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which I have read with pleasure. May the Lord make | a deeper impression of the great truths and motives you propose upon my heart; and may his blessing rest upon you and upon your friend, and upon your respective congregations.

I trust that you and I, though there is some difference in our regimentals, belong to one army, under the one Captain of Salvation. Our weapons, our resources, our aims, and our enemies, are the same; and while the good soldier is concerned to maintain his own particular post, he feels an equal concern with the rest for the success of the whole. On whatever side the foe is pushed, and advantages gained to the common cause, he will rejoice, whether it be effected by those who do or who do not wear exactly his own uniform. My heart and hand, dear Sir, are with you, and with all who love the Lord Jesus Christ, and go forth under his banner!

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"When the campaign is happily terminated, the ministers and people of the Word will be found than conquerors,' and shall assemble to join in the songs of triumph. Then all our present petty distinctions shall cease, and we shall be perfectly and for ever united in one heart and one mind. The more this spirit of union prevails at present, the more the Church militant will resemble the Church triumphant. In the meantime, the same Lord of all is rich in mercy to all that call upon him.-Your obliged and affectionate friend and brother, "JOHN NEWTON."

When any of Mr Waugh's friends came from Scotland he was accustomed to introduce them to Mr New

66

ton. On one of those occasions Mr Waugh said, "Well, Sir, I have brought another of my northern friends to see you." Ah, my brother," said the venerable Newton, "I was once a wild lion on the coast of Africa; there God took me and tamed me, and brought me to London; and now you come to see me as they do the lions in the Tower!"

In the institution of the Evangelical Magazine in 1793, Mr Waugh took a lively interest, and contributed to it many valuable papers. In 1795 he was one of the ministers to whom, under providence, the Christian world is indebted for the original formation of the London Missionary Society. This he justly termed a new era in the history of the Christian church, and never were his energies more powerfully called forth, or his heart warmed into more elevated piety than when advocating the cause of the missions to the heathen. He often alluded to the subject in his public discourses, and in his private conversations, and on various occasions he was selected by the society to itinerate in their behalf in England, Scotland, Ireland, and different parts of the Continent. As a member of the Board of Direction his services were warmly appreciated, and his amiable kindly deportment marked him out as the fittest person to act as chairman of the Committee of Examination.

How tenderly, and yet how faithfully he discharged the duties of this latter office let the following beautiful anecdote suffice as an illustration.

"A pious young man, who was desirous of devoting himself to the work of the ministry among the heathen, and had been recommended with that view to the committee of the London Missionary Society, on undergoing the usual examination, stated that he had one difficulty he had an aged mother entirely dependent upon an elder brother and himself for maintenance; and in case of that brother's death he should wish to be at liberty to return to this country, if his mother were still living, to contribute to her support. Scarcely had he made this ingenuous statement, when a harsh

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voice exclaimed: If you love your mother more than the Lord Jesus Christ, you will not do for us.' Abashed and confounded, the young man was silent. Some murmurs escaped the committee; and he was directed to retire while his proposal was taken into consideration. On his being again sent for, the venerable chairman, (Dr Waugh,) in tones of unaffected kindness, and with a patriarchal benignity of mien, acquainted him that the committee did not feel themselves authorised to accept of his services on a condition involving uncer tainty as to the term; but immediately added: We think none the worse of you, my good lad, for your dutiful regard for your aged parent. You are but acting in conformity to the example of Him whose Gospel you wished to proclaim among the heathen, who, as he hung upon the cross in dying agonies, beholding his mother and the beloved disciple standing by, said to the one, "Woman, behold thy son!" and to John, "Behold thy mother!" My good lad, we think none the worse of you."

Dr Waugh's noble spirit we may quote a brief address As a specimen of the high and holy enthusiasm of delivered by him at one of the annual meetings of the London Missionary Society.

