Εικόνες σελίδας
PDF
Ηλεκτρ. έκδοση

with God; and make it your great business to live what you preach: and he will surely extricate you out of all difficulties. When a man's ways please the Lord, he maketh his enemies to be at peace with him.

"I am not of opinion that the system of passivity I mentioned is new to you. The word may be, but the thing itself you seem acquainted with, to your considerable uneassiness. A few words will explain my meaning. An unconverted man says, 'I can do nothing: if God would give me a heart, I should pray, repent, believe; but I cannot give myself a heart: if he will not, how can I help it? I must wait bis time: perhaps he sometimes may, and sometimes he certainly will, if I be one of the elect; and if not I must perish, and all I can do will signify nothing.' A professor says, "I have declined and back-slidden: if God will be pleased to revive me I shall be restored: I must wait: I hope I have known better times: and he will not finally forsake his people. In this style they excuse their sloth and lukewarmness, quiet their consciences, stop their ears to exhortation, and, under pretence, of passively waiting till God do all, and of giving him all the glory, fairly exonerate themselves of their guilt, and charge it all upon God!—Indeed Adam's race seem determined that the glory of the good and the blame of the bad should go together. The Arminian takes the blame of the bad to himself, and thinks it but reasonable that he should have the glory of the good too. The pseudo-Calvinist gives God all the glory of the good, but seems to think it reasonable that he should bear the blame of the bad also. But the true Christian says, "To me, even to me alone, belong shame and confusion of face for all my rebellion, impenitence, unbelief, and sloth, all my days: but to God alone belongs the glory of all the good wrought in me, or done by me?" "

1 present the reader with one more letter, strikingly displaying the fervor of the writer's spirit in his Master's service, and the stimulating nature of his intercourse with his fellow-servants. It is to his friend Mr. Mayor, dated

May 14, 1785.

"My dear friend, Nothing could sufficiently apologize for my omission of writing, except your own. Nay indeed, though that does keep me in countenance, yet I do not think we are either of us excused. For a little time now and then spent in dictating a letter to each other might be a means of quickening both of us; as we have before now

found conversation to be. Remember, Iron sharpens iron. Yea, remember what Horace says,

Ergo fungar vice cotis, acutum

Reddere quæ ferrum valet, exsors ipsa secandi.

Therefore, whether you can cut yourself or not, try to whet me, and make me cut; and then I hope I shall try to return the obligation. I believe Satan prevails as much against the cause of Christ by persuading ministers to sit still, or merely to go on in the beaten round, without attempting any thing more, as in any other way. My conscience is never quiet and joyful, but when I am busy in some ministerial employment; not merely in acquiring, but in communicating the knowledge of divine things by my tongue and pen: not only by meditation endeavoring to affect my own heart, but, by some method or other, endeavoring to effect others, and stir them up to seek, trust, love, and serve the Lord. And, after a multitude of thoughts about pride, ambition, &c. influencing me to be active, (and they will insinuate themselves,) I am persuaded Satan would have me while away my life in inactivity, under pretences of modesty, diffidence, and humility; and he never is wanting to furnish me with excuses for delaying or shifting services. But I beg of God to rouse us from this lethargy. Paul says to Timothy, Be instant in season, out of season; preach the word; and seems to think there is more danger of sloth, than of too great activity in the preacher of the Gospel. May the love of Christ constrain us, and compassion for perishing souls prevail with us, to leave no means untried to promote faith and holiness, and to bear testimony against irreligion and false religion: to awaken the careless, to undeceive the deluded, to allure souls to Christ, to encourage the humble, and stir up the believer to glorify God. Write soon a letter longer than the note you sent from Birmingham, and let me know how things go on in your soul, and in your congregation. Stir up my brother the gift of God that is in you. HOC AGE. Now is the time to labor,

and suffer hardship and reproach. It is both seed time and harvest, and it is shameful to sleep in either.. Cast your bread upon the waters. Sow in the morning and in the evening, and water it with many prayers; and, if you see it not before, you will see the fruit of it at the last day. Some little good is going on here, and we are waiting and praying for more: lend us your assistance in this particular.

"I should have been glad to be at Birmingham, but could not:-especially to have met you there. . .

"Desiring to remember you in my prayers, and requesting your prayers, I remain your very affectionate friend and brother, THOMAS SCOTT.

CHAPTER IX.

FROM THE CLOSE OF HIS
MENCEMENT OF HIS

MINISTRY AT OLNEY TO THE COM-
COMMENTARY ON THE BIBLE.

SUCH was the nature of my father's situation, and such the course he was pursuing, when events occurred, by which he was very unexpectedly called to occupy higher ground, and to enter upon a new field of service and of trial. But he himself shall furnish both the introduction to this change, and the history of what took place. Thus he speaks in his narrative.

