To yourself this is one of those sudden and awful revulsions by which the heart is agonized, but by which the heart is often made better. When the nearest and dearest of all earthly relationships is dissolved, the soul, thrown loose, as it were, from its wonted dependence, may be led thereby to keep more tenacious hold upon an enduring relationship. How precious that Gospel by which we are invited to enter upon its privileges, and to come under its full protection. God in Christ offers himself to all in the capacity of a friend who sticketh closer than a brother: He is a husband to the widow, and a father to the fatherless who put their trust in Him. An earthly prop has fallen. of your dependence upon God. His wisdom and in His mercy. ollections that you have of that husband felt in the truths of the Gospel, and let us be followers of them who through faith and patience are now inheriting the promises.

Lean the whole weight Put full confidence both in Be thankful for all the recevident interest which your

We deeply sympathize with your afflicted family, and sincerely hope that the health neither of them nor of yourself will permanently suffer by the shock which you have sustained. The same God who hath inflicted the wound can also heal it, and fill up the desolate void of this sore and sudden bereavement by a livelier faith than ever in the hopes and promises of the Gospel. We beg our most affectionate condolence to all the members of your afflicted household; and with earnest prayers for your own comfort and sanctification under this heavy calamity, I entreat you to believe me, my dear madam, yours very affectionately,

THOMAS CHALMERS.

No. CCCLXVII. TO WILLIAM BUCHANAN, ESQ., GLASGOW.

ST. ANDREWS, 11th April, 1828.

MY VERY DEAR SIR-I received our friend Mr. Brown's letter with its most affecting intimation, by which both Mrs. Chalmers and I have been moved in no ordinary degree. The

desire of your heart has indeed been cut down by a stroke, and the dreary and desolate void created there will continue an uneasiness almost insupportable till replaced by the love, and the light, and the positive consolations of the Gospel.

And this, my dear sir, is one great use of affliction-one great instrument in the hand of a loving and just Father by which to reclaim our wandering affections to Himself. The heart must have an object; and often does our wise Master in heaven tear away the earthly object of affection that He may fill up the vacancy by Himself. It is thus that I understand John, xv., 2; and it is thus that the chastening hand of God, though not joyous, but grievous for the time, yieldeth the peaceable fruit of righteousness to him who is exercised thereby.

And what rich consolation you have in the manner of the death; what gratitude you owe for the testimony that she has left behind her; what a sweet blending even of the affections of nature with the hopes of religion in the precious thought that she is now among the saints in heaven, and that a reunion with her will be one ingredient of that blessedness which awaits you when you shall enter into rest.

I feel greatly for poor Miss Marshall-offer to her our respectful sympathies; and I do entreat that, under this heavy visitation, you will know that "God is the Lord, and be still."

I beg further to be remembered to your mother, Miss Taylor, Mr. and Mrs. Allan Buchanan, and Mr. and Mrs. Walkinshaw. I am, my dear sir, yours most truly,

THOMAS CHALMERS.

No. CCCLXVIII.-TO WILLIAM BUCHANAN, ESQ.

EDINBURGH, 31st January, 1847.

MY VERY DEAR SIR-We all here received with the deepest sympathy and feeling the very melancholy intelligence of your son's death-one of so much promise cut off so young, and to me so unexpectedly, for I had hoped that he was in the fair way of regaining confirmed health. We enter into

all your grief on this truly affecting occasion; and while both Mrs. Chalmers and I are fully aware how painfully this bereavement must be felt by every one of the sorrowing relations in your household, we particularly advert to Miss Marshall as among the chief mourners and sufferers under the visitation which the mysterious yet merciful and all-wise God hath seen meet to lay upon you. We beg that you will offer our most affectionate condolences both to her and to all your family, and the assurance of our prayers that an event so fitted to strike and to solemnize might be sanctified to one and all of you. The chastisements of our Father in heaven are not for the time joyous, but grievous; yet do they yield the peaceable fruit of righteousness to those who are rightly exercised thereby.

