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NATIONAL LIBRARY OF MEDICINE
             Washington
Founded 1836
U. S. Department of Health, Education, and Welfare
Public Health Service
X 

/»•
           THE


LIFE AND TRAVELS




    MR. JAMES MEIKLE.

«—»————■——————— i  i a
V
i 
 
               THE


      TRAVELLER;

                OR,

 MEDITATIONS ON VARIOUS SUBJECTS.

              WRITTEN

        ON BOARD A MAN OF WAR.

          TO WHICH IS ADDED,

CONVERSE WITH THE WORLD UNSEEN.


         BY JAMES MEIKLE,
        LATE SURGEON AT CARNWATH.



         TO WHICH IS PREFIXED,

     TH E LIFE OF THE AUTHOR.



        SECOND AMERICAN EDITION.



              ALBANY t
   PUBLISHED BY E. TORREY AND W. SEAVEB.
         B. & E. Hosford.,..JPrinter3.


               1812. 
 
CONTENTS.
LIFE OF THE AUTHOR,     -      Page  13
     THE TRAVELLER—MEDITATION
 1. Going abroad,      -----    89
 2. On taking farewell,       -    -    -    -  91
 3. The  temper of him that goes abroad,    -    93
 4. On finding many passengers on shore,      -  94
 5. On arriving at a strange city,      -    -    95
 6. Good and bad men mixed together in the world, 96
 7. On being enabled to resist a temptation,   -    93
 8. The promises, a divine treasure,     -    -  99
 9. The sacred assurance,   -   -    -    -   112
10. On pumping the ship,     -    -    -    -  114
11.  On ±he anchor of the ship,   -    -    -   115
12. The sails,......117
13. On the compass and helm,    -    -    -   119
14. Provisions and stores,    -    -    -      121
                     A2 
•                 CONTENTS.
                                             Page
 15. Ballast,......124
 16. The more we see of sin, the more we should
       hate sin,     -     -    -     -     -     -  125
 17. Knowing a sin to be committed,     -    -     126
 18. A man of  war,       -    -  .        -        128
 19. The difference between the righteous and the
       guilty,       -     -    -  '   -     -     -  132
 20. The judgment of swearers according to equity, 135
 21. Thinking on a dead friend,     -     -     -  137
 22. The union between Christ and  believers       139
 23. Imperfect attainments,       -    -    -     140
 24. On king's allowance,     -     -     -        142
 25. On the blowing up of a ship, -         -     143
 26. Some slain by mercies as well as by judgments,  146
 27. On a fine fleet,      -                       148
 28. Setting sail,       -     -    -    -    -     150
 29. Time to be redeemed,     -     -     -     -  151
 30. In view of an engagement,    -    -    -    152
 31.  On our Lord displayingjiis divinity on the sea, 153
 32. A memorandum for him that goes abroad,    156
 33.  How the Sabbath, or Lord's day, is to be sanc-
       tified,     ......159
 34.  Anchoring off'an  enemy's coast,      -     -  161
 35.  Coasting  on a country of another religion,    163
 36.  The masts,......165
 37.  Upon one being put under confinement abroad, 167
 38.  The prophet's  description of the wicked,  -  169
 39. On  the patience  of God with sinners,   -     170
< 
                  CONTENTS.                 7
                                            Page
40. On the Excellency of the Christian religion
      above the Jewish,with respect to a traveller, 172
41. Coasting along another king's dominions,     173
42. On hearing from friends,    -     -    -    175
43. On the well of tJic ship,    ...      178
44. The company  of the wicked,     -    -       180
45. On awaking at midnight,    -     -    -    182
46. On one cursing and swearing at an affront,   184
47. God's equity in the eternity of torment,      136
48. Instructions from the communications  of the
	wicked, ------	188
49.	Sorrow for sin, a sign of grace, -	190
50.	On hearing a rumor of peace, - - -	191
51.	The noble principle, -	193
52.	Comparisons, ------	195
53.	Our sorrow for sin too contracted,	200
54.	Prisoners, - -	201
55.	A ship falling foul of another,	202
56.	War,.......	204
57.	Unfortunate retreat, -	206
58.	The natural man insensible of mercy,	208
59.	2'he word of God, irresistible,	209
60.	Docking ships, -----	211
61.	On going into harbor, ....	212
62.	On taking in large provisions, - - -	214
63.	Comfjrt and terror in one consideration,	21.6
64	On being in hot climates in a few dans,	213
65	An high wind preferable to a calm,	2i9
 
