By REV. D. M. MACDONALD, Edinburgh.
HAVING finished his tour in Caithness Mr. Haldane accompanied by his companion Mr. Aikman returned south and came to the town of Dornoch, the capital of Sutherland. They found the people without the blessing of a preached Gospel but were comforted to hear of the good done at prayer meetings. They were what we now call “Fellowship meetings” and were conducted as they are at communions in our day. When they were told of these meetings they saw that they were very useful and favoured them highly. They did not preach in Dornoch as Gaelic was generally spoken and proceeded to Tain and Dingwall where they preached both in the street and in the Town Hall. They arrived in Inverness on the 18th of October and had the happiness to meet in good health one whom they had left behind. They all joined in setting up an Ebenezer, saying, “Hitherto hath the Lord helped.”
* Continued from previous issues of the Magazine.—Editor.
They continued their journey south passing through many towns and preaching in them till they reached their destination—Airthrey. In chapels, town halls and covered places, or in the open air, on village greens, at market-crosses, by the sea-shore, or by the river’s side, he had preached to crowded audiences and even when addressing multitudes sometimes estimated at 6,000 and upwards he had commanded silence and been heard with attention. He declared that the goodness and condescension of God were strikingly displayed in this, that though he had frequent attacks of sore throat in the course of the journey he had never been once disabled by these attacks from preaching till he had fully completed the circuit. In his observations on the work done throughout their travels in the north Mr. Haldane said that the spiritual condition of the people should excite the compassion of all who had the cause of Christ at heart. The people with the Bible in their hands were perishing for lack of knowledge and taught to put their trust in refuges of lies which would be swept away in the day of God’s wrath.
The results of the tour may be forgotten and the excitement produced by it throughout Scotland but the fruits will not perish. The extent of the blessing shall only be known when God gathers home his elect people. Multitudes dated their turning to God from the period of this awakening. Several years later, the Rev. John Cleghorn publicly named, as within his knowledge, in the small town of Wick about forty cases in which there had been a solid work of conversion by the preaching of James Haldane. But it is not from such instances alone that the good done must be estimated. It, no doubt, encouraged the evangelical party in the Established Church and may have helped to bring about the great and important disruption of 1843, the fruits of which continue with us to this day. The services of these labourers did not receive due acknowledgement from the church authorities, but as they did not look for human applause, or worldly honours they were not disappointed. They were willing to sacrifice all for Christ and the labours and services they were privileged to render through grace are recorded in God’s book of remembrance and may one day be acknowledged in the presence of angels and of men.
After Mr. Haldane’s return from his first northern tour he realised that the retired life of a country gentleman was not to be his lot. He had assumed a new character and attracted to himself the notice of all Scotland.
A careless and worldly clergy had been roused up and the attention of the people had been directed to the great and solemn realities of eternity. The Gospel had been received by many but a still greater number began to inquire “What must I do to be saved?” There was a great stirring of the dry bones. While some approved the enemies of the truth denounced lay preaching loudly and bitterly. Against this,
instances of remarkable revivals brought about by lay preaching were appealed to, especially those mentioned in the Appendix to the valuable “Historical Collections” by Dr. Gillies of Glasgow.
The blessing which attended his labours was to Mr. Haldane as to others the best evidence of his call to the work. A well-known minister in his day, Mr. Cowie of Huntly, called the “Whitfield” of the north, wrote as follows:—”No honest pastor has anything to dread from the friendly visits of such men. They come not to shake his influence but to place him higher in the affection of his people, by spreading the light of truth among them.” Here is another testimony recorded by him in the Missionary Magazine: “I and several other ministers heard Mr. James Haldane on his late tour; and I confess, though I have been little short of thirty years a minister, have heard many excellent preachers, and laid my hands on many heads, I have very seldom heard anything so much to my satisfaction, and nothing that could exceed Mr. Haldane’s discourses. I could even say more, but I forbear. He carries his own credentials with him and needs not recommendatory letters as the Apostle says in II Corinthians iii. 13.”
James Haldane had known in his own experience the Lord Jesus as the only Saviour of the lost and spoke from the heart to the heart. He was honoured to become one of the chief instruments of that mighty movement by which all Scotland was stirred and the people shaken out of their carnal security and indifference. It was now necessary to provide other preachers and to extend the work which he himself had begun. A society was formed consisting of Christians of different denominations under the name of “The Society for propagating the Gospel at Home.”
