagers  of  the  evening  sa- 
 crifice, when  as  many  as  were  disengaged  and 
 willing-hearted,  repaired  to  the  place,  and  in 
 the  kitchen,  or  in  fine  weather  before  the  door, 
 listened  to  the  opening  up  of  some  passage  of 
 scripture,  and  joined  in  prayer  and  praise. 
 
 His  attention  to  the  cases  of  the  newly  a- 
 wakened  was  unremitting ;  and  if  some  trial,  or 
 some  unlooked-for  mercy,  exercised  the  hearts 
 of  his  more  established  converts,  their  minister 
 took  a  lively  interest  in  the  dispensation.     The 
 
166  MEMOIRS  OF  THE 
 
 connection  betwixt  them  was  such,  as  can  nei- 
 ther exist  nor  appear  desireable  to  the  merely 
 professional  guide  and  his  professed  followers, 
 the  one  teaching  a  way  he  neither  knows  aright 
 nor  loves,  the  other  listening  to  his  directions 
 without  the  least  intention  to  obey  them,  or  to 
 make  progress.  The  one  would  think  Mr 
 Stewart's  attention  to  his  flock  a  miserable  bon- 
 dage ;  the  other  would  view  the  affectionate  re- 
 spect and  assiduity  of  his  people  as  the  effects 
 of  superstition  and  credulity. 
 
 As  to  the  interest  which  Mr  Stewart  himself 
 must  have  felt  in  the  spiritual  birth  of  so  many 
 sons  and  daughters,  no  man  can  describe  it,  but 
 a  parent  of  souls,  if  we  may  be  allowed  the  ex- 
 pression. That  minister  who  has  beheld  none 
 converted  by  his  means, — who,  when  he  looks 
 around  his  congregation,  sees  no  man  that  owes 
 his  soul  to  him,— whose  faithfulness  has  perhaps 
 only  irritated  many,  who,  when  he  goes  abroad, 
 follow  him  with  eyes  that  watch  for  his  halting, 
 and  treat  his  name  and  character  without  defe- 
 rence, and  without  sentiments  of  filial  regard ; — 
 such  an  one  knows  nothing  of  the  endearing  at- 
 tachment that  binds  together  a  faithful  pastor, 
 who  has  won  their  souls  to  Christ,  and  a  deeply- 
 indebted  flock.  He  may  go  or  return  without 
 exciting  any  other  interest  than  the  interest  of 
 good  neighbourhood  among  one  class,  or  the 
 
UEV.  ALEXANDER  STEWART,   D.  D.        167 
 
 interest  that  arises  from  the  calculation  of  pro- 
 bable gain  or  loss  among  others  more  depen- 
 dent What  a  fine  picture  Mr  Stewart  draws 
 in  some  of  his  letters,  when,  after  an  occasional 
 absence,  on  drawing  near  to  the  habitations  of 
 his  beloved  people,  now  one,  and  now  another, 
 on  discovering  his  approach,  hastened  to  salute 
 him,  and  to  welcome  his  return  !  and  how  in- 
 teresting must  those  Sabbaths  have  been,  in 
 which  the  Son  of  man  shewed  his  power,  and 
 sent  forth  the  gospel-invitation  with  an  influ- 
 ence of  grace  the  called  could  not  resist !  No 
 wonder  many  resorted  to  such  a  highly-favoured 
 spot,  and  that  many  were  anxious  to  procure  to 
 their  own  congregations  the  benefit  of  Mr  Stew- 
 art's occasional  ministrations. 
 
 Of  Mr  Stewart's  prudence  and  spirit,  both  in 
 the  walks  of  humanity,  and  in  efforts  to  guard 
 his  parishioners  from  the  influence  of  tempta- 
 tion, the  following  extract  of  a  letter  to  Mr 
 Black  affords  an  instance. 
 
 After  apologizing  to  his  correspondent  for 
 not  paying  a  distant  visit,  he  adds : — 
 
 "  Matters    occur    almost    weekly  at  home, 
 
 "  which  could  not  be  so  well  done  in  my  ab- 
 
 '  sence.    By  a  concurrence  of  two  or  three  pro- 
 
 1  vidential  circumstances,  we  have  at  last  got 
 
 ;  K, ,   late   schoolmaster  at  St  Madoes, 
 
168  MEMOIRS  OF  THE 
 
 "  elected  and  settled  here,  a  man  who,  I  hope, 
 "  will  prove  a  valuable  acquisition.  But  if  I 
 "  had  been  from  home,  and  the  election  defer- 
 "  red,  I  suspect  another  might  have  been  intro- 
 "  duced  not  nearly  so  proper.  A  family,  or  rather 
 "  two  families  in  one  house,  consisting  of  a  man, 
 "  his  wife,  a  widow  lately  deprived  of  her  hus- 
 "  band,  and  not  a  fortnight  delivered  of  a  posthu- 
 "  mous  child,  with  two  or  three  other  children, 
 "  were  all  laid  up  at  once  in  a  fever,  without  a 
 "  creature  to  attend  them.  The  neighbours  were 
 "  willing  to  contribute  any  thing  to  their  sup- 
 "  port,  but  none  would  go  near  them  for  fear  of 
 "  infection.  The  families  of  JLude  and  Urrard 
 "  offered  any  hire  to  a  woman  who  would  wait 
 "  on  the  wretched  invalids ;  a  woman  was  found 
 "  who  was  willing  to  undertake  the  unpleasant 
 :'  and  dangerous  charge.  But  her  neighbours, 
 '  and  particularly  the  farmer  from  whom  she 
 '  rented  her  cottage,  threatened  her,  if  she  went 
 :'  near  the  infected  house,  that  they  would 
 '  turn  all  her  furniture  out  of  doors,  and  never 
 '  admit  her  again  among  them.  The  mis- 
 '  creants  were  not  of  my  parish.  As  soon  as  I 
 4  was  told  of  these  circumstances,  (for  the  peo- 
 1  pie  resided  in  the  extremity  of  this  parish),  I 
 '  visited  the  sick  family ;  found  the  man  deli- 
 '  rious,  his  wife  next  to  insensible,  and  a  cry- 
 '  ing  child  between  them  in  one  bed ;  in  ano- 
 
REV.  ALEXANDER  STEWART,  D.  D.         169 
 
 "  ther,  the  widow  with  her  young  infant.  Not- 
 "  withstanding  the  open  window,  it  was  diffi- 
 u  cult  to  remain  even  a  few  minutes  in  the 
 "  apartment.  Accompanied  by  an  elder  and  a 
 "  tenant,  I  went  in  quest  of  the  woman  proposed 
 "  for  a  nurse.  We  expostulated  with  her  land- 
 "  lord,  engaged  the  woman,  carried  her  with  us, 
 "  and  introduced  her  to  her  charge.  By  the  di- 
 "  rection  of  a  surgeon,  who  had  just  called,  the 
 "  poor  invalids  were  shifted  and  laid  more  com- 
 "  fortably  in  bed.  Cordials  were  administered, 
 "  and  I  left  them  quiet.  Indeed,  I  had  much 
 "  reason  to  adore  the  goodness  of  the  Lord  in 
 M  giving  me  such  an  opportunity  of  being  use- 
 "  ful,  and  in  prospering  the  means  employed. 
 "  I  expect  to  see  the  poor  creatures  again  to- 
 "  morrow,  as  I  purpose  to  preach  in  the  neigh- 
 {i  bourhood. 
 
 "  Another  occurrence,  last  week,  called  for 
 "  my  interference.  Some  of  the  young  volun- 
 "  teers  had  planned  a  ball,  and  engaged  some 
 "  of  the  lightest  girls  in  the  neighbourhood  to 
 "  attend.  I  learned  that  they  were  contriving 
 "  among  themselves  to  spend  the  day  abroad, 
 "  and  to  attend  the  ball  without  their  parents' 
 "  knowledge.  I  have  thought  it  my  duty  uni- 
 "  formly  to  discourage  those  foolish  revels 
 a  which  increase  youthful  levity,  and  apply 
 '•  artificial  heat  to  ripen  the  fruits  of  folly.   I  re- 
 
 L 
 
170  MEMOIRS  OF  THE 
 
 "  paired  first  to  the  woman  of  the  public  house 
 "  (her  husband  died  the  other  winter)  where 
 "  the  ball  was  to  be  kept.  She  assured  me  it 
 "  was  not  agreeable  to  her,  nor  done  with  her 
 
 "  consent.     I  then  took  my  elder  Mr  W 
 
 "  with  me,  and  called  on  every  young  woman 
 "  in  the  village.  After  a  few  words  of  intro- 
 "  duction,  I  asked  each,  in  presence  of  her  fa- 
 "  ther  and  mother,  if  she  intended  to  go  to  the 
 "  ball ;  taking  at  the  same  time  my  pen  and 
 "  ink,  and  writing  the  person's  name  and  an- 
 "  swer  I  received.  Every  one  answered  me 
 "  without  hesitation,  that  she  was  not  to  go, 
 "  I  then  made  her  give  me  her  promise  in  the 
 "  presence  of  her  parents  and  the  elder,  that  she 
 "  would  not  go.  This  they  all  readily  did,  and 
 "  1  wrote  it  down.  This  was  on  the  morning 
 "  of  the  day  appointed  for  the  dance.  The  lads 
 "  were  abroad  at  drill.  I  called  on  two  or  three 
 "  of  them  in  the  afternoon,  and  remonstrated 
 "  with  them.  The  result  was,  that  there  was 
 u  no  ball.  It  would  have  been  extremely  rash 
 "  to  set  about  any  measure  of  this  kind,  with- 
 "  out  asking  special  direction  from  God.  I  trust 
 "  I  was  directed.  People  learn  soon  to  disre- 
 "  gard  admonitions  from  the  pulpit,  if  they  are 
 "  not  followed  up  in  some  way  that  shews  the 
 "  monitor  to  be  in  earnest,  and  concerned  in 
 >k  the  counsel  he  gives." 
 
REV.  ALEXANDER  STEWART,  D.  D.        171 
 
 It  may  be  proper,  in  this  place,  to  advert  to 
 the  manner  in  which  he  acted  in  his  ministerial 
 capacity  towards  a  class  of  his  parishioners,  with 
 which,  in  general,  it  is  very  difficult  to  deal 
 faithfully,  without  provoking  an  enmity  that 
 may  obstruct  one's  usefulness  to  his  people  in 
 matters  of  secular  and  public  concern.  It  is  He- 
 ?'itors  we  mean,  who,  when  openly  irreligious, 
 are  not  likely  to  strengthen  a  serious  minister's 
 hands  in  the  work  of  his  office.  This  it  were 
 unreasonable  to  expect ;  nor  has  any  man  just 
 cause  to  complain  of  not  rinding  it  so.  But 
 what  affords  a  ground  of  reasonable  complaint 
 in  such  cases  is,  that  if  they  nominally  belong  to 
 the  Established  Church,  they  judge  themselves 
 exempt  from  all  jurisdiction  as  to  religious  cha- 
 racter, and  resent  the  refusal  of  privileges  as  a 
 personal  injury. 
 
 As  soon  as  Mr  Stewart  had  right  views  of  the 
 spiritual  nature  of  the  sacraments  of  the  church, 
 he  became  solicitous  to  see  suitable  character 
 in  those  to  whom  they  were  administered.  This 
 led  him  to  exercise  much  strictness  in  the  exa- 
 mination of  candidates  for  communion  at  the 
 Lord's  table ;  nor  was  he  more  negligent  in  the 
 matter  of  baptism,  not  respecting  the  persons  of 
 poor  or  rich,  when  the  glory  of  his  Master,  and 
 the  right  administration  of  his  ordinances,  were 
 concerned. 
 
 l  2 
 
172  MEMOIRS  OF  THE 
 
 One  of  his  heritors  having  the  prospect  of  a 
 family,  and  seeming  to  entertain  no  doubts  of 
 his  qualifications  for  standing  sponsor  to  his 
 child,  Mr  Stewart,  who  had  different  views  of 
 his  character  and  competency,  anticipating  the 
 occasion,  wrote  him  the  following  letter : — 
 
 u  It  must  give  pleasure  to  all  your  friends 
 
 "  to  find,  that  Mrs is  likely  to  bring  an 
 
 u  addition  to  your  family,  and  to  continue  the 
 "  line  of  your  forefathers,  who  have  been  so 
 "  much  respected  in  the  country  in  which  they 
 "  lived.  My  sincere  wish  is,  that  she  may  be 
 "  preserved  to  be  the  happy  mother  of  a  thriv- 
 "  ing  child.  It  is  a  serious  matter  to  become 
 "  a  parent,  to  have  an  immortal  soul  committed 
 "  to  your  care  and  keeping,  to  be  trained  up  in 
 "  the  knowledge  and  service  of  God.  If  it  be 
 "  his  will  to  bring  your  child  alive  and  safe  into 
 "  the  world,  you  will  of  course  choose  to  have 
 "  him  baptised,  according  to  the  universal  cus- 
 "  torn  of  our  country.  Permit  me,  my  dear 
 "  Sir,  to  remind  you  that  this  is  a  most  solemn 
 "  religious  service ;  that  a  person  ought  never 
 "  to  go  about  it  for  the  sake  of  custom,  or  fa- 
 "  shion,  but  in  order  to  please  God,  who  has 
 "  appointed  it.  At  the  same  time,  we  cannot 
 "  expect  to  please  him  in  this  service,  unless  we 
 "  do  it  with  proper  views,  and  in  a  proper  spirit. 
 
REV.  ALEXANDER  STEWART,  D.  D.         173 
 
 "  This  implies,  that  we  have  a  distinct  know- 
 "  ledge  of  the  several  articles  of  the  Christian 
 "  religion  to  which  baptism  has  a  direct  refer- 
 "  ence,  and  that  we  feel  their  influence  in  our 
 "  hearts.  Allow  me,  then,  to  suggest  to  your 
 "  own  consideration,  how  highly  requisite  it  is 
 "  that  you  should  apply  your  mind  seriously  to 
 "  this  important  subject,  before  you  engage  in 
 "  such  a  solemn  transaction  between  God  and 
 "  your  soul.  I  wish  with  all  my  heart  I  could 
 "  be  any  way  assisting  to  you  in  this  inquiry. 
 "  Shall  I  write  more  fully  on  the  subject  ?  Shall 
 "  I  send  you  any  books  ?    Or  will  you  give  me 
 
 "  leave  to  call  upon  you  at ,  with  the  de- 
 
 u  sign  of  conversing  about  the  things  that  are 
 "  revealed  in  scripture  ?  Indeed  it  is  no  vain 
 "  or  idle  matter,  but  much  the  reverse ;  and  it 
 u  is  especially  necessary  to  be  in  earnest  con- 
 "  cerned  about  religion,  when  one  has  the  pro- 
 "  spect  of  engaging  in  such  a  solemn  service  as 
 "  devoting  his  child  to  Christ  in  baptism,  lest, 
 "  for  want  of  attention  and  knowledge,  he 
 "  should  be  found  to  deal  falsely  with  the 
 "  great  God,  who  knows  the  heart. 
 
 "  I  hope  I  need  make  no  apology  for  the 
 "  freedom  of  this  address,  as  I  am  sure  it  is 
 "  prompted  by  the  truest  friendship  ;  and  I  can- 
 "  not  suppose  that  you  will  take  amiss  what 
 "  proceeds  from  the  best  intention. 
 
!74  MEMOIRS  OF  THE 
 
 "  It  would  give  me  the  highest  pleasure  to 
 know  that  it  had  obtained  your  serious  atten- 
 
 "  tion,  and  that  of  Mrs also,  for  each 
 
 "  of  you  has  a  soul  that  will  exist  for  ever,  and 
 "  you  are  both  equally  concerned  in  the  wel- 
 "  fare  of  your  offspring." 
 
 This  letter  being  well  received,  and  a  willing- 
 ness to  receive  instruction  expressed,  Mr  Stew- 
 art, on  the  birth  of  his  child,  addressed  him 
 once  more ;  and,  after  compliments  and  inqui- 
 ries, wrote: — 
 
 "  My  anxiety  for  your  best  interests,  induces 
 "  me  to  send  you  the  Form  of  Baptism  which 
 "  I  always  use,  in  hopes  that  you  will  take  the 
 "  trouble  to  read  it  with  attention.  You  will 
 "  find  shortly  mentioned  in  it  those  peculiar 
 "  doctrines  of  our  religion,  which  every  person 
 "  who  partakes  of  either  of  our  sacraments  pro- 
 "  fesses  to  believe,  and  which,  therefore,  he 
 "  would  need  to  have  studied  thoroughly.  You 
 "  may  compare  it  with  the  doctrines  asserted, 
 "  and  the  duties  inculcated,  in  the  office  of 
 "  baptism  laid  down  in  the  Book  of  Common 
 "  Prayer  of  the  Church  of  England.  Yon 
 "  must  judge,  after  considering  the  inclosed  pa- 
 "  per,  whether  you  can  faithfully  and  explicitly 
 "  make  the  declarations  and  promises  contained 
 
REV.  ALEXANDER  STEWART,    D.  D.  175 
 
 "  in  it.  In  a  solemn  transaction  like  this,  a 
 "  person  would  need  to  be  sure  of  what  he  says, 
 "  and  what  he  promises.  It  is  not  enough  for 
 "  a  man  to  go  through  a  form,  and  satisfy  him- 
 "  self  that  he  has  done  like  others.  If  others 
 "  go  through  the  same  form,  without  sufficient- 
 "  ly  considering  what  they  are  about,  that  may 
 "  be  partly  their  own  fault,  partly  that  of  their 
 "  teachers,  but  their  neglect  cannot  excuse  us. 
 "  Be  assured,  my  dear  Sir,  in  one  word,  that 
 "  unless  you  be  yourself  renewed  by  the  Spirit 
 "  of  God,  and  heartily  devoted  to  Christ,  you 
 "  cannot  devote  your  child  to  him  in  baptism 
 "  with  that  sincerity,  and  faith,  and  cordiality, 
 "  which  will  make  it  an  acceptable  service  to 
 "  God.  And  if  it  be  not  an  acceptable  service 
 "  to  him,  it  were  better  not  done  at  all.  I  wish 
 "  and  pray  God,  that  these  things  may  obtain 
 "  your  most  serious  consideration." 
 
 This  was  an  instance  of  ministerial  faithful- 
 ness, which  it  is  worth  while  to  record,  and  it 
 may  be  proposed  as  a  pattern  to  others  in  like 
 circumstances,  who,  from  want  of  similar  spirit, 
 cannot  bring  themselves  to  deal  conscientiously 
 with  persons  of  superior  rank,  and  thus  do  vio- 
 lence to  their  own  judgments,  and  lose  opportu- 
 nities for  benefiting  those  whom  they  want  re- 
 solution either  to  admonish  or  to  instruct. 
 
176  MEMOIRS  OV  THE 
 
 That  none,  however,  may  be  surprised,  if  in 
 some  cases  of  this  nature,  disappointment  be  the 
 result,  we  shall  mention  that  Mr  Stewart,  with 
 all  his  address,  and  fidelity,  and  acknowledged 
 purity  of  design,  did  not  always  succeed  in  his 
 endeavours.  For,  to  another  of  his  heritors, 
 having  written  in  the  following  terms  :— 
 
 "  While  your  friends  and  neighbours  are 
 "  all  making  kind  inquiries  about  your  health, 
 "  which  has  been  so  poorly  of  late,  may  I  be 
 "  allowed  to  step  forward  among  the  rest,  to 
 "  express  my  anxious  concern  on  your  own  ac- 
 "  count,  and  also  on  account  of  your  dear  lady, 
 "  who  must  be  painfully  affected  by  your  pre- 
 "  sent  indisposition.  But  indeed  I  come  not  to 
 "  amuse  or  to  flatter,  but  in  a  serious  way  to 
 "  wish  you  well.  It  is  a  wish  I  strongly  feel, 
 "  but  it  is  not  confined  to  your  bodily  health, 
 "  or  your  prosperity  in  the  world.  My  wishes, 
 "  believe  me,  extend  much  farther, — to  a  state 
 "  of  existence  beyond  the  present.  Perhaps  an 
 "  absence  from  the  cares  and  objects  which  re- 
 "  quire  so  much  of  your  attention  at  home, 
 "  may  allow  you  some  leisure  to  extend  your 
 K  viev/s  in  the  same  direction.  And  when  your 
 "  journey  is  taken  in  quest  of  health,  which  the 
 "  blessing  of  God  alone  can  give,  it  is  a  fit  sea- 
 M  son  to  apply  to  him  for  a  still  higher  blessing, 
 
REV.  ALEXANDER  STEWART,  D.  D.       177 
 
 44  which  he  alone  can  bestow  also.  I  doubt  not 
 44  that  you  will  get  the  best  medical  advice,  and 
 44  I  do  wish  and  pray  that  it  may  be  of  benefit 
 44  to  your  health.  But  where,  my  dear  Sir, 
 "  shall  we  find  the  physician  who  will  prescribe 
 44  for  your  soul  ?  or  will  you  be  prevailed  on  to 
 44  follow  the  prescription  ?  That  your  soul  is  dis- 
 44  eased,  sick  unto  death,  and  in  danger  of  pe- 
 44  rishing,  there  cannot  be  a  doubt,  if  God 
 44  speaks  true ;  and  that  there  is  but  one  reme- 
 44  dy,  and  that  an  infallible  one,  is  equally  true. 
 44  My  fear  is,  and  what  induces  me  to  write, 
 44  that  you  do  not  suspect  your  danger,  nor  know 
 44  your  remedy.  I  wish  I  could  think  there  was 
 "  room  to  me  to  be  mistaken, — I  wish  I  may 
 44  hereafter  find  reason  to  form  a  different  opi- 
 44  nion, — what  joy  wrould  it  give  me  !  But,  with 
 44  regard  to  the  present  state  of  your  soul,  I 
 44  cannot  help  saying  that  my  fears  greatly  pre- 
 44  dominate.  Consider,  dear  Sir,  have  you  ever 
 44  studied  the  word  of  God  as  the  rule  of  faith 
 44  and  practice  ?  and  are  you  sure  you  do  believe 
 44  it,  and  that  your  life  has  been  conformed  to  it  ? 
 44  or  have  you  considered  it  as  the  standard  by 
 M  which  we  must  all  be  tried  and  judged?  and 
 44  are  you  prepared  to  stand  such  a  trial  ?  Un- 
 44  less  an  invalid  take  the  medicine  prescribed, 
 44  it  can  be  of  no  benefit  to  him.  So,  unless 
 you  understand,  and  approve,  and  apply  t'> 
 
178  MEMOIRS  OF  THE 
 
 "  your  own  case,  the  doctrine  of  the  gospel  con- 
 "  cerning  the  salvation  of  sinners,  Christ's  sal- 
 "  vation  can  be  of  no  benefit  to  you.  I  will 
 "  pursue  this  no  farther,  but  only  to  take  the 
 "  liberty  of  urging  the  strong  necessity  of  in- 
 "  quiring  and  attending  to  these  most  impor- 
 "  tant  objects,  while  life  and  ability  are  given  ; 
 "  especially  when  Divine  Providence  is  remind- 
 "  ing  you  that  life  is  uncertain,  and  eternity 
 "  approaching.  It  is  possible  you  may  not  be 
 "  provided  with  proper  helps.  There  are  many 
 "  fashionable  sermons,  which  contain  many 
 "  good  and  useful  things,  but  which  do  not  ex- 
 "  plicitly  declare  the  way  of  salvation,  nor  teach 
 "  the  knowledge  of  Jesus  Christ.  I  wish  I 
 "  knew  how  I  could  be  useful  to  you  in  this 
 "  way.  The  inclosed  letter  came  lately  in  my 
 "  way,  I  think  it  worthy  of  more  than  one  se- 
 "  rious  perusal.  Let  me  now,  my  dear  Sir, 
 "  wish  you  a  safe  journey,  that  your  health  may 
 "  be  restored  and  prolonged;  but,  above  all, 
 "  that  you  may  know,  and  love,  and  serve  the 
 "  blessed  Redeemer,  and  through  him  obtain 
 "  eternal  life  and  happiness.     That   you  and 
 
 «  Mrs  — may  be  joint  partakers  of  this 
 
 "  blessedness,  is  the  sincere  prayer  of, "  &c. 
 
 The  answer  contained  little  more  than  a  re- 
 
REV.  ALEXANDER  STEWART,    D.  D.         179 
 
 quest,  that  Mr  Stewart  will  in  future  give  his 
 advice  when  asked  only. 
 
 Previous  to  the  above  correspondence,  the 
 same  gentleman  had  sent  Mr  Stewart  notice  to 
 
 "  be  at  on   Friday  at   half  past   five 
 
 "  o'clock,  to  perform  the  ceremony  of  giving  a 
 "  name  to  his  son."  Mr  Stewart  having  sent 
 word,  that  "  on  such  a  solemn  occasion  as  that 
 "  of  devoting  a  child  to  Christ  in  baptism,  it 
 "  was  requisite  to  have  some  previous  conver- 
 "  sation  concerning  the  principles  of  the  Chris- 
 "  tian  religion,  which  a  parent  ought  to  know 
 "  and  believe,  and  the  religious  duties  which  he 
 "  ought  to  practise,  before  he  can  with  sincerity 
 "  make  the  professions,  and  come  under  the 
 "  engagements,  which  are  required  in  dispens- 
 "  ing  that  sacred  ordinance ;"  the  following  was 
 
 the  laconic  reply ;  "  Mr  and  Mrs do  not 
 
 "  require  Mr  Stewart  to  attend  at this 
 
 "  evening." 
 
 Mr  Stewart's  heritors  had  concurred  with  him 
 in  various  expedients  of  his  proposal  for  effect- 
 ing reformation  in  the  parish,  being  satisfied 
 of  the  reasonableness  of  his  plans,  and  of  the 
 wisdom  of  supporting  him  in  carrying  them  into 
 effect  for  the  commongood.  Among  other  abuses 
 which  he  aimed  to  have  corrected,  he  made  an 
 attempt  to  abolish  Sunday  proclamations,  rela- 
 
180  MEMOIRS  OF  THE 
 
 tive  to  sales  and  other  secular  business,  of  which, 
 in  many  parishes,  it  is  still  customary  to  give 
 audible  notice  in  the  church-yard,  by  the  beadle 
 as  a  public  crier,  immediately  on  the  congrega- 
 tion being  dismissed.  This  palpable  relic  of  the 
 barbarous  age  of  Popery,  during  the  full  sway 
 of  which,  the  Sunday  was  a  busy  day  among 
 pedlars  and  chapmen,  in  places  distant  from 
 market  towns,  who  exposed  their  wrares  in  the 
 church-yard,  it  is  high  time  to  interdict;  for 
 what  more  unseemly,  than  to  come  directly 
 from  the  publication  of  salvation,  to  be  inform- 
 ed of  what  is  to  be  sold  throughout  the  district 
 in  the  progress  of  the  week. 
 
 In  most  parishes,  however,  the  crier's  procla- 
 mation has  given  place  to  advertisements,  often 
 placarded  on  the  very  walls  of  the  church,  the 
 resort  to  which  is  a  painful  sight  to  one  that 
 cares  for  the  sanctity  of  the  place  and  day ; 
 while  so  little  respect  is  paid  to  the  Lord's  day 
 and  service  by  the  public  authorities,  that  some- 
 times, on  our  pronouncing  the  valedictory  bless- 
 ing on  the  congregation,  the  sound  has  hardly 
 ceased  to  vibrate  on  the  serious  ear,  when  every 
 feeling  of  duty  and  propriety  is  outraged,  by 
 the  sudden  eruption,  from  the  precentor's  desk, 
 of  an  official  mandate  to  pay  taxes,  under  pe- 
 nalty, at  time  and  place  prescribed. 
 
REV.  ALEXANDER  STEWART,  D.  D.         181 
 
 The  laws  of  our  country  we  respect,  but  we 
 cannot  approve  their  spirit  and  tendency,  when 
 they  bear  on  the  practical  abrogation  of  the  law 
 of  God.  Surely  other  expedients  might  be  de- 
 vised for  giving  notoriety  to  public  or  to  private 
 transactions  of  a  secular  interest,  without  en- 
 croaching on  times  set  apart  for  higher  concerns, 
 and  without  lessening  the  sanctity  of  a  day,  the 
 contempt  of  which  has  a  most  demoralizing  in- 
 fluence on  society. 
 
 In  Moulin,  the  old  practice  of  intimating  the 
 public  business  of  the  week  at  the  parish  church- 
 door  was  in  use.  Aware  of  its  inconsistency 
 with  the  proper  business  of  the  day,  Mr  Stewart, 
 who,  it  seems,  had  not  the  power  to  suppress  it 
 himself,  addressed  the  resident  heritors  on  the 
 subject  in  the  following  circular : — 
 
 "  I  beg  leave  to  request  your  attention  to  a 
 "  subject  which  has  for  a  considerable  time  en- 
 "  gag^  mv  thoughts. 
 
 "  It  is  evident  that  by  the  establishment  of 
 "  Sunday  schools,  under  the  patronage  of  the 
 "  heritors,  and  by  discontinuing  the  practice  of 
 "  drinking  on  Sunday  after  marriages,  christen- 
 "  ings,  and  funerals,  the  morals  of  the  people 
 "  have  been,  at  least  in  some  measure,  improv- 
 "  ed,    and  the  profanation  of  the  Lord's  day 
 
182  MEMOIRS  OF  THE 
 
 "  has  been  in  many  instances  prevented.  A 
 "  strict  observance  of  the  Sabbath  has  ever  been 
 "  found  closely  connected  with  the  interests  of 
 "  religion  and  morality.  It  is  an  important 
 "  point  to  preserve  a  sacred  regard  to  the 
 u  Lord's  day,  whether  we  respect  the  good  of 
 "  the  people,  or  the  authority  of  Him  who  in- 
 "  stituted  the  Sabbath,  and  commanded  us  to 
 "  keep  it  holy.  Now,  it  appears  to  me  that 
 "  there  is  one  practice  still  prevalent  among  us, 
 "  which  is  a  direct  breach  of  the  Sabbath,  and 
 "  I  wish  much  to  have  the  countenance  and 
 "  assistance  of  the  gentlemen  of  the  parish  to 
 "  get  it  abolished.  The  practice  I  mean  is  that 
 "  of  making  proclamations  on  Sunday  relative 
 "  to  country  business,  &c.  This  is  as  contrary 
 "  to  the  religious  observance  of  that  day  as 
 "  transacting  secular  affairs,  which,  you  know, 
 "  is  expressly  prohibited.  At  the  same  time, 
 "  however,  that  I  earnestly  wish  this  unlawful 
 "  custom  to  be  set  aside,  I  would  like  to  have 
 "  some  other  expedient  proposed  to  be  adopted 
 "  in  its  stead.  Suppose  that  some  public  con- 
 "  spicuous  place  were  appointed,  on  which  ad- 
 "  vertisements  might  be  posted,  either  in  Mou- 
 «  lin  or  Pitlochry,  or  both;  and  that  the 
 "  church  officer  should  have  the  charge  of  tak- 
 "  ing  in  advertisements,  posting  them  up,  and 
 
REV.  ALEXANDER  STEWART,  D.  D.         183 
 
 "  preserving  them  from  damage,  every  day  ex- 
 "  cept  Sunday.  The  number  of  persons  who 
 "  can  read  and  write  is  now  such,  that  the  con- 
 "  tents  of  these  advertisements  would  be  easily 
 "  known,  and  soon  spread  over  the  country, 
 p  When  once  this  method  was  established,  it 
 "  would  become  customary  for  every  person 
 "  who  passed  through  the  village,  to  inquire 
 "  if  there  was  any  thing  new  on  the  advertis- 
 "  ing  post ;  and  would  have  this  advantage, 
 "  that  an  intimation  could  be  made  at  any  time 
 P  of  the  week,  without  waiting  the  return  of 
 "  Sunday. 
 
 "  Particular  cases  may  indeed  occur,  especial- 
 "  ly  in  what  relates  to  the  defence  of  the  coun- 
 "  try,  in  which  it  may  be  warrantable  not  only 
 "  to  make  public  notifications,  but  even  to  arm, 
 "  to  march,  and  to  fight  on  Sunday.  I  would 
 "  have  no  scruple  to  stop  in  the  middle  of  a 
 "  sermon,  in  order  to  make  an  intimation  of 
 "  that  kind.  I  speak  at  present  only  of  procla- 
 "  mations  relative  to  common  affairs,  and  secu- 
 "  lar  business. 
 
 "  As  to  the  practicability  of  carrying  on 
 "  country  business  without  Sunday  proclama- 
 "  tions,  I  know  country  parishes  where  the 
 "  practice  has  been  long  unknown.  And  I 
 "  know,  that  in  our  own  parish,  roups  have  been 
 "  made,  and  sufficiently  well  attended,  which 
 
184  MEMOIRS  OF  THE 
 
 "  never  were  notified  by  proclamation  ;  and  that 
 "  some  tenants  and  others,  for  upwards  of  two 
 "  years  past,  have  never  caused  a  proclamation 
 "  to  be  made  on  Sunday,  on  any  account  what- 
 *  ever. 
 
 "  I  have  thought  it  best,  Sir,  to  submit  these 
 "  things  to  your  consideration  by  letter,  that 
 u  you  may  have  time  to  attend  leisurely  to  the 
 "  subject  on  which  I  have  taken  the  liberty  of 
 "  addressing  you.  If  the  matter  strikes  you  as 
 "  it  does  me,  I  hope  you  will  approve  of  making 
 "  the  experiment  how  the  proposed  substitute 
 "  of  written  advertisements,  instead  of  procla- 
 "  mation,  will  answer.  Or  if  any  better  mode 
 "  occur  to  you,  or  to  any  other  heritor,  I  shall 
 "  be  happy  to  receive  your  instructions  about  it, 
 "  and  to  join  with  you  in  recommending  and 
 "  carrying  it  into  effect." 
 
 After  two  months  deliberation  on  this  me- 
 morial, the  heritors  to  whom  it  was  submitted 
 sent  word  to  Mr  Stewart,  "  We  all  concur  in 
 "  one  sentiment,  that  proclamations  shall  con- 
 "  tinue  to  be  made  in  the  same  manner  as  at 
 "  present." 
 
 During  the  greater  part  of  Mr  Stewart's  con- 
 tinuance at  Moulin,  his  country,  in  common 
 with  the  rest  of  Europe,  felt  the  vast  shock 
 which  almost  the  whole  civilized  world   receiv- 
 
REV.  ALEXANDER  STEWART,  D.  D.        185 
 
 ed,  from  the  revolutionary  phrenzy  that  so  long 
 agitated  France.  And  it  is  proper  to  remark, 
 that  he  was  by  no  means  an  unconcerned  spec- 
 tator of  passing  events.  Indeed,  it  appears  from 
 his  correspondence  with  Mr  Black,  that  both 
 these  individuals  watched  the  varying  aspects 
 of  Providence  towards  the  nations  of  Europe, 
 with  a  pious  and  most  ardent  observation. 
 
 Let  it  not  be  thought,  however,  they  so  far 
 forgot  their  calling  as  to  become  immersed  in 
 the  political  theories  of  the  day.  Their  Lord's 
 kingdom  is  not  of  this  world, — a  fact  too  little 
 adverted  to  by  many  among  the  professed  sub- 
 jects of  his  grace,  who  plunge  into  political  dis- 
 cussion with  intemperate  zeal.  Mr  Stewart 
 formed  his  political  principles  on  the  spirit  and 
 precept  of  the  gospel  institute;  and  he  who 
 brings  an  unbiassed  mind  to  the  subject,  with 
 the  New  Testament  before  him,  will  seldom  be 
 at  a  loss  what  line  of  conduct  to  adopt  and  to 
 pursue.  In  what  a  serious  light  Mr  Stewart 
 viewed  national  providences,  and  the  relation 
 that  subsists  between  rulers  and  subjects,  will 
 appear  from  the  following  extract  of  a  letter 
 written  in  1803. 
 
 "  For  some  weeks  past,  I  have  been  assailed 
 "  with  a  trial  rather  new  to  me.  I  have  thought 
 "  it  my  duty,  since  the  commencement  of  the 
 
 M 
 
186  MEMOIRS  OF  THE 
 
 present  war,  to  try  occasionally  to  explain  to 
 my  people  the  circumstances  of  the  country, 
 and  the  object  of  calling  out  the  people  to  take 
 arms,  &c.  I  was  happily  successful,  and  my 
 services  proved  highly  gratifying  to  the  gen- 
 try. They  were  not  backward  to  acknowledge 
 this.  After  consulting  with  his  brother  offi- 
 cers, Colonel  B wrote  me  a  letter  bear- 
 ing very  ample  testimony  to  my  patriotic  ex- 
 ertions, and  offering  me  the  appointment  of 
 Chaplain  to  the  A  thole  Regiment  of  Volun- 
 teers, under  his  command.  This  I  did  not 
 hesitate  to  accept.  It  gave  me  access,  ex  of- 
 ficio, to  all  the  men  of  the  several  companies, 
 to  give  them  advice  without  being  chargeable 
 with  officiousness.  All  this,  however,  I  found 
 a  snare.  Even  in  doing  what  I  thought  be- 
 came me  to  do,  I  ever  found  motives  of  vani- 
 ty mixing  with  those  of  duty.  The  people, 
 too,  were  ready  to  ascribe  much  of  what  I 
 said  to  an  undue  compliance  with  the  wishes 
 of  the  gentry.  From  this  suspicious  situa- 
 tion, I  was  in  a  good  measure  relieved  by  a 
 compliment  I  did  not  expect.  On  the  very 
 evening  before  the  public  fast,  1  received  a 
 
 card,  written  in  the  name  of  Colonel 
 
 and  the  other  officers,  inviting  Mrs  Stewart 
 and  me  to  a  ball  and  supper  at  the  next  inn, 
 on  the  following  Tuesday.     This  appeared  so 
 
REV.  ALEXANDER  STEWART,    D.  D.         187 
 
 *  very  unsuitable  and  unseasonable  an  enter- 
 "  tainment,  at  such  a  juncture,  that  I  animad- 
 "  verted  in  my  fast-day  sermon  on  all  manner 
 "  of  levity,  as  a  disregard  of  the  Divine  re- 
 "  buke,  and  introduced  Isaiah  xxii.  12 — 14. 
 "  And  as  it  was  necessary  to  answer  the  card 
 "  of  invitation,    I   wrote  a   letter   to   Colonel 
 
 " ,  stating  my  views  pretty  freely.      I 
 
 "  really  found  it  a  relief  to  have  something  to 
 "  do  in  the  line  of  duty,  that  did  not  flatter 
 "  the  inclinations  of  carnal  men.  The  day  of 
 "  the  said  ball  was  to  be  a  field-day  with  our 
 "  corps.  I  thought  it  my  duty  to  appear  on 
 "  the  parade.  The  Colonel  took  civil  notice  of 
 "  me  as  usual,  and  asked  me  to  take  my  sta- 
 "  tion  along  with  the  officer  on  the  right  of  the 
 "  line,  in  saluting  the  General.  This  was  the 
 "  whole  of  my  exhibition,  and  when  the  exer- 
 "  cise  was  over,  I  came  home.  I  hope  I  have 
 "  been  divinely  guided  in  this  matter,  for  how- 
 "  ever  my  mind  may  have  wavered,  and  my 
 "  motives  been  greatly  mixed  with  carnal  and 
 "  selfish  views,  yet  I  do  not  yet  see  that  my 
 
 *  outward  conduct  has  been  improper." 
 
 Whether  Mr  Stewart,  or  those  light-hearted 
 warriors,  were  the  better  friends  of  their  coun- 
 try, and  which  of  them  exhibited  most  of  pa- 
 triotism in  their  views,  it  is  not  difficult,  on 
 m  2 
 
188  MEMOIRS  OF  THE 
 
 the  principles  of  Christianity,  to  decide.  On 
 the  eve  of  a  public  Fast,  to  appoint  a  ball,  was 
 a  bold  challenge  to  public  opinion ;  but  to  in- 
 vite to  their  assembly  a  man  of  Mr  Stewart's 
 known  sanctity  of  habit,  and  the  uniform  re- 
 prover of  such  levities,  was  surely  carrying  com- 
 plaisance to  an  extraordinary  height. 
 
 Mr  Stewart  had  accepted  the  military  chap- 
 laincy, which  was  without  emolument,  in  order 
 to  be  useful  to  the  men  composing  the  Volun- 
 teer Battalion,  being  always  intent  on  means 
 for  advancing  the  interests  of  his  Lord.  An 
 address  he  delivered  in  this  new  capacity  was 
 afterwards  published,  and  could  not  fail  to  be 
 read  with  much  interest  at  the  time,  as  it  was 
 written  on  the  supposition,  then  very  prevalent, 
 that  an  actual  invasion  would  be  attempted, 
 and  contained  precepts  adapted  to  such  an 
 emergency,  not  overlooking  the  aspect  of  Pro- 
 vidence, nor  forgetting  to  warn  every  man  to 
 flee  from  the  wrath  to  come.  But  it  is  enough 
 just  to  advert  to  these  matters,  in  order  to  ex- 
 hibit Mr  Stewart's  character  as  it  bore  on  the 
 civil  government  of  his  country,  and  to  shew 
 how  far  he  stood  removed,  on  the  one  side, 
 from  servile  unchristian  compliances  with  the 
 prejudices  of  the  high  or  low,  and  on  the 
 other,  from  unchristian  indifference  to  the  po- 
 
REV.  ALEXANDER  STEWART,  D.  D.        189 
 
 litical  circumstances  of  his  country,  or  an  hosti- 
 lity to  the  powers  that  be  *. 
 
 *  In  this  Address,  after  proving  the  lawfulness  of  defen- 
 sive war,  and  vindicating  the  power  of  the  magistrate  to  call 
 forth  sufficient  means  for  repelling  aggression,  he  adds  : — 
 "  We  go  on  sure  ground,  while  we  thus  see  that  we  have 
 "  the  command  of  God  to  authorise  us  to  take  up  arms  at 
 "  the  call  of  our  rulers,  to  defend  our  civil  rights  against 
 "  an  assailing  enemy.  It  is  with  the  highest  satisfaction, 
 u  my  friends,  I  observe  that  you  have  undertaken  this  im- 
 M  portant  duty,  with  an  alacrity  and  cheerfulness  which  do 
 "  credit  to  yourselves,  and  to  your  country.  While  most 
 "  of  the  French  troops  have  been  dragged  like  slaves  to  the 
 "  camp,  and  compelled  to  follow  a  standard  which  they  de- 
 "  tested,  to  feed  the  insatiable  ambition  of  a  tyrant ;  you 
 "  rise  to  oppose  lawless  depredation,  and  voluntarily  flock  to 
 "  the  standard  of  your  Landlords,  to  guard  from  brutal  out- 
 "  rage  your  Sovereign,  your  Country,  and  your  Homes.  The 
 <c  name  of  Volunteers,  with  which  you  are  dignified,  testi- 
 "  fies  to  the  public  the  readiness  and  good- will  with  which 
 "  you  stepped  forward  to  occupy  the  post  assigned  you. 
 
 "  In  this  kind  of  military  service,  there  is  no  room  for 
 "  jealousy  between  gentry  and  common  people.  We  know 
 "  how  ready  some  persons  of  pretended  wisdom  are,  to  fill 
 tc  your  heads  with  suspicions  of  the  gentry,  as  if  they  al- 
 u  ways  rolled  the  burden  off  themselves  on  your  shoulders, 
 "  and  exposed  you  to  toil  and  danger,  while  they  saved 
 "  themselves.  In  the  present  case,  it  is  plainly  the  reverse. 
 f*  The  gentry  take  an  equal  share  of  the  toil,  and  more  than 
 u  a  double  share  of  the  danger ;  for  it  is  well  known,  that 
 **  an  enemy  would  wish  rather  to  kill  one  officer,  or  take 
 "  him  prisoner,  than  six  privates.' 
 
190  MEMOIRS  OF  THE 
 
 As  a  minister  of  an  ecclesiastical  establish- 
 ment, it  concerns  us  more  to  put  the  reader  in 
 possession  of  his  sentiments  and  views  on  the 
 religious  polity  to  which  he  was  attached.  He 
 entered  the  church  under  the  auspices  of  the 
 moderate  party,  as  it  is  called,  some  of  whom, 
 and  particularly  Professor  G.  Hill,  afterwards  so 
 well  known  in  church  courts,  interested  them- 
 selves in  procuring  his  settlement  at  Moulin. 
 With  Dr  Hill  he  appears  to  have  been  in  habits 
 of  intimacy  at  the  time  of  his  ordination ;  and, 
 with  the  exception  of  his  correspondence  with 
 Mr  Black,  his  intercourse  lay  wholly  with  men 
 of  moderate  principles,  prior  to  his  own  decided 
 change  of  heart.  Then,  as  was  to  be  expect- 
 ed, he  ranged  himself  under  other  banners,  and 
 without  the  least  tincture  of  bad  feelings  to- 
 wards his  former  associates,  passed  over  to  men 
 of  congenial  ardour  in  the  cause  of  Christ.  We 
 have  seen  how  earnestly  he  sought  the  acquain- 
 tance of  evangelical  ministers  in  the  city  ;  and 
 with  those  around  him,  or  within  a  visiting  dis- 
 tance, he  cultivated  the  closest  relations  of 
 brotherly  love* 
 
 *  Among  these  may  be  particularly  mentioned,  the  late 
 Mr  Scott  of  Perth,  and  Mr  Willison  of  Forgandenny,  as 
 much  esteemed  by  Mr  Stewart,  and  deservedly  dear  to 
 him. 
 
REV.  ALEXANDER  STEWART,  D.  D.         191 
 
 In  the  business  of  church  courts,  he  was  the 
 farthest  possible  from  affecting  to  lead  ;  and 
 though  he  had  diligently  studied  the  laws  and 
 constitution  of  the  Established  Church, — and 
 from  his  uniform  self-possession,  and  ready  co- 
 piousness of  elocution,  and  power  of  argument, 
 few  were  better  qualified  to  make  a  figure  in 
 ecclesiastical  causes, — he  does  not  seem,  during 
 his  settlement  at  Moulin,  to  have  taken  a  pro- 
 minent place  in  any  court,  supreme  or  subordi- 
 nate. 
 
 There  was  one  part  of  his  conduct  at  Moulin 
 which  tried  the  forbearance  of  his  moderate  co- 
 presbyters,  and  which  some  of  his  warmest 
 friends  thought  needed  to  be  excused.  About 
 the  period  of  his  decidedly  embracing  the  truth, 
 a  great  impulse  had  been  given  to  the  Christian 
 community  by  the  spirit  of  zeal  which  burst 
 forth  in  the  south,  and  which  bore  down  before 
 it  the  mounds  which  party  names  and  preju- 
 dices had  erected,  to  mark  the  peculiarities  of 
 their  own  narrow  grounds  of  distinction.  All 
 men  who  held  the  essential  truth,  awakened  with 
 surprise  to  a  conviction  of  their  past  supineness 
 and  inactivity,  and  looking  abroad  on  the  vast 
 extent  of  the  unchristianized  world,  (feeling  a- 
 live  at  the  same  time  to  the  obligations  of  duty, 
 to  seek  the  enlargement  of  Christ's  kingdom, 
 and  the  salvation  of  perishing  mankind),  wide 
 
192  MEMOIRS  OF  THE 
 
 and  generous  combinations  were  formed,  for  call- 
 ing into  action  the  general  resources  of  the  well- 
 disposed  of  all  denominations.  The  formation 
 of  the  British  and  Foreign  Bible  Society  will 
 be  a  monument  to  after  ages,  both  of  the  wis- 
 dom and  the  zeal  then  abroad  in  the  Christian 
 community  of  England. 
 
 But  what  had  given  the  most  sensible  impulse 
 to  the  Christian  feeling  in  Scotland,  was  the  for- 
 mation of  the  London  Missionary  Society,  which, 
 comprehending  in  its  general  plan  Christians  of 
 every  denomination,  irrespective  of  lesser  differ- 
 ences, or  external  modes  of  worship,  opened  a 
 channel  of  exertion  to  the  zeal  of  all. 
 
 Evangelical  ministers  of  the  Church  of  Scot- 
 land hailed  the  institution,  and  gave  it  their 
 utmost  support.  The  flame  of  zeal  which  had 
 been  kindled  for  foreign  missions,  lighted  on 
 laymen  as  well  as  on  the  clergy  ;  and  home  mis- 
 sions were  undertaken,  which  at  first  were  car- 
 ried on  by  pious  laymen.  In  a  little  time  it 
 appeared  that  some  ministers  in  the  church,  feel- 
 ing themselves  straitened  by  the  constitution, 
 or  actual  regimen  of  the  national  establishment, 
 had  begun  to  think  such  establishments  at  va- 
 riance with  the  fundamental  rights  of  Christian 
 men,  united  in  the  fellowship  of  the  gospel ;  and 
 several  withdrew  themselves  on  the  ground  of 
 the  unlawfulness  or  inexpediency  of  national 
 
REV.  ALEXANDER  STEWART,  D.  D.        193 
 
 churches,  which  owe  their  establishment  and 
 support  to  the  civil  power,  and  which  they  scru- 
 pled not  to  denominate  branches  of  the  mysti- 
 cal Babylon.  These  having  gradually  receded 
 from  connection  with  the  Establishment,  had 
 places  of  worship  erected  in  the  principal  towns, 
 and  formed  societies  on  the  principles  of  those 
 called  Independents.  As  Mr  Stewart  was  on 
 friendly  terms  with  some  of  those  who  took  the 
 lead  in  separating  from  the  Establishment,  he 
 continued  to  maintain  his  former  Christian  in- 
 tercourse ;  and  as  lay-preaching  was  extensively 
 practised  among  them,  and  their  missionaries 
 spread  themselves  over  the  country,  he  often 
 came  in  contact  with  their  agents. 
 
 Probably  some  of  them  thought  no  minister, 
 who  himself  knew  the  truth,  and  walked  up- 
 rightly, could  conscientiously  remain  in  com- 
 munion with  the  national  church ;  and  some 
 expectations  were  perhaps  entertained  of  Mr 
 Stewart's  secession  ;  at  least,  attempts  to  shake 
 his  principles  in  the  article  of  national  churches, 
 were  not  wanting. 
 
 "  I  had  a  very  kind  letter,"  says  he,  «  from 
 
 "  your  neighbour  ,    which    drew  from 
 
 "  me  an  answer  of  some  length.  He  is  such  a 
 "  good  man  that  I  cannot  behave  shyly  towards 
 "  him  ;  yet  I  am  almost  afraid  of  being  entan- 
 "  gled  in  a  correspondence  with  him.     My  dear 
 
194  MEMOIRS  OF  THE 
 
 "  brother  ■  too,  would  not  care  to  draw 
 
 "  me  into  a  friendly  debate  about  the  shackles 
 "  of  establishments,  and  the  freedom  and  advan- 
 "  tage  of  independence.  He  wrote  me  a  few 
 "  weeks  ago,  applying  roundly  to  myself  a  text 
 "  on  which  he  had  heard  me  preach  at  Dundee, 
 "  "  Loose  him  and  let  him  go."  I  answered 
 "  him  in  such  a  decided  manner,  that  I  suppose 
 "  he  will  hardly  think  of  resuming  the  subject." 
 
 In  another  letter  he  writes : 
 
 "  Mr  S.    cautions    me    not    to    encourage 
 
 "  too  much.     It  is  right.     It  is  impos- 
 
 "  sible  to  go  all  lengths  with .     I  must 
 
 "  stop  short  somewhere,  and  then  he  will  be  as 
 "  much  hurt  as  if  I  had  yielded  nothing. 
 
 "  I  could  find  in  my  heart  to  write  on  con- 
 "  fessions,  as  it  is  a  subject  on  which  my  mind 
 "  is  quite  clear  and  settled,  and  on  which  a  deal 
 "  of  stark  nonsense  has  been  said,  which  is  not 
 "  worth  combating,  but  the  effects  of  which 
 "  might  be  easily  obviated  by  a  plain  statement 
 "  of  the  end  and  use  of  confessions." 
 
 Situated  as  Mr  Stewart  was,  amid  a  people 
 called  under  his  ministry,  and  among  whom  he 
 had  every  facility  to  preach  the  gospel,  and  to 
 exercise  discipline  to  the  utmost  desireable  ex- 
 tent, one  would  be  at  a  loss  to  find  out  a  justi- 
 
REV.  ALEXANDER  STEWART,  D.  D.         195 
 
 fiable  reason  for  throwing  up  his  pastoral  charge ; 
 yet  it  seems  others  wondered  at  his  blindness, 
 in  not  seeing  it  unlawful  to  maintain  the  station 
 he  held,  and  seemed  to  construe  his  civilities  to 
 their  agents,  into  a  proof  of  his  disaffection  for 
 the  church.  Even  some  of  his  friends  were 
 alarmed  at  the  countenance  he  gave  to  the  iti- 
 nerants ;  and  though  less  interest  now  attaches 
 to  the  discussion,  yet  amid  the  activity  of  con- 
 flicting sects,  as  others  may  be  placed  in  circum- 
 stances not  very  dissimilar  from  his,  it  may  be 
 useful  to  hear  one,  who  had  much  of  the  mind 
 of  Christ,  explain  the  principles  on  which  he 
 acted,  as  they  are  stated  in  a  letter  written  to  one 
 of  his  brethren  of  the  presbytery.  This  letter 
 is  worthy  of  preservation,  for  other  reasons  than 
 any  connected  with  the  question  of  lay  preach- 
 ing. 
 
 "  If  I  could  have  accepted  your  kind  invi- 
 
 "  tation,  and  staid  at  D last  Tuesday 
 
 "  night,  I  should  have  wished  for  a  half-hour's 
 "  conversation  with  you  about  the  itinerating 
 "  missionaries.  If  you  will  have  patience  to 
 "  read  a  long  letter,  I  shall  endeavour  to  state 
 "  now,  what  I  would  have  said  then.  I  have 
 "  long  been  desirous  to  explain  myself  on  this 
 "  subject,  wherever  I  thought  I  might  not  be 
 "  misunderstood,  especially  to  you,  in  whose 
 "  candour  I  have  the  fullest  confidence,  and 
 
196  MEMOIRS  OF  THE 
 
 *  from  whom  I  have  experienced  much  kind- 
 "  ness,  and  unwearied  civility.  I  cannot  but 
 "  regret,  that  the  peculiar  circumstances  in 
 "  which  I  have  been  placed,  have  given  oc- 
 "  casion  to  any  person  to  hold  me  up  as  a  con- 
 "  trast  to  the  neighbouring  clergymen,  and 
 "  made  me  almost  an  eye-sore  to  my  brethren. 
 "  Indeed,  I  have,  for  a  considerable  time  past, 
 "  reckoned  myself  much  indebted  to  the  for- 
 "  bearance  and  delicacy  of  my  co-presbyters,  in 
 "  not  taking  me  roundly  to  task,  for  giving 
 "  such  countenance  to  men  whom  they  con- 
 "  sidered  as  actuated  by  the  most  unfriendly 
 "  intentions.  Perhaps  I  am  not  far  mistaken 
 "  in  supposing,  that  you,  in  particular,  may 
 "  have  incurred  reprehension  from  some  of 
 "  your  acquaintance,  for  continuing  to  treat  as 
 "  a  friend  and  intimate,  one  who  had  become 
 "  such  an  apostate.  I  assure  you,  my  dear 
 "  Sir,  I  feel  my  obligations  to  you  on  this  ac- 
 "  count. 
 
 "  I  think  I  hinted  to  you  some  time  ago, 
 "  that  it  is  not  many  years  since  I  came  to  un- 
 "  derstand  what  are  the  peculiar  doctrines  of 
 "  our  religion.  My  views  of  Christianity  were 
 "  till  then  very  imperfect  and  confused,  and 
 "  my  apprehensions  of  the  importance  of  its 
 "  doctrines  were  proportionally  obscure.  I  had 
 u  no  solicitude  about  my  own,  or  my  people's 
 
REV.  ALEXANDER  STEWART,  D.  D.        197 
 
 "  eternal  state.  A  certain  constitutional  mild- 
 "  ness  of  disposition  recommended  me  to  their 
 "  esteem,  but  neither  they  nor  I  had  discern- 
 "  ment  to  perceive  that  I  was  doing  them  no 
 "  good.  In  these  respects,  my  mind  did  cer- 
 "  tainly  undergo  a  very  material  change.  It 
 "  was  accompanied  neither  with  melancholy 
 "  nor  with  extacy,  but  I  understood  and  per- 
 "  ceived  things  which  I  had  not  understood  or 
 "  perceived  before.  It  was  then  first  I  saw  the 
 "  vast  importance  of  the  ministerial  work,  and 
 "  felt  an  anxiety  about  the  spiritual  concerns  of 
 "  my  people.     This  took  place   before   I   had 
 
 "  seen  Mr  ,  or  any  of  his  present  as- 
 
 "  sociates.  The  more  important  the  truths  of 
 ff  Christianity  appeared  to  myself,  I  became  the 
 "  more  desirous  to  have  them  explained  and 
 "  inculcated  on  others.  Both  the  matter  and 
 "  the  manner  of  my  instructions  were  changed, 
 "  in  private  as  well  as  in  public.  I  believe  the 
 "  bulk  of  my  parishioners  soon  observed  this ; 
 "  but  it  was  some  time  before  they  went  along 
 "  with  me.  By  degrees,  however,  many  of  them 
 "  became  more  or  less  acquainted  with  the  doc- 
 "  trines  which  they  heard  from  me,  and  were 
 "  impressed  with  them  accordingly.  By  this 
 "  time  I  had  formed  a  personal  intimacy  with 
 "  Mr  — — .  A  similarity  of  views  and  feel- 
 u  ings  on  the  most  interesting  of  all  subjects, 
 
198  MEMOIRS  OF  THE 
 
 "  strengthened  that  intimacy.  When  he  came 
 "  here,  I  knew  that  his  exhortations  on  religi- 
 "  ous  subjects  would  be  such  as  1  could  recom- 
 "  mend  to  my  people ;  and  I  judged  that  a  per- 
 "  tinent  address  from  a  stranger  could  not  fail 
 "  to  excite  attention,  and  would  probably  make 
 "  a  lasting  impression.  Sensible  how  very  ina- 
 "  dequate  my  individual  labours  were  to  the 
 "  work  assigned  me,  I  was  willing  to  avail  my- 
 "  self  of  this  occasional  aid.  My  people  per- 
 "  ceived  at  once  the  striking  coincidence  be- 
 "  tween  what  they  heard  from  the  stranger, 
 "  and  what  they  heard  from  their  minister. 
 "  They  judged  that  both  were  much  in  earnest, 
 "  and  seriously  concerned  for  the  souls  of  their 
 "  hearers.  They  had  already  remarked  that 
 "  this  manner  of  preaching  was  essentially  dif- 
 "  ferent  from  what  they  had  been  accustomed 
 "  to  hear  from  me  during  seven  or  eight  years 
 "  of  my  ministry.  This  coincidence  in  doctrine 
 "  and  manner  of  instruction  between  me  and 
 "  the  itinerants  who  occasionally  passed  this 
 "  way,  served  to  recommend  both  parties  to  the 
 "  esteem  of  my  people, — I  speak  of  the  majori- 
 "  ty  of  the  people  only ;  for  I  believe  there  are 
 "  some  among  them  who  dislike  me  and  my 
 "  preaching,  as  much  as  they  do  the  itinerants. 
 "  I  have  the  fullest  reason  to  believe  that  none 
 "  of  these  itinerants  have  spoken  any  thing  in 
 
REV.  ALEXANDER  STEWART,  D.  D.        199 
 
 "  this  parish  but  what  was  agreeable  to  sound 
 "  doctrine,  and  free  of  every  tendency  towards 
 "  sedition  or  disaffection. 
 
 "  I  have  neither  sagacity  nor  address  for  a 
 "  politician  ;  but  I  believe,  that  in  countenanc- 
 "  ing  these  missionaries,  so  far  as  I  have  done, 
 "  from  much  better  motives  than  political  ones, 
 "  I  have  just  done  what  good  policy  would  have 
 "  suggested.  These  men  would  have  assembled 
 "  the  people,  and  would  have  been  listened  to 
 "  whether  I  pleased  or  not.  Had  I  kept  aloof, 
 "  and  shewed  them  no  countenance,  while  they 
 "  spake  nothing  but  what  was  useful  and  ac- 
 u  ceptable  to  the  people,  my  people  would  have 
 "  become  jealous  of  me,  and  suspected  me  of 
 "  partiality  and  hypocrisy.  But  now,  by  hav- 
 u  ing  shewed  my  approbation  of  what  appeared 
 "  good  in  these  men,  (and  we  have  seen  nothing 
 u  else),  my  people  are  the  more  disposed  to 
 *  give  me  credit,  if  I  should  hereafter  find  oc- 
 "  casion  to  warn  them  against  individuals  who 
 "  may  appear  to  me  suspicious.  I  have  not 
 "  failed  repeatedly  to  caution  them  in  general 
 "  against  giving  themselves  up  to  the  guidance 
 "  of  strangers,  who  may  come,  just  like  these 
 "  itinerants,  with  the  Bible  in  their  hands,  and 
 "  the  scripture  in  their  mouths,  and  yet  may 
 "  really  be  impostors.  And,  on  the  same  prin- 
 u  ciple,  I  have  always  vindicated  our  landed 
 
200  MEMOIRS  OF  THE 
 
 "  gentlemen,  for  keeping  a  watchful  eye  over 
 11  strangers,  who  come  about  in  such  a  question- 
 "  able  shape. 
 
 "  As  these  men  have  excited  much  attention, 
 "  and  are  "  every  where  spoken  against,"  it  will 
 "  of  course  happen,  that  much  more  is  said  a- 
 "  gainst  them  than  is  true.  This  makes  me 
 "  very  slow  in  giving  credit  to  the  many  un- 
 "  favourable  reports  that  I  hear  about  them. 
 "  Their  leaders  are  suspected  of  the  most  mis- 
 "  chievous  designs.  Of  this  I  have  seen  no 
 "  evidence ;  and  so  long  as  it  is  only  matter  of 
 "  conjecture  and  opinion,  I  must  say  that  my 
 u  opinion  is  widely  different,  and  that  all  they 
 "  have  actually  done,  setting  aside  exaggerated 
 "  reports,  and  unsubstantiated  charges,  appears 
 "  to  me  sufficiently  accounted  for,  by  the  motives 
 "  and  objects  which  they  have  avowed.  It  was 
 "  necessary  to  state  this  as  my  opinion  explicit- 
 "  ly,  else  you  must  have  thought  me  shame- 
 "  fully  inconsistent,  if  I  continued  to  keep  any 
 "  correspondence  with  these  men,  while  I  con- 
 "  curred  in  opinion  with  those  who  think  them 
 "  the  enemies  of  their  country,  and  of  their 
 "  species.  It  is  possible,  indeed,  I  may  be  mis- 
 "  taken,  and,  when  well  authenticated  facts 
 "  shall  shew  it,  (for  while  so  many  mouths  are 
 "  opened,  I  can  give  little  credit  to  flying  re- 
 "  port),  I  think  I  shall  be  as  ready  to  believe 
 
REV.  ALEXANDER  STEWART,  D.  D.        201 
 
 "  solid  evidence,  and  acknowledge  my  mistake, 
 u  as  another. 
 
 "  I  wish  every  one  who  concerns  himself  any 
 "  way  about  me,  and  you,  my  good  friend,  in 
 "  particular,  to  be  assured,  that  I  am  most  cor- 
 "  dially  attached  to  the  Church  of  Scotland, — 
 "  to  her  faith,  worship,  &c. ;    nor  would  any 
 "  earthly  bribe,  as  I  think,  induce  me  at  pre- 
 "  sent  to  desert  her.     I  am  likewise  convinced, 
 u  that  if  we,  her  clergy,  possessing  the  many 
 "  advantages  we  do  possess,  were  in  general  as 
 "  enlightened,  and  faithful,  and  zealous,  as  many 
 u  of  our  predecessors,  no  sectaries  could  run  a- 
 "  way  with  her  people,  nor  any  way  endanger 
 "  her  prosperity.     But  I  well  know  what  a  lame 
 "  support  I  should  have  proved  to  the  church  a 
 "  few  years  ago,  and  how  little  the  personal  at- 
 •'  tachment  of  my  people,  and  my  skill  or  in- 
 "  fluence,   would   have  availed  to  keep  them 
 "  from  deserting  me  and  my  temple,  and  fol- 
 "  lowing  to  the  field  sectaries  who  should  have 
 u  at  that  time  introduced  among  them  the  vital 
 64  truths  of  Christianity.     And  I  have  no  doubt 
 "  that  a  defection  in  favour  of  the  Itinerants 
 "  would  have  taken  place  here  before  now,  if  it 
 "  had  not  been  providentially  ordered  that  I  my- 
 "  self  first  taught  these  truths,    and  that  my 
 "  people  heard  them  from  me,  before  they  heard 
 "  them  from  strangers.     Convinced  of  the  need 
 
 N 
 
202  MEMOIRS  OF  THE 
 
 "  there  is  for  my  labouring  more  incessantly  a- 
 "  mong  my  people  than  I  had  been  accustomed 
 "  to  do,  I  have  endeavoured  to  take  a  lesson  of 
 "  diligence  from  these  Itinerants,  and  to  obtain 
 "  a  portion  of  their  zeal.  And  if  I  am  enabled 
 M  to  labour  with  fidelity,  and  if  I  succeed  in 
 "  teaching  my  people  true  religion,  I  am  sure 
 "  I  shall  have  done  more  to  keep  them  united 
 "  together,  and  attached  to  the  church,  than  by 
 "  inveighing  against  men  in  whom  they  have 
 <k  seen  no  evil. 
 
 "  Me  voila,  as  the  French  say,  I  have  surely 
 "  laid  my  case  and  sentiments  before  you.     I 
 "  was  anxious  to  do  it,  partly  that  I  might  not 
 "  appear  worse  than  I  am  in  the  estimation  of 
 "  a  brother,  on  whose  good  opinion  I  really  put 
 "  a  high  value,  and  partly  to  guard  against  any 
 "  misunderstanding  whieh  might  arise  from  the 
 "  casual  interference  of  our  parishioners,  or  from 
 "  the  officious  commendations  of  Itinerants,  or 
 "  others.     I  have  told  honestly  the  grounds  of 
 "  that  favour  which  I  seem  to  have  shewn  to 
 "  the  society  for  propagation  of  the  gospel  at 
 "  home,  and  of  which  their  missionaries  seem  to 
 "  have  vaunted  in  this  part  of  the  country. 
 "  The  incidental  agreement,  if  it  may  be  called 
 "  incidental,  between  me  and  the  missionaries 
 "  of  that  society,  in  religious  doctrine,  in  the 
 "  object  we  both  profess  to  pursue,  and  in  our 
 
REV.  ALEXANDER  STEWART,  D.  D.        203 
 
 "  method  of  pursuing  it,  together  with  my 
 "  known  intimacy  with  some  of  its  members, 
 "  may  have  induced  a  persuasion  that  I  am 
 "  connected  with  the  society,  and  an  abettor  of 
 "  all  its  measures.  This  is  a  mistake.  I  have 
 "  no  connection  with  that  society, — I  know  but 
 *  few  of  its  members, — my  favour,  so  far  as  a 
 M  little  civility  went,  was  shewn  only  to  two  or 
 "  three  of  its  individuals,  and  that  on  the 
 "  ground  of  their  being  Christian  brethren,  who 
 "  laid  themselves  out,  according  to  their  ability, 
 "  to  press  on  the  attention  of  all  sorts  of  people 
 "  the  leading  doctrines  of  Christianity, — a  la- 
 "  bour  which  appeared  to  me  by  no  means  su- 
 "  perfluous  or  unnecessary,  as  I  thought,  and 
 "  still  think,  these  doctrines  are  in  general  little 
 "  attended  to  or  understood." 
 
 But  while  Mr  Stewart  vindicated  his  conduct 
 with  respect  to  the  Itinerant  teachers,  he  was 
 far  from  being  indifferent  as  to  what  opinions 
 his  flock  should  form  on  the  minor  points  of 
 church  order. 
 
 "  I  happened  to  call  one  day,"sayshe, "  on . 
 
 u  She  told  me  she  had  a  book  that  was  sent  her 
 "  to  read,  but  she  was  half  afraid  to  tell  me  what 
 "  it  was.     She  did  tell  me,  however,  that  it 
 
 "  was  Letters  by ,  that  she  had  read  but 
 
 N  2 
 
204  MEMOIRS  OF  THE 
 
 "  little  of  it,  and  that  she  did  not  like  to  read 
 "  more,  for  it  only  made  her  unsettled  and  un- 
 
 "  easy.     I  said  I  had  no  doubt  of  Mr s 
 
 "  sincerity  and  good  intention  in  what  he  had 
 "  done  and  written,  but  that  there  were  many 
 "  men  of  the  first  eminence  for  piety  and  use- 
 "  fulness,  who  were  as  decided  in  holding  a  dif- 
 
 "  ferent  opinion  from  Mr ,  and  adhering 
 
 "  to  the  Church  of  Scotland.  I  named  Boston, 
 "  Willison,  Rutherford,  and  others,  whose  cha- 
 "  racter  and  writings  she  was  acquainted  with. 
 "  She  said,  "  I  wonder  what  way  Mr  Newton 
 "  is  of?"  I  told  her,  to  her  great  surprise,  that 
 "  Mr  Newton  was  of  a  different  way  from  them 
 "  all,  and  that  he  had  examined,  leisurely  and 
 "  deeply,  all  the  ways  of  them,  and  made  a  most 
 "  deliberate  choice,  and  that  he  had  never  seen 
 "  reason  to  repent  or  regret  the  choice  he  had 
 "  made.  When  I  came  home,  I  looked  out  and 
 "  marked  several  parts  of  Mr  Newton's  Apolo- 
 
 "  gia,  which  I  carried  to ,  and  read  to  her. 
 
 "  She  acknowledged,  with  much  thankfulness, 
 "  that  she  had  heard  nothing  which  so  perfectly 
 "  satisfied  and  composed  her  mind." 
 
 It  is  no  new  thing  for  such  men  as  Mr  Stewart 
 to  be  stigmatized  as  enemies  to  the  church  to 
 which  they  belong>  though,  like  him,  they  cor- 
 dially embrace  the  original  principles  of  her  po- 
 
REV.  ALEXANDER  STEWART,  D.  D.         205 
 
 lity,  and  act  according  to  the  spirit  and  the 
 tenor  of  her  fundamental  laws.  Those  laws  had 
 his  deliberate  approval ;  the  manner,  however, 
 in  which  they  were  administered  frequently  met 
 with  his  undissembled  reprobation.  The  enact- 
 ment which  prohibited  the  employment  of  such 
 a  man  as  Mr  Simeon,  to  whose  ministry  he  was 
 indebted  for  his  own  soul,  could  hardly  com- 
 mend itself  to  his  enlightened  judgment ;  as  it 
 went  to  preclude  the  possibility  of  any  other 
 deriving  a  similar  benefit  in  the  same  way.  And 
 some  of  the  measures  devised  about  that  time, 
 to  strengthen  the  guards  and  fences  of  the 
 church,  he  thought,  had  an  obvious  tendency  to 
 expose  her  weakness,  and  lay  her  more  open  to 
 assault. 
 
 But  in  his  happy  retirement  from  the  metro- 
 politan arena  of  discussion  and  of  contest,  he 
 never  entered  into  consultation  with  a  calcu- 
 lating and  a  worldly  prudence,  how  far  Chris- 
 tian love  should  be  shewn  to  those  who  loved 
 Christ,  and  who,  though  on  somewhat  different 
 views,  sincerely  sought  the  conversion  of  souls, 
 and  the  glory  of  God.  His  heart  and  his  house 
 were  open  to  them,  and  he  had  no  mean  jealousy 
 lest  their  success  should  eclipse  the  lustre  of  his 
 own  ;  and  though  the  zeal  of  many  of  those  men 
 was  soon  diverted  into  a  variety  of  little  channels, 
 that  narrowed  into  straiter  charity  as  they  ran ; 
 
206  MEMOIRS  OF  THE 
 
 it  must  be  confessed,  that  impressions  were  then 
 made  on  a  number  of  careless  people,  with  a 
 name  to  live,  the  effects  of  which,  doubtless, 
 caused  joy  in  heaven,  and  afforded  new  incen- 
 tives to  praise  him,  who  worketh  according  to 
 the  counsel  of  his  own  will. 
 
 Whatever  approbation  may  be  yielded  to  the 
 motives  and  the  zeal  of  the  Itinerants,  however, 
 it  is  difficult  to  assign  a  reason  for  their  activity 
 at  Moulin,  where  such  a  labourer  as  Mr  Stewart 
 was  already  in  full  employment,  and  while  so 
 many  places  were  confessedly  in  greater  need  of 
 evangelical  cultivation.  He  seems  to  have  act- 
 ed on  a  different  principle,  who  said,  "  Yea,  so 
 "  have  1  strived  to  preach  the  gospel,  not  where 
 "  Christ  was  named,  lest  I  should  build  upon 
 "  another  man's  foundation.  But,  as  it  is  writ- 
 "  ten,  To  whom  he  was  not  spoken  of,  they 
 "  shall  see :  and  they  that  have  not  heard  shall 
 "  understand,"  Rom.  xv.  20.  21.  *." 
 
 *  "  It  was  the  apostle's  ambition,   (so  the  original  word 
 
 "  signifies),  to  carry  the  glad  tidings  of  salvation  to  those, 
 
 w  who  had  not  before  heard  of  Christ ;  and  thus  to  face  the 
 
 "  dangers  and  hardships  of  making  the  first  assault  on  the 
 
 "  kingdom  of  Satan,  in  every  place.     Nor  was  he  disposed, 
 
 "  in  general,  to  build  on  the  foundation  laid  by  other  mi- 
 
 "  nisters,  who  were  competent  to  carry  on  the  work  which 
 
 "  they  had  happily  begun ;  but  rather  to  fulfil   the  scrip- 
 
REV.  ALEXANDER  STEWART,  D.  D.         207 
 
 But  we  must  now  return  to  Mr  Stewart's 
 more  personal  history.  In  the  month  of  Au- 
 gust 1802,  on  the  invitation  of  several  ministers 
 who  had  sought  his  fellowship  in  consequence 
 of  what  they  had  heard  of  the  doings  at  Moulin, 
 he  took  a  journey  to  Ross-shire,  being  led  by  a 
 way  he  knew  not,  and  for  purposes  which,  when 
 he  set  out,  were  most  foreign  from  his  thoughts. 
 Among  other  esteemed  brethren  in  that  coun- 
 try, he  visited  Mr  Charles  Calder  of  Urquhart, 
 a  minister,  whose  father  and  grandfather  had 
 shone  as  stars  of  the  first  magnitude  in  the 
 church,  and  who  himself  in  no  wise  diminished 
 the  lustre  of  the  name  and  office  transmitted  to 
 him  from  such  ancestors.  Mr  C.  had  none  of 
 that  constitutional  vigour,  which  enables  a  man 
 to  throw  into  his  public  appearances  the  in- 
 terest and  the  attraction  which  arise  from  de- 
 
 M  ture,  which  foretold  that  many  nations  and  rulers  would 
 "  see  and  understand  such  things,  as  they  had  before  been 
 u  strangers  to,  Isa.  lii.  15.  Probably,  in  mentioning  this, 
 "  he  may  glance  on  those  false  apostles,  who  crept  into 
 "  churches  which  he  had  planted,  and  endeavoured  to  es- 
 "  tablish  their  own  reputation  and  influence  there,  by 
 "  alienating  the  hearts  of  his  own  converts  from  him  ; — 
 ff  while,  like  some  in  our  days,  they  built  on  his  grand 
 "  and  noble  foundation,  an  edifice  of  wood,  and  hay,  and 
 "  stubble." — Scott's  Commentary. 
 
