SACRED POETRY. THE HOME OF THE CHRISTIAN'S HEART. "Lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth IN the sunshine of peace, unseduced by its pleasure For his hope is fixed, and his treasure lies That haven of rest, that peaceful lies In the home of his heart, beyond the skies! The warm sunshine of friendship, around him that smiled, And life's weary pilgrimage sweetly beguiled, But he knows of bliss that all change defies, And weaned from the world-his affections rise Its joys he can feel, and its beauties prize, For he values the gifts for the Giver's sake; Whence, grateful praise to his God may arise, For, bought with a matchless sacrifice, Death finds him prepared 'tis a message of peace- MISCELLANEOUS. Dr Adam Clarke.-The late Dr Adam Clarke, when but a little boy, one day disobeyed his mother, and the disobedience was accompanied with some look or gesture that indicated an undervaluing of her authority. This was a high affront; she immediately flew to the Bible, and opened on these words, Prov. xxx. 17, which she read and commented on in a most awful manner:-"The eye that mocketh at his father, and despiseth to obey his mother, the ravens of the valley shall pick it out, and the young eagles shall eat it." The poor culprit was cut to the heart, believing the words had been sent immediately from heaven: he went out into the field with a troubled spirit, and was musing on this terrible denunciation of divine displeasure, when the hoarse croak of a raven sounded to his conscience an alarm more dreadful than the cry of fire at midnight! He looked up and soon perceived this most ominous bird, and actually supposing it to be the raven of which the text spoke coming to pick out his eyes, he clapped his hands on them, and with the utmost speed and trepidation, ran towards the house as fast as the state of alarm and perturbation would admit, that he might escape the impending vengeance! This is the time for labour.-Arnauld, one of the Port Royal divines, visiting Nicole, another, to assist him in a new work, the latter observed, "We are now rauld, "have we not all eternity to rest in ?" old; is it not time to rest?" "Rest!" returned Ar Augustine. Children, who are blessed with parents that pray for them, should be very thankful, as they are delivered from many evils into which others fail. Augustine, who lived many hundred years ago, and who was afterwards a very eminent preacher and writer, had a mother who was eminent for piety, and endeavoured to instil into his infant mind the doctrines of divine truth, recommending what she taught by a holy life. But he was very sinful, and was led away by evil companions into great transgressions. mother continued to pray constantly and earnestly for him. She applied to a good Christian minister to talk with him; who, after much conversation, assured her that her prayers and tears could not be lost. Those prayers were indeed at length heard; the preaching of another minister brought him to a state of seriousness and prayer, and he became a very holy and useful Inan. His Just Published, Volume II., Part I., Containing Numbers 45 to 70 inclusive, and extending from 7th January to 1st July, elegantly bound in embossed cloth, Price 4s. 6d. Also, Volume I., for 1836, in same style of binding, Price 7s., or in Two Parts, Price 8s. Published by JOHN JOHNSTONE, at the Offices of the SCOTTISH CHRISTIAN HERALD, 2, Hunter Square, Edinburgh, and 19, Glassford Street, Glasgow; J. NISBET & Co., HAMILTON, ADAMS & Co., and R. GROOмMBRIDGE, London; W. CURRY, Junior, & Co., Dublin; and W. M'COMB, Belfast; and sold by the Booksellers and Local Agents in all the Towns and Parishes of Scotland; and in the principal Towns in England and Ireland. Subscribers in Edinburgh, Leith, and Portobello, will have their copies delivered at their own residences regularly, by leaving their addresses with the Publisher.-Subscribers in Glasgow will, in like manner, have their copies delivered, by leaving their addresses at the Publishing Office there, 19, Glassford Street. Subscription (payable in advance) per quarter, of twelve weeks, 1s. 6d.-per half-year, of twenty-four weeks, 3s.-per year, of fortyeight weeks, 6s.