BX 5199 .N55 A34 1824 Newton, John, 1725-1807. Cardiphonia 1 Digitized by the Internet Archive in 2015 https://archive.org/details/cardiphoniaoruttOOnewt_0 CARDIPHONIA OR, THE UTTERANCE OF THE HEART A REAL CORRESPONDENCE. BY THE REVEREND JOHN NEWTON, RECTOR OF ST. MARY, WOOLNOTH, LONDON. WITH AN INTRODUCTORY ESSAY, BY DAVID RUSSELL, D. D., DUNDEE. PHILADELPHIA: PRESBYTERIAN BOARD OF PUBLICATION. Stereotyped by E. C Allen, No. 51 Commerce Street, Philadelphia. CONTENTS. Pace Introductory Essay, - - - - 5 Advertisement, ..--...-35 Twenty-six Letters to a Nobleman, - - - 37 Eight Letters to the Rev. Mr. S , .... 143 Eleven Letters to Mr. B , &c. .... 195 Four Letters to the Rev. Mr. R , .... 217 A Letter to the Rev. Mr. 0 , 227 Seven Letters to the Rev. Mr. P , .... 231 Three Letters to Mrs. G , 245 Two Letters to Miss F , 257 Two Letters to Mr. A B , .... 262 Four Letters to the Rev. Dr. , - - - - - 271 Seven Letters to Mrs. , ------ 277 Four Letters to Mrs. T , 301 Five Letters to Mr. , 313 Eight Letters to the Rev. Mr. , - - - - 328 Four Letters to Mrs. P , 345 Six Letters to the Rev. Mr. B , 35G Nine Letters to the Rev. Mr. R— , - 372 3 1 CONTENTS. PAGE Three Letters to Miss Th , 390 Seven Letters to , ------- 396 Five Letters to Mr. C , 407 Eight Letters to Mrs. , ------ 421 Five Letters to Miss D , ------ 450 Three Letters to Mrs. H , 462 Two Letters to Miss P — , 469 Fourteen Letters to the Rev. Mr. B — -, - - - 474 INTRODUCTORY ESSAY. The Letters of John Newton have been long and justly esteemed. His chief excellence as a writer, seems to lie in the easy and natural style of his episto- lary correspondence. His Cardiphonia he esteemed the most useful of his writings. It consists of letters which were actually written to his friends, and re- turned to him that they might be printed. They were confidential letters, and are, indeed, " the utterance of the heart." They breathe a tone of seriousness, affection, and tenderness, which commends itself to the conscience, while it gains the confidence of the reader. You cannot fail to perceive that he speaks the language of firm persuasion, and of deep personal experience. There is nothing of cold theoretical specu- lation. You feel that you are listening to a man who is telling you what he has himself seen, and felt, and tasted, of the goodness of that God, whose word and service he commends. His heart goes along with all his instructions, for " he speaks because he believes;" it is seen in all his exhortations, for he evidently takes them home to himself; and it breaks forth in all his consolatory addresses, for he is but telling what God has done for his own soul; and, happy himself in fellow- ship with God, and sympathizing with others in their sorrows and their wants, he is commending to them those springs of consolation which have calmed and purified his conscience, and which continue to cheer and gladden his heart. His social affections were re- markably warm; and when hallowed by the grace of God, the result was a tenderness of feeling, an expan- sion of heart, and an outllow of affection, admirably calculated to exhibit the ainiableness of genuine reli- gion, to overcome prejudice, and to win over men to 1 * v vi INTRODUCTORY ESSAY. the truth. He spoke from the heart to the heart; and powerfully indeed have his writings interested the hearts of all classes of his readers. The narrative which Mr. Newton published of his early years, serves to throw considerable light on many important subjects in religion ; and that event- ful portion of his history accounts for much of what continued to distinguish him in his after-life. His mother was a pious woman ; and though she died before he was seven years of age, he derived con- siderable benefit from her instructions. She stored his mind with passages of Scripture, and with reli- gious catechisms and hymns, and often commended him with many tears and prayers unto God. After her death, however, he was permitted to mingle with careless and profane children, and he soon learned their ways. The instructions of his mother, however, could not always be forgotten, and he was often dis- turbed with convictions. And from this let parents learn to be assiduous in instructing their children. It is no small matter to make the path of guilt unpleasant. Should no fruit appear at the time, should the young even plunge into profligacy, yet the instructions of a father or a mother will at times rise before them like departed ghosts, will imbitter the ways of transgres- sion, and make conviction to flash upon the con- science, in spite of all their efforts against it, and may ultimately be the means of reclaiming them. The convictions which disturbed Mr. Newton, coupled with a natural fondness for reading, led him to peruse some religious books ; and, from a wish to obtain peace to his mind, he began to pray, to read the Scriptures, and to keep a diary. He then thought himself religious. But alas ! this seeming goodness had no solid foundation. He soon became weary of it, he gave it up entirely, and even became worse than before. Several alarming and affecting providences produced successively a temporary effect. He took up and laid aside a religious profession three or four different times before he was sixteen years of age. His last reformation of this kind was indeed very INTRODUCTORY ESSAY. vii remarkable. It continued for more than two years. He then spent the greater part of the day in reading the Scriptures, and in meditation and prayer. He fasted often ; he bemoaned his former evils, and he was careful, not only of his external conduct, but of every word of his tongue, and of the workings of his heart. But, after all this, he sunk into infidelity and profligacy. How true is it, that when the heart of a sinner is penetrated with convictions of guilt, if he does not believe in the work of the Saviour, and thus obtain rest to his soul, he will either sink into despair and give himself up to melancholy, or he will engage in a course of formal and self-righteous obedience and devotion. If the former, then, finding the burden of distress intolerable, he will seek peace to his soul in stifling conviction, and in endeavouring to persuade himself that religion is all a dream. And, if the latter, then finding no enjoyment in devotion, having no regard to religion but as a means of escaping hell ; being still under the power of his corrupt propensities; feeling his religion, such as it is, to be nothing but a system of restraints ; in a word, being unable to get solid peace to his conscience, and being still haunted by dismal apprehensions, he will be prepared to embrace any system of error which will serve to set his mind at rest in the indulgence of iniquity. He becomes, as Mr. Newton did, gloomy, and stupid, unsociable, and useless. He indulges in fruitless, inactive, and slothful wishes ; for the soul of the slug- gard desireth, and hath nothing." Prov. xiii. 4. In times of trouble he sinks into sullen and proud resent- ment against the fancied authors of calamity, for he is destitute of inward support. " The wicked, through the pride of his countenance, will not seek God." Psa. x. 4. " They cry out because of the arm of the mighty, but none saith, Where is God my maker, who giveth songs in the night?" Job xxxv. 9, 10. The man has just as much religion as makes him miser- able ; and not being happy in it, he easily gives it up. He knows not the blessedness of the man who is viii INTRODUCTORY ESSAY. resting his hope for eternity on the work of the Saviour, and who has found rest to his soul where the justice of heaven found it, but is going about to establish his own righteousness. When the force of conviction obliges to abandon beloved ways, they are given up with reluctance, and with some secret reserve. Though a struggle is maintained with the evil workings of the heart, there is still an aversion to true spirituality of mind. He is kept from open pollution, and may even be attentive to the secret ser- vices of piety; knowing that a Christian should be heavenly-minded, he may endeavour to work up his heart to a heavenly frame; but there being no proper root in him, he soon becomes weary of this heavy con- straint ; or, fancying that he has obtained the victory over sin, he has a gleam of joy, arising from the notion that now God has accepted him : but his hopes are soon darkened, for there being no abiding principle within him, his goodness is " like the morning cloud and like the early dew, which soon pass away." He has recourse to vows and resolutions of amendment, but tljey are weakness itself before the power of temptation. Now, in this state of mind, a man is prepared to say, " It is vain to serve God : and what profit is it that I have kept his ordinances, and that I have walked mournfully before him 1" Being forced to seek shelter from an accusing conscience, and being quite disappointed by all the means which he has tried, the poison of error and infidelity finds him a proper subject for its influence. And if books or companions of such a character come in his way, their principles are readily imbibed. He believes the fatal lie; and now, being free from restraint, he plunges into all manner of excess. Such, in substance, was the case with Mr. Newton. What more clear than that convictions of guilt will not of themselves turn a sinner to God 1 Every believer of the gospel must have such convictions in a greater or less degree. For where there is no sense of guilt, there can be no sense of the need of forgive- INTRODUCTORY ESSAY. ix ness, and of course the import and glory of the gospel cannot be discerned. But many are the subjects of convictions of sin, who never come to the Saviour. The question then is, have they excited us to flee for refuge to the cross, and to the wondrous work which was finished there in behalf of the ungodly 1 Have we come to this Saviour, guilty and unworthy as we see ourselves to be, and do we rest all our hope for eternity on that one perfect righteousness, through which God appears at once " the just God and the Saviour 1" Mr. Newton's case is at variance with the notion that it is absolutely necessary for sinners to be the subjects of a long and an exceedingly awful process of deep conviction of sin previously to their receiving the gospel, Such a notion perplexes the minds of many anxious inquirers. It leads them to imagine that the process in question forms a kind of warrant to come to the Saviour, and a sort of recommenda- tion to his mercy, or a qualification for obtaining the benefit of his work. But there is a wide difference between what excites a sinner to flee to the Redeemer, and that which is his warrant to do so in the confi- dence of obtaining mercy. Many indeed have been the subjects of severe convictions, and of great alarm and deep distress of mind, before they found peace in the cross. But others have been drawn in a more gentle way. The Lord, in his first call, and his fol- lowing dispensations, has respect to the situation, temper, and talents of each of his people, and to the particular services or trials he has appointed them for. Why then make the case of some a standard to all? Must not this lead the sinner to busy himself with the inquiry, whether he has sufficiently long, or sufficiently in measure, been the subject of the pro- cess in question, and so tmn his mind from the saving truth ? It is enough, then, that such a conviction of guilt be produced, as shall, by the grace of the divine Spirit, excite the sinner to come to Christ, that he may have life. God ought not to be limited ; and accordingly X INTRODUCTORY ESSAY. experience decidedly shows that neither the same degree nor length of alarm is by any means always employed, even with the same class of characters. Speaking of himself, Mr. Newton says, " Few, very few, have been recovered from such a dreadful state; and the few that have been thus favoured have gene- rally passed through the most severe convictions ; and after the Lord has given them peace, their future lives have been usually more zealous, bright, and ex- emplary, than common. Now as, on the one hand, my convictions were very moderate, and far below what might have been expected from the dreadful review I had to make, so, on the other, my first be- ginnings in a religious course were as faint as can be well imagined." The humility and modesty of our author are here apparent ; but all who are acquainted with his history will acknowledge, that his life was as zealous, bright, and exemplary, as that of many who were led to God in the way he describes. In the gracious providence of God, Mr. Newton was brought, by means of certain circumstances of danger, to think of his former religious professions — of the extraordinary turns of his life — the calls, warnings, and deliverances with which he had met — the licentious course of his conversation — and his effrontery in making the gospel history the subject of his ridicule, when he could not be sure that it was false. Being delivered from the present danger, he thought he saw in this the gracious hand of the Almighty, and con- scious of misery, he attempted to pray. He very properly compares his prayer to " the cry of the ravens." And certainly there is a wide difference between the formal, hypocritical, and self-righteous prayers which the Scriptures condemn, and which they declare that God will not hear, and the cries of wretched creatures for relief. The former must be sinful, but the latter are in themselves neither morally good nor morally evil, for they but express the in- stinctive feelings of every percipient being when in circumstances of pain. They contain nothing spirit- INTRODUCTORY ESSAY. ually good, and therefore cannot be the object of com- placency, but neither can they be the object of blame. And that God who pities the irrational animals in dis- tress, and is represented as hearing their cry, is also represented as looking down from his throne in heaven to hear the groaning of the prisoner ; to loose those that are appointed to death. Now in such a situation was Mr. Newton at this time. His distress was employed as a means in the hands of heaven to lead him to the proper remedy. He felt himself wretched, but knew not how to get relief, and he looked up to God and implored deliverance. While he did this he applied himself to the Scriptures, and he did so, simply to discover what they taught. He was particularly struck with the parable of the prodi- gal— he saw in it his very case — he dwelt on the goodness of the father in receiving, nay, in running to meet such a son — and he saw in this a designed representation of the goodness of God to returning sinners. And indistinct as his views were of the gos- pel of peace, there was a marked difference between his present views of the divine mercy and grace, and the self-righteous notions which predominated, when, as he said himself in the language of the apostle, " after the straitest sect of our religion I lived a Phari- see." God was drawing him with the cords of a man, and with bands of love. The apprehension he now had of the goodness of God encouraged him to cast himself upon him in the exercise of prayer for relief. The relief came — and how 1 He was made to see the exact suitableness of the gospel to answer all his wants. He saw how God might declare not his