"Could I this day remove the veil that covers the heavenly world; could I place you upon the summit of one of the luminous hills of paradise; could I impart vigour to your visual faculties, and extend their power to the almost interminable regions of the blessed; could I raise your eyes to the Lamb in the midst of the throne, deemed; could I open your ears to the songs of the from whose countenance beams the felicity of the reconquerors, and the acclamations of the martyrs, which, swelling in the majesty of thunder, ascend through the expanse of heaven, and fill with acceptance the ear of God; could I cheer your hearts with the sight of mul titudes entering, in blessed succession, through the mediation of Jesus, from Hindostan, from Africa, and the islands of the Southern Sea,—the trophies of divine power, the purchase of the Saviour's blood, the gens that shall ever sparkle in the Mediator's crown, the first fruits of the missionary labours-what inspiration would the glorious objects impart to your souls! Work, 0 work while it is day! Whatever your minds find to suggest, whatever your hands find to do, do it now. No device, no work in the grave! Turn your moistened animate, and sustain your exertions. I did a little; eyes to my yet recent grave, and let the sight arouse and if my constitution sunk under the pressure, I regret that my nerves were not nerves of brass, and my limited measure of three score years and ten did not extend to an antediluvian age. Should your hearts ever feel languor invading their powers of action, hasten to fading faculties, and constrain you to put forth all your Calvary. There, redeeming love will invigorate your strength in the cause of Him who bled for you. Look forward, each of you, to the eventful hour when the Son of God shall pronounce over you the sentence that shall ever form your destiny of blessedness: ⚫ We done, good and faithful servant, enter thou into the joy of thy Lord."'

In the proceedings of the British and Foreign Bible Society, and many other benevolent and philanthropie institutions, Dr Waugh took an active part, labouring in every possible way to promote the spiritual temporal interests of his fellow-men.

Printed and Published by JoHN JOHNSTONE, 2, Hunter Square, Edinburgh; and sold by J. R. MACNAIR & Co., 19, Glassford Street Glasgow; JAMES NISBET & Co., HAMILTON, ADAMS & Co., and R. GROOMBRIDGE, London; W. CURRY, Junr, & Co., Dublin: W. M'COMB, Belfast; and by the Booksellers and Local Agents in all the Towns and Parishes of Scotland; and in the principal Towns in England and Ireland.

Subscribers will have their copies delivered at their Residences.

THE

SCOTTISH CHRISTIAN HERALD,

CONDUCTED UNDER THE SUPERINTENDENCE OF MINISTERS AND MEMBERS OF THE ESTABLISHED CHURCH.

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On the morning of the 7th of January, 1769, be- | that pass over our hearts,-to commit the same fore I was awake, an express had arrived from my to paper, quite undisguisedly, the first moment of friend Hess, summoning me to come to him with- cool reflection, for it is not the knowledge of out delay, as he was dangerously ill. The in- the surface of the heart that profiteth, it must be formation startled me; nevertheless, a certain sounded, probed to the very core, if we are ever pleasing sensation stole over me at the same time, to arrive at a proper estimate of ourselves. I and yet, God knows, how sincerely I loved my hurried the arrangements for my departure, and friend, and what a wound his death would inflict was shortly seated in the carriage. I was alone, upon my heart. This is not, however, the first it was cold, I pulled up the glasses; some poor time that I have observed, that a secret feeling of children followed the coach as it drove along, pleasure is apt to mix itself with the first sensation crying for alms, and rubbing their cold hands. I of surprise, even when the surprise is caused by allowed them to run awhile, was it indolence, melancholy intelligence. I remember, on one not to be at the trouble to lower the glass? was it occasion, when a sudden report of fire was spread avarice, not to give the poor children a few pence? through the town, experiencing the same feeling, At last I aroused myself and threw a pittance into at which I trembled when left coolly to reflect the snow, where they had to seek for it with their upon it. Is it, perhaps, the love of novelty and chilled fingers:-This I did on my way to a dying change, that gives rise to this contradiction in our man! I soon felt ashamed of the uncharitableness natural feelings? Or the anticipation of the in- of my conduct, and endeavoured to get rid of this terest which we are likely to excite in those with feeling by thinking of my friend; but instead of whom we may have occasion to converse on the praying for him, and considering what I might yet subject, a circumstance always in some degree have to say to him, and how I might make, what flattering to the narrator? Or is it the inter- would probably be our last meeting on earth, a ruption it causes to the monotony of every-day blessing to us both, I allowed my imagination to life, and the different direction it gives to the dwell on the many delightful days which I had course of our thoughts? I should like to know spent with this excellent man; till all of a sudden, how others, more experienced Christians, and truly the thought of his sufferings, and the prospect of philanthropic hearts feel, when some important losing him, struck me to the heart, and I cried, melancholy intelligence reaches them unexpectedly." Oh my God, preserve him, preserve the best of I fear few men pay attention to the workings of their hearts under similar circumstances, or, if they do, they hide their feelings from others, and often from themselves. However, it seems to me, that it would be profitable, particularly to examine ourselves under all circumstances, and in order to be able, afterwards, to recollect the most secret emotions, the faintest lights and shadows It was by the aid of Hess that Lavater had many difficulties