MEMOIRS  OF  THE 
 
 cision  of  tone,  and  power  of  action ;  yet  there 
 was  in  his  gentleness  something  so  saintly ,  and 
 in  his  aspect  such  an  air  of  indescribable  benig- 
 ?iity,  while  his  doctrine  was  Christ,  and  his  aim 
 evidently  to  win  souls  to  the  Saviour  he  preach- 
 ed, that,  in  the  absence  of  voice,  gesture,  and 
 artificial  oratory,  no  man  could  regard  him  in  the 
 pulpit  without  being  overawed  by  the  calm  and 
 sober  majesty  of  his  appearance,  and  few  could 
 resist  the  simple,  yet  deep-felt  strain  of  his  ad- 
 dress. In  his  church  was  to  be  seen  an  audi- 
 tory collected  from  many  adjoining,  and  some 
 distant  parishes,  listening  with  the  most  com- 
 pressed attention,  yet  not  listening  to  admire, 
 nor,  with  high-worked  passions,  intent  on  the 
 wondrous  man,  but  each  one  sitting  as  intent 
 on  himself,  and  as  if  none  besides  were  interest- 
 ed in  the  preacher's  address.  And  while  the 
 tones  of  the  speaker  scarcely  struck  on  the  ears 
 of  a  careless  stranger,  who  went  in  casually  or 
 from  curiosity,  and  complained  of  an  inaudible 
 preacher,  they  reached  the  inmost  soul  of  the 
 serious  and  devout.  Mr  Calder's  ministry  was 
 eminently  successful,  and,  though  meek  and  mo- 
 dest almost  to  timidity,  he  was  bold  for  Christ. 
 In  his  family,  the  daily  topics  of  conversation 
 were,  the  general  interests  of  Christ's  kingdom, 
 and  the  joys  or  sorrows  of  individual  Christians, 
 in  whose  vicissitudes  he  exquisitely  sympathized! 
 
REV.  ALEXANDER  STEWART,  D.  D.        209 
 
 glad,  or  grieved,  as  others  of  the  Lord's  people 
 felt  around  him.  Mrs  C.  who*was  of  one  of  the 
 first  families  in  the  North,  moved  and  shone  in 
 her  own  sphere  with  equal  constancy  and  grace. 
 
 To  this  family  Mr  Stewart  was  directed,  in- 
 tending only  a  wayfaring  man's  abode. 
 
 "  When  I  came  to  his  house,"  says  he,  "  on 
 "  Wednesday  last,  I  supposed  that  it  might 
 
 *  probably  occur  to  him  to  ask  my  assistance  at 
 "  dispensing  the  Lord's  Supper,  the  time  of 
 "  which  was  at  hand ;  and  I  had  made  up  my 
 "  mind  to  resist  every  solicitation  of  the  kind. 
 "  When  he  accompanied  me  to  my  bed-room, 
 "  he  pressed  me  earnestly  on  the  subject,  but  I 
 "  steadily  refused.  Next  day  before  dinner, 
 "  (for  I  staid  till  the  evening),  Mr  and  Mrs 
 "  Calder  both  renewed  their  intreaties,  not  at 
 "  all  in  the  way  of  mere  urgent  importunity, 
 "  but  in  the  most  tender  and  spiritual  manner. 
 ••  Mr  Calder  appears  to  be  a  man  not  so  old  in 
 "  years,  as  he  is  debilitated  by  much  labour, 
 "  and  an  infirm  constitution ;  Mrs  Calder  is  a 
 "  very  superior  woman  for  piety  and  intelli- 
 "  gence.  I  cannot  now  relate  all  they  said  to 
 "  prevail  with  me.  After  talking,  we  separat- 
 "  ed,  and  thought,  and  prayed,  and  cried,  till 
 "  we  were  half  ashamed  to  appear  to  each 
 "  other.     I  was  to  go  on  that  evening  to  Mr 
 
 •  P.  R 's.     We  got  early  tea.     Mrs  Calder 
 
210  MEMOIRS  OF  THE 
 
 "  shook  me  by  the  hand,  but  could  not  take  a 
 "  final  leave.  Mr  Calder  had  ordered  his  horse 
 "  to  be  saddled,  and  accompanied  me  nearly 
 "  four  miles  to  a  ferry,  in  hopes  that  I  might 
 "  yet  be  directed  to  consent  to  stay.  It  oc- 
 "  cupied  much  of  our  thoughts,  as  we  rode 
 "  silently  together.  I  at  last  thought,  that  if  it 
 "  were  indeed  the  Lord's  will  to  keep  me  here 
 "  to  assist  at  Urquhart,  it  could  not  be  perhapk 
 "  more  expressly  intimated  to  me,  than  by  such 
 "  continued  earnest  intreaty  made  by  his  dear 
 "  servants,  not  on  their  own  personal  behalf  on- 
 "  ly,  but  on  account  of  their  people.  If  any 
 "  society,  or  Christian  fellowship,  could  afford 
 "  the  prospect  of  spiritual  advantage  to  myself, 
 "  it  would  be  such  as  I  enjoy  in  this  country, 
 "  where  the  savour  of  divine  things  is  so  strong. 
 "  I  trust  I  shall  engage  a  strong  reinforcement 
 "  of  prayers  here,  in  behalf  of  my  dear  people. 
 "  Before  parting  with  Mr  Calder,  I  did,  in  de- 
 "  pendence  on  the  Lord's  good  pleasure,  settle 
 "  it,  that  I  should  spend  the  preaching  days  at 
 "  his  house,  and  assist  as  1  should  be  enabled, 
 "  and  the  dear  man  left  me  full  of  gratitude  to 
 "  God." 
 
 Mr  Stewart  was  afterwards  connected  with 
 this  family  by  a  closer  tie,  the  eldest  daugh- 
 ter of  Mr  Calder  having  been  united  to  him 
 
REV.  ALEXANDER  STEWART,    D.  D.         211 
 
 in  marriage,  with  the  cordial  approbation  of 
 all  friends;  on  which  occasion  he  wrote  Mr 
 Black,  "  that  it  had  pleased  the  Lord  to  enrich 
 "  him  with  one  of  the  most  precious  temporal 
 "  blessings  he  had  to  bestow." 
 
 Of  this  union,  it  is  sufficient  to  say,  that  to 
 the  end  of  his  life,  Mr  Stewart  regarded  it  as  a 
 special  blessing.  And  were  the  letters  he  wrote 
 to  Mrs  Stewart,  during  an  occasional  absence, 
 nearly  twenty  years  after  the  period  of  their 
 marriage,  to  be  submitted  to  the  reader,  it 
 would  appear,  that  Newton  was  not  singular  in 
 the  strain  of  ardent,  yet  respectful  affection, 
 which  runs  through  "  Letters  to  a  Wife." 
 
 As  Mr  Stewart's  family  was  increasing,  it  be- 
 came evident  to  all,  how  inadequate  the  emolu- 
 ments of  his  parish  were  for  their  support. 
 These  emoluments,  I  believe,  seldom  exceeded 
 £.70  a-year;  and  as  he  withheld  not  his  contri- 
 butions from  institutions  that  had  lately  sprung 
 up  in  the  Christian  world,  for  the  diffusion  of 
 Christianity,  and  was  both  hospitable  by  inclina- 
 tion, and  peculiarly  exposed  to  have  his  hospi- 
 tality put  in  requisition  by  the  numerous  visi- 
 tants whom  his  character  and  operations  attract- 
 ed to  Moulin,  it  could  hardly  escape  the  observa- 
 tion of  his  friends,  that  some  accession  to  his 
 income  was  become  necessary.  There  was  a 
 general  feeling  in  behalf  of  the  Moulin  people, 
 
212  MEMOIRS  OV  THE 
 
 and  almost  every  one  revolted  from  the  idea  of 
 being  accessary  to  a  separation.  However,  an 
 impartial  and  unprejudiced  view  of  the  case  re- 
 conciled many  to  the  prospect;  and  in  1805,  it 
 appears,  various  plans  were  in  agitation  for  ef- 
 fecting his  translation  to  Edinburgh, — plans, 
 into  which  Mr  Black  entered  most  warmly.  In 
 the  midst  of  these,  the  parish  of  Dingwall,  ad- 
 joining to  Urquhart,  became  vacant ;  and  a  very 
 general  desire  was  manifested  in  that  town,  to 
 obtain  a  presentation  for  Mr  Stewart  to  the 
 charge.  This  prospect  was  hardly  opened,  until 
 he  was  informed  by  Mr  Black,  that  another  had 
 been  appointed.  Then  he  seriously  took  into 
 consideration  his  proposed  removal  to  Edin- 
 burgh, and  wrote  to  Mr  Black  the  exercises  of 
 his  mind  on  the  subject. 
 
 "  I  shall  now,  my  dear  Sir,  submit  to  you 
 "  what  has  thus  far  occurred  to  us,  in  consider- 
 "  ing  the  question  of  removal  to  Edinburgh. 
 "  As  to  the  state  of  the  people  here,  there  has 
 "  been  no  gross  declension  nor  scandalous  fall- 
 "  ing  off,  among  those  who  appear  to  be  truly 
 "  enlightened.  But  we  cannot  reckon  on  any 
 "  accession  to  their  number  for  many  months 
 "  past.  There  is,  or  appears  to  be,  a  diminu- 
 "  tion  of  liveliness,  and  a  dulness  of  spirit  hang- 
 "  ing  over  the  most  of  us.     A  still  uniformity 
 
REV.  ALEXANDER  STEWART,  D.  D.        213 
 
 u  prevails  throughout  our  manner  of  living 
 "  and  outward  circumstances,  which  furnishes 
 u  nothing  to  interest  us  in  behalf  of  each  other. 
 "  I  do  not  think  our  attachment  to  each  other  is 
 p  abated,  but  it  is  less  excited  and  kept  in  ex- 
 "  ercise  than  it  was  formerly.  The  real  Christians 
 *  among  us  are  well  established  in  faith  and 
 "  knowledge.  Some  years  ago,  I  should  have 
 "  thought  it  more  dangerous  to  have  left  them 
 "  exposed  to  the  various  winds  of  doctrine,  than 
 "  now,  and  I  believe  they  would  have  been 
 "  more  hurt  at  the  thought  of  a  separation. 
 u  Indeed,  if  they  should  get  a  young  evangeli- 
 "  cal  minister  in  exchange  for  me,  I  am  persuad- 
 "  ed  the  affections  and  interests  which  would 
 "  be  excited,  would  enliven  their  devotion,  and 
 u  prove  of  material  advantage.  But,  if  they 
 u  got  one  of  a  different  description,  the  con- 
 "  sequences  would  be  melancholy. 
 
 "  As  to  temporalities,  there  is  no  prospect  of 
 u  my  emoluments  being  increased.  The  sti- 
 "  pend  cannot  be  augmented ;  the  manse  is 
 "  growing  more  uncomfortable  every  season  ; 
 "  and  with  wars  and  taxes,  it  is  very  uncertain 
 "  when  the  Heritors  may  be  prevailed  upon  to 
 "  build  a  new  one.  I  used  to  shrink  from  the 
 "  idea  of  living  in  Edinburgh  ;  my  aversion  to 
 "  it,  I  own,  is  abated.  In  Edinburgh  I  would 
 "  find  plenty  to  do,  more,  I  ween,  than  I  could 
 
214  MEMOIRS  OP  THE 
 
 *  accomplish.  I  have  not  yet  mentioned  the 
 "  proposal  that  Divine  Providence  has  brought 
 "  under  consideration,  to  any  besides  my  sister 
 "  and  Mrs  Stewart.  I  intend  to  communicate 
 "  it,  however,  to  some  of  our  pious  neighbours, 
 "  to  request  their  prayers,  and  to  see  what  im- 
 u  pression  it  shall  make  on  their  minds. 
 
 "  We  had  a  discussion  with  Mr  K.  about 
 "  Edinburgh  schemes,  and  tried  to  take  a  large 
 "  view  of  the  question.  As  I  had  been  looking 
 "  most  to  reasons  for  remaining  here,  Mr  K. 
 "  and  sister,  (and  I  believe  Mrs  S.  joined  them), 
 "  stated  the  arguments  on  the  other  side, — that 
 "  it  was  not  withdrawing  from  my  Master's 
 "  service,  but  only  transferring  my  labour  from 
 "  a  more  confined  to  a  more  enlarged  and  di- 
 "  versified  field ; — that  the  variety  of  duty,  to- 
 "  gether  with  the  opportunities  of  improvement 
 "  attending  a  residence  in  Edinburgh,  would 
 "  bring  into  exercise  talents  which  at  present 
 "  are  dormant  for  want  of  scope  and  cultiva- 
 "  tion  ; — that  one's  powers  are  kept  more  awake, 
 "  and  one's  labour  more  productive,  when  di- 
 
 *  rected  into  different  channels,  than  when 
 "  moving  in  one  unvaried  track ; — that  provid- 
 "  ing  for  the  maintenance  and   education   of 
 
 *  one's  family,  is  itself  a  duty  of  no  little  mo- 
 "  ment ;  and  that  it  is  much  more  consistent 
 "  with  duty  to  embrace  a  provision  of  this  kind, 
 
a 
 
 REV.  ALEXANDER  STEWART,  D.  D.  215 
 
 "  when  providentially  offered  in  the  way  of 
 "  ministerial  service,  than  to  go  in  quest  of  it 
 "  by  engaging  in  farming,  and  other  secular 
 "  employment  in  the  country ; — that  if  the  pre- 
 "  sent  proposal  (supposing  it  realized)  be  reject- 
 "  ed,  there  is  no  probability  of  a  similar  oppor- 
 tunity occurring  again ;  and  though  it  should 
 "  occur  at  the  distance  of  some  years,  yet,  as 
 "  rustic  habits  would  be  gaining  strength,  and 
 "  mind  and  body  losing  vigour,  I  should  be  less 
 "  qualified  then  than  now,  for  discharging  duty 
 "  in  a  new  sphere; — that,  in  yielding  to  the 
 "  united  force  of  all  these  reasons,  and  comply- 
 "  ing  with  a  providential  call,  which  I  had 
 "  never  thought  of  soliciting,  I  needed  not  fear 
 "  that  I  was  doing  injustice  to  my  present 
 "  people ;  but  having  brought  them  past  their 
 "  nursing-time,  I  might  safely  leave  them  to 
 "  the  direction  of  that  spiritual  wisdom  and 
 "  knowledge  which  they  have  already  attained, 
 "  in  the  confidence  that  the  Lord  will  take  care 
 "  of  his  own.  It  appears  there  is  something  to 
 "  be  said  on  both  sides.  I  have  thought  and 
 "  written  on  the  subject  till  I  am  tired  of  both. 
 "  Much  do  I  now  need  spiritual  wisdom,  to 
 "  teach  me  to  profit  by  what  has  already  occur- 
 "  red,  and  to  guide  my  judgment  in  whatever 
 "  path  may  lie  before  me.     Do  write  me  when 
 
216  MEMOIRS  OF  THE 
 
 "  you  can,  what  has  occurred  in  your  prayers 
 "  and  meditations  on  the  subject." 
 
 From  this  state  of  fluctuation  Mr  Stewart 
 was  in  a  little  while  relieved,  by  providences, 
 the  bearings  of  which  he  regarded  as  sufficiently 
 clear  for  his  direction. 
 
 Moulin,  March     .  1805. 
 
 "  Prepare,  my  dear  Brother,  to  hear  what 
 "  will  surprise  you.  Our  times  are  in  the 
 "  Lord's  hands,  and  his  counsel  shall  stand. 
 "  When  every  prospect  and  symptom  of  a 
 "  change  of  place  was  removed,  and  when  my 
 "  people  and  I  were  set  down  again  quietly  and 
 "  comfortably  together,  a  new  and  unexpected 
 "  turn  has  agitated  us  afresh.  The  post  brought 
 "  me  a  letter  subscribed  by  the  whole  town- 
 "  council  of  Dingwall,  stating  the  general  de- 
 "  sire  of  the  parish  to  have  me  called  to  minis- 
 "  ter  to  them  the  word  of  life, — the  providences 
 "  that  had  frustrated  the  views  of  other  candi- 
 "  dates,  and  promoted  those  respecting  my  ap- 
 "  pointment, — and  containing  a  cordial  and  a 
 "  pressing  invitation  to  accept  the  charge. 
 
 "  Besides  this,  I  had  a  letter  from  some  of 
 "  the  serious  inhabitants  of  the  place,  narrating 
 "  the  various  turns  of  providence,  the  offers 
 "  made     to    other    ministers    connected   with 
 
REV.  ALEXANDER  STEWART,  D.  D.         217 
 
 "  members  of  the  council ;  their  refusal ;  the 
 "  persevering  prayers,  and  other  means  employ- 
 "  ed  by  the  godly  all  over  the  country,  to  gain 
 "  the  council ;  the  delays,  alarms,  and  disap- 
 "  pointments,  and  at  last  the  complete  success 
 "  of  their  wishes. 
 
 "  You  will  learn  every  thing  more  particu- 
 "  larly,  when  I  shew  you  the  correspondence 
 "  in  Perth,  if  it  please  God  we  meet  there. 
 "  When  I  considered  all  the  steps  and  circum- 
 "  stances, — a  worldly  engine  put  in  motion  by 
 "  the  breath  of  prayer,  the  "  iron  gate  opening 
 "  of  its  own  accord," — I  could  not  but  acknow- 
 "  ledge  the  divine  call,  nor  hesitate  to  accept  it. 
 "  I  have  accordingly  written  my  answer,  ac- 
 1  cepting  the  council's  invitation.  How  to 
 "  manage  with  the  poor  Moulin  people,  is  the 
 "  present  difficulty.  I  took  a  number  of  them 
 "  into  my  room  last  night,  after  worship,  read 
 "  my  letters,  and  conversed  with  them.  They 
 "  were  indeed  sorely  grieved,  yet  they  did  not 
 "  deny  the  call  being  of  God,  and  nothing  but 
 u  their  personal  attachment  to  me  hindered 
 "  them  from  fully  acquiescing  in  it.     We  have 
 
 "  the  example  and  the  success  of  the  D 
 
 "  people,  to  encourage  us  to  be  instant  in  prayer, 
 "  that  the  Lord  would  send  a  faithful  pastor  to 
 "  Moulin,    who   may   feed   them    with    strong 
 
 o 
 
218  MEMOIRS  OF  THE 
 
 "  meat,  for  babes  milk  is  all  that  I  could  give 
 "  them.  Now  that  the  people  in  Ross  have 
 "  obtained  their  desire,  I  must  engage  them  to 
 "  help  their  poor  Moulin  brethren  with  their 
 "  prayers." 
 
 But,  although  the  town-council,  and  the  pa- 
 rishioners at  large,  were  very  zealous  to  procure 
 his  nomination,  the  majority  of  the  Presbytery 
 of  Dingwall  looked  on  it  with  no  fond  anticipa- 
 tions, and  were  well  disposed  to  throw  as  many 
 obstructions  in  the  way,  as  private  influence, 
 and  the  tactics  of  church-courts,  could  bring 
 into  action.  "  My  business  in  the  North," 
 he  writes  more  than  two  months  after  the 
 above,  ■  met  with  difficulties  and  obstacles  to 
 "  the  last.  The  issuing  of  the  presentation  was 
 "  retarded,  till  it  was  almost  too  late.  There 
 "  appeared  reason  to  suspect,  that  even  after  it 
 "  was  signed  in  London,  there  was  an  inten- 
 "  tion  of  keeping  it  up,  till  it  should  prove  in- 
 
 "  effectual.     Mr had  a  short  conversa- 
 
 "  tion  with  two  young  ministers  of  Dingwall 
 "  Presbytery,  who  were  hastening  homeward 
 "  to  exercise  the  Presbytery's  right  of  presenta- 
 
 "  tion  in  favour  of .     After  some  spirit- 
 
 "  ed  letters  from  Dingwall  to  the  Provost  in 
 "  Edinburgh,  it  was  promised,  that  the  Provost's 
 
REV.  ALEXANDER  STEWART,    D.  D.         219 
 
 "  brother,  who  was  coming  to  D about 
 
 "  "  Borough  Election,"  would  certainly  bring 
 "  the  presentation  in  his  pocket.  He  came, 
 "  however,  without  it,  but  seeing  the  town  so 
 "  dissatisfied,  and  a  certain  interest  likely  to 
 u  suffer,  he  immediately  wrote  to  Edinburgh, 
 "  or  to  London,  and  the  paper  was  produced. 
 "  A  meeting  of  Presbytery  was  held,  just  three 
 "  days  before  the  six  months  elapsed.  Yester- 
 "  day,  I  received  a  letter,  that  every  thing  went 
 "  on  smoothly,  and  that  the  moderation  of  the 
 "  call  was  appointed.  I  trust  the  Lord  will 
 "  glorify  his  own  wisdom  and  power,  in  making 
 "  the  truth  to  triumph,  while  he  baffles  the 
 <k  schemes  of  its  enemies." 
 
 Thus  was  determined  a  step  on  which  much 
 of  the  usefulness  of  his  future  life  depended,  and 
 which  involved,  in  its  consequences,  the  spiritual 
 interests  of  many. 
 
 With  respect  to  the  propriety  of  resigning 
 the  Moulin  charge,  a  charge  endeared  by  the 
 most  tender  associations  of  spiritual  kindred  and 
 affinity  in  Christ,  different  opinions  will  be  held, 
 according  to  the  principles,  means  of  informa- 
 tion, and  capacity  to  judge,  which  meet  in  the 
 individual  who  brings  the  matter  into  delibera- 
 tion. 
 
 That  removal  is  absolutely  unlawful  in  nil 
 o2 
 
220  MEMOIRS  OF  THE 
 
 cases,  no  man  will  maintain,  or  if  he  do,  he  will 
 involve,  in  his  rash  censure,  many  a  distinguish- 
 ed servant  of  Christ  besides  Mr  Stewart.  That 
 a  minister,  like  other  men,  is  at  the  disposal  of 
 his  Lord,  is  unquestionable ;  and  his  will  is  to 
 be  learned  by  the  intimations  of  providence,  con- 
 curring with  the  intimations  of  scripture  and 
 of  conscience,  concerning  duty.  When  a  man 
 is  satisfied  on  these  points,  he  is  not  to  be  blam- 
 ed on  slight  considerations,  and  on  superficial 
 views  and  regrets  for  some  concomitant  incon- 
 veniences. That  Mr  Stewart  was  fully  satisfied 
 on  the  point,  is  well  known  to  all  who  enjoyed 
 his  intimacy ;  and  it  were  rash  in  others  pos- 
 sessing very  incompetent  means  of  forming  a 
 judgment,  and  not  actually  the  subjects  of  simi- 
 lar providences,  to  pronounce  him  mistaken  in 
 the  conduct  he  pursued.  If  one  place  before  his 
 eyes  the  interesting  flock  at  Moulin,  going 
 forth  under  his  pastoral  care,  finding  pasture 
 to  their  full  content  under  his  direction,  and 
 feeding  on  the  mountains  of  Zion  in  peace  and 
 concord  under  his  eye,  who  but  grieves  at  the 
 removal  of  their  guide,  and  the  consequent  dis- 
 persion that  awaits  them  ?  But  if  the  circum- 
 stances of  Dingwall  be  considered, — the  desti- 
 tution they  were  in, — the  desire  for  a  shepherd 
 which  they  felt, — the  worth  of  their  souls,  and 
 
REV.  ALEXANDER  STEWART,    D.  D.  221 
 
 the  interest  the  good  Shepherd  takes  in  the 
 whole  of  his  flock  collectively, — we  shall  proba- 
 bly pause  before  we  condemn  Mr  Stewart's  re- 
 solution to  pass  from  the  care  of  a  well-pastured 
 part  of  the  flock,  to  tend  another  division  of 
 it  that  wandered  as  sheep  without  a  shep- 
 herd. That  the  change  was  beneficial  to  him- 
 self, as  to  temporalities,  will  not  alter  our  judg- 
 ment ;  for  that  benefit  was  needed,  and  was  the 
 very  circumstance  that  gave  preponderance  to 
 other  motives  respecting  Dingwall,  purely  spi- 
 ritual, when  they  hung  in  a  condition  of  sus- 
 pense. Certainly,  had  the  matter  of  temporali- 
 ties been  reversed,  it  would  have  so  far  detract- 
 ed from  the  wisdom  of  his  determination,  and 
 the  reasonableness  of  his  change. 
 
 While  Mr  Stewart  saw  that  it  was  his  duty 
 to  suffer  the  relation  in  which  he  stood  to  the 
 parish  of  Moulin  to  be  dissolved,  it  was  not 
 without  feeling  for  them  a  concern  truly  pater- 
 nal. 
 
 "  Now  that  the  time  of  my  departure  is  al- 
 "  most  at  hand,  you  will  be  anxious  to  know 
 "  how  it  fares  with  us  all.  There  is  really  much 
 "  composure  and  quiet  acquiescence  that  prevail. 
 "  Some  weeks  ago  I  used  only  to  make  distant 
 "  allusions  to  the  situation  in  which   we  stood. 
 
222  MEMOIRS  OF  THE 
 
 "  Of  late,  I  have  thought  proper  to  speak  of  our 
 "  separation  more  explicitly,  and  make  the  men- 
 "  tion  of  it  somewhat  familiar  to  our  ears,  so  as 
 "  to  be  able  to  think  and  talk  of  it  without  over- 
 "  powering  emotions.  Our  evening  readings 
 "  are  crowded.  The  people  seem  to  swallow 
 "  the  word  greedily,  considering  that  their  time 
 "  may  be  short." 
 
 Mr  Stewart's  anxiety  for  the  future  prosperi- 
 ty of  that  people,  led  him  to  take  a  deep  interest 
 in  the  appointment  of  a  successor.  The  nomi- 
 nation was  in  the  hands  of  a  nobleman,  who  has 
 been  long  distinguished  in  that  country  for  his 
 zeal  in  supporting  established  order,  and  for 
 giving  stability  to  the  existing  constitution  in 
 church  and  state ;  and  as  Mr  Stewart  had  lent 
 his  influence  to  compose  the  minds  of  the  peo- 
 ple in  times  of  considerable  agitation,  and  had 
 with  ample  effect  stood  forth  the  firm  advocate 
 of  loyalty  and  social  order,  on  Christian  princi- 
 ples and  in  the  fear  of  God,  it  might  reasonably 
 be  expected,  any  representation  he  should  make, 
 relative  to  the  good  of  the  parish,  would  be  en- 
 titled to  consideration,  and  have  some  weight 
 with  those  most  concerned  in  maintaining  the 
 public  weal.  At  least,  he  thought  it  became 
 him  to  use  every  probable  expedient  in  such  an 
 
REV.  ALEXANDER  STEWART,   D.  D.         223 
 
 emergency,  and  therefore  submitted  the  follow- 
 ing statement  to  the  patron : — 
 
 "  My  Lord, 
 
 "  As  his  Majesty  has  been  pleased  to  present 
 "  me  to  the  church  and  living  of  Dingwall,  and 
 "  I  have  received  a  call  from  the  magistrates, 
 "  heritors,  and  inhabitants  of  that  borough,  it  is 
 "  probable  that  my  settlement  will  take  place 
 "  in  September.  In  that  event,  I  shall  have  to 
 "  resign  into  your  Grace's  hands  my  present 
 u  living,  which  I  have  enjoyed  for  a  consider- 
 "  able  period  by  your  bounty. 
 
 "  I  willingly  take  this  opportunity  of  submit- 
 "  ting  to  your  Grace's  consideration,  a  fact  which 
 "  consists  with  my  knowledge,  namely,  that 
 "  during  my  incumbency,  no  person  residing 
 "  in  this  parish  has  left  the  established  church, 
 "  to  join  any  dissenting  connection  whatever. 
 "  Indulge  me,  my  Lord,  in  expressing  an  ear- 
 "  nest  wish,  that  in  the  case  of  a  successor,  the 
 
 *  same  union  and  harmony  may  continue  be- 
 "  tween  minister  and  people,  which  are  so  essen- 
 "  tial  tb  the  happiness  of  both.  I  am  induced 
 "  to  take  this  liberty  in  addressing  the  noble 
 "  patron,  from  the  deep  concern  which  I  feel 
 
 *  for  the  peace  and  improvement  of  a  people  a- 
 "  mong  whom  I  have  happily  spent  many  years 
 
224  MEMOIRS  OF  THE 
 
 "  of  my  life,  and  to  whom  I  must  ever  retain  a 
 "  warm  attachment,  though  duty  now  calls  me 
 "  away  from  them. 
 
 *  I  am  sure  the  people  ought  not,  and  I  believe 
 "  they  will  not  be  forward  to  make  any  applica- 
 "  tion  in  favour  of  an  individual  candidate,  un- 
 "  less  they  understood  that  it  would  be  agreeable 
 "  to  your  Grace  to  know  their  mind.  Yet  it 
 "  would  be  affectation  to  conceal,  that,  in  their 
 "  own  judgment,  they  must  give  a  preference 
 "  to  one  before  another.  But  I  presume  no 
 "  farther  than  simply  to  hint,  how  much  the 
 "  quiet  and  peace  of  this  parish  depend  on 
 11  your  Grace's  choice  of  a  minister,  who,  pos- 
 "  sessing  qualifications  which  must  recommend 
 "  him  to  the  esteem  of  the  heritors,  may  also 
 "  be  qualified  to  gain  and  retain  the  confidence 
 "  of  the  people. 
 
 "  I  hope  your  Grace  will  not  charge  me  with 
 "  going  beyond  the  line  of  my  duty,  in  thus 
 "  respectfully  representing  the  state  of  the 
 "  parish  I  am  now  about  to  resign  to  its  noble 
 "  patron,  who  has  always  shewn  a  judicious  at- 
 "  tention  to  the  interests  of  his  people." 
 
 I  am  afraid  it  will  disappoint  many  to  be  in- 
 formed, that  a  representation  so  unassuming, 
 and  in  a  matter  affecting  the  dearest  interests  of 
 
REV.  ALEXANDER  STEWART,  J).   I).        225 
 
 a  whole  parish,  met  with  no  reply.  The  elders 
 of  the  congregation,  too,  wishing  to  leave  nothing 
 untried,  sent  a  representation  to  the  patron,  set- 
 ting forth  their  great  respect  for  him  as  their 
 superior,  and  expressing  their  unwillingness  to 
 make  divisions,  or  to  separate  themselves  from 
 the  Establishment;  and  that  they  might  not 
 be  compelled  to  do  so,  petitioning  that  a  person 
 should  be  presented  to  the  parish  whom  they 
 could  conscientiously  receive  as  their  minister. 
 This  representation  was  not  more  successful ; 
 and  Mr  Stewart  having  entirely  failed  in  his  at- 
 tempts to  obtain  for  his  people  a  pastor  to  his 
 own  mind  or  to  theirs,  was  obliged  to  devolve 
 them  on  the  care  of  the  chief  Shepherd,  and 
 took  leave  of  them  somewhat  in  the  way  de- 
 scribed in  Acts  xx.  36,  37  *• 
 
 *  On  considering  the  above  representations,  one  cannot 
 forbear  reflecting  what  a  fine  opportunity  was  here  lost  for 
 benevolence,  to  make  many  happy, — for  patriotism,  to  attach 
 men  to  wise  institutions, — and  for  religion,  to  promote  and 
 cherish  among  a  well-affected  people  the  virtues  of  growing 
 piety  !  Meanwhile,  we  are  far  from  insinuating  that  the 
 Noble  Patron  acted  arbitrarily,  and  without  bringing  into 
 exercise  a  deliberate  judgment  on  the  case.  His  determina- 
 tion was  doubtless  the  result  of  mature  thought ;  but,  at 
 the  same  time,  it  was  probably  influenced  by  that  ancient 
 prejudice  which  views  evangelical  principle?  a;  necessarily 
 
226  MEMOIRS  OF  THE 
 
 "  We  had  a  favourable  journey  north,"  he 
 writes  to  Mr  Black  ;  "  I  fancy  sister  may  have 
 "  already  described  our  parting  from  Moulin, 
 '*  and  the  deep  yet  composed  grief  of  the  dear 
 "  sisterhood.  We  had  many  an  anxious  thought 
 "  about  them  on  our  way.  On  our  arrival  in 
 "  this  country,  we  took  up  our  residence  with 
 "  worthy  Mr  and  Mrs  C.  The  26th  Septem- 
 "  ber  was  the  important  day  that  loosened  my 
 "  connection  with  one  flock,  and  bound  me  to 
 "  another.  My  reception  here  has  been  warm 
 "  and  cordial  in  the  highest  degree.  Every 
 "  neighbour  is  more  kind  than  another.  Be- 
 "  sides  offering  and  sending  us  many  articles  of 
 "  furniture  in  loan,  till  we  should  get  our  own 
 "  things,  we  have  got  presents,  &c.  &c.  &c.     I 
 
 allied  to  political  insubordination.  Even  the  tried  loyalty 
 of  Mr  Stewart  and  his  people,  could  not,  it  seems,  dissolve 
 the  imaginary  association  in  the  minds  of  some.  It  is  on 
 this  erroneous  ground,  that  when  two  candidates  for  a  pre- 
 sentation have  offered  themselves,  the  moderately  religious 
 has  been  generally  preferred. 
 
 Heritors,  however,  are  at  length  beginning  to  act  on  bet- 
 ter principles  ;  and  in  his  own  neighbourhood,  the  writer  is 
 happy  to  perceive  a  growing  solicitude  among  those  pos- 
 sessing influence  to  promote  the  spiritual  interests  of  the 
 people  in  the  settling  of  vacant  parishes. 
 
REV.  ALEXANDER  STEWART,  D.  D.        227 
 
 "  have  preached  now  two  Sabbaths,  to  a  crowd- 
 "  ed  and  attentive  congregation.  I  have  met 
 "  and  conversed  with  several  serious  men  and 
 "  women.  Simple  warm-hearted  Christians 
 "  they  appear  to  be.  In  short,  I  have  every 
 "  encouragement  at  present.  A  great  door 
 "  seems  to  be  opened.  If  the  Lord  would  but 
 "  move  the  hearts  of  the  people  to  receive  my 
 "  message,  as  they  have  so  cordially  received 
 "  myself,  how  we  should  then  rejoice  toge- 
 "  ther." 
 
 Mr  Stewart,  in  his  new  parish,  had  to  break 
 up  ground  over  which  the  gospel-plough  had 
 not  for  some  time  passed.  That  country  pre- 
 sented a  scene  not  often  to  be  seen, — a  people 
 of  the  simplest  habits, — when  religious,  of  the 
 sublimest  piety, — when  not  enlightened,  ad- 
 dicted to  low  immoralities,  and  a  prey  to  de- 
 basing superstitions.  In  no  part  of  the  world, 
 perhaps,  will  be  found  a  clergy  more  orthodox 
 than  those  called  the  popular  ministers,  and  no 
 where  are  the  effects  of  Calvinistic  preaching 
 more  broadly  exhibited,  than  in  the  character 
 and  views  of  the  more  serious  among  the  peo- 
 ple. Experimental  religion  is  there  well  under- 
 stood ;  and  it  is  no  uncommon  occurrence,  at 
 public  meetings  for  religious  conference,  to  ob- 
 
228  MEMOIRS  OF  THE 
 
 serve  a  plain  peasant  rise  with  all  the  modesty 
 of  retiring  diffidence,  and  on  surmounting  the 
 visible  reluctance  of  an  unassuming  mind  to 
 obtrude  itself  on  the  attention  of  other  men, 
 enter  into  the  discussion  of  some  point  of  ca- 
 suistry, or  penetrate  into  the  marrow  of  some 
 doctrinal  subject  proposed  for  consideration, 
 with  a  power  of  discrimination,  and  a  copious- 
 ness of  argument,  truly  surprising.  On  these 
 occasions  one  might  imagine  an  Owen  revived, 
 having  lost  nothing  but  his  Greek  and  Latin 
 quotations. 
 
 Their  religious  views  are  generally  profound ; 
 and  in  no  place  is  the  discrimination  betwixt 
 converted  and  unconverted  more  observed,  or 
 more  observable.  In  parishes  that  have  for  a 
 long  period  enjoyed  adequate  training,  the  re- 
 ligious standard  is  high,  and  the  general  aspect 
 of  the  people  is  plainly  as  if  they  sought  a  bet- 
 ter country,  and  looked  on  this  world  as  a  scene 
 not  desireable.  They  are  grave,  watchful,  and 
 intent  on  serious  thought ;  and  he  who  would 
 take  the  oversight  of  them,  had  need  not  to  be 
 a  novice. 
 
 In  a  letter  to  Mr  Willison,  written  on  his  re- 
 turn to  Moulin,  after  his  former  visit,  Mr  Stewart 
 thus  describes  his  first  impressions : — 
 
REV.  ALEXANDER  STEWART,  D.  D.         229 
 
 "  I  was  greatly  refreshed  with  what  I  saw 
 "  and  heard  in  Ross-shire  and  Inverness ;  nu- 
 "  merous  devout  congregations,  many  lively 
 "  Christians,  and  a  great  door  of  utterance.  I 
 "  was  struck  with  the  contrast  between  the  ge- 
 "  neral  cast  of  religion  in  East-Ross,  and  at 
 "  home.  Here,  religion  is  in  its  youthful  state ; 
 "  there,  it  seems  rather  in  its  declining  age. 
 "  Here,  we  are  warm  and  affectionate,  simple 
 "  and  unsuspicious  ;  yonder,  they  are  rather  in- 
 "  different  about  plain  fare,  fond  of  casuistry, 
 "  and  each  occupied  about  his  own  particular 
 "  experience.  Yet  their  religion  is  far  from 
 "  being  an  unfruitful  profession.  They  are  ex- 
 "  emplary,  moral,  kind,  and  charitable." 
 
 But  this  description  would  not  apply  to 
 parishes  under  the  care  of  unpopular  ministers, 
 in  which  predicament  the  parish  of  Dingwall 
 had  for  some  time  stood.  Their  former  clergy- 
 man was  a  man  of  taste  and  learning,  made  a 
 good  figure  in  ecclesiastical  courts,  was  a  ready  and 
 polite  preacher,  and  lived  in  good  terms  with 
 the  genteel  neighbourhood,  for  which  Dingwall 
 is  noted.  Of  his  pastoral  fidelity  not  much  is 
 known.  There  were  a  few  pious  people  in  the 
 town,  who,  as  the  manner  of  that  country  is, 
 travelled  far  on  a  Sunday  to  enjoy  evangelical 
 
230  MEMOIRS  OF  THE 
 
 ordinances.  But  the  general  aspect  of  the  place 
 was  certainly  not  religious;  and  though,  on  his 
 settlement  there,  Mr  Stewart  found  many  will- 
 ing to  hear  the  truth,  not  many  were  found 
 who  knew  its  power.  The  Sabbath  was  little 
 regarded ;  many  were  not  only  lax,  but  accus- 
 tomed to  draw  topics  of  merriment  from  the 
 gravity,  the  devout  composure,  and  the  strict 
 lives  of  the  few  who  professed  godliness ;  and 
 as  for  the  populace,  the  same  levity  and  thirst 
 for  diversion,  and  inattention  to  Christian  mo- 
 rality, characterized  them,  which  commonly  pre- 
 vail in  that  class,  when  not  accustomed  to  the 
 subjection  of  religious  restraints. 
 
 That  there  was  much  ignorance  among  the 
 people,  was  apparent  to  all  who  had  opportuni- 
 ty, and  sufficient  knowledge  to  judge.  But  it 
 was  obvious  there  was  no  suspicion  entertained 
 by  themselves  that  they  were  deficient ;  and,  1 
 believe,  the  assertion  of  it  would  have  exposed 
 a  man  to  very  pointed  expressions  of  resent- 
 ment. However,  their  minds  were  generally 
 disposed,  at  the  period  of  Mr  Stewart's  coming 
 among  them,  to  receive  both  him  and  his  testi- 
 mony with  abundant  respect ;  nor  had  he  been 
 long  settled,  until  a  visible  alteration  took  place 
 on  external  conduct.  One  instance  of  which  he 
 has  pleasantly  described  in  a  letter  written  not 
 two  months  after  his  induction  : — 
 
REV.  ALEXANDER  STEWART,  D.  D.         231 
 
 "  You  will  be  overjoyed  to  hear  something 
 "  of  gospel  news  from  Dingwall.  Our  serious 
 "  people  already  remark  an  evident  shaking 
 "  among  the  dry  bones.  There  is,  in  various 
 "  instances,  a  melting  under  the  word.  The 
 "  house  of   an   experienced  Christian   in   the 
 
 "  town,  D M ,  which  used  to  be  open 
 
 "  on  the  Sabbath  evening  to  a  few  who  attend- 
 "  ed  to  his  reading  and  prayer,  is  now  crowded. 
 "  A  mason  in  the  neighbouring  parish,  who 
 C(  was  anxious  to  send  a  letter  in  haste  to  his 
 "  son,  about  a  piece  of  work  he  had  undertaken, 
 "  on  a  Sabbath  morning  applied  in  vain  to  dif- 
 "  ferent  persons  to  write  for  him.  One  had  cut 
 "  his  thumb,  another  was  not  at  home.  He 
 "  came  to  Dingwall  to  try  to  get  his  letter 
 "  written  there.  From  this  he  was  led  to  go 
 "  to  Dingwall  church.  He  was  much  impress- 
 "  ed,  and  next  day  confessed,  to  a  serious  ac- 
 "  quaintance,  the  steps  by  which  he  had  been 
 "  led,  and  that  he  thought  the  sermon  he  heard 
 "  was  all  levelled  at  himself.  We  have  a  pre- 
 "  cious  select  party,  who  meet  every  Friday 
 
 "  evening  for  prayer  and  conversation  at  D 
 
 "  M 's.     We  have  had  some  special  meet- 
 
 "  ings  in  the  Manse,  for  prayer  about  Moulin. 
 "  The  brethren  here  are  preparing  a  letter  to 
 "  be  sent  to  their  brethren  at  Moulin,  to  en- 
 "  courage  them. — Poor  Moulin !" 
 
'132  MEMOIRS  OF  THE 
 
 The  concluding  part  of  the  above  extract 
 will  painfully  recal  the  reader's  thoughts  to 
 Moulin.  Their  pastor  was  hardly  removed, 
 until  sectaries  began  to  preach  to  them  the 
 duty  to  come  out  from  the  Established  Church, 
 and  be  separate.  "  There  has  a  great  change 
 "  taken  place  about  Moulin,"  one  of  them 
 writes,  "  which  gives  me  many  a  sad  hour  and 
 "  day,  when  I  consider  how,  formerly,  every 
 "  thing  was  going  on  prosperously  among  us. 
 •'  But,  perhaps,  for  our  sin  in  the  misimprove- 
 "  ment  of  former  privileges,  our  enemies  tri- 
 "  umph  over  us,  and  we  go  mourning  because 
 "  of  the  oppression  of  the  enemy  all  day  long  ; 
 "  but  with  God  there  is  mercy  and  deliver - 
 €*  ance."  And  only  three  years  after  Mr  Stew- 
 art's removal,  the  same  person  says,  "  All  things 
 "  about  our  place  are  growing  worse  and  worse, 
 "  — iniquity  abounding  and  practised  without 
 "  restraint, — the  Sabbath  much  profaned, — and 
 "  things  turning  to  their  old  course ;  only  the 
 "  few  who  love  the  Saviour  are  still  holding  on, 
 "  like  Gideon,  "  faint,  yet  pursuing."  " 
 
 Such  accounts  must  have  been  a  grief  to  Mr 
 Stewart,  for  no  man  was  more  susceptible  of  reli- 
 gious sympathy  than  himself.  He  did  what  he 
 could  to  alleviate  the  distress,  by  correspondence 
 
REV.  ALEXANDER  STEWART,  D.  D.         233 
 
 and  advice,  and  by  prayer,  in  which  he  got  the 
 religious  people  around  him  to  engage  on  their 
 account.  And  as  a  specimen  of  his  counsels, 
 we  insert  the  following  letter  in  answer  to  a  de- 
 sponding one  he  had  received : 
 
 "  My  dear  Friend, 
 
 "  I  have  been  wishing  for  many  weeks  to 
 "  send  my  blessing  and  best  wishes  to  you,  and 
 "  my  dear  brethren  and  well-wishers  in  the  pa- 
 "  rish  of  Moulin.  But  it  is  really  little  I  can 
 "  write  to  any  body,  as  my  eyes  do  not  bear  to 
 "  do  much  by  candle-light,  and  there  is  but 
 "  little  day-light  for  other  purposes.  Your 
 "  very  welcome  letter  of  the  2d  January  came 
 "  to  hand,  and  awakened  anew  my  affectionate 
 "  remembrance  of  you  all,  and  quickened  my 
 "  poor  prayers  for  your  comfort  and  edifica- 
 "  tion.  I  see  the  Lord  continues  to  try  you 
 "  with  a  scarcity  of  spiritual  bread ;  but  while 
 u  he  leaves  you  the  blessed  word,  and  his  Holy 
 "  Spirit  to  dress  the  food  for  your  use,  and  to 
 "  prepare  your  souls  to  receive  it,  you  must  not 
 "  think  that  you  are  starved.  God  wrought  a 
 a  miracle  before  he  would  allow  the  widow  of 
 "  Sarepta  to  starve  in  time  of  famine.  If  he 
 "  feeds  even  the  fowls  of  the  air,  will  he  not 
 "  much  more  feed  you  by  sending  you  spiritual 
 "  food?    I  am  unwilling  to  add,  "  O  ye  of  little 
 
 p 
 
234  MEMOIRS  OF  THE 
 
 "  faith !"  but  still  I  feel  much  for  your  situa- 
 
 "  tion,  and  indeed  my  heart  and  my  affections 
 
 "  often  go  out  towards  you  in  secret,  and  I 
 
 "  feel,  like  Paul,  a  strong  desire  to  see  your 
 
 "  face  in   the  flesh,   and   if  the   Lord   would 
 
 "  honour  me  so  far  as  to  stablish  your  faith, 
 
 "  and  impart  to  you  some  spiritual  gift,  Rom. 
 
 "  i.  11.     But,  O  what  a  precious  privilege  is  it 
 
 "  to  have  a  Saviour  to  whom  we  can  express 
 
 "  our  desire,   and  commit   all   our  cares ! — to 
 
 "  whom  we  can  commit  each  other  in  prayer, 
 
 "  and  trust  all  our  concerns ! — an  ever-watch- 
 
 "  ful  Shepherd,  who  knows  the  wants  of  his 
 
 "  sheep,  and  their  weakness ! — and  although  he 
 
 "  sometimes  lets  them  feel  the  cold,  yet  he  stays 
 
 "  his  rough  wind  in  the  day  of  his  east  wind. 
 
 "  Many  a  saint  now   in  glory  was  on   earth 
 
 "  destitute,  afflicted,  tormented,  wandering  in 
 
 "  deserts    and    mountains,    Heb.  xi.  37.    &c. 
 
 "  who  are  now  convinced  that  it  was  good  for 
 
 "  them  to  have  been  afflicted.     Is  it  not  a  mer- 
 
 "  cy  for  you  that  you  are  not  like  the  poor 
 
 "  Christians  at  Ephesus,  when  Paul  left  them 
 
 "  exposed  as  a  prey  to  grievous  wolves,  not 
 
 "  sparing  the  flock  ?  and  that  there  are  not  per- 
 
 "  sons  arising  among  yourselves  speaking  per- 
 
 "  verse  things?  Acts  xx.  29.  30.     But  I  ac- 
 
 "  knowledge  it  must  be  a  grief  to  your  heart, 
 
 "  tf>   see    so    many   around  you   unconcerned 
 
REV.  ALEXANDER  STEWART,    D.  D.         235 
 
 "  about  eternity,  careless  about  the  one  thing 
 "  needful,  not  minding  the  gospel,  nor  think- 
 "  ing  about  it.  But  as  it  was  in  our  Saviour's 
 "  days,  so  it  was  in  the  days  of  the  apostles, 
 "  and  so  it  will  be  until  the  Spirit  be  poured 
 "  out  from  on  high." 
 
 Of  his  proceedings  at  Dingwall,  he  writes  to 
 his  sister,  seven  months  after  his  settlement, 
 this  account : — 
 
 "  Our  Sunday  operations  continue,  and  we 
 "  hope  with  some  effect.  The  practice  here 
 "  had  been  to  have  but  two  discourses,  one  in 
 "  each  language,  all  the  year  round,  without  any 
 "  interval,  beginning  at  a  quarter  past  twelve. 
 "  About  a  month  ago,  I  changed  the  hour  of 
 "  meeting  to  eleven,  which  gave  me  time  for  a 
 "  Gaelic  lecture  and  sermon.  Then  I  have  an 
 "  hour  of  interval,  and  an  English  discourse  be- 
 "  ginning  at  two.  About  the  same  time,  hav- 
 "  ing  got  some  length  of  day-light,  in  the  even- 
 "  ing  I  began  a  diet  of  catechising  in  church  at 
 "  half  past  four,  which  continues  to  six.  I  find 
 "  all  this  just  as  much  as  my  strength  will  bear. 
 "  But  as  my  discourses  are  not  long,  and  the 
 "  church  does  not  require  great  exertion  of  voice, 
 "  I  hope  I  shall  be  able  to  continue.  The  cate- 
 "  chising  diet  is  well  attended,  and  the  church 
 
 p  2 
 
236  MEMOIRS  OF  THE 
 
 "  quite  full,  just  as  it  used  to  be  at  Moulin, 
 "  with  this  difference,  that  we  have  here  several 
 "  of  the  gentry,  who  understand  Gaelic,  that  at- 
 "  tend  regularly.  As  soon  as  this  meeting  is 
 "  dismissed,  our  Sabbath  schools  begin,  of  which 
 
 "  we  have  now  three,  besides  D M 's 
 
 "  open  meeting  for  notes  and  reading,  and  ano- 
 
 m  ther  in  It N 's  house.     These  va- 
 
 "  rious  diets  fill  up  the  day,  and  afford  oppor- 
 "  tunity  of  improvement  to  many  who  can  nei- 
 "  ther  read  nor  think  to  any  purpose  at  home. 
 "  When  we  recollect  the  opposition  that  was 
 "  made  to  the  introduction  of  a  gospel  ministry 
 "  in  this  place,  and  now  see  the  freedom  with 
 "  which  various  means  of  improvement  are  em- 
 "  ployed  and  countenanced,  we  are  encouraged 
 "  to  hope  that  they  will  be  productive  of  good. 
 
 «  D M — ,    my   town   catechist,   has 
 
 "  gone  over  the  greater  part  of  the  families  in 
 "  town,  in  the  way  of  catechetic  instruction,  on 
 "  week-day  evenings.  I  have  occasion  to  be 
 "  called  to  baptize  children  in  the  town.  I  al- 
 "  ways  make  it  a  practice  to  read  and  expound 
 "  a  portion  of  the  scriptures  on  these  occasions. 
 46  I  think  it  has  as  good  an  effect  in  this  way, 
 "  as  though  I  brought  them  to  church.     Yes- 
 
 "  terday,  in  the  house  of ,  I  had  an  op- 
 
 "  portunity  of  reading  a  sort  of  chamber-lecture 
 "  to  about  twenty  ladies  and  gentlemen,  from 
 "  Luke  x.  8.  20.     It  must  be  seen  that  the 
 
REV.  ALEXANDER  STEWART,  D.  D.        237 
 
 "  kingdom  of  God  is  come  nigh  unto  them ;  and 
 "  we  hope  the  Lord  will  gather  some  into  it. 
 "  Though  some  weeks  have  now  elapsed  since 
 "  the  event,  I  cannot  yet  write  or  think  with  a 
 "  dry  eye  of  the  sore  bereavement  which  I,  in 
 "  common  with  many,  have  suffered  in  the  un- 
 "  expected  removal  of  our  dear  brother  Black. 
 "  It  is,  indeed,  an  awful  token  of  the  divine  dis- 
 
 "  pleasure,  as  Mrs  C expressed  it,  of  a 
 
 "  hostile  disposition  in  the  court  of  heaven,  when 
 "  its  ambassadors  are  thus  suddenly  recalled. 
 "  Edinburgh  has  lost  more  than  half  its  attrac- 
 n  tion  for  me.  I  could  not  find  myself  at  home 
 "  there  any  more.  Indeed,  there  is  very  little 
 u  probability  that  1  shall  see  Edinburgh  for  a 
 «  while." 
 
 The  event  so  deeply  deplored  by  Mr  Stewart, 
 had  taken  place  on  the  25th  February  1806 ;  and 
 as  Mr  Black  was  only  in  the  forty-fourth  year  of 
 his  age,  and  had  written  ten  days  before,  stat- 
 ing his  family  and  himself  to  be  in  ordinary 
 health,  the  sudden  and  unexpected  change  must 
 have  added  to  the  poignancy  of  his  grief.  Of 
 this  friend  and  guide  of  his  youth,  he  continued 
 to  bear  the  most  tender  recollections  to  the  close 
 of  his  own  life  *. 
 
 *  For  an  interesting  sketch  of  Mr  Black's  life,  see  Me- 
 moir prefixed  to  his  published  Sermons. 
 
<< 
 
 238  MEMOIRS  OF  THE 
 
 Among  other  expedients  which  Mr  Stewart 
 was  on  the  alert  to  devise  for  improving  his 
 people  in  religious  knowledge,  he  states,  that  he 
 had  lately  begun  a  sort  of  private  lecture  for  the 
 benefit  of  some  of  his  female  parishioners.  "  It 
 "  was  suggested  to  me,"  says  he,  "  by  some 
 "  young  women  applying  for  admission  to  the 
 "  Lord's  table,  whom  I  could  not  encourage  to 
 «  proceed,  and  persuaded  to  stay  back.  As 
 "  they  were  of  that  rank  that  I  could  not  al- 
 ways have  access  to  them  at  their  own  houses, 
 "  nor  examine  them  at  a  public  diet  of  catechis- 
 "  ing,  I  thought  it  was  best  to  invite  them  to 
 "  my  own  house.  Others  have  been  at  their 
 "  own  request  admitted,  so  that  I  have  a  party 
 "  of  nine  or  ten  ladies.  We  propose  to  meet 
 "  once  a  fortnight.  We  had  our  second  meet- 
 "  ing  yesterday  (Friday),  at  one  o'clock.  When 
 "  you  intreat  the  Lord  for  your  great  family, 
 "  pray  that  he  may  also  send  a  blessing  on  me 
 "  and  my  little  hospital." 
 
 A  few  months  after  he  writes  to  his  sister : 
 
 i(  I  should  have  saluted  you  last  Friday  on 
 "  your  birth-day,  but  it  was  the  day  of  my  fe- 
 "  male  meeting,  and  I  need  Friday  afternoon 
 "  as  well  as  Saturday,  to  prepare  for  the  Sab- 
 
REV.  ALEXANDER  STEWART,  D.  D.        239 
 
 "  bath's  work.  I  am  still  getting  new  acces- 
 "  sions  to  my  female  meeting ;  about  seventeen 
 "  attend  now.  In  my  lectures  to  them  I  find 
 "  Halyburton's  Great  Concern  of  principal  use. 
 "  What  the  fruits  may  be  we  do  not  yet  see, 
 "  but  I  trust  the  Lord  will,  in  his  own  time, 
 "  bear  testimony  to  the  word  of  his  grace.  I 
 "  had  occasion,  two  or  three  weeks  ago,  to  pro- 
 "  test  against  an  evil  which  was  meeting  with 
 "  encouragement,  and  likely  to  grow  if  not 
 "  checked.  For  some  seasons  past,  a  company 
 "  of  players  spent  two  or  three  months  in  Inver- 
 Y  ness,  and  made  a  visit  to  Dingwall  before 
 "  leaving  the  country.  Our  town's  people 
 "  were  passionately  fond  of  the  entertainment. 
 "  At  my  next  meeting,  I  took  the  opportunity 
 "  of  discoursing  pretty  freely  to  my  ladies  about 
 f  the  evil  of  such  entertainments.  Only  three 
 ff  of  them  had  gone  to  see  them,  and  none  of 
 "  them  went  any  more." 
 
 While  on  this  subject  of  theatrical  amuse- 
 ment, we  shall  insert  another  instance  of  Mr 
 Stewart's  resolute  and  successful  exertions  to 
 keep  his  parish  free  from  those  demoralizing  ex- 
 hibitions, though  it  occurred  four  years  after 
 the  above-mentioned  attempt. — "  We  have  had 
 "  some  stir  this  week,"   says  he  to  his  sister, 
 
240  MEMOIRS  OF  THE 
 
 "  about  theatrical  amusements,  of  which  the 
 "  detail  would  entertain  you,  but  I  fear  I  must 
 "  confine  myself  to  outlines.     A  man  of  the 
 
 "  name  of  T ,  with  his  son,  came  to  the 
 
 "  town  last  week,  waited  on  Mr ,  the 
 
 "  senior  Bailie,  with  an  introduction,  request- 
 "  ing  the  use  of  the  town-hall  for  a  party  of 
 
 "  comedians.      Bailie    consulted    Mr 
 
 "  ,  the  leading  man  in  the  town,  who 
 
 "  readily  agreed,  and  the  hall  was  granted. 
 u  Workmen  were  immediately  employed  to 
 "  place  seats,  &c.  All  this  passed  before  I  was 
 "  aware  of  what  was  a-doing.  It  was  Friday 
 "  evening.  I  was  afraid  it  was  already  too  late 
 "  to  attempt  stopping  the  players,  as  they 
 "  wrere  in  possession  of  the  hall.     However,  I 
 
 "  called  on  Bailie  ,    and    remonstrated 
 
 "  against  the  measure  of  giving  the  hall.     He 
 
 "  told  me  it  was  done  with  Mr 's  con- 
 
 "  currence,  but  regretted,   as   he   saw   me  so 
 
 "  much  hurt  by  it.    I  then  went  to  Mr — . 
 
 "  I  found  him  much  disposed  to  support  them ; 
 "  but  at  last  prevailed  with  him  to  send  a  mes- 
 
 "  sage  to  Mr ,  that  if  he  chose  to  recal 
 
 "  the  grant  of  the  room,  he  would  have  no  ob- 
 "  jection  to  his  doing  so.     His  message  I  de- 
 
 "  livered  to  Mr ,  who  undertook  to  send 
 
 "  for  the  player,  and  let  him  know  this.  A 
 «  little  before  9  o'clock,  I  called  again  on  Mr 
 
REV.  ALEXANDER  STEWART,  D.  D.        241 
 
 — ,  and  found  him  writing  me  a  long 
 
 "  letter,  saying,  that  he  might  expose  himself 
 "  by  breaking  his  engagement  with  the  player, 
 "  unless  he  was  supported  by  the  Town-Coun- 
 "  cil,  and  proposed  to  call  a  meeting  of  the 
 "  Council.  I  approved,  and  a  meeting  was  ac- 
 "  cordingly  called.  Though  late  that  evening, 
 "  I  called  on  these  counsellors,  and  got  them  to 
 "  engage  heartily  to  oppose  the  players.  Next 
 "  forenoon,  the  result  of  the  meeting  was  offi- 
 "  cially  communicated  to  me,  viz.  that  two 
 "  were  for  giving  the  hall,  and  four  against  it, 
 "  unless  I  consented  to  an  exhibition  for  one 
 "  night  only.  I  could  not,  consistently  with 
 "  my  decided  and  avowed  judgment,  give  such 
 "  a  consent ;  of  course  the  man  was  told  that 
 "  he  must  give  up  the  hall,  on  being  repaid  his 
 "  expenses  in  fitting  it  up,  which  were  but 
 "  trifling.  He  afterwards  called  on  me  him- 
 "  self,  to  endeavour  to  gain  me,  but  it  would 
 "  not  do." 
 
 But  while  Mr  Stewart  acted  as  a  Christian, 
 he  was  alive  to  every  claim  of  humanity,  and 
 the  following  note  will  shew,  that  though  he 
 
 opposed  Mr  T ,  he  was  not  his  enemy, 
 
 and  was  not  without  the  most  benevolent  con- 
 cern for  his  best  interests  : — 
 
MEMOIRS  OF  THE 
 
 "  Sir, 
 "  I  truly  feel  for  the  embarrassment  to  which 
 "  you  must  have  been  subjected  by  your  dis- 
 "  appointment  in  this  town.  So  far  as  the  in- 
 "  closed  guinea  can  go  to  relieve  you,  I  give  it 
 i(  with  perfect  good-will.  I  cannot  forbear  to 
 "  express  my  strong  regret,  that  a  man  of  educa- 
 "  tion  and  talents,  of  character  and  respectable 
 "  connection,  for  all  which  I  am  willing  to  give 
 "  you  credit,  should  stoop  to  the  degrading  con- 
 "  dition  of  picking  up  a  precarious  subsistence, 
 "  by  the  mean  arts  of  mimickry  and  buffoonery. 
 "  I  sincerely  wish  you  and  your  son  had  a  more 
 "  creditable  profession.  I  wish  I  could  first  per- 
 "  suade  you,  and  then  assist  you  to  follow  some 
 "  other  line,  in  which  you  might  have  a  more 
 "  comfortable  and  respectable  subsistence  in  this 
 "  life,  and  enjoy: the  prospect  of  a  happy  eter- 
 "  nity  in  the  life  to  come  ;  neither  of  which  ad- 
 "  vantages  you  can  expect  to  possess  in  your 
 "  present  occupation.  May  God  Almighty  im- 
 "  press  this  admonition  on  your  heart,  and  lead 
 "  you  to  think  seriously  of  your  everlasting  con- 
 "  cerns  before  it  be  too  late." 
 
 The  union  of  generosity  and  religious  prin- 
 ciple manifested  in  the  above  communication, 
 could  not  fail  to  commend  itself  to  the  con- 
 science of  Mr  T .     However,  in   his  an- 
 
REV.  ALEXANDER  STEWART,  D.  D.         243 
 
 swer,  after  making  suitable  acknowledgements 
 for  the  donation,  he  could  not  refrain  from  some 
 reflections  on  the  "  bigotted  sophistry  of  those, 
 "  who  make  no  allowance  for  appearances  they 
 "  do  not  comprehend,  and  condemn  what  does 
 "  not  immediately  suit  their  particular  way  of 
 "  thinking,  or  have  not  refinement  or  sensi- 
 *  bility  enough  to  discriminate."  And  "  as  for 
 "  theatrical  representations,"  he  observed,  "  have 
 "  they  not  for  ages  tended  to  reform  mankind  ? 
 "  are  they  not  supported  by  the  best  regulated 
 "  governments  in  the  world,  as  well  as  the  most 
 "  enlightened  ;  and  attended,  as  a  part  of  edu- 
 "  cation,  in  almost  every  seminary  where  reli- 
 "  gious  tenets  are  instilled,  and  principles  esta- 
 "  Wished  ?"  And  then  he  goes  on  to  shew,  that 
 to  represent  a  bad  character,  must  rather  be  sub- 
 servient to  the  interests  of  morality,  than  inju- 
 rious ;  defending  his  profession,  as  it  can  only  be 
 defended,  on  principles  from  which  true  religion 
 revolts,  and  which  Christian  morality  expressly 
 disclaims. 
 
 It  is  not  known  that  any  good  was  produced 
 
 on  the  mind  of  T by  this  incident.     His 
 
 subsequent  proceedings  in  Dingwall,  shewed  no 
 respect  for  the  judgment  of  his  monitor,  and 
 the  lovers  of  pleasure  sympathized  with  him  on 
 their  common  disappointment.  "  As  a  little 
 "  ferment  was  excited  by  T ,  I  thought 
 
244  MEMOIRS  OF  THE 
 
 "  it  proper,  next  Lord's  day,  to  make  a  short 
 "  address  after  divine  service,  highly  approving 
 "  the  conduct  of  the  Council  in  excluding  the 
 
 *  players  from  the  town,  and  urging  all  who 
 "  regarded  the  interests  of  religion,  good  order, 
 "  industry,  and  sobriety,  to  join  me  in  discoun- 
 "  tenancing  their  admission  now,  and  on  every 
 "  future  occasion.     The  few  serious  people  are 
 
 *  pleased  and  thankful  that  such  an  engine  of 
 
 *  vice  has  been  stopped.  The  majority  submit 
 "  to  their  disappointment  with  sullen  murmur- 
 "  ing."  However,  the  delicacy  and  yet  deter- 
 mination he  manifested  on  the  occasion,  and  the 
 known  inflexibility  of  his  purpose  to  set  his  face 
 against  such  spectacles  on  the  ground  of  Chris- 
 tian principle,  had  the  effect  to  deter  other  bands 
 from  invading  the  land  for  the  following  seven 
 years,  or  at  least  wrought  on  the  minds  of  the 
 borough  magistracy  to  refuse  all  applications  of 
 a  similar  kind. 
 
 In  1808,  Mr  Stewart  received  a  very  animat- 
 ing letter  from  a  clergyman  in  Staffordshire, 
 who,  having  heard  of  the  revival  at  Moulin,  and 
 having  had  a  like  honour  put  on  his  own  minis- 
 try some  years  before,  was  induced,  though  en- 
 tirely a  stranger,  and  of  a  different  branch  of 
 the  Christian  church,  to  open  a  correspondence 
 with  his  fellow-sen  ant,  to  gain  additional  in- 
 formation respecting  the  Moulin  people,   and 
 
REV.  ALEXANDER  STEWART,  D.  D.      2i5 
 
 strengthen  each  others  hands  in  their  common 
 work.  This  new  friendship  Mr  Stewart  de- 
 lighted to  consider  as  seasonably  provided  for 
 him  by  his  divine  Master,  in  order  to  solace  him 
 for  the  recent  removal  of  Mr  Black;  and  in 
 warmth  of  piety,  and  strength  of  attachment, 
 though  no  personal  interview  ever  took  place, 
 he  seems  to  have  been  all  a  friend  could  wish. 
 
 The  first  letter  of  Mr  D was  addressed 
 
 to  Moulin,  on  the  supposition  Mr  Stewart  was 
 still  there.     Mr  Stewart's  answer  is  dated, 
 
 "  Dingwall,  Ross-shire,  June  23.  1808. 
 
 "  My  dear  Sir, 
 "  Seldom  have  I  been  favoured  with  a  more 
 "  gratifying  communication  than  that  wThich  I 
 "  unexpectedly  received,  some  days  ago,  from 
 "  your  hand.  Among  the  precious  tokens  of 
 "  love  with  which  the  Lord  has  been  pleased 
 "  at  times  to  revive  my  sluggish  soul,  I  have 
 "  found  reasons  to  distinguish  particularly  the 
 "  expressions  of  regard  which  I  have  received 
 "  from  some  of  his  dear  children.  I  assure  you, 
 "  my  dear  Sir,  that  your  brotherly  salutation 
 "  was  a  cheering  cordial  to  my  dull  spirit.  I 
 f?  am  sure  I  felt  it  such ;  and  I  wish,  in  my 
 "  poor  way,  to  acknowledge  it,  and  to  bless  the 
 "  Lord  who  put  it  in  your  heart  to  address  me, 
 7  and  stir  me  up  to  thankfulness  to  that  gra- 
 
246  MEMOIRS  OF  THE 
 
 "  cious  Master  who  has,  in  various  ways,  help- 
 "  ed  his  unworthy  servant.  I  wished  to  return 
 "  you  an  answer  immediately,  but  some  avoca- 
 "  tions  hindered  me  for  a  week.  I  now  gladly 
 "  seize  the  first  vacant  day  to  endeavour  to 
 "  make  you  some  return. 
 
 "  That  short  printed  account  which  intro- 
 "  duced  my  name  to  your  notice,  contained 
 "  some  particulars  of  my  own  history,  and  of 
 "  the  Lord's  gracious  visitation  of  my  dark 
 "  soul,  as  well  as  of  my  benighted  parish.  In 
 "  giving  a  brief  continuation  of  that  account,  I 
 "  must  again  have  recourse  to  egotism,  for  my 
 "  own  story  is  closely  interwoven  with  that  of 
 "  my  parishioners.  The  interest  you  have 
 "  taken  in  me  and  my  people  will  naturally 
 "  excite  a  curiosity  to  know  what  led  me  to 
 "  separate  from  my  beloved  flock,  and  to  re- 
 "  move  my  residence  to  the  town  from  which 
 "  I  date  this  letter. 
 
 "  During  two  years  subsequent  to  the  date 
 "  of  my  printed  account,  we  continued,  on  the 
 "  whole,  in  a  flourishing  and  progressive  state ; 
 "  and  the  influences  of  the  Divine  Spirit  were 
 "  apparent  in  the  heavenly  walk  and  conversa- 
 "  tion  of  those  whose  hearts  he  had  renewed. 
 "  I  shall  here  refer  to  a  few  pages  of  appendix 
 H  which  was  subjoined  to  a  third  impression  of 
 "  my  letter,  and  which   I  inclose.      From  this 
 
REV.  ALEXANDER  STEWART,  D.  D.         247 
 
 "  period,  however,  there  did  not  appear  any  ac- 
 "  cession  to  the  number  of  converts.  The  bulk 
 u  of  the  people  appeared  satisfied  with  lending 
 "  their  approbation  to  what  they  saw  and  heard, 
 "  and  attending  regularly  to  ordinances,  but 
 "  there  was  no  more  pressing  into  the  kingdom 
 "  of  heaven.  The  heavens  appeared  to  be  shut 
 "  up,  and  the  showers  were  withheld.  Of  those 
 "  who  formed  our  little  Christian  society,  some 
 "  were  in  Providence  removed  to  a  distance, 
 "  and  others  were  called  home  by  death,  so  that 
 "  our  numbers  began  to  lessen,  rather  than  in- 
 "  crease. 
 
 "  My  removal  proved,  as  I  expected,  a  sti- 
 "  mulus  to  the  minds  of  the  people,  as  well  as 
 "  to  my  own.  It  was  painful,  indeed,  but  I 
 "  am  persuaded  it  was  salutary.  Some  at- 
 "  tempts  were  made  to  influence  the  Duke  of 
 "  Athole,  patron  of  the  parish  of  Moulin,  to 
 "  present  a  man  of  evangelical  principles  to 
 "  the  vacant  living,  but  without  effect.  The 
 "  consequence  is,  that  some  have  withdrawn 
 "  from  the  ministry  of  the  present  incum- 
 "  bent,  and  some  have  removed  out  of  the 
 "  parish.  1  hear  but  melancholy  accounts  of 
 "  the  greater  part  of  the  people.  They  are 
 "  growing  careless  and  licentious, — 1  fear 
 "  against    their    better    knowledge    and    con- 
 
248  MEMOIRS^OF  THE 
 
 '  viction.     But  the  few  godly  keep  close  to- 
 *  gether;    they   continue    to    meet   often   to- 
 '  gether,  for  prayer  and  conference,  and  love 
 '  and   cherish   one   another.       I  have   visited 
 '  them  repeatedly  since   my  settlement  here, 
 1  and  found  them  "  sorrowful  and  rejoicing." 
 '  Two  or  three  of  Moulin  parish,  and  a  good 
 '  number    of    the    neighbouring    parishes    of 
 1  Blair,    Logierait,    and   Dowally,   who   were 
 '  seriously  disposed,  have  joined  a  sect  of  In- 
 '  dependents,  whose  founders  are  pious,  zealous 
 1  men,    but    over-attached    to    congregational 
 1  government,  and  to  an  ideal  purity  of  com- 
 1  munion.     I  wish  I  could  give  you  any  agree- 
 '  able  account  of  the  few  congregations  of  Scots 
 1  Episcopalians    in   Perthshire.      We   have  a 
 E  small  congregation  of  the  same  connection 
 '•  in   this   town,   very   worthy   decent   people, 
 withal  very  frank  and  friendly  to  me.     I  am 
 acquainted  with  one  of  their  ministers,  who 
 occasionally  officiates  here,  a  man  of  learning 
 and  respectability.     But  how  inferior  to  the 
 burning  lights  among  your  English  brethren, 
 Cadogan,  Milner,  Newton,  Cecil,  &c.  whose 
 names  are  justly  dear  to  us. 
 "  I  have  not  time  nor  room  at  present,  to  add 
 much  about  the  state  or  character  of  the  peo- 
 ple with  whom  I  am  now  connected.     As  to 
 
(4 
 
 REV.  ALEXANDER  STEWART,  D.  U.        249 
 
 my  own  situation,  I  certainly  enjoy  privileges 
 and  advantages  far  beyond  what  I  possessed 
 in  ray  former  station,  particularly  from  the  so- 
 ciety and  example  of  pious  ministers,  and  the 
 conversation  of  experienced  Christians.  That 
 my  "  profiting"  under  these  advantages,  should 
 "  appear"  so  little,  is,  alas !  matter  of  sore  la- 
 mentation !  But  enough  of  myself.  Let  us 
 adore  that  Saviour  who,  I  trust,  does  guide  us 
 both,  and  will  keep  that  we  have  committed 
 unto  him  against  that  day. 
 "  Let  me  hope,  my  dear  Sir,  that  you  will 
 find  time  and  inclination  to  favour  me  with 
 the  continuance  of  a  correspondence  so  auspi- 
 ciously begun.  It  will  be  most  gratifying  to 
 me  to  hear  of  your  dear  spiritual  children  at 
 
 C ,  and  what  the  Lord  has  done  for 
 
 their  souls.  I  remember  Mr  M.  well,  and  am 
 under  particular  obligation  to  him  for  encou- 
 raging you  to  write  to  his  remote,  secluded 
 countryman.  I  will  be  happy  to  hear  that 
 the  Lord  gives  him  employment  in  his  vine- 
 yard. I  sympathize  with  you  on  your  weak 
 state  of  health.  I  bless  God  my  health  is 
 pretty  sound  and  uniform,  though  I  am  by  no 
 means  robust  or  equal  to  great  bodily  exer- 
 tion. A  circumstance  I  need  to  mention  in 
 my  first  letter,  which  may  make  me  some- 
 
 Q 
 
250  MEMOIRS  OF  THE 
 
 "  times  a  tardy  correspondent,  is  a  stiffness  or 
 
 "  imbecillity  in  my  fingers,  which  commonly 
 
 44  makes  writing  a  tedious  and  laborious  opera- 
 
 "  tion.     But  it  is  a  mercy  to  be  able  to  use  my 
 
 "  fingers  at  all. 
 
 To  the  same. 
 