mercy only, but his justice also, in the pardon of sin, on account of the obedience and sufferings of Christ. His judgment, he says, " embraced the sublime doc- trine of God manifest in the flesh, reconciling the world unto himself." But his views of this precious truth, and of others connected with it, were very im- perfect. Through unwatchfulness and temptation he greatly declined for a season. But by means of affliction, he was again awakened to a sense of his xii INTRODUCTORY ESSAY. condition. Conscious of his weakness, he durst make no more resolves, but committed himself to the Lord. Divine goodness directed him to the cross of the Saviour. After this, the burden was removed from his conscience ; and not only his peace but his health was restored, and though subject, as all are, to the effects and conflicts of indwelling sin, yet he was ever after delivered from its power and dominion. Thus did he soon experience the freeness and the suitableness of the gospel to a sinner, when unable to view himself in any other light than that of an ungodly character. Mr. Newton did not consider himself to have been a believer in the full sense of the word until now ; but certainly at the period formerly mentioned, he had embraced the substance of the saving truth. His views of the atonement of Jesus were much clearer than were those of the disciples in the days of our Lord, who did not clearly understand the design of his death, till after he was risen from the dead ; and who yet were believe'rs of the blessed truth, that in the goodness of God a way should be provided by which the exercise of mercy would be rendered compatible with the claims of justice. And the faith of many under the ancient economy certainly went no further than this. Mistakes on this subject sometimes arise from dwelling too much on faith, as an exercise apart from its object, and also from dwelling almost exclu- sively on one particular vehicle of truth, to the neglect of the substance of the truth conveyed. It is not for us to say how small a portion of truth may in certain circumstances become the seed of genuine religion. So far as it goes, it does lead to a measure of confi- dence in the mercy of God ; and it cherishes that humility and contrition of mind, which are opposed to the self-righteous hope of unbelievers. The new perceptions of such a character are indeed feeble and indistinct, compared with those of the man who is taught " the way of God more perfectly ;" and they are even in particular danger of being overborne and swallowed up, as they were in our author, in the tumult of natural passions, and in the conflict with INTRODUCTORY ESSAY. xiii natural slothfulness, and carnal propensities ; but they constitute a leaven which will gradually diffuse its influence till the whole soul be leavened. The great defect in his views was, that while he acknowledged the divine mercy in the forgiveness of his past trans- gressions, he trusted chiefly in his own resolutions as to future obedience ; not understanding that all our strength as well as our justifying righteousness must be sought in the Saviour. He had not the advantage of Christian fellowship, nor of hearing the gospel preached; and the few books which came in his way were not of the best kind ; while he was in the midst of the same course of evil company, and of bad examples as before. He, however, came gradually to learn more of the truth ; and it becomes those who were brought to serious reflection in the midst of the means of grace, and surrounded by every external advantage and encouragement, not to despise such a day of small things as this, but to remember that their attainments, when compared with his, were perhaps far from being in proportion to their superior advantages. What a mercy that we have a Shepherd who gathers the lambs in his arm and carries them in his bosom, and gently leads those that are with young ! The declension into which Mr. Newton unhappily fell, was overruled for the cure of his self-confidence, the deepening of his humility, and the enlargement of his views of the glory of divine grace. The good Shepherd restored his soul. "He gave him a distinct and a clear view of forgiveness." The character of God, as just, and yet the justifier of the ungodly, captivated his heart. The light of divine truth dissi- pated the darkness which had covered his mind, and put to flight the temptations which had formerly be- trayed him. It calmed and composed his heart — it sweetly drew him to the Savioyr as his only hope — and it sajftsfied his soul with unspeakable bliss. Prom that day forward, he lived in the firm persuasion of the gospel. He walked humbly with God. He felt that he had neither wisdom nor strength in himself, 2 xiv INTRODUCTORY ESSAY. but he also felt that at the same time he was connected with him who is infinitely wise and infinitely powerful. Often does he enlarge, in the following work, on the wisdom and the goodness displayed in the necessity under which believers are laid, of coming daily to the Saviour, as they came at first. They have no such thing as a stock of sufficiency imparted at once. Even on the most common occasions they are con- strained, by a sense of indigence, to have recourse to his fulness. He illustrates this by the life of the Israelites on their way to the promised country. They were fed with manna that they might be humbled. Not that this circumstance itself could humble them, but that as the manna could not be preserved, they were kept in a condition of constant absolute depen- dence from day to day, and were thus made to feel their littleness. Boasting was thus excluded, while gratitude ought to have been excited for the goodness manifested in the unwearied care, and the constant communications of heaven. They were naturally averse to this mode of life, and believers still manifest the folly and perverseness of the natural heart, by an unwillingness to be kept constantly in a state of depen- dence, and to be necessitated to the very last to come to the Saviour as they came to him at first. Daily are we offending, and daily do we need to apply to the God of all grace. This is indeed humbling. But unbelief, though it steals upon us under the semblance of humility, is the very essence of pride, when it keeps us from immediately applying to the only Physician of the soul. There is indeed such a thing as a cold use of the precious promise of forgiveness, but this is not the spirit of genuine repentance. One of the greatest attainments in the life of godliness is, to be coming daily to the fountain which is opened for sin and un- cleanness, and yet be so far from counting it a common thing, that every fresh instance of divine forgiveness yet more humbles and* softens the heart, and increases our sense of the evil and demerit of sin : and of this spiritual attainment the Cardiphonia discovers a very high degree. INTRODUCTORY ESSAY. XV Happy is that man who is in such a case. It was a life of close walking by the faith of the Son of God, which maintained that settled peace and heavenly en- joyment which Mr. Newton so signally experienced. He often speaks of the joy of the Lord as his strength. He felt and saw the evils of his heart, but though abased he did not suffer a spurious humility to mingle itself with the genuine, and to keep him from going afresh to the blood of sprinkling. He dwelt upon the dignity and righteousness, the faithfulness and mercy of his great High Priest, and he committed his all to his care. And he found that the gospel is indeed a glorious provision for the happiness of man. While it proclaims forgiveness, it heals the diseases of the soul, and communicates the purest enjoyment. In a sense of the favour and the love of God, in fellowship with the Redeemer, and in the love and the peace connected with the contemplation of unseen and eternal things, there is a high anticipation of the bliss of heaven. We were formed for fellowship with the Father of spirits; and no other object, nor all other objects taken together, can fully occupy our powers, or satisfy our desires. The benevolent language of the gospel is, "Ho! every one that thirsteth for happiness, come to the fountain of enjoyment." Why continue to pursue that which never can satisfy? In the most pathetic manner does the God of all grace express his regret, not only because of the rebellion, but also because of the misery of men. He feelingly complains that they have left Him who is the fountain of life, for cisterns, yea, even for broken cisterns which can hold no water. It is as if he had said, " If, in leaving me, ye had gone to a better, or even to an equal fountain of blessedness, I should not have complained. If ye will leave me, choose, if you can, an object which will make you happy, for your happiness is the desire of my heart. But why forsake a fountain for a cistern, and even for a broken cistern, which can yield you neither re- lief nor enjoyment 1 This is conduct not only deeply criminal, but most foolish, and irrational; it is most dis- honourable to me and fearfully ruinous to yourselves." xvi INTRODUCTORY ESSAY. In a similar way docs he reason with Israel in Psa. Ixxxi. "Hear, O Israel, if you will take my counsel, there shall no strange God be among you. Do not question my kindness, for I am thy best and thy tried friend; I am he who brought you from the land of bondage, and therefore you may well give me your confidence. Do not act as if another God could do more for you than I can, for all your wants I can and will fully supply. Open thy mouth wide and I will fill it." Such is the spirit breathed in the gospel. And what has not God done, that he might gain our hearts'? When we were sunk in guilt and pollution, he com- mended his love towards us, in delivering up his own Son for the ungodly and rebellious; and through him he proclaims forgivenesss, peace, and eternal life, as the gifts of divine grace to all who believe. And why does he ask our hearts, but that he may fill them with pure, steady, and permanent bliss? Mr. Newton has occasionally employed language, in relation to faith and sense, which some who are un- friendly to the truth, have construed to mean that Christian comfort is an unaccountable feeling, and quite independent of any rational ground in the object of belief. Nothing could be further from his intention than such a notion as this. It is only one of those in- advertencies of language into which the most correct thinkers will at times fall, through adopting the phrase- ology of others without proper refleclion. All posi- tive comfort is sensible; for without some comfortable sensations, there can be no enjoyment. But so far from being opposed to faith, it is the fruit of it. It is not merely a feeling— it is rational joy. The Christian can " give a reason for the hope that is in him." Such indeed is the structure of the human mind, that there may be insensible communications of an influence from above, which have the effect of preventing trou- ble or distress from rising to a height to which it would otherwise reach; but this is a different thing from positive comfort. Throughout the letters of Newton, and in the narrative of his life, the most satis- INTRODUCTORY ESSAY. xvii factory reasons arc given for his feelings of comfort and joy. His accounts of himself are not like those biographical writings which dwell almost entirely on the feelings of their subjects, to the exclusion of the causes which made them to feel, What is it to us, that an individual felt now in this way, and then in that, if we are not told what produced his varying sensations? How different are such writings from the Scriptures. When we read there of the hopes and the fears, of the joys and the sorrows of such as feared God, we read also of those truths or causes which produced them. Who, for instance, can read the Psalms of David, the Songs of Isaiah and Zecha- riah, of Simeon and Mary, or the Apostles' Epistles, without at once perceiving the spring and foundation of their feelings and exercises? How beautifully has Paul combined a clear view of the state of the work- ings of his heart, with the fullest displays of the glories of the gospel. We see a man who feels most deeply the power of the truth, and who is sensibly alive to the varied events of the pi-ovidence of heaven: and we are at no loss to understand the views and the motives which influence him. And when biography is written on this plan, it is of great utility. But when other- wise, it is calculated greatly to mislead an inquirer, and to cherish a sort of sentimental sickly piety. The expression, sensible comfort, is sometimes em- ployed to signify that enjoyment which a Christian has in a consciousness of the healing influence of the gos- pel, and from the assurance of hope, as distinguished from the state of a man's mind, who, when viewing himself as a stranger to piety, goes to the Saviour, on the ground of the broad testimony and the unfettered invitations of mercy, which are addressed to sinners indiscriminately: But it is incorrect to say, that the former is walking by sense and the latter by faith. Of what is the healing influence of the gospel the fruit' and the evidence, but of faith, in the very same testi- mony and unfettered invitations, which are the en- couragement of the sinner when he first comes to the Redeemer, and of the backslider when he returns to 2* xviii INTRODUCTORY ESSAY. him ? And what is the peace which the latter obtains when he thus comes, but the fruit of confidence in the testimony and promise of Heaven 1 It is not an un- founded persuasion, that he is a child of God; but it is that peace which arises from a proper view of the sufficiency of the work of Christ, to justify him, guilty as he is; and from a persuasion, founded on the pro- mise, that through resting his eternity on that work, he shall obtain the blessings of salvation. He has not the same degree of enjoyment as the former; but let this be stated in plain language, and not in words which are apt to mislead. The language in question is also used to denote that flow of the spirits, which, in certain constitutions and circumstances, accompa- nies the gladdening influence of the truth; but this is in itself distinct from religious comfort. The latter may exist where, owing to constitutional causes, there is but little of the former. There may also be certain parts of the truth believed, which have the effect of producing a degree of confidence in the goodness of God, a persuasion that his favour is life, and a renun- ciation of false grounds of hope, while yet there is no joy; because other parts of the truth are not properly discerned. Such at one time was the case with Mr. Newton; but even then there was a sensible change produced on his mind. Having introduced this subject, it may be proper to add, that some have employed language, in relation to the confidence of faith, which would seem to imply that it is the duty of Christians to maintain the per- suasion that they are such, even when they have not the least reason to conclude that they are living in the exercise of any Christian principle; and that to question this is the sin of unbelief. But unbelief is calling in question what God has said. The fact of our being believers, granting us to be such, is not the object of faith. Our persuasion of this fact is not properly faith, — it is rather a knowledge of the fact arising from our own immediate consciousness of be- lieving. In support of the notion in question, it has been ar- INTRODUCTORY ESSAY. xix gued that Christians are said to "walk by faith and not by sight." But the meaning of this obviously is, that while they are in this world, they have not the advantage of the actual and immediate vision of the Saviour, and of the glories with which he is sur- rounded; but derive all their knowledge of Him and of them from testimony. It is only when " absent from the body that we shall be present with the Lord." 2 Cor. v. 1-9. The encomium pronounced on Abra- ham, that " against hope he believed in hope," has also been so employed, as if, be our state what it may, we should maintain an unshaken confidence that all is well; whereas the meaning simply is, that in opposi- tion to every ordinary ground of expectation, he be- lieved that the promise of God would be accomplished. Rom. iv. 18-21. In a similar way, the address in Isaiah i. 10, has been interpreted. But it is clear, that in the preceding verses the Redeemer is speaking of his sufferings and of his confidence in God, that he should not be overcome, but should finally triumph. And then, as if he had just entered into his glory, he calls, as it were, from his throne, to his afflicted people upon earth, not to be discouraged by the dark- ness of calamitous providences, but to imitate him in his trust in the Divine character and promises, and to rest assured that all events were working together for their good. Even those who are living by the faith of the Son of God, or who, in the language of this passage, are fearing the Lord, and obeying the voice of his servant, may at times be greatly perplexed, and in heaviness through manifold trials. And then is the time which tries our confidence in God. This Paul felt, when he was pressed out of measure above strength, and had the sentence of death in himself, that he should not trust in himself, but in God, who raiseth the dead. 2 Cor. i. 8, 9. The same spirit of faith which dwelt in the Saviour, dwelt also in him, in accordance with the view now given of the passage in question. 