"My outward circumstances were now in some measure improved at Olney; and my ministry, though unpopular, was in many instances evidently blessed: yet I never could make up my mind to continue there. The vicar, the Rev. Moses Browne, was very old, and there was no doubt, that, in the event of his death, I should be presented to the living, if I remained on the curacy. But this very circumstance tended to render me dissatisfied. I cannot, and need not convey to others a particular account of all things which rendered the thoughts of spending my days at Olney painful to me; and the change of situation, from curate to vicar, would, with respect to some of them, have rather aggravated than relieved my difficulties. In part my views might be erroneous; but, in the far greater part, I should feel the same objection still, if Olney were what it was then: which in some respects it certainly is not.

"I had not, however, the most distant prospect of any other situation: and my unpopularity at Olney was itself a powerful bar to my obtaining any. This may bę judged of by the following incident. I went to London, as I was accustomed to do once a year, and I was asked to preach by a friend whom I had heard with profit, as early as I so heard any one, and for whom I had repeatedly preached before. But, just as I was going into the pulpit,

he said to me, 'Do not scold my people, as I have heard you do the people at Olney? This did not seem well timed. He, however, unreservedly testified his approbation of the sermon, which I was, notwithstanding enabled to preach. But it shews the representations which were spread of my ministry, and how unfavorable they would be to my desire of a change of situation.

"Mr. Cowper, in letters to Mr. Newton which have since been published by Mr. Hayley, and which pretty generally found their way into the Reviews, brought the same charge against me, in strong terms; which, coming from so eminent and popular a character, must have great weight. But Mr. C., it should be known, never heard me preach: neither did Mrs. Unwin; nor their more respectable friends. Mr. C.'s information concerning my preaching was derived from the very persons, whose doctrinal and practical antinomianism I steadily confronted.--Notwithstanding these harsh censures, however, God blessed my ministry at Olney to the conversion of many; and to effectually repressing the antinomian spirit which had gone forth in the place: and thus it was made subservient to the usefulness of my succes sors, who were not bowed down with the same load of unpopularity that I was."

In explanation of what is here mentioned concerning Mr. Cowper's never hearing my father preach, it should be remembered that one feature of the unhappy illusion, under which that admired character labored, was a persuasion that it was his duty to abstain from religious worship. I believe I am correct in stating the fact thus generally: certainly, at least, he abstained from public worship, as from a blessing prohibited to him: and I think I have a distinct recollection, that, though he might suffer prayer to be offered in the room with him, he declined joining in it.—Mrs. Unwin never quitted the object of her assiduous care.

On the success of his labors, as here represented, my father thus speaks in a letter written in the year 1793. "The effect of my ministry in the vicinity of Olney now appears much more evidently than when I left that situation: and this encourages me amidst the manifold discouragements of my present station. I believe there are comparatively few ministers, really having their hearts in their work, who do not find their situations, on one ground or another, discouraging. It is natural that it should be so: for in this evil world the Christian minister's employment is all struggling,

against the current. I gladly therefore present all these passages, which may tend to strengthen the hands of my brethren, and may animate us still to struggle on: and I consider them all as laying a ground for what I regard as one grand lesson afforded by my father's history, namely, that a very discouraging course, properly sustained, may eventually prove useful beyond all expectation.-But we continue the

narrative.

"While I was thus, in some respects, dissatisfied with my only prospect as to future life, on my return home from one of my irregular excursions, in September, 1785, I found a letter from the secretary of the Lock Hospital, written in the name of several governors, saying, that it had been resolved to appoint a person to the office of morning preacher in the chapel, and visiting chaplain to the patients; that, from what they had heard concerning me, they were of opinion that I should be a very suitable person for the situation; and that it was their request that I would come to London, and give them the opportunity of hearing me.Nothing could be more contrary to my own views of what my peculiar talent, whatever it was, qualified me for, than this proposal-except as the poor patients were concerned. I therefore wrote a very plain answer, stating my views of the Gospel, and my determination to speak my mind in the plainest language, wherever I might be called to preach; and my consciousness of being totally destitute of those attractions of manner and elocution, which such a situation demanded. My friends, who afterwards saw the letter, approved it much, except the last clause, in which I consented to come and preach, if the governors still desired it.—Accordingly I did go, and preached two sermons, in as plain and faithful a manner as I possibly could; without attempting any thing different from my homely style in other places. I really thought that this specimen would be sufficient; and I hoped good might be done to some individuals, by such addresses delivered in that place.

"When about to return home, (after having my expenses much more than defrayed by individuals, without any charge on the funds of the charity,) I was asked, whether I would propose myself as a candidate at the ensuing election? I answered in the negative, peremptorily. But will you accept of the situation,' it was then said, 'should you be chosen, without proposing yourself?" I replied, 'I cannot tell: but certainly not, unless that choice should be almost unani

« ΠροηγούμενηΣυνέχεια »