“It is not our design, they declared, to form or to extend the influence of any sect. Our sole intention is to make known the Evangelical Gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ. In employing itinerants, schoolmasters or others we do not consider ourselves as conferring ordination upon them or appointing them to the pastoral office. We only propose by sending them out, to supply the means of grace wherever we perceive a deficiency!”
The labours of the Society were greatly blessed. It was one of its principles that its itinerants and catechists should make no public collections, and take no money privately from those amongst whom they preached and it undertook to defray the expenses of stated ministers desirous of extending their sphere of labour. Public subscriptions for its support were received, but to a very limited extent for by far the greater part of the funds were supplied by Mr. Haldane.
Encouraged by past success and by the prayers and good wishes of many Christians Mr. Haldane and Mr. Aikman set off on their second extensive tour on Thursday the 14th June, 1798, travelling by Peebles,
Biggar, Hamilton, Greenock, etc., into Ayrshire and Galloway preaching the Gospel in all these districts and finally completing their circuit home by way of Berwick.
The attention which they excited was as great in the west and south of Scotland as it had been in the north. Multitudes flocked to hear the Gospel and to the hearts of many it was brought home with power. In some places they encountered more opposition than before and especially at Ayr where Mr. Haldane was interrupted in preaching at the market cross and summoned before the magistrates who had been urged to interfere. He was threatened with imprisonment but he assured the magistrates that menaces without lawful sanction were of no avail. In preaching out of doors he infringed no law and on the contrary was protected by the Toleration Act. “Depend upon it,” said one of them, “that you will be arrested.” The reply was characteristic, “And depend upon it, sir, I shall be punctual to my appointment.” He kept the service at the appointed time and preached to a great audience without interference. One of his most stubborn opponents was a magistrate lately returned from India with a large fortune and he appeared on the ground next day, with some other magistrates, determined to put down field preaching. Mr. Haldane calmly proceeded fearless of their menaces. They listened in silence to a powerful address, offered no interruption and went away seemingly awed, conscience-stricken and solemnised.
Much blessing followed this time in such places as Annan, Longtown and Canoby. At Berwick they also preached with great acceptance and were hailed with joy by the friends of the Gospel. The people generally came out to hear in crowds, and numbers found in these opportunities a message of peace to their souls.
Mr. Haldane was ordained in the Circus Church, Edinburgh, in February, 1799, and expressly stipulated that this should not prevent his labouring as an evangelist in the “highways and hedges.” He now determined to make a second tour to the north with Mr. Aikman, but owing to the indisposition of the latter he had to proceed alone. Accordingly, on Tuesday the 7th May, he left Edinburgh for Dunfermline and proceeding by way of Kinross to Perth he preached twice in each place at which he stopped to large congregations assembling in spite of unfavourable weather and welcoming his visits with much cordiality.
On the Saturday he arrived at Dundee where he preached on the Lord’s Day in the Relief Presbyterian chapel to overflowing congregations. Many were obliged to go away. The spirit of hearing in this place appears to have been remarkable. Through the week he held services in Kirriemuir, Forfar, Glamis, Brechin, Montrose and the village of Inchtral where a thousand people assembled in the afternoon
to hear the Word. After returning to Dundee he preached in the open air to a vast multitude in the evening. Thousands occupied the ground listening in silence with solemnised feelings and deep attention.
At Arbroath Mr. Haldane and Mr. Innes were joined by Mr. Aikman and they now resolved to continue their journey together, travelling in a post-chaise towards the north. At a small village near Laurencekirk, they were amused by the bellman’s refusal to announce sermon. He gave the reasons: the one that he himself was a Jacobite, the other that he understood the preachers to be Latitudinarians. Being asked the meaning of this long word, he said that it was preaching gratuitously, or, as he expressed it, “for God’s sake,” of which he disapproved! They proceeded to Aberdeen and Banff preaching as they journeyed, both in the open air and in chapels to large congregations. Although Mr. Haldane had been out only four weeks he had preached more than sixty times, often in the open air to great multitudes; and continued exertion as well as exposure to the rainy weather brought on a sore throat which at last confined him to his inn at Huntly. He became unable to swallow and was so ill that he determined to return home next morning, but about ten o’clock the same evening the quinsy burst and gave instant relief. His plans were immediately changed and the post-chaise that had been ordered to take him to Aberdeen was employed to carry his friends the next day to Elgin and Forres. He himself remained quiet during the week, but on the following Sabbath he preached in the open air at Huntly to a very large congregation. At Forres he rejoined his party and accompanied them to Inverness, preaching as they went, to multitudes earnestly drinking in the words of eternal life.