2 Cor. iv. 13, 14. The Cardiphonia is full of comfort to the afflicted and the tempted. Mr. Newton was indeed " a son of XX INTRODUCTORY ESSAY. consolation." He had a peculiar talent for entering into the feelings and the views of the distressed. Much of the word of God is applicable to a state of trouble, and can only be understood in circumstances of trial. The gospel of Christ throws light on the most myste- rious events of time. He who so loved us as to give himself a sacrifice for our sins, when we were sunk in rebellion, can never cease to care for us. In the midst of all the trials and conflicts of the wilderness, he is showing us the utter emptiness and vanity of the present world, and the insufficiency of the soul to its own happiness, that he may draw us to himself, and lead us to repose on him as our ultimate rest and satisfying portion. And what blessings are the most painful and complicated troubles, if the heart is there- by weaned from the transitory objects of sense, and if every stroke of affliction impels the soul more powerfully towards him who is the inexhaustible fountain of all genuine enjoyment. It is thus that we profit by the heaviest pressures which imbitter this state of tribulation. Such views of the wise and gracious, but often mysterious providences of God, in connection with the gospel of peace, serve to dissolve many of those clouds of perplexity and error which mislead and depress the heart ; and they free from that painful uncertainty which, by its distressful agita- tions, greatly injures at once the holiness and the peace of the soul. They serve to infuse courage, and to impart consolation when all human help is unavail- ing ; when, in the last hours of weakness, languor, and pain, flesh and heart fail ; and even in the dark vale of death, when nothing else could yield to the departing spirit, light and life, animation and joy. Whatever changes there may be in our lot, whatever afflictions we may be called to bear, if we live in fel- lowship with the friend and the Saviour of sinners, our rejoicing will be that he ever liveth ; and that beyond this transitory scene, and the many clouds which now intervene, there is an unchanging paradise and an incorruptible inheritance, where " our sun shall no more go down, where the Lord shall be our INTRODUCTORY ESSAY. xxi everlasting light, our God, our glory, and where the days of our mourning shall be ended !" The wisdom of God appears in the production, if we may so speak, of the greatest power at the least possible expense of means. By a few strokes of afflic- tion on a single individual he paves the way for the advancement of his holiness and joy, and thus fits him for extensive usefulness. " While he muses, his heart burns ;" he hears of the afflictions of others ; his own sorrows are relieved in giving vent to his feelings ; he rejoices in soothing the anguish of the bleeding heart; the comforted again seek the benefit of more; they request him to cast his gift into the public trea- sury for the general benefit; and as he does so, he says, with the blended feelings of pious gratitude and benevolent joy, " Blessed be God, even the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies, and the God of all comfort, who comforteth us in all our tribulation, that we may be able to comfort them which are in any trouble by the comfort wherewith we ourselves are comforted of God." Such were the feelings of the apostle of the Gentiles, and such, in- a measure, was the happiness of the author of the Car- diphonia. The letters of Newton abound with references to a particular providence. Without any admixture of superstition, he habitually recognised in every thing the overruling hand of the Almighty. He indeed walked with God, for in every object and event he traced his operations, and "in all his ways he acknow- ledged him." His faith in the providence and grace of his God maintained that composure and cheerful- ness of mind for which he was distinguished in cir- cumstances of the most gloomy and discouraging kind. The remarkable incidents in his own life tended to lead him to act at all times " as seeing him who is invisible." And it is edifying indeed to read his reflections on the superintending care of that God who " fainteth not, neither is weary," who is " a present help in trouble," and " without whom not even a sparrow can fall to the ground." xxii INTRODUCTORY ESSAY. It seems strange that men should admit a general, and deny a particular providence. They speak as if the Almighty were too great to concern himself with the petty affairs of individuals, though in extraordi- nary cases he may interfere in what relates to the interests of nations. They even speak as if, amid the greatness and the multiplicity of the affairs of his government, he could not bend to the interests of individuals so mean and insignificant. But what strange" ideas of greatness are these! Do they not degrade the Almighty, and lower our conceptions of his grandeur ? Whatever it was worthy of his power to create, it cannot be unworthy of his greatness to preserve and superintend.' Does not true greatness consist in a capacity of lending the most particular attention to the minute, whilst it embraces the vast l It is this capacity surely, which presents the most overwhelming view of the omniscience, omnipresence, and omnipotence of God. How delightfully are great- ness and goodness blended together, when we are told that he who counts the number of the stars, and calls them all by their names, is the same who bindeth up the broken in heart, and hcaleth the wounded in spirit! Psa. cxlvii. 2 — 4. While his eye and his arm are abroad upon all worlds, he watches the solitary steps of the wanderer, pities the bereaved mourner, visits the lonely cottage of .affliction, and makes all the bed of the afflicted sufferer. Soothing indeed is the reflec- tion, that we are not overlooked in the crowd, but that our individual concerns are as much regarded as though we were the only care of the Almighty Jeho- vah. " He knoweth the way that we take ;" he is privy to every feeling of the heart, and enters into our every trial ; for " the very hairs of our head are num- bered." And why should men presume to mark out what is great and what is little 1 Are not the most important events suspended on matters apparently trivial ? Witness the histories of Joseph and Morde- cai. And unquestionably the same providence which regulates the greater must necessarily regulate the smaller. INTRODUCTORY ESSAY. XX1U This is a doctrine fraught with the richest consola- tion, when connected with the infinite wisdom, the inviolable faithfulness, and the immutable love of " the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ." How sweet the repose of that heart which rests in the Lord ! We are not left to be the sport of blind chance in a fatherless world; we are the objects of the care of him who is every where present, who orders the movements, and satisfies the wants of his innumerable offspring. This truth is in perfect harmony with the personal exertion which is requisite to our obtaining the end we have in view. The Almighty acts by natural means. We are not warranted to expect miraculous interferences. Such expectations cherish a wild enthusiasm, and give unbelievers occasion to ridicule the doctrine of a special providence as the fruit of credulity. Extraordinary visible deliverances, or benefits, serve to manifest the reality of such a pro- vidence ; but it is not less real when, by the silent operations of nature, the Almighty accomplishes his will. In the writings of Mr. Newton, the harmony of divine truth is uniformly maintained. It was his ob- ject to be influenced and governed by the whole of the doctrines and precepts, the promises and warnings of Scripture in their proper place, and for their seve- ral uses. He keeps clear, on the one hand, of the error of those who, confining their attention to the character of man as an accountable agent, dwell almost exclusively on the economy of heaven as a system of moral government, and exhort to the dis- charge of duty, without properly considering his capacity to be the subject of heavenly influence ; and on the other, he avoids the error of those who so re- present the nature of the impotence of man and the nature of heavenly grace, as to set aside the com- mandment of God to believe in the Saviour, and to lull the sinner into a state of careless indifference. "A man's cannot" he says, "is not a natural but a moral inability ; not an impossibility in the nature of things, as it is for me to walk on the water, or to xxiv INTRODUCTORY ESSAY. fly in the air, but such an inability as, instead of ex- tenuating, does exceedingly enhance and aggravate his guilt. He is so blinded by Satan, so alienated from God by nature and wicked works, so given up to sin, so averse from that way of salvation which is contrary to his pride and natural wisdom, that he will not embrace or seek after it ; and, therefore, he can- not, till the grace of God powerfully enlightens his mind, and overcomes his obstacles." He invariably exhibits the practical design and ten- dency of the truth, while he never withholds the most free and unfettered declarations of mercy. He does not attack antinomianism in a controversial manner, but he states those principles which subvert its founda- tion. There are times and circumstances, however, in which error must be directly opposed, that the simple may be put upon their guard, and that the na- ture and glory of the truth may be displayed. Wit- ness the tenor of the Epistles to the Galatians and Corinthians. The foundation of antinomianism is in the depravity of the heart; and when it shows itself as it is doing in the present day, it should be decidedly and openly met, that men may be warned of their danger, and the attempts of the enemy be defeated. It seems strange that any who profess to believe the gospel, should question the obligation of Christians to observe the precepts of the law. The law of heaven is of essential service to believers. It shows them what is contrary to the will of God ; it serves to deepen their sense of their innate depravity ; it makes them cling to the work of Christ as their only refuge ; it excites their admiration of the grace of God, and thus serves to cherish the love of him as the God of salvation; it tells how to express this love; it ascer- tains the progress which they are making in religion : it warns them of their errors and their danger when they wander from him ; and it deepens their convic- tion of the necessity of abiding in Christ, as at once their Saviour from guilt, and the spring of their sanc- tification. So far from being set aside by the gospel, it is thereby established. Rom. iii. 81. While the law INTRODUCTORY ESSAY. XXV the necessity of such salvation as the gospel exhibits, the latter, on the other hand, strikingly illustrates the requirements of the former, as they regard both our temper towards God and our disposition towards man, while it enforces obedience to its precepts by the prin- ciples, at once awful and delightful, which are revealed in the cross. By the law of God in any given case, must certainly be understood that system of laws which is established for the time being. Each dispensation under which the creatures of God are placed, has peculiar institu- tions and laws adapted to its special nature and de- sign. Thus the Mosaic economy had many peculiar institutions adapted to a typical dispensation, and to the peculiar character of Israel. All of them, how- ever, were of use, and all of them had for their object some moral end. But there are certain moral princi- ples which remain unalterably the same under every economy of heaven, and out of those principles cer- tain moral precepts necessarily arise under every dis- pensation with which mankind in the present state can at all be connected. The abrogation of the Mosaic economy as such, could not therefore set aside those moral injunctions which arise out of the indis- soluble relation between God and man. We never find that God left any of mankind to whom he revealed himself, without a rule for the guidance of their love to him. He instructed Adam, even when in innocence, how he was to conduct himself; he instructed him after the revelation of mercy to him as a sinner; he instructed Noah, the founder of a new world ; and so did he Abraham, the root of the Jewish people. To that people he, in a special manner, delivered his law ; and to the Church of Christ, of which that nation was a figure, he hath given many commandments of a moral nature, and institutions adapted to the state of a people called out of the world into holy fellowship with the Father, and with his Son, Jesus Christ. But all his positive appointments are designed to answer a moral purpose ; they are but means to an end, namely, the promotion of love to God and to man, which is 3 xxvi INTRODUCTORY ESSAY. the sum of the divine law. None of them, therefore, ought to be despised. And, indeed, none of them can be so without injuring ourselves, for there is, in all of them, an admirable fitness to promote our happiness. And not only does the Saviour appeal to our love, he also interposes his authority. "Ye are my friends" says he, " if ye do whatsoever I command you." John xv. 14. It is clear then, that while we are treated, not merely as servants, but as friends, we are enjoined obedience by authority. Hence such expressions as the following : — " Ye know what commandments we give you by the Lord Jesus." — 1 Thess. iv. 2. "Now them that are such we command and exhort by our Lord Jesus Christ." 