life which is the gift of God through Jesus Christ our Lord. He casts out none who come unto Him, and all who come unto God by Him shall be saved to the uttermost.

Read to her the 23d Psalm, some of the first verses of the 14th chapter of John, and some of the last verses of the 5th chapter of 2d Corinthians; and should God by this time have been pleased to take her to Himself, these passages and reflections will not be thrown away upon her surviving relatives. Tell Betty, your younger sister, how much I desire both your and her salvation. I was not so earnest as I ought to have been in pressing this great concern upon you when I lived under your roof. But better late than never; and it mightily concerns us to know, that in turning to Christ, we must turn from all our iniquities; that we must give up the sins both of our hearts and of our lives, and become holy creatures, else we shall not enter the kingdom of God.

mer.

Give my best regards to your sisters, also to your wife and daughter, whom I expected to see in my house here last sumBut we all went to Ireland; and, indeed, I am so very much taken up, that I have no time to show that attention to my friends which I would like. I am, my dear sir, yours very truly, THOMAS CHALMERS.

No. XXXIV.

EDINBURGH, 17th June, 1844.

MY DEAR SIR-I feel greatly obliged by your kind letter of the 17th June, and have much value for the strong and unabated friendship which you have ever shown toward me.

You

I fear I shall not be able to avail myself of your welcome invitation to Hawick, as I have much to do which necessarily detains me at home. Give my best regards to your son. speak of a former communication of his, which I hope I acknowledged at the time. I rejoice to understand from you that he is a deacon of Mr. Wallace's, and am persuaded that he will make a duty not only of doing all he can for the good of his own particular Church, but that, through the medium

of the Hawick Association, he will exert himself for the good of the Church at large.

Give my most cordial remembrance to your only surviving sister, dear Betsy, of whom and of all your family I pray that we may meet in Heaven, after a life of faith and holiness upon earth. Ever believe me, my dear Mr. Kedie, yours very affectionately, THOMAS CHALMERS.

No. XXXV.

EDINBURGH, 5th April, 1846.

MY DEAR MR. KEDIE-I very much grieve to hear of your sister's illness, and, from the concluding part of your letter, I can infer your great earnestness about her soul. It is most true that it is a very serious, solemn thought when one thinks of meeting with an angry God; and had we only ourselves and our own merits to trust in, there would be nothing for any of us but a fearful looking for of judgment. But tell your dear sister Elizabeth-dear to myself as to you—that when she thinks of herself, what we all ought, as a great sinner, she should also think of Christ as a great Savior, whose blood cleanseth from all sin-and why not from her sin? In and through Him the anger of God is turned away even from the chief of sinners. O that you, and she, and we all could be led to place full confidence in Him, to cast our burden upon the Lord, who is both willing and able to sustain it. It is true that a work must be wrought in us as well as for us, that the clean heart and the right spirit must be created; for without holiness no man can see God. But still let us go to Him for all our wants, for all we stand in need of, and go as we His blood can atone for all our guilt; His grace can wash away all our pollutions, and sanctify us wholly. He is able, and as willing as He is able, to do all for us.

are.

Let the following texts be pointed out to your dear sister : John, iii., 16; Luke, xi., 13; Matt., xx., 28; Rom., iii., 24— 26; Rom., x., 13; 2 Cor., v., 18-21; 2 Cor., xii., 9; 1 John, iv., 8, 9, 10, 16, 19; Isaiah, xxx., 15.

Give my kindest regards to your dear sister, and let me hear soon of her again. I ever am, my dear sir, yours very truly, THOMAS CHALMERS.

No. XXXVI.

EDINBURGH, 13th December, 1846. MY DEAR MR. KEDIE-It gives me real concern to hear from you of your wife's serious illness. May God prepare us for the whole of His will. He afflicts not willingly, and makes all things work together for good to them who love Him. It is my earnest prayer that you and yours may be prepared for the whole of God's will; and let us never forget that our best preparation is to be found in Christ, who castcth out none who come unto Him. May the Holy Spirit draw yourself, and all who are near and dear to you, to His wellbeloved Son, in whom all is safety, and peace, and joy.