removed, which stood in the way of his yielding an implicit assent to the divine inspiration of Scripture.

No. 52, DECEMBER 28, 1839.-14d.]

friends, take him not from my side! let the tears of his wife be precious in thy sight!" Putting my hand into my pocket to take out my handkerchief, I laid hold of the New Testament, and opening it, my eyes fell on the words, "Whatsoever ye do in word or in deed, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ!"-and in my prayer there was not the least reference to the Lord Jesus Christ! I seemed to have forgotten that I was privileged to pray in the spirit of a disciple of Jesus, and to

[SECOND SERIES. VOL. I.

pray for my friend as for a disciple of the Lord of
light and life! in fact I had lost sight of my friend
and myself as being Christians! Dear Saviour,
how often art thou forgotten by those, for whom
thou hast purchased immortality, by the shedding
of thy precious blood-purchased immortality!
if thou hadst not died, my friend must have died
without hope; now he dies as an immortal, and
when he lives again, he lives as an immortal, he
lives for eternity! And yet, I forget thee, even
in my prayer for his preservation, Thee the
originator and giver of eternal life!

I felt relieved when the postilion drove along with double rapidity; it seemed as if the swiftness of the motion furnished an excuse for discarding the many humiliating thoughts that were crowding my mind. As we approached the abode of my dying friend, the hardness of my heart gave way-all insensibility vanished: life, affection, and friendship warmed my heart once more. The postilion blew his horn; I nearly fainted. The wife of my dying friend stood at the door of the house to receive me. "Come, oh come, my dear friend," she cried. I hurried up stairs into the sick-room. I approached the bed; the white, emaciated hand of my friend was extended towards me--I bent over it, and was, thank God, all sympathy and love: words I had none-but I could feel and weep. They told the history of his sickness; I longed to full down at his side, and relieve my bursting heart in tears and prayer. "Do not weep, my dear friend; compose yourself; I have yet much to say to you," said the dying man, with indescribable mildness and resignation. All the other individuals retired, and I was left alone with him. Oh, that I could now remember, and impress upon my heart, with indelible characters, every one of his last valuable words, and call to mind the childlike simplicity and sincerity with which they were uttered!