On the Lord’s Day in Inverness Mr. Haldane on the Castle Hill, it seems, preached to a large congregation and on the 30th June they arrived at Wick and Thurso, where they had satisfactory evidence of the enduring blessing that had accompanied the former tour. On the following Tuesday they crossed the Pentland Firth to Walls and commenced their circuit of the Orkneys. They decided to proceed towards the Shetlands and preached at several islands on the way. On the 10th July they reached Fair Isle, the first of the Shetlands, and the people heard, with thankfulness, the only sermon that had been preached there for six years. On the mainland of Shetland they were hospitably received by a gentleman of the name of Ogilvy, and commenced their labours by preaching in a barn. They visited various islands and in one of them the Rev. Mr. Mill, a venerable clergyman of eighty-eight years of age, gave Mr. Haldane his church to preach in. After the service he stood up and in a commanding tone warned the people to take heed to the words they had heard, more especially as this visit was a new and unheard of occurrence in their history. At Lerwick they spent five
days preaching each day both in the town and neighbouring country. In the account of the tour they mentioned, the great kindness they received from a gentleman, to whom they had no introduction, and who insisted on their making his house their home. This was the more worthy of notice as Mr. Hay was not himself at that time much interested in the truths of the Gospel, but he appreciated their motives and enjoyed their society.
There was an exceptional case, however, about which both the tourists were wont to speak with much good humour as a little incident in their travels which so far as they were personally concerned only afforded matter of mirthful recollection. They had landed one afternoon weary and famished at an island where there was but one respectable house which was near the beach and where they had hoped to receive accommodation. Here they were coldly received with a strong intimation that the people had no need of more than the occasional services which were already provided. Mr. Haldane had gone to the boat for a package of tracts but on returning and observing the same frozen repulsive manner, said to Mr. Innes it was time to return and briefly apologising to the unkind group for the intrusion, left the house with his friend. Soon after he preached on the sea-shore when some of the party, who were themselves visitors added to their incivility by sending for their own boatmen, who were listening to the sermon.
When it was over it was too late to think again of putting to sea but having obtained shelter in a fisherman’s hut they prepared some salt-herrings and oat-cake for their supper and a dry floor for their bed. This affair caused great indignation amongst the upper as well as the lower classes in Shetland and not only brought much reproach on the ungracious family but induced others to redouble their kindness towards the missionaries in order to wipe off the stain which had been in their estimation cast on the hospitality of the Shetlands. They had spent nearly six weeks there and regretted that they could not give more time to those who came in crowds to hear and were such earnest listeners. The people were often much affected and it was hoped that lasting impressions had been made. At that time the Shetlands contained a population of 26,000 occupying thirty scattered parishes placed under the care of twelve ministers of whom not more than two or three preached the Gospel. Soon after this tour and down to the close of his own life there were joyful tidings of the blessings that rested on these labours in Shetland. The religious state of the people had been previously deplorable and much of the revival of religion which then took place may be distinctly traced to the Mission of himself and Mr. Innes.
(To be continued.)
Correspondence between Wm. Huntington and Elizabeth Morton.
ELIZABETH MORTON was brought up in a religious atmosphere but her pious father died while she was in her teens. She tells of herself that “In those days I loved rambling from place to place, though I had often strong convictions of sins, together with much devotion, as I thought; such as going to prayer all times in the day when alone—reading so many chapters in the Bible, etc., which I thought would be acceptable to God but was frequently stumbling at election.” At times she had strong desires for heaven and glory and thought she delighted in sitting under the Word saying “It seemed often a blessing to my soul.” (This is related as a warning “to make our calling and election sure.”)
Miss Morton became a teacher in North Wales and began to lament before God at the dry moral discourses she was obliged to attend, but after two years became so cold and dead that she seldom searched the Scriptures. Returning to London she soon began to participate in every diversion that the world calls innocent. On Sabbath she would attend her brother’s ministry when she had continual remorse of conscience. On reflection she would then have recourse to prayer seeking pardon for the sins of her life through the merits of Christ.
Finding she had not sufficient education for a good post, Miss Morton went to France to increase her knowledge in the French language. Her friends warned her against becoming a Roman Catholic at which she was quite hurt. In the convent Miss Morton poured contempt on the forms of devotion for the first eight months and thought she would never renounce the faith she was brought up in. She said that she prayed continually that if she was in the true faith, God would strengthen her in it, and she would not yield to temptation.
