degrees of light and evangelical knowlege, as well as to their natural tempers and their temptations; yet it is my judgment that fuch a converfion of finners as this author experienced, is always more frequent where the gospel obtains in its pureft light and its divineft glory, and feems to be more akin to the spirit of Christianity.

III. The last thing that I fhall mention that I remark in this work is, the full confirmation that is given to our holy religion, and to this noble method of divine grace, not only in the most watchful and -holy life, but alfo in the moft joyful and glorious death of this good man. Death takes off every poffible difguife, and makes us think and speak fincerely; and yet you fee him ftill the fame. Here we find reafon and learning giving their teftimony to the gofpel and to the power of godliness, with a living pen and with dying lips.

Tho' this book may be of great use to all that will read it with an humble and ferious temper, yet the perfons to whom I would chiefly recommend it, are these, viz.

First, To my younger brethren in the ministry: perhaps they may learn from thefe papers, the way of fuiting their difcourfes in public and in private, with a more happy turn for the relief and falvation of fouls. I am perfwaded if we all confulted the workings of the spirit of God on the hearts of Chriftians, and the various devices of corrupt nature, and the wiles of Satan, as they appear in fuch memoirs as thefe, we should learn better how to deal with the confciences of men in order to their fanctification and comfort, and put the doctrines of the gofpel to their proper ufe: We fhould all preach the abounding race of Chrift, in order to lead finners to delight in law of God, and more effectually direct and

draw

draw them to the practice of that faith that works by love.

Next, I would recommend it also to those perfons that are awakened to a sense of their fin and danger, and feeking the way of falvation, that they may not run into mistaken methods, nor follow the falfe and flattering dictates of a mere natural confcience, left with their bibles in their hands, and the gospel on their lips, they feek righteoufnefs and peace as t were by the works of the law. Here they will find that hope is the fureft and kindeft spring of holiness, and that there is no folid and lafting peace but what is built on the clear discoveries of forgiving grace; and that faith only can purify the heart.

I would recommend it in the third place, to poor melancholly fouls, who walk watchfully and mourn. fully before God in every duty, and labour in religion, and travel on in heaviness all their days: They dare not indulge their hopes, nor fearce admit any degrees of comfort because their holiness is fo imperfect, Let them learn from this example to try whether they would not fooner arrive at great degrees of fanctification, by going farther out of themfelves to fetch their comforts, and by letting, their hope live on the freeft and richest promises of the covenant of grace, wherein repentance and holiness are promised as well as pardon and happiness. Let them try whether an humble truft in Christ as their righteousness and their strength together, would not fill them with powerful conftraints of love, and lead them to a fweet delight in every duty and thus that good word would be fulfilled unto them, the joy of the Lord fhall be your strength, Nehemiah viii. 10.

I would commend it alfo to thofe Chriftians that have begun to walk with God chearfully in the waye

of his gofpel grace. Here they may be affured that all the glorious grace of the gofpel will by no means excufe them from daily labour and care and watchfulnefs, from conftant and earnest prayer and univerfal diligence in all the duties of godliness. For if these be omitted fin will prevail, and Satan gain many ad vantages to bring them back to guilt and bondage again. Sin prevailing will fpread atemporary darknefs and death over all the vigour and beauty of their religion; but when they are fallen into fuch degrees of back-fliding and decay, they may learn here, that the only way of their recovery is by faith and hope in the gospel, by trufting as undone finners in an all-fufficient Saviour; and that their only fecurity all along the road to heaven is by joining diligence and dependance together.

I will not recommend his book to the nice and critical part of the world that have no taste of inward religion, and relish nothing but what is polite and modifh yet I would attempt an apology for a few things in it that may perhaps difguft fome better readers, and prevent their own advantage.

Some will fay, the author feems to indulge enthusi alm, and talks mystically in fume pages of his narrative. But let it be remembred, that men of great piety, whofe fouls are moulded into a temper of religion, behold the truths of the gospel in a glorious and tranfcendent degree of divine light; they live under warm impreffions of their truths, and feel the sweet influence of them on all the powers of nature: This makes them speak even of the most rational things of religion fometimes in the language of an inward fenfation, of which divine relish and favour perfons of lower degrees of piety feel but little, and the irreligious man knows nothing at all.

This fame language of divine experience may be obferved in the writings of feveral great and holy men of Scotland, who have been favoured with rare and peculiar vifits from heaven, and have maintained a humble intimacy with God, and upon this account their names furvive, as their faireft honours and or naments of their country.

In most other parts of this book the author maintains the reasonablenefs of the way of falvation by the gofpel, and of the conduct of the holy fpirit in the converfion of men; fee particularly page 49, tho' now and then in his way of fpeaking he indulges á little to this inward and divine fenfation. But that he was a man of uncommon turns of thought, clear judgment and ftrong reasoning, is abundantly evident to any one that will read his difcourfe against the Deifts, where he proves by fome unanswerable ar guments, the utter infufficiency of the Dei (ts religion for the falvation of men, and beats them fairly at their own weapons. I wish that treatise was publith'd fingle by itfelf.

Another will object, that he multiplies particulars beyond all neceffity. I intreat the English reader to forgive this fault, for I believe it is partly the custom of the country, and fashion even of the learned in his native land. Let it be noted alfo that the greatest part of the figures here only denote the number of the paragraphs: And if fome of the longer paragraphs are divided by figures as well as by colons and periods, it ought to be pardoned as much as the idiotifms of his language, which can give no manner of just offence to a wife and judicious reader. Omit the figures in reading, and the fenfe is good, and the ob jection vanishes.

I have this to add further in his behalf, that the fafhios

fashion of our age in South-Britain, to write eflays and difcourfes of all kinds without diftinguishing any heads or particulars, is every whit as faulty, and as much to be cenfur'd. This concealment of all method, even in fome excellent treatifes, renders the fenfe more obfcure to the apprehenfion of common readers, and much more difficult to the memory both of the vulgar and the learned. We have got fuch an extreme averfion to the way of writing ufed by our fathers, that because they run their heads up to nineteenthly, and fix-and-twentiethly, we are afhamed in our day to fay fecondly or thirdly. Against this humour of our age I would bear my teftimony, even in a preface, and say,

In the third place, it will be objected, that he is a great deal too large in Jome parts of the narrative and is ready to repeat the fame things. But when an obferving Chriftian hath endured fuch repeated conflicts, and obtain'd laborious victories, and paffed many years in fuch various exercises of foul, he finds it impoffible in a few pages, to tell you a tenth part of what he hath paffed through: This he himself excufes, page 56. and you may learn hence, that no Christian in this life is entirely safe even from those temptations that have been once powerfully overcome.

I fhall be told by fome pefons, that there are many Scriptures brought into this history not much to the purpole. But forgive a Christian this practice, who loves to talk in the language of his God, where he can but imagine the words may be accommodated to his fenfe and if he hath multiplied quotations in fome places without apparent neceffity, yet in feveral of them it must be owned the allufions are very beautiful.

:

In the left place it will be faid, there are fome things too private and perfonal, and fome things that seem

too