 "  Dingwall,  29th  July  1808. 
 14  My  very  dear  Sir, 
 "  From  my  knees,  where  I  think  the  Spirit 
 4  of  God  has  been  trying  to  stir  up  a  little  my 
 4  dull  sluggish  spirit,  I  repair  to  my  desk,  to 
 4  express  the  very  high  gratification  I  received, 
 4  in  various  ways,  from  the  repeated  perusal  of 
 4  your  favour  of  the  23d  instant.  Verily,  I 
 4  cannot  sufficiently  admire  the  tender  dealing 
 4  of  our  God  with  his  most  unworthy,  ungrate- 
 4  ful  servant.  When  I  deserved,  for  my  inac- 
 4  tivity  and  carelessness,  to  have  been  severely 
 4  chastised,  instead  of  the  rod,  he  makes  me  to 
 4  hear  an  unknown  voice  from  a  distance,  sweet- 
 4  ly  awakening  me,  and  inviting  me  to  arise 
 4  and  call  upon  my  God.  What  shall  I  render 
 4  to  the  Lord  for  all  his  benefits  towards  me  ? 
 4  Truly  he  is  the  good  Shepherd  who  calls  the 
 '  wanderers  home,  and  furnishes  supplies  in  the 
 '  wilderness.     To  your  affectionate  invitation 
 
REV.  ALEXANDER  STEWART,  D.  D.         251 
 
 "  to  *  go  to  pray  before  the  Lord,  and  to  seek 
 "  the  Lord  of  hosts,"  my  heart  most  readily  re- 
 "  plies,  and  1  trust  with  sincerity,  "  I  will  go 
 "  also,"  Zech.  viii.  21.  I  do  not  know  that  you 
 "  could  have  named  a  more  convenient  hour  for 
 "  me,  than  the  one  you  have  already  chosen. 
 u  I  can  confidently  assure  you,  my  dear  brother, 
 "  that  no  difference  in  rituals  or  government 
 "  shall  make  the  smallest  separation  between  us. 
 "  If  you  and  Mr  M.  could  unite  so  cordially  to- 
 "  gether,  I,  who  occupy  a  kind  of  middle  place, 
 "  may  easily  coalesce  with  both.  Indeed,  to 
 "  confess  a  secret,  I  incline  much  more  to  Epis- 
 "  copacy  than  to  Independency.  But  I  believe 
 "  that  a  sincere  disciple  of  Christ  may  faithfully 
 "  follow  his  Master,  and  get  to  heaven  either  way. 
 "  I  do  feel  a  warm   interest  in  your  esteemed 
 
 "  friend  Mr  E ,  and  sympathy  for  his  suf- 
 
 "  ferings ;  at  least,  according  to  the  measure  of 
 "  my  feelings,  which,  if  you  knew  them,  you 
 "  would  reckon  extremely  moderate.  The  cir- 
 "  cumstances  you  are  pleased  so  frankly  to  com- 
 "  municate  in  your  own  situation,  serve  to  give 
 "  me  a  nearer  and  more  distinct  view  of  my 
 "  newly  acquired  friend,  and  (to  adopt  Mr  Wil- 
 "  berforce's  language)  to  bring  our  hearts  into 
 "  closer  contact  together.  You  have  already 
 "  most  kindly  adopted  me  as  your  associate  in 
 "  the  oratory ;  and  you  are  in  a  fair  way  of  find- 
 
 q  2 
 
252  MEMOIRS  OF  THE 
 
 11  ing  me  your  companion  in  the  parlour,  the 
 "  study,  and  the  sanctuary.  Yesterday's  post 
 "  brought  me  your  letter,  and  this  day,  being 
 "  Friday,  I  would  make  no  delay,  but  in  my 
 11  poor  feeble  manner,  I  essayed  to  join  myself 
 "  to  my  two  kind  beloved  fellow-disciples  of 
 
 "  B and  W* ,  that  we  might  warm  our 
 
 "  hearts  together  at  the  fire  of  the  same  altar. 
 "  To  assist  you  in  performing  the  kind  brother- 
 "  ly  service  of  intercession  in  behalf  of  your  fa- 
 "  voured  new  associate,  I  must  beg  your  atten- 
 "  tion  to  some  particulars  in  my  situation.  I 
 "  wish  to  imitate,  if  I  can,  your  amiable  frank- 
 "  ness;  and  judging  from  myself,  I  think  I 
 "  need  make  no  apology  for  minuteness.  Be- 
 "  hold  me,  then,  the  father  of  six  young  imraor- 
 "  tal  creatures,  not  unpromising  in  their  dispo- 
 "  sitions  and  capacities,  but  every  one  dead  in 
 "  trespasses  and  sins,  waiting  to  be  quickened  by 
 "  the  Spirit  of  Him  who  raised  up  Jesus  Christ 
 "  from  the  dead ;  blessed  with  a  partner,  pious, 
 "  intelligent,  active,  indefatigable  in  her  at  ten - 
 "  tion  to  the  interests,  both  temporal  and  spiri- 
 "  tual,  of  her  children  ;  pastor  of  a  flock  nearly 
 "  1500  in  number,  a  great  majority  of  whom 
 "  are  very  ignorant  and  unconcerned.  We  have 
 "  a  small  number  of  pious  experienced  Chris- 
 "  tians,  who  associate  together,  and  strengthen 
 "  each  other's  hands,  and  we  find  a  very  few 
 
HEV.  ALEXANDER  STEWART,  D.  D.        253 
 
 "  who  feel  desirous  to  know  the  truth,  and 
 "  seem  beginning  to  feel  somewhat  of  its  impres- 
 "  sion.  One  of  my  own  greatest  wants,  which 
 "  I  much  need  to  have  supplied,  is  the  want 
 "  of  zeal  and  activity  in  my  blessed  Master's 
 "  cause.  Indolence  and  unconcern  weigh  me 
 "  sadly  down,  and  make  me  an  unprofitable 
 "  servant.  Ask  for  me  greater  earnestness  in 
 "  my  Redeemer's  service,  and  more  solicitous 
 "  concern  about  the  miserable  state  of  my  poor 
 "  perishing  people ;  along  with  this,  more  spi- 
 "  ritual  and  experimental  knowledge,  that  I 
 "  may  adapt  my  counsels  to  the  different  con- 
 "  ditions  of  my  people.  I  want,  besides,  spi- 
 "  ritual  wisdom  and  discretion  to  rule  my  house, 
 "  that  I  may  bring  up  my  children  in  the  fear 
 "  and  knowledge  of  the  Lord,  and  have  them 
 "  in  subjection  in  all  gravity,  a  quality  in 
 "  which,  even  at  my  time  of  life,  I  am  not  a 
 "  little  deficient.  You  will  ask  for  me,  like- 
 "  wise,  my  dear  friend,  more  firmness  in  op- 
 "  posing  or  reproving  what  I  disapprove,  for  I 
 "  am  sadly  enslaved  to  complaisance.  I  want 
 "  — but  I  may  say  with  you,  what  want  I  not  ? 
 "  I  am  an  expensive,  yet  useless  workman. 
 "  Indeed,  it  would  surprise  you,  if  you  knew 
 "  the  person  whom  you  have  distinguished  by 
 "  your  favour,  how  the  Lord  should  have 
 "  made  him  successful,  or  ever  employed  him 
 
254  MEMOIRS  OF  THE 
 
 "  at  all.  But  the  Lord's  ways  are  not  our 
 "  ways.  By  committing  his  invaluable  trea- 
 "  sure  to  coarse,  clumsy,  earthen  vessels,  he  se- 
 "  cures  the  glory  to  himself,  and  all  is  as  it 
 ■  should  be." 
 
 To  the  same. 
 
 "  Dingwall,  23d  July  1810. 
 "  Your  last  letter,  my  dear  Sir,  brings  much 
 "  delightful  and  encouraging  intelligence ;  our 
 
 "  dear  brother  E restored  to  a  good  mea- 
 
 "  sure  of  health  and  ability  in  his  Master's  ser- 
 "  vice, — your  own  strength  rather  improved, — 
 "  your  congregation  listening  with  attention, 
 "  and  not  in  vain,  to  the  glad  tidings  you  bring 
 "  them, — the  number  of  evangelical  clergymen 
 "  increasing, — and  the  kingdom  of  our  gracious 
 "  Redeemer  enlarging.     What  reason  have  we 
 "  for  hope  and  joy  !    Yes,  my  dear  brother,  let 
 "  us   encourage  ourselves  in   the  Lord.      He 
 "  hath  not  left,  and  he  never  will  leave  him- 
 "  self  without  a  witness.      I,    who   have   not 
 "  been  led   through  deep  waters,  am  perhaps 
 "  on  that  account  less  apt  to  view  things  in  a 
 "  gloomy  light,  than  others  who  have  known 
 "  the  depths  of  Satan.     I  am  not  sure  whether 
 "  this  may  be  the  cause  which  makes  me  con- 
 "  sidcr  as  a  favourable  omen,  n  thing  that  gives 
 
REV.  ALEXANDER  STEWART,  D.  D.        255 
 
 "  much  uneasiness  to  the  pious  people  here,  I 
 "  mean  a  new  species  of  persecution  which  is 
 "  just  making  its  appearance  in  the  church. 
 "  When,  by  the  rigid  enforcing  of  the  law  of 
 "  patronage,  the  approbation  of  the  people 
 "  came  to  be  entirely  overlooked  in  the  settle- 
 "  ment  of  the  minister,  it  often  happened  that 
 "  a  minister  was  placed  in  a  parish,  at  the  sole 
 M  pleasure  of  the  patron,  neither  acceptable  to 
 "  the  people,  nor  faithful  to  their  interests.  In 
 "  this  case,  the  only  resource  left  to  those  who 
 "  earnestly  desired  to  be  edified  under  a  gospel- 
 "  ministry,  was,  either  to  join  a  Dissenting 
 "  congregation,  or  to  become  the  stated  hearers 
 H  of  an  evangelical  minister,  wherever  they 
 "  could  find  one,  in  the  Established  Church. 
 "  The  former  mode  was  often  out  of  their 
 "  power,  for  there  are  few  Dissenting  churches 
 "  in  these  northern  counties,  and  the  people  are 
 "  too  poor  to  maintain  them.  As  they  are  cor- 
 "  dially  attached  to  the  Established  Church, 
 "  they  greatly  preferred  attending  a  faithful 
 "  parish  minister,  though  under  the  inconve- 
 "  nience  of  travelling  many  miles  to  hear  him. 
 "  Accordingly,  it  was  no  uncommon  thing  for 
 "  persons  to  leave  their  own  parishes,  and  go 
 "  from  ten  to  fifteen  miles  on  a  Sunday  morning 
 "  to  church,  and  return  in  the  evening.  Our 
 "  moderate  brethren,  jealous  of  the  popularity 
 
256  MEMOIRS  OF  THE 
 
 "  of  some  of  their  neighbours,  and  irritated 
 "  against  their  own  people,  took  their  measures, 
 14  and  obtained  the  sanction  of  our  most  Vene- 
 "  rable  Assembly  to  a  rule,  subjecting  to  the 
 "  heaviest  censures,  all  who  should  be  guilty  of 
 "  the  horrid  schism  of  withdrawing  from  their 
 "  parish  church,  and  hearing  sermon  regularly 
 "  in  a  neighbouring  church.  Whether  this 
 "  rule  will  be  rigorously  enforced,  may  depend 
 "  much  on  the  tempers  of  particular  ministers  ; 
 "  but  I  have  no  doubt  that  it  will  in  some  pa- 
 "  rishes  in  this  county,  and  it  is  easy  to  foresee, 
 "  that  it  will  be  productive  of  very  serious  hard- 
 "  ships.  But  we  are  assured,  that  any  suffering 
 u  to  which  our  dear  people  will  be  subjected  for 
 "  righteousness  sake,  will  be  graciously  over- 
 "  ruled  for  their  growth  in  grace,  and  for  the 
 "  spread  of  the  gospel." 
 
 The  hardships  that  result  from  exercising  an 
 arbitrary  patronage,  without  regarding  the  cir- 
 cumstances or  inclination  of  the  people,  to  which 
 Mr  Stewart  alludes  in  the  above  letter,  have 
 been  long  felt,  and  grievously  deplored  in  those 
 parts.  By  a  judicious  and  Christian  exercise  of 
 the  right  they  claim,  the  patrons  had  it  in  their 
 power  to  attach  the  people  to  themselves  in  a 
 manner  known  only  in  places  where  hereditary 
 chieftainship  obtains,      But   by    forcing   upon 
 
REV.  ALEXANDER  STEWART,  D.  D.         257 
 
 them  spiritual  guides  they  could  not  receive, 
 as  being  in  their  opinion  unqualified,  and  un- 
 worthy of  their  confidence,  men  of  rank  have, 
 on  too  many  occasions,  done  what  they  could  to 
 dissolve  the  spell  which  hereditary  distinctions 
 and  traditionary  influence  had  cast  over  the 
 minds  of  the  plebeian  orders. 
 
 If  it  be  said,  the  opinion  of  the  people  is  only 
 to  be  contemned  when  it  differs  from  the  judg- 
 ment of  their  superiors,  this  is  a  sentiment  which 
 Christianity  never  taught,  and  which  political 
 wisdom  never  approved  ;  and  on  fairly  meeting 
 the  question  at  issue  betwixt  a  reclaiming  pa- 
 rish refusing  to  acknowledge  a  pastor  imposed 
 on  them,  and  the  patron  insisting  on  his  legal 
 right  to  impose,  it  will  perhaps  in  general  be 
 found,  that  the  judgment  of  the  people  is  not 
 so  unsound  or  irrational  as  their  opponents  al- 
 lege, and  that,  if  there  is  any  truth  in  religion, 
 and  any  benefit  to  be  derived  from  its  ordinan- 
 ces, a  man  of  reputed  piety  and  circumspect 
 life,  is  much  more  likely  to  lead  them  to  the 
 benefits  of  religion,  than  one  whose  principles 
 are  without  character,  and  his  life  without  sanc- 
 tity. 
 
 In  that  country,  so  high  is  the  opposition  to 
 an  exceptionable  presentee  sometimes  carried, 
 that  almost  the  whole  parishioners  abandon  his 
 
258  MEMOIRS  OF  THE 
 
 ministry,  and  refuse  the  sacraments  at  his  hand. 
 Under  the  influence  of  this  scrupulosity  of  con- 
 science, the  ordinances  of  religion  are  not  ne- 
 glected, but  painfully  resorted  to  in  places  far 
 distant,  if  no  popular  clergyman  is  near ;  and 
 on  a  Sabbath  morning,  the  roads  leading  to  a 
 well-esteemed  preacher,  are  thronged  by  stran- 
 gers from  a  distance.  Of  these  wanderers,  many 
 resorted  to  Dingwall  during  Mr  Stewart's  in- 
 cumbency ;  and  as  they  were  generally  persons 
 of  at  least  professed  religion,  there  was  some- 
 thing very  imposing  in  their  numbers,  in  the 
 solemnity  of"  their  gesture,  and  in  the  apparent 
 devotion  of  their  worship. 
 
 No  law  can  restrain  the  attendance  of  the 
 people  on  ordinary  means,  to  receive  instruc- 
 tion, where  they  list ;  but  the  desertion  and  im- 
 plied disesteem  of  their  people,  is  very  galling 
 to  their  own  pastors,  how  much  soever  they 
 pretend  to  undervalue  the  taste  and  opinions  of 
 the  vulgar;  and,  of  course,  the  objects  of  their 
 preference  do  not  escape  censure,  as  encouraging 
 those  secessions  by  flattering  the  popular  pre- 
 judices. However,  as  the  ecclesiastical  law  strict- 
 ly prohibits  any  minister  from  administering 
 Baptism  or  the  Lord's  Supper  to  extra-parochial 
 hearers,  a  watchful  eye  is  kept  on  the  conduct 
 of  the  popular  clergy*  to  detect  any  infraction 
 
REV.  ALEXANDER  STEWART,  D.  D.         259 
 
 of  the  established  order ;  and  where  found,  no 
 pity  is  shewn  to  the  offender.  Mr  Stewart  was 
 sufficiently  circumspect  in  these  points.  As  to 
 the  article  of  marriage,  however,  he  refused  to 
 be  limited  ;  and  to  a  neighbouring  minister, 
 whose  parishioners  had  left  him,  with  the  ex- 
 ception, it  is  said,  of  those  officially  bound  to 
 attend,  (viz.  the  schoolmaster  and  beadle),  and 
 who  had  sent  him  a  remonstrance  on  that  sub- 
 ject, and  charged  him  with  an  intended  viola- 
 tion of  his  rights,  in  proposing  to  marry  a  couple 
 whom  he  knew  to  be  on  their  road  to  Dingwall 
 for  that  purpose,  he  replied  : — 
 
 "  I  received  your  letter  this  day  about  half 
 
 "  an   hour  after   marrying  J M and 
 
 "  C A .     I  apprehend  you  are  quite 
 
 "  mistaken  in  supposing,  that  in  doing  so,  I  am 
 "  guilty  of  an  undue  interference  between  you 
 
 "  and  the  people  of  K parish.     Many  peo- 
 
 "  pie  in  this  parish  have  been  married  by  other 
 "  clergymen  than  their  parish  minister,  without 
 "  lines  from  me ;  nor  would  I  ever  think  of 
 "  such  an  odious  and  unconstitutional  measure, 
 "  as  depriving  people  of  their  civil  right  of  be- 
 "  ilig  married  by  any  minister  they  chose,  af- 
 u  ter  the  banns  have  been  regularly  published. 
 
 "  Indeed,  I  have  all  along  given  my  people 
 
260  MEMOIRS  OF  THE 
 
 u  to  understand,  that  they  have  no  occasion  to 
 "  ask  my  leave  to  be  married  by  whom  they 
 "  please ;  for  the  law  requires  only  proclama- 
 "  tion  of  banns,  but  astricts  the  parties  to  no 
 "  particular  minister.  I  will  go  farther  and 
 "  say,  that  I  have  ever  reckoned  it  very  unbe- 
 "  coming  a  conscientious  pastor  to  oblige  his 
 u  parishioners,  by  compulsory  measures,  to  re- 
 "  ceive  baptism  from  his  hand,  if  they  were 
 "  unwilling  to  take  it,  and  preferred  another. 
 "  And  any  one  who  knows  human  nature,  will 
 "  not  expect  to  extend  his  usefulness  by  arbi- 
 "  trary  restrictions,  or  compulsive  impositions. 
 "  These  are  the  maxims  on  which  I  have 
 "  hitherto  acted ;  nor  do  I  wish  any  of  my 
 "  brethren  to  act  otherwise  towards  me.  And 
 "  however  reprehensible  or  unneighbourly  you 
 "  may  think  my  conduct  toward  you,  I  assure 
 "  you  I  am  not  disposed  to  make  you  an  ex- 
 11  ception  in  the  license  that  I  would  allow  my 
 "  people ;  for  if  any  parishioner  of  mine  shall 
 "  apply  to  you  for  marriage  or  for  baptism,  I 
 "  give  you  full  liberty  to  celebrate  the  one,  and 
 "  to  administer  the  other,  upon  the  parties  pro- 
 "  ducing  the  ordinary  certificates  under  the  hand 
 "  of  the  session-clerk." 
 
 Several  of  his  co-presbyters  were  disposed  to 
 
REV.  ALEXANDER  STEWART,    D.  D.        261 
 
 keep  a  watchful  eye  on  his  proceedings ;  but,  as 
 he  both  knew  his  own  rights,  and  was  not  to 
 be  intimidated  in  doing  his  duty,  and  was  fully 
 competent  to  meet  his  moderate  opponents  on 
 the  arena  of  debate,  he  was  not  often  molested 
 in  church  courts.  Indeed,  his  character  was  so 
 uniformly  consistent,  and  the  popular  favour  so 
 meekly  sustained,  that  he  gave  no  occasion  of 
 blame,  except  what  sprung  from  the  offence  of 
 superior  zeal  and  sanctity. 
 
 In  one  parish,  Mr  Stewart  had  two  congre- 
 gations, perfectly  distinct  and  dissimilar  in  cha- 
 racter. Those  who  attended  the  Gaelic  service 
 in  the  forenoon,  were  chiefly  of  the  lower  class, 
 and  many  of  them  from  remote  places.  Of  this 
 audience,  the  aspect  was  deeply  serious ;  a  so- 
 lemn stillness  pervaded  the  multitude,  and  no- 
 thing was  heard  but  the  tones  of  the  preacher's 
 voice,  unless  now  and  then  a  sigh,  or  a  groan, 
 confessed  the  inward  emotions  of  the  full  heart. 
 In  addressing  this  auditory,  Mr  Stewart  had 
 usually  great  enlargement  and  freedom,  and  to 
 them  his  "  gospel  came  not  in  word  only."  But 
 in  the  afternoon,  the  congregation  consisted  of 
 the  neighbouring  gentry,  and  those  who  held 
 official  situations  in  the  town,  together  with 
 such  among  the  lower  classes  as  understood  En- 
 glish, in  which  not  many,  except  those  in  busi- 
 
262  MEMOIRS  OF  THE 
 
 iigss,  were  competently  versed  for  profiting  by 
 a  discourse  in  that  language.  That  Mr  Stewart 
 had  little  satisfaction  in  this  department  of 
 duty,  he  often  confessed  and  lamented.  Not 
 but  that  attention  was  paid,  and  many  com- 
 pliments lavished  on  the  preacher's  perform- 
 ances; but  what  are  the  civilities  a  minister 
 receives  from  a  people  who  refuse  to  be  won 
 by  his  ministry  to  Christ  ?  Shall  attention  to 
 himself  make  him  overlook  the  injury  done  to 
 his  Lord  ?  If  abundance  of  respect  could  have 
 satisfied  Mr  Stewart,  he  would  have  been  satis- 
 fied ;  but  he  looked  to  their  souls,  and  to  the  af- 
 fecting brevity  of  a  day  of  grace ;  and  that  many 
 of  them  were  concerned  for  improving  that  day, 
 very  little  evidence  appeared. 
 
 "  I  do  not  know,"  writes  Mr  Stewart,  on  the 
 approach  of  a  sacramental  occasion,  "  I  do  not 
 "  know  that  I  ever  felt  the  burden  of  duty 
 "  heavier  upon  my  mind,  than  in  the  prospect 
 "  of  administering  the  Lord's  supper  here  next 
 "  Lord's  day,  to  the  English  congregation,  so 
 "  careless  do  they  appear.  It  was  a  matter  of 
 "  anxious  concern  and  prayer  with  me,  how  I 
 "  should  preach  to  them  on  the  preceding  Sun- 
 "  day,  and  how  I  should  preach  on  the  commu- 
 "  nion  day.  I  was  directed  on  the  two  last  Sab- 
 "  baths  to  these  texts,  Matth.  xv.  26.  "  It  is  not 
 
REV.  ALEXANDER  STEWART,   D.  D.        263 
 
 "  meet  to  take  the  children's  bread,  and  to  cast 
 "  it  unto  the  dogs ;"  and  John  vii.  37.  "  If  any 
 "  man  thirst,  let  him  come  unto  me  and  drink." 
 "  I  trust  I  was  enabled  to  be  faithful  in  exhort- 
 "  ing  every  man,  and  warning  every  man.  For 
 "  my  action  sermon,  I  have  fixed  on  that  verse, 
 "  Luke  xx.  13.  "  Then  said  the  Lord  of  the 
 "  vineyard,  What  shall  I  do  ?  I  will  send  my 
 M  beloved  Son,  it  may  be  they  will  reverence 
 "  him,  when  they  see  him." 
 
 "  To  your  queries  about  the  state  of  religion 
 "  in  this  parish,  I  fear  I  must  answer  in  a  com- 
 "  plaining  tone.  Irreligion,  indifference  about 
 "  spiritual  concerns,  attachment  to  the  world, 
 "  the  intemperate  use  of  spirituous  liquor,  pre- 
 "  vail  to  a  melancholy  extent.  The  doctrines 
 "  of  the  gospel  are  heard,  in  the  main,  I  think, 
 "  with  indifference  rather  than  dislike,  which  I 
 "  ascribe  to  their  not  being  understood  or  at- 
 "  tended  to.  Some  weeks  ago,  on  occasion  of 
 "  preaching  on  the  necessity  of  regeneration 
 "  with  close  application,  a  strong  and  general 
 "  dissatisfaction  was  openly  expressed  in  many 
 "  companies  during  the  ensuing  week,  and  some 
 "  declared  they  were  on  the  point  of  quitting 
 "  the  church.  I  thought  there  was  something 
 "  hopeful  in  this  movement.  They  seemed  at 
 "  last  to  have  felt  a  little  the  sword's  point.    But, 
 
264  MEMOIRS  OF  THE 
 
 "  alas!  it  went  no  farther.  They  only  knit 
 "  their  brows,  muttered  something  against  the 
 "  preacher,  and  then  sat  as  composedly  on  their 
 "  seats  as  ever.  But  still,  amidst  this  abound- 
 "  ing  aversion  and  resistance  to  the  truth,  the 
 "  good  seed  appears  not  to  have  altogether  pe- 
 "  rished.  There  are  several,  among  the  lower 
 "  ranks,  who  shew  an  earnest  desire  for  reli- 
 "  gious  knowledge,  and  the  company  and  fel- 
 "  lowship  of  pious  persons,  and  appear  to  re- 
 "  ceive  "  the  truth  in  the  love  of  it."  Our  ad- 
 "  vanced  Christians  bring  me  some  encouraging 
 "  intelligence  of  this  kind,  from  time  to  time. 
 "  While  I  am  ready  to  cry,  almost  in  despon- 
 "  dency,  "  Who  hath  believed  our  report  ?"  one 
 u.  or  two  instances  of  awakened  souls  encourage 
 "  me  to  say,  Behold,  is  not  here  the  arm  of  the 
 "  Lord  revealed." 
 
 But  though  Mr  Stewart  mourned  the  state  of 
 lukewarmness  in  which  his  English  congrega- 
 tion generally  lay,  there  were  among  them  a 
 few  names  of  distinguished  excellence,  in  whom 
 he  had  great  delight ;  and  if  he  had  some  griefs, 
 he  had  also  many  times  of  refreshing  among  his 
 Gaelic  people,  and  especially  on  sacramental  oc- 
 casions, the  wonted  solemnities  of  which  he  thus 
 describes : — 
 
REV.  ALEXANDER  STEWART,  D.   L>.        265 
 
 "  Three  weeks  ago,  the  Lord's  supper  was 
 "  celebrated  in  this  place.  This  is  a  season  of 
 "  more  than  ordinary  solemnity  in  these  north- 
 u  em  counties.  We  have  divine  service  per- 
 "  formed  on  three  several  week  days  in  English 
 "  and  in  Gaelic,  and  two  discourses  preached 
 "  in  each  language  on  all  of  those  days.  Four 
 "  or  five  ministers  are  invited  to  preach,  be- 
 "  sides  the  parish  minister ;  and  where  the  pas- 
 u  tor  is  himself  a  faithful  evangelical  preacher, 
 u  he  employs  none  but  persons  of  the  same 
 "  description  to  officiate  along  with  him.  Se- 
 "  rious  Christians,  from  a  distance  of  thirty  or 
 "  forty  miles,  assemble  with  many  others,  to 
 "  the  number  of  some  thousands.  These  are 
 "  lodged  and  entertained  by  the  inhabitants  of 
 "  the  parish.  After  attending  the  public  ser- 
 "  vices  of  the  day,  the  remainder  of  them  are 
 "  employed  partly  in  secret  devotion,  partly  in 
 "  private  social  worship,  where  some  more  aged 
 "  experienced  Christian  presides.  Altogether 
 "  it  is  a  great  solemn  festival,  of  four  or  five 
 "  days  continuance.  Believers  are  greatly  re- 
 "  freshed  and  edified  with  the  various  talents 
 "  which  are  brought  into  exercise,  among  so 
 "  many  preachers,  and  the  various  matter  which 
 "  is  carried  home  to  their  souls,  suited  to  the 
 "  cases  of  each ;  and  also  by  the  pleasing  and 
 "  animating  intercourse  with  Christian  acquain- 
 
 R 
 
Z66  MEMOIRS  OF  THE 
 
 "  tances,   old  fellow-pilgrims,    whom   perhaps 
 
 "  they  seldom  or  never  meet  with,  except  in 
 
 "  these  .periodical  solemn  interviews.     In  such 
 
 "  a  large  and  mixed  multitude  as  then  comes 
 
 "  together,  there  is  always  a  great  proportion 
 
 "  of  the  ignorant  and  graceless.     These,  too, 
 
 "  are  particularly  noticed  in  the  addresses  from 
 
 "  the  pulpit,  and  often  with  strong  effect,  and 
 
 "  merciful  success. 
 
 "  On  the  late  sacramental  occasion  here,  we 
 
 "  were  favoured  with  very  fine  weather.     This 
 
 "  is  very  desireable,  for  all  the  Gaelic  service  is  in 
 
 "  the  field.     We  had  some  excellent  ministers, 
 
 "  who  were  well  helped  in  the  discharge  of  their 
 
 "  duty." 
 
 These  assemblages  are  often  reprobated  by  in- 
 attentive observers,  and  censorious  judges ;  and 
 though  it  were  hopeless  to  expect  universal  cor- 
 rectness, as  some  baser  elements  may  mix  in 
 the  purest  stream,  yet  the  general  character  was 
 unimpeachable,  and  the  general  effects  of  those 
 religious  festivals  were  evidently  beneficial  on 
 life  and  morals.  Perhaps  northern  hospitality, 
 so  much  vaunted,  is  at  no  time  seen  displayed 
 to  such  an  extent  of  disinterested  kindness  as  on 
 these  occasions,  for  no  man  is  so  poor,  but  he 
 will  then  lodge  a  sojourner  for  a  night ;  and  the 
 conduct  of  the  strangers  is  usually  such,  that  to 
 
REV.  ALEXANDER  STEWART,  D.  D.        267 
 
 entertain  them  is  thought  becoming  even  in  the 
 irreligious  themselves,  who,  though  they  think 
 their  piety  fanaticism,  are  not  unwilling  to  hear 
 the  prayers  they  offer  up  in  terms  of  lively  gra- 
 titude for  their  benefactors. 
 
 We  have  seen  how  Mr  Stewart  succeeded  in 
 maintaining  his  position  against  the  players, 
 and  he  was  not  less  successful  in  reforming  the 
 ordinary  Christmas  immoralities. 
 
 "  I  have  been  a  good  deal  occupied  of  late," 
 says  he,  "  in  holding  diets  of  examination  in  the 
 "  church,  and  in  preaching  holiday  sermons, — on 
 "  old  Christmas,  a  missionary  discourse,  when 
 "  we  got  a  respectable  collection  for  the  spread 
 "  of  the  gospel ;  and  also  on  New-year's  Day,  to 
 "  young  persons.  On  both  these  days,  which 
 "  used  to  be  devoted  to  noisy  revelling  on  the 
 "  streets,  and  promiscuous  parties  for  dancing 
 "  and  drinking  all  night,  I  had  the  satisfaction 
 "  of  seeing  the  town  as  quiet  and  regular  as  on 
 "  a  Sabbath,  and  no  public  balls." 
 
 These  pious  attempts  to  suppress  revellings, 
 and  the  levities  which  infallibly  ripen  into  con- 
 firmed distaste  for  religious  duties  and  spiritual 
 enjoyments,  will  appear  to  the  carnal  mind  no- 
 thing better  than  the  energies  of  an  irrational 
 zeal,  exerting  itself  to  extend  the  gloomy  reign 
 
 r  2 
 
268  MEMOIRS  OF  THE 
 
 of  fanaticism  over  the  provinces  of  harmless 
 mirth  and  cheerful  indulgence,  which,  it  is  alleg- 
 ed, belong  of  right  to  human  nature.  But  while 
 the  world  sneered  and  resented  those  aggressions, 
 there  was  a  greater  than  the  world,  no  doubt, 
 ready  to  say,  "  Well  done,  good  and  faithful 
 servant !"  And  it  is  to  be  hoped,  that  some  of 
 those  for  whose  souls  he  so  faithfully  watched, 
 though  little  sensible  of  their  obligation  at  the 
 time,  and  perhaps  judging  them  an  encroach- 
 ment on  their  happiness,  have  long  since  viewed 
 his  strenuous  exertions  to  keep  them  from  the 
 snare  of  the  evil  one  in  a  proper  light. 
 
 These  exertions  of  Mr  Stewart  deserve  the 
 consideration  of  his  brethren  in  office.  It  is 
 not  enough  to  denounce  theatrical  exhibitions, 
 and  carnal  levities,  from  the  pulpit.  If  we  be- 
 lieve they  are  pernicious,  ought  we  not  to  em- 
 ploy counteracting  means  ?  Preaching  against 
 sin  is  so  much  a  thing  of  office,  that  it  is  little 
 heeded  by  the  world.  But  when  we  are  seen 
 carrying  on  an  active  warfare  against  it  in  pri- 
 vate life,  by  a  timely  application  to  individuals 
 in  danger,  to  warn  and  to  exhort  them,  it  shews 
 us  to  be  in  earnest,  and,  if  done  in  the  spirit  of 
 wisdom,  it  will  impress.  Sin  may  raise  an  out- 
 cry for  a  while,  but  meek  perseverance  will  in 
 due  season  reap  its  expected  fruits.  Mr  Stewart 
 took  the  only  effectual  method  to  correct  pe- 
 
REV.  ALEXANDER  STEWART,  D.  D.         269 
 
 riodical  levities, — he  substituted  serious  engage- 
 ments, and  left  not  the  mind  to  the  dangers  of 
 vacancy  and  idleness. 
 
 But,  leaving  Mr  Stewart  prosecuting  the 
 course  of  his  public  duties,  in  the  manner  of  an 
 able  and  faithful  minister  of  Christ,  we  may 
 with  propriety  advert  to  his  domestic  scene,  on 
 which  he  appeared  with  singular  grace.  As  his 
 family  increased,  a  considerable  portion  of  his 
 time  was  allotted  to  their  improvement ;  and 
 having  in  Mrs  Stewart  a  person  of  excellent 
 judgment,  and  unwearied  assiduity,  to  co-ope- 
 rate in  the  work  of  "  training  the  young  idea 
 how  to  shoot,"  and  in  forming  the  plastic  dis- 
 position of  ingenuous  youth  to  proper  habits,  the 
 result  was  in  proportion  to  the  means.  Mr 
 Stewart  had  a  very  correct  knowledge  of  human 
 nature ;  and  while  he  investigated  its  principles 
 as  a  philosopher,  he  brought  to  philosophy  the 
 light  of  divine  revelation,  which  gave  to  his  re- 
 searches a  certainty  otherwise  unattainable.  He 
 had  known  human  nature  in  its  twofold  condi- 
 tion,— first  in  the  degenerate  state,  previous  to 
 renovation,  and  afterwards  in  its  regenerated 
 form ;  and,  with  this  complex  experience,  was 
 the  better  qualified  to  devise  suitable  modes  of 
 early  culture.  He  had  likewise  a  perfect  habit 
 of  self-government,  preserving  his  mind  calm 
 and  unruffled  to  a  degree  rarely  witnessed,  so 
 
270  MEMOIRS  OF  THE 
 
 that  some,  who  had  opportunity  of  seeing  him 
 for  years  together  at  home  and  abroad,  confess- 
 ed they  had  not  beheld  in  him  any  irregularity 
 of  temper,  or  passionate  expression  of  bad  hu- 
 mour.    His  children,  therefore,  always  saw  in 
 him  the  same  authority  of  reason,  and  the  same 
 command  of  temper,  and  the  same  sanctity  of 
 parental  character.      How   happily   this   must 
 have  operated  in  conciliating  esteem  is  obvious, 
 while  in  his  manner  there  was  nothing  severe  or 
 repulsive,  but  rather  a  manifestation  of  kindli- 
 ness never  withheld,  unless  to  signify  moral  dis- 
 approbation.    Mrs  Stewart,  on  the  other  hand, 
 had  the  maternal  tendernesses  in  a  copious  mea- 
 sure, but  so  tempered  with  wisdom,  and  sanc- 
 tified by  religion,  that  not  a  fault  met  with  in- 
 dulgence ;  and  if  good  qualities  were  apparent, 
 instead  of  diminishing   them    by  praise,   they 
 were  assigned  their  appropriate  sphere  of  exer- 
 cise, and  left  to  shine  apparently  unheeded. 
 
 The  united  care  of  such  guardians  was  not 
 without  its  reward.  In  a  numerous  family,  not 
 a  spoiled  child  was  to  be  seen.  There  was  en- 
 tire subjection  and  subordination,  with  no  ap- 
 parent restraint ;  an  air  of  happiness,  and  even 
 gaiety,  animated  every  face,  and  no  domestic 
 scene  could  be  more  delightful,  than  to  witness 
 the  well-disciplined  groupe.  What  Cecil  says 
 r>f  the  frequency  of  parents  groaning  under  the 
 
REV.  ALEXANDER  STEWART,  D.  D.        271 
 
 vices  of  their  children,  is  true ;  but  in  many  in- 
 stances these  very  children  have  been  first  made 
 to  groan  under  the  vices  of  their  parents,  being 
 in  infancy  used  for  sport,  and  when  their  spoil- 
 ed humours  have  made  them  troublesome,  be- 
 ing then  subjected  to  the  alternations  of  harsh- 
 ness  and  indulgence,  and  both  alike  unreason- 
 able and  pernicious.  Under  such  injudicious 
 treatment,  what  wonder  that  many  should  em- 
 bitter the  peace  of  domestic  life,  and,  as  they 
 grow  up,  multiply  sorrow  to  their  friends. 
 
 Mr  Stewart  had  great  skill  in  communicating 
 knowledge,  in  a  way  adapted  to  varying  ages 
 and  capacities ;  and  when  he  found  the  demand 
 made  on  his  time,  for  domestic  tuition,  incom- 
 patible with  attention  to  the  duties  of  his  mi- 
 nistry, he  called  in  help,  and,  for  several  years 
 previous  to  his  removal  from  Dingwall,  em- 
 ployed a  governess  and  preceptor  of  approved 
 qualifications,  to  carry  on  the  business  of  educa- 
 tion. 
 
 He  had  a  deep  sense  of  the  importance  of  a 
 right  fulfilment  of  the  parental  obligation  re- 
 cognized at  baptism,  to  train  up  children  for 
 the  church  ;  and  it  may  easily  be  supposed  the 
 inculcation  of  religious  truth  was  a  serious  part 
 of  education  in  his  house.  He  did  not  think  it 
 enough  to  have  the  memory  stored  with  right 
 principles  of  religion  ;  he  inquired,   he  cxamiu- 
 
272  MEMOIRS  OF  THE 
 
 cd  into  the  exercises  of  their  minds,  with  re- 
 spect to  those  principles  ;  for  he  justly  reckon- 
 ed it  to  be  a  great  inconsistency  in  a  minister, 
 to  do  less  for  promoting  religion  in  the  souls  of 
 his  own  family,  than  he  does  for  the  souls  of 
 strangers.  He  was  aware,  too,  that  the  for- 
 mation of  character  begins  in  early  life,  and 
 hence  his  assiduous  attention  was  directed  to 
 their  habits,  principles,  and  manners.  Such 
 knowledge  as  was  essential  to  secular  usefulness, 
 he  took  care  to  have  carefully  instilled.  And  as 
 he  always  calculated  on  an  early  removal  from  his 
 family,  of  which  many  growing  infirmities  fur- 
 nished painful  admonition,  he  justly  considered 
 a  proper  education  as  affording  to  his  children, 
 if  they  should  suffer  an  early  bereavement  of 
 himself,  the  most  probable  means,  under  Pro- 
 vidence, for  procuring  them  an  honourable 
 sphere  in  life.  In  their  proficiency  he  was  not 
 disappointed,  nor  will  their  future  conduct,  it 
 is  presumed,  be  unequal  to  the  expectations 
 formed  from  the  first  fruits  yielded  in  youth. 
 
 In  his  intercourse  with  his  parishioners,  Mr 
 Stewart  was  frank  and  accessible ;  but  from  his 
 first  settlement  in  Dingwall,  he  resolved  to  ab- 
 stain from  general  society.  In  conformity  with 
 this  plan,  he  rarely  dined  abroad,  unless  when 
 officially  necessary.  There  were  a  few  families 
 in  the  neighbourhood  where  he  could  introduce 
 
REV.  ALEXANDER  STEWART,  D,  D.         273 
 
 his  Lord,  and  there  he  occasionally  spent  an 
 evening,  and  among  these  few,  were  found  some 
 noble,  by  whom  his  society  was  much  prized. 
 But,  in  general,  he  was  rarely  to  be  met  with, 
 unless  at  home,  and  in  the  engagements  of  pro- 
 fessional duty.  He  possessed  social  talents 
 of  a  high  order,  and  which,  if  freely  indulged, 
 would  have  delighted  any  company,  but  might 
 have  proved  a  snare  to  himself  among  the  irre- 
 ligious, and  he  wisely  withdrew  from  the  plea- 
 sing danger.  Of  the  proprieties  of  social  life  he 
 was  an  accurate  judge,  and  a  diligent  observer; 
 and  in  his  own  deportment,  both  at  home  and 
 abroad,  was  exhibited  no  inferior  model  of  grace- 
 ful manners,  and  unaffected  politeness. 
 
 In  his  own  family,  his  conversation  was 
 fraught  with  useful  remark,  and  pious  reflec- 
 tion ;  with  confidential  friends,  he  was  rich  even 
 to  affluence  in  the  stores  of  profitable  discourse; 
 and  the  writer  of  this,  having  lived  several  years 
 in  his  neighbourhood,  will  never  lose  the  re- 
 membrance of  the  many  happy  hours  spent  in 
 his  company.  Hardly  a  week  passed  without 
 one  evening  at  least  devoted  to  his  society ;  and 
 though  the  only  guest,  as  much  treasure  of  com- 
 munication was  poured  forth  as  though  many 
 had  been  present. 
 
 The  advantages  which  he  enjoyed  in  this  free 
 access  to  Mr  Stewart,  made  him  often  revolve 
 how  much  general  good  eminent  ministers  might 
 
274  MEMOIRS  OF  THE 
 
 do  to  students  in  theology,  by  admitting  them 
 freely  to  their  society  and  conversation,  and  by 
 giving  the  sanction  of  their  countenance  to  the 
 well-disposed, — though,  it  must  be  confessed, 
 few  men  possessed  qualifications  equal  to  his, 
 either  of  a  moral  or  intellectual  kind. — He 
 was  alike  fitted  either  to  handle  the  topics  of 
 theology,  discuss  the  theories  of  philosophy,  or 
 to  expatiate  on  the  beauties  of  classical  learning ; 
 while  neither  did  unseasonable  merriment,  nor 
 the  ebullitions  of  party  feeling,  degrade  the  so- 
 briety of  his  discourse.  In  his  company,  one 
 felt  in  a  religious  atmosphere,  but  it  was  clear, 
 elastic,  and  enlivening  to  the  spirits,  calculated 
 to  mature  virtuous  sentiment,  and  to  invite 
 every  generous  and  holy  affection  into  wider 
 expansion. 
 
 Notwithstanding  the  time  devoted  to  family 
 and  ministerial  duties,  Mr  Stewart  found  leisure 
 to  engage  in  several  literary  pursuits  of  consider- 
 able difficulty.  Besides  contributing  occasional 
 papers  of  much  value  to  periodical  works,  he 
 continued  the  cultivation  of  Gaelic,  and  at 
 length  published  the  fruits  of  his  inquiries  in 
 his  well-known  Grammar.  Of  the  progress  of 
 this  important  treatise,  he  gives  this  account  to 
 Mr  D : 
 
 "  Though  I  could  speak  Gaelic  in  my  infancy. 
 
REV.  ALEXANDER  STEWART,  D.  D.  275 
 
 "  yet,  as  I  was  many  years  unaccustomed  to 
 "  use  it,  and  my  study  was  all  in  English,  I 
 "  found  considerable  difficulty,  when  I  began 
 "  to  preach,  in  expressing  myself  with  tolerable 
 "  accuracy  or  fluency.  This  constrained  me  to 
 "  examine  the  language  grammatically,  and  en- 
 "  deavour  to  reduce  it  to  rule.  In  this  labour 
 "  I  had  very  little  assistance ;  for,  though  the 
 "  Gaelic  was  once  a  copious  and  cultivated 
 "  tongue,  it  has  been  degenerating  into  a  rude 
 "  and  irregular  state  since  it  became  the  speech 
 "  only  of  ignorant  and  illiterate  people.  My 
 "  notes  gradually  extended.  At  last,  having 
 "  been  confined  a  whole  winter  by  a  tedious  re- 
 "  covery  from  a  slow  fever,  I  employed  a  part 
 "  of  my  time  in  correcting  and  arranging  what 
 "  I  had  written;  and  I  was  encouraged  to  pub- 
 "  lish  my  lucubrations  in  the  form  of  a  short 
 "  Gaelic  Grammar." 
 
 The  first  edition  of  the  Grammar  appeared  in 
 1801 ;  and  with  what  industry  of  research,  and 
 patience  of  investigation,  it  was  prepared,  various 
 proofs  exist  in  the  correspondence  he  carried  on, 
 for  several  preceding  years,  with  the  best-inform- 
 ed Gaelic  scholars,  on  the  philology  of  that  lan- 
 guage ;  and  particularly  with  Dr  Donald  Smith, 
 of  whom  mention  has  already  been  made. 
 
 When  the  Highland  Society  of  London  had 
 
276  MEMOIRS  OF  THE 
 
 resolved  to  publish  the  Gaelic  originals  of  Os- 
 sian's  poems,  the  revisal  was  committed  to  Mr 
 Stewart ;  and  as  iflfe  manuscripts,  from  age  and 
 neglect,  were  in  a  very  mutilated  state,  it  re- 
 quired no  small  labour,  as  well  as  ingenuity,  to 
 restore  them.  His  emendations,  the  secretary 
 informed  him,  were  "  literally  adhered  to  by 
 "  the  superintending  committee."  And,  in  ad- 
 dition to  the  grammatical  province  of  the  work, 
 it  was  assigned  him  to  furnish  a  view  of  the  in- 
 ternal evidence  of  the  authenticity  of  those  fa- 
 mous poems.  "  1  know  none  better  qualified 
 "  to  undertake  this  than  yourself,"  wrote  the 
 secretary ;  "  you  will  be  animated  to  the  task 
 "  by  your  regard  to  the  literary  honours  of 
 "  Caledonia  ;  and  your  labours  will  not  only 
 "  confer  an  obligation  on  the  Highland  Society, 
 "  and  the  present  age,  but  posterity  will  be 
 "  gratefully  thankful  for  the  zeal  which  excites 
 "  your  talents  to  the  undertaking." 
 
 Posterity,  however,  will  owe  to  Mr  Stewart 
 its  meed  of  gratitude  and  applause,  for  the  re- 
 visal of  works  of  higher  inspiration,  and  better 
 authenticated  original,  than  those  of  Ossian, — 
 we  allude  to  the  part  he  took  in  correcting  the 
 Gaelic  translation  of  the  Holy  Scriptures.  But 
 before  noticing  his  labours  in  this  department, 
 we  shall  here  mention  a  proposal  that  was  made 
 to   him  by  the  Highland  Society  of  Scotland 
 
REV.  ALEXANDER  STEWART,   D.  D.         277 
 
 to  undertake  to  supply  the  grand  desideratum 
 to  Gaelic  students, — a  dictionary  of  the  lan- 
 guage. 
 
 In  1812,  he  had  been  induced  to  send  out  a 
 new  edition  of  his  Grammar,  greatly  enlarged 
 and  improved.  To  encourage  him  in  the  work, 
 Sir  John  M'Gregor  Murray,  Bart,  a  zealous  and 
 generous  promoter  of  Gaelic  literature,  besides 
 recommending  the  Grammar  to  public  favour, 
 as  far  as  his  influence  extended,  offered  to  take 
 600  copies  for  himself.  As  this  work  placed 
 Mr  Stewart  among  the  first  in  the  first  rank  of 
 Gaelic  scholars,  in  the  estimation  of  all  compe- 
 tent to  judge,  the  Highland  Society  having 
 already  enrolled  him  among  their  honorary 
 members,  turned  their' eyes  to  him  as  the  per- 
 son best  qualified  to  execute  the  Dictionary 
 they  had  projected.  Accordingly,  the  proposi- 
 tion was  made  to  him  by  Sir  John  M'Gregor 
 Murray,  in  the  name  of  the  Committee,  with 
 an  offer  of  such  remuneration,  as,  in  Mr  Stew- 
 art's family  circumstances,  was  a  very  consider- 
 able inducement  to  close  with  the  project.  He 
 did  employ  much  prayer  and  deliberation,  but 
 at  length  declined  it,  chiefly,  it  appears,  on  the 
 following  ground. 
 
 "  Here  comes  the  reason,"  says  he,  after 
 discussing    the    motives    for    and    against    it, 
 
278  MEMOIRS  OF  THE 
 
 "  that  weighs  most  with  me  against  the  pro- 
 "  posed  undertaking,  that  is,  the  hold  which 
 
 *  these  Gaelic  studies  take  of  my  mind.  If 
 "  the  task  were  an  unpleasant  one,  unsuitable 
 "  to  my  taste  or  inclination,  I  might  force  my- 
 "  self  to  it  as  a  matter  of  duty,  to  bestow  upon 
 "  it  an  allotted  portion  of  time,  and  think  no 
 "  more  of  it  till  I  sat  down  to  it  again.  But 
 u  the  circumstance  of  its  being  congenial  to 
 "  my  taste  and  habits  of  study,  is  what  makes 
 "  it  a  snare.  What  many  would  judge  a  for- 
 "  tunate  turn,  as  qualifying  me  for  the  task, 
 "  and  facilitating  my  progress,  I  must  account 
 "  the  strongest  objection  to  the  undertaking. 
 "  If,  indeed,  by  temporal  considerations,  I 
 "  should  determine  to  give  a  portion  (and  it 
 "  can  be  but  a  small  portion)  of  my  time  to 
 "  this  work,  and,  as  I  proceed,  find  the  bad 
 "  consequences  I  apprehend  realized,  what  am 
 
 *  I  to  do  then  ?  Break  off  my  labour  in  the 
 "  middle,  like  a  foolish  builder,  who  had  not 
 "  counted  the  cost?  If  I  should  commence 
 "  the  work  with  the  persuasion  that  my  divine 
 "  Master  approved  it,  (and  surely  I  ought  to 
 "  have  this  persuasion,  or  not  meddle  with  it  at 
 "  all),  then,  when  trials  meet  me,  how  should  I 
 "  know  whether  these  were  salutary  antidotes 
 H  against  the  natural  effects  of  my  secular  em- 
 "  ployment,  to  preserve  my  soul  from  catching 
 
REV.  ALEXANDER  STEWART,  D.  D.        279 
 
 "  harm,  or  intimations  of  God's  displeasure,  and 
 "  warnings  to  leave  off  such  a  carnal  occupation, 
 "  lest  a  worse  thing  should  befal  me  ?" 
 
 Having  resisted  repeated  solicitations,  the 
 work  was  committed  to  other  hands,  quite  ade- 
 quate, .  no  doubt,  to  atchieve  it.  Some  time 
 after,  when  a  specimen  of  its  execution  was  cir- 
 culated among  the  members  of  the  Society,  for 
 their  opinion,  the  principal  conductor  wrote  to 
 Mr  Stewart,  "  That  he  had  received  his  remarks 
 "  on  the  printed  specimen  of  the  Gaelic  Dic- 
 "  tionary,  and  that  they  were,  as  he  expected, 
 "  more  than  worth  all  that  had  been  received 
 f  on  the  subject." 
 
 Upon  the  whole,  a  compilation  for  which  the 
 materials  were  so  scanty,  and  the  drudgery  of 
 application  necessary  to  reduce  them  into  form 
 hardly  credible  to  those  who  have  not  attempt- 
 ed something  similar,  was  prudently  declined 
 by  Mr  Stewart  at  the  time,  and  subsequent 
 events  more  fully  justified  the  propriety  of  his 
 decision.  If  he  had  been  moved  by  the  phan- 
 tom of  a  name,  to  have  been  the  first  to  give  a 
 Grammar  and  a  Lexicon  to  his  native  tongue  * 
 might  have  held  out  to  literary  ambition  a 
 strong  incentive  to  the  enterprise.     But  he  had 
 
 *  He  gave  also  a  Primer,  or  Spelling-Book. 
 
^80  MEMOIRS  OF  THE 
 
 undertaken  another  work,— to  feed  the  flock  of 
 Christ, — and  this  was  dearer  to  him  than  all. 
 In  order  to  fulfil  this  office,  he  who  was  com- 
 petent for  the  most  splendid  exertions  in  philo- 
 logy, was  well  pleased  to  sit  down  to  the  ob- 
 scure but  useful  work  of  translating  Tracts  into 
 the  vernacular  language. 
 
 He  had  begun  his  Gaelic  publications  at 
 Moulin,  with  a  translation  of  Dr  Watt's  Pre- 
 servative, &c.  &c.  This  was  followed  by  the 
 Shorter  Catechism  in  Gaelic,  printed  at  the  ex- 
 pense of  the  Society  for  propagating  Christian 
 Knowledge.  And  besides  the  revisal  of  the 
 metrical  version  of  the  Gaelic  Psalms,  that 
 body  also  committed  to  him  the  comparing  the 
 Gaelic  translation  of  the  Prophetical  Books  with 
 the  original  Hebrew, — a  laborious  task,  which 
 had  become  necessary  from  the  frequent  in- 
 stances of  disagreement  that  existed^  betwixt 
 the  original  and  version ;  and  when  a  new  re- 
 vision of  the  entire  Gaelic  Bible  was  proposed, 
 the  distinguished  scholar  to  whom  it  was  com- 
 mitted, early  applied  for  the  criticisms  of  Mr 
 Stewart.  "  I  had  a  letter,"  says  he,  "  in  Decem- 
 "  ber  1810,  from  Dr  John  Stuart,  minister  of 
 "  Luss,  in  Dumbartonshire,  requesting  my  re- 
 "  marks,  as  he  was  now  employed  in  revis- 
 "  ing  the  translation.  I  believe  philological 
 "  studies  are  something  of  a  hobby  with  me. 
 
REV.  ALEXANDER  STEWART,    D.  D.         281 
 
 "  If  I  can  really  be  useful  in  that  way,  it  is  well, 
 "  but  I  need  to  remember  that  a  hobby  is  al- 
 "  ways  a  snare, — a  favourite  may  easily  become 
 "  an  idol." 
 
 While  intent  on  philological  researches  him- 
 self, he  loved  to  promote  them  in  others ;  and 
 as  an  instance  of  philanthropy,  and  the  interest 
 he  particularly  took  in  promoting  the  translation 
 of  the  sacred  scriptures  into  the  languages  of  the 
 heathen,  it  may  be  mentioned,  that  having  ob- 
 served, in  the  reports  of  the  Baptist  Bengal  Mis- 
 sions, a  letter  of  Dr  Carey  to  Mr  Fuller,  com- 
 plaining of  the  weak  state  of  his  eyes,  and  beg- 
 ging Mr  Fuller  to  procure  for  him  a  Vander 
 Hoogh's  edition  of  the  Hebrew  Bible,  which  at 
 that  time  was  no  easy  matter,  all  communica- 
 tion with  the  Continent  being  intercepted,  Mr 
 Stewart  immediately  said  to  himself,  "  I  wish 
 "  the  worthy  man  had  my  copy," — and  sitting- 
 down,  wrote,  offering  it,  and  desiring  to  be  in- 
 formed how  to  have  it  transmitted.  The  offer 
 being  gladly  accepted,  "  I  with  great  pleasure 
 "  followed  the  direction,  wrote  a  letter  of  some 
 "  length  to  Carey,  and  sent  off  my  parcel  to 
 "  London.  I  dare  say  you  remember  my  fa- 
 "  vourite  Hebrew  Bible  in  two  volumes.  I 
 "  parted  with  it,  with  something  of  the  same 
 w  feelings  that  a  pious  parent  might  do  with  a 
 
 favourite  son,  going  on  a  mission  to  the  hea- 
 s 
 
282  MEMOIRS  OF  THE 
 
 "  then,— with  a  little  regret,  but  with  much 
 "  good  will." 
 
 His  Hebrew  missionary  had  a  prosperous  voy- 
 age to  India,  and  proved  the  occasion  of  a  very 
 interesting  correspondence  with  Mr  Fuller  and 
 Dr  Carey,  whose  communications  were  replete 
 with  intelligence  dear  to  Mr  Stewart,  relating 
 to  the  progress  of  the  Christian  kingdom.  To 
 what  amount  of  missionary  good  his  donation 
 gave  occasion,  is  only  known  to  Him,  who  can 
 trace  a  moral  element  through  all  its  combina- 
 tions, and  assign  its  positive  influence  on  the 
 grand  result  to  which  all  things  tend, — the  re- 
 novation of  the  world. 
 
 Amid  these  multiplied  avocations  in  the  pa- 
 rish, and  family,  and  study,  it  may  easily  be 
 conceived  much  labour  must  needs  be  expend- 
 ed, and  it  was  hardly  to  be  expected  that  appli- 
 cation so  intense,  would  not  prove  injurious  to 
 health.  In  fact,  though  naturally  of  a  firm  con- 
 stitution, its  solidity  was  somewhat  relaxed  by 
 the  assiduity  of  his  literary  pursuits  at  the  uni- 
 versity ;  and  though  his  general  health,  with  a 
 few  exceptions  of  occasional  indisposition  during 
 his  continuance  at  Moulin,  was  good,  he  was 
 visited  in  1807,  two  years  after  his  settlement 
 at  Dingwall,  with  an  illness  of  long  continuance 
 and  severity ;  from  which  he  rose  not  only  with 
 a  countenance  much  faded,  but  with  a  constitu- 
 
REV.  ALEXANDER  STEWART,  D.  D.         283 
 
 tion  shorn  of  its  former  vigour,  which  it  never 
 afterwards  regained.  Previous  to  this,  his  eyes 
 had  suffered  from  the  close  habits  of  study  in 
 which  he  had  indulged ;  but  during  the  illness 
 of  that  period,  they  were  in  so  impaired  a  state, 
 as  to  be  unable  to  bear  the  action  of  light,  and 
 they  continued  ever  after  tender,  and  occasion- 
 ally subject  to  partial  defection. 
 
 In  1811,  an  internal  disorder  of  a  calculous 
 kind,  which  had  been  for  years  gradually  form- 
 ing, began  to  manifest  very  alarming  symptoms ; 
 causing  at  times  the  most  excruciating  pain,  and 
 more  than  once  putting  his  life  in  imminent 
 danger.  On  this  occasion  he  had  recourse  to 
 the  distinguished  skill  of  Dr  Gregory,  who  en- 
 tered into  his  case  with  all  the  earnestness  of  a 
 friend,  and  manifested  a  solicitude  for  his  re- 
 covery, that  made  a  deep  impression  on  the 
 mind  of  his  patient.  His  disorder  for  that  time 
 yielded  to  medical  treatment;  but  thougli  it 
 admitted  of  alleviations  and  intervals  of  ease,  it 
 could  not  be  radically  removed.  The  symptoms 
 from  year  to  year  indicated  a  more  confirmed 
 malady,  which,  after  immense  suffering,  finally 
 brought  him  to  the  grave.  It  ought,  therefore, 
 to  be  considered,  in  estimating  his  doings,  that 
 whatever  he  did  for  the  last  ten  years  of  his  life, 
 was  done  amid  pain  and  lassitude,  with  the  rod 
 
 s  2 
 
284  MEMOIRS  OF  THE 
 
 of  disease  always  hanging  over  him,  and  very 
 often  painfully  inflicted. 
 
 To  suffer  is  the  common  lot  of  mortality.  To 
 suffer  as  a  Christian,  however,  is  not  common ; 
 and  the  frame  of  mind  maintained  under  pain- 
 ful and  protracted  maladies,  puts  the  solidity 
 of  Christian  character  to  a  test,  and  generally 
 affords  a  correct  measure  of  its  actual  grace.  Of 
 Mr  Stewart  it  may  be  said,  that  in  the  fiery 
 trial,  if  there  was  some  alloy  to  be  purged  away 
 in  the  process  of  refinement,  there  remained  a 
 large  amount  of  pure,  substantial,  imperishable 
 worth  of  character,  on  which  the  flame  wrought 
 no  diminution.  That  the  Lord  was  with  him 
 in  passing  through  the  fire,  the  meek  and  exem- 
 plary patience  with  which  he  trode  the  painful 
 way,  abundantly  manifested.  Nor  was  it  his 
 object  merely  to  suffer,  with  a  resigned  compo- 
 sure and  fortitude,  the  will  of  God ;  he  thought 
 it  became  him  to  employ  the  most  heart-search- 
 ing scrutiny  into  his  character  and  state,  to  as- 
 certain the  meaning  of  the  rod ;  and  how  he 
 improved  seasons  of  bodily  distress,  the  follow- 
 ing memorandum  found  among  his  papers  will 
 shew. 
 
 "  March  11*/*,  1807.— After  the  long  indis- 
 "  position  by  which  I  have  been  confined,  and 
 "  laid  aside  from  duty,  it  is  fit  that  I  should  now 
 
REV.  ALEXANDER  STEWART,  D.  D.         285 
 
 "  try  to  recollect  the  lessons  which  the  Lord  has 
 "  been  teaching  me,  and  seek  in  prayer  to  have 
 "  them  impressed  and  maintained  in  my  mind. 
 "  1.  I  have  been  led  to  see  that  I  have  been  too 
 "  remiss  in  my  preparations  for  the  pulpit,  not 
 "  taking  due  pains  to  study  my  subject,  to  study 
 "  the  scriptures  in  reference  to  it,  to  have  my 
 "  own  heart  affected  with  it,  and  to  obtain  the 
 "  Holy  Spirit's  assistance  in  enforcing  it  upon 
 "  my  hearers.  It  is  my  earnest  prayer  that  my 
 "  gracious  divine  Master,  in  whose  work  I  am 
 "  engaged,  if  it  be  his  good  pleasure  to  send  me 
 "  out  again  into  his  vineyard,  would  dispose  me 
 "  to  be  more  diligent  in  these  respects  for  the 
 "  future;  that  he  would  impress  my  heart  with 
 "  a  deeper  sense  of  the  importance  of  the  work, 
 "  and  of  the  value  of  the  precious  souls  commit- 
 "  ted  to  my  care  ;  and  that  he  would  strengthen 
 "  my  memory  and  enlighten  my  understanding, 
 "  that  I  may  understand  the  scriptures,  and 
 m  make  a  proper  and  seasonable  application  of 
 *  them  to  the  consciences  of  my  hearers.  It  is 
 "  my  purpose,  through  the  grace  given  to  me, 
 "  to  take  more  time,  and  to  write  more  of  mv 
 "  discourses  than  formerly,  as  I  think  my  ne- 
 "  gleet  of  writing  has  been  one  principal  reason 
 "  of  my  being  superficial  and  barren  in  my  il- 
 "  lustrations  and  exhortations. 
 
 '  2.  I  have  been   led  to  consider  how   very 
 
286  MEM01KS  OF  THE 
 
 "  deficient  I  am  in  the  duty  of  public  prayer, 
 "  having  much  formality  in  my  spirit,  much 
 "  barrenness  and  sameness  in  my  matter  and 
 "  expression.  May  the  Lord  give  me  a  more 
 "  abundant  portion  of  the  spirit  of  prayer,  that 
 "  I  may  be  constant  and  fervent  in  that  holy 
 "  exercise  in  secret,  and  so  obtain  a  supply  both 
 "  of  the  grace  and  gift  of  prayer  in  public,  so 
 "  that  1  may  lift  up  my  own  heart,  and  the  hearts 
 "  of  my  people,  to  him  who  is  the  hearer  of 
 "  prayer. 
 
 "  3.  I  have  been  led  to  a  strong  conviction, 
 "  that  one  of  my  greatest  snares,  and  one  of  the 
 "  chief  hindrances  to  usefulness  in  my  inter- 
 "  course  with  my  acquaintances,  is  complaisance. 
 "  I  have  too  much  desire  to  say  only  what  is  a- 
 *  greeable  to  others,  rather  than  what  may  prove 
 "  useful  to  them.  There  may  be  a  mixture  of 
 "  timidity  in  this  complaisance.  I  suspect  there 
 "  is ;  may  the  Lord  give  me  resolution  to  be 
 "  faithful  in  his  cause,  not  to  be  over-anxious 
 "  to  recommend  myself  to  the  good  opinion  of 
 "  worldly  people,  but  rather  be  content  to  cause 
 "  some  uneasiness,  or  give  some  offence,  than 
 "  lose  an  opportunity  of  bearing  my  testimony 
 "  to  the  truth." 
 
 Bodily  illness  is  a  trial  to  all  on  whom  it  is 
 imposed  ;  but,  perhaps,  to  a  minister  it  comes 
 with  an  additional  aggravation.     If  he  loves  his 
 
REV.  ALEXANDER  STEWART,  D.  D.         287 
 
 work,  it  is  suspended  ;  if  he  is  concerned  for  the 
 souls  of  those  around  him,  they  are  abandoned 
 to  a  variety  of  evils  in  the  absence  of  his  per- 
 sonal superintendence.  The  consciousness  of 
 being  for  the  time  useless,  or  the  reflection  of 
 past  unprofitableness,  is  not  easily  borne ;  and, 
 alas!  it  too  often  happens,  that  offences  will 
 spring  up  among  the  people,  as  if  to  upbraid 
 the  inefficacy  of  his  former  labours,  and  loudly 
 to  call  for  redoubled  vigour  of  action,  while 
 he  must  be  passive.  In  such  circumstances,  a 
 faithful  minister  does  not  want  consolation  in 
 Christ;  but  who  need  wonder,  if,  at  times, 
 objects  present  themselves  to  his  mind  in  co- 
 lours of  despondency  ?  From  such  feelings  Mr 
 Stewart  was  not  always  exempt,  as  may  be  in- 
 ferred from  the  following  extract  from  a  letter 
 to  Mr  D : 
 
 "  March  1814. 
 "  I  wish  I  could  cheer  you  with  good  news 
 "  from  this  little  town  and  parish,  but,  alas  !  we 
 "  seem  to  be  doing  nothing,  almost  quite  dead. 
 "  I  was  laid  aside  for  some  weeks,  having  been 
 "  seized  with  a  topical  complaint,  which  might 
 "  have  proved  fatal,  no  surgeon  being  at  hand, 
 "  if  I  had  not  been  mercifully  directed  and  en- 
 ?  abled  to  use  the  proper  means  for  procuring 
 'l  relief.     I  hoped  that  my  own  spirit  had  been 
 
288  MEMOIRS  OF  THE 
 
 "  softened  and  warned  by  this  visitation,  but, 
 "  alas !  all  was  like  the  morning  cloud.  My 
 "  own  vineyard  I  have  not  kept,  and  now  it 
 "  is  growing  over  with  thorns.  I  have  not  a 
 "  heart  nor  a  soul  to  employ  in  the  honourable 
 "  service  of  the  most  honourable  of  all  mas- 
 "  ters,  but  I  am  to  try,  at  least,  to  employ  my 
 "  silly  body  in  the  work,  and  am  to  begin  this 
 "  day  a  course  of  parochial  examination.  Woes 
 "  me  !  for  the  day  goeth  away,  the  shadows  of 
 "  the  evening  are  stretched  out  over  me,  and 
 "  little  or  nothing  done  for  him  that  loved  me, 
 "  and  gave  himself  for  me, — unprofitable  ser- 
 "  vant !" 
 
 To  the  same  beloved  friend,  he  wrote  not  long 
 after : — 
 
 "  July  1815. 
 "  One  apology  for  my  allowing  your  much 
 "  esteemed  letter  of  February  to  remain  so 
 "  long  unanswered,  is,  that  I  have  been  a  tra- 
 "  veller  of  late.  And  were  I  a  man  of  acute 
 "  observation,  or  of  quick  feeling,  I  might  have 
 "  many  interesting  details  to  give  of  what  I 
 "  should  have  seen  and  felt  on  my  journey.  My 
 "  excursion  was  not  to  the  next  country  or  pro- 
 "  vince,  but  to  a  place  which  people  account  "  a 
 "  far  countrv,    win Teas  1  found  it  situated  but 
 
REV.  ALEXANDER  STEWART,    D.  D.         289 
 
 u  a  few  paces  from  home.  You  will  understand 
 "  me  when  I  say,  that  my  visit  was  to  the  re- 
 11  gions  on  the  banks  of  Jordan,  the  confines  of 
 44  the  unseen  world.  I  seemed  to  be  led  to  the 
 "  margin  of  the  stream,  and  believed  that,  in  a 
 "  few  days  at  farthest,  I  must  cross  the  irre- 
 44  meable  flood.  The  prospect  was  extremely 
 44  dark  ;  I  perceived  almost  nothing  of  the  beau- 
 44  ties  of  the  promised  land,  or  of  that  goodly 
 44  mountain,  even  Lebanon.  Like  Hezekiah, 
 44  I  "  wept  sore."  I  could  just  with  difficulty 
 4*  cast  the  care  of  my  soul,  and  body,  and  fami- 
 44  ly,  on  the  great  and  good  Shepherd  of  Israel, 
 44  and,  through  his  tender  mercy,  I  was  just  kept 
 44  from  despondency.  I  was,  however,  sent 
 44  back  into  the  wilderness,  and  here  I  am  still 
 44  a  sojourner  and  pilgrim  in  a  foreign  land.  To 
 44  speak  without  allegory, — in  consequence  of  a 
 14  long  ride  in  a  cold  windy  day  in  April,  I  was 
 14  seized  with  a  fever,  which  greatly  increased 
 4*  my  topical  malady,  accompanied  with  alarm - 
 44  ihg  symptoms,  which  did  not  yield  to  medi- 
 "  cine  for  several  days ;  and,  during  that  time, 
 "  it  appeared  probable  that  the  disorder  would 
 44  soon  issue  in  inflammation,  mortification,  and 
 44  dissolution.  But  the  Lord  was  pleased  to 
 44  spare  and  restore  me,  to  record  his  goodness. 
 44  O  for  a  heart  to  praise  the  Lord,  for  he  is 
 <  good,  for  his  mercv  endureth  for  ever  !" 
 
290  MEMOIRS  OF  THE 
 
 Besides  the  personal  affliction  laid  on  Mr 
 Stewart,  his  sympathies  were  powerfully  excit- 
 ed by  the  often  indisposition  of  his  beloved 
 partner,  who  was  scarce  a  step  behind  him  in 
 the  path  of  those  tribulations.  The  decease  of 
 her  venerable  father  in  1812,  was  a  trial  of  great 
 magnitude  to  both,  and  occasioned  a  blank  to 
 them  in  that  country,  which  they  never  expect- 
 ed to  see  filled  up.  The  progress  of  this  be- 
 reavement Mr  Stewart  thus  describes,  in  a  let- 
 ter to  his  sister,  dated, 
 
 "  Urquhart  Manse,  Sept.  30.  1812. 
 
 "  O  my  dear  sister,  what  a  subject  have  1 
 "  got  now  to  write  upon,  if  I  could  do  it 
 11  justice  !  Our  dear  father,  Mr  Calder,  is  pro- 
 "  bably  within  a  few  hours  of  entering  into  the 
 "  joy  of  his  Lord !  On  Thursday  last  he  was 
 "  seized  with  an  inflammation  in  the  bowels. 
 "  A  physician  from  Inverness  applied  various 
 "  remedies,  besides  copious  bleeding,  by  which 
 "  the  fever  and  worst  symptoms  were  much  a- 
 "  bated.  Our  revived  hopes,  however,  began 
 "  to  sink  again,  when  we  found  the  disease  had 
 "  only  changed  its  seat,  and  his  suffering  became 
 "  severe  and  constant.  The  dear  venerable  pa- 
 "  tient  has  suffered  extreme  pain,  with  no  rest, 
 "  except  what  was  obtained  by  laudanum.  His 
 »'  language,  during   his  whole   illness,  was  full 
 
REV.  ALEXANDER  STEWART,  D.  D.      291 
 
 "  of  self-abasement,  admiration  and  praise  of 
 "  his  blessed  Redeemer,  and  the  most  affec- 
 "  tionate  concern  about  his  family  and  flock. 
 "  This  morning,  particularly,  after  a  pretty 
 "  long  sleep,  being  more  free  from  pain,  and  a 
 "  little  revived,  we  were  all  drawn  round  his 
 "  bed  by  hearing  the  sound  of  his  voice ;  and 
 
 *  then  he  went  on  a  considerable  time  in  the 
 "  most  heavenly  strain.      His  mind  was  per- 
 
 *  fectly  clear,  and  his  voice  distinct.  He  told 
 "  us  of  his  good  hope  of  a  happy  eternity, 
 ■  through  the  merits  of  his  blessed  Redeemer, — 
 "  how  much  he  had  us  all  in  his  heart, — ad- 
 "  dressed  particularly  his  dear  Margaret  (Mrs 
 "  Calder)  and  his  daughters, — often  blessed  God 
 "  for  having  given  him  such  a  partner  and  chil- 
 "  dren, — and  made  most  affectionate  mention 
 "  of  his  sons-in-law.  He  prayed  fervently  for 
 "  his  dear,  dear  James,  who  is  far  distant.  To 
 "  a  respectable  elder  who  was  present,  he  gave 
 "  it  in  charge  to  give  his  fondest  love  and 
 "  blessings  to  his  very  dear  flock,  praying  the 
 "  Lord  to  send  them  the  bread  of  life.  He 
 "  had  said  many  such  things  during  his  111— 
 "  ness, — dwelt  upon  the  beautiful  and  empha- 
 "  tic  image  of  Jacob's  ladder, — observing  how 
 "  the  blessed  Jesus  connected  earth  with  hea- 
 "  ven,  and  how  prayers  ascended,  and  blessings 
 "  descended,  through  him,  as  the  angels  did 
 
292  MEMOIRS  OF  THE 
 
 "  upon  the  ladder.  1  had  often  read  of  death- 
 "  bed  scenes  in  magazines,  but  never  witnessed 
 "  such  a  one  as  this.  Even  my  insensible  heart 
 "  was  in  some  measure  affected.  It  was  a  great 
 "  privilege  to  be  present,  and  especially  to  be  a 
 "  party  in  such  a  scene." 
 
 Several  days  after. 
 
 "  After  a  long  interval,  I  am  at  last  able,  and 
 a  but  just  able,  to  resume  my  pen ;  for  my  head 
 "  and  fingers,  and  especially  my  eyes,  are  much 
 "  fatigued  and  worn  out.  We  all  had  the 
 "  melancholy  satisfaction  of  attending  our  dear 
 "  revered  father's  purified  spirit  to  the  gates  of 
 "  heaven.  He  took  his  flight  on  the  evening 
 "  of  the  1st  October.  A  few  minutes  before, 
 u  he  desired  Mr  M'Intosh  and  me  to  withdraw 
 *  and  pray.     We  did  so  for  some  minutes  in 
 
 "  company  with  Mrs  C ,  and  then  re- 
 
 "  turned  in  time  to  hear  him  pronounce  a  few 
 "  words,  and  then  see  him  breathe  his  last  in  a 
 "  composed  and  placid  manner.  The  ladies  were 
 "  much  affected,  but  yet  were  mercifully  sup- 
 "  ported.  The  female  attendants,  kind  and 
 "  much  attached  women,  were  almost  over- 
 "  powered.  The  late  wakey  crowded  with  the 
 "  first  characters  for  piety  in  the  whole  country, 
 "  mourning   as   orphans   for   their   father,   yet 
 
REV.  ALEXANDER  STEWART,  D.  D.  293 
 
 "  glorifying  God  on  his  behalf,  was  a  scene  un- 
 "  commonly  solemn  and  impressive.     I  cannot 
 "  enter  into  a  detail  of  the  funeral,  which  was 
 "  very  numerously  attended,  and  took  place  on 
 "  Tuesday  the  6th.     The  Presbytery  appointed 
 "  me  to  preach  in  the  parish  church  the  follow- 
 u  ing  Sabbath ;  an  arduous  duty,  indeed,  which, 
 u  however,  I  was  strengthened  in  some  manner 
 "  to  perform  #.    From  the  first,  it  became  a  most 
 f?  interesting  thought,  who  should  be  the  man 
 "  who  would  be  promoted  to  take  the  pastoral 
 "  charge  of  such  a  flock.     None  supposed  that 
 "  the  patron,  Mr  Forbes  of  Culloden,  would 
 "  act  otherwise  than  to  grant  the  living  to  the 
 "  solicitation  of  some  worldly  friend.     Instead 
 "  of  that,  as  soon  as  he  heard  of  the  vacancy, 
 "  he  sent  an  assurance  to  the  elders,  that  he 
 "  would  present    none   but  a  man   perfectly 
 "  agreeable  to  the  parish.    He  resolutely  refused 
 "  many  applications,  declaring,   that  he  would 
 "  not  gratify  an  individual  at  the  expense  of 
 c<  distressing  hundreds;  and  when  the  people 
 "  presented  a  petition  to  him  in  favour  of  Mr 
 "  J.  Macdonald  of  the  Gaelic  Chapel,  Edinburgh, 
 "  Culloden  cheerfully  complied,  and  gave  them 
 
 *  The  funeral  sermon  referred  to  in  this  letter,  is  printed 
 in  this  volume. 
 