-Monthly Parts, containing four Numbers each, stitched in a printed wrapper, Price Sixpence. THE SCOTTISH CHRISTIAN HERALD, CONDUCTED UNDER THE SUPERINTENDENCE OF MINISTERS AND MEMBERS OF THE ESTABLISHED CHURCH. " THE FEAR OF THE LORD, THAT IS WISDOM." No. 81. SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 16, 1837. EVERY CHRISTIAN IN HIS OWN SPHERE BY THE REV. JAMES BEGG, A.M., IT is the imperative duty of all Christians, to promote the eternal salvation of men. Strictly speaking, no man can provide for his brother's eternal peace. But, in the very same sense, no man can provide for the present comfort of any human being. Without the immediate providence of God the builder builds, and the watchman watches, the husbandman sows, the merchant traffics in vain. The bread which perisheth and that which endures unto everlasting life, both come equally down from heaven. The eternal God, of his great liberality, not merely makes the harvests come round in their abundance, and sends corn, and wine, and oil, that man in the midst of his sinfulness may be filled with joy, but hath, from all eternity, provided for the eternal happiness of those who shall be saved. Both these treasures have been put into earthen vessels, and strictly speaking, it is not the providing of them, but the distribution, which is left to man. And what ought to be impressed upon our minds is, that the duty of spreading these eternal benefits abroad, is binding not merely upon the ministers of the everlasting Gospel, or upon kings and rulers, although, in this work, they should stand forth prominent, but upon all Christians as such. The whole members of the Christian Church should be constantly at work, like the little leaven hid amidst the mighty mass until the whole is leavened. The instant a man becomes a Christian, he devotes himself to the service of Christ in all that he is, and has, and hopes to possess. He is, in the strong language of Scripture, a living sacrifice, and whether hethinks of the eternal God coming down from heaven, and, in human nature, enduring such agonies, that he might be raised to glory-or reflects that Christ is now in heaven again, waiting till many souls be brought to glory, till all his enemies be made his footstool or looks upon the countenances of the pass along the streets, and remembers that they must all live throughout a long eternity, and that for that eternity few of them are preVOL. II. men that PRICE 1d. pared-or upon the changeless glories of heavenor the dread solemnities of a judgment day-the endless torments of the regions of woe-upon waiting expecting angels-upon the zeal of his fellow-Christians-upon the cold indifference of others-upon all the objects of the spiritual world around him, and all the hurrying objects of a quickly coming eternity-he sees a thousand inducements to be up and doing whilst it is day; and his zeal will not expend itself in feeble efforts within his own little circle, but he will rejoice in every institution whose object it is to bring perishing men to see the King in his beauty and the land that is afar off;-he will love as his own soul the men by whom such institutions are promoted, he will regard all who oppose them as his own enemies. This is no exaggerated description of genuine Christianity in its practical exhibitions, and if we have never been conscious of any such feelings, we have in the strongest possible way, before angels and men, denied the faith. God has positively commanded us all to do good and to communicate-to save the souls of our brethren from death, that thus we may cover a multitude of sins,-to walk in the steps of our great Redeemer, who was always pointing the views of men towards heaven. This is not left to our volition, but has all the authority of a positive command, and to refuse obedience to it, is to turn our backs upon Christianity, and to break away from under the authority of God. It is as much to disobey the Almighty, in whom we profess to trust, as if we violated the second, or third, or any other of the commandments—as if we set up an idol in our dwellingplaces to worship-or appropriated to ourselves our neighbour's wealth, or violated the Sabbath-day. To be convinced of the truth of these statements, let us only conceive how we ourselves would regard such conduct in one of the high intelligences of heaven. If, when a mandate went forth from the eternal throne of God, commanding Gabriel to fly to the uttermost ends of the earth on some mysterious and lofty enterprise, instead of being off with the speed of lightning, he turned sullenly away and attempted to find his own pleasure amongst his companion spirits. This would be at once an open revolt against God, and it would be vain for such an angel to say, that he believed the right which God had to utter such a command-his conduct would condemn him, and would be a breaking up at once of all the harmonies of heaven. And if the earth is only a nursery for that glorious place above, and if Christians are to be trained here to the same implicit and rejoicing obedience which angels display, it is plain, that if they turn away from obeying a commandment, as plainly revealed in Scripture, as if a voice from the eternal Sanctuary had proclaimed it in their hearing, their conduct is exactly that of the rebellious spirits of God. And how can they hope to be suffered to mingle with angels, when they die, or how can they dare to go down on their knees when none but the eternal God is a witness, and pray that the Almighty's will may be done on earth as the angels in heaven perform it? how can they dare