However, Satan was busy and there arose many questions in Miss Morton’s mind. Portions of Scripture came before her mind but evidently she mis-applied them. She thought the nuns were pious and consented to be instructed by them. She had many disputes and long arguments with a priest who was introduced to her. During this time she was miserable and her sins were a burden to her and she said she felt “that the Holy Scriptures were as a sword of the Spirit.”
After all that, Miss Morton consented to become a Roman Catholic on condition that she would not give up her Bible or pray to the Virgin Mary. She swore with her hand on the Bible in front of witnesses never to give up the R.C. faith and anathematized all doctrines contrary to the R.C. faith. Satan, as an angel of light, bewitched her into thinking that to keep herself unspotted from the world she should come out from among people and become a nun. The desire for a monastic life grew intensely thinking she would have peace and entire
communion with God. But she had not a sufficient sum of money for the entrance fee. Consequently, Miss Morton accepted a post in Russia expecting that in a short time she would get sufficient remuneration to permit her to enter a monastery. God’s ways are not our ways. Miss Morton’s health was impaired and on doctor’s advice had to return to England.
In her brother’s home Miss Morton met with much opposition as he was a gospel minister, but she would not yield or attend on his ministry. At last her sister-in-law persuaded her to accompany her to hear Mr. Huntington preach one evening. After much persuasion she went three or four times determined every time would be the last. Her mind was much distressed, and she prayed to God to enable her to resist all insinuation and every heresy. She was so deluded to think God wrote his law in her heart and believed she embraced those doctrines Jesus taught while on earth. Yet she was hardened with sin and horrors of death. After a short time Miss Morton wrote Mr. Huntington admitting that she felt “Surely, this is indeed and of a truth a man sent of God.” Miss Morton also related part of her history to Mr. Huntington.
In reply, Mr. Huntington dealt very faithfully with Miss Morton, denouncing her heinous sins of apostacy by swearing and joining the R.C. Church.
The following are extracts from his letter:—
“An oath is a solemn appeal to God for confirmation—and whatsoever a man parts with upon oath is gone for ever, by his own consent, in the name and presence of God himself; as may be seen in that profane wretch Esau ‘who for a morsel of meat sold his birthright to his brother Jacob, and swore by God’s name at the sale of it; and afterwards, though he would have inherited the blessing, he was rejected; for he found no place of repentance, though he sought it carefully with tears’ (Heb. xii. 16, 17).
“An oath is pawning all claim on God, and forfeiting all right and title to a gospel promise, or promised blessing if it be not true. This is the consequence of swearing by God’s name; and is the reason why the Bible is produced at an oath; to show that we forfeit all the blessings of God’s Word if we swear falsely; and this is done by laying the hand on it, or kissing of it. God says, ‘Thou shalt perform unto the Lord thine oath.’ If you perform yours you must continue to do as you have done; that is, you must give up the doctrines which you have rejected as heresies, and reject the supremacy of Christ as the only Head of the Church, and cleave to the supremacy of antichrist as the universal head of that church which you have sworn to; and if you perform your oath, and obtain the kingdom of God that way, all the saints in the Bible are deceived; and you are in the right way, though you confess you are yet in your sins, in the fear of death, and terrors
of hell: and that you have sorrow of heart, which God calls ‘his curse unto them’; therefore, it is not likely that you should have found the infallible path, who have so much done on you by man, and yet act without God and without hope in the world. I tell you that you shall never escape the damnation of hell by these doctrines of yours.
“You assert they do not worship angels; but God says they do. He that addresses an angel in worship, worships an angel; and he that bows down before an image, worships that image. Do you not fall down to the stock of a tree? (Isaiah xliv. 19, 20). And he that implores the assistance of a saint in his devotion, worships that saint. He that has an image to remind him of the object of worship, sets up an abomination to God; and God has promised ‘to answer that man by himself’ (Ezek. xiv. 1-4). Is an idol to remind you of a God? ‘To whom then will ye liken God? or what likeness will ye compare unto him. The workman melteth a graven image, and the goldsmith spreadeth it over with gold, and casteth silver chains. He that is so impoverished that he hath no oblation, chooseth a tree that will not rot: he seeketh a cunning workman to prepare an image’ (Isaiah xl. 18-20). What gross conceptions must you have of the ‘eternal power and Godhead, to think that it is like to silver, or gold, or stone, graven by art and man’s device? The times of this ignorance (among the pagans) God winked at; but now commandeth all men everywhere to repent of it’ (Acts xvii. 29, 30).