294  MEMOIRS  OF  THE 
 
 "  his  letter  to  that  effect.    Mr  Macdonald  has 
 
 *  been  written  to,  but  his  mind  is  not  yet 
 "  known.  All  this  is  matter  of  astonishment, 
 "  joy,  and  praise,  to  the  Lord's  people  through- 
 "  out  the  land  V 
 
 "  He  was  removed  to  glory,"  says  he,  in  an- 
 other letter,  "  after  seven  days  illness.  This 
 "  last  stage  of  his  journey  was  indeed  a  very 
 n  painful  one  to  the  flesh,  but  he  was  blessed 
 
 *  with  perfect  composure  of  mind.     While  he 
 
 *  shewed  the  deepest  self-abasement,  yet  the 
 44  love,  the  grace,  the  fulness,  and  glory  of  his 
 "  adorable  Redeemer,  were  his  constant  theme. 
 "  Though  torn  with  acute  inward  pain,  he  never 
 "  uttered  a  complaining  word ;  not  a  feature  of 
 "  his  face  indicated  a  struggle  to  suppress  com- 
 u  plaint.     The  most  serene,  resplendent  lumi- 
 
 *  nary  of  our  horizon,  is  set.  His  affectionate, 
 '*  bereaved  parish,  are  left  for  a  time  as  sheep 
 u  without  a  shepherd.  His  pious,  venerable 
 "  widow,   bowed    down  with  infirmities    and 
 
 *  broken  health,  is  left  a  solitary  pilgrim  in  the 
 
 *  If  a  patron  would  compare  the  animating  spectacle  of 
 a  grateful  people,  expressing  "  joy  and  praise"  for  the  gift 
 of  an  acceptable  pastor,  with  the  discontented  aspect  o£  a 
 congregation  disappointed  in  what  is  to  them  the  greatest 
 solace  of  life, — surely  he  would  pause  and  reflect  before  he 
 made  many  sad  for  the  interest  of  an  individual,  or  for  the 
 pleasure  of  a  few. 
 
REV.  ALEXANDER  STEWART,  D.  D.        295 
 
 u  wilderness.  His  tender  attached  daughters, 
 "  who  doated  on  their  father  with  almost  more 
 "  than  filial  piety,  have  felt  a  pang  in  being  se- 
 "  parated  from  him,  which  time  alone  can  heal." 
 Thus  sustaining  no  small  fight  of  afflictions, 
 and  pressing  on  in  the  narrow  way,  Mr  Stewart 
 persevered  in  the  arduous  march  of  a  holy  life. 
 We  have  hitherto  drawn  the  materials  for  nar- 
 ration from  letters  he  wrote  to  confidential  friends. 
 But  in  1814,  a  new  door  of  insight  is  opened 
 into  his  character,  by  the  commencement  of  a 
 diary.  It  may  be  regretted,  that  so  much  of 
 his  active  and  most  important  life  passed  over 
 without  a  single  memorandum  of  his  feelings 
 and  views  being  left  on  record,  excepting  what 
 his  letters  exhibit ;  as  it  may  easily  be  conceiv- 
 ed, how  interesting  such  memorials  would  have 
 been  in  the  days  of  his  first  illumination,  and 
 greatest  usefulness,  at  Moulin.  The  writer  of 
 this,  however,  had  occasion  to  know,  that  what 
 deterred  Mr  Stewart  from  the  practice  of  keep- 
 ing these  mental  registers,  was  not  the  opinion 
 of  their  inutility  to  the  individual  himself,  for 
 the  practice  itself,  under  proper  management, 
 he  thought  favourable  to  piety ;  and  his  having 
 recourse  to  it  himself  at  so  late  a  period  of  life, 
 has  stamped  upon  it  the  approval  of  his  deliberate 
 judgment.  He  himself  accounts  for  his  late  be- 
 ginning, in  the  introduction  to  the  first  record. 
 
296  MEMOIRS  OF  THE 
 
 tc  May  9th,  1814. — The  recommendation  and 
 u  the  example  of  pious  men  have  often  suggest- 
 "  ed  to  me  the  utility  of  keeping  a  journal  or 
 "  diary,  as  a  short  record  of  providences,  expe- 
 "  riences,  and  employments.  Different  circum- 
 "  stances,  not  of  a  trivial  kind,  have  hitherto 
 "  discouraged  me  from  attempting  it.  Having 
 "  now  a  little  more  conveniency  than  at  former 
 "  periods,  I  am  prompted  to  try  a  short  exer- 
 "  cise  of  this  kind,  by  finding  that  a  great  many 
 "  occurrences  have  escaped  my  memory,  which 
 "  ought  to  have  been  remembered  and  improv- 
 c<  ed  ;  and  from  a  hope  that  the  Lord  may  be 
 "  pleased  to  bless  this  exercise  to  my  soul,  by 
 "  giving  me  a  more  thorough  knowledge  of  my- 
 "  self,  and  of  his  gracious  and  bountiful  dealings 
 "  with  me  in  my  soul,  in  my  body,  my  work, 
 "  and  my  earthly  lot ;  in  giving  me  a  more  dis- 
 "  tinct  view  of  the  manner  in  which  my  pre- 
 u  cious  time  is  spent,  and  the  vast  important 
 "  work  of  the  holy  ministry  prosecuted.  Much 
 "  of  my  mortal  life  is  past, — much  of  bodily 
 "  strength  is  gone, — my  faculties  are  growing 
 "  less  acute  and  vigorous, — the  day  is  going 
 "  away,  and  the  shadows  of  the  evening  are 
 "  stretched  out.  A  growing  malady  warns  me 
 "  that  my  stay  here  may  not  be  long.  Yet  al- 
 "  most  nothing  is  done  or  doing  in  this  part  of 
 "  my  Lord's  vineyard.     O  useless  unprofitable 
 
REV.  ALEXANDER  STEWART,  D.  D.        297 
 
 u  servant  that  I  am  !  May  the  Lord  be  pleased, 
 "  in  great  mercy,  and  for  his  name's  sake,  to 
 k  revive  his  work  in  my  dull,  sluggish,  unfeel- 
 k  ing  soul.  Till  then*  I  can  scarcely  hope  to 
 M  see  any  good  done,  by  my  means,  in  this 
 "  place. 
 
 "  May  8th,  P.  31.— I  had  this  day  a  call 
 "  from  a  judicious  tender-hearted  Christian,  of 
 "  the  parish  of  Urquhart.  She  sat  and  con- 
 "  versed  with  me  some  time.  She  was  under 
 11  much  concern  about  the  state  of  her  soul.  I 
 ';  felt  as  if  it  were  a  most  presumptuous  thing 
 41  in  me  to  attempt  to  administer  counsel  or 
 "  comfort  to  one  so  much  my  superior.  I  hope 
 11  the  Lord  sent  her  for  my  good,  to  give  her 
 14  a  greater  concern  in  my  spiritual  welfare, 
 "  and  to  engage  her  prayers  more  warmly  in 
 "  my  behalf.  O  that  the  Lord  may  stir  up 
 "  many  to  pray  for  my  poor  soul,  my  family, 
 kt  and  my  flock  ! 
 
 "  Had  a  strong  proof,  this  evening,  how 
 "  wretchedly  I  can  err  when  left  to  myself, 
 "  and  how  much  I  need  a  constant  monitor. 
 "  Lord,  teach  me  to  watch  and  pray,  and  set 
 "  thee  always  before  me,  and  take  the  counsel 
 ik  thou  offerest. 
 
 44  May  9M. — Had  some  minutes  affecting 
 "  discourse,  this  morning,  with  my  son,  who 
 
 T 
 
298  MEMOIRS  OJb'  THE 
 
 "  came  to  my  study  before  his  brothers.  He 
 u  is  naturally  tender-hearted  and  impressible ; 
 "  but  I  must  take  care  not  to  mistake  natural 
 "  feeling  for  gracious  impressions.  When,  O 
 "  Lord,  will  salvation  come  to  this  house? 
 "  When  shall  we,  fond  parents,  see  all  our  ctail- 
 "  dren  walking  in  the  truth  ?  When  shall  we 
 "  see  one  of  them  choosing  the  good  part 
 "  which  shall  not  be  taken  from  them  ?  Lord, 
 "  keep  me  this  day  watchful  and  circumspect ; 
 "  teach  me  to  improve  occasions,  and,  if  pos- 
 "  sible,  to  find  occasion  of  speaking  a  word 
 "  for  Christ,  of  reminding  sinners  of  their  great 
 "  concern. 
 
 "  My  time  a  good  deal  occupied  with  ordi- 
 "  nary  secular  matters.  I  need  to  learn  to  keep 
 "  a  strict  guard  over  myself,  and  to  set  the  Lord 
 "  before  me  in  all  such  matters,  as  my  heart  is 
 "  so  ready  to  be  untuned  and  carnalized.     Had 
 
 "  an  agreeable  meeting  at  D M 's  in 
 
 "  the  evening:  Question  from  2  Cor.  vi.  17. 18. 
 "  practical  and  interesting ;  my  own  heart  very 
 "  cold  and  lifeless.  Lord,  breathe,  breathe  on 
 "  it  without  ceasing,  and  make  me  to  pray  with- 
 "  out  ceasing ;  else  the  feeble  spark  of  life  will 
 "  not  burn  at  all ! 
 
 "  May  llth. — This  morning  sound  in  bodily 
 "  health,  free  of  pain  or  trouble,  but  cold  and 
 '  lifeless  in  heart.    No  spirituality  do  I  ever  feel, 
 
REV.  ALEXANDER  STEWART,  D.  D.         299 
 
 "  Unless  when  under  some  painful  feeling,  some 
 "  chastening  from  the  hand  of  God,  or  some 
 "  sharp  reproof  from  my  conscience.  Of  all 
 "  means,  the  rod,  applied  not  to  my  body  but 
 *  to  my  mind,  has  ever  proved  the  most  effec- 
 "  tual  to  rouse  and  spiritualize  my  dull  affec- 
 "  tions,  and  stir  up  any  thing  like  a  spirit  of 
 "  supplication.  But  the  moment  the  rod  is  re- 
 "  moved,  I  grow  cold  like  iron  out  of  the  fur- 
 "  nace.  When,  when  shall  it  be  otherwise  with 
 "  me  ?  Lord,  perfect  that  which  concerneth  me, 
 "  for  thy  great  name's  sake.  I  endeavoured 
 "  this  morning,  but  I  know  not  with  what  suc- 
 "  cess,  to  lay  hold  on  a  promise  that  was  brought 
 "  to  my  view.  Long  has  the  Lord  waited  for 
 "  me  with  wonderful  patience  and  condescen- 
 "  sion ;  may  he  teach  me  and  enable  me  to  wait 
 "  only  on  him,  and  to  "  exalt  him"  in  my  heart, 
 "  speech,  and  behaviour,  "  that  he  may  have 
 "  mercy  upon  me.'* 
 
 M  This  day  visited  my  much-respected  and 
 "  beloved  parent  Mrs  C. ;  was  refreshed  and 
 "  humbled  with  her  conversation.  She  had 
 "  newly  received  a  second  letter  from  her  belov- 
 "  ed  son,  written  a  few  days  after  he  had  got 
 "  the  first  accounts  of  his  revered  father's  death. 
 "  His  letter  was  full  of  filial  sorrow,  and  the 
 "  most  affectionate  condolence.     He  is  a  dear 
 
 t  2 
 
300  MEMOIRS  OF  THE 
 
 tender-hearted  youth,  "  a  child  of  many  pray- 
 ers and  tears,"  like  St  Augustine;  and  like 
 him  must  be  saved.  My  own  mind  was  un- 
 usually empty  and  unemployed  in  the  way ; 
 much  precious  time  lost.  May  the  Lord  for- 
 give, and  teach  me  to  improve  solitude. 
 "  May  12th. — An  acquaintance  called  on  me 
 to-day,  to  represent  the  case  of  a  neighbour 
 of  his  own,  who  had  for  some  time  made  a 
 credible  profession  of  religion,  but  for  some 
 months  back  has  been  falling  into  a  habit  of 
 drinking,  and  wished  me  to  take  an  early  op- 
 portunity of  admonishing  him.  I  think  it  is 
 my  duty  to  do  so,  and  would  earnestly  im- 
 plore the  Lord's  direction  that  I  may  do  it 
 faithfully  and  in  love,  and  that  it  may  be  ac- 
 companied with  the  divine  blessing.  I  have 
 been  busied  this  day  about  common  things, 
 my  mind  vacant  and  unedified.  Lord,  enable 
 me  now  to  close  the  day  with  thyself. 
 u  May  16th. — Rode  out  in  the  forenoon — the 
 rest  of  the  day  employed  in  ordinary  matters 
 — nothing  done  directly  for  Christ  This  is 
 a  shameful  loss  of  precious  time.  I  have  of- 
 ten resolved,  and  I  desire  to  repeat  my  reso- 
 lution in  the  presence  of  Jesus,  "  whose 
 I  am,  and  whom  I"  am  bound  by  a  thousand 
 obligations  to  "  serve,"  never  to  let  a  whole 
 day  pass  without  something  said,  or  written. 
 
REV.  ALEXANDER  STEWART,  D.  D.        301 
 
 "  or  done,  to  spread  the  savour  of  Christ's  name, 
 "  to  stir  up  some  spiritual  grace  in  the  souls  of 
 "  others,  or  in  my  own.  Lord,  pardon,  for  thy 
 "  mercy's  sake,  my  inexcusable  negligence  in 
 "  this  respect,  and  rouse  me  to  greater  careful- 
 "  ness  in  future  ! 
 
 "  May  20th. — Visited ,  whom  I  found 
 
 "  still  in  a  state  of  distress  and  discouragement, 
 "  complaining,  that  though  she  was  persuaded 
 "  the  promises  were  free  and  full,  yet  she  was 
 "  not  able  to  lay  hold  on  them  for  herself.  She 
 "  complains  sorely  of  hardness,  coldness,  and 
 "  insensibility  ;  and,  above  all,  an  evil  heart  of 
 "  unbelief.  She  acknowledged  she  was  the  bet- 
 "  ter  of  seeing  a  person  with  whom  she  could 
 "  converse  freely.  Though  she  cannot  at  pre- 
 "  sent  rejoice  in  the  Lord,  yet  she  looks  steadily 
 "  towards  him  as  the  God  of  her  salvation.  I 
 "  have  no  doubt  that  the  Lord  is  thus  preparing 
 "  her  for  a  fuller  manifestation  of  himself,  and 
 "  that  he  will  soon  give  her  a  garment  of  praise 
 "  for  a  spirit  of  heaviness. 
 
 "  May  21st. — Having  finished  my  studying 
 "  and  writing  for  next  Lord's  day,  I  purpose, 
 "  if  the  Lord  permit,  to  employ  some  hours  of 
 "  this  afternoon  (as  the  day  that  I  am  least  in- 
 "  terrupted)  in  examination,  humiliation,  and 
 11  prayer,  particularly  in  reference  to  the  state 
 *  of  my  poor,  lifeless,  senseless  soul,  my  family, 
 
302  MEMOlttS  OF  THE 
 
 "  and  my  parish.  It  is  an  exercise  which  I 
 "  have  sadly  neglected,  but  which  I  need  ex- 
 "  ceedingly.  I  know  it  is  difficult  and  painful. 
 "  Lord,  enable  me  to  begin  it,  and  to  pursue 
 "  it  with  a  single  eye  to  spiritual  benefit,  and 
 "  to  thy  glory.  O  search  thou  me,  and  know 
 "  my  heart ! 
 
 *  Evening. — Having  begun  what  I  intended 
 "  for  this  day's  exercise,  with  prayer  for  the 
 "  divine  presence  and  blessing,  and  read  the 
 "  139th  Psalm,  I  was  interrupted  by  a  man 
 "  being  introduced  by  one  of  the  elders,  as  un- 
 "  der  great  trouble  of  mind.  He  is  an  old  man 
 11  of  decent  life  and  behaviour,  has  been  for  some 
 "  weeks  under  an  increasing  concern  about  his 
 "  soul's  state,  and  is  often  distressed  with  alarm- 
 "  ing  fears.     Conversed  with  him  some  time ; 
 
 "  then  sent  for  D M ,  elder,  and  we 
 
 "  conversed  with  him  a  considerable  time  toge- 
 "  ther,  endeavouring  to  lead  him  to  a  more  dis- 
 "  tinct  view  of  sin,  the  true  ground  of  fear,  and 
 "  then  to  look  to  Christ  as  the  free  and  all-suffi- 
 
 "  cient  Saviour  of  sinners.     D M 
 
 "  prayed  with  him  before  parting.  This  inter- 
 11  view  occupied  the  greater  part  of  the  forenoon. 
 "  Any  other  Saturday,  I  should  have  found  it 
 "  an  unseasonable  interruption ;  but  this  day, 
 44  the  Lord,  foreseeing  this  engagement,  had  led 
 "  me  to  finish  my  studies,  so  that  I  had  some 
 
REV.  ALEXANDER  STEWART,  D.  D.        303 
 
 •'  hours  to  spare.  Persons  applying  for  spiritual 
 "  advice  is  almost  a  new  thing  here.  May  the 
 "  Lord  grant  that  this  may  turn  to  good,  and 
 "  that  it  may  be  the  beginning  of  a  glorious 
 '•  harvest,  to  the  praise  of  his  free  sovereign 
 "  grace,  who  worketh  when,  and  where,  and 
 "  how  he  pleaseth  ! 
 
 "  May  2ttk. — Last  night  I  had  a  return  of 
 "  an  alarming  complaint  to  which  I  have  been 
 "  long  subject.  After  trying  the  usual  expe- 
 "  dients  for  relief  with  little  effect,  I  had  re- 
 "  course  at  last  to  an  expedient  that  succeeded. 
 "  I  cried  to  the  Lord  for  help ;  he  graciously 
 "  heard  me,  and  I  succeeded  to  a  wish.  I  was 
 "  immediately  relieved,  and  all  the  trouble- 
 "  some  symptoms  abated  in  the  course  of  the 
 "  day. — How  plainly  does  the  Lord  warn  me 
 "  to  consider  my  latter  end,  and  not  to  reckon 
 "  upon  length  of  days !  O  that  he  would  be 
 "  pleased  to  exert  his  power,  and  shew  me  his 
 "  mercy,  by  releasing  my  poor  soul  in  like 
 "  manner  from  deadness  and  inactivity  !  May 
 "  this  warning  rouse  me  to  more  constant  at- 
 "  tention  and  faithfulness  in  duty,  now  that 
 "  the  shadows  of  the  evening  are  stretched 
 "  out. 
 
 "  May  25t/i. — Occupied  about  ordinary  mat- 
 "  ters — no  spiritual  good  received  or  imparted — 
 "  no  progress  made  in  journeying  toward  heaven 
 
304.  MEMOIRS  or  THE 
 
 "  — nothing  done  for  the  cause  of  Christ,  or  the 
 "  glory  of  God,  a  sad  return  for  life  preserved, 
 "  and  health  restored  !  Lord,  pardon  my  wretch- 
 "  ed  unprofitableness — make  me  dread  to  spend 
 "  another  day  so. 
 
 "  May  28th. — Studied  the  greater  part  of 
 "  the  day  ; — was  greatly  affected  with  a  letter 
 "  received  in  the  morning,  from  my  dear  and 
 
 "  valuable    brother,    Mr    J S of 
 
 «  B S .     It  was  singularly  season- 
 
 "  able,  and  I  can  scarcely  say  whether  it  was 
 "  more  calculated  to  encourage  or  to  humble 
 "  me.  I  must  believe,  as  my  dear  brother 
 "  writes,  that  many  Christian  friends  are  at- 
 "  tached  to  me,  and  concerned  about  me,  and 
 "  that  there  was  a  time  when  the  Lord  did 
 "  make  his  own  word  precious  to  some  through 
 "  my  very  poor  and  feeble  ministry.  But,  alas  ! 
 "  how  is  the  gold  become  dim  !  Woes  me,  that 
 "  I  sojourn  in  Mesech  !  O  that  I  knew  where  I 
 "  might  find  Him  ! 
 
 "  May  30th. — In  reading  the  scriptures  this 
 "  morning,  and  seeking  a  promise  for  the  day, 
 "  I  am  directed  to  Joel  ii.  21 — 27.  particularly 
 "  verses  21,  27.  "  The  Lord  will  do  great  things, 
 "  and  my  people  shall  never  be  ashamed."  May 
 "  the  Spirit  impress  it,  enable  me  to  lay  hold, 
 "  and  fulfil 
 
 41  June  I3fh — Last  week  I  became  acquaint- 
 
REV.  ALEXANDER  STEWART,  D.  D.        305 
 
 "  ed  with  Mr  C ,  a  pious  valuable  man, 
 
 "  residing  in  England.  I  heard  him,  with  much 
 "  satisfaction,  give  a  private  lecture  one  even- 
 "  ing,  and  preach  another  evening  in  the  Town 
 "  Hall.  I  wish  that  my  hands  were  often 
 "  strengthened  by  such  visitors.  I  have  to  re- 
 "  cord  the  goodness  of  my  bountiful  Lord  in 
 "  strengthening  me  yesterday  in  body  and  spi- 
 "  rit,  in  the  whole  public  service  of  the  day. 
 "  To  him  be  all  the  glory.  Visited  three  women 
 "  bed-rid. 
 
 "  June  lUh. — Took  a  ride  to  Munlochy  and 
 "  Inverness  on  business.  Returned  in  the  even- 
 "  ing  safe,  but  fatigued.     In  Inverness,  unex- 
 
 "  pectedly  met  Mr  C ,  who  had  been  dis- 
 
 "  appointed.  Exchanged  Christian  affectionate 
 "  salutations  with  him,  and  took  leave,  not  ex- 
 "  pecting  to  see  him  again  in  this  world. 
 
 "  June  15th. — Most  agreeably  surprised  to- 
 "  day,  with  hearing  that  a  horse  had  been  sent 
 
 "  for  Mr  C ,  and  that  he  was  expected 
 
 "  here  to-day.  About  two  o'clock  had  a  call 
 "  from  the  excellent  man,  and  his  dear  amiable 
 
 "  cousin    Miss  C .     Heard   him    preach 
 
 "  in  the  evening  in  the  hall  with  singular 
 "  power.  Assuredly  this  man  of  God  has  been 
 u  sent  on  a  special  message  to  Dingwall,  and 
 "  particularly  to  me.  O  that  the  Lord  would 
 "  be  pleased   to   send  a  portion    of  the    same 
 
306  MEMOIRS  OF  THE 
 
 "  spirit  and  gift  to  my  dull  worthless  soul !  I 
 "  am  often  tempted  to  ask,  "  Can  the  Lord  do 
 "  such  a  thing  ?  Can  he  revive  my  dead  in* 
 "  sensible  heart  ?"  Lord,  rebuke  me  for  my  un- 
 "  belief,  and  quicken  me  with  thy  Spirit,  be- 
 "  fore  the  day  pass  entirely  away,  and  the 
 "  night  come  upon  me,  wherein  no  man  can 
 "  work. 
 
 "  June  16th. — I  am  disappointed  of  hearing 
 
 "  dear  Mr  C this  evening,  for  the  last 
 
 "  time.  His  visit  to  this  town,  and  particular- 
 "  ly  his  unexpected  return  from  Inverness,  is 
 "  surely  a  token  to  Dingwall,  either  of  mercy 
 "  or  of  judgment.  I  may  say  the  same  of  my- 
 "  self.  O !  may  the  Lord  bless  his  dear  servant's 
 "  ministration  to  some, — to  many !  What  a 
 "  loud  reproof  to  my  careless,  heartless,  unpro- 
 "  fitable  services !  O  !  for  the  breath  of  heaven  ! 
 "  Awake,  O  north  wind!  and  come,  thou 
 "  south !  Amen. 
 
 "  July  13th. — After  a  long  suspension  of  my 
 "  notes,  I  am  admonished  to  endeavour  to  re- 
 "  sume  them.  A  faithful  and  seasonable  re- 
 "  proof  from  my  conscience,  relative  to  the 
 "  particular  state  of  my  soul,  particularly  as  to 
 "  the  exercise  of  prayer,  warns  me,  that  it  is 
 "  highly  needful  to  search  and  try  my  ways. 
 "  O !  may  I  be  enabled  to  attend  and  profit 
 "  by  the  Lord's  rebuke,  before  his  chastening 
 
REV.  ALEXANDER  STEWART,  D.  D.  307 
 
 "  hand  fall  heavy  upon  me.  I  purpose,  if  the 
 "  Lord  permit,  to  employ  the  greater  part  of 
 ••  this  day  in  retirement,  to  examine  the  state 
 "  of  my  miserable  heart.  Lord !  do  give  me 
 "  light  and  understanding  to  perceive  my  real 
 "  state,  for  I  fear  I  have  been  much  misled  by 
 "  the  kindness,  and  the  too  favourable  opinion 
 lk  of  others  concerning  me. 
 
 "  After  spending  the  morning  and  forenoon 
 "  in  my  room,  I  have  reason  to  bless  the  Lord 
 "  for  some  little  access  to  himself,  which  he 
 M  was  pleased  to  grant  me,  and  one  or  two  mo- 
 "  mentary  meltings  of  heart ;  such  as  to  give 
 "  me  a  very  slight  notion  of  what  it  is  to  have 
 4i  fellowship  with  God,  and  pour  out  the  heart 
 M  before  him.  This  I  had,  particularly  in 
 kt  pleading  for  my  very  dear  children.  Lord, 
 "  continue,  review,  increase  this  secret  com- 
 "  munion  with  thyself, — no  life,  no  thriving 
 "  without  it. 
 
 "  July  Slst. — Had  felt  my  breast  a  little  in- 
 41  flamed  and  uneasy  in  the  night,  and  was  con- 
 
 *  cerned  how  I  should  make  out  the  service  of 
 "  the  day,  and  having  again  to  preach  to-mor- 
 
 "  row  at .     The  Lord  strengthened  me 
 
 u  in  person  and  spirit.     I  was  supported  in  an 
 11  ordinary  measure  in  Gaelic,  and  more  so  in 
 
 •  the  English ;  and  when  1  had  finished,   I  felt 
 v<  my  breast  quite  well,  and  my   voice  sound. 
 
308  MEMOIRS  OF  THE 
 
 "  Well  may  I  say,  "  the  Lord  is  my  helper,  I 
 "  will  trust  in  him,  and  not  be  afraid."  " 
 
 These  memorials  are  short,  and  interspersed 
 in  the  original  with  marks  and  references,  in  a 
 character  known  only  to  himself.  They  com- 
 prise a  space  not  exceeding  three  months,  and 
 not  diversified  with  any  event  of  importance. 
 His  reason  for  discontinuing  them  is  not  known  ; 
 but  whatever  induced  him  to  leave  off,  the  little 
 he  has  given,  shews  a  heart  alive  to  the  great 
 concerns  of  the  soul ;  breathing  after  the  high- 
 est attainments  in  Christian  experience,  and 
 groaning  under  the  consciousness  of  deplored 
 infirmities  and  defects  in  character,  perceptible 
 only  to  himself,  and  to  his  God. 
 
 Perhaps  some  may  be  led  to  conceive  less  fa- 
 ?ourably  of  the  extent  of  his  attainments  in 
 grace,  on  finding  him  use  the  language  of  com- 
 plaint oftener  than  that  of  approbation,  in  judg- 
 ing of  himself.  But  to  the  consideration  of  such, 
 we  would  recommend  the  following  sentiments 
 of  one  of  the  greatest  masters  of  human  reason 
 that  has  ever  appeared  in  the  world ;  or,  if  a 
 higher  authority  be  sought,  let  the  7th  chapter 
 of  Romans  be  seriously  examined. 
 
 u  Grace,  and  the  love  of  God,  in  the  most 
 "  eminent  saints  in   this  world,   is   truly  very 
 
REV.  ALEXANDER  STEWART,    D.  D.        309 
 
 "  little  in  comparison  with  what  it  ought  to  be ; 
 "  because,  the  highest  love  that  ever  any  at- 
 "  tain  to  in  this  life,  is  poor,  cold,  exceeding 
 "  low,  and  not  worthy  to  be  named,  in  com- 
 "  parison  of  what  our  obligations  appear  to  be, 
 "  from  the  joint  consideration  of  these  two 
 "  things,  viz.  1.  The  reason  God  has  given  us 
 "  to  love  him,  in  the  manifestations  he  has 
 "  made  of  his  infinite  glory,  in  his  word,  and 
 "  in  his  works ;  and  particularly  the  gospel  of 
 "  his  Son,  and  what  he  has  done  for  sinful  man 
 "  by  him.  And,  2.  The  capacity  there  is  in  the 
 "  soul  of  man,  by  those  intellectual  faculties 
 "  which  God  has  given  it,  of  seeing  and  un- 
 "  derstanding  those  reasons  which  God  has 
 "  given  us  to  love  him.  How  small,  indeed, 
 "  is  the  love  of  the  most  eminent  saint  on  earth, 
 "  in  comparison  of  what  these  things  jointly  con- 
 "  sidered  do  require.  And  this  grace  tends  to 
 "  convince  men  of,  and  especially  eminent  grace; 
 "  for  grace  is  of  the  nature  of  light,  and  brings 
 "  truth  to  view.  And  therefore,  he  that  has 
 "  much  grace,  apprehends,  much  more  than 
 "  others,  that  great  height  to  which  his  love 
 "  ought  to  ascend  ;  and  he  sees,  better  than 
 "  others,  how  little  a  way  he  has  risen  towards 
 "  that  height.  And  therefore,  estimating  his  love 
 "  by  the  whole  height  of  his  duty,  hence  it  ap- 
 "  pears  astonishingly  little  and  low  in  his  eyes. 
 
310  MEMOIRS  OF  THE 
 
 "  And  the  eminent  saint  having  such  a  convic- 
 "  tion  of  the  high  degree  in  which  he  ought  to 
 "  love  God,  this  shews  him  not  only  the  littleness 
 "  of  his  grace,  but  the  greatness  of  his  remaining 
 "  corruption.  It  appears  exceedingly  abominable 
 "  to  him,  that  Christ  should  be  loved  so  little, 
 "  and  thanked  so  little,  for  his  dying  love ;  it  is 
 "  in  his  eyes  hateful  ingratitude. 
 
 "  And  then  the  increase  of  grace  has  a  ten- 
 "  dency  another  way  to  cause  the  saints  to  think 
 "  their  deformity  vastly  more  than  their  good ; 
 "  it  not  only  tends  to  convince  them  their  cor- 
 "  ruption  is  much  greater  than  their  goodness, 
 "  which  is  indeed  the  case,  but  it  also  tends  to 
 "  cause  the  deformity  that  there  is  in  the  least 
 "  sin,  or  the  least  degree  of  corruption,  to  ap- 
 "  pear  so  great,  as  vastly  to  outweigh  all  the 
 "  beauty  there  is  in  their  greatest  holiness ;  for 
 "  this  also  is  indeed  the  case. 
 
 "  True  grace  is  of  that  nature,  that  the  more 
 "  a  person  has  of  it,  with  remaining  corruption, 
 "  the  less  does  his  goodness  and  holiness  ap- 
 "  pear,  in  proportion  to  his  deformity,  in  the 
 "  sin  that  now  appears  in  his  heart,  and  in  the 
 "  abominable  defects  of  his  highest  and  best  af- 
 "  fections  and  brightest  experiences." 
 
 If  the  private  records  of  Mr  Stewart  had  re- 
 presented him  reviewing  with  complacency  his 
 
REV.  ALEXANDER  STEWART,    D.  D.         311 
 
 own  acquirements,  who  would  not  have  dises- 
 teemed  him,  and  ranked  him  very  low  in  the 
 kingdom  of  God  ?  What  exalts  character  is  hu- 
 mility, — and  that  grace  dwelt  in  him  richly.  He 
 saw  more  clearly  than  most  men,  the  intermix- 
 ture of  evil  in  things  seemingly  good ;  and  from 
 the  comprehensive  views  he  took  of  duty,  the 
 greatest  performances  of  his  best  times  appeared 
 exceedingly  little,  and  unequal  to  the  motives 
 which  he  at  all  times  possessed.  But  self-abase- 
 ment is  not  incompatible  with  a  sense  of  safety, 
 or  a  frame  of  habitual  joy ;  for  it  is  the  privilege 
 of  all  who  fully  enter  into  the  grace  of  the  gos- 
 pel method  of  salvation,  that  with  the  deepest 
 self-abhorrence,  they  have  somewhat  wherein  to 
 glory,  and  that  is,  Christ.  And  had  we  Mr  Stew- 
 art's judgment  of  faith  on  record,  as  we  have  his 
 judgment  of  sense,  we  should  doubtless  find  his 
 heart  as  full  of  glorying,  as  we  have  seen  it  de- 
 pressed with  conscious  defects.  And  while  he 
 saw  nothing  in  himself  corresponding  to  the  ho- 
 liness of  his  desires,  and  the  extent  of  his  obliga- 
 tions, in  Christ  he  could  say,  "  I  am  complete." 
 To  overlook  self-unworthiness,  fosters  a  ruin- 
 ous self-complacency,  hateful  in  the  sight  of 
 Heaven ; — to  dwell  on  it  perpetually,  without 
 "  looking  unto  Jesus"  in  the  joy  of  believing,  is 
 not  more  unfavourable  to  sanctification,  than  in- 
 jurious to  peace.     What  Milner  observes  con- 
 
312  MEMOIRS  OF  THE 
 
 cerning  a  sermon  of  Grosstestc,  is  worthy  of  re- 
 mark ;  that  "  it  was  well  calculated  to  humble 
 "  the  proud,  but  had  very  little  to  encourage 
 "  the  sincere ;  for  that  he  seemed  to  have  no 
 "  idea  of  the  attainment  of  a  state  of  solid  peace 
 "  and  joy."  This  he  attributes  to  his  not  know- 
 ing "  the  just  nature  of  the  Christian  article  of 
 "  justification  by  Jesus  Christ  the  Righteous." 
 This,  however,  Mr  Stewart  not  only  knew  him- 
 self, but  was  the  instrument  of  communicating 
 the  knowledge  of  it  to  many  others ;  and,  there- 
 fore, though  a  sense  of  manifold  short-comings 
 caused  sorrow,  in  His  righteousness  he  enjoyed 
 exalted  peace  and  solid  comfort,  the  sense  of 
 which,  however,  was  to  him,  as  well  as  to  others, 
 liable  to  be  modified  by  changes  in  the  medium 
 of  perception;  and  it  generally  happens,  that 
 diaries  are  most  resorted  to,  not  in  seasons  of 
 clear,  but  of  doubtful  perception.  Hence,  most 
 memorials  of  that  kind  exhibit  chiefly  the 
 darker  shades  of  experience. 
 
 The  following  sentiments,  contained  in  a  let- 
 ter written  several  years  later  than  those  notes 
 in  his  diary,  breathe  the  same  spirit  of  conscious 
 unworthiness  and  self-abasement. 
 
 "  When    I    see    such    living   examples    as 
 
 «  M<L ,  and  the  zealous  ministers,  and 
 
 "  some  private  Christians  around  me,  I  find  my- 
 "  self  entirely  eclipsed,  and   unworthy  of  any 
 
REV.  ALEXANDER  STEWART,  D.  D.         313 
 
 "  place  in  the  system.  I  think  this  was  im- 
 "  pressed  on  me  with  some  force  in  my  late  ill— 
 "  ness.  I  saw  myself  a  wretchedly  unprofitable 
 "  servant,  a  withered  branch,  fit  only  for  burn- 
 "  ing.  I  have  read  of  eminent  Christians  hav- 
 "  ing  a  strong  sense  of  their  own  un  worthiness ; 
 "  and  I  have  been  inclined  to  think  that  their 
 "  state  was  far  otherwise  than  they  themselves 
 "  apprehended.  It  is  possible  that  my  partial 
 "  friends  may  fancy  that  to  be  my  case.  But  it 
 "  is  all  a  mistake.  I  surely  believed  that  expe- 
 "  rienced  Christians  who  had  the  worst  opinion 
 "  of  themselves,  judged  truly,  whatever  others 
 u  might  think ;  and  so  I  believe  concerning 
 "  myself,  that  the  worst  opinion  I  can  have  of 
 "  my  own  heart,  is  short  of  the  truth,  howrever 
 "  others  may  form  a  different  opinion.  In  our 
 "  present  pilgrimage,  I  believe  the  valley  of  hu- 
 "  miliation  is  the  most  advantageous  point  of 
 "  view,  from  which  to  behold  the  Sun  of  righ- 
 *  teousness  in  his  benign  and  majestic  splendour, 
 "  as  well  as  in  his  purifying  and  comforting  in- 
 "  fluence." 
 
 After  the  death  of  Mr  Calder,  the  domestic 
 circle  of  Mr  Stewart  was  frequently  enriched 
 with  the  addition  of  Mrs  C.  whose  conversation 
 would  have  been  accounted  a  great  acquisition 
 to  any  society  capable  of  relishing  "  the  things 
 of  the  Spirit." 
 
 u 
 
314  MEMOIRS  OF  THE 
 
 Beyond  the  Christian  scene  in  his  own  house, 
 he  diffused  the  benefit  of  his  knowledge  and 
 advice  to  many  individuals,  both  in  the  neigh- 
 bourhood and  at  a  distance ;  keeping  up  a  wider 
 epistolary  intercourse,  than  perhaps  a  prudent 
 regard  to  the  circumstances  of  his  own  impaired 
 health  might  seem  to  justify.  That  survivors, 
 however,  may  yet  benefit  by  his  exertion,  we 
 shall  here  insert  a  few  of  the  letters  written  pos- 
 terior to  the  date  of  his  diary. 
 
 In  1815,  he  received  a  letter  from  a  gentle- 
 man in  Edinburgh,  with  whom  a  College  inti- 
 macy had  subsisted  at  St  Andrews ;  and  who, 
 like  himself,  had  been  led  to  embrace  other 
 views  of  divine  truth,  than  they  ever  thought 
 to  entertain  in  those  juvenile  days.  This  gen- 
 tleman having  met  with  his  Moulin  narrative, 
 not  long  after  he  had  begun  to  inquire  seriously 
 into  revealed  truth,  immediately  opened  a  corre- 
 spondence with  Mr  S.  on  the  subject  of  religion, 
 and  claimed  a  renewal  of  ancient  friendship  on 
 a  new  and  spiritual  ground.  To  this  proposal 
 Mr  Stewart  gladly  consented,  and  thus  was  re- 
 stored a  connection  which  had  a  considerable  in- 
 fluence on  the  comfort  and  circumstances  of  his 
 future  years.  The  first  letter  Mr  Stewart  wrote 
 to  his  new  correspondent,  is  dated 
 
REV.  ALEXANDER  STEWART,  D.  D.         315 
 
 Dingwall,  2Sth  August,  1815. 
 "  My  dear  Sir, 
 
 "  Few  things  indeed  could  have  given  me 
 "  more  delightful  surprise  than  your  much  es- 
 "  teemed  letter,  received  a  few  days  ago. 
 
 "  I  well  remember  the  agreeable  days  that 
 "  we  enjoyed  together  in  St  Andrews, — how 
 "  many  ?  thirty  years  ago  and  upwards  ?  And 
 "  I  think  the  only  time  since  that  I  have  had 
 "  the  pleasure  of  seeing  you,  was  once  at  Dun- 
 "  keld  House.  In  this  large  portion  of  our 
 "  mortal  life,  my  course  has  been  a  very  cir- 
 "  cumscribed  one.  I  have  paced  slowly  through 
 "  a  small  corner  of  the  world,  while  you  have 
 "  probably  occupied  a  wider  range,  correspond- 
 "  ing  to  your  talents  and  fortune, — seen  much 
 "  of  the  world,  and  been  engaged  in  its  busier 
 "  scenes.  Well,  I  desire  to  praise  God  on  your 
 "  account,  that  he  has  shewed  you  the  world's 
 "  vanity,  and  inclined  you  to  seek  for  yourself 
 "  and  your  dear  young  ones,  a  better  inheri- 
 "  tance, — a  more  lasting  and  satisfactory  por- 
 "  tion.  And  I  most  affectionately  hope,  and, 
 "  so  far  as  my  feeble  prayers  can  avail,  I  do 
 "  earnestly  pray,  that  he  who  has  turned  your 
 "  attention  and  desire  toward  himself,  may 
 "  be  your  guide  and  instructor,  and  lead  you 
 "  to  the  full  knowledge  "  of  the  truth  as  it  is 
 "  in  Jesus."     The  field  of  revelation  is  indeed 
 
 u  2 
 
316  MEMOIRS  OF  THE 
 
 "  wide,  and  contains  a  great  variety  of  objects, 
 "  and  a  vast  fund  of  interesting  entertainment 
 "  to  a  sanctified  mind.  But  the  plan  of  re- 
 "  demption,  though  immensely  grand,  is  sim- 
 "  pie,  and  requires  no  high  cultivation  of  intel- 
 "  lect  to  comprehend  it,  but  only  a  humble 
 "  mind,  willing  to  receive  it.  And  if  you,  my 
 "  dear  Sir, — and  I  would  always  include  the 
 "  dear  partner  of  your  joys  and  cares, — possess 
 "  this  grand  requisite,  the  way  lies  open  before 
 f  you, — "  Search  the  scriptures,  for  in  them 
 "  ye  think  ye  have  eternal  life,  and  they  are 
 "  they  which  testify  of  Jesus,"  John  v.  39.  The 
 "  word  of  God  reveals  some  things  so  strange, 
 "  and  some  so  unpalatable  to  our  nature,  that 
 "  divine  teaching  is  needful  to  make  us  appre- 
 "  hend,  and  fully  acquiesce,  in  their  truth  and 
 "  propriety.  This  divine  teaching  is  to  be  ob- 
 "  tained  by  prayer.  Every  thing  relative  to 
 "  the  reception  of  gospel  truth,  the  subjection 
 "  of  the  will  to  the  authority  of  God,  and 
 "  thankful  acquiescence  in  the  prescribed  me- 
 "  thod  of  salvation,  are  all  ascribed  in  the  Bible 
 "  to  the  influence  of  the  Holy  Spirit  on  the 
 "  soul.  And  this  influence  is  freely  promised 
 "  to  them  that  humbly  and  sincerely  ask  it. 
 "  "  If  ye,  being  evil,  know  how  to  give  good  gifts 
 "  to  your  children,  how  much  more  shall  your 
 u  heavenly  Father  give  the  Holy  Spirit  to  them 
 
REV.  ALEXANDER  STEWART,   D.  D.        317 
 
 "  that  ask  him,"  Luke  xi.  13.  I  am  well  aware 
 "  how  difficult  an  attempt  it  is  for  a  man  who 
 "  has  lived  esteemed  by  the  world,  to  withdraw 
 "  from  its  ensnaring  company,  its  fashions  and 
 "  its  habits.  Old  friends,  connections,  and  com- 
 "  panions,  will  warmly  oppose  such  a  separa- 
 "  tion.  A  man  who  quits  the  "  broad  road," 
 "  and  enters  the  "  narrow  way,"  must  expect 
 "  to  be  counted  singular,  for,  in  fact,  he  will  be 
 "  singular ;  and  no  little  resolution  is  required 
 "  to  bear  the  imputation  of  singularity,  to  brave 
 "  "  the  world's  loud  laugh."  But  the  grace  of 
 "  Christian  fortitude  will  support  a  man  under 
 "  any  trial,  and  carry  him  safely  through.  You 
 "  are  not  ignorant  of  what  the  scripture  incul- 
 "  cates  with  respect  to  separation  from  the 
 "  world,  2  Cor.  vi.  17.  John  xv.  19-  Rom. 
 "  xii.  2. 
 
 "  Since  receiving  your  letter,  the  last  report 
 "  of  the  Edinburgh  Bible  Society  came  into 
 "  my  hands.  One  of  the  first  things  which 
 "  struck  my  eye  with  pleasure,  was  to  see  your 
 w  name  added  to  the  list  of  vice-presidents,  and 
 "  that  you  filled  the  chair  at  last  general  meet- 
 "  ing.  This  leads  me  to  think,  that  you  must 
 "  have  already  formed  an  acquaintance  with 
 "  men  of  enlightened  and  pious  minds,  whether 
 "  clergymen  or  others,  in  Edinburgh,  who  will 
 "  be  happy  to  cultivate  your  friendship,  and 
 
318  MEMOIRS  OV  THE 
 
 "  who  will  be  of  much  more  service  in  aiding 
 "  your  inquiries  than  ever  I  could  be.  But  if 
 "  you  were  not  always  acquainted  with  men  of 
 "  such  a  character,  I  confess  I  should  feel  ex- 
 "  ceedingly  desirous  to  answer  your  and  Mrs 
 
 "  's  kind  and  gratifying  invitation,  and  fly 
 
 "  by  land  or  sea  to  your  happy  mansion,  to 
 "  embrace  my  old,  or  rather  my  new  friend, 
 "  and  endeavour  to  strengthen  our  common 
 <;  faith  and  hope  in  the  blessed  gospel  of  our 
 "  Lord  and  Saviour  Jesus  Christ.  But  the 
 "  wish  is  all  I  dare  indulge.  Though  my  ordi- 
 "  nary  health  is  such  as  to  allow  my  engaging 
 "  in  ordinary  duty  at  home,  yet  I  cannot  ven- 
 "  ture  to  move  a  step  from  home.  But  if  you 
 "  honour  me  with  your  correspondence,  it  will 
 "  give  me  pleasure  to  hear  what  you  may  be 
 "  pleased  to  communicate,  and  to  answer  as  I 
 "  may  be  enabled  to  do.  In  reference  to  my 
 "  letter  to  Mr  Black,  on  the  state  of  religion  in 
 "  the  parish  of  Moulin,  as  you  are  pleased  to 
 "  say  that  you  think  it  calculated  to  be  useful, 
 "  I  have  no  objection  whatever  to  its  being  re- 
 "  printed.  But,  unless  you  have  some  special 
 "  reasons  for  wishing  the  names  to  be  suppress- 
 "  ed,  I  think  it  would  be  better  to  allow  them 
 "  to  remain.  Names  and  dates  give  a  stamp  of 
 "  authenticity,  and  create  an  interest  in  the  per- 
 "  usal,  which  would  be  lessened  if  these  were 
 
REV.  ALEXANDER  STEWART,  D.  D.        319 
 
 H  wanting.  I  have  no  wish  at  all  to  withdraw 
 "  my  testimony  to  the  facts  narrated,  or  the 
 "  doctrine  maintained  in  that  letter,  but  am 
 "  ready  to  renew  and  confirm  my  testimony  to 
 "  both,  now  after  an  interval  of  thirteen  years 
 "  from  the  publication  of  the  last  impression. 
 "  And  it  occurs  to  me,  that  the  effect  of  the 
 "  narrative  might  be  increased  by  my  adding  a 
 "  short  paragraph  of  that  kind,  either  by  way 
 "  of  preface  or  postscript,  to  the  next  impres- 
 
 "  sion.     If  Mrs  and  you  think  it  best  to 
 
 "  get  a  small  number  printed  in  this  way  for 
 "  gratuitous  distribution,  you  have  my  full  con- 
 "  sent,  and  my  earnest  wishes  that  your  chari- 
 "  table  purpose  may  be  abundantly  blessed,  and 
 "  your  benevolent  desires  richly  gratified. 
 
 "  I  remember  your  three  brothers  well,  all  of 
 "  them  promising  young  men.  I  did  not  know, 
 "  till  your  letter  informed  me,  that  they  were 
 
 *  all  removed  by  death,  and  yourself  the  only 
 
 *  representative  of  a  once  flourishing  family. 
 
 *  A  young  generation  is  now  springing  up  un- 
 
 *  der  your  wing.  From  what  I  already  know 
 "  of  the  parents,  I  feel  no  common  interest  in 
 "  the  children.  What  a  blessing  to  them  to 
 "  have  parents  who  are  anxious  to  "  bring  them 
 
 *  up  in  the  nurture   and    admonition    of  the 
 
 *  Lord!"  The  education  of  youth,  in. the  en- 
 "  larged  sense  of  the  word,  is  the  most  impor- 
 
320  MEMOIRS  OF  THE 
 
 "  tant  of  all  arts.     Much  has  been  written  on 
 "  the  subject ;  and  I  have  no  doubt  that  Mrs 
 
 "  and  you  have  already  studied  it  very 
 
 "  seriously.  Of  female  writers  on  education, 
 "  Mrs  Hannah  More  is  the  safest  guide,  as  she 
 "  takes  the  word  of  God  for  her  own  guide. 
 "  In  the  training  of  children,  rewards  and  pu- 
 "  nishments  must  be  employed  to  a  certain  ex- 
 "  tent,  corresponding  to  the  good  or  faulty  be- 
 "  haviour  of  the  child.  And  nothing  is  more 
 "  natural  than  for  children  to  conceive,  as  they 
 "  are  often  expressly  taught,  that  the  very  same 
 "  system  of  rewards  and  punishments,  propor- 
 "  tioned  to  merit  and  demerit,  prevails,  without 
 "  any  modification,  in  God's  moral  government 
 "  of  his  creatures.  This  is  the  old  covenant  of 
 "  works,  to  which  human  nature,  fallen  as  it  is, 
 "  strongly  and  continually  leans.  This  system 
 "  suited  admirably  well  man's  original  state  of 
 "  innocence  and  holiness.  But  it  would  now 
 "  be  a  most  inapplicable  and  useless  rule  to  ad- 
 "  dress  to  a  weak,  depraved,  condemned  sinner, 
 "  "  If  you  do  well,  if  you  obey  the  holy  law  of 
 "  your  Creator,  you  shall  be  rewarded  ;  but  if 
 "  you  disobey,  you  shall  be  punished ;  be  good, 
 "  and  you  shall  be  happy."  The  propositions 
 "  are  true,  but  they  are  truths  of  no  avail  to  a 
 "  sinner.  What  a  mercy  to  us  that  our  salva- 
 "  tion  is  secured  by  a  "  better  covenant,  esta- 
 
REV.  ALEXANDER  STEWART,  D.  D.        S21 
 
 "  Wished  upon  better  promises !"  Heb.  viii.  6. 
 "  Indeed,  we  need  to  have  perpetual  recourse  to 
 "  that  better  covenant,  and  to  impress  on  our- 
 "  selves,  as  well  as  on  our  children,  that  our  only 
 "  hopes  of  pardon,  acceptance,  reward,  or  future 
 "  happiness,  are  to  be  founded  on  the  merits  of 
 "  another,  not  on  our  own;  on  the  sufficient 
 "  righteousness  of  Christ,  our  Surety  and  Me- 
 "  diator,  not  on  our  own,  which  is  of  no  avail 
 "  to  our  justification,  Phil.  iii.  8,  9.  Rom.  iii. 
 "  21,  24. ;  that  all  we  hope  is  from  the  free  love, 
 "  the  unmerited  favour,  of  God  our  Saviour ; 
 "  yet  that  the  just  apprehension,  the  firm  belief 
 "  of  such  free  love  and  mercy,  cannot  fail  to 
 "  gain  our  love  in  return,  and  engage  us,  by 
 "  the  strongest  and  most  endearing  ties,  "  to 
 "  live  not  to  ourselves,  but  to  him  who  loved 
 "  us,  and  gave  himself  for  us  ;  who  died  for  us, 
 "  and  rose  again,"  2  Cor.  v.  14, 15.  Faith,  thus 
 "  working  by  love,  is  the  principle  of  theChris- 
 "  tian  life.  A  more  efficient  principle,  or  a  more 
 "  delightful  exercise,  can  no  where  be  found  on 
 "  earth  or  in  heaven.  I  ought  to  feel  no  ordi- 
 "  nary  interest  in  the  bringing  up  of  children. 
 "  I  have  no  fewer  than  nine  of  them  under  my 
 <•  care, — a  heavy  burden,  which  I  should  never 
 "  have  known  how  to  sustain,  if  the  Lord  had 
 "  not  blessed  me  with  a  partner  who  is  fully  as 
 "  solicitous,  and  much  more  able  than  mvself, 
 
322  MEMOIRS  OF  THE 
 
 "  to  guide  their  childhood,  and  inform  their 
 "  young  minds.  My  eldest  son  is  at  his  stu- 
 "  dies,  the  rest  are  under  private  tuition  at 
 "  home." 
 
 This  letter  was  soon  followed  by  another  more 
 open  and  confidential ;  and  their  friendship  hav- 
 ing been  consolidated  by  a  visit  of  Mr 
 
 to  Dingwall  not  long  after,  an  unbroken  inti- 
 macy subsisted  until  death  bade  the  connection 
 for  a  while  to  cease. 
 
 The  interview  mentioned  took  place  in  1816, 
 in  the  course  of  which  year,  the  following  let- 
 ters were  written  by  Mr  Stewart : 
 
 "  My  very  dear  Sir,  October  17. 
 
 "  We  all  rejoiced  very  sincerely  on  learning, 
 "  from  your  much  esteemed  letters,  that  you 
 "  had  regained  in  safety  your  beloved  family, 
 "  and  found  them  well,  and  delighted,  I  am 
 "  sure,  at  your  return.  It  gives  Mrs  Stewart 
 "  and  me  heartfelt  pleasure  to  find  ourselves 
 
 "  joined  to  dear  Mrs and  you  in  the 
 
 "  bonds  of  Christian  friendship ;  and  we  hope 
 "  the  union  will  be  not  only  lasting,  but  ever- 
 "  lasting. 
 
 "  The  packet  with  the  printed  pamphlets, 
 "  came  to  hand  at  the  same  time  with  your  fa- 
 "  vour  of  the  7th.     I  have  given  them  both  a 
 
REV.  ALEXANDER  STEWART,  D.   D.        323 
 
 "  hasty   perusal,    comparing    them   with    Dr 
 
 "  C Is  Address.      I  knew  something  of 
 
 «  W— before,  having  seen  his  Letters  on 
 
 "  Methodism.  His  pamphlet  is  much  in  the 
 "  same  spirit,  dogmatical,  overbearing,  and  ill— 
 "  tempered ;  very  ill  calculated  indeed  to  en- 
 "  lighten  or  convince  an  opponent.  Even  where 
 "  his  tenets  are  right,  his  manner  is  more  repul- 
 
 "  sive  than  conciliatory.     B 's  pamphlet 
 
 "  is  quite  a  contrast  to  W 's,  clear,  cor- 
 
 "  rect,  temperate,  and  friendly.     It  is  well  fit- 
 
 "  ted  to  be  useful  not  only  to  Dr  C ,  but 
 
 "  to  all  who  read  it. 
 
 "  It  appears  to  me  that  Dr  C had 
 
 M  found,  or  imagined,  that  an  opinion  prevailed 
 "  among  his  people,  that  till  a  man  has  distinct- 
 "  ly  ascertained,  to  his  own  satisfaction,  that  he 
 "  is  possessed  of  true  faith,  he  is  under  no  obli- 
 "  gation  to  break  off  his  sins,  or  "  maintain  good 
 
 "  works."     Dr  C justly  conceives  such 
 
 "  an  opinion  to  be  erroneous  and  dangerous ;  but 
 "  I  think  he  has  mistaken  the  proper  way  of 
 "  applying  the  remedy.  He  is  aware  that  the 
 "  law  is  to  be  our  schoolmaster,  to  bring  us  to 
 "  Christ.  And  on  this  ground  he  urges  obe- 
 "  dience  to  its  precepts,  in  order  that  a  sinner 
 "  may  thereby  become  disposed  and  prepared 
 "  to  receive  the  free  offer  of  salvation  in  the 
 "  gospel ;  whereas,  the  strictness  and  spirituali- 
 
324  MEMOIRS  OF  THE 
 
 "  ty  of  the  law  are  to  be  held  forth  to  convince 
 "  men  of  their  sin,  to  shew  them  that  they  never 
 "  did  and  never  can  keep  it,  but  are  already 
 "  condemned  by  it,  and  so  to  render  them  will- 
 "  ing  to  accept  of  mercy  as  a  free  unmerited  fa- 
 "  vour.  This  willingness  is  not  produced  by  a 
 "  consciousness  of  struggling  with  sin,  but  from 
 "  a  conviction  that  they  are  dead  in  trespasses 
 "  and  sins,  and  that  they  never  can  make  one 
 "  successful  struggle  against  the  inward  power 
 "  of  sin  in  the-heart,  without  being  created  a- 
 "  new  by  the  Spirit  of  God,  through  faith  in 
 "  his  Son. 
 
 "  I  think  Dr  C is  certainly  mistaken 
 
 "  in  supposing,  that  a  man  may  be  sincerely 
 "  and  actively  inquiring  after  the  way  of  ac- 
 "  ceptance  with  a  holy  and  righteous  God,  and 
 "■  yet  may  be  at  the  same  time  going  on,  con- 
 "  tentedly,  in  the  practice  of  known  sin.     If  he 
 "  is  anxious  for  pardon,    he  must  be   uneasy 
 "  under  the  dread  of  punishment ;  and  if  he  be 
 "  desirous  to  be  freed  from  the  power  of  sin,  he 
 "  must  be  uneasy  under  its  dominion.     Com- 
 "  monly,  the  first  step  of  the  Spirit's  work  in 
 "  the  soul,  is  to  convince  of  sin ;  so  that  the 
 *  sinner  is  "  pricked  in  his  heart ;"  involuntari- 
 "  ly  cries  out,  "  What  shall  I  do  to  be  saved  ?" 
 "  and  then   is   led    to   embrace   Jesus    Christ, 
 "  freely   offered    in    the    gospel.      But    there 
 
REV.  ALEXANDER  STEWART,  D.  D.        325 
 
 u  are  diversities  of  operations,  and  I  believe 
 "  there  are  some,  who,  in  the  first  instance,  have 
 "  their  "  understanding  enlightened"  to  per- 
 "  ceive  the  truth,  to  see  the  freeness  and  suita- 
 "  bleness  of  the  great  salvation  wrought  out  by 
 "  Christ,  the  necessity  of  being  interested  in 
 "  that  salvation,  and  that  this  is  to  be  obtained 
 "  only  and  simply  by  believing  the  truth  ;  while 
 "  there  is  no  porcerful  application  of  these  doc- 
 "  trines  to  their  own  souls,  no  deep  sorrow  or 
 "  humiliation  for  sin,  no  sti*ong  earnest  long- 
 "  ings  of  the  soul  after  the  favour  of  God,  and 
 "  the  privileges  of  his  children.  I  would  not 
 "  deny  such  light  came  from  heaven,  but  it  is 
 "  only  a  kind  of  moon-light,  and  does  not  pos- 
 "  sess  the  animating  warmth  of  the  sun-beam. 
 "  How  desireable  is  it  to  have  the  heart  warmed, 
 "  and  the  affections  kindled,  with  "  the  love 
 "  of  God  shed  abroad  in  the  heart  by  the  Holy 
 "  Ghost !"  This  should  be  our  constant  prayer ; 
 "  and  it  is  by  means  of  contemplating  the  love 
 "  of  God  in  Christ,  that  we  may  expect  to 
 "  have  this  holy  affection  kindled  and  increased 
 "  in  our  own  souls.  I  am  really  writing  with- 
 u  out  order  or  premeditation,  so  I  hope  you 
 "  will  excuse  the  want  of  connection.     I  thank 
 
 "  you  sincerely  for  B 's  pamphlet.     I  would 
 
 "  thank  the  writer,  if  I  knew  him.  Pray, 
 "  what   is    he  ?     I   remember    drawing    up   a 
 
326  MEMOIRS  OF  THE 
 
 "  paper  on  the  subject  of  saving  faith,  corre- 
 
 "  sponding  exactly  to  Mr  B 's  view  of  it, 
 
 "  which  was  inserted  in  the  Edinburgh  Moni- 
 "  tor  for  January  and  August  1807.  Many 
 "  pious  persons  are  not  satisfied  with  this  view, 
 "  and  seem  to  fear  that  the  grace  of  faith  is  de- 
 "  graded  by  reducing  it  to  believing,  just  as 
 "  moralists  fear  that  salvation  is  degraded  by 
 a  connecting  it  with  faith  alone." 
 
 To  the  same. 
 
 "  My  dear  Sir,  3d  December  1816. 
 
 "  I  have  to  thank  you  for  sundry  communi- 
 "  cations.  It  was  very  good  in  you  to  send  me 
 "  the  Glasgow  pamphlet  in  defence  of  Dr  C.  On 
 "  a  subject  which  has  attracted  so  much  notice, 
 "  one  is  curious  to  know  what  is  said  further. 
 "  The  controversy  warms  as  it  proceeds ;  but 
 "  though  the  heat  increases,  it  does  not  follow 
 "  that  the  light  increases  also.  Mr  B.'s  was  a 
 "  luminous  Essay,  and  threw  light  on  the  sub- 
 "  ject  of  discussion.  The  advocate  for  Dr  C. 
 *'  appears  rather  to  throw  a  shade  upon  it.  He 
 "  seems  not  to  understand  the  distinction  be- 
 "  tween  the  workings  of  natural  conscience, 
 "  and  the  operations  of  true  peace.  He  has 
 "  learned  what  the  fundamental  doctrines  of 
 "  the  gospel  are,  but  he  errs  in  applying  them 
 
REV.  ALEXANDER  STEWART,  D.  D.  327 
 
 "  for  the  conviction  and  conversion  of  sinners. 
 "  He  appears  to  me  to  be  a  man  who,  attracted 
 "  by  the  charms  of  Dr  C.'s  eloquence,  has 
 "  learned  from  his  preaching,  for  the  first  time, 
 "  the  leading  points  of  orthodoxy,  but  has  not 
 "  yet  felt  their  power  upon  his  heart.  He  is  a 
 "  convert  to  Dr  C.'s  creed,  but  not  converted 
 "  so  as  to  "  become  as  a  little  child."  He  likes 
 "  to  have  every  thing  rational  and  free  of  mys- 
 "  tery,  and  is  much  displeased  at  finding  fault 
 "  with  his  favourite  preacher.  I  am  sure  he 
 "  maintains  some  things  in  his  pamphlet  which 
 "  Dr  C.  would  not  assert,  for  he  knows  better. 
 "  See  the  first  line  of  page  15.  "  Is  not  faith 
 "  imparted  to  the  mind,  just  as  men  deserve 
 "  it  ?"  One  who  is  capable  of  expressing  him- 
 "  self  in  this  manner,  must  be  a  stranger  to  the 
 "  free  grace  of  God  in  the  gospel.  Surely  Dr 
 "  C.  iQ  has  not  so  learned  Christ."  It  is  vain  to 
 "  attempt  to  try  to  divest  the  gospel  of  mys- 
 "  tery.  Our  Lord  speaks  of  "  the  mysteries  of 
 "  the  kingdom  ;"  and  the  apostle  Paul  "  of  the 
 "  mystery  of  the  gospel,"  "  the  mystery  of  faith," 
 "  f  the  mystery  of  godliness,"  &c.  See  Cruden's 
 "  Concordance,  under  the  word  mystery,  and 
 M  the  judicious  explanation  there  given  of  the 
 "  term.  The  apostle  farther  speaks  of  things 
 "  that  are  "  unsearchable,  unspeakable,"  &c. 
 "  Such  things  can  never  be  made  plain  and  in- 
 
328  MEMOIRS  OF  THE 
 
 "  telligible  to  a  darkened  understanding,  (Ephes. 
 "  iv.  18.);  and  may  be  but  very  imperfectly  per- 
 "  ceived,  even  by  those  whose  understanding  is 
 "  enlightened,  (Ephes.  i.  18.) 
 
 "  With  regard  to  controversy  in  general,  I 
 "  think  it  is  an  unprofitable,  or  rather  a  hurtful 
 "  kind  of  reading.  It  is,  indeed,  right  to  search 
 "  for  the  truth.  But  if  one  has  found  it,  and  is 
 "  at  all  established  in  the  faith,  he  has  no  more 
 u  to  gain  by  disputation.  He  may  dispute,  and 
 "  discuss,  till  he  has  discussed  away  all  the  life 
 "  and  energy  of  the  truth.  For  my  own  part, 
 "  I  have  always  found  the  time  worse  than 
 "  thrown  away,  which  1  have  spent  in  the  chill- 
 "  ing  regions  of  controversy ;  and  I  would  ra- 
 "  ther  hear  "  five  words"  that  would  warm  my 
 "  love  to  the  Saviour,  or  to  my  brother,  than 
 "  "  ten  thousand  words"  from  the  most  subtile 
 "  or  eloquent  disputant." 
 
 About  the  commencement  of  the  same  year, 
 Mr  Stewart  had  been  visited  with  much  person- 
 al and  family  distress,  to  which  he  alludes  in  the 
 following  letter  to  his  friend  in  England : 
 
 "  May  Uth  1816. 
 "  My  very  dear  Brother, 
 *  If  drawing  nearer  to  the  eternal  world,  ne- 
 "  cessarily  inferred  our  withdrawing  to  a  greater 
 
REV.  ALEXANDER  STEWART,  D.  D.      829 
 
 "  distance  from  all  sublunary  objects,  I  should 
 "  need  no  other  apology  for  my  long  silence. 
 "  Certainly  my  approaches  to  the  confines  of 
 "  my  present  state  of  existence  are  strongly 
 "  marked,  in  some  of  the  mental  faculties,  in 
 "  my  bodily  constitution,   and   in   my   looks. 
 "  What  impressive  discipline  did  my  family  and 
 "  myself  experience  six  or  seven  months  ago ! 
 "  and  how  much  of  the  same  kind  may  have 
 44  been  dealt  out  to  you,  my  brother,  in  the 
 44  same  period  ?  We  were  indeed  brought  very 
 44  low  with  severe,   lingering  fever ;    but  the 
 44  Lord  who  smote  us,  spared  and  restored  us, 
 44  so  that  we  are  all  escaped  alive  to  praise  his 
 44  forbearance  and  his  tender  love.     His  mercy 
 44  faileth  never.     But,  alas  !  1  have  not  rendered 
 44  again  according  to  the  benefit  done  unto  me. 
 44  There  never  was  a  heart  more  insensible  than 
 44  mine  to  the  things  of  God,  the  concerns  of  my 
 44  people,  of  my  family,  and  of  my  own  soul. 
 44  Every  duty  is  marred,  and  at  every  step  I 
 44  stumble.     But  while  I  find  that  this  is  un- 
 "  doubtedly  so,  I  see  more  clearly  the  great  need 
 4i  and  suitableness  of  many  promises  which  I 
 44  have  often  held  forth  to  others,  but  had  never 
 44  heartily  embraced  for  myself.      O !    to  have 
 44  my  loins  girt  about,  and  my  lamp  burning. 
 44  But,  alas !    I  perceive  neither  oil  nor  flame. 
 
 x 
 
330  MEMOIRS  OF  THE 
 
 "  One  word  alone  keeps  me  from  sinking, "  Christ 
 "  is  all."     Forgive  all  this  egotism." 
 
 Not  long  after,  to  a  young  lady  of  quality  in 
 the  neighbourhood,  who,  on  hearing  him  preach 
 on  the  subject  of  death,  had  expressed  a  wish  to 
 have  some  book  recommended  that  might  fur- 
 nish her  with  further  instruction  on  the  momen- 
 tous point,  Mr  Stewart  wrote  : 
 
 Dingwall,  llth  Dec.  1817. 
 "  My  dear  Madam, 
 "  The  subject  on  which  you  express  yourself 
 "  with  such  affecting  seriousness  and  feeling,  is 
 "  certainly  one  which  ought  never  to  be  far 
 "  from  the  thoughts  of  a  mortal,  yet  immortal 
 "  being.  And  yet  how  often  do  we  find  it 
 "  otherwise  :  it  is  lamentable  to  hear  young  per- 
 "  sons,  when  reminded  of  death  and  eternity,  re- 
 "  ply,  that  it  is  too  soon  to  think  of  these  things, 
 "  as  if  one  could  "  make  an  agreement  with 
 "  death,  and  a  covenant  with  the  grave."  I 
 "  should  have  thought  that  people  must  have 
 "  taken  pains,  and  exercised  their  ingenuity  in 
 "  contriving  to  keep  the  thought  of  death  at  a 
 k(  distance,  if  I  did  not  know  too  well  in  my 
 "  own  case,  that  heedlessness  and  unconcern  a- 
 "  bout  futurity  are  quite  natural,  and  that  it  re- 
 c<  quires  the  operation  of  a  divine  power  to  cor- 
 
REV.  ALEXANDER  STEWART,  D.  D.         331 
 
 "  rect  them.  A  melancholy  proof  this,  of  blind- 
 n  ness  and  folly  !  We  are  already  on  our  jour- 
 "  ney,  and  we  know  we  cannot  stop ;  we  may 
 "  turn  our  eyes  aside,  but  we  cannot  arrest  the 
 *  progress  of  time;  we  are  sure  death  is  before 
 "  us,  is  approaching,  and  inevitable ;  yet  how 
 "  seldom,  how  transiently,  how  carelessly  do  we 
 "  think  of  the  consequences  ?  1  dare  say,  my 
 "  dear  young  lady,  you  have  observed  this  to  be 
 "  pretty  much  the  case  with  yourself,  at  least, 
 "  during  a  part  of  your  life.  Now,  indeed,  I 
 "  trust  it  may  be  otherwise.  This  "  last  ene- 
 "  my"  has  made  such  unsparing  inroads  into 
 "  your  family,  as  must  have  left  deep,  and  pain- 
 "  ful,  and  lasting  impressions.  I  have  felt  my- 
 "  self  participate  largely  in  your  family  sorrows. 
 "  But  natural  feelings,  I  well  know,  will  not 
 "  suffice  to  awaken  the  conscience,  or  to  change 
 "  the  heart.  It  is  divine  influence  alone,  that 
 "  will  make  a  person,  even  in  the  view  of  death, 
 "  inquire  with  holy  earnestness,  "  What  shall  I 
 "  do  to  be  saved  ?"  And  it  is  the  same  Divine 
 "  Spirit  that  can  make  the  inquirer  cordially  to 
 "  receive  the  only  right  answer,  "  Believe  in  the 
 "  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  and  thou  shalt  be  saved." 
 
 "  Among  the  many  pleasing  and  instructive 
 "  anecdotes  which  are  related  of  our  amiable 
 "  departed  Princess,  I  was  particularly  struck 
 "  with  her  earnest  request  to  a  pious  clergy- 
 
 x2 
 
332  MEMOIRS  OF  THE 
 
 "  man,  to  inform  her  what  would  make  a 
 "  death-bed  easy  ?  This  was,  it  seems,  a  ques- 
 "  tion  which  she  put  to  several  ministers.  Such 
 "  an  anxious  desire,  entertained  and  expressed 
 "  repeatedly,  by  a  person  in  health,  and  in  the 
 "  bloom  of  youth,  shews  a  mind  accustomed 
 "  to  the  contemplation  of  the  important,  eter- 
 "  nal  realities  of  the  invisible  world.  It  were 
 "  easy  to  give  a  short  comprehensive  answer 
 "  to  this  most  interesting  query,  but  it  might 
 "  require  a  long  exposition  to  bring  the  mean- 
 "  ing  fully  forth,  in  a  practical  application. 
 "  To  the  question,  What  can  make  a  death-bed 
 "  easy  ?  one  might  answer,  Trust  in  Christ, 
 "  the  only  Saviour  of  sinners ;  or,  A  believing 
 "  view  of  the  mercy  of  God  in  the  gospel ;  or, 
 *  A  firm  hold  and  dependence  on  the  cove- 
 "  nant  of  grace, — answers  of  nearly  the  same 
 "  import.  They  imply,  however,  a  previous 
 "  knowledge  of  the  truth  revealed  in  scripture, 
 "  conviction  of  guilt,  a  total  renunciation  of 
 "  dependence  on  ourselves,  and  a  full  appro- 
 "  bation  and  acceptance  of  the  salvation  of- 
 "  fered  freely  in  the  gospel.  It  might  be  an- 
 "  swered  farther,  that  to  die  safely,  one  must 
 "  have  an  interest  in  Christ,  Phil.  iii.  9- ;  to 
 "  die  peacefully,  one  must  have  a  persuasion  of 
 "  one's  interest  in  Christ,  2  Tim.  i.  12. ;  to 
 •*  die  triumphantly,  a  man  must  find  himself 
 
REV.  ALEXANDER  STEWART,  D.  D.         333 
 
 7  victorious  over  the  enemies  of  his  soul, 
 "  2  Tim.  iv.  6 — 8. ;  to  die  free  of  fear,  or  con- 
 "  cern,  it  is  enough  that  one  be  ignorant  and 
 "  thoughtless. 
 
 "  How  happy  should  I  be,  in  furnishing  any 
 "  help  to  you  and  your  dear  esteemed  sisters, 
 "  to  guide  your  meditations  on  this  most  im- 
 u  portant  subject.  1  dare  say  you  are  not  un- 
 "  acquainted  with  the  writings  of  Mrs  Han- 
 "  nah  More,  a  lady  to  whose  religious  and 
 u  charitable  labours  her  country  is  under  incal- 
 "  culable  obligation.  In  case  you  may  not 
 "  have  her  works  at  hand,  I  beg  leave  to  send 
 "  a  volume  of  hers,  containing  several  admirable 
 "  essays.  Those  I  would  particularly  recom- 
 "  mend,  are  the  Chapters  on  Prayer,  on  In- 
 "  sensibility  to  Eternal  Things,  and  on  Happy 
 "  Deaths. 
 
 "  I  hope  you  will  have  the  goodness  to  for- 
 "  give  me  for  delaying  to  answer  your  kind 
 "  and  interesting  note,  and  to  take  in  good 
 "  part  the  freedom  I  have  used  in  this  hasty 
 "  attempt  at  an  answer.  While  you  search  the 
 "  scriptures  with  attention  and  prayer,  you  will 
 "  derive  from  them  more  satisfactory,  and  im- 
 "  pressive,  and  efficacious  instruction,  than  I 
 "  or  any  man  living  can  give." 
 
 In  this  (1817)  and  the  subsequent  year,  Mr 
 
331  MEMOIRS  OF  THE 
 
 Stewart  was  prosecuting  his  parochial  labours 
 with  all  the  assiduity  and  zeal  compatible  with 
 the  incumbrance  of  a  bodily  frame  shaken  by 
 disease,  and  greatly  debilitated.  Amid  his  own 
 trials,  he  ever  was  mindful  of  the  afflictions 
 which  others  endured,  as  the  following  letters, 
 the  one  written  to  his  correspondent  in  Shrop- 
 shire, the  other  to  a  bereaved  husband,  will 
 shew. 
 
 To  the  Rev.  Mr  D. 
 
