till the stated return of his devotional hour, but immediately retired to pray for them, and to give vent to those religious emotions of mind which such a correspondence raised. How invaluable was such a friend, and how great reason have those of us who once possessed a large share in his heart and in those retired and sacred moments, to bless God for so singular a felicity; and to comfort ourselves in a pleasing hope, that we may yet reap future blessings, as the harvest of those petitions which he can no more repeat!

His words are these: "I was so happy as to receive yours just as I arrived, and I had no sooner read it than I shut my door, and sought Him whom my soul loveth. I sought him and found him; and would not let him go, till he had blessed us all. It is impossible to find words to express what I obtained; but I suppose it was something like that which the disciples got, as they were going to Emmaus, when they said, Did not our hearts burn within us,' etc.; or rather like what Paul felt, when he could not tell whether he was in the body or out of it." He then mentions his dread of spiritual pride, from which he earnestly prays that God may deliver and preserve him. "This," says he, "would have hindered me from communicating these things, if I had not such an example before me as the man after God's own heart, saying, 'I will declare what God hath done for my soul;' and elsewhere, "The humble shall hear thereof, and be glad.' Now I am well satisfied that your ladyship is of that number." He then adds, "I had no sooner finished this exercise," that is, of prayer above mentioned, "but I sat down to admire the goodness of my God, that he would vouchsafe to influence by his free Spirit so undeserving a wretch as I, and to make me thus to mount up with eagles' wings. And here I

was lost again, and got into an ocean, where I could find neither bound nor bottom; but was obliged to cry out with the apostle, 'Oh the breadth, the length, the depth, the height, of the love of Christ, which passeth knowledge!' But if I give way to this strain I shall never have done. That the God of hope may fill you with all joy and peace in believing, that you may abound in hope through the power of the Holy Ghost, shall always be the prayer of him who is, with the greatest sincerity and respect, your ladyship's," etc.

Another passage to the same purpose I find in a memorandum, which he seems to have written for his own use, dated Monday, March 11, which I perceive from many concurrent circumstances must have been in the year 1722-3. "This day," says he, "having been to visit Mrs. G., at Hampstead, I came home about two, and read a sermon on those words, Psa. cxxx. 4, 'But there is forgiveness with thee, that thou mayest be feared:' about the latter end of which there is a description of the miserable condition of those that are slighters of pardoning grace. From a sense of the great obligations I lay under to the Almighty God, who hath made me to differ from such, from what I was, and from the rest of my companions, I knelt down to praise his holy name: and I know not that in my lifetime I ever lay lower in the dust, never having had a fuller view of my own unworthiness. I never pleaded more strongly the merits and intercession of Him who I know is worthy; never vowed more sincerely to be the Lord's, and to accept of Christ as he is offered in the gospel, as my King, Priest, and Prophet; never had so strong a desire to depart, that I might sin no more; but, 'My grace is sufficient,' curbed that desire. I never pleaded with greater fervency for the Comforter, which our blessed Lord

hath promised shall abide with us for ever. For all which I desire to ascribe glory, etc., to Him that sitteth on the throne, and to the Lamb."

There are several others of his papers which speak much the same language; which, had he kept a diary, would, I doubt not, have filled many sheets. I believe my devout readers would not soon be weary of reading extracts of this kind; but that I may not exceed in this part of my narrative, I shall mention only two more, each of them dated some years after ; that is, one from Douglas, April 1, 1725; and the other from Stranrawer, the 25th of May following.

The former of these relates to the frame of his spirit on a journey. On the mention of which, I cannot but recollect how often I have heard him say, that some of the most delightful days of his life were days in which he travelled alone, that is, with only a servant at a distance; when he could, especially in roads not much frequented, indulge himself in the pleasures of prayer and praise: in the exercise of which last he was greatly assisted by several psalms and hymns which he had treasured up in his memory, and which he used not only to repeat aloud, but sometimes to sing. In reference to this I remember the following passage, in a letter which he wrote to me many years after, when, on mentioning my ever dear and honoured friend, the Rev. Dr. Watts, he says, "How often, in singing some of his psalms, hymns, or lyrics, on horseback and elsewhere, has the evil spirit been made to flee:

"Whene'er my heart in tune was found,

Like David's harp of solemn sound !'"

Such was the 1st of April above mentioned, in the evening of which he writes thus to an intimate friend:

"What would I have given this day, upon the road, for paper, pen, and ink, when the Spirit of the Most High rested upon me! Oh for the pen of a ready writer, and the tongue of an angel, to declare what God hath done this day for my soul! But, in short, it is in vain to attempt it; all that I am able to say is only this, that my soul has been for some hours joining with the blessed spirits above in giving glory, and honour, and praise, unto Him that sitteth upon the throne, and to the Lamb for ever and ever. My praises began from a renewed view of Him whom I saw pierced for my transgressions. I summoned the whole hierarchy of heaven to join with me: and I am persuaded they all echoed back praise to the Most High. Yea, one would have thought the very larks joined me with emulation. Surely then I need not make use of many words to persuade you that are his saints to join me in blessing and praising his holy He concludes, "May the blessing of the God of Jacob rest upon you all! Adieu. Written in great haste, late, and weary."

name."

Scarcely can I here refrain from breaking out into more copious reflections on the exquisite pleasures of true religion, when risen to such eminent degrees; which can thus feast the soul in its solitude and refresh it on journeys, and bring down so much of heaven to earth as this delightful letter expresses. But the remark is so obvious, that I will not enlarge upon it, but proceed to the other letter above mentioned, which was written the next month, on the Tuesday after a sacrament day.

He mentions the pleasure with which he had attended a preparation sermon the Saturday before; and then he adds, "I took a walk upon the mountains that are over against Ireland; and I persuade myself,

that were I capable of giving you a description of what passed there, you would agree that I had much better reason to remember my God from the hills of Port Patrick, than David from the land of Jordan, and of the Hermonites, from the hill Mizar." I suppose he means, in reference to the clearer discoveries of the gospel with which we are favoured. "In short," says he, immediately afterwards, in that Scripture phrase which was become so familiar to him, "I wrestled some hours with the Angel of the covenant, and made supplications to him with floods. of tears, and cries, until I had almost expired; but he strengthened me so, that, like Jacob, I had power with God, and prevailed. This," adds he, "is but a very faint description; you will be more able to judge of it by what you have felt yourself upon the like occasions. After such preparatory work, I need not tell you how blessed the solemn ordinance of the Lord's supper proved to me; I hope it was so to many. You may believe I should have been exceedingly glad, if my gracious Lord had ordered it so, that I might have made you a visit, as I proposed; but I am now glad it was ordered otherwise, since he hath caused so much of his goodness to pass before me. Were I to give you an account of the many favours my God hath loaded me with, since I parted from you, I must have taken up many days in nothing but writing. I hope you will join with me in praises for all the goodness he has shown to your unworthy

brother in the Lord."

Such were the ardours and elevations of his soul: but while I record these memorials of them, I am very sensible there are many who will be inclined to censure them as the flights of enthusiasm; for which reason I must beg leave to add a remark or two on