to do this when that Omniscient Being knows, and their own consciences tell them, that they are the very persons who stand in the way of the fulfilment of their prayer, and that they do what they can by their neglect to frustrate the great and holy purposes of Jehovah? They are worse than infidels who are in such a case-for they are traitors within the camp-they profess to acknowledge their obligations to a Saviour, only to show how they can treat them with contempt to realize a great eternity only to prove to all men that they can despise its amazing vastness-to believe in the existence and authority of a God, only that they may prove with what daring hardihood they can trample that authority under their feet. Upon whatever object a man's heart is fixed, that will he desire above all things to promote; and if we have faith at all in the great realities of an eternal world, and are, in any way, distinguished from hypocrites and unbelievers, we can never rest satisfied so long as men are perishing around us for lack of knowledge. And yet there is no delusion more common; maintained not merely in the market-place, but in the very house of God, in the seat of Moses, and by some of the professed ministers of truth, and alas! very frequently exemplified than that of supposing that Christianity is a thing of calmness and contemplation, which does not obtrude itself upon the notice of the world, or unsettle the strongholds of iniquity, but steals into heaven in secret. Our position, on the other hand, is, that if Christianity is not open and determined, it has no existence, and that such feeble time-serving Christians are worse than infidels. If the salvation of man were an object of small importance, then could we imagine that we might be indifferent respecting it, but if it be an object, compared with which the whole world sinks into insignificance, then the man who is loudest in warning others of their danger,-the man who is first in activity, he who casts himself into the breach and beats back the enemy,-is the chosen of God, baptized with fire and sealed to the day of redemption: and that fire passes by sympathy from heart to heart,-opposition gives way before it, -it is strong as death, and many waters cannot quench it. Is it possible that men should be zealous in accomplishing every object, however base, and that there should, in those who are really his servants, be no zeal in the cause of God who created all? Where shall we look for the true temper of Christianity? Shall we look towards our Saviour himself? The theory of which we have spoken receives no countenance from his example. How many cities did he visit, how many heavenly discourses deliver, how many gracious miracles perform, how many scribes and pharisees rebuke, how many fervent prayers utter during the short period of his ministry? His zeal burnt like a flame, iniquity was ashamed and hid itself before him, perishing sinners clustered round him as their great deliverer; the zeal of heaven seemed, for a season, to have come down to earth; it was as his meat and drink to do the will of God, and to finish his work. Or, shall we look to the great apostle of the Gentiles; shall we see him in Jerusalem, preaching so powerfully, that the very murderers of our Lord fly for refuge to the cross which they had impiously lifted up; shall we see him at Athens, and Galatia, and Corinth, and Ephesus, making men pull down their temples of idolatry, and cast the gods which they had worshipped to the moles and to the bats, bring out their books of sorcery and burn them in the presence of all the people? What a mighty stir is here! and how does this undaunted man, with the love of the eternal Saviour in his heart, and the book of salvation in his hand, fly from sea to sea, and from city to city, heedless of his own safety, for he is in perils often by land and by sea, in the wilderness and in the crowded city, and amongst false brethren; but he has formed the noble resolution, not to go down to his grave till he has proclaimed to his perishing brethren the means of their eternal safety. His zeal was only kindled by opposition, and with the fire of a seraph he carried on his high designs. Was this Christianity? Or, shall we take, in our own land, those men of vehement spirit, who shook "the idols of Rome out of their niches, and swept them forth from our isle," changing a wilderness of darkness and degrading superstition into a smiling garden, which the Lord hath blessed, emancipating a whole nation from the most degrading of all captivities, and handing down to us the most unspeakable blessings? Were these Christian men? and can we possibly belong to the same family with them, if when the same degradation is beginning to oppress our countrymen again,-when the same darkness of ignorance is beginning to gather its fearful gloom around us,— when the same world is still lying in