 "  Jan.  3.  1817. 
 "  My  very  dear  Brother, 
 
 "  It  was  indeed  singularly  kind  in  you  to 
 "  excuse  my  long  silence,  and  to  send  me  a 
 u  second  letter,  when  I  had  not  acknowledged 
 "  your  former.  Your  two  favours  of  July  and 
 "  November  last,  are  both  before  me,  both  so 
 "  full  of  heavenly  consolation  and  brotherly 
 "  kindness,  that  I  am  oppressed  with  such  un- 
 "  deserved  favour,  and  experience  something 
 "  of  the  same  feelings  with  him  who  said, 
 "  "  Depart  from  me,  for  I  am  a  sinful  man." 
 "  My  letters,  on  the  contrary,  are  attenuated 
 "  into  mere  bulletins,  short  intimations  to  my 
 "  kind  friends  and  brethren,  that  I  still  need 
 "  their  prayers  in  the  wilderness.  It  excites 
 "  my  daily  wonder  and  gratitude,  that  so  many 
 
REV.  ALEXANDER  STEWART,  D.  D.        335 
 
 "  of  the  Lord's  dear  people  stili  think  of  me, 
 "  and  take  an  interest  in  my  welfare.  It  en- 
 "  courages  me  to  hope,  that  poor  and  needy  as 
 "  I  am,  yet  the  Lord  thinketh  on  me,  Psalm 
 "  xl.  17.  So  you,  my  dear  friend,  have  been 
 "  again  disciplined  in  the  school  of  sickness 
 "  and  suffering.  Well  I  knew  that  He  who  ap- 
 "  pointed  you  the  trial,  would  take  care  that  it 
 "  should  not  be  unprofitable  to  your  soul.  He 
 "  loves  his  children  too  well  to  afflict  them 
 u  willingly,  or  chasten  them  for  his  own  plea- 
 "  sure ;  and  he  is  too  wise  to  throw  away  his 
 "  chastisement,  or  waste  it  unprofitably.  You 
 "  may  not  yet  perceive  what  benefit  has  result- 
 "  ed  from  it :  it  is  very  natural  for  you  to  wish 
 "  earnestly  to  know  it,  in  order  to  be  satisfied 
 "  that  the  trial  has  not  been  wholly  misimprov- 
 "  ed  and  lost.  But  this,  like  many  other  of  the 
 "  Lord's  doings,  you  may  not  know  now,  but 
 "  you  shall  know  it  hereafter.  We  must  not 
 "  say  like  Thomas,  "  except  I  shall  see,  and  feel, 
 "  I  will  not  believe."  I,  your  friend,  should 
 "  like  also  to  see  and  understand  how  much  my 
 
 "  dear  brother  D has  been  refined,  like 
 
 "  gold  tried  in  the  fire.  But  I  must  be  con- 
 "  tented  to  know,  in  general,  what  I  cannot 
 "  doubt,  that  every  branch  in  Christ  that  bear- 
 "  eth  fruit,  when  it  is  purged  and  pruned,  it  is 
 "  that  it  may  bring  forth  more  fruit.     And  so 
 
336  MEMOIRS  OF  THE 
 
 "  it  will.  I  remember  an  old,  pious,  very  re- 
 "  cluse  minister,  whom  I  used  to  meet  with 
 M  once  a-year.  He  scarcely  ever  looked  at  a 
 44  newspaper.  When  others  were  talking  about 
 44  the  French  revolution,  he  shewed  no  concern 
 44  or  curiosity  about  it.  He  said  he  knew  from 
 44  the  Bible  how  it  would  all  end,  better  than 
 44  the  most  sagacious  politician, — that  the  Lord 
 44  reigns, — that  the  earth  will  be  filled  with  his 
 44  glory, — that  the  gospel  will  be  preached  to  all 
 44  nations, — and  that  all  subordinate  events  are 
 44  working  out  these  great  ends.  This  was 
 "  enough  for  him,  and  he  gave  himself  no  con- 
 44  cern  about  the  news  or  events  of  the  day,  only 
 44  saying,  It  shall  be  well  with  the  righteous." 
 
 44  I  do  not  know  that  ever  I  mentioned  to 
 44  you,  that  with  regard  to  our  time  of  joining 
 44  in  prayer,  I  have  been  long  obliged  to  discon- 
 44  tinue  it  on  Fridays,  as  I  was  always  exposed 
 44  to  interruption  that  day,  from  being  obliged 
 44  to  go  out,  or  to  receive  calls  within.  But  I 
 44  endeavour  to  transfer  it  to  Saturday,  when  I 
 44  am  always  at  home  and  alone.  But  often  in 
 44  a  day  does  my  wretched  heart  constrain  me  to 
 44  cry  with  good  Mr  Newton, 
 
 "  I  prize  the  privilege  of  prayer, 
 But,  O  !  what  backwardness  to  pray  !" 
 
 44  And  now,  on  this  point  of  intercessory  prayer, 
 
REV.  ALEXANDER  STEWART,  D.  D.         337 
 
 "  if  I  may  be  allowed  to  mention  what  I  would 
 "  intreat  you  to  ask  for  my  poor  barren  soul, — it 
 "  is  this, — more  spiritual  sensibility,  that  I  may 
 "  be  more  affected  with  the  glories  of  redeeming 
 "  love,  with  the  horrid  evil  of  sin,  and  with  the 
 "  dismal  state  of  perishing  sinners ; — that  I  may 
 "  be  more  watchful,  and  attentive,  and  con- 
 9  seientious,  in  performing  daily  ordinary  duties, 
 "  and  in  guarding  against  ordinary  offences  ; — in 
 "  a  word,  to  be  more  alive  to  God,  more  awake 
 "  to  righteousness.  To  you,  my  beloved  brother, 
 "  I  think  I  can  unbosom  my  gross  feelings,  be- 
 "  cause  I  think  you  can  and  will  believe  me. 
 "  To  most  of  my  Christian  acquaintances  I  dare 
 •  not  confess  my  secret  sins,  for  I  feel  it  to  be 
 "  nothing  else  than  an  exhibition  of  myself,  and 
 "  a  seeking  of  praise  for  my  apparent  humility. 
 "  If  I  speak  a  word,  however  sincerely,  con- 
 "  demning  myself,  I  find  I  am  only  gratifying 
 "  and  feeding  my  pride.  It  is  possible  you  may 
 "  understand  something  of  this." 
 
 To  the  Honourable  Mr 
 
 "  October  23d,  1818. 
 "  My  dear  Sir, 
 "  I  was  early  informed  by  our  esteemed  friend 
 
 «  Mr  H ,    of  the  heavy  affliction   with 
 
 ik  which  it  has  pleased  your  God  to  vibit   you  ; 
 
338  MEMOIRS  OF  THE 
 
 "  an  affliction  with  which  myself  and  my  family 
 "  were  affected  in  no  ordinary  degree. 
 
 "  Shall  we  receive  good  at  the  hand  of  God, 
 "  and  shall  we  not  receive  evil?  You,  my  dear 
 "  Sir,  did  receive  great  good.  The  Lord  gave 
 "  you  his  own  Son,  and  he  gave  you  his  own 
 "  Spirit ;  and  he  gave  you  for  a  partner  one  of 
 "  his  own  dear  children,  created  anew  after  his 
 "  own  likeness.  In  these  gifts  were  included  a 
 "  thousand  lesser  ones.  The  language  of  your 
 "  grateful  heart  then  was,  "  Bless  the  Lord,  O 
 "  my  soul,  and  forget  not  all  his  benefits." 
 
 "  I  have  an  affecting  remembrance  at  this  mo- 
 "  ment,  of  the  delight  with  which  I  witnessed 
 u  your  happiness  for  one  short  hour.  I  figured 
 "  to  myself  what  sweet  fellowship  you  must 
 M  have  enjoyed  in  your  excursion,  in  con- 
 "  templating  together  the  works  of  God,  and 
 "  strewing  your  tracts,  these  little  winged  mes- 
 "  sen.gers,  among  your  poor,  ignorant  fellow- 
 "  creatures.  Such  was  some  of  the  "  good" 
 "  which  you  had  received.  But,  oh  !  how  short 
 "  its  duration  !  How  quickly  did  the  "  evil" 
 "  follow  !  Evil,  in  respect  of  the  pain  it  in- 
 "  flicted,  and  the  good  it  took  away ;  but  not 
 "  evil  in  the  estimation  of  Him  who  seeth  the 
 "  end  from  the  beginning,  and  who  maketh  all 
 "  things  work  together  for  good  to  them  that 
 "  love  him. 
 
REV.  ALEXANDER  STEWART,  D.  D.         339 
 
 44  He  had  destined  you  for  some  eminent  sta- 
 *4  tion  in  his  employment,  and  therefore  he  put 
 44  you  early  to  school,  and  advanced  you  rapidly 
 "  to  one  of  the  highest  forms,  and  taught  you 
 "  one  of  the  hardest  lessons  of  faith  and  sub- 
 "  mission.  Still  his  injunction,  example,  and 
 44  promise,  speak  in  most  encouraging  language. 
 44  "  Take  my  yoke  upon  you,  and  learn  of  me, 
 44  for  I  am  meek  and  lowly  in  heart,  and  you 
 '4  shall  find  rest  to  your  souls." 
 
 44  But  why  dwell  only  on  the  heavy  loss  sus- 
 44  tained,  the  delightful  enjoyment  interrupted? 
 44  Let  us  contemplate  the  bliss  of  which  she  is 
 44  now  in  actual  possession.  When,  but  a  few 
 44  months  ago,  you  were  united  on  earth,  you 
 44  did  not  expect  to  have  the  honour  so  soon  of 
 44  handing  your  beloved  partner  up  to  Heaven, 
 44  nor  did  she  expect  to  arrive  so  soon  at  her 
 44  kingdom  and  her  crown.  But  even  then,  the 
 44  Lord's  counsel  was,  "  I  know  the  thoughts  that 
 44  I  think  towards  you,  thoughts  of  peace,  and 
 44  not  of  evil,  to  give  you  an  expected  end." 
 44  She  is  taken  away  from  the  evil  to  come,  and 
 44  if  you  must  yet  meet  evil  in  the  wilderness, 
 44  you  will  be  carried  safely  through.  She  who 
 44  would  have  helped  you  is  removed,  yet "  Fear 
 44  not,  saith  the  Lord,  I  am  with  you ;  lo,  I  am 
 K   with  you  alway." 
 
 "  You  had  a  near  view  of  death,  hut  bis  sling 
 
340  MEMOIRS  OF  THE 
 
 "  was  not  to  be  seen.  Nor  shall  the  grave  al- 
 "  ways  boast  of  his  victory.  You  know  that 
 "  the  day  is  fast  approaching,  when  this  cor- 
 "  ruptible  must  put  on  incorruption,  and  this 
 "  mortal  must  nut  on  immortalitv,  and  death 
 "  shall  be  swallowed  up  in  victory. 
 
 **  There  was  a  time  when  I  stood  in  the  same 
 "  predicament  as  you  do  now.  While  life  re- 
 "  mained,  I  would  have  given  the  world  to  have 
 "  my  "  gourd  spared ;"  but  when  she  was  gone, 
 *  and  I  thought  of  her  being  made  perfect  in 
 "  glory,  I  durst  not  so  much  as  wish  her  back 
 "  again. 
 
 "  One  special  comfort  (I  trust  you  have 
 "  many)  yet  remains  to  you,  a  sweet  living 
 "  memorial,  which  (to  use  Lord  Strafford's 
 "  words)  a  saint  in  heaven  has  left  you. 
 u  What  would  our  disconsolate  Leopold,  what 
 "  would  our  whole  nation,  not  give  for  the 
 "  like  memorial?  A  child  of  many  prayers, 
 "  like  yours,  is  the  peculiar  care  of  the  "  good 
 "  Shepherd ;"  and  one  has  much  encourage- 
 "  ment  in  devoting  him  early,  and  daily,  to 
 "  the  God  of  Abraham,  and  of  Isaac,  and  of 
 "  Jacob.  I  earnestly  pray,  that  the  unfeigned 
 "  faith  that  dwelt  in  his  grandmother  (Lois), 
 11  and  in  his  mother  (Eunice),  may  be  in  him 
 "  also. 
 
 "  Forgive.,  my  dear  Sir,  this  incoherent  at- 
 
REV.  ALEXANDER  STEWART,    D.  D.         341 
 
 "  tempt  to  impart  something  of  my  sentiments 
 "  on  an  occasion  so  affecting  to  myself,  as  well 
 44  as  to  friends  whom  I  sincerely  love.  He 
 "who  came  to  comfort  those  that  mourn,  will 
 44  surely  not  leave  you  comfortless,  but  will 
 "  send  you  more  abundantly  of  his  own  Spirit, 
 "  the  real  Comforter. 
 
 "  1  feel  a  warm  attachment  to  your  pious 
 
 44  brother,  Mr .     I  know  him  by  charac- 
 
 "  ter,  and  by  his  published  Discourses.  These 
 "  were  sent  me  by  the  kind  attention  of  Mr 
 
 44  H ,  and  have  furnished  me  a  very  sa- 
 
 "  voury  repast.  Long  may  his  gracious  Mas- 
 44  ter  be  pleased  to  employ  and  countenance  his 
 44  faithful  labours !" 
 
 In  1819,  Mr  Stewart  met  with  a  trying  be- 
 reavement in  the  death  of  his  unmarried  sister, 
 who  had  been  exceedingly  helpful  to  him  at 
 Moulin,  and  with  whom,  on  her  removal  to 
 Glasgow,  he  had  maintained  a  very  close  cor- 
 respondence by  letters.  She  was  a  woman  of 
 extraordinary  resolution,  piety,  and  zeal,  and 
 how  much  he  felt  her  loss,  appeared  from  what 
 he  wrote  to  Mr  D on  the  occasion. 
 
 October  22d,  1819- 
 "  My  very  dear  Brother, 
 "  Instead  of  replying   particularly  to    your 
 
342  MEMOIRS  OF  THE 
 
 "  last  welcome  and  refreshing  letter,  I  proceed 
 "  to  anounce  an  event  which  I  did  not  look  for 
 "  so  soon,  a  bereavement  for  which  I  was  but 
 "  ill  prepared.  My  dear  sister,  Margaret,  was 
 "  called  away  from  this  life  to  a  better,  on  the 
 "  11th  instant,  in  her  sister's  house  in  Stirling. 
 "  She  had  come  thither  on  a  visit  about  three 
 "  weeks  before.  Her  health  had  been  declin- 
 l\  ing  during  the  summer.  None  of  us,  how- 
 a  ever,  apprehended  the  end  of  her  life  so  near. 
 "  Soon  after  her  coming  to  her  sister's,  she  was 
 "  confined  to  bed  ;  she  believed  herself  dying ; 
 "  frequently  expressed  her  entire  dependence 
 "  on  the  righteousness  and  mediation  of  her 
 "  divine  Saviour,  but  soon  fell  into  a  lethargic 
 "  state.  The  physician  declared  her  case  to  be 
 "  a  rapid  decay  of  nature,  and  that  medicine 
 "  could  be  of  no  service  to  her.  In  this  state 
 "  she  continued,  slumbering  and  insensible, 
 "  for  four  or  five  days,  and  then  expired,  al- 
 "  most  imperceptibly.  "  Blessed  are  the  dead 
 "  that  die  in  the  Lord."  How  different  was 
 "  her  life  from  its  close!  She  long  enjoyed 
 "  sound  health,  and  was  full  of  activity  and 
 "  energy  in  her  Lord's  service.  In  the  last 
 "  stage,  her  mind,  as  well  as  body,  became  tor- 
 "  pid  and  inactive.  But  the  Lord  knew  her 
 "  frame,  and  remembered  she  was  but  dust. 
 "  I  now  recollect,  with  satisfaction,  the  happy 
 
REV.  ALEXANDER  STEWART,  D.  D.  343 
 
 "  interview  I  had  with  her,  during  a  few  days 
 "  in  June  last.  I  certainly  did  not  reckon  on 
 "  its  being  our  last  interview.  But  it  is  not 
 "  the  last !  No !  we  shall  meet  again,  ere  long, 
 "  in  our  Father's  house ;  and  you,  my  brother, 
 "  shall  meet  with  us,  and  then  we  shall  see 
 "  each  other  face  to  face ;  and  we  shall,  with 
 "  open  face,  behold  the  glory  of  Him  that  sit- 
 "  teth  on  the  throne,  and  of  the  Lamb  that  was 
 "  slain,  but  liveth  and  reigneth  for  evermore ! 
 "  O  p?~eclarum  diem ! 
 
 "  While  we  are  yet  in  the  wilderness,  the 
 "  scene  often  shifts.  After  much  deliberation, 
 "  and  asking  counsel  from  on  high,  I  have 
 "  come  to  the  determination,  if  the  Lord  will, 
 "  of  passing  a  few  months  in  Edinburgh,  for  the 
 u  benefit  of  my  health.  My  medical  friends 
 "  advise  it, — my  clerical  brethren  urge  it,  and 
 "  kindly  undertake  to  supply  my  pulpit  in  my 
 "  absence.  The  church  is  under  repair,  which 
 "  makes  it  necessary  for  me  now  to  preach  in 
 "  the  field.  I  could  not  do  this  in  winter, 
 "  though  I  were  at  home." 
 
 In  this  letter,  Mr  Stewart  communicates  the 
 resolution  which  he  had  taken  to  repair  to  Edin- 
 burgh, with  his  family,  for  the  winter.  In  the 
 spring  of  this  year,  the  symptoms  of  his  disorder 
 had  become  so  alarming,  that  in  order  to  procure 
 
344  MEMOIRS  OF  THE 
 
 consultation  of  physicians  on  his  case,  he  was 
 induced  to  venture  on  a  journey  to  Edinburgh, 
 which,  to  one  who  had  been  unable,  for  a  consi- 
 derable space,  to  move  beyond  the  precincts  of 
 his  own  parish,  was  an  arduous  undertaking. 
 His  Lord,  however,  was  with  him  by  the  way ; 
 and,  after  visiting  friends  at  Perth,  Stirling, 
 Glasgow,  and  Edinburgh,  he  returned  home, 
 rather  improved  in  health.  The  medical  opi- 
 nion, however,  was  not  flattering ;  nor  had  any 
 permanent  relief  been  obtained  by  means  of  Dr 
 Gregory,  and  his  zealous  advisers  among  the  fa- 
 culty, some  of  whom  added  Christian  character 
 to  high  professional  eminence,  and  were  assidu- 
 ous in  their  attentions  to  him  for  his  Master's 
 sake ;  while  the  love  expressed  to  him  by  many 
 private  individuals  and  families,  made  a  deep 
 impression  on  his  grateful  heart.  Indeed,  in  the 
 beautiful  letters  which  he  wrote  Mrs  Stewart 
 during  his  absence,  he  seems  quite  overpowered 
 with  thankfulness  to  God  and  his  people,  for 
 the  providential  kindnesses  heaped  upon  him. 
 
 His  return  home  was  not  attended  with  any 
 encouraging  circumstances;  for  whether  he  dwelt 
 on  the  effects  of  his  ministry  in  Dingwall,  or 
 reflected  on  his  own  declining  health,  there  was 
 much  ground  of  discouragement.  As  to  his  la- 
 bours at  Dingwall,  though  not  attended  with 
 those  demonstrations  of  divine  power  which  ren- 
 
REV.  ALEXANDER  STEWART,    D.  D.         345 
 
 dered  his  ministration  of  the  gospel  at  Moulin 
 so  signally  effectual,  there  is  reason  to  believe 
 they  were  not  without  much  benefit  to  num- 
 bers. Indeed,  the  faithful  exhibition  of  divine 
 truth,  enforced  by  the  consistent  tenor  of  a  holy 
 life,  could  hardly  fail  to  operate  beneficially  on 
 general  character,  though  the  result  might  be 
 short  of  conversion.  And  that  a  "visible  refor- 
 mation of  open  immoralities  took  place  during 
 his  ministry,  was  confessed  even  by  the  enemies 
 of  religion.  Besides  the  good  that  directly 
 sprung  from  his  labours  in  the  pulpit,  he  exert- 
 ed himself  with  much  zeal  and  perseverance  to 
 promote  the  religious  education  of  the  young, — 
 having  with  much  pains,  and  after  many  diffi- 
 culties, succeeded  in  establishing,  on  a  perma- 
 nent foundation,  a  school  in  which  children 
 should  be  taught  in  the  vernacular  language. 
 
 In  addition  to  the  efforts  which  he  made  in 
 his  own  immediate  vicinity,  he  took  an  active 
 part  in  the  formation  of  a  society  in  Inverness, 
 for  promoting  the  education  of  the  poorer  class 
 of  Highlanders  on  a  more  extensive  scale; — 
 while  of  every  Christian  institution,  which  had 
 for  its  object  the  circulation  of  the  scriptures, 
 or  the  extension  of  missionary  labour  among 
 the  heathen,  he  was  the  constant  advocate,  and 
 zealous  agent;  and  the  sums  transmitted  from 
 his  little  district,  shewed  with  what  influence 
 
346  MEMOIRS  OF  THE 
 
 others  were  carried  along  with  him  in  the  cause 
 of  Christ. 
 
 But  though  many  things  testified  his  coming 
 to  Dingwall  had  not  been  in  vain,  with  the  ge- 
 neral aspect  of  that  field  of  labour  he  was  little 
 satisfied.  Some  time  before  his  going  to  Edin- 
 burgh, he  writes  to  Mrs  Calder : — "  I  have  had 
 "  no  small  share  of  trial,  and  no  little  grief,  from 
 "  numbers  of  giddy  young  persons  being  en- 
 M  ticed  by  that  public  pest  the  play-house,  not- 
 M  withstanding  the  magistrates  and  others  did 
 "  what  they  could  to  discountenance  them." — 
 Such  griefs  were  the  more  sensibly  felt,  because 
 he  could  no  more  go  forth  to  seek  after  the 
 wandering,  or  to  lead  the  obedient  in  the  paths 
 of  active  duty. 
 
 While  Mr  Stewart  lamented  the  little  success 
 of  his  ministry  in  Dingwall,  he  saw  his  sphere 
 of  action  becoming  every  day  more  contracted, 
 through  the  pressure  of  his  internal  malady, — 
 the  nature  of  which  was  such,  that  for  the  pre- 
 servation of  his  life,  prompt  medical  assistance 
 had  become  at  times  necessary,  and  such  assist- 
 ance could  not  be  obtained  in  so  remote  a  place. 
 This  made  his  family  and  friends  exceedingly 
 desirous  to  have  him  try  the  effects  of  a  winter's 
 residence  in  Edinburgh,  where  the  best  medical 
 skill  was  always  accessible ;  and  the  wish  of  his 
 friends  was  strengthened  by  the  advice  of  his 
 
REV.  ALEXANDER  STEWART,   D.  D.         347 
 
 physicians,  who  uniformly  recommended  the  ex- 
 pedient proposed. 
 
 Mr  Stewart  at  length  listened  to  the  propo- 
 sal ;  and  his  church  being  under  repair,  which 
 would  have  prevented  his  preaching  during  the 
 winter  months  though  he  had  been  at  home, 
 and  various  unexpected  providences  concurring 
 to  promote  the  design,  and  provide  for  its  exi- 
 gencies, he  left  Dingwall,  with  his  entire  family, 
 in  October  1819, — little  supposing  he  should  see 
 it  no  more.  His  voyage  to  Leith  was  attended 
 with  no  difficulties;  and  his  friends  having  pre- 
 pared for  his  family  suitable  accommodations,  he 
 pitched  his  wilderness  tent,  for  a  season,  on  new 
 and  interesting  ground. 
 
 In  many  respects,  he  found  the  change  benefi- 
 cial ;  for,  besides  the  facilities  of  education  which 
 his  numerous  family  enjoyed  in  every  department 
 of  requisite  knowledge,  under  his  own  superin- 
 tendence, he  himself  soon  perceived  a  consider- 
 able improvement  in  health, — to  which  both  his 
 relief  from  ministerial  labours,  and  his  ready  ac- 
 cess to  medical  aid,  greatly  contributed. 
 
 Dr  Stewart  *,  however,  was  not  like  those 
 who,  for  some  family  reasons,  or  the  love  of  so- 
 
 *  The  degree  of  Doctor  in  Divinity  had  been,  with  great 
 propriety,  conferred  on  Mr  Stewart  by  Marischal  College, 
 Aberdeen. 
 
 Y  2 
 
348  MEMOIRS  OF  THE 
 
 ciety,  betake  themselves  to  town,  and  for  a  sea- 
 son greatly  divest  themselves  of  the  ministerial 
 character.  Wherever  he  went,  the  servant  of 
 Christ  was  manifested ;  and  with  what  diversity 
 of  engagements  he  was  exercised  in  Edin- 
 burgh, will  appear  from  the  following  letter  to 
 MrD : 
 
 January  20th,  1820. 
 
 "  I  have  too  much  experience  of  your  can- 
 "  dour  to  suppose,  that  you  can  be  provoked  to 
 "  entertain  the  painful  suspicion  of  my  having 
 "  become  cold  in  my  attachment  to  my  dear 
 
 "  brother  D ,  notwithstanding  the  rare  re- 
 
 "  currence  of  my  poor  communications.  If  my 
 "  avocations  in  the  country  were  many,  here 
 "  they  are  multiplied  seven-fold.  There  is  a 
 "  numerous  Christian  society.  Christian  friends 
 M  are  extremely  kind  to  myself  and  my  family. 
 "  This  creates  many  claims  on  my  gratitude 
 *  and  acknowledgments.  My  general  health  is 
 "  considerably  improved  since  I  came  to  Edin- 
 "  burgh,  so  that  I  am  able  to  move  about ;  and 
 "  as  I  have  no  fixed  and  stated  duty  on  hand, 
 "  I  am  considered  as  a  kind  of  idler,  who  may 
 "  answer  any  call  that  the  public  service  of 
 "  societies,  or  the  wishes  of  individual  friends, 
 11  may  happen  to  suggest.  This  almost  con- 
 "  stant  intercourse,  and  extending  acquaintance, 
 
REV.  ALEXANDER  STEWART,  D.  D.         34»9 
 
 u  with  pious  characters,  is  very  pleasing  for  the 
 "  time ;  but  I  feel  already,  what  I  apprehended 
 "  from  the  first,  that  it  rather  distracts  the  mind, 
 "  draws  it  too  much  from  home,  and  gives  it  a 
 *  turn  for  dissipation.  I  feel  uneasy  under  the 
 f  continuance  of  this  mode  of  life ;  and  I  found 
 "  it  quite  gratifying,  yesterday,  when  the  very 
 "  stormy  weather  kept  myself  within,  and  all 
 "  the  world  out,  for  almost  the  whole  of  the 
 "  day.  But,  alas!  my  hard,  insensible  heart, 
 "  profits  by  nothing.  I  have  the  privilege  of 
 "  hearing  some  excellent  preachers,  and  1  feel 
 "  impressed  by  their  prayers  and  their  sermons ; 
 "  but  how  far  I  am  really  improved  and  edified, 
 "  is  a  question  that  it  humbles  me  much  to 
 
 Thus  actively  was  Mr  Stewart  employed,  to 
 the  full  extent  of  his  power,  and  perhaps  beyond 
 what  a  prudential  regard  to  health  would  have 
 dictated.  But  it  was  not  easy  to  refuse  himself 
 to  those  who  repaired  to  his  hospitable  house,  to 
 partake  of  the  spiritual  refreshment  which  his 
 conversation,  expositions  of  the  word,  and  devo- 
 tional exercises,  freely  provided.  At  that  time 
 he  was  without  the  charge  of  any  particular 
 congregation  in  the  city,  otherwise  ^public  work 
 must  necessarily  have  abridged  the  extent  and 
 frequency  of  those  private  exercises ;  and  per- 
 
350  MEMOIRS  OF  THE 
 
 haps  they  may  sometimes  be  over-valued,  and 
 carried  to  an  unprofitable  excess.  But  though 
 a  gossiping  spirit  may  creep  into  religious  so- 
 ciety, and  persons  without  serious  impressions, 
 or  solid  piety,  may  be  kept  a-going  in  the  way 
 of  profession  by  those  means,  and  though  un- 
 seasonable demands  may  be  made  on  a  minis- 
 ter's time  and  strength  for  out-of-season  services ; 
 it  is  nevertheless  true,  that  to  despise  them  al- 
 together argues  little  delight  in  Christian  fel- 
 lowship, and  little  love  for  tending  the  flock  of 
 Christ ;  for  if  we  find  any  athirst  for  salvation, 
 we  ought  not  to  defer  rolling  away  the  stone 
 from  the  well's  mouth,  though  the  hour  for  the 
 public  watering  of  them  be  not  yet  come.  And 
 we  cannot  but  regard  it  as  a  great  improvement 
 in  the  modes  of  social  intercourse  among  the 
 religious,  that  there  is  now  a  greater  freedom  of 
 communication,  and  openness  of  fellowship,  than 
 had  been  practised  in  some  years,  or  perhaps 
 ages,  that  are  past. 
 
 Dr  Stewart  had  been  only  a  few  months  in 
 Edinburgh,  when  the  minister  of  the  first  charge 
 in  the  parish  in  which  he  resided,  was  taken 
 away  by  one  of  those  sudden  deaths  which  are 
 so  much  calculated  to  alarm  the  thoughtless 
 world.  Previous  to  this  event,  Dr  Stewart's 
 friends  had  been  anxiously  revolving  expedients 
 for  retaining  him  in  town,  from  a  conviction 
 
REV.  ALEXANDER  STEWART,  D.  D.         351 
 
 that  he  could  be  there  more  useful  than  in  Ding- 
 wall ;  and  that,  besides,  the  state  of  his  health 
 absolutely  required  him,  if  it  could  be  accom- 
 plished, to  devolve  his  country  parish  on  the 
 charge  of  an  ordained  assistant,  and  reside  per- 
 manently in  Edinburgh.  Various  plans  were 
 in  agitation,  when  Providence,  as  in  a  time  of 
 similar  suspense  at  Moulin,  interposed  to  solve 
 perplexities,  and  make  the  way  plain.  And 
 immediately  on  the  above-mentioned  decease, 
 the  eyes  of  his  Christian  friends  were  turned  to 
 the  vacant  charge,  as  most  suitable  for  Dr  Stew- 
 art, and  among  others,  the  gentleman  referred 
 to  (at  page  314.)  employed  a  most  ardent  and  un- 
 remitted zeal  to  bring  it  about.  At  first,  how- 
 ever, there  was  little  hope  of  success,  for  the 
 candidates  were  numerous,  and  some  of  them 
 had  as  much  interest  at  command,  as  is  usually 
 required  to  procure  such  an  appointment  from 
 the  servants  of  the  crown,  with  whom  the  no- 
 mination lay.  But  a  distinguished  nobleman, 
 to  whose  lady  Mrs  Stewart  was  nearly  related, 
 having  waited  on  the  king  in  person,  readily 
 obtained  for  Dr  Stewart  the  royal  patronage,  to 
 the  surprise  and  disappointment  of  not  a  few  ; 
 but  to  himself  and  family,  as  well  as  to  many 
 others,  it  appeared  in  the  light  of  a  most  ad- 
 mirable and  propitious  act  of  His  providence, 
 
MEMOIRS  OF  THE 
 
 whose  counsels  are  immutable,  and  to  them  that 
 fear  him,  immutably  gracious  ! 
 
 "  Could  I,  with  a  wish,''  he  wrote  to  Mr 
 
 D ,  "  transport  you  to  the  house  where 
 
 "  I  now  dwell,  and  to  the  little  study  where  I 
 "  now  sit,  and  place  you  in  an  elbow-chair  beside 
 "  me,  and  grasp  your  brotherly  hand,  I  would 
 "  tell  "  strange  things,"  and  would  a  "  tale  un- 
 "  fold,"  at  which  I  cannot  cease  to  wonder,  and 
 "  which  I  can  scarcely  yet  believe  to  be  true ! 
 "  By  a  train  of  most  unexpected  occurrences, 
 "  marking  the  hand  of  God,  and  his  determin- 
 "  ed  purpose,  overruling  events,  and  bearing 
 "  down  opposition,  here  am  I  settled  minister 
 "  of  what  is  called  the  First  Charge  of  Canon- 
 "  gate  Parish,  (where  seldom  has  wild  man  been 
 "  placed  before),  and  in  the  face  of  much  op- 
 "  position  and  influence,  which  was  mustered 
 "  against  such  an  ominous  and  alarming  event. 
 "  It  is  impossible  for  me  now  to  detail  the  cir- 
 "  cumstances  which  distinguish  this  eventful 
 "  chapter  of  my  story ;  but  I  do  not  think  it  is 
 "  at  all  impossible,  that  I  should  have  the  hap- 
 "  piness,  one  day,  of  relating  these,  and  many 
 "  other  things,  viva  voce,  to  my  dear  brother 
 
 «  D ,  in  this  very  place.     It  is  quite  a 
 
 "  common  thing  for  one  and  another  of  our 
 "  beloved  English  brethren,  to  make  an  ex- 
 "  cursion  to  the  north,  as  far  as  this  city,  for 
 
REV.  ALEXANDER  STEWART,  D.  D.  358 
 
 H  the  sake  of  health,  and  of  Christian  fellow- 
 "  ship ;  and  I  joyfully  indulge  the  hope,  that, 
 44  on  some  fine  summer  day,  you  may  take 
 "  a  trip  to  visit  your  friends  and  brethren 
 44  here,  who  will  rejoice  to  see  your  face.  We 
 44  have  some  really  sanctified  pulpits  too,  and 
 44  serious  congregations,  in  your  connection, 
 44  where  you  will  be  gladly  received  and  wel- 
 44  corned. 
 
 44  Here  I  enjoy  many  things  which  are  high- 
 44  ly  gratifying,  and,  I  trust,  profitable.  Dur- 
 '*  ing  last  winter  and  spring,  which  I  found  it 
 44  necessary  to  spend  in  Edinburgh,  to  be  near 
 44  my  medical  friends,  my  health  improved  very 
 44  considerably,  and  now  continues  uniformly 
 44  good,  though  I  am  far  from  being  robust.  I 
 44  am  conjoined  with  an  excellent  colleague,  Dr 
 44  Buchanan,  with  whom  I  have  long  been  in- 
 44  timately  acquainted.  I  have  the  benefit  of 
 44  Christian  society  of  the  most  agreeable  and 
 44  congenial  kind,  and  always  extending.  And 
 44  I  have  an  opportunity  of  being  useful,  so  far 
 44  as  my  few  and  poorly  improved  talents  go, 
 44  to  many  of  my  fellow-creatures,  particularly 
 44  Highlanders.  I  figure  to  myself,  that  one 
 44  principal  reason  of  my  being  sent  to  Ross- 
 44  shire,  was  to  put  me  to  school,  that  I  might 
 44  learn  to  do  something  afterwards  in  Edin- 
 "  burgh.     So  you  see,  my  dear  friend,  that  the 
 
354  MEMOIRS  OF  THE 
 
 "  Lord  hath  done  great  things  for  me.  My 
 "  living  is  considerably  inferior  to  that  of  Ding- 
 "  wall,  but  "  the  Lord  will  provide."  " 
 
 Dr  Stewart  was  admitted  to  his  new  charge 
 in  the  July  following,  and  immediately  entered 
 upon  the  duties  of  his  office,  with  more  acti- 
 vity than  from  his  previously  impaired  consti- 
 tution could  have  been  expected.  Besides  oc- 
 cupying the  pulpit  in  his  turn,  with  a  conscien- 
 tious regularity,  which  he  was  unwilling  to  in- 
 terrupt by  the  employment  of  occasional  helps ; 
 he  entered  on  a  course  of  parochial  visitation, 
 which,  among  the  crowded  population  of  an  ex- 
 tensive town  parish,  was  a  work  of  great  la- 
 bour and  difficulty.  In  a  book  prepared  for  the 
 purpose,  he  not  only  registered  name  and  family 
 circumstances,  but  also  what  he  observed  to  be 
 the  character  and  attainments  of  the  individuals 
 with  whom  he  conversed.  In  his  progress,  he 
 found  some  of  his  parishioners  so  little  interest- 
 ed in  the  administration  of  religious  ordinances, 
 as  not  to  have  learned  a  new  minister  had  been 
 appointed.  Besides  his  own  personal  exertions, 
 he  was  solicitous  to  employ  the  agency  of  Sun- 
 day-school teachers,  to  the  greatest  possible  ex- 
 tent. 
 
 In  his  highly  respectable  colleague,  as  was  to 
 be  anticipated,  when  two  men    "  not  seeking 
 
REV.  ALEXANDER  STEWART,    D.  D.         355 
 
 their  own,  but  the  things  of  Jesus  Christ,"  hap- 
 pen to  be  conjoined,  he  enjoyed  the  kindness 
 of  a  friend,  and  the  co-operation  of  a  fellow-la- 
 bourer, intent  to  promote  the  work  of  their  com- 
 mon Lord.  And  upon  a  review  of  the  way  by 
 which  he  had  been  led  to  Edinburgh,  and  the  en- 
 larged capacity  to  do  good,  of  which  he  felt  him- 
 self possessed, — in  the  midst  of  many  public  and 
 many  private  blessings, — both  himself  was  pleas- 
 ed at  the  change,  and  others,  who  contemplated 
 the  scene,  began  to  hope  for  him  a  protracted 
 space  of  usefulness  and  comfort.  And  as  the  Gae- 
 lic scriptures  were  still  in  a  state  of  revision  by 
 Dr  Stuart  of  Luss,  and  were  passing  through  his 
 hands  for  ultimate  review,  in  their  way  to  the 
 press,  it  seemed  peculiarly  needful  for  the  church 
 to  have  his  valuable  talents  long  preserved  *. 
 
 *  Both  these  eminent  scholars  and  yoke-fellows  in  bibli- 
 cal studies,  fell  nearly  together,  not  many  days  having  in- 
 tervened between  the  death  of  Dr  Stuart  and  his  colleague 
 in  translation.  It  may  be  remarked,  that  Dr  Stewart,  speak- 
 ing of  the  present  version,  stated  to  Dr  Buchanan  and  to  Dr 
 Campbell  his  deliberate  judgment,  that  the  Highlanders  al- 
 ready possessed  one  of  the  best  translations,  and  that,  though 
 capable  of  minute  improvements,  it  was  essentially  faithful, 
 and  amply  sufficient  for  every  Christian  purpose.  Indeed, 
 the  deliberate  judgment  of  these  two  uurivalled  Gaelic 
 scholars,  with  respect  to  the  general  excellence  of  the  pre- 
 sent translation,  will  sufficiently  appear,  on  comparing  their 
 
356  MEMOIRS  OF  THE 
 
 But  those  expectations  it  was  not  the  will  of  his 
 heavenly  Father  to  realize.  For,  early  in  the 
 winter  of  1820,  the  paroxysms  of  his  unremoved 
 malady  returned  with  a  violence  that  shook  his 
 enfeebled  frame  to  an  alarming  degree.  How- 
 ever, he  so  far  recovered  strength,  as  to  be  able 
 to  occupy  his  place  in  the  pulpit  during  the 
 first  four  months  of  1821.  His  almost  daily 
 sufferings  were,  nevertheless,  so  intense,  that  it 
 was  matter  of  surprise  to  his  friends  how  he 
 could  continue  his  public  appearances.  But  he 
 was  borne  onward  by  a  constraining  desire  to 
 preach  that  salvation,  the  grace  of  which  he  felt 
 to  be  so  precious,  and  its  Author  so  worthy  to  be 
 loved.  Nor  did  his  Lord,  on  whom  he  waited 
 in  the  infirmity  of  nature,  refuse  to  impart  pro- 
 
 revised  version  with  the  former ;  for,  after  the  most  critical 
 examination  they  could  bestow,  no  alteration  seems  to  have 
 been  made  of  any  real  importance,  or  affecting  the  sense  in 
 any  considerable  degree.  This  is  the  opinion  of  very  com- 
 petent judges :  and  the  church  not  affording,  in  every  age, 
 qualifications  for  the  work  equal  to  theirs,  the  Society  for 
 Promoting  Christian  Knowledge  may  perhaps  see  it  expe- 
 dient to  discontinue  the  projected  revision  of  the  whole,  and 
 may  prefer  publishing,  in  quarto,  the  Gaelic  Scriptures,  in- 
 cluding what  has  been  done  by  these  eminent  men,  with  no 
 other  emendations  than  adjusting  the  orthography  to  a  uni- 
 formity with  the  mode  which  they  had  adopted  in  the  part 
 of  the  work  that  is  already  executed. 
 
REV.  ALEXANDER  STEWART,  D.  D.        357 
 
 portionally  greater  supplies  of  his  everlasting 
 strength.  And  with  what  earnestness,  solemnity, 
 and  affection,  he  addressed  his  auditors,  beseech- 
 ing, intreating,  praying  them  in  Christ's  stead 
 to  be  reconciled  to  God ;  they  themseves  were 
 witnesses,  and  ought  not  soon  to  forget.  While, 
 in  bringing  out  from  the  stores  of  his  own  va- 
 rious experience,  the  conflicts  and  the  consolations 
 of  the  life  of  faith,  those  hearers  who  had  pre- 
 viously known  the  grace  of  the  Saviour,  enjoyed 
 a  rich  repast,  and  confessed  there  was  a  savour 
 of  divine  things  diffused  over  his  discourses,  that 
 was  most  refreshing  to  their  souls,  and  mightily 
 animated  them  in  their  way  to  heaven. 
 
 Dr  Stewart  was  upheld  by  his  Lord  in  the 
 exercise  of  his  public  ministry,  until  the  month 
 of  May  1821,  on  the  first  Sabbath  of  which  he 
 assisted  in  dispensing  the  Lord's  supper  to  the 
 congregation,  and  preached  the  evening  sermon 
 at  the  close.  On  that  day  his  appearance  was 
 calculated  to  excite  a  tender,  though  painful  in- 
 terest, there  being  an  air  of  languor  and  debility 
 deeply  impressed  on  his  every  feature  and  move- 
 ment. In  the  evening  sermon,  however,  at  which 
 the  writer  of  this  account  was  present,  there  was 
 a  degree  of  freedom,  animation,  and  force  of 
 mind  displayed,  which  seemed  to  gladden  the 
 countenances  of  his  auditory  with  the  hope  of 
 many  such  days ;  while  there  was,  in  the  whole 
 
358  MEMOIRS  OF  THE 
 
 exercise  of  the  evening,  a  serious  and  yet  lively- 
 strain,  with  which,  it  might  be  thought,  few 
 could  remain  unaffected  or  unimpressed  *. 
 
 But  this  was  his  last  exertion  of  a  public  kind. 
 Next  Sabbath  he  accepted  assistance ;  and  his 
 disease  being  evidently  ripening  to  an  extremity, 
 he  spake  of  his  decease  as  at  no  great  probable 
 distance.     Indeed,  the  last  letter  he  addressed  to 
 
 Mr  D ,  shews  how  near  to  eternity  he 
 
 thought  himself  in  prospect. 
 
 "  March  23d,  1821. 
 "  My  very  dear  Friend, 
 "  With  me  disease  is  making  progress.     My 
 "  sand  is  running  apace,  and  the  time  of  my 
 
 *  This  sermon,  which  was  preached  from  Mai.  iv.  2. 
 "  Unto  you  that  fear  my  name,  shall  the  Sun  of  Righteous- 
 "  ness  arise  with  healing  in  his  wings,"  excited  uncommon 
 interest  at  the  time  of  delivery, — an  interest  which  did  not 
 decrease,  on  its  being  found  to  be  the  last.  Indeed,  many 
 applications  were  afterwards  made  to  obtain  copies  of  the 
 MS.  with  which  it  was  impossible  to  comply,  the  discourse 
 having  been  delivered  from  a  few  skeleton  notes,  filled  up 
 as  utterance  and  enlargement  were  given  him  for  the  occa- 
 sion. It  appeared,  afterwards,  that  several  individuals  had 
 been  much  impressed  and  profited, — and  thus  the  Lord  was 
 pleased  to  put  honour  on  the  closing  act  of  the  ministry  of 
 a  servant,  whose  labours  he  had  before  often  countenanced 
 and  blessed. 
 
REV.  ALEXANDER  STEWART,    D.  D.         359 
 
 "  departure  is  sensibly  drawing  nigher.  I  suffer 
 "  much  pain,  but  the  Lord  has  not  forsaken 
 u  me.  Almost  the  only  duty  that  I  can  per- 
 "  form  is  preaching, — that  privilege  is  still  con- 
 "  tinued  with  me. 
 
 "  Much  of  the  night  is  spent  awake.  I  will 
 "  endeavour  to  think  on  you  and  yours.  Do 
 u  you  remember  me,  and  pray  that  the  Lord 
 "  may  be  with  me  in  passing  Jordan.  O  eter- 
 "  nity,  what  a  weighty  idea!  Farewell,  my 
 u  dear  brother,  perhaps  it  may  be  the  last,  but 
 "  we  shall  meet  hereafter.  Have  we  not  eter- 
 "  nity  to  spend  together?  Glory  be  to  God, 
 "  and  to  the  Lamb  that  was  slain,  but  liveth 
 "  and  reigneth, — and  we  shall  reign  with  him  1" 
 
 Thus  realizing  his  nearness  to  an  invisible 
 world,  having,  like  Israel  of  old,  waited  for  the 
 salvation  of  the  Lord,  and  knowing,  like  Si- 
 meon, a  manifested  Saviour,  whom  he  gladly 
 embraced  by  faith,  he  began,  like  the  one,  to 
 bless  his  children  previous  to  his  decease,  and, 
 like  the  other,  to  desire  to  be  let  depart.  Two 
 of  his  sons  having  laid  him  down  one  evening 
 to  rest,  "  My  dear  boys,"  said  he,  "  take  your 
 "  father's  blessing,  it  may  be  the  last  time  I 
 M  will  give  it  you. — May  the  God  of  your  fa- 
 "  thers  bless  you,  and  keep  you,  and  make  his 
 "  countenance  to  shine  upon  you,  and  give  you 
 "  peace!" 
 
360  MEMOIRS  OF  THE 
 
 On  another  occasion,  to  one  of  them,  sup- 
 porting him  under  a  fit  of  pain,  he  said,  "  You 
 "  will  not  have  it  to  do  long." — "  All  shall  be 
 "  well  with  you,  my  dear  father,"  said  the  af- 
 fectionate youth.  "  O  yes,"  cried  he  imme- 
 diately, "  I  have  evidences  which  I  cannot  deny, 
 "  that  the  Lord  has  been  gracious  to  me.  But 
 "  I  now  live  by  faith,  I  have  no  sensible  enjoy- 
 "  ments." 
 
 On  these  occasions  of  intense  pain,  the  grace 
 of  patience  had  its  work  so  perfect,  that  it  was 
 a  common  remark  of  his,  "  David  had  to  sing 
 "  of  mercy  and  judgment  together,  but  it  is  all 
 "  mercy  with  me." 
 
 But,  amid  these  conflicts,  the  time  of  vic- 
 tory drew  on,  and  the  last  enemy  fell  before 
 him,  sooner  indeed  than  his  watchful  family  had 
 apprehended.  For,  in  the  afternoon  of  Sunday, 
 May  27.  without  any  previous  alteration  suffi- 
 cient to  excite  apprehension,  he  suddenly  fell 
 into  a  sort  of  deliquium,  in  which  he  continued 
 for  about  the  space  of  an  hour,  without  speech 
 or  apparent  consciousness  of  pain,  and  then 
 gently  quitted  the  earthly  tabernacle,  to  obtain 
 a  mansion  in  his  Father's  house,  there,  doubt- 
 less, to  be  ever  present  with  the  Lord ! 
 
 Thus  entered  into  rest,  in  his  57th  year,  a  man 
 whom  all  esteemed,  many  loved,  and  not  a  few 
 regarded  in  the  light  of  a  father  in  Christ.     Of 
 
REV.  ALEXANDER  STEWART,    D.  D.         361 
 
 his  general  character,  or  method  of  life,  nothing 
 need  be  added  to  what  is  set  down  in  the  pre- 
 ceding memoir,  in  which  he  is  minutely  exhi- 
 bited in  his  public  duties,  and  domestic  man- 
 ners. A  few  lines  of  the  portraiture,  however, 
 have  either  been  omitted,  or  faintly  marked ; 
 and  we  have  only  these  to  retouch,  in  order  to 
 complete  our  design. 
 
 The  prominent  feature  in  his  character  was 
 simplicity, — a  simplicity  not  arising  from  the 
 action  of  a  mind  that  can  bring  but  a  single  fa- 
 culty into  exercise  at  once ;  but  a  simplicity  of 
 combination,  in  which  many  faculties  co-operate 
 to  produce  unity  of  purpose,  and  evenness  of 
 tenor  in  the  progress  of  life.  There  was  no  con- 
 texture of  plot,  artifice,  or  disguise  in  his  proce- 
 dure. On  his  professions  one  might  always  safely 
 rely  ;  and  if  he  was  seen  moving  towards  an  ob- 
 ject, it  could  always  be  predicted  of  him  with 
 certainty,  that  the  way  of  rectitude  would  be 
 his  path,  and  that,  if  he  could  not  reach  it  in  that 
 straight,  open,  and  unsuspected  way,  he  would 
 rather  stop  short,  than  move  aside  to  courses  in- 
 direct and  questionable.  His  was  the  simpli- 
 city of  a  man  who,  having  eternity  in  his  eye, 
 could  say,  "  This  one  thing  I  do, — I  press  to- 
 ward the  mark  for  the  prize  of  the  high  calling 
 of  God  in  Christ  Jesus." 
 
 This  simplicity  characterized  his  intercourse 
 with  friends,  and  gave  an  unspeakable  charm  to 
 
 z 
 
362  MEMOIRS  OF  THE 
 
 his  communications  with  those  whom  he  admit- 
 ted into  his  familiarity ;  for  as  he  never  professed 
 esteem  where  he  did  not  feel  it,  nor  distinguished 
 with  the  name  of  friend,  any  whom  he  counted 
 not  worthy  of  unreserved  confidence ;  so,  towards 
 the  selected  objects  of  his  regard,  he  used  a 
 freedom  and  a  frankness  of  disclosure,  with  re- 
 spect to  his  own  feelings,  sentiments,  and  con- 
 dition, which  none  will  employ,  but  a  man  who, 
 knowing  the  conscious  rectitude  of  his  own 
 thoughts  and  purposes,  is  not  afraid  nor  ashamed 
 to  submit  them  to  the  review  of  other  minds. 
 For  he  who  has  no  higher  object  of  pursuit, 
 than  to  attain  proper  habits  of  thought  and 
 action,  if  any  thing  is  deficient  or  erroneous, 
 will  deem  the  correction  of  it  a  benefit  of  too 
 great  magnitude  to  be  lost,  without  embracing 
 every  prudent  expedient  for  securing  it. 
 
 In  submitting  himself  to  the  judgment  of 
 others,  he  was  truly  disinterested,  for  he  neither 
 wished  to  palliate  his  infirmities,  nor  to  embel- 
 lish his  virtues.  He  was  a  man  of  truth,  and 
 loved  truth  in  every  form.  -And  on  this  prin- 
 ciple, he  would  tell  what  he  had  acquired,  and 
 what  he  could  do,  with  the  same  candour  and 
 freedom  from  selfish  considerations,  as  in  point- 
 ing out  what  he  knew  not,  and  could  not  per- 
 form. He  seemed  to  have  obtained  that  rare 
 victory  over  self,  that  he  would  neither  detract 
 from  its  real  character,  in  the  way  of  deprecia- 
 
REV.  ALEXANDER  STEWART,  D.  D.        363 
 
 tion  below  the  truth,  nor  give  it  an  undue 
 estimation,  by  assigning  to  it  attributes  it  did 
 not  possess. 
 
 His  disinterestedness  in  the  management  of 
 secular  affairs  was  unimpeachable.  He  had  a 
 large  family  depending  on  an  income  compara- 
 tively not  large ;  yet  the  calls  of  charity,  both 
 for  common  and  religious  purposes,  were  libe- 
 rally answered,  and  the  language  of  his  habitual 
 conduct  in  his  transactions  with  men,  was,  "  I 
 seek  not  yours,  but  you." 
 
 On  his  way  home,  in  a  visit  he  paid  to  Edin- 
 burgh in  1819,  having  at  the  house  of  a  friend 
 met  with  one  of  his  earliest  Moulin  converts,  who 
 was  in  reduced  circumstances,  on  parting  with 
 her,  remembering  he  had  just  got  a  balance  of  three 
 pounds,  on  settling  with  his  bookseller,  he  gave 
 one  of  them  to  this  person,  for  the  Lord's  sake. 
 
 "  How  happy  am  I,"  said  he,  in  a  letter  to 
 ISJrs  Stewart  mentioning  what  he  had  done,  "  in 
 "  not  having  a  worldly,  covetous  wife,  to  whom 
 "  I  would  be  afraid  to  tell  what  I  gave  away, 
 "  and  need  to  make  twenty  apologies !" 
 
 As  he  exercised  himself  in  rectitude  towards 
 man,  before  his  God,  he  was  without  guile, 
 opening  his  heart  to  every  gracious  influence, 
 and  aiming  to  receive  all  God's  truth,  and  to  be 
 altogether  conformed  to  his  will.  From  the 
 yoke  of  no  precept  did  he  desire  to  withdraw 
 
 z  2 
 
364  MEMOIRS  OF  THE 
 
 his  neck,  nor  refuse  to  any  doctrine,  plainly  re- 
 vealed, the  ready  subjection  of  his  understanding. 
 And  no  higher  character  of  his  faith  and  piety 
 can  be  given,  than  that  which  one  who  knew 
 him  long  and  most  intimately  gave,  in  saying, 
 "  That  he  believed  all  the  Bible."  It  was  this 
 unsuspecting  simplicity,  and  unreserved  extent 
 of  faith,  that  gave  to  his  religious  life  the  sim- 
 plicity of  tenor,  and  the  consistency  of  parts, 
 which  beautified  his  character  as  a  whole.  In 
 him,  belief  and  obedience  went  hand  in  hand, 
 or  rather  were  dependent  on  each  other,  as  cause 
 and  effect;  the  one  furnishing  motives,  the 
 other  shewing  that  the  grace  of  faith  was  not 
 received  in  vain. 
 
 Of  his  personal  religion,  it  were  idle  repeti- 
 tion to  say  more  than  the  preceding  memoir 
 discloses.  His  own  attainments  shrink  back 
 from  the  enlightened  judgment  that  brought 
 them  under  impartial  review,  and  he  was  ready 
 to  count  the  least  of  the  Lord's  people  superior 
 to  himself,  and  to  act  towards  them  accordingly. 
 His  self-abasement  was  profound,  and  would 
 have  rendered  life  not  happy,  had  not  the  con- 
 solations of  Christ  opened  up  to  his  faith  the 
 fruition  of  "  all  spiritual  blessings,  in  heavenly 
 places."  But  this  reconciled  the  apparent  con- 
 traries,— "  O  wretched  man  that  I  am !" 
 "  Thanks  be  to  God  through  Jesus  Christ." — 
 
REV.  ALEXANDER  STEWART,  D.  D.         365 
 
 "  My  soul  doth  magnify  the  Lord,  and  my 
 spirit  hath  rejoiced  in  God  my  Saviour." 
 
 In  his  religious  exercises,  the  character  of  his 
 own  soul  was  apparent.     There  ran  through 
 them  a  strain  of  undissembled  humiliation  in 
 confessing  prevailing  unworthiness,  and  a  thank- 
 ful expression  of  the  value,  sufficiency,  and  pre- 
 ciousness  of  God's   unspeakable   gift,    accom- 
 panied with  such  a  sincerity  of  request,  and 
 such  a  various  exercise  of  spiritual  desire,  that 
 to  join  with  him  in  acts  of  social  or  public  wor- 
 ship, was  highly  interesting  and  profitable.     It 
 was  easy  to  see  in  him,  a  man  seeking  access  to 
 God  in  earnest,  and  transacting  the  all-impor- 
 tant matters  of   soul-concern,    seriously,    as    a 
 creature  pleading  for  life  and  grace  in  the  pre- 
 sence of  the  Creator;  sober  in  expression,  full 
 in   confessing   sin,    and,  with  a  holy  boldness, 
 putting  the  Father  of  mercy  in  remembrance 
 of  the  finished  work    of   the   sinner's    Surety, 
 and  the  promise  of  acceptance  given  us  in  Christ 
 Jesus.     He  himself  always  lamented  the  cold- 
 ness of  his  affections ;  but  no  friend  ever  found 
 him  cold.    And  if,  in  his  devotion,  there  was  no 
 seraphic  ardour,  there  was  a  desire  to  attain  it, 
 and  humility,  because  his  affections  did  not  equal 
 the  height  of  his  desire ;  and  such  a  frame  is 
 doubtless  the  acceptable   production  of  much 
 grace.     In  those  exercises,  there  was  a   spirit 
 
366  MEMOIRS  OF  THE 
 
 that  warmed  others, — and  what  communicated 
 fervency,  could  not  itself  be  cold. 
 
 As  a  minister  of  the  gospel,  few  in  our  church, 
 in  latter  days  at  least,   have  occupied   higher 
 ground,  whether  his  qualifications  be  consider- 
 ed, or  his  success.     His  qualifications  were  emi- 
 nent.    With  human  nature,  and  the  modifica- 
 tions of  human  character,  he  was  well  acquaint- 
 ed.    His  knowledge  of  the  scriptures  in  the  ori- 
 ginal tongues,  was  critically  accurate  and  exten- 
 sive.    He  had  clear  perceptions  of  divine  truth, 
 and   a  weighty  sense  of  its  vast  importance. 
 The  truths  of  revealed  religion  he  cordially  em- 
 braced himself,  and  he  could  exhibit  them  in 
 minute  detail,  or  with  systematic  combination. 
 His  own  ideas  were  clear  and  methodical ;  and 
 he  had  the  talent  of  placing  his  thoughts  in  the 
 most  natural  arrangement,  and  of  elucidating,  by 
 apt  and  familiar  illustration,  the  doctrines  which 
 he  proposed.  What  study  could  furnish,  and  the 
 ingenuity  of  a  highly  cultivated  mind,  was  at 
 his  command.     But  this  alone  had  been  but 
 poor  furniture  for  a  minister  of  the  gospel.     It 
 was  the  experience  of  a  work  of  grace  on  his 
 own  soul,  and  the  gifts  of  the  Holy  Spirit  shed 
 on  him  abundantly,  through  Jesus  Christ  his 
 Lord,  that  made  him   the  able  minister  of  the 
 new  covenant,  which  he  evidently  shewed  him- 
 self  to  be.      He  had  obtained  much  of   that 
 
REV.  ALEXANDER  STEWART,  D.  D.        367 
 
 anointing  which  imparts  an  unction  of  refresh- 
 ment to  truth  in  the  understanding,  and  gives 
 a  savour  of  divine  things  to  spoken  truths, 
 which  the  most  brilliant  streams  of  eloquence 
 cannot  otherwise  supply. 
 
 Viewed  in  the  pulpit,  there  was  nothing 
 strongly  marked  in  his  deportment.  Plain,  se- 
 rious, and  sedate, — much  impressed  with  his 
 subject, — in  earnest  to  have  it  understood, — 
 deeply  interested  to  have  his  hearers  brought  to 
 know,  feel,  and  enjoy  the  salvation  of  Christ, — 
 he  evidently  appeared.  But  as  a  rational  being 
 dealing  with  rational  beings,  he  spoke  the  lan- 
 guage of  reason,  and  bore  the  countenance  of 
 soberness  and  truth.  His  aspect  at  times,  in- 
 deed, pourtrayed  every  feeling  of  his  soul, 
 beaming  with  an  expression  of  infelt  gladness, 
 or  solemnized  into  the  most  affecting  features 
 of  sympathy  for  the  impenitent  who  would 
 none  of  his  counsel  or  reproof.  But,  in  gene- 
 ral, they  who  went  to  hear  him  in  quest  of  what 
 is  called  fine  speaking,  must  have  been  disap- 
 pointed ;  for  in  his  manner  there  was  nothing 
 of  display,  no  impassioned  tones,  vehement  ac- 
 tion, rapid  utterance,  or  the  fine-wrought  tissue 
 of  elegant  composition,  or  studied  embellish- 
 ment. 
 
 His  simplicity  of  diction  was  the  result  of 
 judgment  early  formed,  and  strengthened  by  the 
 
368 
 
 MEMOIRS  OF  THE 
 
 experience  of  life.  In  a  letter  to  Mr  Black,  al- 
 ready inserted,  he  observes  of  the  discourses 
 transmitted  for  his  perusal,  "  They  are  free  from 
 "  one  blemish, — an  elaborate  and  polished  style. 
 "  However  sensible  I  am  to  the  beauties  of 
 "  style,  yet  I  cannot  help  considering  a  high 
 u  degree  of  polish  and  ornament  as  out  of  place 
 "  and  improper  in  compositions  for  the  pulpit." 
 And  in  1814,  speaking  of  one  of  the  missionary 
 sermons  preached  at  London,  he  says,  "  It  is  a 
 "  piece  of  fine  eloquence,  but  it  is  human  elo- 
 H  quence.  I  fancy  sober  scripture  eloquence 
 "  goes  but  indifferently  down  with  most  En- 
 "  glish  congregations."  His  judgment  further 
 appears  in  what  he  wrote  to  a  correspondent  in 
 1817,  concerning  a  volume  of  discourses  at  that 
 time  much  read : — 
 
 "  I  know  not  what  to  say.  I  was  carried 
 "  through  them  like  a  balloon  in  a  high  wind. 
 "  The  author's  talent  is  certainly  an  extraordi- 
 "  nary  one ;  but  I  often  fear  it  may  prove  a 
 "  snare  both  to  himself  and  to  his  hearers.  His 
 "  eloquence  has  an  intoxicating  quality  in  it, 
 "  not  very  favourable  to  sober  thinking,  nor  to 
 "  rational  settled  conviction  and  feeling.  I 
 u  would  fear  its  effects  would  be  strong,  but 
 "  transient,  rather  than  solid  and  permanent. 
 "  Withal    1    have  a  great  respect  for  . 
 
REV.  ALEXANDER  STEWART,  D.  D.         369 
 
 "  I  trust  he  stands  on  firm  ground,  and  that 
 "  the  Master  whom  he  serves  will  direct  him 
 "  to  such  a  use  of  his  eminent  gifts,  as  that  he 
 "  will  "  both  save  himself,  and  them  that  hear 
 "  him  *  "  " 
 
 It  was  not  the  character  of  Dr  Stewart's 
 mind,  to  excite  the  affections  before  convincing 
 the  judgment,  and  it  was  repugnant  to  his  sense 
 of  pulpit  propriety,  to  run  fast,  or  soar  into  the 
 regions  of  lofty  declamation,  in  going  over  the 
 field  of  his  discourse.  He  delighted  and  he  ex- 
 celled in  the  exhibition  of  clear  statement,  ac- 
 curate discrimination,  and  demonstrative  cer- 
 tainty, in  his  conclusions  ;  and  with  these  views, 
 a  style  loaded  with  ornament,  or  spread  into 
 diffuseness,  was  incompatible. 
 
 This  unassuming  simplicity  of  pulpit  address, 
 
 *  Dr  Stewart  afterwards  met  with  the  eminent  indivi- 
 dual to  whom  he  alludes,  and  expressed  himself  much  de- 
 lighted with  his  endowments.  It  is  proper  to  remark,  that 
 Dr  Stewart's  strictures  apply  only  to  one  or  two  of  that  au- 
 thor's earlier  publications,  which  were  confessedly  defective 
 in  clearness  of  view,  and  consistency  of  statement,  in  the 
 opinion  of  the  most  sound  and  serious  among  the  admirers 
 of  his  singular  talents.  As  to  his  later  productions,  and  the 
 energy  of  wisdom  which  he  has  brought  to  bear  on  public 
 opinion  with  such  mighty  effect,  it  were  superfluous  to  add 
 our  feeble  voice  to  the  general  acclamation. 
 
370  MEMOIRS  OF  THE 
 
 however,  was  by  some  great  admirers  of  exhibit- 
 ed talent,  inter  preted  into  an  incapacity  to  rise 
 high  in  the  regions  of  intellectual  exertion ; 
 but  none  acquainted  with  the  character  of  his 
 mind  could  have  fallen  into  so  great  a  mistake. 
 And  we  have  seen,  that  this  very  simplicity 
 was  adopted  on  full  conviction  of  its  superior 
 excellence.  Whether  Dr  Stewart  was  right  in 
 his  judgment  on  this  point,  we  need  not  formal- 
 ly decide.  That  the  plain  style  has  least  to  flat- 
 ter pride,  accords  best  with  the  practice  of  St 
 Paul,' and  seems  to  put  most  honour  on  reveal- 
 ed truths,  by  holding  them  forth  in  plain  testi- 
 mony, and  leaving  the  result  to  God,  will  ap- 
 pear evident  to  some;  while  others  will  deem  all 
 the  persuasion  of  oratory  necessary,  and  well 
 employed,  to  arrest  the  attention  of  the  care- 
 less, and  captivate  the  ear  of  refinement  to  give 
 audience  to  the  gospel  report.  As  to  the  point 
 of  impressing  the  attention,  let  oratory  do  its 
 utmost ;  but  in  guiding  enlightened  souls  in  the 
 way  to  eternity,  we  delight  to  hear  the  simple 
 accents  of  the  good  Shepherd's  voice.  "  No 
 spectacle,"  says  Johnson,  "  is  nobler  than  a  blaze;" 
 but  for  doing  work,  who  does  not  prefer  the 
 more  limited  light  of  a  candle? 
 
 Perhaps  the  union  of  the  plain  and  the  im- 
 passioned would  be  the  most  useful  style  of  ad- 
 dress, and  a  capacity  to  employ  both  at  will, 
 
REV.  ALEXANDER  STEWART,  D.  D.        371 
 
 would  constitute  a  most  desireable  gift;  for  then 
 might  deep-toned,  and  high-wrought  feeling, 
 "  cry  aloud,  and  spare  not,"  while  "  the  still 
 small  voice"  spoke  the  counsel  of  peace.  But 
 the  Divine  Spirit  divides  his  gifts,  and  more 
 commonly  employs  a  number  of  moderately  en- 
 dowed individuals,  than  combines  manifold  gifts 
 in  one ;  this  alike  cuts  off  occasion  for  glorying, 
 and  for  finding  fault, — seeing  it  is  grace  that  re- 
 gulates the  proportions. 
 
 If  success  in  the  ministry  be  received  as  an 
 evidence  of  a  man's  qualifications  for  it,  then 
 there  are  few  in  our  times,  or  in  our  church, 
 who    can    pretend    to   rank   higher   than    Dr 
 Stewart.     Survey  him  at  Moulin,  in  the  midst 
 of  a  large  company  converted  under  his  minis- 
 try,— the  fruits  of  his  labours, — the  blessed  seals 
 attached    to  his   commission, — and   go    round 
 about  our  Zion,  and  see  in  what  street  of  the 
 city  of  our  God,  a  similar  company  shall  be 
 found.     We  may,  in  the  search,  find  some  mi- 
 nisters preaching  with  more  force  of  eloquence, 
 and  adorned  with  accomplishments  ostensibly 
 superior  to  his;  but  inquire  into  the  number  of 
 decided  converts,  and  genuine  Christians,  form- 
 ed under  their  ministry,  and,  we  apprehend, 
 few  will  equal  the  success  of  Dr  Stewart.     We 
 do  not  say  this  to  enhance  the  value  of  his  la- 
 bours, by  a  disparaging  reference  to  those  of 
 
372  MEMOIRS  OF  THE 
 
 his  brethren  less  successful  in  their  work.  No ; 
 while  we  rejoice  in  his  success,  we  grieve  that 
 it  is  greatly  singular;  and  we  know,  that  though 
 "  Apollos  plant,  and  Paul  water,  it  is  only  God 
 that  giveth  the  increase."  And  we  are  sure, 
 many  would  wish  to  equal  him  in  usefulness, 
 from  whom  the  Lord  withholds  the  pouring 
 out  of  the  Spirit  in  an  equal  degree.  Faithful- 
 ness is  our  part,  the  rest  belongs  to  a  sovereign 
 God.  Various  gifts  and  qualifications,  too,  are 
 employed  by  him  ;  and  perhaps  there  is  only 
 one  thing,  besides  the  general  grace  of  Christian 
 character,  essentially  the  same  in  those  by  whom 
 the  Lord  works  in  the  church,  and  that  is,  hu- 
 mility, or  the  mortification  of  self-seeking,  with 
 the  reigning  desire,  that  the  Lord  may  be 
 all  in  all, — that  sinners  may  have  the  benefit  of 
 salvation,  and  He  the  undivided  glory.  Other 
 gifts  are  not  common,  but  humility  is  common 
 to  all  whom  God  makes  useful  in  his  church. 
 
 It  was  Dr  Stewart's  opinion,  "  that  we  had 
 "  many  able  divines,  sound,  orthodox,  and  la- 
 "  borious ;  but  not  many  truly  humble  ministers 
 "  of  the  meek  and  lowly  Saviour."  With  re- 
 spect to  his  own  humility,  though  himself  saw 
 it  to  be  exceedingly  small,  to  others  who  had 
 access  to  know  his  worth,  it  always  appeared 
 the  master-grace  in  his  character,  and  truly  ad- 
 mirable in  its  influence. 
 
REV.  ALEXANDER  STEWART,  D.  D.        373 
 
 If  we  wish  to  be  successful  in  the  work  of 
 Christ,  we  see,  in  Dr  Stewart,  what  is  the  cha- 
 racter of  those  whom  the  Lord  delighteth  to 
 honour.  They  must  be  first  converted,  obtain 
 like  precious  faith,  and  an  experimental  know- 
 ledge of  divine  things.  The  Lord  manifested 
 himself  to  Paul,  before  he  sent  him  to  open  the 
 eyes  of  others  ;  and  so  it  was  in  the  case  of  Dr 
 Stewart. 
 
 The  subject  and  manner  of  his  preaching  at 
 Moulin,  affords  an  example  of  doctrine  which 
 the  Lord  will  own  and  bless ;  and  similar  ear- 
 nestness, faith,  and  zeal  for  converting  sinners, 
 are  seldom  altogether  in  vain.  But  his  minis- 
 try at  Dingwall  admonishes  us  how  ineffectual 
 means  in  themselves  are.  For  though  the  same 
 doctrines  were  taught,  with  equal  diligence,  by 
 the  same  man,  and  he  matured  in  experience, 
 the  day  of  small  things  continued  to  the  end 
 of  his  ministry  in  that  place. 
 
 On  his  published  works  we  need  offer  no 
 judgment.  They  were  not  numerous,  indeed  ; 
 and  to  estimate  the  usefulness  of  his  labours,  by 
 the  number  of  treatises  a  minister  shall  publish, 
 were  to  set  up  a  fallacious  standard.  In  fact,  a 
 man  without  extraordinary  endowments,  who 
 gives  himself  in  earnest  to  the  work  of  the  minis- 
 try, will  neither  be  a  reading  man,  nor  a  writing 
 man,  to  a  great  extent,  beyond  the  department  of 
 
37 1  MEMOIRS  OF  THE 
 
 knowledge  and  study  that  lie  within  the  com- 
 pass of  official  qualification.  And  many  who 
 have  been  eminently  useful  in  the  church, 
 have  often  left  few  literary  productions  be- 
 hind them.  Indeed,  he  who  sits  down  to 
 write  a  book,  or  to  read  a  book,  not  bear- 
 ing on  present  duty,  might,  unless  for  need- 
 ful relaxation,  in  general  better  employ  him- 
 self in  doing  a  good  work  among  the  living 
 objects  around  him. 
 
 We  do  not  mean,  by  this  remark,  to  insinuate 
 that  literature  is  not  necessary,  and  not  orna- 
 mental, in  the  pastoral  character  ;  for  it  will  be 
 found,  that  those  most  useful  in  the  church  at 
 present,  are,  in  general,  men  of  solid  and  various 
 learning ;  nor  has  it  been  otherwise,  we  appre- 
 hend, in  times  past.  And  to  disjoin  literature 
 from  theology,  would  be  to  throw  aside  an  instru- 
 ment of  great  moral  power,  which,  if  not  wield- 
 ed by  the  friends  of  religion,  will  soon  be  em- 
 ployed for  annoyance  in  the  hands  of  its  enemies. 
 
 But  when  we  state  the  incompatibility  of 
 going  far  into  literary  pursuits  and  ministerial 
 duties,  in  the  same  person,  instead  of  representing 
 theology  and  literature  as  at  variance,  our  view 
 furnishes  an  argument  for  an  extensive  course 
 of  study,  and  for  the  propriety  of  having  a 
 large  provision  of  general  knowledge  laid  in, 
 previously  to  the  assumption  of  the  pastoral  office; 
 
REV.  ALEXANDER  STEWART,  D.  D.        375 
 
 for  it  is  then  too  late  to  have  habits  of  acquisi- 
 tion to  form,  when  a  man  ought  to  be  able  to 
 spend.  Neither  is  our  remark,  as  to  the  incom- 
 patibility of  authorship  with  pastoral  duty,  in- 
 tended to  apply,  except  to  men  of  ordinary  en- 
 dowments, who  ought  not,  we  conceive,  to 
 divert  into  extra-ministerial  channels  their  li- 
 mited modicum,  which,  from  its  smallness,  can 
 yield  refreshment  only  to  few.  He  who  can 
 pour  forth  streams,  ought  not  to  keep  the  foun- 
 tain closed  up ;  and  it  may  be  inferred  from  Dr 
 Stewart's  talents  and  grace,  that,  had  his  life 
 been  spent  in  places  where  literature  was  in 
 greater  estimation,  and  where  excitements  to 
 write  and  publish  had  been  more  pressing,  his 
 works  had  been  more  numerous  and  diversified. 
 As  it  was,  while  the  Gaelic  exists  as  a  spoken 
 tongue,  future  generations  will  owe  to  him  im- 
 portant obligations.  His  Grammar  displays  a 
 mind  profoundly  versed  in  the  philosophy  of 
 language,  as  well  as  minutely  acquainted  with 
 the  particular  tongue,  the  principles  of  which  it 
 lays  down  *;  and  no  Highlander,  who  draws  in- 
 
 *  Not  to  mention  other  testimonies  for  the  excellence  of 
 that  performance,  we  shall  only  repeat  what  a  most  accom- 
 plished scholar  said  of  it,  "  that  though  he  did  not  under- 
 n  stand  Gaelic,  he  would  read  Dr  Stewart's  Grammar  for 
 
376  MEMOIRS  OF  THE 
 
 struction  or  comfort  from  his  Bible,  or  opens  his 
 Psalm-book  to  praise  his  Lord,  is  unindebted  to 
 his  industry  and  skill. 
 
 As  to  the  sermons  now  presented  to  the  pub- 
 lic, they  are  not  offered  as  specimens  of  elo- 
 quence, but  as  plain  illustrations  of  plain,  well- 
 known  scriptural  truth. 
 
 As  his  ministry  was  chiefly  fulfilled  among  a 
 Gaelic  population,  where  the  English  language 
 was  but  partially  understood,  and  not  much 
 esteemed,  he  had  little  exercise  in  English  com- 
 position, and  regarded  the  preparation  of  a  ser- 
 mon in  that  language  as  a  very  secondary  ob- 
 ject. His  chief  efforts  were  made  in  Gaelic,  in 
 which,  it  was  universally  allowed,  he  shewed 
 himself  a  most  accomplished  speaker ;  and  they 
 who  understood  both  languages,  counted  the 
 English  exercise  tame  and  unequal  to  the  other. 
 
 After  his  mind  was  enlightened  and  his  heart 
 enlarged,  he  accustomed  himself  to  speak  from 
 very  short  notes,  the  substance  of  his  discourse 
 
 '•  the  illustrations   it  contained  of  the  philosophy  of  lan- 
 "  guage." 
 