2 Thess. iii. 12. " These things command and teach." 1 Tim. iv. 11. " Charge them that are rich in this world, that they do good, that they be rich in good works, ready to distribute, willing to communicate." 1 Tim. vi. 17, 18. Now, here a being ready and willing to do what is right is represented as a matter of charge or command, because, along with the charge, suitable and sufficient motives to obedience are suggested. Why then oppose the one to the other 1 The authority of God is not only blended with kindness, it is in fact itself a display of" kindness, for it is employed the more effectually to preserve us from that which is our ruin. To dispense with obedience, were to dispense with our happiness ; for in holy likeness to God lies the true blessedness of man. When Christ is called Jesus, " because he is to save his people from their sins," it is implied, that deliverance from that which is " a transgression of the law," is the principal part of his salvation. He is " sent to bless us, in turning every one of us away from his iniquities." If we confine the gospel to the proclamation of pardon, we rob it of its principal glory. Precious as pardon is, it is not to be viewed as an insulated blessing — it is a means to the moral end of our sanctification ; and to the lat- ter, it is subordinate. When Jesus said, " The king- dom," that is, " the reign or government of heaven is at hand ; repent ye, and believe the glad tidings," shows INTRODUCTORY ESSAY. XXV11 Mark i. 15, hfs language evidently implies, that one great design of his coming was to subject men to his dominion, and that this was a part of the good news which he had to announce to the world. No doubt he referred to the speedy accomplishment of that sacri- fice on which his kingdom is founded, and to his in- vestiture with supreme authority, as the great evidence of its acceptance, and the great security of all who should put their trust in it; but he evidently includes the establishment of his kingdom in the heart, and the exercise of his authority over a holy nation and a royal priesthood. And as the whole economy takes its name from this, it is evident that its great and ulti- mate object is to restore us to the image of God. " The reign of heaven," could not be the appropriate desig- nation of an economy, the only, or even the principal design of which was, the mercy which appears in for- giveness. On no other principle could Christ be de- nominated a king, than on that of his exercising authority, and ruling by means of laws. Objections to the idea of authority, as if it were associated with something stern and forbidding, betray the most un- worthy notions of the law of God, and of the nature and design of obedience. The revelation of pardoning mercy is the foundation of other blessings. It is, in particular, the moral means by which we are delivered from the dominion of sin. A sense of unpardoned guilt, and the dread of vengeance, foster the enmity of the heart against God. Not that it ought to be so, or that this result is without blame ; for this were to say, that a sinner, when condemned, has an excuse for his disaffection to God. Independently of the re- velation of mercy, it is the duty of the sinner to obey the divine law; for, otherwise, no sin could have been committed after the first ; whereas, men are repre- sented as daily multiplying their transgressions, and their redemption is entirely ascribed to grace. The question, then, wholly respects a fact. And as it is a fact, that while the fear which hath torment prevails, the sinner does not return to God, it is a striking proof of his abundant goodness, that he not only has XXVlll INTRODUCTORY ESSAY. given his Son to be a propitiation for sin, but that while he makes use of his law to give the knowledge of sin, he employs the revelation of his mercy and his grace to subdue the enmity of the heart ; and thus condescends, as it were, to meet the feelings and situa- tion of the guilty and rebellious. Now, if such be the previous obligation of the sinner, it is utterly inconsistent with the nature of moral government, and with the great design of mercy, that Christians should be freed from obligation to keep that law, the sum of which is love to God and to our neighbour. The requirement of love is founded in the nature of the relation between God and a rational creature. And the gospel of Christ, while it exhibits him as a Saviour, does so, by showing how he magni- fied and made honourable the law of heaven, by suffering its penalty and obeying its precepts. His salvation consists in bringing the redeemed to be of one mind with himself; and since the law was written in his heart, it must also be written in theirs. The great object of heaven in the forgiveness of sin, is to impart and to cherish that filial temper which esteems duty a privilege, and which identifies obedience with happiness. When believers are said to be free from the law, the reference is to the abolition of the Mosaic economy, which has been superseded by the death of Christ, or to that deliverance from the condemning sentence of the unchangeable law of righteousness, which is obtained through forgiveness. But for this very reason, they are under increased obligations to obey its precepts. Accordingly, though freed from the Mosaic yoke, and from the law in general, as the rule or procuring cause of acceptance with God, "they are under the law to Christ." 1 Cor. ix. 21. It is vain to deny the obligation of the law, by re- presenting the gospel as the rule of obedience ; for the gospel is not a rule of conduct, but a message of peace and of reconciliation. It is true, that it gives such transcendent discoveries of the character of God, as to call for higher degrees of love than could have been required before ; but let it be remembered, that the INTRODUCTORY ESSAY. XXIX divine law must ever require that Jehovah he loved according to the revelation given of his character at the time; so that perfect conformity to the law consists now in loving him as he is revealed in Christ. It is also vain to say that the Spirit, and not the law, is our rule ; for that which excites to obedience, as does the influence of the Spirit, is quite a distinct thing from the rule of obedience. The promise is, that the law of God shall be written in the hearts of the subjects of the covenant of peace; and this is effected "by the Spirit of the living God," 2 Cor. iii. 3 ; but this supposes the previous existence and con- stant obligation of that very law. It has been said that Christians are ruled by love, and not by the law. And it is true that they do not obey from a principle of slavish fear; but they are not so ruled by love, as to exclude the ideas of obligation on their part, and of authority on that of God. What indeed is conformity to the law, but the exercise of love 1 for there is not an act of obedience that is not comprehended in the general precept of love. So far from love to God being incompatible with subjection to authority, it is itself the subject of an express com- mandment. The precept which requires it, is deno- minated the first and great commandment of the law. And this, so far from converting obedience into a task, is a powerful means of cherishing the warmest affec- tion ; for why does God ask the supreme love of our hearts, but because he himself loves us, and in this way seeks our highest blessedness and glory ? If it be said that the prevalence of love renders a law unnecessary, it is sufficient to say in reply, that the Scriptures expressly declare, that ''this is the love of God, that we keep his commandments," 1 John v. 3 ; and that those only are the friends of the Saviour, who do whatsoever he commands them. John xv. 14. Love is indeed the great principle of Christian obe- dience ; but it cannot be also the regulator. Love in creatures such as we are, is often like a ship with full sails, but without a pilot at the helm. The love which is required, is love to God with all our understanding, 3* XXX INTRODUCTORY ESSAY. as well as with all the heart; and this certainly implies not only that our love should rest on just perceptions of his character as revealed to us, but that it should also be exercised in conformity to the revelation of his will. Mark xii. 33. Even the angels in heaven, whose hearts certainly glow with love, are represented as doing his commandments, and hearkening to the voice of his word, that they may know his will and do it with alacrity. Psa. ciii. 20, 21. And, with reverence be it said, when the Saviour himself appeared in the form of a servant, his love to the Father was, in certain respects regulated in its exercise by the divine commandment. And why then speak as if love were in itself incompatible with subjection to a rule, when Jesus himself was " made under the law 1" He was so, indeed, that he might redeem from its curse; but he could not be so to free from its claims of obedience ; for in the keeping of God's commandments lies the happiness of man. Love, indeed, will not require an explicit precept for every thing, but still it will be guided by the spirit of the law; and it is the expressed regard for the will of God, which is contained in the services of his crea- tures, that renders them acceptable. Love will, no doubt, to a certain extent, dictate itself what is fit to be done ; but then, what it thus dictates to be right, has as really the force of a law, as though it had been, in expi'ess words, commanded. The common judg- ment of mankind, and of course, that of Christians, so far informs them what is right and what is wrong; but what right reason dictates, has the authority of a law, and is in fact at bottom but the application of a rule. We read of some, who, though destitute of a written revelation, were a law to themselves. They were not without law in every sense ; for their thoughts accused and excused them, so that they must still have had a standard to judge by, though not a written one. Rom. ii. 14, 15. But though love, in connection with the judgment, will, to a certain extent, dictate what is right to be done, it cannot do so in every case. There are many INTRODUCTORY ESSAY. XXXI circumstances and dispensations, in which the path of duty cannot be ascertained, without an explicit re- velation. Hence the necessity and the advantage of those particular rules, which are laid down for our guidance in the various relations and conditions of life. And in regard to things, about which we have only general principles and rules to walk by, the pre- valence of holy tempers and dispositions will lead to a proper decision. Love, in a word, will prompt us to do whatever is pleasing to God. Yet we must, by some means or other, know what is pleasing to him, before we can thus properly express our affection. 1 Thess. iv. 1. No matter in what way the will of God be made known ; for in whatever way it is revealed, its obligation is the same, so far as the revelation ex- tends. And the appeals which are made to love, are made to it as the exciting principle to action, rather than its rule. The laws given to sinful creatures must certainly differ from those given to perfectly holy beings ; but still a rule is given even to the latter; for the holiness of angels is a doing of the will of our Father who is in heaven. Angels, as well as mankind, must be bound by the eternal law of love ; but the special manner in which they are called to express their affection, must, of course, correspond at once with their particular nature as creatures, and with the condition in which they exist. The particular prohibitions which have been given to mankind, are proofs of their being con- sidered as depraved creatures ; and hence the apostle has said that the law (meaning, of couse, the law as it stands) is not made for a righteous man. 1 Tim. i. 9. Such prohibitions, as he proceeds to mention, are very different from the original prohibition delivered to Adam, and would not have been issued, had man been in a state of innocence. But who would infer from this, that Adam was not under a law 1 And is it not a display of wisdom and of great kindness, that the law given to mankind in their present state, so dis- tinctly warns them of their danger, by prohibitions which suppose their existence of corruptions which, if xxxii INTRODUCTORY ESSAY. not restrained or mortified, will prove the death of all happiness 1 Nothing can be more plain, than that the particular laws given by God for the regulation of his creatures, must correspond with their circumstances. The ques- tion then must be, are the precepts of the law of God suitable or unsuitable to the present circumstances of believers in Christ? And that they are really suited to their circumstances, is evident from the fact, that even the select disciples of the Saviour were addressed by him as not beyond the danger of falling into the most heinous offences, and are accordingly solemnly and affectionately warned against them. Luke xii. 41 — 46. And that these admonitions were designed, not for them only, but for all his disciples in after ages, is clear from the consideration, that the primi- tive Christians were frequently admonished against similar evils, and even against crimes still more abominable. Rom. xiii. 13, 14; 1 Cor. v. 9, 10, and x. 6—14; Ephes. ix. 17—32; Col. iii. 5—11. It is clear, then, that in the present state the renovation of believers is imperfect, and does not supersede the necessity of the law of God, as it presently stands, for their guidance. In the passages now referred to, an appeal is made to their fears, as well as to their grati- tude and love. In our present imperfect state, our obedience is not wholly left to the more generous influence of the latter principles. It merits our atten- tion, too, that when certain duties are enforced, there is an express recognition of the authority of the law. As for instance, the duties of children to their parents, which are enforced by an express repetition of the fifth commandment. Ephes. vi. 1, 2, 3. And when certain evils are condemned, the very form of the commandments is employed, as in James ii. 8 — 13, where a number of offences are enumerated in the express language of the law, and where the evil of respecting persons is declared to be a sin against the laio, and a solemn warning is given, that he shall have judgment without mercy, who hath showed no mercy. Hence such expressions as the following : INTRODUCTORY ESSAY. xxxiii "He that loveth another, hath fulfilled the law." Rom. xiii. 8. "Whosoever committeth sin, transgrcsseth also the law; for sin is the transgression of the law" 1 John iii. 4. Now, if there be no sin that is not " a transgression of the law," it follows that there can be no rule that is not comprehended in the law. In a word, let the commandments of the law be considered, and the conscience