such blessings behind! But I have overcome; I am ready to depart. Your tears affect me deeply; promise me that you will not mourn my loss too long. I commit to your care the spiritual concerns of my dear wife; comfort her, encourage her, pray for her. I must, however, be saving of my time and strength, for I feel already the effects of speaking and of strong emotion; let me then say briefly, but deeply into your innermost soul, I was not a Christian; I was not a hypocrite, not what the world calls by that name; but neither was I a Christian. There are but three passages in Scripture which make mention of this exalted appellation, and they all tell me that I was not a Christian; and I fear, my friend, that you are not a Christian! You will thank me in eternity for the wound which I am now inflicting on your heart. We were not Christian friends: the spirit and the mind of Christ was not in us; our friendship was not founded on him, was not animated by him, was not exclusively active to his glory. Do not try our friendship by the tests of the world, nor by the friendship of those who are called the religious portion of it. Oh, how fallacious and erring would your judgment be if you did so! Many, many a mouth, my friend, is filled with the name of the Lord, while the heart is devoted to self, and to self only. How many hours of our short existence did we waste in idle, unprofitable conversation, in plans and projects of ambition-ambition! God knows that I speak after mature reflection, when I say that ambition, even such as the world calls an allowable, a noble ambition, is an abomination in the sight of God -a soul-killing poison-a moral pestilence-a hell to the heart that feels itself on the threshold of death-to a heart that begins to perceive the infinity of God, the inexpressible majesty of Christ, and his incomparable humility. Oh, dear friend, this passion has cost me many a tear and many an agonizing struggle. The deep sorrow which every emotion of this moral monster, that I could recollect on the verge of eternity, has in flicted upon my soul, is beyond all power of expression! It has wounded me in a way which you cannot at present conceive. Oh, how divinely true is the word of my Saviour, Whosoever will exalt himself shall be abased!" Jesus Christ was all humility: it is enough for the disciple to be as his Master, and for the servant to be as his Lord.' Do not forget these words, my friend; I die, but the truth does not die: Heaven and earth shall pass away, but the Word of the Lord abideth for ever.' Viewed from the brink of the grave, our best actions dwindle away to nothing; while our faults and weaknesses, formerly deemed so trifling, rise to an appalling height. How little do we know ourselves, even in the quietest and We best moments of our life! But the fearful stillnes

I stood beside him; he lay on his back, pale, and enfeebled, and said, "Dear friend, I should have much, very much, to say to you, did my strength admit of it; but I am warned to confine myself to what is most important. In the first place, then, let me thank God and yourself that you have come to me so soon, and that I may yet have that satisfaction, the inexpressible satisfaction, before leaving this world, of unburdening my heart into your bosom. I hope that God will strengthen me, and bless my words. I am dying, my friend; a few days, perhaps a few hours, only will elapse ere I shall be called hence: God be praised, I am now, after unutterable struggles, yes, my friend, unutterable struggles, able to rejoice in the near prospect of death. I look forward with longing desire to my removal from this world: blessed be God, that I can now say this with full purpose of heart! It was not always so.

lie not only to the world, but unwittingly to our-of death, the fearful stillness of eternity, the witherselves, in many of our Christian professions; but, by the grace of God, this is past. True, my dearly beloved, pious wife-her tears and yours, my friend-oh, how could I be insensible to leaving

ing burden, the burden of our corrupted heart; these open our eyes. God! God! Creator! Jesus Christ! words full of importance, how often have my lips pronounced them, while my mind was far

away from the ever-adorable Giver of life and of immortality! God! Father! by what name shall I call the mercy which for ever forgives these innumerable and monstrous frivolities, and blots out their consequences through the blood of Christ? Thou art love!

"I have yet, dear friend, three things at heart. I have some godchildren, for whose education I had intended to provide; pray, supply my place towards them; I have set aside four hundred dollars for four of them, whose name and residence my dear wife will tell you. I leave them as a legacy to you: I know that I need say no more. There will be found in my library a volume of Buffon's Natural History; inexcusable negligence has prevented my returning it to Mr N., whose property it is. Take it back to him, and say that I ask his forgiveness, and request that he will choose any book from my library that he likes, and keep it for my sake; if he refuses to name one, give him my beautiful edition of Horace. Ah! there was much vanity in the selection of my books; many a dollar might have been employed more advantageously, and many an hour! many an hour! and oh! my dear friend, how important is an hour in this short, this very short existence !"

My friend paused a moment; my eyes were dim with tears, he looked at me with sadness, and then continued: "I have once knowingly, for reasons which I pray God may not remember against me, and the impression of which I pray that he will for ever efface from my immortal soul, repeated a calumny, which others had uttered, against an honest man: go to him immediately after my death, I would say during my life, were not my minutes numbered; go offer him this hand, damp with the sweat of death, and say to him that the wrong which I have done him has cost me many a penitent tear; give him this parting kiss; and then go to Mr M. and Mr B., and tell them what heart-rending sorrow and regret this sinful act against a fellow-creature has caused me on my death-bed." Here my friend stopt. I promised to do all he wished. "God bless you for it," he said, and desired me to call his wife. Oh sacred hour! heart-stirring address of my dying friend, may I never forget it: may every line of his serious, yet serene, countenance be engraven on my heart, and be present to my mind in this solemn form, as often as I shall be in danger of thinking, or speaking, or doing any thing that I might have to regret on my dying bed! Great God! thine we are in all eternity-our life is in thy hand; before time was, thou didst appoint to the whole human race their day of death. When our hour comes, when thy hand cuts asunder the thread of our life, then, oh Lord, be our guide in the valley of the shadow of death, and let us fall asleep in Jesus! Spirit of God, help thou our infirmity! show us the blessedness of heaven; and when the Father calls us to himself, make us to feel how He to whom we go loves us! The whole afternoon passed away in silence. I