 In  mentioning  Dr  Stewart's  publications,  we  have  to  cor- 
 rect a  statement  in  page  280,  where  he  is  said  to  have  trans- 
 lated the  Shorter  Catechism  into  Gaelic.  That  useful  work 
 was  done  by  an  esteemed  friend  of  Dr  Stewart,  the  Rev 
 Dr  Fleming,  Minister  of  Lady  Yester's  Church. 
 
REV.  ALEXANDER  STEWART,  D.  D.        377 
 
 being  either  extempore,  or  made  up  from  un- 
 written meditations.  This  will  account  for  his 
 having  left  only  seven  sermons  fully  written 
 out,  though  the  number  of  valuable  skeletons  is 
 very  great. 
 
 On  these  discourses,  no  attempt  need  be  made 
 to  direct  or  anticipate  the  judgment  of  the  read- 
 er. He  will  find  in  them  no  imaginary  charac- 
 ter, high-coloured  with  extravagant  perfections, 
 or  overcharged  with  exaggerations  of  monstrous 
 vice.  He  was  a  preacher  of  truth,  and  feared  to 
 state  an  unexperienced  point,  or  paint  a  charac- 
 ter with  the  pencil  of  fancy.  He  drew  from  the 
 life,  and  described  the  realities  of  nature  and  of 
 grace.  As  he  was  much  conversant  with  the 
 exercises  of  minds  like  his  own,  engaged  in  the 
 conflicts  of  spiritual  warfare,  he  was  concerned 
 to  supply  motives  and  encouragement,  direction 
 and  admonition,  to  their  various  and  their  vary- 
 ing exigencies.  Much  of  his  sermons,  therefore, 
 were  strictly  experimental,  an  attribute  that 
 forms  the  distinguishing  character  of  them  all. 
 It  will  be  found,  too,  that  his  addresses  to  the 
 unconverted  were  free,  frequent,  and  impressive, 
 and  there  is  often  something  very  touching  in 
 the  solemnity  of  his  simple  statement,  and  point- 
 ed expostulations. 
 
 He  did  not  often  methodize  his  sermons  into 
 2  A 
 
378  MEMOIRS  OF  THE 
 
 the  plan  of  doctrinal  heads,  with  formal  infer- 
 ences and  improvement  of  the  subject ;  yet  his 
 discourse  always  ran  into  a  few  divisions  obvi- 
 ously natural  and  textual,  for  he  judged  an  un- 
 broken flow  of  discourse  better  adapted  for  a 
 declamation,  than  for  the  communication  of  spi- 
 ritual instruction  to  ordinary  minds. 
 
 If  his  sermons  are  not  eloquent,  they  possess 
 properties  which  many  eloquent  compositions 
 want,  and  which  the  serious  reader  will  easily 
 discover  and  feel.  They  are  eminently  scriptural 
 in  sentiment,  and  richly  contain  what  constitutes 
 u  the  marrow  and  the  fat"  of  religious  addresses, 
 — a  plentiful  measure  of  judiciously  quoted  scrip- 
 tures. Yet  they  are  by  no  means  proposed  as 
 favourable  specimens  of  Dr  Stewart's  happiest 
 style  of  address.  For  they  are  deficient  in  those 
 apt  illustrations,  and  beautifully  striking  simili- 
 tudes, which  he  often  introduced  with  great  in- 
 genuity, and  powerful  effect.  These,  however, 
 came  with  spontaneous  readiness  in  the  act  of 
 delivery,  and  had  no  place  in  his  written  prepa- 
 rations ;  and  hence,  those  sermons  are  unequal 
 to  his  spoken  discourses  in  point  of  liveliness  and 
 force.  It  will  strike  the  reader  of  these  dis- 
 courses, that  doctrines  of  great  importance  are 
 rather  taken  for  granted,  than  proved.  But  it 
 should  be  recollected,  that  most  of  them  were 
 
REV.  ALEXANDER  STEWART,  D.  D.  379 
 
 addressed  to  a  select  audience,  and  on  occasions 
 when  it  was  only  needful  to  put  them  in  re- 
 membrance of  what  they  knew,  and  most  sure- 
 ly believed.  However,  to  those  who  knew  the 
 excellent  author,  they  will  be  welcome  for  what 
 they  supply,  and  for  what  they  will  suggest ; 
 and  the  reader  will  see  in  them  with  what  wea- 
 pons the  carnal  mind  was  subdued  at  Moulin, 
 and  with  what  manner  of  doctrine,  reproof,  cor- 
 rection, and  instruction  in  righteousness,  be- 
 lievers were  taught  "  to  serve  the  living  God, 
 and  wait  for  his  Son  from  heaven, — Jesus,  who 
 delivered  us  from  the  wrath  to  come." 
 
 2a2 
 
SERMONS 
 
 BY  THE  LATE 
 
 Rev.  ALEXANDER  STEWART,  D.  D. 
 
SERMONS,  &c. 
 
 SERMON  I. 
 
 Zech.  xiii.  7. — Smite  the  shepherd,  and  the  sheep  shall 
 be  scattered. 
 
 Well  says  the  Psalmist,  that  "  the  judgments  of 
 God  are  a  great  deep."  The  works  of  creation  are 
 wonderful  and  grand  beyond  what  our  comprehension 
 can  fathom.  The  works  of  Providence  are  in  many 
 things  still  more  noble,  and  more  inscrutable.  Parti- 
 cularly, the  plans  and  the  operations  of  grace  are  such 
 as  no  human  wisdom  could  have  devised,  no  human 
 counsel  durst  have  suggested.  Even  when  revealed, 
 they  are  still  a  mystery  which  the  understanding  of 
 man  can  hardly  apprehend.  In  the  contemplation  of 
 such  grand  and  astonishing  objects,  an  enlightened 
 apostle  was  constrained  to  exclaim,  "  O  the  depth  of 
 the  riches  both  of  the  wisdom  and  knowledge  of  God ! 
 how  unsearchable    are   his   judgments,    and  hi*  ways 
 
884  SERMON  I. 
 
 past  finding  out !"  Rom.  xi.  33.  When  we  learn,  that 
 the  prophetical  passage  before  us  relates  to  Him  who 
 had  been  appointed,  in  the  eternal  counsels  of  the  God- 
 head, to  be  the  Saviour  of  a  lost  world,  and  the  re- 
 storer of  harmony  among  the  works  of  God,  what  are 
 we  to  think  of  such  an  order  concerning  him,  as  that 
 pronounced  in  our  text  ?  If  left  to  our  own  conjectures 
 to  discover  the  reason  of  the  Lord^  dealings,  or  even  the 
 import  of  his  words,  how  often  must  we  find  ourselves 
 at  a  loss  what  to  understand,  or  how  to  judge  !  But, 
 "  God  is  his  own  interpreter."  He  can  make  dark 
 things  clear,  and  crooked  things  straight.  He  can 
 make  things  hard  to  be  understood,  become  plain  ;  and 
 things  hard  to  be  believed,  appear  worthy  of  his  own 
 unchangeable  perfections. 
 
 In  pursuing  our  meditations  on  the  passage  before 
 us,  I  shall  endeavour  to  lead  your  attention,  first,  to 
 the  title  here  given  to  the  Messiah ;  second,  to  the 
 order  given  concerning  him ;  and  lastly,  to  the  conse- 
 quences of  executing  that  order. 
 
 I.  Let  us  attend  to  the  title  here  given  to  the  Mes- 
 siah, that  of  a  Shepherd.  The  occupation  of  a  shep- 
 herd was  familiar  to  the  Israelites  from  the  days  of  the 
 patriarchs,,  of  whom  we  read,  that  "  they  were  shep- 
 herds, that  their  trade  was  to  keep  cattle,"  through  a 
 succession  of  generations,  even  to  the  time  of  the  pro- 
 phet Zechariah,  who,  in  the  chapter  before  us,  repre- 
 sents the  false  prophets  as  disclaiming  their  assumed 
 character,  and  confessing,  that  they  had  only  been 
 taught  to  "  keep  cattle  from  their  youth."  Frequent 
 allusions   to   the  well  known  office  of  a  shepherd  are 
 
SERMON  I.  385 
 
 made  use  of,  both  in  the  Old  and  New  Testaments,  Is 
 illustrate  the  charge  which  Christ  takes  of  his  people. 
 "  He  shall  feed  his  flock  like  a  shepherd,"  &c.  Isaiah 
 xl.  11.  "  As  a  shepherd  seeketh  out  his  flock,  in  the 
 day  that  he  is  among  his  sheep  that  are  scattered,  so 
 will  I  seek  out  my  sheep,11  &c.  Ezek.  xxxiv.  12 — 15. 
 And  in  a  long  affectionate  address  to  the  Jews,  record- 
 ed in  the  10th  chapter  of  St  John's  Gospel,  our  Lord 
 assumes  the  name  and  character  of  "  the  good  Shep- 
 herd,11 and  calls  his  people,  his  sheep ;  following  the 
 allusion  through  many  interesting  particulars. 
 
 Under  the  character  of  a  shepherd,  Jesus  is  repre- 
 sented as  exercising  authority  as  well  as  care,  because 
 the  flock  which  he  tends,  is  not  only  his  charge,  but  his 
 property.  He  is,  in  the  truest  sense,  the  proprietor 
 and  supreme  ruler  of  his  own  people,  whom  he  has 
 ransomed  with  his  blood,  subdued  by  his  spirit,  and 
 delivered  by  his  power  from  the  yoke  of  a  tyrannical 
 usurper.  So  he  is  exhibited  as  a  Prince,  as  well  as 
 a  Saviour,  and  as  bearing  the  government  on  his 
 shoulders. 
 
 To  this  high  and  extensive  charge  the  Lord  Jesus 
 Christ  was  appointed,  by  the  determinate  counsel  and 
 foreknowledge  of  God,  before  the  world  began.  No 
 sooner  did  man  apostatize  from  God,  and  fall  by  his 
 iniquity, — no  sooner  had  sin  entered  into  the  world, 
 and  death  by  sin, — than  the  Messiah  was  invested  with 
 his  office ; — he  immediately  entered  on  the  administra- 
 tion of  his  terrestrial  charge,  and  assumed  the  govern- 
 ment of  his  mediatorial  kingdom.  When  the  fulness 
 of  the  time  was  come,  he  was  manifested  in  the  flesh, 
 — he  shewed  himself  openly  to  his  friends  and  his  ene- 
 
386  SERMON  I. 
 
 mies,  and  proved  himself  to  be  the  Son  of  God  with 
 power.  Possessed  of  all  authority  in  heaven  and  on 
 earth,  he  came  to  encounter  the  powers  of  death  and 
 hell ;  to  deliver  the  prey  from  the  terrible ;  to  guide  a 
 helpless  flock  through  a  waste  howling  wilderness,  and 
 to  bring  them  in  safety  home  to  his  fold.  Such  was 
 the  undertaking  which  the  great  Shepherd  of  Israel 
 was  appointed  to  accomplish.  And  how  well  the  title 
 suited  the  glorious  Messiah,  will  appear,  when  we  con- 
 sider how  various  and  how  valuable  are  the  benefits 
 which  he  had  to  confer  on  his  sheep. 
 
 He  had  to  separate  them  from  "  strange  cattle,'" 
 Ezek.  xxxiv.  17.  22.  They  who  are  made  partakers 
 of  the  grace  of  God,  and  who,  by  the  purifying  influ- 
 ence of  his  Spirit,  become  Christ's  peculiar  people,  are 
 by  nature  nothing  better  than  others,  "  being  foolish, 
 disobedient,  deceived,  serving  divers  lusts  and  plea- 
 sures," Tit.  iii.  3.  But  Jesus  knows  even  afar  off  all 
 whom  the  Father  hath  given  him,  and  he  separates  them 
 for  himself.  He  knew  Saul  of  Tarsus,  while  he  was 
 yet  a  persecutor  and  blasphemer,  for  he  had  separated 
 him,  even  from  his  birth,  for  his  service  in  the  gospel. 
 He  knew  Nathaniel  when  he  was  under  the  fig-tree, 
 before  he  had  heard  the  name  of  Jesus.  "  Whom  he 
 did  foreknow,  he  also  did  predestinate  to  be  conformed 
 to  his  own  image ;  and  whom  he  did  predestinate,  them 
 he  also  called,  and  justified,  and  glorified ;"  thus  put- 
 ting an  immeasurable,  everlasting  separation,  between 
 them  and  "  the  world  of  the  ungodly." 
 
 He  had  to  provide  pasture  for  them.  The  food 
 which  nourishes  the  spiritual  life  in  the  soul,  is  not  the 
 produce  of  this  world.     Now  that  the  earth  is  under  a 
 
SERMON  I.  387 
 
 curse,  it  "  brings  forth  thorns  and  thistles1'  in  abun- 
 dance, which  sorely  annoy  the  sheep  of  Christ,  tearing 
 the  fleece,  and  wounding  the  flesh.  But  the  tree  of 
 life  grows  not  here,  nor  does  the  river  of  life  water  our 
 sandy  plains.  The  tasteless  "  husks"  that  cover  the 
 ground,  may,  indeed,  satisfy  the  "  swine"  which  fill 
 the  land ;  but  Christ's  flock  must  be  fed  with  food  of  a 
 different  quality.  Their  sustenance,  like  the  manna 
 which  fed  the  Israelites  in  the  wilderness,  or  the  rain 
 which  filled  the  pools  in  the  valley  of  Baca,  must  come 
 from  above.  They  cannot  live  but  on  the  bread  of  life 
 which  came  down  from  heaven. 
 
 He  had  to  protect  them  from  harm .  The  followers 
 of  Jesus  are  here  in  an  enemy's  land ;  and  many,  and 
 strong,  and  subtle  are  their  foes.  "  Behold,"  said  our 
 Lord  to  his  apostles,  "  I  send  you  forth  as  lambs  among 
 wolves."  "  I  know,"  said  Paul  to  the  elders  of  Ephe- 
 sus,  "  that  after  my  departing,  grievous  wolves  shall 
 enter  in  among  you,  not  sparing  the  flock."  Such  is 
 their  perilous  situation.  They  may  at  times  find  them- 
 selves in  a  solitary  waste,  and  far  from  the  tents  of  the 
 shepherds  •,  but  the  chief  Shepherd  is  ever  nigh  them. 
 He  watches  over  them  to  protect  them,  that  they  be  not 
 destroyed,  nor  oppressed  above  measure.  The  vine- 
 yard of  the  Lord  of  hosts,  to  change  the  metaphor,  is 
 his  constant  care.  "  I  the  Lord  do  keep  it ;  I  will 
 water  it  every  moment :  lest  any  hurt  it,  I  will  keep  it 
 night  and  day,"  Isa.  xxvii.  3. 
 
 He  had,  moreover,  to  watch  that  they  should  not  go 
 astray,  and  to  bring  them  back  if  they  should.  Not 
 only  before  conversion,  are  sinners  unwilling  to  come  to 
 Jesus;   but,   what  is  still  more  lamentable,   even  after 
 
388  SERMON  I. 
 
 having  tasted  that  the  Lord  is  gracious,  his  people  are 
 prone  to  wander  from  him,  and  to  return  to  their  idols 
 and  to  their  follies.  He  has  to  keep  a  strict  watch  over 
 them,  else  they  would  all,  like  sheep,  go  astray,  and 
 turn  every  one  to  his  own  way.  This  charge  he  faith- 
 fully executes  ;  and  if  he  sometimes,  for  important  pur- 
 poses, allows  one  to  stray,  yet  he  searches  and  finds  out 
 the  backslider,  renews  him  to  repentance,  restores  his 
 soul,  and  leads  him  again  in  the  paths  of  righteousness, 
 for  his  name's  sake. 
 
 So  important  and  various  was  the  charge  which  the 
 Keeper  of  Israel  had  to  administer.  And  who  could 
 be  so  able,  so  wise,  so  tender-hearted,  so  qualified  in 
 every  respect,  to  carry  on  and  accomplish  this  great 
 work  of  bringing  sinners  home  to  God,  as  was  his  eter- 
 nal Son,  the  Prince  of  life,  the  Heir  of  all  things,  the 
 brightness  of  the  Father's  glory,  and  the  express  image 
 of  his  person  ?  What  shall  we  think,  then,  when  we 
 hear, 
 
 II.  The  order  given  in  the  text,  which  was  the  second 
 thing  proposed  to  be  considered.  If  left  to  our  own 
 short-sighted  conjectures,  perhaps  we  might  be  ready  to 
 say,  "  Surely  this  is  the  voice  of  the  enemy  ;" — he  who 
 envied  mankind  their  original  purity  and  felicity  ;  who 
 said,  "  Let  us  tempt  the  parents  to  sin,  and  then  the 
 race  shall  perish ;  corrupt  the  stock,  and  the  branches 
 must  decay."  The  same  adversary,  we  might  be  ready 
 to  suppose,  had  devised  a  subtle,  malicious  plot,  to  de- 
 feat the  glorious  scheme  of  redemption,  by  cutting  off 
 its  Author ;  and  that  he  was  now  giving  orders  to  some 
 of  his  numerous  agents  on  earth,  "  Smite  the  Shepherd, 
 
SERMON  I.  389 
 
 and  then  the  flock  will  fall  an  easy  prey."  Such,  per- 
 haps, might  be  our  opinion,  if  left  to  our  own  conjec- 
 tures. Similar  to  this  erroneous  opinion,  was  that  of 
 Peter,  concerning  the  very  event  to  which  the  text  re- 
 fers. When  Jesus  hinted  to  him  the  sufferings  which 
 he  was  soon  to  undergo,  the  warm-hearted  disciple  an- 
 swered with  his  usual  ardour,  "Be  it  far  from  thee, 
 Lord ;  this  shall  not  be  unto  thee.  But  behold  the 
 mystery  of  our  Lord's  sufferings  !  Not  the  sentence 
 commanding  his  death,  but  Peter's  remonstrance  against 
 it,  was  the  voice  of  the  enemy ;  and  it  was  reproved 
 accordingly :  Jesus  "  turned  and  said  unto  Peter,  get 
 thee  behind  me,  Satan,  thou  art  an  offence  unto  me,1' 
 Matth.  xvi.  23. 
 
 Whence,  then,  does  this  order  proceed  ?  Even  from 
 the  court  of  heaven,  and  from  the  throne  of  God.  It 
 is  the  voice  of  justice,  and  of  supreme  authority.  The 
 Father,  looking  on  the  Son  of  his  love,  and  in  the  very 
 character  with  which  he  had  so  lately  invested  him, 
 pronounces  the  rigorous  sentence,  "  Awake,  O  sword, 
 against  my  Shepherd,  and  against  the  man  that  is  my 
 fellow ;  smite  the  Shepherd."  Is  not  this  still  very  in- 
 explicable ?  What  has  the  Shepherd  done,  and  wherein 
 has  he  offended  ?  Has  he  forsaken  his  Father's  law,  or 
 neglected  bis  Father's  work  ?  Has  he  been  unfaithful 
 to  his  trust,  and  left  his  sheep  to  perish  in  the  wilder- 
 ness ?  So  far  otherwise,  that  he  was  able  to  say  with 
 confidence  to  his  Father,  "  I  have  finished  the  work 
 which  thou  gavest  me  to  do  :  those  that  thou  gavest 
 me  I  have  kept,  and  none  of  them  is  lost.1'  Why, 
 then,  smite  the  Shepherd  ?  W"e  must  search  the  scrip- 
 tures, which  testify  of  Jesus,  for  the  explication  of  this 
 
390  SERMON  I. 
 
 mystery.  There  we  learn  that  he  was  smitten,  because 
 he  was  to  do  what  no  other  shepherd  ever  did,  to  lay 
 down  his  life  for  his  sheep ;  because  he  had  to  "  bear 
 the  sin  of  many,  even  to  bear  their  iniquities ;"  because 
 he  was  to  be  wounded  for  their  transgressions,  and 
 bruised  for  their  iniquities ;  because  the  chastisement  of 
 their  peace  was  upon  him,  and  by  his  stripes  they  were 
 to  be  healed.  For  this  he  was  stricken,  smitten  of  God, 
 and  afflicted.  For  this,  it  pleased  the  Lord  himself  to 
 bruise  him,  and  put  him  to  grief.  For  this,  he  was 
 numbered  with  transgressors,  and  poured  out  his  soul 
 even  unto  death.  O  the  mystery  of  redeeming  love  ! 
 that  "  thus  it  behoved  Christ  to  suffer ;"  and  thus  "  it 
 became  him,  for  whom  are  all  things,  and  by  whom  are  all 
 things,  in  bringing  many  sons  unto  glory,  to  make  the 
 Captain  of  their  salvation  perfect  through  sufFerings,'1 
 Heb.  ii.  10. 
 
 If  such  was  the  divine  decree,  that  this  great,  this 
 faithful  Leader  of  the  people,  Messiah,  was  to  be  cut 
 off,  though  not  for  himself, — if  his  life  must  be  violent- 
 ly taken  away  as  a  sacrifice  to  the  immutable  justice 
 of  God,  who,  it  might  be  asked,  were  to  be  the  execu- 
 tioners of  this  wonderful  sentence  ?  The  sword  was  or- 
 dered to  smite,  but  where  was  the  hand  so  daring  as  to 
 wield  it  ?  Would  it  be  any  of  the  holy  angels,  who  wait 
 on  the  Most  High  to  execute  his  just  commands,  and 
 who  had  been  already  employed  in  taking  vengeance  on 
 guilty  cities  ?  But  how  could  any  one  of  these  pure 
 spirits  dare  to  lift  his  arm  against  the  anointed  of  the 
 Lord,  or  to  touch  his  holy  child  Jesus,  even  when  ho 
 stood  in  the  room  and  stead  of  sinners  ? 
 
 Would  it  then  be  the  inanimate  elements  of  the  world, 
 
SERMON  I.  391 
 
 the  winds,  or  the  waters,  or  the  flaming  fire,  which  he 
 often  maketh  his  messengers  ?  But  even  the  inanimate 
 creation  recoiled  from  the  deed,  and  seemed  endowed 
 with  preternatural  sensibility,  to  testify  its  horror  and 
 dismay.  "  The  sun  was  darkened,  the  earth  did  quake, 
 and  the  rocks  rent." 
 
 Shi  was  the  occasion  of  the  Messiah's  death,  and  sin 
 must  be  the  executioner  of  it.  Sinners  acting  in  their 
 own  spirit,  and  in  their  true  character, — sinners  of  every 
 rank  and  description,  rulers,  and  priests,  and  common 
 people, — both  Herod  and  Pontius  Pilate,  with  the  Gen- 
 tiles and  the  people  of  Israel,  must  combine  together 
 to  execute  this  sentence.  In  their  hands  was  the  sword 
 of  justice  placed,  and  they  were  left  to  use  it  according 
 to  their  own  murderous  intent.  The  blow  they  struck 
 was  agreeable  to  the  divine  decree,  but  not  an  act  of 
 obedience  to  a  divine  command.  On  the  contrary,  it 
 was  a  most  daring  exhibition  of  inveterate  enmity  a- 
 gainst  both  the  authority  and  the  mercy  of  God.  In 
 the  very  deed  which  was  to  bring  about  the  sinner's  re- 
 conciliation, sin  must  appear  what  it  is,  "  exceeding 
 sinful.*"  Sinners  must  themselves  become  the  voluntary 
 executioners  of  the  divine  sentence,  that  they  might  at 
 the  same  time  be  witnesses  of  the  overflowing  love  of 
 Jesus,  and  hear  him  with  his  dying  breath  plead  for 
 mercy  to  their  blood-guiltiness.  The  Shepherd  of  the 
 Lord  was  indeed  smitten, — the  Prince  of  life  was,  by 
 wicked  hands,  crucified  and  slain, — and  besides  the  cruel 
 stripes  which  men  inflicted,  he  was  stricken  and  smitten 
 of  God,  in  a  way  to  us  incomprehensible,  though  the 
 fact  is  revealed. 
 
392  SERMON  L 
 
 III.  The  consequences  of  this  astonishing  event  come 
 now  to  be  considered,  in  the  third  place. 
 
 The  immediate  consequences  were  mournful.  Jesus 
 had  recently  warned  his  disciples  of  what  was  to  hap- 
 pen, and  had  expressly  applied  to  himself  the  predic- 
 tion in  our  text :  "  All  ye  shall  be  offended  because  of 
 me  this  night ;  for  it  is  written,  I  will  smite  the  Shep- 
 herd, and  the  sheep  of  the  flock  shall  be  scattered  a- 
 broad,"  Matth.  xxvi.  31.  The  sheep  appeared  accord- 
 ingly to  be  scattered,  or  left  unprotected,  a  prey  to  the 
 devourer.  The  followers  of  Jesus  were  discouraged 
 and  dismayed.  They  "  trusted  that  this  was  he  which 
 should  have  redeemed  Israel,"  but  they  saw  him  "  slain, 
 and  hanged  on  a  tree."  They  saw  his  body  taken 
 down,  and  laid  in  the  grave.  Their  hopes  were  buried 
 with  him,  never,  as  they  believed,  to  revive  any  more. 
 They  saw  their  enemies  triumph,  and  they  had  every 
 reason  to  dread  their  persecution.  Even  the  insults 
 and  threats  of  the  populace  were  dangerous ;  so  that, 
 when  they  met  together,  they  were  obliged  to  have 
 "  the  doors  shut  for  fear  of  the  Jews."  He  from  whom 
 they  would  have  expected  protection  was  gone.  Where 
 were  now  their  hopes  of  seeing  the  kingdom  restored  to 
 Israel  ?  The  great  effects  expected  from  the  miraculous 
 powers  of  Jesus, — the  fulfilment  of  prophecies,  the  ex- 
 altation of  David's  horn,  and  the  re-establishment  of 
 his  kingdom,— every  thing  seemed  to  have  misgiven. 
 They  who  had  been  waiting  for  the  consolation  of  Is- 
 rael, saw  nothing  but  the  overthrow  of  their  fairest  ex- 
 pectations. c  Happy  Simeon  !'  would  some  then  say, 
 who  was  permitted  to  depart  in  peace,  when  his  eyes 
 had  seen  the  dawning  of  salvation  ;  but  we  who  saw,  as 
 
SERMON  I  398 
 
 me  confidently  thought,  the  promised  "  Sun  of  righ- 
 teousness arise,"  have  seen  him  also  go  down, — go  down 
 under  a  thick  cloud,  and  when,  or  where,  or  whether  he 
 shall  ever  rise  more,  we  know  not.'  Never  did  the 
 church  of  Christ  experience  a  darker  hour.  But  hap- 
 pily for  his  people,  it  was  not  long.  For  the  sake  of 
 an  incredulous  Thomas,  for  the  sake  of  a  mourning 
 Peter,  for  all  the  elect  disciples'  sake,  the  time  was 
 shortened. 
 
 Let  us  look  now  to  the  more  remote  consequences 
 which  followed  this  darkest  of  all  dispensations,  the 
 smiting  of  the  Shepherd. 
 
 The  first  remarkable  event  which  followed,  was  that 
 which  the  disciples  least  expected.  He  whom  they  saw 
 crucified,  dead,  and  buried,  was  not  to  remain  under 
 the  power  of  death.  He  was  not  to  see  corruption. 
 He  vanquished  death  in  his  own  territory.  He  burst 
 the  bands  of  the  grave,  and  became  the  first-fruits  of 
 them  that  sleep.  With  new  glory,  with  new  evidences 
 of  his  invincible  power,  with  new  testimonies  of  his  re- 
 gal authority,  "  he  rose  again  and  revived,  that  he 
 might  be  Lord  both  of  the  dead  and  of  the  living."1 
 
 See  him  next  ascending  into  heaven,  to  repossess  that 
 glory  wherewith  he  was  glorified  with  the  Father,  be- 
 fore the  world  began,  not  forsaking  his  people,  but 
 looking  back  upon  them  with  tender  solicitude,  exer- 
 cising still  a  pastoral  care  over  them,  and  promising  to 
 send  them  a  Comforter  and  Monitor  in  his  room.  See 
 him  ascending  in  triumph,  leading  captivity  captive, 
 receiving  gifts  for  men,  taking  possession  of  the  king- 
 dom on  behalf  of  his  followers,  and  preparing  heaven- 
 ly mansions  for  their  future  reception,  still  exercising  his 
 
 2  B 
 
394  SERMON  I. 
 
 mediatorial  office,  and  continuing  in  heaven  the  prayer 
 he  had  begun  on  earth,  "  Holy  Father,  keep  through 
 thine  own  name,  those  whom  thou  hast  given  me.'1  See 
 him,  from  his  throne  in  heaven,  sending  down  the  Spi- 
 rit of  truth  and  of  holiness,  the  Spirit  of  unity  and  of 
 love,  to  establish  their  hearts  in  the  belief  of  the  truth, 
 and  to  guide  their  feet  in  the  way  of  peace. 
 
 And  the  sheep  which  were  scattered,  and  which,  it 
 was  said,  "  would  be  a  prey,"  they,  we  are  assured, 
 shall  be  collected  from  all  places  where  they  have  been 
 dispersed ;  for  this  is  one  special  work  which  our  exalt- 
 ed Redeemer  has  yet  to  perform,  "  to  gather  into  one 
 the  children  of  God  that  are  scattered  abroad,"  John 
 xi.  52.  And  having  gathered  his  flock  together  under 
 his  immediate  protection,  he  will  cherish  them,  and  sup- 
 port them,  and  save  them  to  the  uttermost.  "  Asa 
 shepherd  seeketh  out  his  flock  in  the  day  that  he  is 
 among  his  sheep  that  are  scattered,  so  will  I  seek  out 
 my  sheep,  and  will  deliver  them  out  of  all  places  where 
 they  have  been  scattered  in  the  cloudy  and  dark  day. 
 I  will  feed  them  in  a  good  pasture,  and  upon  the  high 
 mountains  of  Israel  shall  their  fold  be  ;  there  shall 
 they  lie  in  a  good  fold,  and  in  a  fat  pasture  shall  they 
 feed  upon  the  mountains  of  Israel,"  Ezek.  xxxiv.  13.  14. 
 After  feeding  and  leading  them  through  their  present 
 state,  though  death  must  overtake  them  even  upon 
 "  the  mountains  of  Israel,"  yet  he  who  vanquished 
 death,  and  spoiled  the  grave,  will  not  allow  his  own  to 
 remain  in  their  power.  He  will  raise  them  up  at  the 
 last  day  ;  he  will  "  give  unto  his  sheep  eternal  life,  and 
 they  shall  never  perish,  neither  shall  any  pluck  them 
 out  of  his  hand." 
 
SERMON  I.  395 
 
 And  is  this  he  that  was  smitten  to  death,  who  now 
 reigns  in  heaven,  "  far  above  all  principality,  and  power, 
 and  might,  and  dominion,  and  every  name  that  is  nam- 
 ed," and  is  the  Head  over  all  things  to  his  church  ? — 
 And  are  these  they  who  were  scattered  abroad,  as  sheep 
 having  no  shepherd,— outcasts  whom  no  man  knew,  for 
 whom  no  man  cared,  who  are  now  gathered  into  one 
 under  their  divine  Head,  and  training  up  for  glory, 
 and  honour,  and  immortality  ?  "  O  the  depth  of  the 
 riches  both  of  the  wisdom  and  knowledge  of  God  !" 
 What  a  glorious  Shepherd  !  After  having  overcome 
 all  his  enemies,  he  is  set  down  with  his  Father  on  his 
 throne ;  where  he  shall  rule  the  nations  until  the  day 
 when  he  shall  come  in  his  glory,  and  all  the  holy  angels 
 with  him,  and  shall  sit  on  the  throne  of  his  glory. 
 What  a  blessed  flock  !  "  Who  is  like  unto  thee,  O 
 people,  saved  by  the  Lord,  who  is  the  shield  of  thy 
 help,  and  the  sword  of  thy  excellency  !"  Once,  per- 
 haps, ye  were  the  vilest  of  the  vile,  "  thieves,  covetous, 
 drunkards,  revilers,  extortioners ;  but  ye  are  washed, 
 but  ye  are  sanctified,  but  ye  are  justified,  in  the  name 
 of  the  Lord  Jesus,  and  by  the  Spirit  of  our  God.1* — 
 "  Ye  shall  be  called  by  a  new  name,  which  the  mouth 
 of  the  Lord  shall  name."  Instead  of  being  "  a  re- 
 proach  and  a  proverb,  a  taunt  and  a  curse,11  among  the 
 nations,  ye  shall  be  "  a  crown  of  glory  in  the  hand  of 
 the  Lord,  and  a  royal  diadem  in  the  hand  of  your 
 God,11  Isa.  lxii.  3. 
 
 But  we  must  forbear,  brethren,  to  pursue  these  views 
 farther  for  the  present.  If  we  be  indeed  the  Lord's, 
 we  have  an  eternity  before  us  to  spend  in  this  delight- 
 ful exercise.     And  how  can  eternity  be  better  cniplov- 
 
 2  b  2 
 
390  SERMON  I. 
 
 ed  than  in  admiring  and  adoring  him  "  who  was  dead, 
 and  is  alive  for  evermore  ?"  At  present  we  must  sus- 
 pend our  contemplations.  It  is  fit  that  we  turn  our 
 thoughts  homeward,  and  consider  how  far  we  sustain 
 the  character  of  Christ's  flock. 
 
 Let  us,  then,  seriously  look  back,  and  recollect  in 
 what  condition  the  Lord  found  us.  Did  he  not  find 
 us  "  in  a  desert  land,  in  the  waste  howling  wilderness  ?" 
 And  there,  were  we  lamenting  our  wretched  exposed 
 state,  earnestly  looking  about  for  a  path  which  might 
 conduct  us  to  a  land  of  purity  and  of  safety  ?  Instead 
 of  this,  were  we  not  turning  every  one  to  his  own  way, 
 and  wandering  on  still  more  and  more  astray  ?  Let  us 
 not,  brethren,  seek  to  disguise  the  real  disposition  of 
 our  souls  in  an  unconverted  state.  To  say  the  least, 
 were  we  not  "  foolish,  disobedient,  deceived,  serving 
 diverse  lusts  and  pleasures,1'  forgetful  of  God,  neglect- 
 ing his  word,  disregarding  his  commands,  and  con- 
 temning his  ordinances  ?  If  we  paid  any  regard  at  all 
 to  his  worship  or  service,  was  it  not  of  that  careless  and 
 ineffective  kind  which  the  young  man  in  our  Lord's  pa- 
 rable discovered,  who,  when  his  father  bade  him  go 
 work  in  his  vineyard,  "  answered  and  said,  I  go,  Sir, 
 and  went  not  ?"  If  this  was  our  backward,  perverse 
 disposition,  when  our  Lord  found  us,  how  did  he  treat 
 us  ?  He  might  well  have  driven  us  from  his  presence, 
 as  unworthy  of  his  care.  He  might  have  left  us  to  fol- 
 low our  own  course,  and  "  to  eat  of  the  fruit  of  our 
 own  doings.'''  He  might  have  sworn  in  his  wrath,  that 
 he  would  have  nothing  to  do  with  such  perverse  crea- 
 tures, and  that  we  should  never  enter  into  his  rest. 
 Instead  of  this,  he  regarded  us  with  the  tenderest  pity. 
 
SERMON  I.  397 
 
 He  saw  us  lying  in  our  blood,  and  bade  us  live.  He 
 "  had  compassion,  and  ran"  to  snatch  the  prey  out  of 
 the  lion's  mouth.  He  took  us  under  his  own  imme- 
 diate tuition ;  he  "  led  us  about,  and  instructed  us, 
 and  kept  us  as  the  apple  of  his  eye.,,  Thus,  like  a 
 wise  and  good  shepherd,  he  watched  over  us,  and  fed 
 us,  and  reared  us  as  his  own. 
 
 Now,  let  us  remember  what  has  been  our  behaviour 
 toward  this  kind  guardian  of  our  souls.  Have  we 
 learned  to  know  his  voice,  and  to  distinguish  it  from 
 that  of  strangers  ?  Our  Lord  says  that  his  sheep  follow 
 him,  for  thev  know  his  voice ;  and  a  stranger  will  they 
 not  follow,  but  will  flee  from  him,  for  they  know  not 
 the  voice  of  strangers.  Have  we  followed  this  gracious 
 Keeper  of  Israel,  that  we  might  listen  to  his  words, 
 and  receive  his  instructions  ?  He  instructs  us  in  our 
 duty,  points  out  the  way  of  life,  walks  before  us,  calls 
 us  to  follow  him,  and  offers  his  hand  to  conduct  and 
 support  us.  He  warns  us  not  to  lean  to  our  own  un- 
 derstanding, not  to  think  of  ourselves  more  highlv  than 
 we  ought  to  think,  not  to  set  our  affections  on  the  things 
 of  the  world,  not  to  follow  a  multitude  to  do  evil,  not 
 to  give  place  to  the  devil.  He  encourages  us  to  stand 
 fast  in  the  faith, — to  endure,  as  seeing  him  who  is  in- 
 visible,— to  come  boldly  to  a  throne  of  grace,  that  we 
 may  obtain  mercy,  and  find  grace  to  help  in  time  of 
 need, — to  fight  the  good  fight  of  faith,  and  lav  hold  on 
 eternal  life, — to  persevere  unto  the  end,  holding  fast 
 the  beginning  of  our  confidence, — in  a  word,  to  be  faith- 
 ful unto  death,  and  that  we  shall  obtain  the  crown  of 
 life.  Such  are  some  of  our  Lord's  precious  words  of 
 instruction,  warning,   and  encouragement.     Have  we, 
 
398  SERMON  I. 
 
 in  all  these  matters,  proved  ourselves  willing  disciples, 
 and  faithful  soldiers  ?  Have  we  stood  firm  in  our  alle- 
 giance to  our  divine  Head,  and  true  to  his  cause  ? 
 What  shall  we  answer  to  the  Searcher  of  hearts  ?  Of  a 
 truth  we  must  acknowledge  that  we  have  strayed  from 
 him  again  and  again, — that  we  have  reluctantly  sub- 
 mitted to  his  yoke, — that  we  have  been  tempted  to  wish 
 ourselves  at  liberty  to  return  to  our  old  lusts,  to  sub- 
 mit again  to  our  former  masters, — and,  regardless  of 
 him  who  had  delivered  us  from  our  Philistian  enemies, 
 when  we  were,  like  Sampson,  grinding  blindfold  in  our 
 prison-house,  sin  had  suggested  it  would  be  better  to  re- 
 sume our  task  and  our  chains  together,  in  our  old  house 
 of  bondage.  We  must  acknowledge  that  we  have  often 
 dishonoured  and  offended  our  heavenly  Master,  by  our 
 distrust  of  his  promises,  so  often  repeated  in  his  word, 
 and  even  confirmed  by  his  oath, — that  we  have  disho- 
 noured and  offended  him  by  our  unprofitableness  in  his 
 service,  notwithstanding  many  exhortations,  and  helps, 
 and  mercies,  and  encouragements  vouchsafed  us. 
 
 Thus  have  we,  by  our  ingratitude,  backwardness, 
 and  disobedience,  grieved  the  heart  of  our  compassion- 
 ate Redeemer,  and  contributed  our  part  toward  the 
 smiting  of  our  good  Shepherd,  who  loved  us,  and  gave 
 himself  for  us.  Did  he  weep  over  rebellious  Jerusa- 
 lem, and  mourn  over  backsliding  Israel,  and  her 
 treacherous  sister  Judah,  and  must  not  his  soul  be 
 grieved  for  the  perverseness  of  such  creatures  as  we. 
 whom  he  had  visited  with  such  unmerited  favour,  and 
 such  distinguished  mercy  ?  Yes,  our  conscience  testi- 
 fies against  us  this  day,  that  we  have  been  cumbering 
 his  ground, — that  wc  arc  not  worthy  of  the  least  of  all 
 
SERMON  I.  399 
 
 the  mercies,  and  of  all  the  truth  which  he  hath  shewed 
 US) — and  that  it  is  of  the  Lord's  mercies  that  we  are 
 not  cast  forth  as  a  withered  branch,  and  utterly  con- 
 sumed. Yet  still  he  is  waiting  that  he  may  be  gracious 
 to  us ;  he  renews  his  invitations  and  his  offers  of  par- 
 don ;   he  calls  us  to  a  feast  of  reconciliation,   love,   and 
 
 joy- 
 
 Say,  then,  shall  we  now  return  once  more  to  the 
 Shepherd  and  Bishop  of  our  souls  ?  Shall  we  not  "  take 
 with  us  words  of  confession  and  supplication,  and  turn 
 to  the  Lord,  and  say  unto  him,  Take  away  all  iniqui- 
 ty, and  receive  us  graciously  ?"  Shall  we  not,  from  our 
 hearts,  renounce  both  our  idols  and  our  own  righteous- 
 ness, saying,  "  Ashur  shall  not  save  us,  we  will  not 
 ride  upon  horses ;  neither  will  we  say  any  more  to  the 
 work  of  our  hands,  Ye  are  our  gods,  for  in  thee  the 
 fatherless  findeth  mercy  ?n  Hear  what  saith  the  divine 
 promise,  "  I  will  heal  their  backsliding,  I  will  love 
 them  freely,  for  mine  anger  is  turned  away,"  Hos.  xiv. 
 2 — 4.  Hear  again  the  divine  invitation,  addressed  by 
 him  who  gave  his  back  to  the  smiters,  even  to  you, 
 whose  sins  redoubled  every  stroke,  "  Return,  thou 
 backsliding  Israel,  saith  the  Lord,  I  will  not  cause 
 mine  anger  to  fall  upon  you ;  for  I  am  merciful,  saith 
 the  Lord,  I  will  not  keep  anger  for  ever.  Only  ac- 
 knowledge thine  iniquity,  that  thou  hast  transgressed 
 against  the  Lord  thy  God.  Return,  ye  backsliding 
 children,  I  will  heal  your  backslidings,"  Jer.  iii.  12.  13. 
 22.  Does  not  our  soul  reply,  "  Behold,  we  come  unto 
 thee,  for  thou  art  the  Lord  our  God.  Truly  in  vain 
 is  salvation  hoped  for  from  the  hills,  and  from  the 
 multitude  of  mountain?;    truly  in  the    Lord  our  God 
 
100  SERMON  I. 
 
 is  the  salvation  of  Israel  ?"  Come,  then,  brethren  in 
 Christ,  let  us  take  his  yoke  upon  us,  and  learn  of  him, 
 for  he  is  meek  and  lowly  in  heart,  and  we  shall  yet  find 
 rest  to  our  souls ;  for  his  yoke  is  easy,  and  his  burden 
 is  light.  Come  ye,  O  house  of  Jacob,  and  let  us  walk 
 in  the  light  of  the  Lord.  Come,  and  let  us  join  our- 
 selves to  the  Lord  in  a  perpetual  covenant,  that  shall 
 not  be  forgotten. 
 
SERMON  II 
 
 2  Sam.  xxiii.  5. — Although  my  house  be  not  so  with 
 God,  yet  he  hath  made  with  me  an  everlasting  eove-, 
 nant,  ordered  in  all  things,  and  sure ;  for  this  is  all 
 my  salvation,  and  all  my  desire,  although  he  make  it 
 not  to  grow. 
 
 JJavid,  from  his  earlier  days,  to  the  close  of  his  long 
 and  varied  life,  was  visited  with  many  and  painful  af- 
 flictions. Like  Him  whom  in  spirit  he  called  Lord, 
 though  descended  of  David  after  the  flesh,  he  was  a 
 man  of  sorrows,  and  acquainted  with  grief.  But  sanc- 
 tified affliction  produces  godly  sorrow,  and  godly  sor- 
 row worketh  repentance  to  salvation.  Of  this,  David 
 was  a  most  conspicuous  and  instructive  example.  From 
 his  youth,  he  was  taught  to  know  and  worship  the 
 Lord  God   nf  Israel.     After  he   was  taken   from   the 
 
402  SERMON  II. 
 
 sheep-fold,  and  brought  to  feed  Jacob,  and  rule  over 
 Israel,  new  temptations  beset  him ;  iniquities,  accord- 
 ing to  his  own  sorrowful  confession,  did  at  times  pre- 
 vail against  him,  and  his  falls  were  grievous.  But  the 
 Lord  had  chosen  him  for  a  servant,  therefore  he  did 
 not  leave  him  to  perish  in  his  sin.  This  sweet  psalmist 
 of  Israel  was  reclaimed  from  the  error  of  his  way  ;  and 
 after  wiping  off  his  penitential  tears,  he  again  tuned 
 his  sacred  harp  to  the  praises  of  his  own  great  Shep- 
 herd, who  had  restored  his  soul,  and  had  led  him  anew 
 in  the  paths  of  righteousness,  for  his  name's  sake. 
 From  the  manifold  mercies  of  God  to  his  soul,  expe- 
 rienced through  the  whole  course  of  his  diversified  life, 
 David  possessed  an  assured  confidence,  that  the  Lord 
 had  established  his  covenant  with  him, — that  the  God 
 of  Jacob  was  his  everlasting  portion, — that  he  would 
 never  fail  him,  nor  forsake  him, — and  that  he  would 
 build  up  his  throne,  and  establish  his  seed  to  many 
 generations.  Notwithstanding  this  assurance,  many  of 
 his  troubles  still  remained,  impaired  his  comfort,  and 
 broke  the  peace  of  his  family.  His  children  had  in 
 many  things  grieved  his  heart ;  his  enemies  perpetually 
 harassed  him  ;  and,  especially,  in  his  own  soul  he  did 
 not  find  his  desires  and  expectations  accomplished,  nor 
 spiritual  grace  growing  up  to  that  maturity  which  form- 
 ed a  most  valuable  part  of  the  promise  in  the  covenant 
 of  his  salvation. 
 
 Here  we  have  an  example  of  a  case  common  to  those 
 who  have  been  led  through  mercy  to  lay  hold  on  the 
 covenant  of  life,  established  through  the  Son  of  David, 
 the  great  Mediator.  A  believer  has  apprehended  and 
 laid  hold  of  this  covenant ;  he  knows  it  is  all  his  salva- 
 
SERMON  II.  403 
 
 tion,  he  feels  it  is  all  his  desire,  yet  he  has  to  mourn 
 his  short-comings,  and  the  disappointment  of  his 
 hopes,  in  some  of  those  points  which  he  believes  to  be 
 most  infallibly  secured  by  that  very  covenant.  This  is 
 a  case  that  calls  for  tender  treatment ;  and  while  we 
 would  humbly  endeavour  to  state  the  believer's  views  of 
 the  covenant,  and  his  experience  in  connection  with 
 those  views,  let  us  earnestly  implore  the  presence  and 
 blessing  of  Him  whose  commission  to  his  servants  is 
 still  the  same  as  ever,  "  Comfort  ye,  comfort  ye  my 
 people.'" 
 
 I.  We  shall  state  the  believer's  views  of  the  cove- 
 nant. Having  searched  the  scriptures  which  testify  of 
 Christ,  and  having  been  led  by  the  Spirit  to  the  know- 
 ledge and  love  of  the  truth,  the  believer  perceives  that 
 the  covenant  of  his  salvation  is  indeed  an  "  everlasting 
 covenant,  ordered  in  all  things,  and  sure." 
 
 He  sees  the  perfections  of  God  illustriously  displayed. 
 
 His  justice  is  satisfied  by  the  perfect  obedience  and 
 sufferings  of  his  own  Son,  in  the  human  nature,  who 
 thus  paid  the  full  penalty  of  man's  transgression,  and 
 wrought  out  a  complete  righteousness,  adequate  to  the 
 demands  of  the  perfect  law  of  God.  His  mercy  is 
 gloriously  manifested  in  freely  bestowing  a  full  par- 
 don, and  even  conferring  the  highest  honours,  on  sin- 
 ners, rebels,  outcasts,  who  deserved  nothing  but  to  be 
 consigned  to  "  the  blackness  of  darkness"  for  ever. 
 His  sovereignty  is  maintained  in  "  doing  what  he  will 
 with  his  own  f  in  choosing,  according  to  the  unerring 
 counsel  of  his  will,  the  objects  of  his  special  favour ; 
 and  dispensing  to  these,  such  measures  of  his  grace  and 
 
404  SERMON  II. 
 
 his  bounty,  as  appear  good  in  his  sight,  whose  domi- 
 nion is  over  all,  and  who  "  giveth  not  account  of  any 
 of  his  matters.'"  His  truth  is  vindicated  in  fulfilling 
 his  unchangeable  word,  that  the  wages  of  sin  is  death, 
 — that,  without  due  expiation,  he  will  not  clear  the 
 guilty, — that  nothing  unclean  shall  enter  into  the  holy 
 Jerusalem  above, — that  though  heaven  and  earth  pass 
 away,  one  jot,  or  one  tittle,  shall  in  no  wise  pass  from 
 the  law,  till  all  be  fulfilled ; — all  which  is  completely 
 accomplished  in  the  meritorious  work  of  the  great  Re- 
 deemer, and  in  the  sanctifying  operations  of  the  Divine 
 Spirit  on  the  soul  of  a  penitent  sinner.  Thus  the 
 honour  of  the  divine  government  is  secured,  and  all 
 the  intelligent  world  is  made  to  know  and  acknowledge, 
 that  the  righteous  Jehovah  loveth  righteousness,  and 
 hateth  iniquity.  The  believer,  contemplating  the  won- 
 ders of  redeeming  love,  admires  and  glories  in  that 
 covenant  by  which  mercy  and  truth  thus  meet  and 
 shine  forth  together. 
 
 He  sees  the  salvation  of'  the  penitent  sinner  Jully  se- 
 cured. 
 
 Abundant  provision  is  made  for  the  sinner's  deliver- 
 ance from  the  penalty  of  the  law,  seeing  Christ  hath 
 redeemed  him  from  the  curse  of  the  law,  "  by  being 
 made  a  curse  for  him,,'>  Gal.  iii.  13.  Abundant  pro- 
 vision is  made  for  the  sanctification  of  his  depraved 
 nature,  "  by  the  washing  of  regeneration,  and  the  re- 
 newing of  the  Holy  Ghost,  shed  on  him  abundantly 
 through  Jesus  Christ  his  Saviour."  Strength,  wisdom, 
 and  courage,  together  with  "  the  whole  armour  of  God/' 
 are  supplied  to  bear  him  through  his  spiritual  warfare ; 
 li^ht  to  jruidc  him    in  his  pilgrimage,  consolation  and 
 
SERMON  II.  405 
 
 support  in  time  of  trouble.  Nor  is  temporal  safety  and 
 provision  wanting ;  "  his  place  of  defence  is  the  muni- 
 tion of  rocks  ;  bread  also  is  given  him ;  his  water  shall 
 be  sure/'  He  sees  the  Lord  at  once  a  sun  and  a  shield 
 to  his  people ;  "  Christ  made  unto  them  wisdom,  and 
 righteousness,  and  sanctification,  and  redemption.'1 
 And  he  foresees  the  final  complete  glorification  of  his 
 soul  and  body,  in  that  bright  world  where  there  shall 
 be  no  more  sin  nor  curse,  no  more  night,  no  more 
 death,  neither  sorrow,  nor  crying,  nor  pain ;  where  the 
 ransomed  of  the  Lord  shall  live  and  reign  with  him  for 
 ever  and  ever. 
 
 The  believer  sees  the  subordinate  provisions  of'  the 
 covenant  well  ordered  in  all  things. 
 
 The  Bible,  the  deed  or  instrument  which  contains 
 the  covenant,  is  preserved  entire, — is  published  abroad 
 to  the  world, — is  translated,  or  translating  into  all  lan- 
 guages, and  disseminated  through  all  lands,  so  that 
 •people  of  all  nations,  and  kindreds,  and  languages, 
 may  hear,  in  their  own  tongues,  the  wonderful  works 
 of  God.  Messengers  are  selected  and  appointed,  are 
 equipped  and  sent  forth,  to  make  known  the  precious 
 contents  of  the  Bible,  to  proclaim  the  acceptable  year 
 of  the  Lord.  Particular  ordinances  are  appointed,  as 
 seals  or  conveyances  of  the  blessings  of  the  covenant, 
 and  administered  in  the  churches  to  those  who  lawfully 
 claim  the  benefit  of  them.  Various  dispensations  of 
 Providence,  some  of  a  prosperous,  some  of  an  adverse 
 nature,  directed  by  the  Author  of  the  covenant,  serve 
 to  display  the  wisdom  of  its  constitution,  the  suitable- 
 ness and  certainty  of  its  promises,  and  the  abundance 
 of    its  resources.       He  sees  these  tilings  further  con- 
 
406  SERMON  II. 
 
 firmed  by  the  experience  of  those,  on  the  one  hand, 
 who  have  embraced  the  covenant,  and  on  the  other, 
 of  those  who  have  rejected  it.  While  he  sees  Christ 
 crucified  become  a  stumbling-block  to  the  unbelieving 
 Jews,  and  foolishness  to  the  philosophic  Greeks,  yet  he 
 sees  that  to  them  who  are  called,  both  Jews  and  Greeks, 
 Christ  is  the  power  of  God,  and  the  wisdom  of  God, 
 1  Cor.  i.  23.  24. 
 
 The  believer  sees  the  stability  and  perpetuity  of  the 
 covenant  insured  by  the  immutable  character  of  the 
 parties  engaged. 
 
 The  Father  has  promised  to  the  Son,  that  "  the 
 pleasure  of  the  Lord  shall  prosper  in  his  hand ;"  that 
 "  he  shall  see  of  the  travail  of  his  soul,  and  shall  be 
 satisfied.,,  The  Son  undertakes,  and  performs :  "  I 
 have  glorified  thee  on  earth  ;  I  have  finished  the  work 
 which  thou  gavest  me  to  do ;  those  whom  thou  gavest 
 me  I  have  kept,  and  none  of  them  is  lost."  The  Holy 
 Spirit  also  undertakes  and  carries  on  his  work  in  the 
 hearts  of  those  whom  Jesus  has  ransomed,  till  he  has 
 sanctified  them  wholly,  and  presented  them  without  spot 
 or  blemish.  None  of  these  parties  can  fail ; — the  word 
 of  him  who  cannot  lie  is  passed.  As  if  this  were  of  it- 
 self insufficient  to  satisfy  men  slow  of  heart  to  believe, 
 he  hath  added  his  oath ;  and  because  he  could  swear 
 by  no  greater,  he  hath  sworn  by  himself, — that  by  two 
 immutable  things,  in  which  it  is  impossible  for  God  to 
 lie,  his  word  and  his  oath,  the  blessings  of  the  unchange- 
 able covenant  might  be  confirmed  for  ever  to  believers. 
 Mercies  thus  unalterably  secured,  may  well  be  called 
 "  the  sure  mercies  of  David.1'  They  cannot  be  ex- 
 hausted ;  the  source  from  which  they  flow  cannot  fail ; 
 
SERMON  II.  407 
 
 they  are  like  the  pure  river  of  the  water  of  life,  pro- 
 ceeding out  of  the  throne  of  God  and  of  the  Lamb,  and 
 flowing  for  ever  and  ever. 
 
 The  Lord  takes  pleasure  in  repeating,  in  his  own 
 person,  the  assurance  of  the  endless  continuance  of  his 
 loving-kindness  toward  his  chosen :  "  For  the  moun- 
 tains shall  depart,  and  the  hills  be  removed,  but  my 
 kindness  shall  not  depart  from  thee,  neither  shall  the 
 covenant  of  my  peace  be  removed,  saith  the  Lord  that 
 hath  mercy  on  thee,"  Isa.  liv.  10. 
 
 Having  thus  stated  the  views  which  the  believer  is 
 taught  to  form,  and  habitually  to  entertain,  of  the  cove- 
 nant of  his  salvation,  we  shall  now  inquire, 
 
 II.  What  is  his  experience  in  connection  with  those 
 views. 
 
 While  the  believer's  faith  is  lively,  and  his  views  of 
 the  provisions  and  blessings  of  the  covenant  are  clear, 
 he  rejoices  in  them  as  "  all  his  salvation,  and  all  his 
 desire."  He  knows  there  is  salvation  in  none  else  ;  that 
 in  vain  is  salvation  hoped  for  from  the  hills,  and  from 
 the  multitude  of  the  mountains  ;  that  in  the  Lord  alone 
 is  the  salvation  of  Israel,  Jer.  iii.  23.  He  does  not 
 wish  for  it  in  any  other  way  than  this,  which  is  so 
 honourable  to  God,  and  so  secure  to  the  sinner.  His 
 chief  desire  is  to  become  a  full  partaker  of  this  salva- 
 tion, and  to  glorify  God  by  a  life  and  conversation  be- 
 coming this  glorious  scheme  of  redemption.  But  here 
 he  has  at  times  to  mourn  a  sore  disappointment.  The 
 Lord  does  not  always  grant  him  his  heart's  desire  in 
 the  manner,  and  season,  and  measure  that  he  expected. 
 He  desires  to  be  spiritually-minded, — to  be  raised  ai 
 
408  SERMON  II. 
 
 the  world,— to  have  his  affections  set  on  things  above, 
 — to  be  wholly  resigned  to  his  Lord's  will,  and  able  to 
 say,  in  all  things,  "  Not  ray  will,  but  thine  be  done," 
 — to  have  his  whole  temper  and  spirit  conformed  to  the 
 pattern  of  his  Master's  spirit, — seeking  to  have  the  same 
 mind  which  was  in  Christ,  and  to  learn  of  him  to  be 
 meek  and  lowly  in  heart.  In  endeavouring  to  attain 
 this  blessed  temper,  he  does  not  trust  to  his  own 
 powers;  if  he  did,  his  failure  would  be  no  wonder; 
 but  he  has  respect  to  the  covenant,  and  looks  to  its  pro- 
 mises: "  I  will  make  an  everlasting  covenant  with 
 them,  that  I  will  not  turn  away  from  them  to  do  them 
 good ;  but  I  will  put  my  fear  in  their  hearts,  that  they 
 shall  not  depart  from  me,11  Jer.  xxxii.  40.  Notwith- 
 standing this,  he  often  finds  reason  to  complain  that 
 "  iniquities  prevail  against  him  ;"  that  backwardness  to 
 duty,  discontent  with  his  portion,  or  with  something 
 in  his  lot,  impatience  of  temper,  worldliness  of  spirit, 
 distrust  in  Providence,  are  often  working  in  his  heart ; 
 though  to  will  be  present  with  him,  yet  how  to  perform 
 that  which  is  good  he  finds  not ;  though  he  delights  in 
 the  law  of  God  after  the  inward  man,  yet  he  finds  a 
 law,  that  when  he  would  do  good,  evil  is  present  with 
 him,  Rom.  vii.  18.  &c.  While  the  everlasting  covenant 
 is  all  his  salvation  and  his  desire,  his  confidence  and  de- 
 light, still  a  body  of  sin,  a  body  of  death,  is  his  burden 
 and  his  grief. 
 
 The  believer  desires  to  be  fitted  for  his  divine  Mas- 
 ter's service ;  to  be  more  fervent  in  spirit,  more  active, 
 and  more  successful,  in  any  work  in  which  he  is  em- 
 ployed ;  to  be  more  fruitful  in  every  good  word  and 
 work;  and  thus  to  glorify  God   in   his  body  and  spirit. 
 
SERMON  II.  409 
 
 In  his  hopes  of  attaining  to  fruitfulness,  he  does  not 
 depend  on  his  own  exertions,  as  if  they  alone  were  suf- 
 ficient, though  he  knows  they  are  required;  but  he 
 looks  to  the  provisions  of  the  covenant,  and  thence 
 draws  his  encouragement  to  labour  and  exertion.  "  I 
 will  be  as  the  dew  unto  Israel ;  he  shall  grow  as  the 
 lily,  and  cast  forth  his  roots  as  Lebanon. — From  me  is 
 thy  fruit  found,"  Hos.  xiv.  5.  &c.  "  He  that  abideth 
 in  me,  and  I  in  him,  the  same  bringeth  forth  much 
 fruit.'1  But  neither  doth  this  srrow  with  him  according 
 to  his  desires  and  his  hopes ;  he  still  finds,  to  his  grief 
 and  mortification,  daily  cause  to  accuse  himself  of  sloth 
 and  barrenness, — to  lament  his  leanness  and  unprofita- 
 bleness ;  that  after  all  his  flattering  hopes  of  making  a 
 fair  and  fruitful  show,  and  accomplishing  a  great  deal, 
 he  is  little  else  than  an  unprofitable  servant,  an  un- 
 fruitful cumberer  of  the  ground. 
 
 The  believer  having  tasted  that  the  Lord  is  gracious, 
 and  experienced  the  sweetness  of  communion  with  him, 
 desires  to  have  constant  fellowship  with  his  heavenly 
 Father,  and  with  his  Son  Jesus  Christ ;  to  be  daily  be- 
 holding the  beauty  of  the  Lord,  and  drawing  water  out 
 of  the  wells  of  salvation;  and  so  to  have  continual  joy 
 and  peace  in  believing.  And  in  this  point  also,  he  has 
 respect  to  the  covenant ;  he  remembers  the  words  of  his 
 Lord,  "  These  things  have  I  spoken  unto  you,  that 
 my  joy  might  remain  in  you,  and  that  your  joy  might 
 be  full/1  John  xv.  11.  "  Ask,  and  ye  shall  receive, 
 that  your  joy  may  be  full,"  chap.  xvi.  24.  But  here, 
 too,  he  is  often  sorely  disappointed.  Temptations  arise, 
 and  his  faith  is  clouded, — his  prayers  are  hindered, — 
 his  communion  with  God  is  disturbed  or  interrupted,— 
 
 2  c 
 
410  SERMON  II. 
 
 his  hopes  are  overcast, — his  joy  is  changed  into  sorrow 
 and  mourning. 
 
 He  desires  to  see  his  own  house,  and  the  household 
 of  faith,  flourishing.  With  respect  to  his  children,  he 
 can  call  God  to  witness  that  he  has  no  higher  wish,  no 
 greater  joy,  than  to  see  that  his  children  walk  in  the 
 truth;  and  whatever  be  their  lot  in  the  world,  that 
 they  may  have  their  portion  with  God's  people.  So 
 also  for  his  brethren  in  Christ,  his  heart's  desire  and 
 prayer  is,  that  their  souls  may  prosper, — that  their  light 
 may  shine, — that  the  interests  of  Christ's  kingdom  may 
 be  advanced, — and  that  the  children  of  Zion  may  be 
 joyful  in  their  King.  In  breathing  out  these  desires, 
 he  takes  encouragement  from  the  promises  of  the  cove- 
 nant : — "  Behold,  thus  shall  the  man  be  blessed  that 
 feareth  the  Lord.  The  Lord  shall  bless  thee  out  of 
 Zion,  and  thou  shalt  see  the  good  of  Jerusalem  all  the 
 days  of  thy  life;  yea,  thou  shalt  see  thy  children's 
 children,  and  peace  upon  Israel,"  Psal.  cxxviii.  4.  5.  6. 
 In  this  case,  too,  he  has  to  mourn,  at  times,  the  disap- 
 pointment of  his  fair  expectations.  A  darling  Benja- 
 min is  forced  away  from  his  father's  embraces, — a  fa- 
 vourite Joseph  is,  perhaps,  torn  by  a  wild  beast, — an 
 accomplished  Absalom  becomes  an  undutiful  rebellious 
 son, — and  a  Hophni,  or  Phinehas,  though  well  educat- 
 ed, and  in  the  priest's  office,  become  abandoned  to  vice, 
 and  almost  break  their  father's  heart.  "  His  house  is 
 not  so  with  God"  as  he  wished  and  hoped, — and  this 
 is  a  cause  of  sore  lamentation.  Neither  does  he  see  the 
 church  of  Christ  prospering  in  his  land,  and  in  his  day. 
 Lukewarmness  prevails, — the  love  of  many  waxes  cold, 
 — the  godly  man  faileth,  and  is  taken  away  from  the 
 
SERMON  II  411 
 
 evil  to  come,— the  godly  pastor,  who  fed  the  Lord's 
 little  flock  in  the  wilderness,  is  called  home,  and  the 
 babes  and  sucklings  are  prematurely  weaned  from  the 
 breast.  When  the  pillars  of  the  church,  the  champions 
 of  the  faith,  are  removed,  irreligion  and  profanity  be- 
 come bold,  and  the  pious  remnant  seek  for  shelter  in 
 private  retirements ;  they  enter  into  their  chambers, 
 and  shut  the  doors  about  them ;  they  hide  themselves 
 for  a  moment,  until  the  indignation  be  overpast,  Isa. 
 xxvi.  20.  The  zealous  believer  sees,  with  grief  and  in- 
 dignation, the  cross  of  Christ  despised,  and  the  enemies 
 of  the  cross  lifting  their  heads  with  daring  confidence. 
 Alas !  he  cries,  "  is  the  Lord's  hand  shortened  that  it 
 cannot  save,  or  his  ear  heavy  that  it  cannot  hear  ?" — 
 When  his  enemies  rage,  and  make  a  noise  even  in  the 
 house  of  the  Lord,  Lam.  ii.  7.  where  is  the  Lord  God 
 of  Elijah  ?  where  is  the  promise  of  his  coming?  "  Hast 
 thou  utterly  rejected  Judah  ?  Hath  thy  soul  loathed 
 Zion  ?  We  look  for  peace,  and  there  is  no  good ;  and 
 for  the  time  of  healing,  and  behold  trouble,"  Jer.  xiv. 
 19. 
 
 Thus  does  the  believer  often  complain  and  mourn, 
 that  his  desire  is  not  yet  fulfilled,  that  "  the  Lord  mak- 
 eth  it  not  to  grow."  Instead  of  advancing,  he  suspects 
 himself  to  be  losing  ground.  He  is  reaching  forth,  in- 
 deed, to  the  things  which  are  before ;  but  the  more  he 
 reaches  and  lifts  his  eyes,  he  only  sees  the  greater  length 
 before  him,  and  finds  that  perfection  is  the  farther  off. 
 He  is  almost  ready  to  faint  and  give  over,  "  because  of 
 the  way."  For  a  moment  he  is  tempted  to  doubt  the 
 sufficiency  and  stability  of  the  covenant ;  but  his  faith 
 is  strengthened,  and  he  dares  not  doubt.     He  is  ready, 
 
 2  c  2 
 
41 2  SERMON  II. 
 
 however,  to  doubt  his  own  interest  in  the  covenant,  and 
 to  think  that  his  iniquities  have  separated  between  him 
 and  his  God,  and  that  his  sins  have  hid  the  Lord's  face 
 from  him,  that  he  will  not  hear,  Isa.  lix.  2.  This  hangs 
 heavy  on  his  soul,  and  makes  him  go  mournfully  from 
 day  to  day. 
 
 Let  us  endeavour  to  address  to  a  mourner  in  this  si- 
 tuation, 
 
 1.  A  word  of  encouragement.  The  case  calls  for 
 encouragement  and  comfort.  Although  a  believer 
 should  be  left  for  a  time  under  sorrow  and  discourage- 
 ment ;  yet  it  is  not  the  will  of  their  heavenly  Father 
 that  one  of  these  little  ones  should  perish.  His  com- 
 mand to  his  ministering  messengers  concerning  such,  is 
 still,  "  Comfort  ye,  comfort  ye  my  people." 
 
 Consider  the  promises  applicable  to  your  own  parti- 
 cular situation. 
 
 You  complain  of  carnality,  backwardness,  coldness  of 
 affection,  besetting  and  indwelling  sins  defiling  your 
 soul,  hindering  or  corrupting  your  duties,  marring  your 
 comforts,  and  still  drawing  your  heart  from  God,  or 
 hiding  from  you  the  light  of  his  countenance.  But  the 
 Lord  assures  you  that,  in  time,  all  that  you  complain 
 of  shall  be  purged  away :  "  I  will  turn  my  hand  upon 
 thee,  and  purely  purge  away  thy  dross,  and  take  away 
 all  thy  tin,"  Isa.  i.  25.  "  I  will  sprinkle  clean  water 
 upon  you,  and  ye  shall  be  clean ;  from  all  your  filthi- 
 ness,  and  from  all  your  idols,  will  I  cleanse  you,"  Ezek. 
 xxxvi.  25.  Paul  complained  as  you  do  now:  "  O 
 wretched  man  that  I  am !  who  shall  deliver  me  from 
 this  body  of  death  ?"     But  he  found  comfort  at  hand  ; 
 
SERMON  II.  413 
 
 "  I  thank  God  through  Jesus  Christ  our  Lord,"  Rom. 
 vii.  24.  25. 
 
 You  complain  of  unfruitfulness;  that  your  own  graces 
 do  not  grow ;  that  you  are  not  profitable  to  others ; 
 that,  instead  of  glorifying  God  with  your  body  and  spi- 
 rit, you  rather  dishonour  him  by  a  barren  profession, 
 and  a  useless  life ;  that  you  are  cumbering  the  ground, 
 and  only  fit  to  be  cut  down  and  cast  forth  as  a  wither- 
 ed branch.  But  O  !  thou  self-accusing  mourner,  hear 
 the  word  of  the  Lord :  "  I  will  pour  water  upon  him 
 that  is  thirsty,  and  floods  upon  the  dry  ground ;*  "  I 
 will  save  her  that  halteth,  and  gather  her  that  was  dri- 
 ven out,"  Isa,  xliv.  3.  Zeph.  iii.  19-  "  They  shall  re- 
 vive as  the  corn,  and  grow  as  the  vine ;"  for  "  from 
 me  is  thy  fruit  found ,"  Hos.  xiv.  7.  8. 
 
 You  complain  of  want  of  communion  with  God ; 
 that  you  have  lost  the  cheering  fellowship  you  once  en- 
 joyed with  him  in  his  ordinances ;  you  "  go  forward, 
 but  he  is  not  there,  and  backward,  but  you  cannot  per- 
 ceive him.',  You  fear  that  the  Lord  hath  cast  you  off; 
 that  his  mercy  is  gone  for  ever ;  that  even  his  promise 
 doth  fail  for  evermore.  But  hearken,  O  thou  afflict- 
 ed, tossed  with  tempest,  and  not  comforted,  the  Lord 
 hath  called  thee  as  a  woman  forsaken  and  grieved  in 
 spirit ;  and  what  doth  he  say  ?  "  For  a  small  moment 
 have  I  forsaken  thee,  but  with  great  mercies  will  I 
 gather  thee  ;  in  a  little  wrath  I  hid  my  face  from  thee 
 for  a  moment,  but  with  everlasting  kindness  will  I 
 have  mercy  on  thee,  saith  the  Lord  thy  Rcdeemer,,, 
 Isa.  liv.  6.  7.  11.  "  When  the  poor  and  needy  stvk 
 water,  and  there  is  none,  and  their  tongue  faileth  for 
 thirst,  I  the  Lord  will  hear  them,  I  the  God  of  Israel 
 
414  SERMON  II. 
 
 will  not  forsake  them  ;  I  will  open  rivers  in  high  places, 
 and  fountains  in  the  midst  of  the  vallies ;  I  will  make 
 the  wilderness  a  pool  of  water,  and  the  dry  land  springs 
 of  water,"  Isa.  xli.  17.  18. 
 
 You  complain  of  the  want  of  grace  and  piety  in  your 
 family,  or  in  the  church ;  and  you  ask  with  painful 
 longing,  when  will  salvation  come  to  your  house  ? 
 "  Wilt  thou  not  revive  us  again,  that  thy  people  may 
 rejoice  in  thee  ?"  Psal.  lxxxv.  6.  But  you  may  still 
 take  to  yourself,  and  plead  the  promise  made  to  the 
 church  of  old,  "  I  will  pour  water  on  him  that  is  thirsty, 
 and  floods  upon  the  dry  ground  :  I  will  pour  my  spirit 
 on  thy  seed,  and  my  blessing  upon  thine  offspring ;  and 
 all  thy  children  shall  be  taught  of  the  Lord,  and  great 
 shall  be  the  peace  of  thy  children,"  Isa.  xliv.  S.  4.  liv. 
 13.  Behold,  and  read ;  hear,  and  understand ;  ask, 
 and  plead,  and  be  not  faithless  but  believing ;  and  thou 
 shalt  yet  see  the  glory  of  God  ! 
 
 Consider  your  own  past  experience. 
 Recollect  how  it  fared  at  times  with  your  bodily  health, 
 when  you  said,  with  Hezekiah,  "  I  shall  go  to  the  gates 
 of  the  grave,  I  am  deprived  of  the  residue  of  my  years." 
 Notwithstanding  your  apprehensions,  the  Lord  stretch- 
 ed out  his  hand,  and  healed  you,  and  bade  you  live ;  so 
 that  you  cried  out,  with  the  same  pious  king,  "  What 
 shall  1  say  ?  He  hath  both  spoken  unto  me,  and  him- 
 self hath  done  it."  Doth  God  take  care  for  the  body  ? 
 Doth  he  take  care  for  the  beast  of  the  field  which  he 
 hath  made  ?  And  will  he  not  much  more  care  for  the 
 soul  which  he  hath  redeemed  ?  Will  he  not  heal  your 
 spiritual  diseases,  and  relieve  your  pains,  and  make  you 
 to  sing,  with  the  king  of  Judah,  "  Behold,  for  peace  I 
 
SERMON   II.  415 
 
 had  great  bitterness  ;  but  thou  hast,  in  love  to  my  soul, 
 delivered  it  from  the  pit  of  corruption,  for  thou  hast  cast 
 all  my  sins  behind  thy  back,""  Isa.  xxxviii.  10.  15.  17. 
 
 Recollect  how  it  fared  with  your  soul,  when  at  times 
 your  spirit  was  overwhelmed  within  you,  and  the  waters 
 had  gone  over  your  soul.  Yet  then  did  the  Lord  visit 
 you.  He  heard  your  cry  ;  he  brought  you  up  out  of 
 a  horrible  pit,  out  of  the  miry  clay ;  he  set  your  feet 
 upon  a  rock,  and  established  your  goings,  Psal.  xl.  2. 
 Even  then,  when  your  soul  fainted  within  you,  you  re- 
 membered the  Lord,  and  your  prayer  came  in  unto 
 him,  into  his  holy  temple,  Jonah  ii.  7. 
 
 You  complain,  that  whereas  in  former  times  you  had 
 falls,  and  also  recoveries ;  yet  now  you  find  little  change, 
 but  a  constant  languor  and  deadness  of  spirit,  even  "  a 
 perpetual  backsliding."     Then  your  complaint  is  the 
 same  that  David  uttered  long  ago,  "  The  enemy  hath 
 persecuted  my  soul,   he  hath   smitten  my  life  down  to 
 the  ground  ;  he  hath  made  me   to  dwell  in  darkness, 
 as  those  that  have  been  long  dead ;    therefore  is  my 
 spirit  overwhelmed  within  me,  my  heart  within  me  is 
 desolate,"  Psal.  cxliii.  3.  4. — But,  with  David,  do  you 
 also  remember  the  days  of  old  ?    Who  formerly  raised 
 you  up  and  recovered  you  ?    Who  restored  your  soul  ? 
 None  else  than  your  gracious  Shepherd,  whose  charge 
 you  still  are.     "  If,  when  we  were  enemies,  we  were  re- 
 conciled to  God  by  the  death  of  his  Son  ;  much  more, 
 being  reconciled,  we  shall  be  saved  by  his  life,"  Rom. 
 v.  10.     As  sure  as  Jesus  died,  and  now  lives,  so  sure- 
 ly they  who  have  died  with  Christ  unto  sin,  shall  live 
 with  him  also.     Lazarus  was  once  delivered  from   the 
 power  of  death  ;  yet  a  second   time  he   sunk    into   the 
 
416  SERMON  II. 
 
 grave.  Is  it,  for  that  reason,  the  less  likely  that  he 
 whom  Jesus  thus  honoured,  shall  have  part  at  last  in 
 the  resurrection  of  the  just  ? 
 