of every Christian will say, that there is not one of them which he can break without blame, or obedience to which is not connected with his happiness. Christ declared that he had not come to destroy the law or the prophets, but to fulfil them ; and having said this, he proceeded to explain the moral precepts of the law in their spirituality and extent, as reaching to the thoughts and the desires of the heart ; and to enforce them on the consciences of his disciples. Matt, v. 17 — 32. He taught that all the law and the pro- phets hang on the two great commandments of love to God and love to our neighbour, thereby declaring that the moral injunctions of the law of Moses and also of the prophets continue to be binding. Matt. xxii. 37 — 40. And after enjoining the universal law of equity, that we do to others as we would that they should do to us, he enforces it by saying, " For this is the law and the prophets." Matt. vii. 12. Now, since instead of representing himself as teaching and enjoining what is altogether new, he enforces the duties of piety and humanity, by referring to the law and the prophets, he obviously teaches, that the moral injunctions of the latter constitute the law of his king- dom. There is no necessity for confining the moral part of the divine law to the ten commandments ; for granting that every moral precept may be deduced from them, yet there were many such precepts delivered by Moses and the prophets besides them. It was of importance that the people should not be left to ascertain their duty by mere inferential reasoning, however solid. And on this principle our Lord and his apostles have given many broad, palpable, and express commandments, in relation to moral conduct, xxxiv INTRODUCTORY ESSAY. without always marking their connection with the Decalogue, even where such connection cannot be questioned. It is the whole of the divine precepts col- lectively, which constitute the law of God. And though the fundamental principles of his law must ever be the same, yet those principles are applied according to the nature of the special dispensation under which his creatures are placed. Attention to this is of importance in reflecting on the law of hea- ven. And Mr. Newton, in a letter on the right use of the law, has justly observed, that " clearly to un- derstand the distinction, connection, and harmony between the law and the gospel, and their mutual subserviency to illustrate and establish each other, is a singular privilege, and a happy means of preserv- ing the soul from being' entangled by errors on the right hand or the left." In a word, the law of God, though it be the language of authority, is also the voice of friendship. It is authority which is exercised for the more effectually influencing us to keep the only path which can lead to blessedness, And the man who, in the faith of the gospel, walks humbly and obediently with God finds the truest liberty, and his greatest happiness, in serv- ing his gracious Father and his rightful Sovereign. DAVID RUSSELL, Dundee, 28th Sept. 1824. ADVERTISEMENT. The deference due to the public seems to require an apology for committing letters of private correspon- dence to the press, while the writer is yet living. He is sensible, that sending them abroad without his name prefixed, will not of itself be sufficient to obviate the charge of egotism. The manner of expression and thinking, where an author has been repeatedly in print, will mark him out to good judges when they see him again, so as to render any further description unneces- sary. The solicitation of friends, though a trite, is not always an improper plea, and would probably in the present case be admitted, if he had not determined to conceal the names of his correspondents likewise, and to suppress, as far as possible every circumstance which might lead to discover them. For they certainly did recommend the publication, and return him their letters purposely that a selection might be made. But as he does not think himself at liberty to declare them, he must forego the advantage of screening himself under the sanction of their judgment. Posthumous letters are usually published to a dis- advantage. If it be supposed that the author has friends, whose regard to his memory will make them willing to purchase what appears under his name, that circumstance has sometimes given occasion to an in- discriminate and injudicious publication of letters collected from all quarters, in which more attention is paid to the bulk than the value. For amongst a number of letters written to intimate friends, some will be too trivial to deserve notice, and others may be so intermingled with details of private or domestic xxxv xxxvi ADVERTISEMENT. concerns, as perhaps to give pain to those who are interested in them, when they see them in print. The writer of the following; letters thought himself more competent to decide at present, which and how much of the papers before him might be not utterly unworthy of being preserved, than a stranger could be after his decease. Further, he finds, that between an increase of en- gagements on the one hand, and the unavoidable effects of advancing years on the other, he can expect but little leisure or ability for writing letters in future, ex- , cept upon necessary business. By this method of sending to each of his correspondents many letters at once, he takes leave of them with the less regret, per- suaded that he thus communicates the substance of all he could offer, if he was able to write to them severally as often and as much at large as in times past. Though some attention has been paid to variety, it was not practicable wholly to avoid what may be thought repetition, without destroying the texture and connection of many letters particularly in those which treat of affliction. But where the same subject recurs, it is usually placed in something of a different point of view, or illustrated in a different manner. Thus much to bespeak the readers's favourable and candid persual of what is now put into his hands. But the writer stands before a higher tribunal ; and would be much to be pitied if he were not conscious, that in this publication he has no allowed aims, but to be subservient to the gracious designs of God by the gospel, and to promote the good of his fellow-crea- tures. November 29, 1780. CARDIPHONIA. TWENTY-SIX LETTERS TO A NOBLEMAN. LETTER I. March, 1765. My Lord, — I remember, when I once had the pleasure of waiting on you, you were pleased to begin an in- teresting conversation, which, to my concern, was soon interrupted. The subject was concerning the causes, nature, and marks of a decline in grace ; how it happens that we lose that warm impression of divine things, which in some favoured moments we think it almost impossible to forget ; how far this change of frame is consistent with a spiritual growth in other respects; how to form a comparative judgment of our proficiency upon the whole ; and by what steps the losses we sustain from our necessary connection with a sinful nature and a sinful world may be retrieved from time to time. I beg your Lordship's permission to fill up the paper with a view to these inquiries. I do not mean to offer a laboured essay upon them, but such thoughts as shall occur while the pen is in my hand. The awakened soul (especially when, after a season of distress and terror, it begins to taste that the Lord is gracious) finds itself as in a new world. No change in outward life can be so sensible, so affecting. No wonder then, that at such a time little else can be thought of. The transition from darkness to light, from a sense of wrath to a hope of glory, is the greatest [* The Earl of Dartmouth.] 4 37 38 CARDIPHONIA. that can be imagined, and is oftentimes as sudden as wonderful. Hence the general characteristics of young converts are zeal and love. Like Israel at the Red Sea, they have just seen the wonderful works of the Lord, and they cannot but sing his praise ; they are deeply affected with the danger they have lately escaped, and with the case of multitudes around them, who are secure and careless in the same alarming situation ; and a sense of their own mercies, and a compassion for the souls of others, is so transporting, that they can hardly forbear preaching to every one they meet. This emotion is highly just and reasonable with respect to the causes from whence it springs ; and it is doubtless a proof, not only of the imperfection, but the depravity of our nature, that we are not always thus affected ; yet it is not entirely genuine. If we examine this character closely, which seems at first sight a pattern and a reproof to Christians of longer standing, we shall for the most part find it attended with considerable defects. 1. Such persons are very weak in faith. Their confidence arises rather from the lively impressions of joy within, than from a distinct and clear appre- hension of the work of God in Christ. The comforts which are intended as cordials to animate them against the opposition of an unbelieving world, they mistake and rest in as the proper evidences of their hope. And hence it comes to pass, that when the Lord varies his dispensations, and hides his face, they are soon trou- bled, and at their wit's end. 2. They who are in this state of their first love, are seldom free from something of a censorious spirit. They have not yet felt all the deceitfulness of their own hearts ; they are not well acquainted with the devices or temptations of Satan ; and therefore know not how to sympathize or make allowances, where allowances are necessary and due, and can hardly bear with any who do not discover the same earnest- ness as themselves. 3. They are likewise more or less under the influence LETTERS TO A NOBLEMAN. 39 of self-righteousness and self-will. They mean well ; but not being as yet well acquainted with the spiritual meaning and proper use of the law, nor established in the life of faith, a part (oftentimes a very considerable part) of their zeal spends itself in externals and non- essentials, prompts them to practise what is not com- manded, to refrain from what is lawful, and to observe various and needless austerities and singula- rities, as their tempers and circumstances differ. However, with all their faults, methinks there is something very beautiful and engaging in the honest vehemence of a young convert. Some cold and rigid judges are ready to reject these promising ap- pearances on account of incidental blemishes. But would a gardener throw away a fine nectarine, be- cause it is green and has not yet attained all that beauty and flavour which a few more showers and suns will impart 1 Perhaps it will hold for the most part in grace as in nature, (some exceptions there are,) if there is not some fire in youth, we can hardly ex- pect a proper warmth in old age. But the great and good Husbandman watches over what his own hand has planted, and carries on his work by a variety of different and even contrary dis- pensations. While their mountain stands thus strong, they think they shall never be moved ; but at length they find a change. Sometimes it comes on by insen- sible degrees. That part of their affection which was purely natural, will abate, of course, when the power of novelty ceases. They will begin, in some instances, to perceive their own indiscretions; and an endeavour to correct the excesses of imprudent zeal will often draw them towards the contrary extreme of remiss- ness; the evils of their hearts, which, though over- powered, were not eradicated, will revive again; the enemy will watch his occasions to meet them with suitable temptations; and, as it is the Lord's design that they should experimentally learn and feel their own weakness, he will, in some instances, be permitted to succeed. When guilt is thus brought upon the conscience, the heart grows hard, the hands feeble, 40 CAUDIPHONIA. and the knees weak; then confidence is shaken, the spirit of prayer interrupted, the armour gone; and thus things grow worse and worse, till the Lord is pleased to interpose. For though we can fall of our- selves, we cannot rise without his help. Indeed every sin, in its own nature, has a tendency towards a final apostasy; but there is a provision in the covenant of grace, and the Lord, in his own time, returns to con- vince, humble, pardon, comfort, and renew the soul. He touches the rock, and the waters flow. By re- peated experiments and exercises of this sort — for this wisdom is seldom acquired by one or a few lessons — we begin at length to learn that we are nothing, have nothing, can do nothing but sin. And thus we are gradually prepared to live more out of ourselves, and to derive all our sufficiency of every kind from Jesus, the fountain of grace. We learn to tread more warily, to trust less to our own strength, to have lower thoughts of ourselves, and higher thoughts of him; in which two last particulars, I apprehend, what the Scripture means by a growth in grace does properly consist. Both are increasing in the lively Christian ; every day shows him more of his own heart, and more of the power, sufficiency, compassion, and grace of his adorable Redeemer; but neither will be com- plete till we get to heaven. I apprehend, therefore, that though we find an abate- ment of that sensible warmth of affection which we felt at first setting out; yet, if our views are more evangelical, our judgment more ripened, our hearts more habitually humbled under a sense of inward de- pravity, our tempers more softened into sympathy and tenderness, if our prevailing desires are spiritual, and we practically esteem the precepts, ordinances, and people of God, we may warrantably conclude, that his good work of grace in us is, upon the whole, on an increase. But still it is to be lamented, that an increase of knowledge and experience should be so generally at- tended with a decline of fervour. If it was not for what has passed in my own heart, I should be ready LETTERS TO A NOBLEMAN. 