wickedness, we pass heedlessly on, without putting forth one wish, or making one effort to accomplish the same glorious objects. Does it never strike you, that instead of measuring Christianity by the standard of your own doings, you should measure your own doings by the standard of Christianity? and that if you are the men we have at present described, you are those very lukewarm professors of Christianity who have practically, and in the strongest way, denied the faith, and are an abomination in the sight of God? What an awful statement is that made by our exalted Saviour, "I know thy works that thou art neither cold nor hot; so then, because thou art lukewarm, I will spue thee out of my mouth." "Curse ye Meroz said the angel of the Lord, curse ye bitterly the inhabitants thereof; because they came not to the help of the Lord, to the help of the Lord against the mighty." BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH OF viously formed part of a large and overgrown parish, over which, from its overwhelming magnitude, the pastor had found it impossible to exercise a careful destitute of pastoral superintendence, and unaccustomed oversight. The consequence was, that the people, to attend religious ordinances, had become quite indifferent to religion, and their moral condition was, of course, proportionally low. They were wandering without a guide, habitually profaning the Sabbath, and shewing themselves to be utter strangers to the power, gion. But under the ministry of Mr Guthrie this state' and, in many instances, to the very profession, of reliof matters did not long continue. Absence from the house of God soon became as rare as it had formerly THE LATE REV. WILLIAM GUTHRIE, A.M., been frequent; domestic devotion, which had been al MINISTER OF THE GOSPEL AT FENWICK. THIS excellent minister of Christ was born at Pitforthy in Angus-shire in the year 1620. He was the eldest of a numerous family, all of whom were trained up in the fear of the Lord by their affectionate and pious parents. At an early period he exhibited indications of genius far beyond his years, and it was resolved, accordingly, that he should be trained up for one of the learned professions. With this view, when his education at school was completed, he was enrolled as a student at the University of St. Andrews. During the period of his college life he enjoyed peculiar advantages, being under the guardianship and tuition of his own cousin, the well-known Mr James Guthrie, who held at that time a professorship of philosophy in the New College. He was instant in sea most unknown in the parish, became extensively pre- Having finished his literary course at the university, and obtained the degree of Master of Arts, he commenced the study of Theology, and in this department of knowledge he enjoyed the very high privilege of being a pupil of Samuel Rutherford, who was then In the more private department of his pastoral duties Professor of Theology in St. Andrews. Mr Guthrie he was equally acceptable, entering the dwellings of his had from childhood evinced a serious disposition, but, parishioners with an affability and kindness which under the ministrations of this eminent servant of the speedily endeared him to their hearts. They respected, Redeemer, he was aroused to an anxious inquiry after they esteemed, they loved him, and every word, therethe way to eternal life. He felt deeply his lost con- fore, which came from his lips, was listened to with indition as a sinner, and his obligations to that Almighty tense interest and marked attention. For the spiritual Saviour who had interposed for his deliverance, and, instruction of the young he was peculiarly solicitous, and under a sense of these obligations, he resolved to dedi- although Sabbath schools were then unknown, the frecate himself henceforth to the service of the Lord in quent opportunities of catechising the young which the the work of the ministry. That he might be disen-arrangements of the Church of Scotland have, in every cumbered from worldly cares, he made over to a younger brother the estate of Pitforthy, which fell to him as being the eldest son, and carried forward with entire singleness of mind that preparation for the sacred office on which he had entered. At length, having passed his trials with distinguished ability, he was licensed to preach the Gospel in August 1642. Animated by a sincere desire to serve God in the Gospel of his Lord, Mr Guthrie's pulpit appearances were characterised by a peculiar vigour of thought and ardour of devotion, which rendered him very acceptable as a preacher. The fame which he had acquired at college led to his appointment as tutor to Lord Mauchlin, eldest son of the Earl of Loudoun, who was then Chancellor of Scotland. About a year after he had entered the family he preached in the parish church of Galston, on a preparation day before the celebration of