8
CONTENTS.
                                               PAGt
   66. On sailing near different nations,     -     -   220
   67. On reaching a port after being long at sea,    222
   68. On a man that died by liquor,  -     -     -   223
   69. The earth, a globe,     -                    225
  70. On ships mistaking one another,       -    -  226
  71. What we ought to remember,      -    -     229
  72. The patience of God very great,     -    -  230
  73. Delusion,    -    -    -    -     .    _     231
  74.  On seeing slaves at work,      -             232
  75.  Quarantine,       -                         234
  76.  The needle,     ---___   236
  77. In a Roman-catholic church,      -    -    2 39
  78. In a hot climate,    -----  242
  79. Fishers,......244
  80. In a southern climate,    -                  245
 81. On a Court-martial,    -    -    _         248
 82. On seme who  were burnt by  a quantity of
      gun-powder,  catching fire  in time of an
      engagement,......250
 83.  On a sea-engagement, fought August 17,     252
 84.  On prisoners,   ------  254
 85. A reflection on the royal Psalmist's expression,
      Psalm  xlii, 7.  All thy waves and thy bil-
      lows are gone over me,     -    -    _ ,  256
 86. On  a short indisposition,   -    -     .    _  258
 87. On putting out alight,  -                   259
 88. On dividing the spoil,     -                 260
 89. A daily catechism for seamen,      -     .     262
90. Aproper inspection,      -                 263 
                 CONTENTS.                9
                                            Page
 91. On a great storm of thunder, lightning, and
     rain,       ......266
 92. On being interrupted in secret prayer,   -  267
 93. On the armor of soldiers,   -     -          268
 94. All things  made up in Christ,       -    -  270
 95. The birth-day,.....272
 96. Time past  never returns,     ...  275
 97. On ships steering different courses with the
     same wind,      .    _    -     -    -     277
 98. On being driven back to the harbor,      -  279
 99. The spirits of just men made perfect,    -     280
100. Going to engage,   -    -    -    -    -  281
101. Arguments to resignation,   -     -    -     283
102. Saints  have no cause to complain,   -    -  284
103. Approaching fruition, -    -     -    -     286
104. Infinite and eternal properties of the bliss
     above,   -------  287
105. Bad company,    -----     289
106. On going beyond the line,      -    -    -  291
107. On a popish procession to prevent the return
     of an earthquake,     -    -     -    -     293
108. Sailing in the Torrid Zone,    ...  294
109. Under the direct Meridian,  -     -    -     297
110. Under  the  Meridian, the sun and moon high, 299
111. A squall of rain, lightning, and thunder,     301
112. Emulation,......303
113. Birth-day,       .....306
l 14. Though we walk on earth, our  conversation
     should be in heaven,    ...    -  307 
10              CONTENTS.
                                          Page
115.  Great love in God, that we may love God,   3©g
116.  Providence to be approved of,      -    -  315
117.  Bright views and bold language above,      317
118.  Declining years,   -    -    -     -    -  319
119.  The expected change  -     -    -    -    322
120.  Arguments for faith in God,  ...  324
121.  The traveller at home,       ...     326 
                  CONTENTS.                11

 CONVERSE WITH THE  VORLD UNSEEN.


                                            Page
 1. Future glory,         -                     329
 2. On want of divine love,         -      -    331
 3. We grope in the dark while here below,      332
 4. All things work for good to the saints,         334
 5. A soul converted, joy among the angels,      335
 6. Earth not our home,     -                  336
 7. We should live above the world,      -       337
 8. Joy awaits.the saints,   -                   338
 9. The joy of saints unseen,     -      -      339
10. Heaven the best inheritance,    -      -    340
11. Enemies overthrown,         -      -      341
12. Exercise of the blessed,         -      -    343
13. Complaints of spiritual languor,    -    -   344
14. Preparation for heaven,      -.    -    -    346
15. The eternal Sabbath,      -                347
16. Indifference to the world,      -      -     349
17. The disembodied saint,   -    -      -       350
18. A check for not meditating on divine things,   359
19. Approbation of trying providences,     -    360
20. Faith's triumph over affliction,     -    -    361
21. A sweet prospect of future bliss,     -      362
22. The ravishing employment of saints in glory, 363
23. A reprehension for decay in grace,      -    364
24. The noble indifference,        -      -       365
25. No happiness below,     -      -      -    366 
I*            CONTENTS.
			Page;
26.	God a never-failing portion,	-_	367
27.	God claims the whole heart,	-	ib.
28.	The best employment,	-	368
29.	On the death of friends,	-	ib.
30.	Divine wisdom in our various	lots,	369
31.	The mind too little on heaven,		370
32.	The duty of the aged saint,	-	371
33.	Afflictions will attend us to our last,		\ 372
 