1. to think it impossible. But this very circumstance gives me a still more emphatical conviction of my own vileness and depravity. The want of humiliation humbles me, and my very indifference rouses and awakens me to earnestness. There are, however, seasons of refreshment, ineffable glances of light and power upon the soul, which, as they are derived from clearer displays of divine grace, if not so tumultuous as the first joys, are more penetrating, transforming, and animating. A glance of these, when compared with our sluggish stupidity when they are withheld, weans the heart from this wretched state of sin and temptation, and makes the thoughts of death and eter- nity desirable. Then this conflict shall cease. I shall sin and wander no more, see him as he is, and be like him for ever. If the question is, How are these bright moments to be prolonged, renewed, or retrieved 1 We are directed to faith and diligence. A careful use of the appointed means of grace, a watchful endeavour" to avoid the occasions and appearances of evil, and especially as- siduity in secret prayer, will bring as much of them as the Lord sees good for us. He knows best why we are not to be trusted with them continually. Here we are to walk by faith, to be exercised and tried; by and by we shall be crowned, and the desires he has given shall be abundantly satisfied. I am, &c. LETTER II. April, 1766. My Lord, — I shall embrace your permission to fill my paper. As to subject, that which has been a frequent theme of my heart of late, I shall venture to lay before your Lordship — I mean the remarkable and humbling difference which I suppose all who know themselves may observe, between their acquired and their expe- rimental knowledge, or, in other words, between their judgment and their practice. To hear a believer 4* 42 CAUDITHONIA. speak his apprehensions of the evil of sin, the vanity of the world, the love of Christ, the beauty of holiness, or the importance of eternity, who would not suppose him proof against temptation ? To hear with what strong arguments he can recommend watchfulness, prayer, forbearance, and submission, when he is teach- ing or advising others, who would not suppose that he could also teach himself, and influence his own con- duct? Yet, alas! Quarn dispar sibi! The person who rose from his knees before he left his chamber, a poor, indigent, fallible, dependent creature, who saw and acknowledged that he was unworthy to breathe the air or to see the light, may meet with many occa- sions before the day is closed, to discover the corrup- tions of his heart, and to show how weak and faint his best principles and clearest convictions are in their actual exercise. And in this view, how vain is man ! what a contradiction is a believer to himself! He is called a believer emphatically, because he cordially assents to the word of God; but, alas! how often un- worthy of the name ! If I were to describe him from the Scripture character, I should say, he is one whose heart is athirst for God, for his glory, his image, his presence; his affections are fixed upon an unseen Saviour; his treasures, and consequently his thoughts, are on high, beyond the bounds of sense. Having ex- perienced much forgiveness, he is full of bowels of mercy to all around; and, having been often deceived by his own heart, he dares trust it no more, but lives by faith in the Son of God, for wisdom, righteousness, and sanctification, and derives from him grace for grace; sensible that, without him, he has not suffi- ciency even to think a good thought. In short, he is dead to the world, to sin, to self ; but alive to God, and lively in his service. Prayer is his breath, the word of God his food, and the ordinances more precious to him than the light of the sun. Such is a believer, in his judgment and prevailing desires. But were I to describe him from experience, espe- cially at some times, how different would the picture be. Though he knows that communion with God is LETTERS TO A NOBLEMAN. 43 his highest privilege, he too seldom finds it so; on the contrary, if duty, conscience, and necessity, did not compel, he would leave the throne of grace unvisited from day to day. He takes up the Bible, conscious that it is the fountain of life and true comfort; yet per- haps while he is making the reflection, he feels a secret distaste, which prompts him to lay it down, and give his preference to a newspaper. He needs not to be told of the vanity and uncertainty of all beneath the sun; and yet is almost as much elated or cast down by a trifle, as those who have their portion in this world. He believes that all things shall work to- gether for his good, and that the most high God ap- points, adjusts, and overrules all his concerns; yet he feels the risings of fear, anxiety, and displeasure, as though the contrary was true. He owns himself ig- norant, and liable to be deceived by a thousand falla- cies; yet is easily betrayed into positiveness and self- conceit. He feels himself an unprofitable, unfaithful, unthankful servant, and therefore blushes to harbour a thought of desiring the esteem and commendations of men, yet he cannot suppress it. Finally — for I must observe some bounds — on account of these and many other inconsistencies, he is struck dumb before the Lord, stripped of every hope and plea, but what is provided in the free grace of God, and yet his heart is continually leaning and returning to a covenant of works. Two questions naturally arise from such a view of ourselves. First, — How can these things be, or why are they permitted 1 Since the Lord hates sin, teaches his people to hate it and cry against it, and has pro- mised to hear their prayers, how is it that they go thus burdened'? Surely if he could not or would not overrule evil for good, he would not permit it to con- tinue. By these exercises he teaches us more truly to know and feel the utter depravity and corruption of our whole nature, that we are indeed defiled in every part. His method of salvation is likewise here- by exceedingly endeared to us ; we see that it is and must be of grace, wholly of grace; and that the Lord 44 CARDIPHONIA. Jesus Christ, and his perfect righteousness, is and must be our all in all. His power, likewise, in main- taining his own work, notwithstanding our infirmities, temptations, and enemies, is hereby displayed in the clearest light — his strength is manifested in our weak- ness. Satan, likewise, is more remarkably disappoint- ed and put to shame, when he finds bounds set to his rage and policy, beyond which he cannot pass ; and that those in whom he finds so much to work upon, and over whom he so often prevails for a season, escape at last out of his hands. He casts them down, but they are raised again ; he wounds them, but they are healed ; he obtains his desire to sift them as wheat, but the prayer of their great Advocate prevails for the maintenance of their faith. Further, by what believers feel in themselves they learn by degrees how to warn, pity, and bear with others. A soft, patient, and compassionate spirit, and a readiness and skill in comforting those who are cast down, is not perhaps attainable in any other way. And lastly, I believe nothing more habitually reconciles a child of God to the thought of death, than the wearisomeness of this warfare. Death is unwelcome to nature ; but then, and not till then, the conflict will cease. Then we shall sin no more. The flesh, with all its attendant evils, will be laid in the grave. Then the soul, which has been partaker of a new and heavenly birth, shall be freed from every incumbrance, and stand perfect in the Redeemer's righteousness before God in glory. But though these evils cannot be wholly removed, it is worth while to inquire, secondly, how they may be mitigated. This we are encouraged to hope for. The word of God directs and animates to a growth in grace. And though we can do nothing spiritually of ourselves,'yet there is a part assigned us. We cannot conquer the obstacles in our way by our own strength, yet we can give way to them, and if we do, it is our sin, and will be our sorrow. The disputes concerning inherent power in the creature have been carried to inconvenient lengths ; for my own part, I think it safe to use scriptural language. The apostles LETTERS TO A NOBLEMAN. 45 exhort us, to give all diligence to resist the devil, to purge ourselves from all filthiness of flesh and spirit, to give ourselves to reading, meditation, and prayer, to watch, to put on the whole armour of God, and to abstain from all appearance of evil. Faithfulness to light received, and a sincere endeavour to conform to the means prescribed in the word of God, with an humble application to the blood of sprinkling, and the promised Spirit, will undoubtedly be answered by in- creasing measures of light, faith, strength, and com- fort ; and we shall know, if we follow on to know the Lord. I need not tell your Lordship that I am an extem- pore writer. I dropt the consideration of whom I was addressing from my first paragraph ; but I now return, and subscribe myself, with the greatest deference, &c. LETTER III. April, 1770. My Lord, — I have a desire to fill the paper, and must therefore betake myself to the expedient I lately men- tioned. Glorious things are spoken of the city of God, or (as I suppose) the state of glory, in Rev. xxi. from verse 10, ad Jinem. The description is doubtless mystical, and perhaps nothing short of a happy expe- rience and participation will furnish an adequate expo- sition. One expression, in particular, has, I believe, puzzled wiser heads than mine to explain. The street of the city was pure gold, as it were transparent glass. The construction, likewise, in the Greek is difficult. Some render it pure gold, transparent as glass: this is the sense, but then it should be neuter, Stacpavfs, to agree with xe.vai.ov. If our reading is right, we must under- stand it either of gold pure, bright, and perspicuous as the finest transparent glass (for all glass is not trans- parent,) or else, as two distinct comparisons, splendid and durable as the purest gold, clear and transparent 46 CARDIPHONIA. as the finest glass. In that happy world the beauties and advantages, which here are divided and incom- patible, will unite and agree. Our glass is clear but brittle ; our gold is shining and solid, but it is opaque, and discovers only a surface. And thus it is with our minds. The powers of the imagination are lively and extensive, but transient and uncertain. The powers of the understanding are more solid and regu- lar, but at the same time more slow and limited, and confined to the outside properties of the few objects around us. But when we arrive within the veil, the perfections of the glass and the gold will be com- bined, and the imperfections of each will entirely cease. Then we shall know more than we can now imagine. The glass will be all gold. And then we shall appre- hend truth in its relations and consequences ; not (as at present) by that tedious and fallible process which we call reasoning, but by a single glance of thought, as the sight pierces in an instant through the largest transpai'ent body. The gold will be all glass. I do not offer this as the sense of the passage, but as a thought which once occurred to me while read- ing it. I daily groan under a desultory ungovernable imagination, and a palpable darkness of understanding which greatly impede me in my attempts to contem- plate the truths of God. Perhaps these complaints, in a greater or less degree, are common to all our fallen race, and exhibit mournful proofs that our nature is essentially depraved. The grace of God affords some assistance for correcting the wildness of the fancy, and enlarging the capacity of the mind ; yet the cure at present is but palliative ; but ere long it shall be perfect, and our complaints shall cease for ever. Now it costs us much pains to acquire a pittance of solid and useful knowledge; and the ideas we have collected are far from being at the disposal of judgment, and, like men in a crowd, are perpetually clashing and interfering with each other. But it will not be so, when we are completely freed from the effects of sin. Confusion and darkness will not follow us into the world where light and order reign. Then, LETTERS TO A NOBLEMAN. 47 and not till then, our knowledge will be perfect, and our possession of it uninterrupted and secure. Since the radical powers of the soul are thus en- feebled and disordered, it is not to be wondered at, that the best of men, and under their highest attain- ments, have found cause to make the acknowledgment of the apostle, "When I would do good, evil is pre- sent with me." But, blessed be God, though we must feel hourly cause for shame and humiliation for what we are in ourselves, we have cause to rejoice con- tinually in Christ Jesus, who, as he is revealed unto us under the various names, characters, relations, and offices, which he bears in the Scripture, holds out to our faith a balm for every wound, a cordial for every discouragement, and a sufficient answer to every objection which sin or Satan can suggest against our peace. If we are guilty, he is our righteousness ; if we are sick, he is our infallible Physician ; if we are weak, helpless, and defenceless, he is the compassion- ate and faithful Shepherd who has taken charge of us, and will not suffer any thing to disappoint our hopes, or to separate us from his love. He knows our frame, he remembers that we are but dust, and has engaged to guide us by his counsel, support us by his power, and at length to receive us to his glory, that we may be with him for ever. — I am, with the greatest deference, &c. LETTER IV. February, 1772. My Lord, — I have been sitting perhaps a quarter of an hour with my pen in my hand, and my finger upon my upper lip, contriving how I should begin my letter. A detail of the confused, incoherent thoughts which have successively passed through my mind, would have more than filled the sheet; but your Lord- ship's patience, and even your charity for the writer, would have been tried to the uttermost if I could have 48 CARDIPIIONIA. penned them all down. At length my suspense re- minded me of the apostle's words, Gal. v. 17, — " Ye cannot do the things that ye would." This is an hum- bling but a just account of a Christian's attainments in the present life, and is equally applicable to the strong- * est and to the weakest. The weakest need not say less — the strongest will hardly venture to say more. The Lord has given his people a desire and will aim- ing at great things ; without this they would be un- worthy of the name of Christians ; but they cannot do as they would : their best desires are weak and inef- fectual, not absolutely so (for he who works in them to will, enables them in a measure to do likewise,) but in comparison with the mark at which they aim. So that while they have great cause to be thankful for the desire he has given them, and for the degree in which it is answered, they have equal reason to be ashamed and abased under a sense of their continual defects, and the evil mixtures which taint and debase their best endeavours. It would be easy to make out a long list of particulars which a believer would do if he could, but in which, from first to last, he finds a mortifying inability. Permit me to mention a few, which I need not transcribe from books, for they are always present to my mind. He would willingly enjoy God in prayer. He knows that prayer is his duty ; but, in his judgment, he con- siders it likewise as his greatest honour and privilege. In this light he can recommend it to others, and can tell them of the wonderful condescension of the great God, who humbles himself to behold the things that are in heaven, that he should stoop so much lower, to afford his gracious ear to the supplications of sinful * worms upon earth. He can bid them expect a plea- sure in waiting upon the Lord, different in kind and greater in degree than all the world can afford. By prayer, he can say, you have liberty to cast all your cares upon him that careth for you. By one hour's intimate access to the throne of grace, where the Lord causes his glory to pass before the soul that seeks him, you may acquire more true spiritual knowledge and LETTERS TO A NOBLEMAN. 