the Lord's Supper. The neighbouring parish of Fenwick was vacant at that time, and a few of the inhabitants happening to be present when Mr Guthrie preached at Galston, were so delighted and edified with his discourse, that they prevailed upon their fellow-parishioners to make choice of him as their pastor. A call was accordingly made out by the parish of Fenwick, and the Presbytery, on the 7th of November 1644, ordained him to the sacred office. The scene of usefulness on which Mr Guthrie was now called to enter was one which required much prudence and laborious exertion. Fenwick had pre period of her history, afforded to the diligent and faithful pastor, were eagerly embraced by Mr Guthrie for attracting their tender minds to a serious consideration of divine truth. In visiting the sick, he displayed a remarkable skill in accommodating his remarks, both in conversation and prayer, to the peculiarities of the case, and hence his appearance in the chamber of the afflicted was always hailed with peculiar delight. To those of his parishioners who were irregular in their attendance on divine worship he spoke with great plainness and fidelity, and, in many cases, he was successful in gaining them over to a habitual observance of the ordinances of God. In the course of a year after his settlement in the parish of Fenwick, Mr Guthrie married Agnes Campbell, daughter of David Campbell, Esq. of Skeldon, in Ayrshire, an alliance which proved a source of much comfort to him, throughout the whole of his future life. Shortly after, he was chosen by the General Assembly to attend the army as chaplain, and after fulfilling his duties in that capacity for some time, he returned to his parish with more ardent affection than ever for his parish and his home. The fame of his talents as a preacher spread far and wide, and frequent invitations were sent to him from different places to become their pastor. He received calls from Linlithgow, Stirling, Glasgow, and Edinburgh, all of which, however, he declined. He was devotedly attached to the parish and the parishioners of Fenwick, and nothing could tempt him to quit a situation so congenial to his retired habits, and where his labours were so eminently useful. The following testimony to his character as a pastor, is from the pen of Mr John Livingstone, who knew him well: In his doctrine, Mr William Guthrie was as full and free as any man in Scotland had ever been, which, together with the excellency of his preaching gift, did so recommend him to the affections of his people, that they turned the corn-field of his glebe to a little town; every one building a house for his family upon it, that they might live in the enjoyment of his ministry." As an instance of the dignity and authority of his manner it may be mentioned that, "on one occasion, when assisting the Rev. Andrew Gray of Glasgow, at the celebration of the Lord's Supper, during the time that Cromwell's army was in Scotland, a few of the officers of that army were in church, and had formed the impious resolution of a promiscuous participation | of that holy ordinance, and were in the act of coming forward in the crowd, when Mr Guthrie, in language and in a manner that perfectly overawed them, obliged them to retreat to their seats again; and this, too, when no civil authority could avail any thing against a power which had become predominant in the country." The restoration of the unhappy house of Stuart to the throne soon put an end to the ministry of Mr Guthrie, as well as of many other godly Presbyterian ministers in Scotland. Both he and his parishioners saw that the day of their melancholy separation from one another could not be far distant; and their gloomy forebodings were speedily realised. Faithful pastors were expelled from their charges, and a fierce and bloody persecution deluged Scotland with blood. Mr Guthrie remained in Fenwick as long as he could with safety, but at length he was compelled to abandon it on the 24th of July 1664. And towards me, be it known unto you, that I take the Lord for party in that, and thank him for it; yea, I look upon it as a door which God opened to me for preaching this Gospel, which neither you nor any man else was able to shut, till it was given you of God. And as to that sentence passed against me, I declare before these gentlemen, (the officers of the party,) that I lay no weight upon it, as it comes from you, or those who sent you; though I do respect the civil authority, who by their law laid the ground for this sentence; and vere it not for the reverence I owe to the civil magistrate, I would not cease from the exercise of my ministry for all that sentence. And as to the crimes I am charged with, I did hold presbyteries and synods with my brethren; but I do not judge those who now sit in these to be my brethren, but men who have made defection from the truth and cause of God; nor do