 Formerly,  your  heavenly  Teacher  gave  you  shorter 
 lessons ;  now,  he  gives  you  heavier  and  longer  tasks. 
 He  tries  your  strength,  and  makes  you  feel  your  own 
 weakness,  that  your  strength  may  be  in  God.  For  two 
 tedious  years  Joseph  pined  in  prison,  and  concluded 
 that  his  friend,  the  chief  butler,  would  never  remember 
 him  more.  But  his  God  had  not  forgotten  him ;  and 
 even  then,  his  highest  exaltation  was  near  at  hand. 
 Even  in  his  confinement  Joseph  had  one  support,  that 
 the  Lord  showed  him  mercy,  and  gave  him  favour  in 
 the  sight  of  the  keeper  of  the  prison.  If  the  Lord  has 
 still  given  you  favour  in  the  sight  of  some  of  his  own 
 servants  and  people,  esteem  it  as  showing  you  mercy, 
 and  as  a  token  for  good.  Your  deliverance  from  trouble 
 is  fast  approaching.  If  the  wilderness  grow  more 
 dreary  as  you  advance,  yet  you  are  always  drawing 
 nearer  its  confines,  nearer  to  the  water  of  Jordan.  If 
 the  river  become  deeper  as  you  wade  through,  yet  you 
 are  assuredly  approaching  the  further  bank,  the  boun- 
 dary of  Canaan,  the  fields  of  your  rest.  The  days  of 
 your  mourning  will  soon  be  ended,  for  "  your  complete 
 salvation  is  nearer  than  when  ye  first  believed  ;n  nearer, 
 by  many  steps,  than  it  was  on  the  happy  "  day  of  your 
 espousals,"'1  when  nothing  but  the  voice  of  gladness  and 
 singing  was  heard  in  your  tabernacle. 
 
 2.  Suffer  me  to  add  a  word  of  admonition.  Re- 
 member you  are  yet  in  the  body.  You  bear  about  with 
 you  a  body  of  sin  and  of  death,  of  which  you  cannot 
 be  wholly  hx-ed  in  this  world.     While  you  cannot  sup- 
 
SERMON  I.  417 
 
 pose  that  you  are  already  perfect,  and  need  not  expect 
 to  become  so  here,  yet  press  on  toward  perfection.  Let 
 not  your  discouragements  hinder  your  exertions.  Let 
 not  weeping  hinder  working.  Still  sow,  though  in  tears. 
 In  due  time  you  shall  reap,  and  bring  your  sheaves  re- 
 joicing home.  Bear  up  under  your  present  burdens. 
 You  will  soon  cast  off  that  "  vile  body,"  and  it  will  in- 
 cumber you  no  longer.  "  Wait  on  the  Lord,  be  of 
 good  courage,  and  he  will  strengthen  thy  heart.  Wait, 
 I  say,  on  the  Lord,"  Psal.  xxvii.  14.  JRemember  you 
 are  yet  in  the  wilderness.  Do  not  expect  that  here  you 
 can  feed  daily  on  the  grapes  of  Eshcol.  A  rich  cluster 
 may,  at  a  time,  be  brought  to  your  hand,  but  it  is  not 
 the  native  growth  of  this  barren  soil.  You  may  find 
 some  "  bitter  herbs"  mixed  with  your  sweetest  portion, 
 but  they  are  of  a  salutary  purifying  virtue.  Bless  God 
 for  your  daily  manna, — the  word,  and  prayer,  and  daily 
 ordinary  duties,  comforts,  and  opportunities.  Use  these 
 diligently  and  thankfully,  when  richer  cordials  are  not 
 given.  They  will  be  as  a  honeycomb,  sweet  to  the  soul, 
 and  health  to  the  bones,  Prov.  xvi.  24.  Remember  you 
 are  yet  in  the  midst  of  enemies,  your  warfare  is  not  yet 
 accomplished.  Your  enemies  may  have  been  put  to 
 flight,  but  they  are  not  yet  banished  from  the  land. 
 Do  not  expect  the  conqueror's  crown,  while  you  are  but 
 in  the  heat  of  the  conflict.  The  time  is  not  yet  fully 
 come  for  putting  off  your  armour,  but  be  strong  and  of 
 good  courage,  be  not  afraid,  neither  be  dismayed,  for  the 
 Lord  your  God  is  with  you  whithersoever  you  go,  Josh. 
 i.  9-  Even  now,  the  Lord  whom  ye  seek  shall  sudden- 
 ly come  to  his  temple,  even  the  Messenger  of  the  cove- 
 nant whom  ye  delight  in  ;  behold,  he  shall  come,  sailh 
 
418  SERMON  II. 
 
 the  Lord  of  hosts.  He  shall  sit  as  a  refiner  and  puri- 
 fier of  silver,  skilfully  and  tenderly  conducting  the  pro- 
 cess, until  he  shall  have  purged  away  thy  dross,  and 
 taken  away  all  thy  tin.  Jesus,  the  ever-living  Media- 
 tor, is  even  now  praying,  nay,  he  hath  already  prayed, 
 and  obtained  his  request,  that  your  faith  fail  not  till  the 
 combat  be  ended,— till  the  victory  over  the  "  last  ene- 
 my" be  complete, — till  the  crown  of  life  be  obtained, — 
 till  you  come  to  Zion  with  singing,  and  everlasting  joy 
 upon  your  head,— till  you  obtain  joy  and  gladness,  and 
 sorrow  and  sighing  shall  for  ever  flee  away. 
 
 As  to  such  as  desire  not  the  salvation  promised  in  the 
 everlasting  covenant,  we  cannot  conclude  without  ad- 
 dressing to  you  this  affectionate  counsel, — "  Seek  ye 
 the  Lord  while  he  may  be  found,  call  upon  him  while 
 he  is  near." — "  Whosoever  will,  let  him  take  of  the 
 water  of  life  freely."     Amen. 
 
SERMON  III. 
 
 Matth.  xiv.  31. — O  thou  of  little  faith,  wherefore  didst 
 thou  doubt  ? 
 
 X  heee  is  a  wonderful  copiousness  in  the  word  of  God. 
 Its  precepts  furnish  directions  for  our  conduct,  its  pro- 
 mises encouragement,  its  threatenings  warning  and  ad- 
 monition. In  the  historical  parts,  we  often  find  all  these 
 combined  together.  The  incidents  recorded,  when 
 viewed  in  their  various  circumstances,  and  regarded  as 
 exhibiting  characters  and  examples  either  of  good  or 
 of  evil,  often  suggest  direction,  or  encouragement,  or 
 warning,  in  a  way  at  once  familiar  and  impressive.  E- 
 specially  if  a  person  finds,  in  his  own  experience,  any 
 particulars  which  bear  a  resemblance  to  the  case  re- 
 corded, then  the  instructions  arising  out  of  the  narra- 
 tive may  be  the  more  easily  transferred,  and  applied  to 
 
420  SERMON  III. 
 
 his  own  case.  The  incident  in  the  passage  before  us, 
 ought  to  be  regarded,  and  may  easily  be  improved,  in 
 this  manner. 
 
 Peter  was  distinguished  among  his  fellow-disciples  by 
 an  ardour  of  spirit,  which,  while  it  testified  his  warm 
 attachment  to  his  Master,  sometimes  hurried  him  on  to 
 actions  or  expressions  that  drew  upon  him  a  sharp  re- 
 proof. His  rashness  needed  frequently  to  be  checked, 
 as  well  as  his  mistakes  to  be  corrected.  His  forward- 
 ness and  want  of  consideration,  at  times  betrayed  him 
 into  a  self-confidence,  which  his  Lord  corrected,  by  al- 
 lowing him  to  feel  the  unhappy  consequences  of  it. 
 This  was  the  case  in  that  remarkable  instance  of  his 
 denying  all  personal  knowledge  of  Christ,  when  he  was 
 left  to  fall  most  lamentably  from  the  height  of  his  fan- 
 cied fortitude,  in  which  he  so  confidently  trusted.  On 
 the  occasion  recorded  in  the  chapter  before  us,  when 
 Jesus,  miraculously  walking  on  the  water,  approached 
 the  ship  in  which  the  disciples  were,  Peter,  more  confi- 
 dent and  forward  than  the  rest,  called  out  to  his  Lord, 
 whom  he  was  overjoyed  to  behold  so  near  him,  desiring 
 permission  to  prove  his  intrepidity  and  attachment  to 
 Jesus,  by  committing  himself  to  the  boisterous  element, 
 in  order  to  meet  and  salute  his  beloved  Master.  Our 
 Lord  saw  fit  to  correct  his  forwardness,  by  granting  his 
 request.  The  event  served  to  shew  the  too-confident 
 disciple,  that  neither  his  fortitude  nor  his  faith  were 
 equal  to  such  a  trial  as  he  rashly  solicited.  His  fortitude 
 failed,  and  "  he  was  afraid  ;"  his  faith  failed,  and  "  he 
 began  to  sink."  Jesus,  who  is  ever  a  present  help  in 
 time  of  trouble,  regarded  the  piteous  cry  of  his  disci- 
 ple ;   he  stretched  out  his  band,  caught  hold  of  him  as 
 
SERMON  III.  421 
 
 he  was  sinking  in  the  waves,  and  saved  his  life.  "This 
 timely  aid,  and  signal  deliverance,  were  accompanied 
 with  a  mild  but  piercing  reproof,  "  O  thou  of  little 
 faith,  wherefore  didst  thou  doubt  V* 
 
 Many  can  say  that  they  have  never  been  so  rash  or 
 fool-hardy  as  Peter,  and  so  never  drew  upon  themselves 
 a  reproof  such  as  he  received.  This  may  be  very  true. 
 Many  have  not  attained  so  much  of  the  Christian  spirit, 
 as  to  expose  them  to  Peter's  fault.  They  do  not  pos- 
 sess such  love  to  Jesus,  as  to  expose  their  persons  to 
 danger,  or  to  venture  any  thing  for  his  sake.  Others, 
 however,  who  may  possess  real  love  to  Jesus,  but  not 
 Peter's  honest  though  inconsiderate  ardour,  may,  not- 
 withstanding, be  chargeable  with  his  unbelief.  To  them 
 the  reproof  in  the  text  may  be  found  applicable,  and 
 may  furnish  matter  of  profitable  meditation. 
 
 Our  Lord's  words  to  his  faithful  though  rash  disciple, 
 may  be  considered  as  administering  admonition,  reproof, 
 zxid  encouragement. 
 
 I.  Our  Lord  here  admonishes  Peter  of  what  he  ap- 
 pears to  have  forgotten.  He  had  seen  Jesus  perform 
 many  miracles  for  the  preservation  of  men's  lives ;  it 
 was  but  the  evening  before,  that  he  had  seen  him  feed 
 upwards  of  five  thousand  persons  in  the  wilderness. 
 He  had  often  heard  him  declare  his  general  providen- 
 tial care  over  his  creatures  ;  "  If  God  feed  the  fowls  of 
 the  air,  and  clothe  the  grass  of  the  field,  will  he  not 
 much  more  clothe  you,  O  ye  of  little  faith?"'  Nay, 
 he  had  heard  him  express  his  peculiar  love  towards  his 
 disciples,  calling  them  by  the  tenderest  names,  (Matth. 
 xii.  49)  ;  and  heard  him  declare  the  arduous  but  ho- 
 
422  SERMON  III. 
 
 nourable  service  to  which  they  were  destined ;  "  Ye 
 shall  be  brought  before  governors  and  kings,  for  my 
 sake,  but  fear  them  not,  for  a  hair  of  your  head  shall 
 not  perish."  All  the  important  predictions,  all  the  ten- 
 der assurances  of  support,  which  his  divine  Master 
 had  uttered,  seem  to  have,  for  the  moment,  escaped  the 
 recollection  of  Peter  ;  the  apprehension  of  present  dan- 
 ger overwhelmed  his  mind,  and  he  gave  up  all  for  lost. 
 Much  did  he  need  to  be  put  in  mind  of  what  he  had 
 formerly  seen  and  heard,  to  strengthen  his  drooping 
 faith. 
 
 Brethren,  we  here  behold  an  image  of  ourselves. 
 What  great  and  precious  promises  has  Jesus  left  us  on 
 record,  not  only  of  temporal  provision  and  preserva- 
 tion, but  much  more  of  ample  grace  to  help  in  time  of 
 need  !  Promises  so  plain,  that  he  may  run  who  reads 
 them, — so  express,  that  they  leave  no  doubt  in  the 
 mind  of  him  who  is  sincerely  disposed  to  receive  them, 
 — so  numerous  and  various,  that  they  will  be  found  to 
 apply  to  every  case  of  the  believer's  trial  or  his  exer- 
 cise, his  pilgrimage  or  his  warfare  !  These  divine  pro- 
 mises have  been  tried  to  the  utmost,  and  they  have 
 never  failed.  Saints  of  old  have  recorded,  with  joy 
 and  praise,  the  faithfulness  of  God,  and  the  stability 
 of  his  promises ;  and  though  they  were  often  made  to 
 wait  for  a  time,  yet  they  were  not  disappointed,  Psal. 
 xl.  1 — 3.  Have  not  we  ourselves,  in  seasons  of  dis- 
 tress, laid  hold  on  some  of  the  divine  promises  ?  Have 
 we  not  found,  in  the  word  itself,  a  firm  support  ?  And 
 at  length,  in  its  accomplishment,  have  we  not  received 
 even  more  than  we  expected  ?  Yet,  after  all  that  we 
 have  learned,  either  from  the  experience  of  others,  or 
 
SERMON  III  423 
 
 from  our  own,  how  ready  are  we,  in  any  new  trouble, 
 to  lose  sight  of  all  that  the  Lord  has  told  us,  or  taught 
 us  to  expect,  and  all  that  he  has  pledged  his  truth  to 
 perform  !  Not  only  do  we  thus  forget  his  gracious 
 word,  but  all  that  he  has  actually  done  for  us  ;  all  the 
 deliverances  he  has  wrought,  all  the  mercy  and  truth 
 he  has  showed  us,  disappear  from  our  view  in  time  of 
 sore  distress.  Like  the  desponding  Israelites  in  the 
 wilderness,  who  forgot  God  their  Saviour,  who  had 
 done  great  things  in  Egypt;  we  remember  not  the 
 multitude  of  his  mercies,  we  remember  not  his 
 hand,  nor  the  day  when  he  delivered  us  from  the 
 enemy.  How  needful  is  it  for  us  to  be  put  in  mind  of 
 those  things  which  so  intimately  concern  us,  which  be- 
 long so  essentially  to  our  peace  !  And  how  thankful 
 should  we  be  to  our  gracious  Guardian,  who  bears  with 
 our  heedlessness,  and  condescends  to  employ  various 
 means,  in  his  providence,  to  remind  us  of  his  forgotten 
 word  !  Our  Lord's  caution  to  Peter,  on  another  occa- 
 sion, might  have  saved  him  from  the  grievous  sin  of 
 denying  his  Master.  But  he  forgot  it ;  and  it  was  not 
 till  the  cock  crew  once  and  a  second  time,  and  his  Lord 
 gave  him  a  significant  look,  that  Peter  called  to  mind  at 
 last  the  word  which  Jesus  said  unto  him.  The  Lord  is 
 still,  by  many  impressive  dispensations,  both  in  his  ge- 
 neral providence,  and  in  his  particular  dealings  with  in- 
 dividuals, admonishing  us  as  he  did  his  people  of  old, 
 "  Do  ye  thus  requite  the  Lord,  O  foolish  people  and 
 unwise  ?  Remember  the  days  of  old,  consider  the  years 
 of  many  generations,"  Deut.  xxxii.  6.  7.  It  becomes 
 us  to  receive,  humbly  and  thankfully,  such  faithful  ad- 
 monitions, and  to  confess  with    the  Psalmist,  "  This  is 
 
424  •         SERMON  III. 
 
 my  infirmity,"  my  sinful  and  much  lamented  infirmity  ; 
 "  but  I  will  remember  the  years  of  the  right  hand  of 
 the  Most  High  ;  I  will  remember  the  works  of  the 
 Lord;  surely  I  will  remember  thy  wonders  of  old," 
 Psal.  lxxvii.  10.  11. 
 
 II.  The  words  of  our  Lord  to  his  disciples,  administer- 
 ed a  seasonable  and  salutary  reproof.  If  to  overlook  or 
 forget  the  mercies  and  promises  of  God  be  a  sinful  in- 
 firmity, to  doubt  his  faithful  word  is  much  more  sin- 
 ful, and  must  expose  us  to  sharper  reproof.  This 
 appears  to  have  been,  at  least  in  some  measure,  the 
 sin  of  Peter,  as  is  evident  from  the  terms  in  which  our 
 Lord  reproved  him,  "  O  thou  of  little  faith,  wherefore 
 didst  thou  doubt  f"  It  is  the  very  essence  of  unbelief  to 
 doubt  the  truth  of  God's  word.  And  surely,  my  friends, 
 this  sin  belongs  not  to  Peter  alone  ?  We  dare  not  say 
 so,  when  our  conscience  tells  us  that  we  must  plead 
 guilty  to  the  same  charge.  A  sinful  timidity  often 
 makes  us  shrink  from  opposition  or  danger,  even  when 
 we  have  the  assurance  of  divine  support.  .  It  makes  us 
 afraid  to  venture  on  God's  express  promise  of  protec- 
 tion, in  those  very  cases  in  his  own  service  in  which 
 we  most  need  it,  and,  therefore,  ought  most  confidently 
 to  look  for  it.  This  was  remarkably  exemplified  in  the 
 Israelites,  when  they  heard  the  discouraging  report  of 
 the  spies  concerning  the  formidable  appearance  of  the 
 inhabitants  of  Canaan.  "  All  the  congregation  lifted 
 up  their  voice,  and  cried ;  and  the  people  wept  that 
 night.  And  all  the  children  of  Israel  murmured  a- 
 gainst  Moses,  and  against  Aaron  ;  and  the  whole  con- 
 gregation said  unto  them,    Would  God    that  wo  had 
 
SERMON    III.  42-5 
 
 died  in  the  land  of  Egypt !  or,  would  God  we  had 
 died  in  the  wilderness  !"  &c.  Numb.  xiv.  1.  Not- 
 withstanding the  repeated  assurances  which  this  peo- 
 ple had  received,  that  God  would  be  with  them,  to 
 strengthen  and  to  prosper  them,  yet  they  believed  not 
 his  promise ;  "  they  believed  not  in  God,  and  trusted 
 not  in  his  salvation,'*  Psal.  lxxviii.  22. ;  but  their 
 heart  fainted  within  them,  and  then  "  they  walked  in 
 their  own  counsels."  They  provoked  the  Lord  to  pro- 
 nounce that  pointed  rebuke,  "  How  long  will  this  peo- 
 ple provoke  me  ?  how  long  will  it  be  ere  they  believe 
 me,  for  all  the  signs  which  I  have  shewed  among 
 them  ?"  Numb.  xiv.  11.  Does  not  this  furnish  a  pa- 
 rallel to  our  own  case  and  conduct,  on  many  less  im- 
 portant occasions?  The  path  of  duty  lies,  for  the 
 most  part,  plain  before  us.  In  this,  we  may  be  sure, 
 that  the  Lord,  the  great  Shepherd  of  his  sheep,  will 
 be  our  guide,  and  will  make  our  way  to  prosper.  But 
 there  are  some  apparent  difficulties  in  the  way.  Some 
 resistance  may  be  made  to  our  best  endeavours. 
 Our  opponents  are  strong,  or  numerous,  or  artful, 
 or  confident  and  overbearing ;  our  adherents  are  few, 
 and  nowise  distinguished  by  talents  or  fortitude. 
 We  shrink  from  every  encounter,  we  dread  its 
 issue,  and  hardly  dare  venture  to  trust  our  cause 
 to  Jehovah,  who  is  greater  and  wiser  than  all, 
 whose  word  is  more  stedfast  than  the  "  great  moun- 
 tains,11 whose  promise  has  been  proved,  and  whose 
 protection  has  been  found  more  than  sufficient,  when 
 every  human  support  has  failed.  "  No  man  stood 
 with  me,"  said  the  faithful  apostle,  "  but  all  forsook 
 me ;    notwithstanding,  the   Lord   stood  with   me,    and 
 
 2d 
 
48G  SERMON  III. 
 
 strengthened  me;  and  I  was  delivered  out  of  the 
 mouth  of  the  lion,11  2  Tim.  iv.  17.  How  does  the 
 faith  and  resolution  of  many  a  feeble  saint  reprove  our 
 unbelief  and  timidity !  "  Women  received  their  dead 
 raised  to  life  again ;  and  others  were  tortured,  not  ac- 
 cepting deliverance,"  Heb.  xi.  35. 
 
 With  such  patterns  before  us,  of  unshaken  trust  in 
 God,  such  evidence  of  the  stability  of  his  promises, 
 we  surely  deserve,  in  the  language  of  Paul,  to  be 
 "  sharply  rebuked,"  if  we  be  not  "  sound  in  the  faith." 
 And  when  we  look  back  on  our  own  distrust,  when  we 
 think  how  we  dishonoured  Him  who  is  the  faithful  and 
 true  Witness,  by  questioning  his  ability,  his  wisdom,  or 
 his  covenant  love ;  when  we  see  that  his  forbearance 
 was  still  superior  to  our  provocations,  that  he  did  not 
 forsake  us,  nor  say  to  us,  "  Be  it  unto  you  according 
 to  your  unbelief ;"  when  our  hearts  become  awake  to 
 these  considerations,  and  we  are  humbled  under  a 
 sense  of  our  ungrateful  requital  of  our  Lord^  kind- 
 ness, surely  we  must  feel  a  sharp,  though  a  tender 
 reproof  in  these  words,  when  addressed  to  ourselves, 
 "  O  thou  of  little  faith,  wherefore  didst  thou  doubt  ? 
 '  After  all  the  kindness  you  had  experienced,  and  all 
 the  pledges  of  my  love  which  were  actually  in  your 
 possession,  how  could  you  doubt  my  truth,  which  was 
 so  indisputably  proved,  or  my  faithfulness,  which  was 
 so  firmly  established  ?"* 
 
 III.  These  words  of  our  Lord,  while  they  reprove 
 our  unbelief,  may  also  be  considered  as  affording  en- 
 couragement to  our  faith. 
 
 Though   the  Lord  is  at  times  justly  displeased  with 
 
SERMON  III.  427 
 
 his  children,  yet  he  will  not  cast  them  off;  though  in 
 a  little  wrath  he  hide  his  face  for  a  moment,  and  even 
 visit  their  transgressions  with  the  rod,  yet  his  loving- 
 kindness  will  he  not  utterly  take  from  them ;  he  will 
 not  retract  his  promise,  he  will  not  break  his  covenant, 
 nor  suffer  his  faithfulness  to  fail.  His  very  chastise- 
 ments are  an  evidence  of  his  paternal  care  and  love,  for 
 "  whom  the  Lord  loveth  he  chasteneth,  and  scourge th 
 every  son  whom  he  receivedi."  His  reproofs  assure  us 
 that  he  hath  not  forgotten  to  be  gracious,  nor  cast  away 
 his  people. 
 
 In  this  view,  they  are  expressly  fitted  to  encourage 
 our  hopes,  and  strengthen  our  confidence  in  the  divine 
 support.  Had  the  Lord  determined  to  cast  off  his  un- 
 dutiful  and  disobedient  children,  he  would  have  told 
 them  so  at  the  same  time  that  he  reproached  them  for 
 their  unfaithfulness.  Thus  he  rebuked  the  Israelites, 
 and  threatened  to  withdraw  his  protection  from  them 
 altogether :  "  Did  not  I  deliver  you  from  the  Egyp- 
 tians, and  from  the  Amorites,  and  from  the  Philistines  ? 
 yet  ye  have  forsaken  me,  and  served  other  gods  ;  where- 
 fore I  will  deliver  you  no  more,"  Judges  x.  13.  But 
 when,  as  in  the  case  of  Peter,  the  Lord's  reproof  is  evi- 
 dently intended  to  drive  away  unbelief,  it  is  equivalent 
 to  a  renewal  of  his  promises.  It  admonishes  us  not  to 
 doubt  any  more, — it  reminds  us  that  we  never  had  rea- 
 son to  doubt  God's  faithfulness  in  time  past, — and  as* 
 sures  us  that  we  shall  never  have  reason  to  doubt  it  in 
 time  to  come.  "  Thus  saith  the  Lord  that  created 
 thee,  O  Jacob,  and  he  that  formed  thee,  O  Israel,  Fear 
 not :  for  I  have  redeemed  thee,  I  have  called  thee  by 
 thy  name  ;  thou  art  mine.    When  thou  passest  through 
 
 2d  2 
 
4,28  SERMON  III. 
 
 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 ;  for  I  am  the  Lord  thy  God,  the 
 Holy  One  of  Israel,  thy  Saviour,"  Isa.  xliii.  1.  %  3. 
 Thus,  while  our  Lord,  by  his  word  and  his  providence, 
 appears  to  chide  our  distrust,  and  to  say,  with  a  voice 
 of  disappointed  love,  "  O  thou  of  little  faith,  where- 
 fore didst  thou  doubt  ?"  he  at  the  same  time  is  seen  to 
 smile  through  his  displeasure,  and  to  address  us  in  ac- 
 cents of  tender  concern  for  our  future  stability,  saying, 
 "  Be  no  more  faithless,  but  believing.,, 
 
 How  emphatically  does  this  short  address  express  our 
 Lord's  feelings  !  It  shows, 
 
 1.  His  tender  concern  for  his  beloved  disciple's  safe- 
 ty. While  Peter  rashly  supposed  that  his  own  forti- 
 tude was  equal  to  the  trial  which  he  courted,  his  Mas- 
 ter knew  well  his  weakness ;  and  though  he  saw  fit  to 
 convince  Peter,  to  his  cost,  of  the  false  estimate  he  had 
 made  of  his  own  graces,  yet  he  determined  not  to  for- 
 sake him  in  his  extremity,  nor  leave  him  to  perish. 
 One  cry  from  the  trembling  disciple  was  sufficient  to 
 reach  the  heart  of  his  compassionate  Master.  Jesus  in- 
 stantly interposed ;  he  "  immediately  stretched  forth 
 his  hand,  and  caught  him."  Before  he  pronounced  the 
 merited  reproof,  he  raised  him  from  the  waters  with 
 such  a  secure  hold  and  powerful  arm,  as  at  once  re- 
 moved Peter's  fears,  and  assured  him  of  safety.  Can 
 any  one,  after  this,  question  the  tender  concern  which 
 Jesus  entertains  for  the  safety  of  those  who  earnestly 
 implore  his  help  ?  Can  any  doubt  his  ability  to  save, 
 or  imagine  that   his  aid  will   arrive  too  late  ?     Is  any 
 
SERMON  III.  429 
 
 one  ready  to  be  overwhelmed  with  the  billows  of  afflic- 
 tion, or  temptation,  or  fear,  or  despondency  ?  Look  to 
 Jesus,  who  was  himself  tempted  in  all  things  even  as  you 
 are.  Behold  him  on  the  same  element  on  which  you  are 
 tossed,  stilling  the  tempestuous  winds,  and  rebuking  the 
 raging  waves  !  Hear  him  thus  putting  to  silence  the 
 enemies  that  harass  your  soul,  and  saying,  "  Touch  ye 
 not  mine  anointed,  and  do  my  prophets  no  harm." 
 Hear  his  voice  cheering  your  drooping  spirits  with  the 
 most  encouraging  assurances :  "  The  mountains  shall 
 depart,  and  the  hills  be  removed  ;  but  my  kindness 
 shall  not  depart  from  thee,  neither  shall  the  covenant  of 
 my  peace  be  removed,  saith  the  Lord  that  hath  mercy 
 on  thee,"  Isa.  liv.  10.  In  every  situation  of  perplexity 
 or  danger,  think  of  Peter  sinking  in  the  mighty  wa- 
 ters, yet  rescued  by  the  strong  hand,  the  outstretched 
 arm,  of  his  gracious  Lord,  who  never  forsakes  his  own 
 in  the  time  of  distress,  never  fails  them  in  the  hour  of 
 trial.  "  His  mercy  endureth  for  ever,  his  faithfulness 
 to  all  generations.,,  . 
 
 2.  We  also  perceive,  in  this  expression  of  our  Lord, 
 a  painful  disappointment  at  Peter's  want  of  faith.  We 
 read,  on  a  particular  occasion,  that  Jesus,  looking  round 
 on  the  by-standers,  was  "  grieved  for  the  hardness  of 
 their  hearts."  His  pure  spirit  must  have  been  often 
 vexed  with  the  insensibility  and  obstinacy  of  hardened 
 sinners ;  and  no  less  grieved  with  the  folly,  the  prejudice, 
 the  backwardness,  and  indocility  of  those  whom  he  had 
 taken  under  his  own  immediate  tuition,  and  laboured 
 to  instruct  out  of  his  own  mouth.  After  all  that  Peter 
 had  already  learned,  and  seen,  and  experienced  of  his 
 Master's  care,  it  could  not  but  grieve  the  heart  of  Jesus 
 
•ISO  SERMON  III. 
 
 to  find  his  disciple,  on  any  emergency,  still  ready  to 
 doubt  his  Master's  love  and  tender  concern  for  his  safe- 
 ty. In  similar  terms  of  sore  disappointment  and  ten- 
 der remonstrance,  does  the  Lord,  in  his  word,  complain 
 of  those  who  would  not  trust  his  love,  nor  depend  on 
 his  kindness :  "  O  my  people,  what  have  I  done  unto 
 thee  ?  and  wherein  have  I  wearied  thee  ?  testify  against 
 me,1'  Micah  vi.  3.  "  What  iniquity  have  your  fathers 
 found  in  me,  that  they  have  gone  far  from  me,  and 
 have  walked  after  vanity  ?"  Jer.  ii.  5.  "  Have  I  been 
 a  wilderness  unto  Israel  ?  a  land  of  darkness  ?"  Jer.  ii. 
 31.  Alas  !  how  often  have  we  ourselves  thus  grieved 
 the  soul  of  our  compassionate  Redeemer,  by  our  doubts, 
 and  fears,  and  despondency,  at  the  very  time  that  he 
 was  employing  the  fittest  means  in  his  providence,  and 
 the  powerful  energies  of  his  Spirit,  to  do  us  good  I 
 "  Surely  it  is  meet  to  be  said  unto  God,  I  will  offend 
 so  no  more.'" 
 
 3.  Once  more,  we  may  discover  here,  as  on  number- 
 less other  occasions,  our  Lord's  determined  purpose  to 
 deliver  his  own  people  from  death  and  destruction, — a 
 determination  not  to  be  altered  by  any  failure,  or  even 
 any  provocation,  on  their  part.  If  their  strength  or 
 courage  fail,  he  will  renew  it,  and  give  them  fresh  vi- 
 gour;  if  their  faith  stagger,  yet  he  will  revive  it ;  as  in 
 the  case  of  this  very  disciple,  when  Jesus  told  him  that 
 Satan  desired  to  have  him ;  but,  added  our  Lord,  "  I 
 have  prayed  for  thee,  that  thy  faith  fail  not.1'  Neither 
 will  their  sins  or  backslidings  be  allowed  to  disappoint 
 his  gracious  purposes  toward  them.  "  I  will  heal  your 
 backslidings." — "  I,  even  I,  am  he  that  blotteth  out  thy 
 transgressions  for  mine  own  sake,  and  will  not  remem- 
 
SERMON  III.  431 
 
 ber  thy  sins,"  Isa.  xliii.  l25.  Having  once  chosen  the 
 objects  on  whom  he  fixes  his  love,  he  will  continue  to 
 watch  over  them, — he  will  be  with  them  in  trouble, — 
 when  fallen  he  will  raise  them  up, — he  will  deliver  them, 
 and  honour  them.  At  times,  indeed,  when  they  turn 
 aside  from  his  holy  commandments,  he  will  regard  them 
 with  grief  and  displeasure,  and  will  sharply  reprove 
 their  iniquities ;  yet  "  his  loving-kindness  he  will  not 
 utterly  take  from  them,  nor  suffer  his  faithfulness  to 
 fail.1'1  Often  did  Jesus  find  occasion  to  reprove  this 
 chosen  disciple ;  but  such  was  his  unchangeable  love, 
 that  he  would  by  no  means  cast  him  off,  nor  cease  to 
 teach  and  discipline  him,  till  he  had  made  him  a  zeal- 
 ous intrepid  apostle,  who  laboured  and  suffered  to  the 
 last  in  his  Master's  cause.  When  we  think  what  is 
 often  the  frowardness,  the  impatience,  the  fretful ness, 
 the  distrust,  and  unbelief  of  many  in  whom  the  Lord 
 determines  to  glorify  his  free  grace,  and  of  whom  he 
 will  hereafter  say  to  his  Father,  "  Those  whom  thou 
 gavest  me  have  I  kept,  and  none  of  them  is  lost,1' — we 
 may  well  exclaim,  "  Who  is  a  God  like  unto  thee, 
 that  pardoneth  iniquity,  and  passeth  by  the  trans- 
 gression of  the  remnant  of  his  heritage  ?  He  retain- 
 eth  not  his  anger  for  ever,  because  he  delighteth  in 
 mercy.  He  will  turn  again,  he  will  have  compassion 
 upon  us,  he  will  subdue  our  iniquities ;  and  thou  wilt 
 cast  all  their  sins  into  the  depths  of  the  sea,"'  Micah  vii. 
 18.  19. 
 
 The  view  which  has  been  taken  of  Peter's  case,  and 
 our  Lord's  condescending  kindness  to  him,  strongly  in- 
 culcates upon  us  a  lesson  of  caution,  lutmil'i'ii,  g-vdCiludc* 
 and  confidence.     It  is  a  good   maxim,  alwavs   to  trust, 
 
432  SERMON  III. 
 
 but  not  to  tempt  providence.  To  expose  our  persons  to 
 danger,  or  our  principles  to  trial,  without  a  call  of  duty, 
 but  merely  to  make  an  experiment  on  our  strength  or 
 fortitude,  is  not  obedience,  but  rashness ;  it  is  not  of 
 faith,  but  from  presumption.  Our  Lord  discounte- 
 nanced such  presumption,  in  the  reply  he  made  to  the 
 tempter's  suggestion,  to  cast  himself  down  from  the 
 pinnacle  of  the  temple.  Only,  while  we  would  avoid 
 the  forwardness  of  Peter,  in  soliciting  an  unnecessary 
 trial,  it  behoves  us  to  beware  lest  we  timorously  shrink 
 from  a  plain  call  of  duty,  though  attended  with  mani- 
 fest danger.  We  may  not  call  evil  good,  or  put  timidity 
 for  caution.  When  our  Lord  says  "  follow  me,"  no- 
 thing should  then  be  allowed  to  keep  us  back. 
 
 A  sense  of  our  backwardness  in  our  Master's  cause, 
 and  of  our  distrust  in  his  promised  aid,  ought  ever  to 
 keep  us  humble.  We  are  so  ready  at  one  time  to  trust, 
 like  Peter,  to  our  own  untried  strength,  and  at  another 
 time  to  distrust  even  the  Almighty's  experienced  power 
 and  faithfulness,  that  the  least  reflection  on  our  insta- 
 bility and  inconsistency,  may  always  teach  us  a  lowly 
 opinion  of  our  attainments  in  holiness.  Our  gracious 
 Lord  does  not  confine  his  care  or  his  favours  to  one,  or 
 to  a  few  of  his  people.  While  he  watches  over  the 
 safety  of  his  church  throughout  the  world,  he  is  as  at- 
 tentive to  every  individual  who  solicits  his  aid,  as  if  he 
 had  but  that  one  object  of  his  care. 
 
 How  grateful  ought  each  of  us  to  be  for  the  support 
 and  deliverance  he  has  often  vouchsafed  to  ourselves  ! 
 We  should  be  careful  to  mark,  and  to  record  in  our 
 memories,  every  such  instance  ;  and  to  stir  up  our  souls 
 to  gratitude  for   the  watchful  care   of  the  good   Shop- 
 
SERMON  III.  433 
 
 herd  over  us,  and  the  seasonable  aid  he  has  often  grant- 
 ed to  us.  Doubtless  there  was  new  force  added  to  Peter's 
 attachment,  and  a  new  song  of  praise  put  in  his  mouth. 
 So  ought  every  new,  unmerited  favour  which  we  receive, 
 to  add  a  new  fold  to  the  tie  which  binds  us  to  our  Re- 
 deemer, and  a  new  measure  to  the  song  with  which  we 
 celebrate  his  praise.  If  we  have,  on  various  occasions, 
 experienced  the  Lord's  faithfulness,  and  seen  the  wisdom 
 of  his  dealings,  even  where  we  had  been  tempted  to  re- 
 pine and  distrust,  let  us  learn  for  the  future,  to  confide 
 unreservedly  in  him  who  hath  said,  "  I  will  never  leave 
 thee,  no,  I  will  never  forsake  thee.'"  Let  us  hold  the 
 beginning  of  our  confidence  stedfast  unto  the  end  ;  and 
 take  heed  "  lest  there  be  in  us  an  evil  heart  of  unbelief, 
 in  departing  from  the  living  God." 
 
 Before  concluding,  it  may  be  proper  to  subjoin  one 
 caution.  A  person  reading  these  words  of  our  Lord, 
 and  applying  them  to  himself,  might  perhaps  suppose 
 that  they  enforce  a  confident,  unfounded  persuasion  of 
 one's  own  salvation,  by  representing  any  doubt  on  that 
 head  as  reprehensible.  Such  a  sense,  we  know,  has 
 been  put  upon  the  words,  as  if  our  Lord  here  rebuked 
 every  one  for  being  weak  in  faith,  who  entertained  a 
 doubt  of  his  soul  being  in  a  state  of  salvation.  Nothing 
 can  be  more  remote  from  the  doctrine  of  scripture,  than 
 for  a  sinner  to  set  out  on  his  exercise  of  faith,  by  be- 
 lieving himself  to  be  already  in  a  state  of  salvation. — 
 It  were  much  more  consonant  to  truth,  to  believe  him- 
 self in  a  state  of  condemnation,  and  to  make  this  one  of 
 the  first  articles  of  his  creed.  To  guard  against  such  a 
 false  application  of  the  text  before4  us,  it  mav  be  suffi- 
 cient to  observe,   that  the  object  of  saving  faith,   which 
 
434  SERMON  III. 
 
 all  are  required  to  believe  on  the  authority  of  God,  and 
 condemned  for  not  believing,  is  revealed  truth.  What- 
 soever God  hath  expressly  declared,  that  we  are  bound 
 to  receive  as  true.  But  it  is  plain,  that  no  where  in 
 the  Bible  is  any  thing  revealed  concerning  the  state  of 
 any  individual  to  whom  the  truths  of  scripture  are  ad- 
 dressed. The  state  of  each  individual  is  to  be  discover- 
 ed by  examination,  and  by  inference  from  what  is  re- 
 vealed. The  rule  on  this  point  is  not,  '  Believe  that 
 you  are  in  the  faith,'  but  "  Examine  yourself,  whether 
 you  be  in  the  faith  or  not ;  prove  yourself,"  2  Cor. 
 xiii.  5.  Believe  what  is  revealed ;  that  the  justice  of 
 God  is  inflexible,  and  must  be  satisfied ;  that  his  mercy 
 is  unbounded,  and  extends  to  the  chief  of  sinners ;  that 
 Christ  is  able  to  save  to  the  uttermost ;  that  he  is  will- 
 ing to  receive  all  who  come  to  him  for  life ;  that  he  has 
 sent  a  message  of  grace  to  you,  and  invites  you  to  come 
 to  him,  and  promises  that  you  will  find  rest  to  your 
 soul.  Believe  this,  and  you  must  love  him.  He  will 
 manifest  his  love  to  you.  The  fruit  of  such  a  blessed 
 intercourse  will  be,  holiness  of  heart  and  life,  joy  and 
 peace  in  believing,  and  the  end  everlasting  life. — Be- 
 lieve this,  and  you  shall  be  saved. 
 
SERMON  IV. 
 
 Luke  x.  11.— Notwithstanding,  be  ye  sure  of  this,  that 
 the  kingdom  of  God  is  come  nigh  unto  you. 
 
 J.  he  adorable  perfections  of  the  blessed  God  claim 
 our  admiration  in  every  point  of  view ;  not  only  as  they 
 are  most  excellent  in  themselves,  but  also  as  they  har- 
 monize with  one  another.  One  attribute  gives  oc- 
 casion for  the  exercise  of  another,  and  both  serve  to 
 display  each  other's  glory.  The  diffusion  of  happiness 
 which  the  divine  goodness  prompts,  gives  occasion  for 
 the  exercise  of  wisdom,  in  appointing  the  most  proper 
 means  for  attaining  the  happiness  of  the  creatures. 
 This,  in  its  turn,  gives  room  for  the  display  of  al- 
 mighty power,  in  executing  the  plans  which  consum- 
 mate wisdom  had  devised.      So,   in  like  manner,  the 
 
436  SERMON  IV. 
 
 justice  of  God  dooms  to  punishment,  those  who  trans- 
 gress his  holy  law ;  for  it  is  a  part  of  his  character, 
 that  he  will  by  no  means  clear  the  guilty.  The  con- 
 demnation of  transgressors,  gives  occasion  for  exercis- 
 ing mercy  toward  those  whom  justice  had  condemned. 
 Moreover,  this  exercise  of  mercy,  in  offering  pardon 
 to  condemned  sinners,  affords  the  occasion,  in  some 
 cases,  of  a  further  display  of  justice.  If  the  free  of- 
 fer of  pardon,  and  unmerited  favour,  to  guilty  con- 
 demned creatures,  be  contemptuously  rejected,  or  wan- 
 tonly slighted,  justice  then  resumes  her  rights,  renews 
 her  claims,  and  demands  sevenfold  vengeance.  This 
 accords  perfectly  with  the  common  sense  of  mankind. 
 If  a  convicted  criminal  despises  the  king's  pardon,  or 
 indolently  neglects  to  avail  himself  of  offered  mercy, 
 the  universal  sentiment  of  the  public  would  be,  Then 
 let  him  die  the  death.  The  decision  of  the  divine 
 oracle  is  the  same.  "  He  that  despised  Moses*  law, 
 died  without  mercy,  under  two  or  three  witnesses.  Of 
 how  much  sorer  punishment,  suppose  ye,  shall  he  be 
 thought  worthy,  who  hath  trodden  under  foot  the  Son 
 of  God,  and  hath  counted  the  blood  of  the  covenant, 
 wherewith  he  was  sanctified,  an  unholy  thing,  and 
 hath  done  despite  unto  the  Spirit  of  grace  ?"  Heb.  x. 
 28.  29.  Among  the  earliest  commissions  which  Christ 
 gave  to  his  apostles,  to  go  and  preach  the  gospel,  he 
 instructed  them  to  warn  every  one  expressly  of  the  fa- 
 tal consequences  of  neglecting  it.  "  Go  ye  into  all 
 the  world,  and  preach  the  gospel  to  every  creature ; 
 he  that  believeth  and  is  baptized,  shall  be  saved ;  but 
 he  that  believeth  not,  shall  be  damned.'"  Also  in  the 
 passage  before  us,    "  Into    whatsoever    city  ye  enter, 
 
SERMON  IV.  137 
 
 and  they  receive  you,  heal  the  sick  that  are  therein, 
 and  say  unto  them,  The  kingdom  of  God  is  come  nigh 
 unto  you.  But  into  whatsoever  city  ye  enter,  and  they 
 receive  you  not,  go  your  ways  out  into  the  streets  of  the 
 same,  and  say,  Even  the  very  dust  of  your  city  which 
 cleaveth  on  us,  we  do  wipe  off  against  you  ;  notwith- 
 standing, be  ye  sure  of  this,  that  the  kingdom  of  God 
 is  come  nigh  unto  you." 
 
 These  emphatic  words  I  shall  first  endeavour  to  ex- 
 plain, and  then  to  apply. 
 
 I.  Explain.  The  kingdom  of  God,  or,  the  king- 
 dom of  heaven,  is  an  expression  which  frequently  oc- 
 curs in  the  gospels.  Like  many  expressions  in  com- 
 mon language,  it  is  taken  in  different  acceptations,  but 
 all  closely  related  to  each  other.  It  often  signifies  the 
 society  of  those  who  compose  the  mediatorial  kingdom 
 of  Christ ;  either  in  their  imperfect  state  on  earth,  and 
 then  it  is  the  church  of  Christ  in  the  world ;  or  ad- 
 vanced to  a  state  of  perfection  in  heaven,  and  then  it 
 is  the  kingdom  of  glory.  It  sometimes  means  the 
 reign  of  Christ,  and  the  outward  administration  of  the 
 gospel.  John  the  Baptist  preached  in  the  wilderness, 
 saying,  "  Repent  ye,  for  the  kindom  of  heaven  is  at 
 hand/'  Sometimes  it  signifies  the  constitution  of 
 Christ's  spiritual  kingdom,  as  distinguished  from  the 
 kingdoms  of  the  world ;  "  My  kingdom  is  not  of  this 
 world."  In  the  passage  before  us,  where  it  occurs 
 twice,  it  seems  to  imply  the  blessings  which  are  dis- 
 pensed and  enjoyed  under  Christ's  reign, — pardon  of 
 sin, — the  sanctifying  influences  of  the  Holy  Spirit, — 
 peace,  hope,  and  joy  in  believing.     These   are  the  be- 
 
438  SERMON  IV. 
 
 nefits  which  Christ  was  humbled  to  procure,  and  ex- 
 alted to  bestow  on  his  people.  They  are  the  bless- 
 ings which  himself,  in  the  course  of  his  ministration, 
 published  abroad  when  he  preached  good  tidings,  and 
 proclaimed  the  acceptable  year  of  the  Lord.  And 
 they  are  the  same  blessings  which  he  commissioned 
 his  messengers  to  proclaim  to  all  nations,  even  to  the 
 end  of  the  world.  These  blessings,  which  belong  ex- 
 clusively to  the  kingdom  of  Christ,  may  be  said,  in  the 
 words  of  our  text,  to  "  come  nigh,11  when  they  are 
 brought  to  our  view,  and  placed  within  our  reach. 
 This  may  be  done  in  two  ways;  1.  By  the  outward 
 dispensations  of  Providence ;  and,  2.  By  the  inward 
 operations  of  the  Holy  Spirit. 
 
 1.  When  the  gospel  is  faithfully  preached,  when  the 
 messenger  of  truth,  feeling  the  importance  of  his 
 charge,  addresses  perishing  sinners,  in  his  Divine  Mas- 
 ter's name,  and  meekly,  affectionately,  yet  confident- 
 ly, sets  before  them  life  and  death,  a  blessing  and  a 
 curse, — death  by  the  sentence  of  a  holy  and  violated 
 law,  and  life  through  the  mediation  of  a  crucified,  yet 
 ever-living  Saviour  ;  when  he  earnestly  calls  his  hearers 
 to  choose  life,  and  to  escape  from  the  wrath  which  is  to 
 come,  pointing  the  way,  as  the  angels  did  who  brought 
 Lot  out  of  Sodom,  to  the  mountain  of  salvation,  and 
 urging  them  to  speed  their  flight  thither ;  when  these 
 blessings  are  thus  plainly  and  authoritatively  held 
 forth  to  the  acceptance  of  sinners,  contrasted  with  the 
 miseries  from  which  they  are  rescued,  then  may  it  be 
 justly  said,  that  the  kingdom  of  God  is  brought  nigh. 
 This  is  the  precise  application  of  the  expression  in  the 
 text  before  us,  where   the  apostles  are  directed  to  pro- 
 
SERMON  IV.  439 
 
 claim  to  the  lost  sheep  of  the  house  of  Israel,  that 
 Christ  and  his  benefits  were  within  their  reach,  and  of- 
 fered freely  to  their  acceptance. 
 
 The  same  truths  are  exhibited,  and  the  same  invita- 
 tions given,  in  the  word  of  God  itself,  when  read  either 
 privately  or  publicly  in  the  congregation,  in  the  fami- 
 ly, or  in  the  closet ;  and  when  expounded  and  applied 
 in  the  writings  of  a  judicious  expositor,  or  by  the  ob- 
 servations of  an  intelligent  and  pious  head  of  a  fami- 
 ly. The  kingdom  of  God  is,  in  this  manner  also, 
 brought  nigh  to  readers  and  hearers,  to  children  and 
 domestics. 
 
 The  communications  of  pious  friends,  their  occasion- 
 al remarks  in  conversation,  their  more  special  admoni- 
 tions, their  affectionate  counsels,  their  faithful  cautions, 
 delivered  in  the  spirit  of  Christ,  supported  by  his  pre- 
 cepts and  doctrines,  or  conveyed  in  his  own  words ; 
 these  are  to  be  considered  as  cases  in  which  the  truths 
 of  religion  are  familiarly  but  impressively  presented  to 
 view,  and  the  kingdom  of  God  brought  nigh.  In  the 
 house  of  mourning,  and  in  the  chamber  of  the  sick, 
 the  serious  language  of  a  pious  visitor,  the  affecting 
 confessions  of  a  dying  penitent,  or  the  animating  ex- 
 hortations of  a  departing  saint,  may  strongly  exhibit 
 the  principles  and  the  power  of  the  gospel.  Nay,  the 
 solemn  warnings,  pronounced  with  awful  energy  from 
 the  scaffold,  by  the  awakened  criminal  on  the  verge  of 
 eternity, — his  reference  to  instructions  disregarded,  con- 
 science violated,  the  law  of  God  broken,  and  the  gos- 
 pel despised, — the  earnest  admonition  given  to  survivors 
 to  take  warning,  to  repent,  to  seek  an  interest  in  Christ, 
 as  the  only  support  at  the  hour  of  death  ;  this  addr 
 
340  SERMON  IV. 
 
 brings  death,  judgment,  and  eternity,  the  effects  of  sin, 
 the  need  of  mercy,  and  the  value  of  a  Saviour,  to  the 
 view  of  the  surrounding  crowd.  Even  in  such  a  scene 
 as  this,  the  kingdom  of  God  is  brought  nigh  unto 
 them.        % 
 
 The  sacraments  of  the  New  Testament  are  calculat- 
 ed to  exhibit  to  the  senses  the  leading  facts  and  doc- 
 trines of  the  gospel.  The  administration  of  the  sacra- 
 ments in  the  church  serves  to  hold  forth,  to  the  view 
 of  the  world,  a  representation  of  the  blessings  which 
 are  the  objects  of  our  faith,  and  the  foundation  of  our 
 hope.  Wherever  men  have  been  assembled  as  specta- 
 tors, though  not  partakers  of  these  ordinances,  to  them 
 Jesus  Christ  has  been  evidently  set  forth  crucified  a- 
 mong  them  ;  and  therefore  to  them,  in  an  eminent  man- 
 ner, the  kingdom  of  God  has  come  nigh. 
 
 The  gospel  of  the  grace  of  God  possesses  a  sancti- 
 fying energy,  and  where  it  is  duly  received,  it  comes, 
 not  in  word  only,  but  in  power.  Blessed  be  God,  there 
 are  not  a  few  who  have  become  the  subjects  of  the  di- 
 vine Spirit's  purifying  influence  in  Christ  Jesus  ;  and 
 who,  walking  in  the  truth,  and  shining  in  the  beauty  of 
 holiness,  display  the  efficacy  of  those  divine  truths  which 
 they  have  received  ;  they  bear  in  no  inconsiderable  de- 
 gree, perhaps  in  rich  luxuriance,  the  fruits  of  meek- 
 ness and  temperance,  honesty  and  fidelity,  piety  and 
 humility.  Wherever  examples  of  this  kind  are  to  be 
 seen, — wherever  the  "  children  of  the  kingdom"  are 
 found  walking  together  in  love,  and  shining  as  lights  in 
 the  world, — or  even  where  one  individual  is  distinguish- 
 ed by  a  steady  consistent  profession  of  the  gospel,  and 
 adorning  his  profession  by  a  life  of  godliness  and  hones- 
 
SERMON  IV.  4^1 
 
 ty,  in  this  case  also  the  truths  of  the  gospel  are  exhibit- 
 ed in  their  practical  influence,  its  benefits  are  held  up  to 
 view,  and  the  kingdom  of  God  is  brought  nigh  to  the 
 beholders. 
 
 May  it  not,  my  friends,  be  truly  affirmed,  that  in 
 one  or  more  of  these  ways, — by  the  reading  or  the 
 preaching  of  the  word  of  God, — by  the  communica- 
 tion of  pious  friends  or  acquaintances, — by  the  public 
 administration  of  gospel-ordinances, — or  by  the  life  and 
 example  of  upright  Christians,  the  kingdom  of  God  has, 
 at  one  time  or  other,  come  nigh  to  each  of  you  ;  or  ra- 
 ther, has  it  not  at  all  times  been  nigh  to  every  one  of 
 you  ? 
 
 2.  But,  further,  we  may  say  that  the  truths  and  the 
 benefits  of  the  gospel  have  not  only  been  held  forth  to 
 view,  and  placed  within  reach,  but  that,  with  respect 
 to  many,  these  have  been  brought  still  nearer  home, 
 and  placed  in  more  immediate  contact  with  the  feel- 
 ings. One  may  not  only  have  heard  of  the  important 
 things  of  eternity  by  the  hearing  of  the  ear,  but  he 
 may  at  times  have  thought  deeply  of  these  things* — 
 Losing  sight  for  a  moment  of  the  eoncerns  of  the 
 present  life,  he  may  have  felt  an  irresistible  conviction, 
 that  the  care  of  his  immortal  soul  is  the  grand  concern, 
 the  one  thing  needful ;  and  that  the  interests  of  eter- 
 nity, vast  eternity,  ought  to  be  principally  regarded. 
 He  may  have  been  powerfully  convinced,  that  the  jus- 
 tice of  God  is  not  to  be  satisfied  with  cold  confessions 
 and  empty  apologies, — that  the  wrath  of  God  is  hang- 
 ing o*er  him,  for  his  many  sinful  deeds  and  thought-. 
 — and/hat  it  is  not  to  be  averted  by  unwilling  submis- 
 sions,   and  extorted   supplications, — that    his   accumu- 
 
 2   F. 
 
442  SERMON  IV. 
 
 lated  guilt  is  not  to  be  expiated  by  a  few  tears,  or  even 
 temporary  sufferings.  He  may  have  been  forced  to  yield 
 a  reluctant  assent  to  the  truth  of  the  scripture  declara- 
 tions,— that  without  a  personal  interest  in  Christ  there 
 is  no  salvation,  no  reconciliation  with  an  offended  God, 
 no  hope  of  heaven,  no  deliverance  from  hell ;  in  a  word, 
 that  he  must  be  renewed  in  heart  and  spirit,  or  perish 
 eternally.  He  may  hence  feel,  most  convincingly,  the 
 necessity  of  applying  to  a  Redeemer ;  of  taking  the 
 yoke  of  Christ  upon  him,  learning  of  him,  following 
 him,  and  obeying  him.  He  may  be  compelled  to  own, 
 in  his  mind,  that  they  who  have  done  so  have  chosen 
 the  good  part,  whatever  temporal  sacrifices  they  have 
 made,  or  whatever  obloquy  they  have  incurred.  He 
 may  secretly  envy  their  portion,  and  wish  he  could  pass 
 over  the  intervening  stages,  and  place  himself  exactly 
 in  their  situation.  He  may  have  found  the  scriptures 
 speak  a  language  mortifying  to  his  pride,  and,  notwith- 
 standing his  attempts  to  explain  it  away,  or  to  evade 
 its  force,  he  is  obliged  inwardly  to  grant,  that  the  plain 
 meaning  may  be  the  true  one  after  all.  When  a  per- 
 son thus  perceives  God's  word  forcing  its  light  up- 
 on his  mind,  impressing  conviction  upon  his  heart, 
 awakening  his  conscience,  pointing  out  the  only  re- 
 fuge, and  impelling  him  to  escape  for  his  life  ere  it  be 
 too  late ;  to  a  man  in  this  situation  it  may  be  said,  in 
 an  emphatic  sense,  that  the  kingdom  of  God  has  come 
 nigh  to  him. 
 
 It  is  for  each  of  you,  my  dear  hearers,  to  recollect 
 whether,  and  in  what  degree,  such  thoughts,  such  ap- 
 prehensions, such  convictions  as  I  have  stated,  have  at 
 any  time  arisen  in  your  mind, — how,   and  on  what  oc- 
 
SERMON  IV.  443 
 
 casion  they  have  been  excited, — how  long  they  have  re- 
 mained,— whether  they  have  departed  for  a  season,  and 
 then  recurred  with  increased  force,  or  perhaps  return- 
 ed with  diminished  power,  as  it  were  with  exhausted 
 strength,  and  feebler  efforts,  to  regain  possession  of 
 your  soul.  Let  it  be  clearly  understood,  that  in  every 
 instance  in  which  the  truths  of  God's  word  have  been 
 brought  home,  with  perceptible  effect,  to  your  heart  or 
 conscience,  in  that  hour,  and  on  that  occasion,  the  king- 
 dom of  God  did  come  nigh  unto  you. 
 
 But  here  a  lamentable  case  meets  our  view.  The 
 blessings  of  the  covenant  of  grace  may  be  brought  to  a 
 man's  knowledge,  and  placed  within  his  reach,— his 
 heart  may  feel  a  strong  impression  of  their  value  and 
 importance,— and  yet  he  may  not  lay  hold  of  the  cove- 
 nant so  as  to  appropriate  its  benefits.  The  ark  of  sal- 
 vation may,  like  Noah's  ark  upon  the  waters,  float  past 
 his  door,  and,  halting  a  while  at  his  very  threshold, 
 may  invite  him  to  take  refuge  within  its  bosom ;  yet  he 
 may  indolently  linger  in  his  chamber,  or  perversely  shut 
 his  door,  and  reject  the  merciful  invitation.  The  king- 
 dom of  God  may  come  nigh  to  many  a  one,  who  yet 
 does  not  enter  it.  Multitudes  now,  as  well  as  formerly, 
 hear  but  do  not  understand,  and  see  but  do  not  per- 
 ceive ;  for  their  heart  is  waxed  gross,  their  ears  are  dull 
 of  hearing,  and  their  eyes  they  have  dosed,  Acts  xxviii. 
 27.  Many  may  entertain  a  general  conviction  of  the 
 importance  of  eternity,  and  its  awful  concerns,  and  yet 
 delay  or  neglect  to  provide  for  their  eternal  interests. 
 The  young  ruler  in  the  gospel  applied,  with  much  sin- 
 cerity and  earnestness,  for  direction  how  to  attain  eter- 
 
 o  F  o 
 
M±  SERMON  IV. 
 
 nal  life ;  yet  he  soon  turned,  and  went  away  "  sad 
 and  grieved,"  for  he  loved  his  great  possessions  too 
 well  to  exchange  them  for  a  heavenly  inheritance. 
 Though  sorrowful  at  parting  with  Jesus,  and  losing 
 heaven,  yet  he  went  away  notwithstanding, — nor  do 
 we  hear  that  he  ever  returned.  A  price  was  put  in 
 his  hand  to  get  wisdom,  but  it  was  in  the  hand  of  a 
 fool,  who  had  not  a  heart  to  use  it,  Prov.  xvii.  16.  A 
 man  may  form  an  indolent  wish,  and  utter  a  heartless 
 desire,  to  enter  into  life,  but  the  gate  is  too  strait  to 
 be  so  entered.  Not  careless  seeking,  but  earnest  striv- 
 ing, has  the  promise  of  success.  One  may  likewise 
 have  strong  convictions  of  guilt,  and  apprehensions 
 of  God's  wrath,  and  yet  fail  to  flee  from  it  with  due 
 speed.  Felix,  under  the  scourge  of  conscious  unrigh- 
 teousness, and  intemperance,  and  the  dread  of  a  judg- 
 ment to  come,  trembled  before  the  messenger  of  his 
 offended  God ;  yet  his  conduct  to  that  very  apostle 
 clearly  proves  how  hardened  his  heart  continued, 
 bound  fast  to  sin  and  to  the  world,  Acts  xxiv.  25—27. 
 One  may,  in  like  manner,  be  persuaded  of  the  need  of 
 a  Saviour,  and  the  necessity  of  obtaining  an  interest  in 
 Christ's  atonement  and  intercession,  and  yet  may  de- 
 lay, or  never  attempt  to  follow  Christ.  How  well 
 does  the  language  of  the  half-disciples  in  the  gospel 
 still  express  the  mind  of  many  to  whom  Jesus  offers 
 his  saving  grace,  and  who  are  not  ignorant  of  its  va- 
 lue !  "  Lord,  I  will  follow  thee,11  says  one,  "  but  let 
 me  first  go  bid  them  farewell  which  are  at  home  at  my 
 house ;" — "  Suffer  me  first,11  says  another,  "  to  go  and 
 bury  my  father,11  Luke  ix.  59.  61.       Some  temporal 
 
SERMON  IV.  445 
 
 affair  must  have  the  preference  ;  the  care  of  the  soul  is 
 postponed,  perhaps  laid  aside  for  ever. 
 
 II.  Suffer  ye  now,  my  friends,  the  word  of  applica- 
 tion,— and  may  the  Spirit  of  truth  direct  it  savingly  to 
 the  heart  of  every  one  whose  case  it  may  suit  ! 
 
 1.  How  near  to  hopeless  is  the  case  of  those  to  whom 
 the  kingdom  of  God  hath  come  nigh,  and  who  yet  de- 
 lay or  refuse  to  enter  into  it ! — and  how  very  alarming 
 must  be  (alas !  is)  your  case,  if  you  be  now  of  that 
 number !  I  shall  suppose  that,  through  some  disadvan- 
 tages in  your  situation,  such  as  are,  alas  !  but  too  fre- 
 quent, the  warnings  of  God's  word,  and  the  tidings  of 
 salvation,  were  but  obscurely  declared,  or  faintly  urged, 
 or  seldom  brought  to  your  notice  : — while  this  was  the 
 case,  though  you  did  not  then  embrace  an  unseen  and 
 unknown  Saviour,  yet  there  was  room  to  hope,  that  if 
 you  were  better  taught,  if  you  did  but  hear  and  attend 
 to  the  genuine  truths  of  God's  word,  you  might  receive 
 them  into  your  heart,  and  your  souls  might  live.  But 
 if  you  have  been  hearing  warnings,  and  calls,  and  en- 
 couragements, without  regarding  warnings,  or  comply- 
 ing with  calls,  what  can  you  hear  further  ? — we  have  no 
 other  revelation  to  publish,  no  other  message  to  deliver, 
 no  other  gospel  to  preach  ;  "  yea,  woe  is  unto  us,"  if 
 we  attempt  to  preach  any  other  gospel  than  that  which 
 you  have  already  heard. 
 
 If  you  had  only  heard  the  word  spoken,  but  tu 
 witnessed  the  more   solemn  ordinances  of  the  gospel, 
 there  would  be  hope  that  these  might  make  a  stronger 
 impression.      Though  they  are  exceedingly  simp] 
 themselves,  aivl  free  from    those  pompous  cerenn 
 
446  SERMON  IV. 
 
 which  impose  on  the  fancy,  without  affecting  the  heart, 
 yet  their  all-wise  Author  hath  fitted  them  for  awakening 
 the  affections  of  the  soul,  and  annexed  a  divine  power 
 to  the  solemn  administration  of  them,  which  has  been 
 often  felt  even  by  spectators.  But  if  you  have,  again 
 and  again,  seen,  as  it  were,  "  Jesus  Christ  evidently 
 set  forth,  crucified  among  you,'"  and  yet  have  beheld 
 such  a  spectacle  with  little  emotion  or  concern,  what 
 further  means  can  be  used  to  awaken  the  feelings  of  re- 
 pentance, gratitude,  or  love  ?  We  have  no  more  affect- 
 ing representations  to  give.  We  dare  not  invent  ordi- 
 nances of  our  own. 
 
 Nay,  if  you  had  only  heard  the  word,  and  witnessed 
 the  holy  sacraments,  but  never  seen  the  power  of  divine 
 grace  exemplified  in  the  holy  lives  of  neighbours  or  re- 
 latives, there  would  be  hope,  that  if  once  you  saw  such 
 living  evidences  of  the  power  and  grace  of  Christ,  you 
 might  be  persuaded  at  last  to  seek  the  Lord  for  your- 
 selves, and  not  rest  satisfied  without  endeavouring  to 
 copy  such  fair  examples.  But  when  you  have  seen,  a- 
 mong  your  kindred  or  acquaintances,  persons  who  have 
 bridled  their  tongue,  who  have  renounced  worldly  plea- 
 sures, and  set  their  affections  on  things  above ;  who 
 have  sustained  afflictions  with  fortitude,  borne  injuries 
 with  patience,  requited  good  for  evil  ;  who  have  de- 
 spised and  rejected  wealth,  when  it  came  into  competi- 
 tion with  religious  advantages ;  and  who  uniformly  pro- 
 fess their  dependence  on  the  promised  grace  of  God  for 
 all  they  have,  or  hope  to  attain  ;  when  you  have  seen 
 and  observed,  and  yet  undervalue  such  attainments, 
 what  further  evidence  can  be  given  you  ?  We  cannot 
 unfold  lo  you  the  world  of  spirit?.      To  all  of  you  the 
 
SERMON    IV  .  147 
 
 kingdom  of  God  has  thus  come  nigh  ;  with  respect  to 
 some,  it  has  come  even  to  your  house  ;  yet  you  turn  a- 
 way,  and  flee  from  it. 
 
 It  is  possible  you  may  still  continue  to  hear  and  to 
 behold  those  things  with  the  same  unconcern,  or,  at 
 least,  with  no  effectual  resolution,  or  earnest  endeavour 
 to  discard  your  idols,  and  give  yourselves  wholly  up  to 
 Christ ; — you  may  continue  to  wonder  what  mean  the 
 warm  expostulations  you  hear,  and  the  strange  things 
 you  see ; — you  may  satisfy  yourselves  with  fallacious 
 hopes,  and  so  put  off  the  evil  day,  or  with  a  fancied 
 righteousness  of  your  own,  and  so  make  light  of  the 
 righteousness  of  Christ ;  and  then  go  away,  one  to  his 
 farm,  and  another  to  his  merchandize,  and  think  no 
 more  of  securing  a  possession  in  the  heavenly  inheri- 
 tance ; — you  may,  in  a  word,  reject  the  counsel  of  God, 
 and  shut  yourselves  out  from  his  kingdom.  "  Notwith- 
 standing, be  ye  sure  of  this,  that  the  kingdom  of  God 
 is  come  nigh  unto  you." 
 
 We  may  go  farther,  and  say,  Though  you  had  hi- 
 therto been  unconcerned  spectators  of  the  grace  of  God, 
 held  forth  to  all,  and  accepted  by  some,  but  had  never 
 yet  been  yourselves  affected  by  it,  there  might  still  be 
 hope  that,  when  you  came  to  see  and  feel  your  own  in- 
 terest in  the  weighty  truths  which  you  heard,  you  would 
 then  with  eagerness  make  your  escape  from  sin  and 
 wrath,  and  flee  for  refuge  to  the  hope  set  before  you. 
 But  is  there  not  much  reason  to  fear  that,  with  re.-; 
 to  several,  the  case  is  yet  others  ise  P  You  have  not  only 
 heard  and  read,  but  you  have  felt  the  word  prick  your 
 heart,  like  the  Jews  on  the  day  uf  Pentecost  ;  tin 
 you  have  not,  like  then1.,  exelakacd,  M  Men  and  brethren. 
 
448  SERMON  IV. 
 
 what  shall  we  do  ?*  you  have  been  convinced  that  the 
 words  of  scripture  may  be  true,  notwithstanding  the 
 reasoning  of  your  carnal  minds  against  them.  You 
 have  been  forced  to  admit  the  necessity  of  getting  with- 
 in the  "  strait  gate,"  which  the  gospel  pointed  out ;  yet 
 you  have  never  yet  "  striven"  to  enter  in.  You  have 
 had  occasional  convictions  of  guilt,  and  dread  of  God's 
 wrath,  both  for  breaking  his  law,  and  for  neglecting 
 his  salvation  ;  yet  you  have  never  fled  from  wrath,  as 
 you  would  from  a  falling  house,  or  a  rushing  torrent. 
 You  have  been  convinced  that,  without  an  interest  in 
 Christ,  you  could  not  be  safe  at  last ;  yet  you  have  not 
 cried  in  earnest  supplication,  with  blind  Bartimeus, 
 "  Jesus,  thou  Son  of  David,  have  mercy  on  me  P  or 
 with  the  disciples  in  the  storm,  "  Lord,  save  us,  we 
 perish  !"  If  sucli  convictions  have  been  stifled,  rather 
 than  cherished  ;  if  they  have  been  dismissed  with  satis- 
 faction, rather  than  lost  with  regret ;  if  they  have  at 
 times  returned,  and  been  as  often  evaded,  or  chaced  a- 
 way,  where  can  the  truth  now  enter,  or  in  what  other 
 way  can  it  lay  hold  of  you  ? 
 
 You  may  now,  perhaps,  satisfy  yourselves  with  the 
 unwarranted  expectation,  that  these  convictions,  if  they 
 be  still  needful,  may  return  just  as  they  came  before, 
 without  any  effort  on  your  part.  Or  you  may  rather 
 suppose,  that  it  is  quite  enough  that  you  once  expe- 
 rienced some  kind  of  concern,  or  fear,  or  compunction, 
 though  no  change  of  heart,  or  holiness  of  life,  was  found 
 to  follow.  Or  you  may  now  despise  and  resist  the  un- 
 availing attempt  to  revive  your  concern,  and  withdraw 
 beyond  the  sound  of  warning,  and  flee  from  the  gra- 
 cious, mighty  hand,  which  would  pull  you  out  of  the 
 
SERMON  IV.  449 
 
 gulph  of  perdition.     "  Notwithstanding,  be  ye  sure  of 
 this,  that  the  kingdom  of  God  is  come  nigh  unto  you.*" 
 
 2.  What  a  dreadful  aggravation  of  the  future  pu- 
 nishment of  unbelievers  will  it  be,  to  reflect  on  the  mer- 
 cies they  have  slighted,  and  the  calls  they  have  re- 
 fused ! 
 
 We  know  well  that  death  is  no  eternal  sleep.  We  ' 
 speak  that  of  which  we  are  assured,  when  we  say,  that 
 all  that  are  in  the  graves  shall  hear  the  voice  of  the  Son 
 of  God,  and  shall  come  forth  ;  for  the  trumpet  shall 
 sound,  and  the  dead  shall  arise,  they  that  have  done 
 good,  to  the  resurrection  of  life,  and  they  that  have 
 done  evil,  to  the  resurrection  of  damnation.  When 
 the  Lord  shall  come,  with  ten  thousand  of  his  saints,  to 
 execute  judgment  on  all ;  when  all  the  ungodly  shall 
 be  convicted  before  the  unerring  Judge,  of  all  their  un- 
 godly deeds  which  they  have  committed,  and  of  all 
 their  hard  speeches  which  they  have  spoken  against 
 him  ;  when  they  that  have  sinned  without  the  law, 
 shall  perish  without  the  law  ;  when  conscience, 
 which  is  a  law  to  herself,  shall  demand  the  ven- 
 geance due  to  her  violated  rights, — where,  then,  shall 
 the  ungodly  and  the  sinner  appear,  who  hath  count- 
 ed the  blood  of  the  covenant  an  unholy,  or  an  un- 
 necessary, insignificant  thing,  and  done  despite  to  the 
 Spirit  of  grace  ? 
 
 Though  they  may  give  little  heed  now  to  warnings, 
 and  calls,  and  offers  of  mercy  ;  though  they  may  dis- 
 regard the  voice  that  forewarns  them  of  the  wrath  of 
 God,  revealed  against  all  unrighteousness  and  ungodli- 
 ness of  men, — which  tells  them,   that  the  Lord  J 
 
450  SERMON  IV. 
 
 shall  be  revealed  from  heaven,  with  his  mighty  angels, 
 in  flaming  fire,  taking  vengeance  on  them  that  know 
 not  God,  and  obey  not  the  gospel  of  our  Lord  Jesus 
 Christ ;  when  this  cometh  to  pass,  (lo,  it  will  come), 
 then  shall  they  know  that  the  word  of  prophecy  hath 
 been  among  them.  A  dreadful  sound  shall  be  in  their 
 ears,  and  the  voice  of  the  tormentor  ever  telling  them 
 how  far  they  are  removed  from  heaven,  how  far  now 
 out  of  reach  of  mercy.  He  bids  them  look  to  Abra- 
 ham, only  to  see  that  he  is  "  afar  off,'"1  and  that  there  is 
 a  great  gulph  fixed  between,  which  none  can  ever  pass. 
 He  bids  them  behold  Lazarus  in  Abraham's  bosom, 
 only  to  remind  them  how  many  of  God's  poor  oppress- 
 ed children  they  had  formerly  despised,  who  are  now 
 comforted,  while  they  are  tormented.  And  then,  he 
 adds,  "  Though  ye  are  now  removed  far  off  from  all 
 the  blessedness  which  ye  there  behold  ;  notwithstand- 
 ing, remember,  and  be  ye  sure  of  this,  that  the  time 
 was,  when  the  kingdom  of  God  did  come  nigh  unto 
 you."  Well  might  our  Lord  say,  that  it  would  in- 
 deed be  more  tolerable  for  Sodom  and  Gomorrah,  in 
 the  day  of  judgment,  than  for  these. 
 
 But  dreadful  as  is  the  case  of  every  one  who  has 
 long  made  light  of  the  gospel  call,  yet  the  case  is  not 
 wholly  desperate.  Still  there  is  hope.  While  we 
 have  a  voice  to  speak,  while  ye  have  ears  to  hear,  we 
 cannot  address  you  in  the  language  of  reprobation. 
 Men  and  brethren,  we  testify  to  you,  that  this  day  the 
 kingdom  of  God  is  come  nigh  unto  you  ;  even  to  you, 
 O  sinner  !  whoever  you  are,  who  hear  these  words, 
 though  you  never  bestowed  a  serious  thought  on  them 
 
SERMON  IV  451 
 
 before, — nay,  though  you  had  often  wished  the  Bible 
 had  never  been  heard  of.  The  door  of  mercy  is  not 
 yet  finally  barred ;  the  compassion  of  Jesus  is  not  yet 
 exhausted.  Jerusalem  had  killed  the  prophets,  and 
 stoned  them  that  were  sent  unto  her,  yet  to  Jerusalem, 
 in  a  special  manner,  did  the  Lord  Jesus  reveal  his 
 tender  mercy,  and  his  mighty  power  to  save.  Jerusalem 
 killed  the  Prince  of  life,  and  hanged  him  on  a  tree  ; 
 yet,  when  his  apostles  were  to  preach  repentance  and 
 remission  of  sins  among  all  nations,  they  must  begin 
 even  at  Jerusalem.  To  you,  O  sinner  !  is  this  word 
 of  salvation  sent.  See  that  you  refuse  not  him  that 
 speaketh  from  heaven,  that  crieth  aloud,  "  How  long, 
 ye  scorners,  will  ye  delight  in  your  scorning,  and 
 fools  hate  knowledge?  Turn  ye  at  my  reproof;  be- 
 hold, I  will  pour  out  my  spirit  unto  you,  I  will  make 
 known  my  words  unto  you,"  Prov.  i.  22.  23.  No 
 longer,  then,  grieve  his  compassionate  heart,  by  re- 
 fusing his  free  grace.  Commit  your  guilty  polluted 
 souls  into  his  hands,  accept  his  offered  mercy,  and  give 
 him  the  glory.  We  have  a  message  from  God  to  you 
 this  day.  These  are  the  words  of  peace  with  which 
 we  are  charged ;  "  Seek  ye  the  Lord  while  he  may  be 
 found,  call  ye  upon  him  while  he  is  near ;  let  the 
 wicked  forsake  his  way,  and  the  unrighteous  man  his 
 thoughts;  and  let  him  return  unto  the  Lord,  and  he 
 will  have  mercy  upon  him  ;  and  to  our  God,  for  lie 
 will  abundantly  pardon.  For  my  thoughts  are  not 
 your  thoughts,  neither  are  your  ways  my  ways,  saith 
 the  Lord  ;  for  as  the  heavens  arc  higher  than  the  earth, 
 so  are  my  ways  higher  than  your  ways,  and  my  thoughts 
 
453  SERMON  IV. 
 
 higher  than  your  thoughts,"  Isaiah  lv.  7 — 9-  Once 
 more,  then,  "  Turn  ye,  turn  ye,  why  will  ye  die  ?" 
 "  Incline  your  ear,  and  come  to  me,  saith  the  Lord, 
 who  hath  mercy  upon  you ;  hear,  and  your  soul  shall 
 live." 
 