49 comfort, than by a day's or a week's converse with the best of men, or the most studious perusal of many folios. And in this light he would consider it, and improve it for himself. But alas ! how seldom can he do as he would. How often does he find this privi- lege a mere task, which he would be glad of a just cause to omit ; and the chief pleasure he derives from the performance is to think that his task is finished : he has been drawing near to God with his lips while his heart was far from him. Surely this is not doing as he would, when (to borrow the expression of an old woman here) he is dragged before God like a slave, and comes away like a thief. The like may be said of reading the Scripture. He believes it to be the word of God : he admires the wis- dom and grace of the doctrines, the beauty of the precepts, the richness and suitableness of the promises; and therefore, with David, he accounts it preferable to thousands of gold and silver, and sweeter than honey or the honey-comb. Yet while he thus thinks of it, and desires that it may dwell in him richly, and be his meditation night and day, he cannot do as he would. It will require some resolution to persist in reading a portion of it every day ; and even then his heart is often less engaged than when reading a pamph- let. Here again his privilege frequently dwindles into a task. His appetite is vitiated, so that he has but little relish for the food of his soul. He would willingly have abiding", admiring thoughts of the person and love of the Lord Jesus Christ. Glad he is, indeed, of those occasions which recall the Sa- viour to his mind ; and with this view, notwithstand- ing all discouragements, he perseveres in attempting to pray and read, and wait upon the ordinances. Yet he cannot do as he would. Whatever claims he may have to the exercise of gratitude and sensibility to- wards his fellow-creatures, he must confess himself mournfully ungrateful and insensible towards his best Friend and Benefactor. Ah ! what trifles are capable of shutting him out of our thoughts, of whom we say, He is the Beloved of our souls, who loved us, and gave 5 50 CARDIPHONIA. himself for us, and whom we have deliberately chosen as our chief good and portion. What can make us amends for the loss we suffer here ? Yet surely if we could, we would set him always before us ; his love should be the delightful theme of our hearts From morn to noon, from noon to dewy eve. But though we aim at this good, evil is present with us; we find we are renewed but in part, and have still cause to plead the Lord's promise, to take away the heart of stone, and give us a heart of flesh. He would willingly acquiesce in all the dispensa- tions of Divine Providence. He believes that all events are under the direction of infinite wisdom and goodness, and shall surely issue in the glory of God, and the good of those who fear hiin. He doubts not but the hairs of his head are all numbered, that the blessings of every kind which he possesses were be- stowed upon him, and are preserved to him, by the bounty and special favour of the Lord whom he serves ; that afflictions spring not out of the ground, but are fruits and tokens of divine love, no less than his com- forts ; — that there is a need-be, whenever for a season he is in heaviness. Of these principles he can no more doubt, than of what he sees with his eyes : and there are seasons when he thinks they will prove suf- ficient to reconcile him to the sharpest trials. But often when he aims to apply them in an hour of pre- sent distress, he cannot do what he would. He feels a law in his members warring againt the law in his mind ; so that, in defiance of the clearest convictions, seeing as though he perceived not, he is ready to com- plain, murmur, and despond. Alas ! how vain is man in his best estate ! How much weakness and incon- sistency, even in those whose hearts are right with the Lord ! and what reason have we to confess that we are unworthy, unprofitable servants ! It were easy to enlarge in this way, would paper and time permit. But blessed be God, we are not under the law, but under grace. And even these dis- tressing effects of the remnants of indwelling sin are LETTERS TO A NOBLEMAN. 51 overruled for good. By these experiences the be- liever is weaned more from self, and taught more highly to prize and more absolutely to rely on him, who is appointed to us of God, Wisdom, Righteous- ness, Sanetification, and Redemption. The more vile we are in our own eyes, the more precious he will be to us : and a deep repeated sense of the evil of our hearts is necessary to preclude all boasting, and to make us willing to give the whole glory of our salva- tion where it is due. Again, a sense of these evils will (when hardly any thing else can do it) reconcile us to the thoughts of death; yea, make us desirous to depart, that we may sin no more, since we find de- pravity so deep rooted in our nature, that (like the leprous house) the whole fabric must be taken down before we can be freed from its defilement. Then, and not till then, we shall be able to do the thing that we would : when we see Jesus, we shall be trans- formed into his image, and have done with sin and sorrow forever. I am with great deference, &c. LETTER V. March, 1772. My Lord, — I think my last letter turned upon the thought, Gal. v. 17, — "Ye cannot do the things that ye would." In the parallel place, Rom. vii. 19, there is another clause subjoined, " The evil which I would not, that I do. This, added to the former, would com- plete the dark side of my experience. Permit me to tell your Lordship a little part (for some things must not, cannot be told,) not of what I have read, but of what I have felt, in illustration of this passage. I would not be the sport and prey of wild, vain, fool- ish, and worse imaginations; but this evil is present with me; my heart is like a highway, like a city with- out walls or gates. Nothing so false, so frivolous, so absurd, so impossible, or so horrid, but it can ob- tain access, and that at any time, or in any place: 52 CARDirilONIA. neither the study, the pulpit, nor even the Lord's table, exempt me from their intrusion. I sometimes compare my words to the treble of an instrument, which my thoughts accompany with a kind of bass, or rather anti-bass, in which every rule of harmony is broken, every possible combination of discord and confusion is introduced, utterly inconsistent with, and contradictory to, the intended melody. Ah! what music would my praying and preaching often make in the ears of the Lord of Hosts, if he listened to them as they are mine only! By men, the upper part only (if I may so speak) is heard; and small cause there is for self-congratulation, if they should happen to commend, when conscience tells me they would be struck with astonishment and abhorrence could they hear the whole. But if this awful effect of heart depravity cannot be wholly avoided in the present state of human nature, yet at least I would not allow and indulge it; yet this I find I do. In defiance of my best judgment and best wishes, I find something within me, which cherishes and cleaves to those evils, from which I ought to start and flee, as I should if a toad or a serpent was put in my food or in my bed. Ah! how vile must the heart (at least my heart) be, that can hold a parley with such abominations, when I so well know their nature and their tendency. Surely he who finds himself capable of this, may, without the least affectation of humility, (however fair his outward conduct appears,) subscribe himself less than the least of all saints, and of sinners the very chief. I would not be influenced by a principle of self on any occasion; yet this evil I often do. I see the baseness and absurdity of such a conduct as clearly as I see the light of the day. I do not aflect to be thought ten feel high, and I know that a desire of being thought wise or good is equally contrary to reason and truth. I should be grieved or angry if my fellow-creatures supposed I had such a desire; and, therefore, I fear, the very principle of self, of which I complain, has a considerable share in prompting my LETTEKS TO A NOBLEMAN. 53 desires to conceal it. The pride of others often offends me, and makes me studious to hide my own ; because their good opinion of me depends much upon their not perceiving it. But the Lord knows how this dead fly taints and spoils my best services, and makes them no better than specious sins. I would not indulge vain reasonings concerning the counsels, ways, and providences of God; yet I am prone to do it. That the Judge of all the earth will do right, is to me as evident and necessary as that two and two make four. I believe that he has a sove- reign right to do what he will with his own, and that this sovereignty is but another name for the unlimited exercise of wisdom and goodness. But my reason- ings are often such, as if I had never heard of these principles, or had formerly renounced them. I feel the workings of a presumptuous spirit, that would ac- count for every thing, and venture to dispute what- ever it cannot comprehend. What an evil is this, for a potsherd of the earth to contend with its Maker ! I do not act thus towards my fellow-creatures; I do not find fault with the decisions of a judge, or the disposi- tions of a general, because, though I know they are fallible, yet I suppose they are wiser in their respective departments than myself. But I am often ready to take this liberty when it is most unreasonable and in- excusable. I would not cleave to a covenant of works: it should seem, from the foregoing particulars, and many others which I could mention, that I have reasons enough to deter me from this. Yet even this I do. Not but that I say, and I hope from my heart, Enter not into judgment with thy servant, O Lord; I embrace it as a faithful saying, and worthy of all acceptation, that Jesus Christ came into the world to save sinners; and it is the main pleasure and business of my life to set forth the necessity and all-sufficiency of the Mediator between God and man, and to make mention of his righteousness, even of his only. But here, as in every thing else, I find a vast difference between my judg- ment and my experience. I am invited to take the 5* 54 CARDirilONIA. water of life freely, yet often discouraged, because I have nothing wherewith to pay for it. If I am at times favoured with some liberty from the above-men- tioned evils, it rather gives me a more favourable opinion of myself, than increases my admiration of the Lord's goodness to so unworthy a creature; and when the returning tide of my corruptions convinces me that I am still the same, an unbelieving legal spirit would urge me to conclude that the Lord is changed; at least I feel a weariness of being beholden to him for such continued multiplied forgiveness; and I fear that some part of my striving against sin, and my desires after an increase of sanctification, arises from a secret wish that I might not be so absolutely and entirely indebted to him. This, my Lord, is only a faint sketch of my heart, but it is taken from the life ; it would require a volume rather than a. letter to fill up the outlines. But I believe you will not regret that I choose to say no more upon such a subject. But though my disease is grievous, it is not desperate; I have a gracious and infallible Physician. I shall not die, but live, and declare the works of the Lord. I remain, my Lord, &c. LETTER VI. April, 1772. My Lord, — My two last letters turned upon a mourn- ful subject — the depravity of the heart, which impedes us when we would do good, and pollutes our best in- tended services with evil. We have cause, upon this account, to go softly all our days; yet we need not sorrow as they who have no hope. The Lord has provided his people relief under those complaints, and teaches us to draw improvement from them. If the evils we feel were not capable of being overruled for good, he would not permit them to remain in us. This we may infer from his hatred to sin, and the love which he bears to his people. LETTERS TO A NOBLEMAN. 55 As to the remedy, neither our state nor his honour are affected by the workings of indwelling sin, in the hearts of those whom he has taught to wrestle, strive, and mourn, on account of what they feel. Though sin wars, it shall not reign; and though it breaks our peace, it cannot separate from his love.. Nor is it in- consistent with his holiness and perfection to manifest his favour to such poor defiled creatures, or to admit them to communion with himself; for they are not considered as in themselves, but as one with Jesus, to whom they have fled for refuge, and by whom they live a life of faith. They are accepted in the Beloved, they have an advocate with the Father, who once made an atonement for their sins, and ever lives to make intercession for their persons. Though they cannot fulfil the law, he has fulfilled it for them; though the obedience of the members is defiled and imperfect, the obedience of the Head is spotless and complete; and though there is much evil in them, there is something good — the fruit of his own gracious Spirit. They act from a principle of love, they aim at no less than his glory, and their habitual desires are supremely fixed upon himself. There is a difference in kind between the feeblest efforts of faith in a real believer, while he is covered with shame at the thoughts of his miscarriages, and the highest and most specious attainments of those who are wise in their own eyes, and prudent in their own sight. Nor shall this conflict remain long, or the enemy finally prevail over them. They are supported by almighty power, and led on to certain victory. They shall not always be as they are now; yet a little while, and they shall be freed from this vile body, which, like the leprous house, is incurably contaminated, and must be entirely taken down. Then they shall see Jesus as he is, and be like him, and with him for ever. The gracious purposes to which the Lord makes the sense and feeling of our depravity subservient, are manifold. Hereby his own power, wisdom, and faith- fulness, and love, are more signally displayed : his 56 CARDiniONlA. power in maintaining his own work in the midst of so much opposition, like a spark burning in the water, or a bush unconsumed in the flames : his wisdom in defeating and controlling all the devices which Satan, from his knowledge of the evil of our nature, is en- couraged to practise against us. He has overthrown many a fair professor, and, like Goliath, he challenges the whole army of Israel; yet he finds there are some against whom, though he thrusts sorely, he cannot prevail ; notwithstanding any seeming advantage he gains at some seasons, they are still delivered, for the Lord is on their side. The unchangeableness of the Lord's love, and the riches of his mercy, are likewise more illustrated by the multiplied pardons he bestows upon his people, than if they needed no forgiveness at all. Hereby the Lord Jesus Christ is more endeared to the soul ; all boasting is effectually excluded, and the glory of a full and free salvation is ascribed to him alone. If a mariner is surprised by a storm, and after one night spent in jeopardy, is presently brought safe into port, though he may rejoice in his deliverance, it will not affect him so sensibly as if, after being tempest- tossed for a long season, and experiencing a great number and variety of hair-breadth escapes, he at last gains the desired haven. The righteous are said to be scarcely saved, not with respect to the certainty of the event, for the purpose of God in their favour cannot be disappointed, but in respect of their own apprehensions, and the great difficulties they are brought through. But when, after a long experience of their own deceitful hearts, after repeated proofs of their weakness, wilfulness, ingratitude, and insensi- bility, they find that none of these things can separate them from the love of God in Christ, Jesus becomes more and more precious to their souls. They love much, because much has been forgiven them. They dare not, they will not ascribe any thing to themselves, but are glad to acknowledge that they must have perished (if possible) a thousand times over, if Jesus had not been their Saviour, their Shepherd, and their LETTERS TO A NOBLEMAN. 