Oh that these numerous instances of mortality would at length practically and influentially tell upon us! Strange that the lesson which is the oftenest repeated should be also the oftenest forgotten, so that we need to be ever and anon reminded that we live in the land of dying men. May the sorrow of nature be ripened and transmuted by Divine grace into the sorrow which worketh repentance unto salvation. We have only to look back on the last thirty years of our acquaintance to be impressed by the changes of a world that will soon pass away from all of us. O that we sat more loose to the cares and interests of time, so as to have our affections weaned from the things which are beneath, and wedded to the things which are above. There death and separation are unknown; and it might well mitigate our sorrows when we reflect in faith on that place of unfading bliss, where friends shall meet to part no more, and be forever happy with the Lord.

It is my earnest prayer that God would take unto Himself His own power and reign over our hearts; for nothing in nature, though operating with its utmost force on nature's affection and nature's sensibilities, will of itself arouse us from the incumbent carnality and earthliness that weigh so heavily

upon our hearts. May this regenerating influence be brought to bear with effect upon us all, and then shall we be translated from the walk of sight to the walk of faith, and not only look forward to, but live by the power of a world to come.

With all our united regards to yourself, Miss Marshall, Miss Buchanan, and the rest of your family, ever believe me, my dear sir, yours most truly and with great regard,

THOMAS CHALMERS.

P.S.-I have not yet written poor Mrs. Brown. I have many intimations lying by me unanswered. This month I shall have written twenty such replies. May we be wise and understand these things, and consider our latter end.

No. CCCLXIX.-To MRS. CAMPBELL.

T.C.

ST. ANDREWS, 3d September, 1828.

MY DEAR MADAM-I received the account of your venerable husband's death with great emotion. He has left few equals behind him in the Church of Scotland, and I shall ever cherish a pleasing remembrance of all the fatherly aid and kindness which I received from his hands.

As a theologian, he was distinguished by the extent of his learning and the depth of his views. I can not forget a conversation I held with him in a stage-coach from Glasgow to Edinburgh, and the admirable judgment which he evinced. on some of the most arduous speculations which are ever attempted by the human understanding.

But your brightest comfort now must be in your recollection of his piety. May the God of all consolation bear up you and yours under the weight of this afflictive visitation, and may we all feel how salutary it is to be made to drink of the cup of His discipline, and to be the objects of His chastening love.

I beg my kindest regards and the expression of my sympathy to the Misses Campbell; and with every assurance of *The Rev. Dr. Campbell, of Edinburgh.

respect and attachment, I am, my dear madam, yours most truly, THOMAS CHALMERS.

No. CCCLXX.-TO MISS YOUNG, BURNTISLAND.

EDINBURGH, 15th October, 1831. MY DEAR MISS YOUNG-It was the firm purpose both of Mrs. Chalmers and myself to have made you a visit either the last or present month; but her delicacy and my sprain have prevented it. She is confined to bed, and I am under the necessity of traveling to Glasgow, so that we must postpone our visit for a time.

We often think of you, of the loss you have sustained, but of the many comforts at the same time which must bear you up under it. I never in my life witnessed a more peaceful old age than that of your father; and to me it formed always a most interesting peculiarity in his case that, amid the suspension of all his other faculties, there survived in so much freshness and feeling his sense of religion. All his natural lights grew dim with age; but that light which cometh from the sanctuary, the candle of the Lord, never was extinguished, and hence the sacredness as well as the serenity of his closing years.

Mrs. Chalmers desires me to say, that though we have not been able to make out our purpose in visiting you, we do hope that you and Miss Betsy will come to us in the course of the winter. With best compliments to her, in which Mrs. Chalmers joins, I am, my dear Miss Young, yours very truly, THOMAS CHALMERS.

No. CCCLXXI.-To MISS YOUNG.

CRAIGHOLM, 2d April, 1837.

MY DEAR MISS YOUNG-We are here in great comfort and quietness, though we feel it a great blank that your house is shut at present; but you must not think of hastening your journey homeward; and, erring on the safe side, it were better that you made the movement later than you might, rather than earlier than you ought to do.