“God says, ‘Let no man judge you in meats and drinks, (are not these Popish tenets?) or in respect of any holy-day, or of the new moon, or of the Sabbath days.’ Have you not hundreds of these days to be seen in all your chapels, even against every wall of them? I know you have. God says, ‘The Sabbath day is a shadow of good things to come,’ that is, it is a sign of eternal rest, that the saints may rest from their works, as God did from his’ (Heb. iv. 10). ‘But the body is of Christ,’ not of the Pope; and the body consists of believers only, in spiritual union with Christ, by the bond of love, and not in assenting to the lies of a strumpet.
“‘Let no man beguile you,’ says God, ‘of your reward in a voluntary humility,’ such as you was going volunteer to, by entering into a monastery for life, to patch up a false righteousness, and a ‘feigned humility, and a worshipping of angels, intruding into those things which (the man of sin) hath not seen, vainly puffed up with his fleshly mind’ (Col. ii. 18, 23).
“In verse the 19th, you are charged with ‘not holding the head’ which is Christ alone; and this head you gave up by oath, when you acknowledged and swore to the Pope, who is ‘antichrist.’ Christ allows none of his servants ‘to be lords over his heritage’ (I Peter v. 3) but to be ‘servants of all.’ But you are apostatized from Christ, the only head of influence, ‘from which all the body of Christ by joints and bands
having nourishment ministered and knit together, increaseth with the increase of God. . . . You have by taking the oaths, received what God calls the ‘mark of the beast’ (Rev. xiii. 16). . . . I can feel the effects of the beast’s mark on your forehead, by this letter, for it is already eased with an hardened boldness in the defence of lies, and every text of Scripture that you have quoted, you have perverted: which is a proof that you have what God calls a (spiritual) ‘whore’s forehead’ (Jer. iii. 3), ‘because as a woman wickedly departeth from her husband, and forsaken her marriage covenant, so have you wickedly departed from God’ and from the profession you made of a covenant of grace. A real Christian has the ‘name of God in his forehead.’ ‘God is the health of his countenance’ and he is valiant for truth (Rev. xiv. 1), while a soul hardened in Popish principles bears the beast’s marks, opposes God, and the Word of his grace.
“I shall now show you two doors of hope in the Scriptures: but hope is God’s gift; and, if you receive what Paul calls ‘a good hope through grace, these doors may be of use to you. The first is: If you are an elected soul, God is your Father in covenant, and Christ is your Husband, by the Father’s choice and gift; and your Father or Husband can make your vows and oaths void; but none other can. And if neither of these spoke to your conscience (which I believe they did) I say, if neither of these spoke to your conscience when you made your vows, and bound your soul with them, their silence has established your vows, and God says, ‘All your vows shall stand—all the vows wherewith she has bound her soul shall stand.’ The silence of this Father, or this Husband, will establish them for ever: and it is their disapprobation, and their power alone, that can make them void. Read Numbers chapter xxx.
“The other door of hope is God’s call to His elect that are incorporated in that wicked body, which God calls the ‘mother of harlots,’ and in God’s call to them He intimates that there is no salvation to them that die in her lap. ‘I heard another voice from heaven saying, Come out of her my people, that ye be not partakers of her sins, and that you receive not of her plagues’ (Rev. xviii. 4) which plainly proves, that all who die in her sins are entitled to her plagues.
“Thus I have showed you by the Word of God what you have done; interpretations I believe to be the truth; and so I fear you will find it in the end, if you live and die in your present state. Nor will the monkish tricks of a nun—the absolution of a priest—nor all the bulls of a Pope, ever deliver you; there is no salvation in any name under heaven but in the name of Jesus Christ; and if ever He saves you from hell, He will save you from the delusions of Popery, and the snares of priestcraft.
“Referring to the sacrifice of the Mass, Mr. Huntington says, ‘God has given you up to believe in a lie’ (2 Thes. ii. 11). Your ‘faith
stands in the wisdom of men, not in the power of God’ (1 Cor. ii. 5). Nor have you one text in all God’s Book to build such an absurdity upon.