57 Shield. When they were wandering, he brought them back ; when fallen, he raised them : when wounded, he healed them ; when fainting he revived them. By him out of weakness they have been made strong; he has taught their hands to war, and covered their heads in the day of battle. In a word, some of the clearest proofs they have had of his excellence, have been occasioned by the mortifying proofs they have had of their own vileness. They would not have known so much of him, if they had not known so much of themselves. Further, a spirit of humiliation, which is both the decus et tutamcn, the strength and beauty of our pro- fession, is greatly promoted by our feeling, as well as reading, that when we would do good, evil is present with us. A broken and contrite spirit is pleasing to the Lord, — he has promised to dwell with those who have it ; and experience shows that the exercise of all our graces is in proportion to the humbling sense we have of the depravity of our nature, But that we are so totally depraved is a truth which no one ever truly learned by being only told it. Indeed, if we could receive, and habitually maintain a right judgment of ourselves, by what is plainly declared in Scripture, it would probably save us many a mournful hour ; but experience is the Lord's school, and they who are taught by him usually learn, that they have no wisdom, by the mistakes they make, and that they have no strength, by the slips and falls they meet with. Every day draws forth some new corruption which before was little observed, or at least discovers it in a stronger light than before. Thus by degrees they are weaned from leaning to any supposed wisdom, power, or good- ness in themselves ; they feel the truth of our Lord's words, " Without me ye can do nothing ;" and the necessity of crying with David, "O lead me and guide me for thy name's sake." It is chiefly by this frame of mind that one Christian is differenced from another; for though it is an inward feeling, it has very observable outward effects, which are expressively intimated, Ezek. xvi. 63, " Thou shalt be dumb and 58 CARDIFHONIA. not open thy mouth, in the day when I am pacified towards thee, saith the Lord God." The knowledge of my full and free forgiveness, of thy innumerable backslid ings and transgressions, shall make thee ashamed, and silence the unruly workings of thine heart. Thou shalt open thy mouth in praise; but thou shalt no more boast in thyself, or censure others, or repine at my dispensations. In these respects we are exceedingly prone to speak unadvisedly with our lips. But a sense of great unworthiness and much forgive- ness checks these evils. Whoever is truly humbled will not be easily angry, will not be positive and rash, will be compassionate and tender to the infirmities of his fellow-sinners, knowing that if there be a difference, it is grace that has made it, and that he has the seeds of every evil in his own heart. And under all trials and afflictions, he will look to the hand of the Lord, and lay his mouth in the dust, acknowledging that he suffers much less than his iniquities have deserved. These are some of the advantages and good fruits which the Lord enables us to obtain from that bitter root, indwelling sin. — I am, with great deference, &c. LETTER VII. September, 1772. My Lord, — Weak, unskilful, and unfaithful as I am in practice, the Lord has been pleased to give me some idea of what a Christian ought to be, and what is actually attainable in the present life, by those whom he enables earnestly to aspire towards the prize of their high calling. They who are versed in mechanics, can from a knowledge of the combined powers of a complicated machine, make an exact calculation of what it is able to perform, and what resistance it can counteract ; but who can compute the possible effects of that combination of principles and motives revealed in the gospel, upon a heart duly impressed with a sense of their importance and glory l When I was lately at Mr. Cox's museum, while I was fixing my LETTERS TO A NOBLEMAN. 59 attention upon some curious movements, imagining that I saw the whole of the artist's design, the person who showed it, touched a little spring, and suddenly a thousand new and unexpected motions took place, and the whole piece seemed animated from the top to the bottom. I should have formed but a very imperfect judgment of it, had I seen no more than what I saw at first. I thought it might in some measure illustrate the vast difference that is observable amongst professors, even amongst those who are, it is to be hoped, sincere. There are persons who appear to have a true know- ledge (in part) of the nature of the gospel religion, but seem not to be apprised of its properties, in their com- prehension and extent. If they have attained to some hope of their acceptance, if they find at seasons some communion with God in the means of grace, if they are in a measure delivered from the prevailing and corrupt customs of the world, they seem to be satis- fied, as if they were possessed of all. These are in- deed great things; sed meliora latent. The profession of too many, whose sincerity charity would be un- willing to impeach, is greatly blemished, notwithstand- ing their hopes and their occasional comforts, by the breakings forth of unsanctified tempers, and the in- dulgence of vain hopes, anxious cares, and selfish pursuits. Far, very far, am I from that unscriptural sentiment of sinless perfection in fallen man. To those who have a due sense of the spirituality and ground of the divine precepts, and of what passes in their own hearts, there will never be wanting cause of humilia- tion and self-abasement on the account of sin ; yet still there is a liberty and privilege attainable by the gospel, beyond what is ordinarily thought of. Permit me to mention two or three particulars, in which those who have a holy ambition of aspiring to them shall not be altogether disappointed. A delight in the Lord's all-sufficiency ; to be satisfied in him as our present and eternal portion. This, in the sense in which 1 understand it, is not the effect of a present warm frame, but of a deeply rooted and abiding principle ; the habitual exercise of which •GO CARDIPHONIA. is to be estimated by the comparative indifference with which other things are regarded. The soul thus principled is not at leisure to take or to seek satisfac- tion in any thing but what has a known subserviency to this leading taste. Either the Lord is present, and then he is to be rejoiced in ; or else he is absent, and then he is to be sought and waited for. They are to be pitied, who, if they are at some times happy in the Lord, can at other times be happy without him, and rejoice in broken cisterns, when their spirits are at a distance from the fountain of living waters. I do not plead for an absolute indifference to temporal bless- ings ; he gives us all things richly to enjoy; and a capacity of relishing them is his gift likewise ; but then the consideration of his love in bestowing should exceedingly enhance the value, and a regard to his will should regulate their use. Nor can they all sup- ply the want of that which we can only receive imme- diately from himself. This principle likewise moder- ates that inordinate fear and sorrow to which we are liable upon the prospect or the occurrence of great trials, for which there is a sure support and resource provided in the all-sufficiency of infinite goodness and grace. What a privilege is this, to possess God in all things while we have them, and all things in God when they are taken from us ! An acquiescence in the Lord's will, founded in a persuasion of his wisdom, holiness, sovereignty, and goodness. This is one of the greatest privileges and brightest ornaments of our profession. So far as we attain to this, we are secure from disappointment. Our own limited views and short-sighted purposes and desires may be, and will be, often overruled ; but then our main and leading desire, that the will of the Lord may be done, must be accomplished. How highly does it become us, both as creatures and as sinners, to submit to the appointments of our Maker, and how necessary is it to our peace ! This great attainment is too often unthought of, and overlooked; we are prone to fix our attention upon the second causes and immediate instruments of events ; forget- LETTERS TO A NOBLEMAN. (»1 ting that whatever befalls us is according to his pur- pose, and therefore must be right and seasonable in itself, and shall in the issue be productive of good. From hence arise impatience, resentment, and secret repinings, which are not only sinful but tormenting : whereas, if all things are in his hand; if the very hairs of our head are numbered ; if every event, great and small, is under the direction of his providence and purpose ; and if he has a wise, holy, and gracious end in view, to which every thing that happens is subordi- nate and subservient; — then we have nothing to do, but with patience and humility to follow as he leads, and cheerfully to expect a happy issue. The path of present duty is marked out, and the concerns of the next and every succeeding hour are in his hands. How happy are they who can resign all to him, see his hand in every dispensation, and believe that he chooses better for them than they possibly could for themselves ! A single eye to his glory, as the ultimate scope of all our undertakings. The Lord can design nothing short of his own glory, nor should we. The constrain- ing love of Christ has a direct and marvellous ten- dency, in proportion to the measure of faith, to mortify the corrupt principles, Self, which for a season is the grand spring of our conduct, and by which we are too much biased after we know the Lord. But as grace prevails, self is renounced. We feel that we are not our own, that we are bought with a price ; and that it is our duty, our honour, and our happiness, to be servants of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ. To devote soul and body, every talent, power, and faculty, to the service of his cause and will ; to let our light shine, (in our several situations,) to the praise of his grace; to place our highest joy in the contem- plation of his adorable perfections; to rejoice even in tribulations and distresses, in reproaches and infirmi- ties, if thereby the power of Christ may rest upon us, and be magnified in us; to be content, yea, glad to be nothing, that he may be all in all ; — to obey him, in opposition to the threats or solicitations of men ; 6 CARDIPHONIA. to trust him, though all outward appearances seem against us; to rejoice in him, though we should, (as will sooner or later be the case,) have nothing else to rejoice in; — to live above the world, and to have our conversation in heaven ; to be like the angels, finding our own pleasure in performing his : — This, my lord, is the prize, the mark of our high calling, to which we are encouraged with a holy ambition continually to aspire. It is true, we shall still fall short; we shall find, that when we would do good, evil will be present with us. But the attempt is glorious, and shall not be wholly in vain. He that gives us thus to will, will enable us to perform with growing success, and teach us to profit even by our mistakes and imper- fections. 0 blessed man ! that thus fears the Lord, that delights in his word, and derives his principles, mo- tives, maxims, and consolations, from that unfailing source of light and strength ! He shall be like a tree planted by the rivers of water, whose leaf is always green, and fruit abundant. The wisdom that is above shall direct his plans, inspire his counsels ; and the power of God shall guard him on every side, and pre- pare his way through every difficulty: he shall see mountains sink into plains, and streams spring up in the dry wilderness. The Lord's enemies will be his; and they may be permitted to fight against him, but they shall not prevail, for the Lord is with him to deliver him. The conduct of such a one, though in a narrow and retired sphere of life, is of more real excellence and importance, than the most splendid actions of kings and conquerors, which fill the annals of history. Prov. xvi. 32. And if the God whom he serves is pleased to place him in a more public light, his labours and cares will be amply compensated, by the superior opportunities afforded him, of manifesting the power and reality of true religion, and promoting the good of mankind. 1 hope I may say, that I desire to be thus entirely given up to the Lord; I am sure I must say, that what I have written is far from being my actual experience. LETTERS TO A NOBLEMAN. G3 Alas ! I might be condemned out of my own mouth, were the Lord strict to mark what is amiss. But, O the comfort ! we are not under the law, but under grace. The gospel is a dispensation for sinners, and we have an Advocate with the Father. There is the unshaken ground of hope : a reconciled Father, a pre- vailing Advocate, a powerful Shepherd, a compas- sionate Friend, a Saviour, who is able and willing to save to the uttermost. He knows our frame ; he remembers that we are but dust, and has opened for us a new and blood-besprinkled way of access to the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy, and find grace to help in every time of need. — I am, &c. LETTER VIII. December, 1772. My Lord, — I lately employed some of my leisure hours (which, when I am not indolent, are but few,) in read- ing the Memoirs of the Duke of Sully, which occa- sionally came in my way. It afforded me matter for variety of reflections. I pity the Duke of Sully, whose attachment to the name of a Protestant seems to have been little more than a point of honour, who drew all his resources from himself, and whose chief aim seems to have been to approve himself faithful to an earthly master. He acted as well as could be expected from natural principles ; and the Lord, who employed him as an instrument of his providence, rewarded his fidelity with success, honour, and riches : a reward which, though in itself a poor one, is suited to the desires of men who place their happiness in worldly things, and is so far a compensation of their services. It is given to your Lordship to act from nobler prin- ciples, and with more enlarged views. You serve a Master of whose favour, protection, and assistance, you cannot be deprived, who will not overlook or misconstrue the smallest service you attempt for him, who will listen to no insinuations against you, who is 64 CARDIPHONIA. always near to comfort, direct, and strengthen you, and who is preparing for you such honours and blessings as he only can give, an inheritance (the reverse of all earthly good) at