sat meditating at my friend's bedside, and occasionally attempted to read some Scripture passages to him, interrupted by sighs and tears; my friend appeared deeply affected, and repeated some of the sentences with much emotion, but spoke not otherwise all the afternoon, except once, when he said in a feeble voice, "I feel inexpressibly happy to be allowed to meditate so undisturbed, and to have time to thank God for all his goodness and mercy to me."

Oh what is man! Here lies my dearest friend on earth, too weak to speak a single word to his tenderly beloved wife or to myself,-the man whom I have so often locked in my arms, who used to be so active, so lively! But, blessed be God, peace and happiness have been poured into his soul, and a longing desire after immortality is glowing within him,-a desire to behold Him, whom having not seen, he loved, in whom he now rejoices with joy unspeakable and full of glory. Oh! that I may one day lie as peacefully on my dying bed, and be able to look forward to the glories of an unseen world with as much calmness and confidence!

Towards evening my friend called for something to drink; I handed him the glass, and his wife raised his head. Taking hold of the glass he said, "Merciful God, what undeserved refreshment! how many poor must want what God, my kind and merciful Father, provides for me at this late hour of my life! Dear fellow-sufferers on the threshold of death, could I but refresh you all as God has refreshed me, both in body and soul! and now let me rest." We retired to the other end of the room; my friend appeared to slumber. "You are not thinking of leaving my room?" said his disconsolate wife to me; "he has made over to me your friendship; is it not so, truest friend of my beloved husband ?" My whole heart is with you, I replied; were my home but nearer. I showed her a passage in my diary which referred to her; she wept. "What is that ?" she exclaimed. We heard a deep drawn sigh; we hurried to the dying man's bed, his eyes were open, and seemed fixed-his hand trembled. I cried, Let us pray; and amidst tears and sighs I prayed nearly as follows: "Lord! Lord!—merciful and long-suffering God and Father, have mercy upon thy dying child. Look upon him with compassionate love in this hour of trial,-Christ Jesus died for him! Support him, O omnipotent Love; Pour light into his soul; make him sensible of thy Fatherly protection; give him, in death, a foretaste of the joy of seeing thee face to face! Oh, Jesus Christ! thou hast tasted of death for us all, and for this dying friend also; thou knowest how we all, and how he must feel in this hour; thou art full of mercy, and all-powerful to help those who are struggling with death,-send the reviving power of thy Eternal Spirit to fill his soul. Cleanse and sanctify him through and through, that his mind, soul and body, may be found blameless in the day of thy appearing! Give him, even now, O God, to feel something of the glory of the

is dead!" exclaimed the widow, leani lifeless form of her departed love. "No, m he lives-he lives-as certainly as Jes... his all in all, lives!" But when my eyes the stiff and breathless corpse, and touched the cold, cold, cheek-oh, then and could only say," He is dead!" and comfort failed; I sunk on my knee

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PRAISE FOR THE LOVING-KINDN
OF GOD.