THE
          LIFE
                 OF

MR.  JAMES   MEIKLE.
     I HERE are perhaps few persons who  have
perused an author's writings with much pleasure and
advantage, who feel not a desire to know the character
and history of one who has contributed so largely to
their entertainment and instruction.  The biography,
therefore, of favourite authors, if not barren of inci-
dents,  or awkwardly executed, is a species of writing
which  will always be well received.  It introduces us
to familiarity with persons whom we are  disposed to
revere, and exhibits our instructors in the interesting
light of acquaintances and friends.  Besides, when
we find, by authenticated records of their life, that
they were good men, we  sit down to the perusal of
their writings  with the most favourable dispositions
for deriving benefit from what we read, and are edi-
fied by  the pleasing persuasion that they lived as they
wrote,  and felt on  their own hearts the  inestimable
value of that religion which they so clearly teach, zri
so warmly recommend,
                       B 
14              THE LIFE OF
   The writings of few men require information res-
 pecting their author more than those of Mr. Meikle.
 They consist chiefly of short, detached essays, written
 in haste, and commonly finished at one sitting ;  or are
 a record of the impressions made on his mind at the
 instant by the objects with which he was surrounded,
 or the incidents which had occurred.  They seldom
 assume a didactic form, or profess a regular discussion
 of any particular point:  they rather express the author's
 own persuasion and feelings on the subject, the reso-
 lutions of duty which, under their influence, he form-
 ed, or  the  hopes by  which  he  was animated.  A
 knowledge of the man becomes necessary, therefore,
 not only to enable us  to appreciate his  merits as a
 writer, but to qualify us for understanding many pas-
 sages of his writings, or at least for entering fully into
 his sentiments and feelings.
  How far the following  account of Mr. Meikle will
 contribute either to the entertainment or the edifica-
 tion of those who may be pleased to peruse it, the wri-
 ter of it is unable to predict.   He can say, however,
 with confidence, that he has not been deficient in his
 inquiries respecting his author, and that although in
 several instances his diligence has been unsuccessful,
 in others it has been rewarded by discoveries which
 he hopes have not been unprofitable to himself, and
which may, through the divine blessing, be useful to
 others.   He has presumed to affirm nothing at ran-
 dom, or on mere conjecture ; and the principal source
from which his information has been drawn, is a vari-
ety of memorandums and loose papers found in the
 author's own repositories.
  Mr. James Meikle was born at Carnwath, a village
 in the upper part of Clydesdale,  on  the 19th of May,
 O. S. 1730.    It wag his uniform custom,  during at 
             MR. JAMES MEIKLE.           15

 least the last forty years of his life, to observe the an-
 niversary of his birth ; and the 30th  of May, N. S.
 appears frequently, both in his published and manu-
 script papers, as a season in vhich he sought retire-
 ment from the world, and devoted the hours which he
 could command from business to grateful recollections
 of the care of Providence, to the  review of  his past
 life, to meditation on  death, and preparation for eter-
 nity.  This method of commemorating the  day of his
 entrance on life, he justly considers as more suited to
 the condition of a creature who is born to die, and who
 expects to live after death, than the methods which
 are more  generally in use ; and he recommends it to
 others, from the conviction that it had not been with-
 out profit to himself.
  His father, Mr.  George Meikle,  appears  to have
 been a very pious, but a very poor man.  He practised
 at Carnwath as a surgeon and druggist; but his busi-
 ness, at  that period, in a pdor and thinly-peopled
 country, cannot be supposed to have yielded such pro-
 fits asto enable  him with ease to support a family of
 ten children, the greater part of whom were delicate,
 and cut off before  their aged parent.   Besides, the
 small  savings of a  very insufficient income  were
 unprofitably wasted in honest,  but unsuccessful at-
 tempts to obtain possession of a considerable property
in the  neighborhood  of Hamilton, of which  he  ap-
pears to have been rightful heir; and debts were con-
tracted which bore very heavy on him in the  decline
of life, when the necessities of his family increased,
and, through his frequent incapacity to visit patients
at a distance, his means of supplying them diminished.
It cannot now serve any valuable purpose to be more
particular on this subject.  The estate is in the indi?-
putable possession  of another  family, although  the 
16              THE LIFE OF
greater part of the titles are still in the possession of
Mr. Meikle's descendants. It is only proper to remark,
that various attempts were made by his son to recover
it, which excited hopes, and issued in disappointments,
to which the accurate reader of  his writings will ob-
serve many allusions ;  and to add, that the loss or ab-
straction of an essential paper  defeated all  his  at-
tempts, till it  became too late to disturb the posses-
sor by challenging his right.
  James,  the  subject of this Memoir,  was the fifth
child of the family, three sons and a daughter having
been born before him.   When reviewing the care of
Providence over him, he remarks, that his life during
infancy was often in jeopardy, and piously adopts the
Psalmist's words, " I am as a wonder unto many; my
praise shall be continually of" thee."  At the  age of
four, he narrowly escaped perishing in a deep well
into which he  had fallen ;  and besides,  he suffered so
severely,  and  was  so  enfeebled by the  small-pox,
measles, chincough, and  other  diseases incident to
childhood, that it was  not till the ninth  year  of his
age that he could be sent to school.  Of this early pe-
riod of his life, he observes, in one of his papers, that
he can recollect little,  except that  his parents had
taught him to pray twice a-day ;  that he thought even
his childish games would not go  right with him, if he
should neglect his prayers ; and that therefore, when
it occurred to him at play that he had omitted them,
he sometimes broke off from his companions, and after
having said them,  returned  with more  confidence to
his amusements.   He expresses his gratitude to his
parents for their instructions, and warmly recommends
it to others to teach their children to pray ; but not-
withstanding this symptom, as some would style it, of
early piety, produced by their means, he states it as 
             MR. JAMES MEIKLE.          17