“When He says, ‘This is my body,’ He does not mean figuratively,’ say you. But, I say, He did mean it in a figurative, and in a spiritual sense; for one thing was spoken and another meant—the things spoken were flesh and blood; the things meant were spirit and life. So, when He says, ‘I come as a thief,’ does it mean that He is a housebreaker? When He says, ‘I am the lion,’ does it mean that He is a beast? When He is called a ‘Lamb,’ is He turned into mutton? When He says, ‘I am the morning star,’ does it imply that He is a planet? So when He says, ‘I am the bread of life,’ does it mean that He is turned into a loaf? or into a wafer? You take His words in a gross, fleshly sense, and, therefore reap no spiritual life or comfort from them: which is the sum and substance of the Bible. ‘Search the Scriptures; for in them you think you have eternal life, and these are they that testify of me.’ Himself tells you. ‘The flesh profiteth nothing: the words that I speak unto you, they are spirit, and they are life.’
“When He is called a Lamb, His innocence, meekness, and patient sufferings are shown—when He calls Himself a lion. His power and terrible majesty are exhibited. When He calls Himself a Star, His glorious rays are intended. And when He calls Himself the bread of God, spiritual and eternal life are meant.
“When Christ says, ‘I will give My flesh for the life of the world,’ He means I will give Myself for a sacrifice, to appease offended justice, and as a scabbard to His flaming sword, that peace may be proclaimed to sinners, and life communicated by the Holy Spirit. ‘It is the Spirit that quickeneth.’ The promise of God is eternal life. ‘This life is in the Son. He that hath the Son in his heart (not in his bowels) hath life: he that hath not the Son hath not life; but the wrath of God abideth on him. He that believeth is passed from death unto life, and shall never come into condemnation’
“Salvation must either be of the sovereign will of God, or of the free will of man. God says it is of His sovereign will: ‘I will have mercy on whom I will have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I will have compassion.’ Paul says, ‘It is not of him that willeth, nor of him that runneth, but of God who sheweth mercy.’ Solomon says, ‘The race is not to the swift, nor the battle to the strong, neither bread to the wise, nor yet riches to men of understanding, nor favour to men of skill.’ John says, ‘That our new birth is not of man, nor of the will of man, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of blood, but of God.’ And Christ says, ‘The last shall be first and the first last; for many be called but few chosen.’ God works all things after the counsel of His own will. God has revealed to His saints the mystery of His own will. Of His own will begat He us by the Word of Truth. And this is the
will of Him that sent Me, that everyone which seeth the Son, and believeth on Him that sent me, may have everlasting life. And this is the will of your heavenly Father, that of all which He hath given me I should lose none, but raise them up at the last day. It is the will of your heavenly Father that not one of these little ones should perish.’
“I see no room here for that free will and power which you contend for, and suppose yourself possessed of. It is clear to me that you have made a wretched choice and you feel the dreadful effects of it; and notwithstanding all your power, you are yet under the domination of sin and Satan, and left without one glimpse of hope in the world. It ill becomes a guilty, self-condemned criminal, under the sentence of death, to contend for sovereignty. . . . Examine both the Bible and your own conscience, and beg the direction of the Holy Ghost: and believe me to be thy soul’s well-wisher, as well as thy just reprover, and thy willing servant at command in the gospel of Christ.”
WILLIAM HUNTINGTON.
Miss Morton’s reply :—
“Sir,—I have read with much attention your long epistle and have made it a subject of meditation and prayer. I find myself compelled by the dictates of conscience to answer it. . . . I am not offended at any one thing therein: for I suppose you wrote as instructed of the Lord. . . .
“I blame you not for striking at the root, God only knows my present sufferings, I am greatly alarmed, thoroughly miserable, and truly sorrowful for the evil I have done; I am now in a more desponding state than ever. You give me two doors of hope, but I see none; for the conduct of my past life is a proof to me that I was never born of God. And in making those vows, instead of feeling the remorse of conscience I do now, I perfectly well remember that I gloried in the victory. O what have I done! and how have I rebelled against the God of my life! Alas! what difficulties am I plunged into out of which I see no way of escape, but conclude I must perish in them! I find many very precious promises in the Word of God but cannot claim them as my own. Lord, save, or I perish.
“My duty calls, therefore cannot enlarge. Indeed, had I much time for reflection at this present, unless prevented by the immediate help of a merciful God, I should, I really believe, inevitably sink under the burden. God pardon me in and through the merits of a Redeemer’s blood. I intreat you, sir, in the name of the Lord, to remember me in your prayers; and may a blessing be granted, through Christ our Saviour.”
Yours,
ELIZABETH MORTON.
(To be continued.)