GREAT GOD of wonders, all thy ways
Are worthy of thyself,-divine :
But the bright glories of thy grace,
Beyond thine other wonders shine.

resurrection, of the blessedness of thine unfa- | heart was in the words, when I repeated thomable and unchangeable love. God of all the Resurrection and the Life; whos grace, enable him to meet the last enemy as it be- lieveth on me shall not perish, but ha cometh a disciple of the Son of the living God; lasting life." I had scarcely finished the give him assurance in thine ineffable sympathy, when he expired. that he may not shrink when called to appear be"Lord Jesus, he is fore the light of thy countenance! Have mercy upon him, O Lord!-have mercy upon him! Strengthen him!-save him!-make him thine in time and in eternity!" When I rose from my knees, and looked at my dying friend, I perceived that he had rallied; my heart warned me to continue in prayer, but my knees did not bow; the spirit was willing, but the flesh was weak. I sat down beside his mourning wife, and, taking her hand, said, He will soon have overcome, our dear friend; he will soon be released from all pain, and care, and sorrow. His mind is perfectly happy; and he seems, even now, to feel but little bodily pain. Do not grudge him this blessedness; and never forget that God is your Father, and Jesus your truest, your eternal friend. A few years, a very few years at most, which will pass away like days, can elapse ere you will meet again in regions where true enjoyments only reign, and death is known no more. "Consider," she replied, what a life, however short, mine must be, when the friend of my heart shall have left me, and you, too, shall have returned to your family!" Yes, I can conceive, I said, the full extent of your sorrow, and the burden that is likely to bow down your soul; but recollect, that this dear, dear friend will live,-live in the mansions of his Lord; and in his song of praise before the throne, he will remember and pray for his beloved on earth and I cannot forget, and other Christians cannot forget, that "Pure and undefiled religion before God and the Father is, to visit the widow and fatherless in their affliction,"" And to keep ourselves unspotted from the world," cried the dying man, turning towards us! We started

up and bent over him; he still heard every word we said; woe unto us if ever we forget his impressive admonition. Nothing would have been more seasonable, under the existing circumstances, than to have engaged in prayer, or repeated some Scripture passages to my dying friend; but, was it timidity, was it reserve, or shame that prevented me? I tried to palliate this omission to myself, by the thought that dear Hess required neither, that he was better qualified to feed his soul with the comforting truths of the Gospel than I was; nevertheless, I could not escape the humiliating feeling of having departed from the true Christian spirit, and having come short of that abundance of the heart which makes the mouth overflow. My friend remained quiet till about midnight; we scarcely heard him breathe. We took a light to the bed, and perceived that the great crisis of nature was near; his respiration became interrupted. I could not suppress my tears. His wife began to sob aloud, and cried, "He is dying; God and Father, help me, he is dying!" Then I took courage, and my whole

Who is a pardoning God like thee?
Or who has grace so rich and free?
Such deep transgressions to forgive,
Such guilty, daring worms to spare,—
This is thy grand prerogative,
And in the honour none shall share.

Is there a pardoning God like thee?
Or is there grace so rich and free?
Pardon from an offended God!

Pardon for sins of deepest dye!
Pardon-bestowed through Jesus' blood!
Pardon that brings the rebel nigh.

Where is the pardoning God like thee?
Or where the grace so rich and free?
On, may this glorious, matchless love,
This godlike miracle of grace,
Teach mortal tongues, like those above,
To raise this song of lofty praise:
Who is a pardoning God like thee?
Or who has grace so rich and free?
DAVIE

SKETCH OF THE HISTORY OF THE JEWS FR
THE DESTRUCTION OF JERUSALEM DOWN
THE PRESENT TIME, AND ONWAL TO THE
FINAL ESTABLISHMENT IN THEIR OWN LAM
PART V.

1

BY THE REV. GEORGE MUIRHEAD, D.D.,
Minister of Cramond, Mid-Lothian.
SEE ISAIAH LX.

FROM what is contained in the sixtieth chapter Isaiah, and from other prophecies of the Scripture, has been shown that the people of Israel shall again brought back to their own land; and this will be the seventh and last period of their history, reaching ing this period of their history in the prophecies of ward to the final judgment. Much is foretold respect Scripture. The chief difficulty, I am aware, respect ing these prophecies, is whether they are to be under stood literally or figuratively. Some, I believe, have gone so far as to deny that they have any literal interpretation at all, but that they refer to the Christing Church, in figurative language borrowed from the Jew ish economy! Few, I suppose, at this day, will be just ask any man who reads these prophecies, and whe found to support so extravagant a theory. I would

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