I judge those to be free or lawful courts of Christ that are now sitting. And as to my unpeaceableness, I know I am bidden follow peace with all men, but I know also, I am bidden follow it with holiness; and since I could not obtain peace without prejudice to holiness, I thought myself obliged to let it go. as for your commission, Sir, to intimate this sentence, I here declare, I think myself called by the Lord to the work of the ministry, and did forsake my nearest relations in the world, and give up myself to the service of the Gospel in this place, having received an unanimous call from this parish, and being tried and ordained by the presbytery; and I bless the Lord he bath given me some success, and a seal of my ministry upon the souls and consciences of not a few that are gone to heaven, and of some that are yet in the way to it. And now, Sir, if you will take it upon you to interrupt my work among this people, as I shall wish the Lord may forgive you the guilt of it, so I cannot The Earl of Glencairn, who was then Chancellor of but leave all the bad consequences that follow upon it Scotland, was much interested in the case of Mr Guth-betwixt God and your own conscience. And here I rie, and, accordingly, he applied in his behalf to the Archbishop of Glasgow, but in vain. "It cannot be," was the haughty prelate's indignant reply," he is a ringleader and keeper of schism in my diocese." The pastor of Fenwick was suspended, and a curate was employed to preach the church vacant. This cruel act on the part of the Archbishop, threw the parish into a state of the most intense sorrow. The Wednesday before the commission took effect, was observed as a day of humiliation, on which occasion Mr Guthrie preached from these words: "O Israel, thou hast destroyed thyself." On the following Sabbath, being the day fixed upon for the execution of the Archbishop's tyrannical edict, he again met the people in the morning, that they might engage together in religious exercises for the last time. It was a most affecting occasion. The whole assembly were in tears as they listened to the parting admonitions of their revered pastor. He dismissed the congregation about nine o'clock, and returned to the manse, there to await the arrival of the curate who was appointed by the Archbishop to give effect to his arbitrary sentence. The messenger at length arrived, escorted by a troop of horsemen. The interview which took place on the occasion, between Mr Guthrie and the curate, it may be interesting to narrate. "The curate, on entering the manse, shewed, That the bishop and committee, after much lenity shewn to him for a long time, were constrained to pass the sentence of suspension against him, for not keeping of presbyteries and synods with his brethren, and his unpeaceableness in the Church, of which sentence he was appointed to make public intimation to him, for which he read his commission under the Archbishop of Glasgow's hand.' Mr Guthrie answered-'I judge it not convenient to say much in answer to what you have spoken; only, whereas you allege there has been much lenity used do further declare before these gentlemen, that I am suspended from my ministry, for adhering to the covenants and work of God, from which you and others have apostatized.' "The Lord,' said the curate, had a work before that covenant had a being, and I judge them apostates who adhere to that covenant. I wish, not only that the Lord would forgive you, but, if it be lawful to pray for the dead, (at which expression the soldiers laughed,) that the Lord would forgive the sin of this Church these hundred years past.' "It is true,' replied Mr Guthrie, the Lord had a work before that covenant had a being, but it is as true that it hath been more glorious since that covenant; and it is a small thing for us to be judged of you in adhering to that covenant, who have so deeply corrupted your ways, and seem to reflect on the whole work of reformation from Popery these hundred years past, by intimating that the Church had need of pardon for the same.—As for you, gentlemen, added he, directing himself to the soldiers, I wish the Lord may pardon you, for countenancing this man in this business.' "One of them scoffingly replied, I wish we never do a greater fault.' "Well,' said Mr Guthrie, a little sin may damn a man's soul.'” After this interview, Mr Guthrie entertained the curate and the soldiers with the utmost hospitality and kindness, supplying them with suitable refreshments, and conversing with them without displaying the slightest degree of irritation or unbecoming harshness. The suspension from his ministerial duties preyed severely upon the naturally weak constitution of Mr Guthrie. He lived for some time in the parish, but never preached. An event, however, occurred, which tended, in some degree, to divert his mind from the scene of his usefulness. The brother on whom he had |