SERMON  V. 
 
 Luke  xix.  41.  42. — And  wlien  he  was  conie  near,  he  be* 
 
 held  the  city,  and  wept  over  it,  saying,  If  thou  hadst 
 
 known,  even  tliou,  at  least  in  this  thy  day,  the  things 
 
 which  belong  unto  thy  peace !  but  now  they  are  hid 
 
 from  thine  eyes. 
 
 It  has  been  emphatically  said,  by  an  inspired  apostle, 
 that  "  God  is  love."  Not  only  is  he  represented  as 
 possessing  this  most  exalted  and  truly  divine  affection 
 in  the  highest  degree  ;  but  the  various  modifications  of 
 love,  which  seem  to  partake  of  human  infirmity,  are 
 in  scripture  ascribed  to  God,  so  as  to  bring  its  opera- 
 tion more  within  the  reach  of  our  comprehension.  This 
 amiable  affection,  in  its  various  human  shapes  and  at- 
 titudes, is  particularly  conspicuous  in  "  the  man  Christ 
 
454  SERMON  V. 
 
 Jesus,*1  in  whom  it  appears  quite  in  character.  The 
 sentiments  of  tender  solicitude,  of  painful  sympathy 
 and  commiseration,  are  strikingly  exhibited  in  his  lan- 
 guage and  deportment.  The  great  God  our  Saviour, 
 is  brought  down  to  the  level  of  humanity ;  he  mourns 
 and  pities,  he  grieves  and  weeps,  with  all  the  fellow- 
 feeling  of  an  affectionate  brother.  Love,  and  compas- 
 sion, and  sorrow,  on  account  of  obstinate  perishing  sin- 
 ners, are  strongly  expressed  in  the  language  of  the 
 text  before  us.  To  obtain  a  fuller  insight  into  this 
 tender  exclamation,  we  shall  endeavour  to  take  a 
 view, 
 
 I.  Of  the  doctrines  referred  to  in  the  text. 
 
 II.  Of  the  spirit  which  it  breathes. 
 
 I.  The  doctrines,  to  which  there  is  an  obvious  re- 
 ference in  the  words  of  our  text,  are  of  the  highest  im- 
 portance,— they  are  peculiar  to  the  Christian  revela- 
 tion,— they  are  doctrines  which  cannot  be  too  often 
 brought  to  our  view,  and  pressed  on  our  attention. 
 May  the  divine  Spirit,  from  whom  they  came,  impress 
 them  now  on  our  hearts  ! 
 
 1.  The  knowledge  of  revealed  truth  is  necessary  to 
 true  and  lasting  peace. 
 
 Sin  early  disturbed  the  harmony  which  subsisted  a- 
 mong  the  creatures  of  God.  A  spirit  of  pride,  or  envy, 
 or  discontent,  threw  some  of  the  heavenly  inhabitants 
 down  from  their  "  first  estate,""  and  inspired  them  with 
 an  inveterate  enmity  against  the  King  of  heaven.  To 
 them  no  terms  of  peace  were  proposed,  no  offers  of  par- 
 don made.     A  like  spirit  of  dissatisfaction  and  disobe- 
 
SERMON   \  455 
 
 dience  destroyed  the  happiness  which  man  enjoyed  in 
 paradise,  and  changed  his  blissful  state  of  purity  and 
 peace  into  a  state  of  enmity  against  God,  and  exposure 
 to  his  righteous  judgment.  Notwithstanding  their  a- 
 postacy,  an  all-gracious  God  determined  not  to  cut  them 
 off,  but  to  bring  them  back  to  a  state  of  reconciliation. 
 "  I  know  the  thoughts  which  I  think  towards  you," 
 was  his  merciful  counsel,  "  thoughts  of  peace,  and  not 
 of  evil,"  Jer.  xxix.  11.  He  has  appointed  a  Peace- 
 maker,— has  sent  him  to  mediate  between  rebellious 
 subjects  and  their  offended  Sovereign, — has  proposed 
 the  most  condescending  terms  of  reconciliation, — has 
 provided  the  very  oblation  which  must  atone  for  the 
 offences  of  his  creatures, — has  taught  them  how  to  avail 
 themselves  of  his  bounty, — beseeches  them  to  be  re- 
 conciled, and  promises  to  take  them  under  his  protec- 
 tion and  paternal  care. 
 
 These,  brethren,  are  things  which  belong  to  the 
 peace  of  every  sinner.  Without  such  a  provision,  no 
 man  could  be  saved.  The  knowledge  of  this  merciful 
 appointment  of  God  is  necessary  to  the  reception  of 
 his  offers ;  for  how  shall  a  person  embrace  an  offer,  or 
 accept  an  invitation,  or  agree  to  a  proposal,  which  he 
 does  not  know  ?  "  Believe  in  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ, 
 and  thou  shalt  be  saved."  This  is  the  simple  tenor  of 
 the  gospel  proclamation.  "But  how,"  argues  an  a- 
 postle,  "  shall  they  believe  in  him  of  whom  they  have 
 not  heard  ?" 
 
 It  is  not  enough,  however,  to  have  heard  of  these 
 things  "  by  the  hearing  of  the  car."  A  more  intimate 
 knowledge  of  this  wonderful  scheme  of  salvation,  is 
 necessary  to  profit  by  it.     An  apprehension  of  the 
 
456  SERMON  V. 
 
 tent  and  purity  of  the  divine  law,  and  of  the  justice  of 
 that  sentence  by  which  transgressors  are  condemned, 
 — a  just  notion  of  the  exalted  character  of  our  Re- 
 deemer, of  the  loving-kindness  of  God  our  Saviour,  in 
 undertaking,  carrying  on,  and  completing  the  work  of 
 redemption, — and  of  the  grace  of  God  our  Sanctifier, 
 in  carrying  forward,  to  a  blessed  consummation,  the 
 work  of  salvation  in  the  soul  of  a  sinner, — these  are 
 branches  of  saving  knowledge  without  which  a  man 
 cannot  possess  proper  affections  toward  God.  To  ap- 
 prehend the  true  character  of  God,  to  feel  the  evil  of 
 sin,  to  understand  the  nature  of  the  gospel  salvation, 
 and  to  appreciate  its  blessings,  this  is  to  "  know  the 
 things  which  belong  to  our  peace."  To  be  ignorant  of 
 these  things  is  to  be  "  without  God  and  without  hope.1' 
 But  when  a  sinner  savingly  knows  them,  then  "  being 
 justified  by  faith,  he  has  peace  with  God,"  &c.  Rom. 
 v.  1. 
 
 As  there  can  be  no  reconciliation  between  sinners 
 and  their  offended  God,  except  in  the  way  which  he 
 has  graciously  appointed,  so  there  can  be  no  solid  or 
 lasting  peace  of  mind,  but  through  the  knowledge  of 
 this  salvation.  A  person  may  be  buried  in  thoughtless 
 unconcern  about  his  own  state,  unconcious  of  his  guilt, 
 and  insensible  of  his  danger, — and  this  insensibility  may 
 be  miscalled  peace ;  but  it  is  not  what  an  apostle  signi- 
 ficantly calls  "  the  peace  of  God  ;"  it  is  a  delusive 
 quiet,  that  deceives  for  a  time,  but  must,  sooner  or  later, 
 be  broken.  The  confession,  "  We  are  verily  guilty," 
 will  at  last  be  extorted,  when  conscience  will  no  longer 
 be  silent,  and  divine  justice  will  speak  out  with  a  voice 
 of  terror.     Or  a  person  may  think   to  compensate  for 
 
SERMON  V  m 
 
 his  Bins  by  acts  of  charity,  or  of  piety,  or  of  self-denial 
 and  mortification ;  and  thus  may  bribe  his  conscience 
 to  allow  him  to  rest  undisturbed.  But  the  quiet  which 
 is  thus  purchased  is  short  and  precarious.  The  violat- 
 ed law  will  at  last  make  its  just  claims  to  be  known, 
 — and  the  earnest  inquiry,  "  Wherewith  shall  I  come 
 before  the  Lord  ?"  wherewith  shall  I  appease  his  just 
 indignation  ?  will  remain  unanswered.  Nothing  can 
 effectually  restore  peace  to  the  soul  groaning  under  a 
 load  of  guilt,  and  trembling  at  the  view  of  its  me- 
 rited punishment,  except  the  certain  knowledge,  the 
 firm  persuasion,  that  Christ  is  set  forth  to  be  the  pro- 
 pitiation for  our  sins, — that  there  is  no  condemnation 
 to  them  that  are  in  Jesus,  because  his  blood  cleanseth 
 from  all  sin.  When  this  persuasion  sheds  its  blessed 
 influence  on  the  soul,  then  distressing  fears  vanish  away, 
 composure  and  tranquillity  return,  hope  and  joy  spring 
 up,  and  the  "  peace  of  God,  which  passeth  all  under- 
 standing, keeps  the  heart  and  mind  through  Christ 
 Jesus,"  Phil.  iv.  7.  Well  may  we  say  concerning  those 
 whom  we  pity  and  love,  "  O  that  they  knew  the  things 
 which  belong  to  their  peace  !** 
 
 2.  There  is  a  period  fixed  in  the  divine  counsels,  with- 
 in which,  but  not  beyond  it,  this  saving  knowledge  may 
 be  attained. 
 
 It  is  not  affirmed  that  the  knowledge  of  divine  truth 
 is  placed  within  the  reach  of  all.  He  who  gave  his 
 Son  a  ransom  for  many, — who  gives  grace  and  glory  as 
 a  free  gift  for  his  Sons  sake, — who  dotli  what  he  will 
 with  his  own,  and  bestows,  or  withholds,  according  to 
 his  sovereign  pleasure, — sends  messengers  of  p 
 and  makes  known  his  purposes  of  mercy  to  some,  but 
 
458  SERMON  V. 
 
 not  to  all.  In  this  he  acts  according  to  the  unsearch- 
 able counsel  of  his  own  will,  without  assigning  the  rea- 
 sons of  his  conduct  to  us.  Moreover,  he  informs  us, 
 that  the  offers  of  pardon,  though  made  in  the  most  gra- 
 tuitous manner,  will  not  be  continued  always, — that 
 the  door  of  mercy  will  not  remain  always  open, — that 
 the  period  of  indemnity  is  circumscribed  within  certain 
 limits,  fixed  and  known  to  God,  though  concealed  from 
 us ;  and  when  that  is  expired,  there  will  be  no  renewal 
 of  the  favour.  This  period  of  grace  may,  in  the  case 
 of  some,  be  extended  to  the  very  last  moment  of  their 
 life ;  with  respect  to  others,  not  so  far.  "  When  once 
 the  master  of  the  house  hath  risen  up,  and  hath  shut 
 to  the  door,"  his  words  to  all  who  are  then  found  stand- 
 ing without,  and  who  would  not  enter  in  proper  time, 
 shall  be,  "  I  know  you  not,  whence  ye  are;  depart 
 from  me,  ye  workers  of  iniquity,""  Luke  xiii.  525.  There 
 is  no  repentance  in  the  grave ;  no  pardon  offered  to  the 
 dead.  The  disembodied  spirit,  immediately  on  its  quit- 
 ting its  fleshly  tabernacle,  will  either  be  carried  with  La- 
 zarus to  Abraham's  bosom,  or,  with  the  rich  man,  will 
 lift  up  its  eyes  in  the  torments  of  hell.  But  even  before 
 the  soul  is  separated  from  the  body,  and  summoned  to 
 receive  its  doom,  the  irreversible  sentence  may  be  pro- 
 nounced, "  My  Spirit  shall  no  longer  strive  with  this 
 man."  The  materials  of  saving  knowledge  may  be 
 withdrawn  out  of  reach,  or  concealed  from  view,  so  that 
 there  shall  be  "  a  famine  of  the  words  of  the  Lord," 
 and  the  things  which  belong  to  a  sinner's  peace  may  be 
 "  hid  from  his  eyes,"  Amos  viii.  11.  The  eye  may 
 become  dim,  that  it  cannot  see,  and  the  ear  become 
 heavy,  that  it  cannot  hear;  so  that  the  channels  through 
 
SERMON    V.  ±59 
 
 which  the  word  of  salvation  can  he  conveyed,  shall  he 
 stopped,  and  '  knowledge  at  these  inlets  quite  shut  out/ 
 The  heart  may  wax  gross,  so  that  there  shall  he  no  dis- 
 position to  attend  to  divine  truth,  nor  even  capacity  to 
 apprehend  it.  The  grace  which  alone  can  open  the 
 understanding,  and  impress  the  heart,  may  he  with- 
 held ;  and  the  soul  may  he  left  to  harden  in  its  own  de- 
 ceitfulness,  and  to  corrupt  in  its  own  filthiness.  While 
 the  period  of  the  Lord's  forhearance  continues,  the  sin- 
 ner may  obtain  mercy.  This  is  "  his  day,"  the  day  of 
 his  merciful  visitation.  The  Saviour  invites, — the  Spi- 
 rit's influences  are  ready  to  be  imparted, — the  arms  of 
 divine  mercy  are  extended, — the  angels  of  God  are  tun- 
 ing their  harps  to  celebrate  with  joy  the  return  of  a 
 penitent  sinner.  But  when  the  day  of  the  Lord's  anger 
 arrives,  and  the  sentence  is  gone  forth,  "  Ephraim  is 
 joined  to  idols,  let  him  alone"  "  there  remaineth  no  more 
 sacrifice  for  sin,  but  a  certain  fearful  looking  for  of 
 judgment  and  fiery  indignation,  which  shall  devour  the 
 adversaries,"  Heb.  x.  27. 
 
 What  an  awful  state  is  this  !  Well  may  we  be  in 
 dread  for  the  fate  of  careless  sinners,  and  cry,  ()  !  that 
 they  would  improve  their  precious,  but  transient  season 
 of  grace,  in  this  their  day,  lest  the  light  be  withdrawn, 
 and  repentance,  and  pardon,  and  peace,  be  for  ever  hid 
 from  their  eyes. 
 
 Having  briefly  stated  these  two  important  points  of 
 doctrine,  which  the  text  presents  to  our  view,  we  come 
 now  to  consider, 
 
 II.  The  spirit  which  it  breathes. 
 
 1.  We  find  our  Lord  lamenting  the  inexcusable  m 
 
 2f2 
 
460  SERMON  V. 
 
 attention,  and  incorrigible  supineness  of  sinners,  who 
 will  not  attend  to  their  great  concern.  He  had  travell- 
 ed far,  and  laboured  much,  to  persuade  the  Jews  to  em- 
 brace the  salvation  which  he  came  to  offer  them.  He 
 had  strongly  warned  them,  and  earnestly  besought  them 
 not  to  refuse.  Yet  some  carelessly  neglected  or  despis- 
 ed, while  others  perversely  rejected  his  counsel.  He 
 might  well  have  spoken  to  them  only  in  terms  of  indig- 
 nant triumph,  "  Ye  serpents,  ye  generation  of  vipers, 
 how  can  ye  escape  the  damnation  of  hell?"  "  Because 
 I  have  called,  and  ye  refused ;  I  stretched  out  my  hand, 
 and  no  man  regarded ;  therefore  I  will  laugh  at  your 
 calamity,  I  will  mock  when  your  fear  cometh.  Go 
 and  cry  unto  the  gods  whom  ye  have  chosen,  let  them 
 deliver  you  in  the  time  of  your  tribulation  ;  for  ye  have 
 forsaken  me,  and  served  other  gods,  wherefore  I  will 
 deliver  you  no  more."  Such  might  have  been  his  lan- 
 guage. But,  instead  of  glorying  over  their  miseries 
 which  they  had  brought  upon  themselves,  we  find  him 
 weeping  over  their  unhappy  case,  and  lamenting  their 
 stubbornness,  in  turning  away  from  their  only  refuge. 
 O  Jerusalem,  Jerusalem  !  how  often  would  I  have 
 gathered  thy  children  together,  as  a  hen  doth  gather 
 her  brood  under  her  wings,  and  ye  would  not."  "  I 
 came  a  light  into  the  world,  a  light  to  lighten  the  Gen- 
 tiles, and  especially  the  glory  of  my  people  Israel ;" 
 but  "  ye  chose  darkness  rather  than  light."  "  I  sent 
 unto  you  my  servants  the  prophets,  rising  early  and 
 sending  them  \*  "  but  them  ye  killed,  beating  some, 
 and  stoning  others."  I  came  myself,  and  stood,  and 
 cried,   "  If  any  man  thirst,  let  him  come  to  me  and 
 
*  SERMON  V.  461 
 
 drink  ?  "  but  ye  would  not  come  unto  me  that  ye 
 might  have  life."  I  have  stood  at  your  door  and  knock- 
 ed, crying,  "  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  p  but  ye  would  not  hear,  nor  open.  Your 
 only  answer,  if  ye  answered  at  all,  was,  "  Trouble  me 
 not,  the  door  is  now  shut,  and  my  children  are  with  mc 
 in  bed,"  I  cannot  rise  and  give  thee  entrance.  I  have 
 again  and  again  respited  the  sentence,  and  withheld  the 
 stroke  which  would  have  cut  you  down,  "  as  cumbering 
 the  ground.  I  have  digged  about  my  fig  tree  to  see  if 
 it  would  yet  bear  fruit,'"  and  applied  various  means  to 
 reclaim  and  improve ;  and  what  has  been  the  fruit  of 
 my  labour  ?  nothing  but  continued  barrenness  and  un- 
 profitableness. "  What  could  have  been  done  more  to 
 my  vineyard,  that  I  have  not  done  in  it  ?  Yet  when  I 
 looked  that  it  should  bring  forth  grapes,  brought  it 
 forth  wild  grapes.  O  !  that  ye  were  wise,  that  ye  knew 
 the  things  which  belong  to  your  peace ;  but  now  they 
 are  hid  from  your  eyes."  Alas  !  my  friends,  is  not  this 
 still  the  language  in  which  our  compassionate  Redeemer 
 has  to  address  many  of  ourselves  ?  Has  he  not,  bv  his 
 messengers,  called,  and  invited,  and  urged  you  to  come 
 to  him  for  salvation  ?  And  have  not  you  as  often  turn- 
 ed away,  wondering  what  all  this  importunity  meant ; 
 or  supposing  it  could  not  be  addressed  to  you  ;  or  civilly 
 acknowledged  the  good  intention  of  the  warnings  and 
 admonitions  you  heard,  and  then  thought  no  more  of 
 them,  than  if  you  had  heard  them  not  ?  How  often  have 
 you  thus  rejected  the  counsel  of  God  respecting  your 
 salvation,  as  if  you  did  not  choose  to  have  anv  part  or 
 lot  in  such  a  matter,   and  trifled  iwi?  vour   setSOQl  of 
 
4M  SEKMON  V. 
 
 grace,  youth,  and  health,  and  ordinances,  and  oppor- 
 tunities, which  will  never  return  ?  And  now  your  ac- 
 cepted time,  your  day  of  salvation,  is  drawing  to  a 
 close  ;  the  shadows  of  the  evening  are  stretched  out, 
 and  yet  you  have  not  sealed  your  covenant  with  your 
 Lord  and  Redeemer,  while  he  stands,  and  with  a 
 pitying  look,  takes  his  last  farewell,  and  with  flow- 
 ing tears  exclaims,  "  O  that  ye  had  considered  and 
 known,  in  this  your  day,  the  things  which  belong  to 
 your  peace,  but  now  they  are  about  to  be  for  ever  hid 
 from  your  eyes;  your  day  is  just  expiring,  the  shades 
 of  night  are  closing  around  you,  and  nothing  remains 
 for  you  but  the  blackness  of  darkness  for  ever.'" 
 
 8.  We  see  our  Lord  deploring  the  inevitable  misery 
 which  sinners  are  bringing  on  their  own  souls,  when  they 
 might  have  avoided  it.  Jesus  perceived  the  situation 
 to  which  the  whole  Jewish  people,  with  the  exception 
 of  a  few  individuals,  had  now  reduced  themselves. 
 They  were  within  four  days  of  filling  up  the  measure 
 of  their  guilt,  by  effecting  their  murderous  purposes 
 against  himself.  They  were  then  given  up  to  judicial 
 blindness  and  obduracy,  and  were  to  suffer  such  cala- 
 mities from  the  hands  of  the  Romans,  as  never  had 
 been  endured  by  any  people  since  the  beginning  of  the 
 world.  All  this,  too,  was  but  an  earnest  of  infinitely 
 heavier  judgments,  which  were  to  abide  upon  them 
 for  ever  and  ever.  What  else  is  the  doom  of  every 
 careless  sinner  ?  How  can  he  escape,  who  neglects  the 
 great  salvation  of  the  gospel?  The  unchangeable  rec- 
 titude of  the  divine  nature  requires,  that  the  word  of 
 (lod  shall  Stand  sure,  that  sinners  shall  not  enter  into 
 ihe  congregation  of  the  righteous,    but  that  the  way  of 
 
SERMON  \  463 
 
 the  ungodly  shall  perish.     His  mercy  has  provided  and 
 proposed  an   effectual  way  of   deliverance.     His  for- 
 bearance has  endured,   with   much  long-suffering,  the 
 transgressors  of  his  law.     But  this  forbearance  has  its 
 limits.     Justice,  at  length,  must  take  its  course.     And 
 who  can  stand  when   the  righteous   Judge  of  all   the 
 earth  shall  enter  into  judgment  ?  Who  can  say  that  his 
 heart  shall  endure,  or  his  hands  be  strong,  in  the  day 
 when  the  Lord  shall   deal  with  him  according  to  his 
 iniquities  ?     Jesus  wept  over  lost  Jerusalem,   not  only 
 as  one  possessed  of  human  feelings,  but  as  their  Me- 
 diator,  who   had   come  to  seek  and  to  save  them.     He 
 stands  in  the  same  relation  to  us.     And  while  he  de- 
 plores the  miserable  state  of  those  who  are  about  to  be 
 consigned  over  to  their  righteous  doom,  he  knows,  (and 
 it  aggravates  his  sympathetic  pain),  that  he  will  him- 
 self pronounce  the   sentence  which  seals   them  to   the 
 day  of  perdition.     The  language  of  his  compassionate 
 heart  now  toward  such,  is,  "  How  often  have  I  called, 
 how  long  have   I  waited  ;    and  when  your   obstinacy 
 would   have   provoked   my  anger,  how  often   has   my 
 heart  turned  within   me,  and  my  repentings  been   kin- 
 dled together?    You  have  I  known  of  all  the  families  of 
 the  earth ;  you  would   I   have  gathered  under  my  pro- 
 tecting wings  ;   and   how  shall  I  hereafter  bid  you  de- 
 part from   me  for  ever?     Yet   thus  it  must    be.      Ye 
 would   not  hearken  to  my  voice:  Israel  would  none  of 
 me.     So  I  gave   you  up  to  your  own  heart's  lust,  and 
 left  you  to  walk  in  your  own  counsel.     And  now  your 
 fear   cometh  as  desolation,  and   your  destruction   | 
 whirlwind.     O  that  my  people  had  hearkened  unto  me. 
 that  Israel  had  chosen  my  ways;   I  should  soon  have 
 
464  SERMON  V. 
 
 subdued  their  enemies,  and  turned  my  hand  against 
 their  adversaries.  But  now  their  house  is  left  desolate; 
 distress  and  anguish  are  come  upon  them ;  yea,  sudden 
 destruction  cometh  upon  them,  as  travail  upon  a  wo- 
 man with  child,  and  they  shall  not  escape."  Does  our 
 compassionate  Redeemer  thus  tenderly  deplore  the 
 wretched  fate  of  thoughtless  deluded  sinners;  and 
 shall  any  of  you  still  remain  unmoved  at  the  thought 
 of  his  having  poured  forth  his  blood  for  your  sins,  and 
 shed  tears  for  your  folly,  and  all  in  vain  ? 
 
 3.  Jesus  tenderly  feels  for  individual  sinners,  ac- 
 cording to  the  particular  aggravations  of  their  respec- 
 tive cases.  He  whose  eye  is  in  every  place,  beholding 
 the  evil  as  well  as  the  good,  who  marks  every  circum- 
 •  stance  that  concerns  every  one  of  his  people,  is  not 
 inattentive  to  the  particular  case  of  each  sinner  on 
 whom  he  has  bestowed  his  favours  in  vain.  He  looks 
 down  with  compassion  on  some  whose  day  of  grace  he 
 sees  nearly  closed,  and,  remembering  how  they  have 
 abused  the  advantages  they  have  enjoyed,  he  says, 
 "  O  that  ye  might  know,  at  least  in  this  your  day,  the 
 things  which  belong  to  your  peace,  for  very  soon  they 
 shall  be  hid  from  your  eyes.'"  Looking  on  a  number 
 of  the  lost  sheep  of  his  fold,  he  distinguishes,  perhaps, 
 some  one  or  other  with  peculiar  tenderness,  and  ad- 
 dresses him  as  it  were  in  the  anguish  of  his  spirit, 
 "  Did  I  not  find  thee  in  a  desert  land,  in  the  waste 
 howling  wilderness;  did  I  not  lead  thee  about,  and  in- 
 struct thee,  and  keep  thee  as  the  apple  of  mine  eye  ? 
 Did  I  not  bear  thee,  and  carry  thee  all  the  days  of  old  ? 
 Rut  thou  didst  rebel,  and  vex  my  holy  Spirit.  Did  I 
 .not  plant  thee  a  noble  vine,  wholly  aright  seed  ?    How, 
 
SERMON  V.  4G5 
 
 then,  art  thou  become  the  degenerate  plant  of  a  strange 
 vine  unto  me  ?  O  that  thou  wouldst  know,  even  thou, 
 though  others  should  forsake  me,  or  deny  me,  or  lift 
 up  the  heel  against  me ;  yet  thou,  alas  !  how  is  the 
 gold  become  dim,  the  fine  gold  changed  !  surely  the 
 kingdom  of  God  had  come  nigh  thee.  Thou  wast  not 
 far  from  the  kingdom  of  heaven.  The  ark  which 
 would  have  saved  thy  soul  alive,  floated  past  thy  very 
 threshold.  I  would  have  pulled  thee  in,  but  thou 
 wouldst  not.  Was  it  not  even  so ?  "  Son,  remember"'' 
 O  that  thou  mightest  yet  know,  even  thou,  at  least  in 
 the  evening  of  this  thy  day,  the  things  which  belong 
 to  thy  peace,  that  thou  wouldst  turn,  wholly  turn  un- 
 to me,  that  I  might  yet  save  thee." 
 
 Let  us  suppose,  for  a  moment,  that  our  gracious 
 Lord  were  to  come  into  this  assembly,  and  to  look 
 round  upon  us  all,  what  would  be  the  feelings  of  his 
 benevolent  heart  ?  When  he  beheld  so  many  yet  igno- 
 rant of  salvation,  and  perishing  in  the  midst  of  mercy, 
 methinks  he  would  burst  into  a  flood  of  tears.  To  see 
 persons  who,  by  disease  or  accident,  will  soon  be  hur- 
 ried into  the  eternal  world,  while  yet  unprepared  to 
 meet  their  God, — to  see  them  continue  gay  and  thought- 
 less, or  only  concerned  about  the  present  life,  while  die 
 rider  on  a  pale  horse,  death,  and  hell  following  after 
 him,  is  coming  on  apace  to  seize  his  expected  prey, — 
 would  not  this  pierce  him  with  sorrow,  and  extort  from 
 him  a  lamentation  similar  to  that  before  us?  Yen,  at 
 this  moment,  we  may  be  sure  that  he  is  actually  in- 
 specting our  hearts,  that  he  is  grieved  for  our  folly, 
 our  deadness,  and  unconcern.  Hear  him  once  1 
 crying, — and  perhaps,  with   regard  to  some,  it  ma> 
 
466  SERMON  V. 
 
 but  once  more, — "  Turn  ye,  turn  ye,  from  your  fool- 
 ish, your  carnal,  worldly,  evil,  ruinous  ways, — turn 
 to  the  stronghold,  ye  prisoners  of  hope,  while  yet  there 
 is  a  spark  of  hope  left  unextinguished  ;  to-day  do  I  de- 
 clare that  I  will  render  double  unto  you,  of  all  that  you 
 have  cast  away.  Grieve  not  my  spirit,  lose  not  your 
 own  souls,  but  now,  in  this  your  day,  attend  earnestly 
 to  the  things  which  belong  to  your  peace,  before  the  ir- 
 reversible sentence  go  forth,  and  there  be  no  escape." 
 
 We  have  thus  briefly  considered  what  are  the  feelings 
 of  our  compassionate  Redeemer  over  perishing  sinners, 
 and  what  may  be  supposed  to  be  his  language  in  viewing 
 their  miserable  state.  Let  us  now  turn  our  attention  to 
 ourselves,  and  see  what  is,  or  ought  to  be,  our  opinion 
 of  our  own  hearts  and  conduct,  if  we  have,  in  any  mea- 
 sure, or  inrepeated  instances,  thusgrievedhis  tender  Spirit. 
 Perhaps  many  in  that  day  might  wonder  at  our  Lord's 
 tears,  and  might  be  disposed  to  deride,  rather  than  to 
 sympathize,  with  this  exercise  of  his  compassion.  They 
 might  not  see  any  thing  so  very  pitiable  in  the  state  of 
 Jerusalem,  nor  be  conscious  of  it  in  their  own  case. 
 So  it  may  be  with  many  at  this  day.  If  they  see  a  ser- 
 vant of  Christ  expressing  his  concern  for  perishing  souls 
 with  tears  which  he  cannot  repress,  they  will  laugh  at 
 him  as  a  weak  enthusiast.  Yet  surely  there  is  a  cause. 
 There  must  be  real  ground  for  bitter  sorrow,  when  the 
 Lord,  who  knows  all  things,  is  so  strongly  affected. 
 And  what  if  you,  my  friend,  be  yourself  a  principal 
 cause  of  these  painful  emotions  ?  What  is  our  opinion 
 of  a  child,  of  whom  we  say  that  he  has  cost  his  affec- 
 tionate parent  many  a  sore  pang,  and  wrung  from  him 
 many  a  bitter  tear  ?    What    should  we  think  of  such  a 
 
SERMON  V.  4C7 
 
 child,  did  he  still  continue  unconcerned  at  the  pain  he 
 has  occasioned,  and  no  way  anxious  to  relieve  it  ?  Say, 
 then,  what  is  your  judgment  of  your  own  behaviour, 
 when  you  are  told,  "  Thou  art  the  man  ?v  O  that  con- 
 science would  do  her  duty,  and  speak  out !  Then  would 
 your  tears  flow  in  their  turn.  You  would  confess,  £  I 
 have  indeed  gone  on  frowardly  in  the  way  of  my  own 
 heart, — I  have  hardened  myself  against  conviction, — I 
 have  studiously  explained  away  the  express  declarations 
 of  God's  word, — I  have  resisted  impressions,  and  given 
 my  serious  thoughts  to  the  wind.  My  purposes  form- 
 ed in  a  time  of  distress,  and  my  pious  resolutions  on  a 
 bed  of  sickness,  I  have  suffered  to  evaporate,  like  a 
 morning  cloud,  before  the  sun-shine  of  health  and  pros- 
 perity, or  the  gale  of  worldly  occupations.  I  have  of- 
 ten said  to  my  heavenly  Monitor,  "  Go  thy  way  for 
 this  time,  at  a  more  convenient  season  I  will  call  for 
 thee."  Often  have  I  kept  my  bountiful  Benefactor 
 standing  at  the  door,  when  he  requested  admittance 
 only  to  bestow  the  gift  he  carried  in  his  hand.  When 
 he  expostulated  with  me,  in  the  most  condescending 
 manner,  "  Return,  thou  backsliding  Israel,  and  I  will 
 not  cause  mine  anger  to  fall  on  you,"  I  have  coldly  an- 
 swered, I  pray  thee,  have  me  excused  ;  nay,  I  have  taken 
 encouragement,  from  his  very  forbearance,  to  treat  him 
 unkindly,  to  put  him  off  with  insignificant  excuses,  and 
 to  undervalue  the  mercy  I  so  much  needed.  Bccaust 
 his  grace  abounded,  I  went  on  to  sin.  Because  sen- 
 tence against  my  evil  works  was  not  executed  speedily, 
 therefore  I  became  the  more  insensible  to  his  forbear- 
 ance, the  more  unthankful  for  his  goodness.  When  he 
 kept  silence,   I  came   to   think   thai   b  togi  tin  r 
 
468  SERMON  V. 
 
 such  a  one  as  myself,  and  did  not  disapprove  my  ways* 
 till  my  heart  seemed  fully  set  in  me  to  do  evil,  and  I 
 could  hear  his  tenderest  expostulations  with  determined 
 indifference.  Surely  any  other  than  himself  would  have 
 been  wearied  out  with  my  obstinacy,  and  ungrateful  re- 
 quital of  such  unmerited  favours.  Were  he  not  God, 
 and  not  man,  he  would  have  left  me  ere  now,  provok- 
 ed and  disgusted  with  my  perverse  folly.  Such  would 
 be  the  language  of  an  ingenuous  contrite  soul,  such  the 
 sentiments  of  our  hearts  if  we  knew  ourselves,  and 
 were  moved  as  we  ought  with  that  affecting  sight, — a 
 Saviour  in  tears  1 
 
 But  it  is  not  enough  that  we  lament  our  past  care- 
 lessness and  stubbornness,  which  has  so  much  grieved 
 the  heart  of  our  compassionate  Redeemer.  Let  us  not 
 stop  here.  Is  there  no  way  remaining,  in  which  we 
 may  give  joy  to  this  friend  of  sinners  ?  Surely  there  is. 
 If  he  wept  over  the  ungodly  sinner,  we  may  be  sure 
 that  he  will  rejoice  over  those  who  turn  from  their  folly, 
 and  prefer  heavenly  wisdom.  Does  the  shepherd  re- 
 joice at  finding  the  one  sheep  which  had  strayed  in  the 
 wilderness  ?  Does  the  fond  parent  rejoice  over  his  son, 
 who  was  lost  and  is  found,  who  was  dead  and  is  alive 
 again  ?  Is  there  joy  in  the  presence  of  the  angels  of  God, 
 over  one  sinner  that  repenteth  ?  And  shall  not  the  heart 
 of  our  Lord,  which  is  full  of  love,  feel,  even  in  the  pleni- 
 tude of  bliss,  an  accession  of  joy,  when  he  sees  a  sinner 
 turning  from  the  paths  of  death,  and  choosing  the  way 
 of  life  ?  He  hath  himself  assured  us  what  are  his  emo- 
 tions on  such  an  occasion  :  M  He  will  rejoice  over  them, 
 to  do  them  good  ;  he  will  rejoice  over  them  with  joy, 
 he  will  rest  in  his  love,  he  will  joy  over  them  with  sing- 
 
SERMON   V.  469 
 
 ing.M  Why,  then,  do  we  loiter  in  the  wilderness,  when 
 he  invites  us  to  a  land  flowing  with  milk  and  honey, 
 and  assures  us  that  nothing  will  give  him  more  joy  than 
 to  conduct  us  thither,  and  give  us  possession  ?  Do  not, 
 then,  keep  him  longer  complaining  of  your  hardness  of 
 heart,  and  saying,  "  The  ox  knoweth  his  owner,  and 
 the  ass  his  master's  crib,  but  Israel  doth  not  know,  my 
 people  doth  not  consider."  Improve  the  time,  for  the 
 time  is  short, — it  cannot  but  be  short.  Do  not,  then, 
 stand  hesitating  and  dallying  with  your  salvation,  after 
 so  much  time  already  lost,  when  your  day  of  grace  is 
 far  spent,  perhaps  near,  yea,  very  near  its  close.  If 
 the  Sun  of  righteousness  and  of  mercy,  which  has  long 
 shone  upon  you  in  vain,  shall  go  down  in  wrath,  it  ris- 
 eth  no  more.  Nothing  will  then  remain  but  self-re- 
 proach, bitter  lamentation,  unavailing  cries,  and  the 
 groanings  of  everlasting  despair.  But  now*  is  the  accept- 
 ed time,  this  is  the  day  of  salvation.  Now,  then,  with 
 full  purpose  of  heart,  with  earnest  supplications,  and 
 with  firm  trust  in  your  Redeemer,  flee  for  refuge  to  the 
 hope  which  is  set  before  you,  and  lay  fast  hold  on  eter- 
 nal life.  So  shall  you  have  safety,  peace,  and  comfort 
 here,  and  rejoice  in  the  presence  of  God,  and  of  your 
 adorable  Lord  and  Saviour,  in  the  world  to  come. 
 
SERMON  VI* 
 
 Psal.  cxvi.  15. — Precious,  in  the  sight  of  the  Lord,  is 
 the  death  of  his  saints. 
 
 J.  hat  the  saints  of  God  should  be  subject  to  pain  or 
 death,  may  appear  to  us  surprising.  We  might  be 
 ready  to  suppose  that  those  on  whom  God  had  placed 
 his  love,  and  whom  he  had  marked  out  as  fellow-heirs 
 with  his  beloved  Son,  of  an  everlasting  inheritance, 
 should,  from  the  moment  of  their  calling,  be  purified 
 from  all  sin,  and  exempted  from  all  suffering.  But  we 
 find  that  he  who  doth  all  things  well,  hath  ordered 
 otherwise.  Though  guilt  be  removed  from  the  sancti- 
 fied soul,  and  the  dominion  of  sin  overthrown,  yet 
 many  of  the  bitter  fruits  of  sin  are  still  permitted  to 
 remain ;    and   they   who    are   made   fellow-heirs   with 
 
 •  Preached  in  the  church  of  Urquhart,  on  occasion  of  the  much  lament- 
 ed death  of  the  Rev.  Charles  Calder,  who  had  for  many  years  been  minister 
 of  that  parish. 
 
SERMON  VI.  471 
 
 Christ,  must,  like  him,  be  made  perfect  through  suf- 
 ferings. "  Many  are  the  afflictions  of  the  righteous," 
 Psal.  xxxiv.  19.  Though  the  Lord  put  away  the  sin 
 of  David,  that  he  should  not  die,  yet  the  child  that 
 was  born  to  him  must  die,  2  Sam.  xii.  13.  14.  But 
 while  we  see  the  fruits  of  sin  in  the  sufferings  of  the 
 righteous,  we  see  also  the  operation  of  divine  wisdom, 
 of  redeeming  love,  in  making  even  those  bitter  fruits 
 prove  salutary  medicines  to  the  soul.  The  compara- 
 tively light  afflictions  of  this  life,  are  made  to  work  out 
 a  far  more  exceeding  and  eternal  weight  of  glory.  As 
 the  souls  of  the  redeemed  are  precious  in  the  sight  of 
 the  Lord,  so  is  every  thing  which  advances  their  growth 
 in  grace,  and  hastens  their  glorification.  Thus  the  dis- 
 cipline by  which  they  are  exercised, — the  sharp  convic- 
 tions which  bring  them  to  the  foot  of  the  Saviours  cross, 
 — the  trials  by  which  they  are  quickened  in  prayer,  and 
 their  graces  matured, — the  very  stroke  of  death,  which 
 brings  down  the  tabernacle  in  which  "  they  groan'1  for  a 
 time,  "  being  burdened," — all  these  are  things  precious 
 in  God's  sight. 
 
 In  following  out  the  train  of  thought  which  this  sub- 
 ject suggests,  I  shall  willingly  indulge  you,  my  brethren, 
 and  myself,  in  keeping  in  view  that  most  interesting 
 event  to  which  our  attention  is  this  day  drawn.  The 
 death  of  a  saint, — of  a  minister, — of  such  a  minister, 
 must  ever  be  an  event  highly  affecting  to  all  who  "  look 
 not  at  the  things  which  are  seen,  but  at  the  things 
 which  are  not  seen  ;"  and  most  of  all  affecting  to  those 
 who  were  nearly  connected  with  him,  ns  his  natural  or 
 his  spiritual  children,  fed  from  his  hand,  and  reared 
 under  his  care. 
 
472  SERMON  VI. 
 
 I.  A  saint j  through  all  the  periods  of  his  existence, 
 is  precious  in  the  sight  of  the  Lord. 
 
 At  his  birth,  he  is  marked  out  as  a  "  vessel  made 
 unto  honour," — as  one  destined  to  become  a  partaker 
 of  grace,  and  an  heir  of  glory.  His  name  is  written  in 
 the  Lamb's  book  of  life,  and  ministering  angels  are  En- 
 trusted with  the  care  of  his  person.  Thus  it  was  with 
 your  late  beloved  and  revered  pastor.  Like  Paul,  he 
 was  separated  by  the  Lord,  from  his  birth,  as  a  chosen 
 vessel  to  bear  the  name  of  Jesus  to  the  ears  of  many 
 sinners.  His  extraction  from  pious  parents,  persons  in 
 covenant  with  God,  especially  from  a  father  and  grand- 
 father, eminent  ministers  of  the  gospel,  whose  praise  is 
 still  in  our  church,  and  whose  distinguished  graces  and 
 gifts  will  be  recorded  for  many  generations, — all  shows 
 how  precious  was  his  birth  in  the  sight  of  his  Lord. 
 
 During  the  whole  course  of  his  life,  every  incident 
 that  befals  a  saint  of  God  is  so  ordered,  that  they  all 
 work  together  for  good  to  his  soul.  Every  turn  that 
 affects  his  health,  his  growth,  his  education,  and  man- 
 ner of  life,  especially  the  means  and  circumstances  by 
 which  Jesus  makes  himself  known  to  his  soul, — the  to- 
 kens of  love  by  which  Jesus  gains  his  heart,  and  wins 
 his  affections, — the  very  scene  of  these  heavenly  com- 
 munications,— the  fig-tree  under  whose  hallowed  shade 
 the  Saviour  saw  and  blessed  Nathaniel, — all  these  cir- 
 cumstances are  specially  ordered  and  arranged,  and, 
 from  the  very  important  effects  that  follow,  they  are 
 all  most  precious  in  the  sight  of  the  Lord.  In  the  case 
 of  your  much-lamented  minister,  many  of  the  Lord's 
 dealings  with  his  soul  must  remain  unknown.  Some 
 lie  could  impart  to  his  confidential   friends,   but  others 
 
SERMON  VI.  478 
 
 his  singular  delicacy  made  him  conceal,  lest  he  should 
 seem  to  exalt  himself,  leaving  them  to  be  made  known, 
 to  the  praise  of  sovereign  grace,  in  that  day  when  all 
 secrets  shall  be  revealed,  and  there  will  be  no  danger 
 of  mistaken  imputations.  But  the  extensive  knowledge 
 he  possessed  of  Christian  experience,  his  holy  intimacy 
 with  God,  his  large  acquaintance  with  the  spiritual  im- 
 port of  scripture,  and  his  skilful  application  of  it  to  the 
 case  of  exercised  Christians, — these  abundantly  testify 
 the  course  of  deep  and  constant  discipline  by  which  his 
 own  soul  was  trained  in  the  school  of  Christ. 
 
 The  death  of  a  saint  is,  in  a  peculiar  manner,  the  ob- 
 ject of  the  Saviour's  attention  and  care.  As  that  is  the 
 time  when  nature  is  most  ready  to  fail,  so  then  does 
 grace  most  reign  and  triumph.  Some  tender  spirits, 
 who,  "  through  fear  of  death,  were  all  their  life  sub- 
 ject to  bondage,'"  have  had  their  shackles  knocked  off, 
 and  their  fears  entirely  removed,  at  the  approach  of 
 death.  Martyrs  have,  at  death,  borne  a  loud  and  un- 
 questionable testimony  to  the  invincible  power  and 
 grace  of  their  Redeemer.  Some  who  have  ended  an 
 obscure  life,  by  what  the  world  would  account  an  in- 
 glorious death,  yet  have  showed  themselves  strong  in 
 faith,  and,  borne  up  by  angels,  who  thought  it  an  ho- 
 nour to  be  so  employed,  have  taken  their  flight  from 
 a  sordid  hovel  to  Abraham's  bosom.  John  the  Baptist 
 ended  his  ministry  and  his  life  in  prison,  without  one 
 testimony  on  record  of  his  faith  or  fortitude  in  that 
 trying  hour.  But  we  may  not  therefore  think  that  holy 
 man's  death  was  the  less  precious  in  his  Master's  sight, 
 or  the  less  celebrated  in  heaven.  How  precious  in  the 
 sight  of  the  Lord  must  be  the  stroke  which  releases  his 
 
 2g 
 
474  SERMON  VI. 
 
 beloved  child  from  his  prison-house  ! — which  brings  him 
 into  closer  union,  and  more  intimate  enjoyment  of  him- 
 self !  How  precious  the  very  pains  and  sufferings  which 
 serve  to  refine  his  soul,  to  purge  away  his  dross,  to  ma- 
 ture his  faith,  and  complete  his  preparation  for  bliss  ! 
 Brethren,  we  speak  that  which  we  do  know,  which  our 
 eyes  and  ears  have  witnessed,  when  we  testify  how 
 bright  the  graces  of  your  beloved  pastor  shone  in  the 
 hour  of  his  fiery  trial.  "  The  trial  of  his  faith,  being 
 much  more  precious  than  of  gold  that  perisheth,  was 
 indeed  found  unto  praise,  and  honour,  and  glory," 
 1  Pet.  i.  7.  The  continuance  and  increase  of  acute 
 pain  put  his  faith,  and  patience,  and  submission,  to  a 
 severe  proof;  but  they  remarkably  stood  the  trial. 
 Not  a  murmur  or  complaining  word  escaped  his  lips, — 
 not  a  feature  of  his  face  betrayed  a  struggle  to  suppress 
 complaint.  He  described  his  sufferings,  indeed,  by  the 
 most  significant  comparisons ;  but  during  the  whole  of 
 his  illness,  his  language  was  that  of  praise  and  adora- 
 tion of  his  blessed  Redeemer, — of  gratitude  and  bless- 
 ings to  his  dear  partner,  relatives,  and  friends, — to  his 
 affectionate  attendants, — to  his  beloved  flock,  for  whom 
 he  was  willing  still  "  to  spend,  and  to  be  spent."  Even 
 in  the  extremity  of  pain,  he  was  enabled  to  say,  that  he 
 could  willingly  spend  a  life-time  in  that  state,  for  the 
 sake  of  winning  one  soul  to  Christ.  In  these  last  try- 
 ing days,  he  was  seen  only  by  "  chosen  witnesses." 
 But  these  will  long  remember,  and  esteem  it  as  one  of 
 their  greatest  privileges,  that  they  witnessed  the  testi- 
 mony which  this  dying  saint  bore  to  the  goodness  and 
 love  of  his  glorified  Redeemer. 
 
SERMON   VI.  475 
 
 II.  I  observe,  in  the  second  place,  that  the  person  of 
 the  saints  is  precious  in  the  sight  of  the  Lord. 
 
 The  soul  of  a  believer  is  inestimably  dear  and  pre- 
 cious to  his  Redeemer.  He  hath  redeemed  it  from 
 death  with  an  inestimable  ransom,  not  with  corruptible 
 things,  as  silver  and  gold,  but  with  his  own  precious 
 blood.  And  having  bought  it  with  such  a  price,  he 
 hath  purified  and  garnished  it,  to  be  a  habitation  for 
 himself  to  dwell  in.  He  saves  the  soul  of  his  darling 
 from  the  lions,  from  the  assaults  of  the  adversary ;  so 
 that,  when  Satan  hath  desired  to  have  him,  that  he 
 might  sift  him  as  wheat,  the  intercession  of  Christ  has 
 proved  a  wall  of  defence  which  the  enemy  durst  not  as- 
 sail, and  could  not  overleap. 
 
 The  believer's  body  also  is  precious  in  the  Lord's 
 sight.  This  is  the  temporary  receptacle  of  the  sancti- 
 fied soul,  and  all  its  organs  are  consecrated  to  a  holy 
 service.  How  precious,  may  we  say,  as  well  as  beauti- 
 ful, are  the  feet  of  him  who  bringcth  good  tidings  of 
 good  !  How  precious  the  tongue  that  proclaims  those 
 good  tidings,  that  publisheth  salvation  !  How  precious 
 the  hand  that  is  stretched  out  in  earnest  affectionate 
 expostulation  and  intreaty  !  All  is  dear  to  the  Re- 
 deemer, who  hath  consecrated  the  whole  body  as  a  ves- 
 sel fitted  for  his  special  use. 
 
 The  very  dead  dual  of  the  saints  is  precious  in  the 
 sight  of  the  Lord.  If  his  servants  take  pleasure  in  the 
 stones  of  Zion,  and  favour  the  dust  thereof,  (Psal.  cii. 
 14.),  how  much  more  will  Zion's  King  favour  the  dusl 
 of  the  children  of  Zion  !  In  the  grave,  it  will  rest  in 
 hope.  The  whole  person  of  the  believer,  soul  and 
 body,  through   time  and  eternity,   is  included  in  the 
 
 2g2 
 
m  SERMON  VI. 
 
 covenant  which  Jesus  hath  ratified  and  6ealed  with  his 
 blood ;  and  every  article  comprehended  within  the  pro- 
 visions of  that  covenant,  must  be  of  inestimable  va- 
 lue. 
 
 Well  do  ye  know,  brethren,  how  fully  these  things 
 were  realized  in  him  who  ministered  in  this  sanctuary. 
 How  precious  in  the  Lord's  sight  must  his  soul  have 
 been,  when,  along  with  the  grace  bestowed  on  him  in 
 common  with  every  believer,  though  in  an  uncommon 
 measure,  he  was  furnished  with  so  many  heavenly  en- 
 dowments besides,— endowments  which  shone  with  a 
 pure  and  serene  lustre,— the  more  admired,  the  more 
 closely  they  were  inspected.  I  need  only  mention,  to 
 you  who  knew  him,  the  ardent  affection  with  which  he 
 loved  his  friends  and  his  people, — his  tender  sensibility 
 and  compassion  for  them  in  their  distresses,  so  that, 
 like  his  blessed  Master,  in  all  their  afflictions  he  was 
 afflicted, — the  indefatigable  labour  and  zeal  with  which 
 he  persevered,  through  much  infirmity,  in  declaring 
 the  whole  counsel  of  God,  and  winning  souls  to  Christ, 
 — while,  in  his  addresses  from  this  place,  his  tender  yet 
 fervent  spirit  almost  seemed  ready  to  quit  its  own  taber- 
 nacle, and  penetrate  into  the  souls  and  consciences  of 
 the  hearers.  With  what  affectionate  earnestness  did  he 
 warn  the  careless,  reprove  the  obstinate,  comfort  the 
 mourners,  encourage  the  desponding,  "  speaking,  and 
 exhorting,  and  rebuking  with  all  authority ;"  so  that 
 it  might  be  truly  said  of  him,  in  the  language  of  a 
 Christian  poet, 
 
 "  By  him  the  violated  law  spoke  out 
 
 Its  thunders  ;  and  by  him,  in  rtrains  as  sweet 
 Ai  angels  use,  the  gospel  whisper'd  peace." 
 
SERMON  VI.  477 
 
 Seldom,  if  ever,  was  the  difference  between  the  read- 
 ing and  the  preaching  of  the  word  more  elearly  exem- 
 plified, than  in  the  discourses  of  your  late  beloved  pas- 
 tor. All  his  instructions  and  exhortations  were  derived 
 immediately  from  scripture,  and  were  conveyed,  for  the 
 most  part,  in  scripture  language.  It  was  the  word  it- 
 self that  he  preached ;  but  in  his  hands  the  most  appo- 
 site passages  were  so  selected,  combined,  pointed  direct- 
 ly to  the  heart,  and  impressed  with  such  pathetic  ener- 
 gy on  the  conscience,  as  to  produce  an  effect  almost  ir- 
 resistible,— even  as  the  natural  heat  of  the  sun  is  in- 
 creased when  its  rays  are  artificially  collected,  and  con- 
 centrated in  one  burning  point.  But  in  vain  do  I  at- 
 tempt to  delineate  a  soul  like  his,  so  arrayed  in  the 
 beauties  of  holiness.  My  intention,  in  commemorating 
 his  endowments,  is  not  to  give  man  the  praise  which  is 
 due  to  God  alone,  but  to  shew  how  precious  in  the 
 Lord's  sight  was  the  soul  which  he  adorned  with  such 
 endowments,  and  which  he  thus  delighted  to  honour. 
 
 Let  us  not  overlook  the  care  which  God  exercised 
 over  his  body.  Besides  common  provision  and  preser- 
 vation, which  even  the  unrighteous  and  unthankful  ex- 
 perience, the  Lord  sustained,  for  a  course  of  years,  his 
 frame  enfeebled  by  constant  labour,  and  really  wasted 
 by  "  that  which  came  upon  him  daily, — his  anxious 
 care  for  the  church  of  Christ."-  Thus  was  he  enabled, 
 through  much  pain  and  weakness,  to  preach  the  word 
 statedly  to  his  people,  with  scarcely  a  day's  intermis- 
 sion. It  would  astonish  and  shame  many  a  hardy 
 preacher  to  be  told  how  ill  he  has  often  been  on  a  8 
 turday  night,  or  a  Sabbath  morning,  and  yet  pcr^i 
 in  undertaking  his  public  work, — and  then  haa  been 
 
478  SERMON  VI. 
 
 carried  through  a  service  of  some  hours,  to  the  com- 
 fort and  delight  of  a  numerous  auditory.  In  this  man- 
 ner he  was  supported  in  his  beloved  Master's  service, 
 till  within  a  few  days  of  his  departure  ;  so  that  he 
 might  well  be  said  to  have  fallen  at  his  post,  and  in  the 
 very  execution  of  his  duty.  But  the  outward  man, 
 though  in  a  state  of  decay,  was,  as  well  as  the  inner 
 man,  under  the  special  care  of  the  Lord,  and  precious 
 in  his  sight. 
 
 Can  we  doubt  whether  the  dust  of  this  glorified  saint 
 be  precious  in  the  sight  of  his  Lord  ?  That  dead  body 
 which  you  lately  laid  in  the  grave,  is  safe  in  the  keep- 
 ing of  him  who,  by  his  own  body,  consecrated  the 
 grave,  and  sanctified  its  rest  to  his  people;  who  said, 
 "  I  give  unto  my  sheep  eternal  life,  and  I  will  raise 
 them  up  at  the  last  day."  With  delight  you  used  to 
 look  on  his  form,  when  he  possessed  that  corruptible 
 body,  which  now  is  crumbling  into  dust :  With  how 
 much  greater  delight  will  you  behold  him,  when  you 
 will  see  his  body  fashioned  like  to  Christ's  glorious 
 body  ! — and  what  has  been  for  a  time  mingled  with 
 earth,  shall  become  the  companion  of  angels,  and  shall 
 shine  as  the  stars  for  ever  and  ever  ! 
 
 III.  The  work  of  the  saints  is  precious  in  the  sight 
 of  the  Lord. 
 
 "  Blessed  are  the  dead  which  die  in  the  Lord,  from 
 henceforth  ;  yea,  saith  the  Spirit,  that  they  may  rest 
 from  their  labours,  and  their  works  do  follow  them," 
 Rev.  Xiv.  13.  Every  one  who  is  called  into  the  Lord's 
 vineyard,  has  some  work  assigned  him  to  do.  But  the 
 \\  ork  of  a  minister  of  the  gospel  is  peculiarly  important ; 
 
SERMON  VI.  479 
 
 and  if  it  be  performed  according  to  the  will  of  Christ, 
 in  faith,  and  love,  and  zeal,  it  is  peculiarly  precious. 
 It  is,  in  fact,  the  work  of  God  himself.  "  It  is  not  ye 
 that  speak,"  said  Jesus,  "  but  the  Spirit  of  your  Fa- 
 ther which  speaketh  in  you."  "  I  laboured,'"'  said 
 Paul,  "  yet  not  I,  but  the  grace  of  God  which  was  with 
 me."  He  will  not  disregard  nor  forsake  the  work  of 
 his  hands.  He  will  effectually  take  care,  that  the  word 
 which  proceeds  from  himself  shall  accomplish  that  which 
 lie  pleaseth,  and  shall  prosper  in  the  thing  whereto  he 
 hath  sent  it,"  Isa.  lv.  11. 
 
 How  precious  in  the  Lord's  sight  must  have  been  the 
 work  of  your  late  faithful  minister,  and  his  labour  of 
 love  among  his  people  !  In  his  public  instructions,  and 
 private  admonitions,  he  kept  back  nothing  that  was  pro- 
 fitable for  you,  but  taught  you  publicly,  and  from 
 house  to  house,  testifying  to  high  and  low,  to  old  and 
 young,  repentance  toward  God,  and  faith  toward  our 
 Lord  Jesus  Christ,  Acts  xx.  20.  21.  In  his  visits  to 
 the  sick,  how  sweetly,  how  powerfully,  did  he  pour 
 the  oil  of  consolation  into  the  wounded  spirit ;  inso- 
 much that  many  thought  themselves  happy  in  being 
 laid  on  a  sick-bed,  when  they  had  "  the  kingdom  of 
 God  thus  brought  nigh  unto  them.'1  In  his  catechetical 
 labours,  in  his  stated  meetings  with  his  flock,  in  his  pri- 
 vate conversation  with  those  who  were  awakened,  burden- 
 ed, tempted,  cast  down,  or  in  bondage ;  how  skilful,  how 
 affectionate,  how  cheering  to  their  spirits,  were  the  scrip- 
 tural counsels  which  he  administered  !  In  his  case  we  may, 
 in  the  fullest  sense,  apply  the  apostle's  tender  appeal  to 
 the  Thessalonians ;  *  for  yourselves,  brethren,  know,  that 
 he  was   gentle   among   von,    rven  ns  a  nui  hcth 
 
480  SERMON  VI. 
 
 her  children ;  so,  being  affectionately  desirous  of  you, 
 he  was  willing  to  have  imparted  unto  you,  not  the  gos- 
 pel of  God  only,  but  also  his  own  soul,  because  ye 
 were  dear  unto  him,'  1  Thess.  ii.  1.  7.  8.  And  though 
 I  should  not  mention  it,  you  cannot  forget,  brethren, 
 with  what  a  liberal,  yet  delicate  hand,  he  ministered  to 
 the  bodily  wants  of  a  wide  circle  of  the  poor  and  needy  ; 
 still  conveying  spiritual  food  to  their  souls,  while  he  fed 
 their  bodies.  In  a  word,  his  whole  substance  was  de- 
 voted to  the  use  of  others,  for  Christ's  sake.  All  this 
 was  so  much  in  the  Spirit  of  the  blessed  Jesus  himself, 
 (and  it  is  in  this  view  I  mention  it),  that  we  may  warran- 
 tably  say,  "  God  is  not  unrighteous,  to  forget  his  work 
 and  labour  of  love."  No,  brethren,  his  labour  has  ceased, 
 but  his  work  remains,  and  will  remain.  In  every  soul 
 wherein  God  has  begun  a  good  work  by  his  means,  it 
 will  be  carried  on,  and  finally  accomplished  in  the  day 
 of  Jesus  Christ.  The  seed  which  he  sowed  has  not  yet 
 all  sprung  up  ;  the  prayers  which  he  offered  are  not  yet 
 all  answered.  When,  on  his  death-bed,  he  desired  that 
 his  love  and  blessings  might  be  carried  to  his  dear,  dear 
 people,  he  prayed  that  God  would  send  them  the  bread 
 of  life.  This  prayer,  we  trust,  will  yet  be  answered. 
 You,  and  your  children,  and  your  children's  children, 
 will  yet  gather  much  fruit  where  he  hath  sown.  His 
 record  is  on  high  ;  the  prayers  which  he  offered  in  se- 
 cret, the  tears  which  he  dropped  on  his  Bible,  are  all 
 registered  in  heaven.  Many  a  long  train  of  blessings 
 are  now  preparing,  and  destined  in  the  counsel  of  God 
 to  descend  on  his  people  and  his  family,  in  answer  to 
 the  supplications  which  ascended  warm  from  his  fervent 
 heart  before  the  throne  of  God. 
 
SERMON  VI.  481 
 
 IV.  The  flock  of  a  godly  pastor  is  precious  in  the 
 sight  of  the  Lord. 
 
 You  may  yourselves  judge,  brethren,  how  precious 
 your  souls  were  in  the  estimation  of  your  Lord,  when 
 he  gave  you  such  a  minister.  To  the  people  of  Israel 
 he  gave  one  king  in  his  anger ;  but  because  he  loved 
 Israel  for  ever,  therefore  he  gave  them  another  king  to 
 do  judgment  and  justice,  1  Kings  x.  9-  So,  because  ye 
 were  dear  to  the  Lord,  he  gave  you  a  pastor  according 
 to  his  own  heart,  to  feed  you  with  knowledge  and  un- 
 derstanding, Jer.  iii.  15.  And  are  you  less  precious 
 in  his  sight  now,  than  before  he  bestowed  on  you  such 
 an  inestimable  favour  ?  If,  when  ye  were  yet  enemies, 
 God  sent  his  servant  to  call  you,  and  brought  you  nigh, 
 and  reconciled  you  to  himself;  much  more,  being  re- 
 conciled, shall  you  now  be  brought  forward,  and  che- 
 rished, and  kept  by  the  power  of  God,  through  faith 
 unto  salvation.  You  cannot  reasonably  expect  to  get 
 just  such  a  minister  as  you  have  lost ;  and  it  would  be 
 very  difficult  to  say,  how  the  loss  of  one  so  eminently 
 useful  and  beloved,  should  prove  at  all  serviceable  to 
 your  interests.  But  let  us  not  "  limit  the  Holy  One 
 of  Israel."  Sampson  did  more  at  his  death,  for  the 
 deliverance  of  his  people,  and  the  discomfiture  of  their 
 enemies,  than  all  he  had  done  in  his  life-time.  We 
 cannot  unfold  the  purposes  of  God,  nor  tell  what  he 
 will  do  for  this  parish.  One  thing  we  assuredly  know, 
 that  it  shall  be  well  with  the  righteous.  Those  whom 
 he  hath  chosen  and  loved  as  his  own,  he  will  love  to  tin 
 end,  for  "  the  gifts  and  calling  of  God  are  without 
 petulance.'' 
 
483  SERMON  VI. 
 
 The  affecting  subject  of  our  meditations,  suggests 
 the  following  admonitions. 
 
 1.  Think  on  the  advantages  you  enjoyed, -and  be 
 humbled  for  the  loss  of  them. 
 
 When  you  reflect  on  the  unwearied  constancy  with 
 which  your  late  esteemed  pastor  was  enabled,  to  the 
 last,  to  continue  his  ministerial  work,  you  may  say  that 
 he  was  taken  away  almost  in  the  midst  of  his  days  and 
 his  usefulness.  Age  had  not  impaired  his  powers,  nor 
 cooled  his  ardour,  nor  blunted  his  feelings,  nor  relax- 
 ed his  labours.  Whatever  he  suffered  in  his  person, 
 you  suffered  nothing  from  any  remission  of  his  services. 
 In  the  course  of  nature,  as  we  say,  he  might  have  seen 
 many  more  days,  might  yet  have  fed  long  the  church 
 of  God,  might  yet  have  turned  many  to  righteousness. 
 By  his  removal,  one  full  channel  of  spiritual  nourish- 
 ment is  shut  up  ;  the  suckling  is  bereaved  of  the  breast 
 which  he  sucked,  the  aged  is  deprived  of  the  staff  on 
 which  he  leaned,  the  blind  wanderer  is  separated  from 
 his  guide.  Such  a  bereavement  is  a  sharp  chastise- 
 ment from  the  hand  of  God.  It  has  a  fearful  resem- 
 blance to  the  execution  of  the  threatenings  denounced 
 against  unfruitful  professors,  and  disobedient  sinners  : 
 "  Take  the  talent  from  him." — "  I  will  remove  thy 
 candlestick  out  of  his  place,  except  thou  repent." — 
 "  The  kingdom  of  God  shall  be  taken  from  you,  and 
 given  to  a  nation  bringing  forth  the  fruits  thereof." 
 Alas  !  how  much  is  it  to  be  feared,  that  many,  even  in 
 this  favoured  spot,  have  neglected,  if  not  despised,  the 
 most  impressive  warnings,  the  most  earnest  invitations, 
 the  most  affectionate  expostulations  !  It  is  grieving  to 
 think,  that   amidst    the    numbers  who  did  receive  the 
 
SERMON   VI.  483 
 
 truth  in  the  love  of  it,  many  should  be  found  who  heard 
 the  same  blessed  truth,  and  yet  put  it  by  as  an  idle  tale, 
 and  held  fast  their  idols  and  their  sins.  Many  a  woe 
 did  you  hear  pronounced  against  those  who  should  hard- 
 en their  hearts  under  the  beams  of  the  Sun  of  righ- 
 teousness. "  Woe  unto  thee,  Chorazin  ;  woe  unto  thee, 
 Bethsaida  !"  O  sinners,  be  humbled  before  God  for 
 your  rejection  of  such  a  pure  light,  your  misimprove- 
 ment  of  such  distinguished  favours,  lest  the  "  silver 
 trumpet"  of  mercy  should  sound  no  more  in  your  ears, 
 but,  like  the  tables  of  the  law  in  Moses's  hand,  should 
 be  broken  in  pieces  in  the  day  of  God's  righteous  an- 
 ger !  They  who  have  ungratefully  and  basely  requited 
 more  than  common  kindness,  will  be  overtaken  at  last 
 by  a  storm  of  more  than  common  wrath.  O  that  ye 
 were  wise,  that  ye  understood  this,  and  would  humble 
 yourselves  in  this  day  of  your  merciful  visitation,  while 
 yet  the  long-suffering  of  God  waits  for  you,  and  his 
 hand  is  yet  stretched  out  to  receive  you  ! 
 
 And  you,  brethren,  who  rejoiced  for  a  season  in  that 
 light  which  is  now  set  upon  you,  and  delighted  your- 
 selves in  the  ministrations  with  which,  for  a  time,  ye 
 were  favoured,  have  not  you  also  reason  to  be  humbled, 
 that  you  did  not  value  more  highly,  and  improve  more 
 carefully,  the  distinguished  privileges  which  you  en- 
 joyed ?  I  do  indeed  admire  and  bless  God,  for  the 
 sweet  fruits  of  righteousness  which  are  seen  in  this  well- 
 watered  garden.  But,  the  more  you  search  and  try 
 yourselves,  T  am  persuaded  that  you  will  find  the  more 
 reason  to  regret  that  you  did  not  yet  more  highly  prise 
 your  privileges, — that  you  were   not    mort  il  to 
 
 God  on   account  of  them, — that    you   were  not  more 
 
4S4  SERMON  VI. 
 
 careful  to  seek  and  to  apply  the  counsels  of  your  be- 
 loved teacher,  and  more  diligent  in  practising  the  du- 
 ties you  were  taught.  While  you  now  remember  the 
 bright  day  of  gospel  sun-shine  which  you  enjoyed,  and 
 consider  how  little  of  your  work  is  yet  done,  how  little 
 way  you  have  yet  advanced,  are  you  not  ready  to  say, 
 with  a  heavy  heart,  "  Woe  unto  us,  for  the  day  goeth 
 away,  for  the  shadows  of  the  evening  are  stretched 
 out,,'>  Jer.  vi.  4. — u  O  that  I  were  as  in  months  past, 
 when  the  candle  of  the  Lord  shined  upon  my  head  r1 
 Job  xxix.  3. — "  Humble  yourselves,  brethren,  under 
 the  mighty  hand  of  God,  that  he  may  exalt  you  in  due 
 time,"  1  Pet.  v.  6. 
 
 2.  Think  on  the  advantages  you  enjoyed,  and  study 
 yet  to  improve  them. 
 
 I  know  it  has  been  the  practice  of  many,  in  your  oc- 
 casional meetings,  or  in  your  family  conversations,  to 
 recapitulate  the  instructions  which  you  heard  from  the 
 pulpit,  and  to  make  them  the  matter  of  your  medita- 
 tions and  prayers.  This  exercise  you  may  profitably 
 continue  still ;  for  I  am  convinced,  that  the  impression 
 made  by  your  teacher's  words  was  not  so  faint,  nor  your 
 memories  so  little  retentive,  but  that  you  can  easily  re- 
 call much  of  what  you  have  heard  and  learned.  And 
 when  you  do  call  to  mind  the  words  of  your  revered 
 instructor,  surely  it  will  not  lessen,  but  strengthen  their 
 effect,  to  think  that  you  have  heard  them  from  Sis 
 mouth  for  the  last  time.  At  that  stream  you  will  drink 
 no  more.  But  though  the  voice  of  man  must  cease, 
 the  word  of  God  abideth  for  ever.  Let  the  words  of 
 Christ,  then,  which  you  have  heard  so  frequently  and 
 H)  impressively  applied,  still  be  cherished  in  your  mc- 
 
SERMON  VI.  485 
 
 mory,  and  "  dwell  in  your  hearts  richly,  in  all  wisdom."' 
 Seek,  by  prayer  and  social  converse,  teaching  and  ad- 
 monishing one  another,  to  have  past  impressions  reviv- 
 ed, and  the  purposes  you  formed  under  your  minister's 
 preaching  and  prayers,  renewed  and  reinforced.  Re- 
 call to  your  view  his  spotless  example,  how  he  shewed 
 himself  "  in  all  things  a  pattern  of  good  works,"  and 
 strive  to  imitate  his  purity,  his  self-denial,  his  spiritual 
 converse,  his  devotedness  to  God,  his  brotherly-kindness 
 and  charity.  "  Those  things  which  ye  have  both  learned 
 and  received,  and  heard,  and  seen  in  him,  do ;  and  the 
 God  of  peace  shall  be  with  you."  Do  you  mourn  the 
 misimprovement  of  past  seasons  ?  Though  the  seasons 
 cannot  return,  yet  they  may  be  retraced  in  memory, 
 — the  remembrance  of  past  feelings  may  be  renewed ; 
 while  you  muse,  the  fire  may  burn  afresh,  and  your  ar- 
 dent cries,  and  fervent  vows,  may  still  ascend  with  ac- 
 ceptance before  the  throne  of  God.  He,  whose  depar- 
 ture you  mourn,  being  dead,  yet  speaketh  in  your  faith- 
 ful memories ;  and  though  we  cannot  say  that  he  now 
 pleads  for  you,  yet  his  past  prayers  are  recorded  in 
 God's  "  book  of  remembrance ;"  and  he  who  is  your 
 great,  unwearied  Advocate,  ever  liveth,  and  maketh  in- 
 tercession for  you. 
 
 Let  your  children  be  put  in  mind  of  what  they  liave 
 seen  and  heard ;  and  let  your  own  example  lead  them 
 to  dwell,  in  thought  and  speech,  on  the  savoury  words 
 of  their  departed  father  and  instructor.  Even  the 
 youngest  of  the  present  generation  may  often  look  lip 
 to  their  parents,  and  ask,  like  the  Jewish  children  in 
 the  wilderness,  "  What  mean  ye*  by  this  lamentation  ? 
 And  you  can  answer,   Sinners  ready  to  perish  wore  we. 
 
486  SERMON  VI. 
 
 and  the  Lord  sent  us  a  spiritual  guide,  to  lead  us  and 
 our  little  ones  to  Christ ;  and  much  did  he  bear  you 
 on  his  heart,  and  often  did  he  pray  that  Christ  would 
 carry  you  as  lambs  in  his  bosom.  Now  he  is  gone 
 home  to  his  Saviour  and  Lord,  and  we  are  left  in  the 
 wilderness.  But  Christ  remains  with  us :  and  you 
 must  learn  to  know  him,  children,  and  to  love  him, 
 and  follow  him  ;  for  he  loved  you,  and  gave  himself 
 for  you. 
 
 3.  Think  on  the  advantages  you  enjoyed,  and  seek 
 that  they  may  be  continued. 
 
 It  were  injurious  to  you,  if  not  absurd,  to  suppose 
 that  many  of  you  have  been  sitting  twenty  or  thirty 
 years  under  a  pure  gospel  ministry,  and  yet  that  you 
 should  be  insensible  of  the  value  of  such  a  high  privi- 
 lege. It  were  to  deny  the  unchangeable  truth  of  God's 
 promise,  to  suppose  that  a  long  course  of  faithful 
 evangelical  ministrations  should  have  produced  no 
 corresponding  fruits.  How,  then,  can  we  suppose,  that 
 you  should  be  unconcerned  about  the  inestimable  bene- 
 fits which  you  have  long  enjoyed,  or  indifferent  as 
 to  their  continuance  ?  After  you  have  been  so  long, 
 and  so  carefully  instructed  in  the  truth  as  it  is  in 
 Jesus,  can  we  suppose  that  you  are  yet  unable  to  tell 
 what  it  is,  or  to  distinguish  between  truth  and  error  ? 
 Or  can  we  imagine,  that  you  will  be  equally  pleased 
 with  the  one  as  with  the  other,  that  your  compliant 
 taste  will  make  no  distinction  between  bread  and  stone, 
 between  a  fish  and  a  serpent  ?  No,  brethren,  wc  can- 
 not believe  that  ye  have  "  so  learned  Christ."  You 
 must  feel  deeply  concerned,  that  yourselves,  and  your 
 children  after  you,  should  continue  to  be  blessed  with 
 
SERMON  VI.  487 
 
 the  like  advantages  as  you  have  hitherto  enjoyed,  that 
 you  should  still  be  fed  with  the  bread  of  life,  which 
 alone  can  nourish  your  immortal  souls.  Pray,  then, 
 brethren,  "  pray  without  ceasing,"  that  the  Lord  of 
 the  harvest  would  send  you  a  faithful  labourer  into 
 this  part  of  his  vineyard ;  a  "  pastor  according  to  his 
 heart,  who  will  feed  you  with  knowledge  and  under- 
 standing f1  one  who  will  walk  before  you  in  the  way  to 
 Zion ;  who  will  himself  live  a  life  of  faith  on  the  Son 
 of  God,  and  from  the  good  treasure  of  a  heart  de- 
 voted to  God,  and  maintaining  daily  intercourse  with 
 the  Father  of  spirits,  may  know  how  to  bring  forth 
 good  things. 
 
 Finally,  brethren,  let  me,  with  earnest  desire,  and 
 encouraging  expectation,  address  to  you  the  apostle's 
 exhortation :  "  Remember  him  which  had  the  rule 
 over  you,  who  spoke  unto  you  the  word  of  God ; 
 whose  faith  follow,  considering  the  end  of  his  conver- 
 sation ;  Jesus  Christ,  the  same  yesterday,  and  to-day, 
 and  for  ever,"  Heb.  xiii.  7. 
 
 F  IMS. 
 
 PlIXAVf,  Printer,  Edinburgh. 
 
*}