Give my kindest regards to your dear wife, and also to your sister, my very old friend, Betty. I felt much at parting with her when I drove off in the coach after her affectionate farewell. I ever am, my dear sir, yours most truly,

THOMAS CHALMERS.

LETTERS TO THE REV. DR. JONES OF EDINBURGH.

No. XXXVII.

KILMANY MANSE, 14th November, 1812.

MY DEAR SIR-I owe you much gratitude for your good services, and though not able for much exertion in preaching, I look upon myself as bound to make you a plentiful repayment for your most friendly and seasonable assistance to me. You ascribed my illness to the right cause when you laid it upon the Dundee kirks;* and this may serve as a lesson against too much exertion, or too many engagements, in all time coming. I shall certainly make up for my deficiencies,

* See Memoirs, vol. i., p. 304.

in as far as the Destitute Sick Society is concerned,* if God spare me in health and strength for it-though I would certainly prefer the summer side of the year for any undertaking of that kind. My complaints have left me for the present, and I regret, from the shortness of their duration, that I should have had them at so unseasonable a time.

My prayer to God is that you may have seals of your many usefulness—that you may be the instrument of reclaiming many from darkness to the marvelous light of the Gospeland that the seed scattered around you in the course of your ministrations may fall upon hearts prepared by Divine grace to receive it. I wish you the truest of all enjoyments to an evangelical mind, when I wish that you may see the pleasure of the Lord prospering in your hand-sons and daughters turned unto righteousness-and the extensive field which Providence has assigned to your labors growing richer every year in the fruits of faith, and charity, and all righteousness.

I owe you much gratitude, not merely for your substantial services, but for your full and friendly communication of them. Your letter gave me great relief; and while I admit only your two first claims upon me for a sermon early, I can assure you that I shall always look upon you as having the first title to my future services. And, ceteris paribus, I shall always, in my journeys to Edinburgh, be decided by the time of your sacrament. I have no immediate prospect, however, of being in the city. My best compliments to Dr. Fleming, and believe me, my dear sir, yours most truly,

THOMAS CHALMERS.

No. XXXVIII.

KILMANY MANSE, 12th February, 1813. MY DEAR SIR-I should certainly prefer preaching for you at one of your little sacraments; and as to my not being able to assist Dr. Fleming, you have perhaps forgot my former assurance to you, that one engagement during one visit to Edin

* See Memoirs, vol. i., p. 328.

burgh is all that I can answer for at present. I hope that in time I shall be able to make up for the actual disappointments, I have already given you both, but I must be cautious not to lay the foundation of future disappointments; and, be assured, that though greatly and decidedly better, I am still too frail a subject, and live at too great a distance from you, to have any regular dependence upon.

I am glad to observe, by a note from Mr. Wright, subjoined to your letter, that he has begun the penny-a-week operation in his parish; and it gives me still greater pleasure to understand that this mighty instrument has been put into action in Edinburgh in behalf of the Missionary Society. There is something very animating in the stir that is now abroad; and it is my hope and prayer that it may speedily redound to the furtherance of the Messiah's kingdom. But while so much is doing to push forward the limits of the visible church among heathen, let it never be forgotten that, even within these limits, there are many, and very many, who still stand without, and let us not relax our efforts in the cultivation of the home territory. It is my delight to observe that, so far from there being any interference in the two concerns, they give life and energy to one another, and that, generally speaking, those clergy who are most assiduous in the way of vitally Christianizing their own districts, are ever readiest to give their assistance and their testimony to missionary enterprises. It is the same with the great body of the people-give them a share and an interest in the cause, and though the object be foreign, I contend that it is accompanied with a home influence, and that the inference is not merely understood, but felt among them. If so much is to be done for sending the Bible to others, with what consistency can we neglect it for ourselves, or suffer it to lie beside us unread, unopened, and unattended to?

My best compliments to Dr. Fleming when you see him. Mr. Tait will be a rare accession to the ministry in Edinburgh. He may be deficient in splendor, but he has a hearty