the conviction of his maturer judgment, that he had
then no right notions of divine things.   " I was taught
to pray,"  he says, " and prayed, when I knew not
what prayer was ; but now I would not give over pray-
er for the  universe."
   At school he  made considerable proficiency in his
education, till the death of his teacher.  A new teach-
er succeeded, whodoesnotappear tohave been equally
attentive to his pupil, for a reason which must always
have great weight with selfish men, because his pa-
rents were poor.  Other employment was found for
him  than the lessons of the day : " I was much toiled
by running his errands, which I was necessitated to do
through poverty." When he afterwards reflected on
this period of his life, he concluded  with Solomon,
that " childhood and youth are vanity,"   and deplored
the waste  of it in thoughtlessness and sin.  " It can
afford  me,"  he says, " nothing but melancholy re-
flections,  did not the blood  of Jesus Christ  cleanse
from all sin.  How many months were spent without
one serious thought of God, or one prayer to the God
of my life !  In what scenes of vanity and folly  did I
spend my  youth ! God and my own heart were and
are conscious of as much  sin  as might damn  me,
though I was preserved from any gross outbreakings.
When I look back, this is a proper confession for me,
" Lord,  thou knowest my folly, and my  sins are not
hid from thee.   Remember not the  errors of my
youth, but pardon mine iniquity, for it is great."
  After he had arrived at the age of thirteen or four-
teen, he began  to relish religion more than ever he
had done before.  Three things in particular are re-
marked by him concerning himself at this period.
First, That, though then young, he had conceived ?.
                      B2 
 18              THE LIFE OF

 warm regard for the holy scriptures,  and loved the
 duty of  secret prayer.   " I retired by myself, and
 read, and prayed ; and put on resolutions to perform
 this heavenly duty oftener than twice a-day.  So from
 the Psalmist's resolution I copied mine, " As for me,
 I will  call upon God, and the Lord shall save me.
 Evening and morning, and at noon, will I pray and
 cry aloud,  and he shall hear my voice."  Secondly,
 That the Sabbath began to become sweet to him.
 u From the instruction of my parents, the example
 of Christian neighbours, and, might I add, the grace
 of God within me, I had a  profound  veneration for
 the sabbath, and was displeased with the least profana-
 tion of it.  O that it were so still 1 but I must say  it
 with shame, I have not lived up to the  love of mine
 espousals, the kindness of my youth."  Thirdly, That
 he was often  employed  in religious meditation, and
 found  inexpressible pleasure in  it.  " Sometimes I
 would have wondered to find one whistling alone  by
 the way, thinking he had better be meditating on di-
vine things, as I did : This sometimes was my happy
 exercise."   In what manner, however, the gracious
 change which about this time took place on him was
 effected, nothing has been found among his  papers
 distinctly to shew : but  from some expressions em-
 ployed by him, there is reason to conclude that he had
 no remarkable experience of legal terror.  w Some,"
 says he, " are overcome by the sweetness of religion
into a love with it, as Zacheus was drawn by Christ's
charming voice, so that without dread or delay he re-
ceived  him joyfully.   "Thy word was found of me,
and I did eat it,  and it became the rejoicing of my
heart."
  He was now in his fifteenth year,and,ashe expresses
it, " grown to the age of thinking and choosing for 
           .  MR. JAMES MEIKLE.           I*

himself,"  when, for the  first time, he  went " from
choice" to hear a sermon by one of the ministers who
had some  years before separated from the communion
of the established church.  The sermon was remark-
ably blessed  to him ;  he was led  to inquire into the
grounds of the Secession ; and his inquiries issued
in  an  attachment  which  continued  undiminished
through life.  " From this time, being about fifteen or
sixteen, I  heard none else, and  at last joined the Se-
cession ; and alas 1  that the increasing  defections of
the Church of Scotland, for which my heart trembles,
should make  me still approve of my procedure."
  The following  year, an event of a very afflictive
kind took place, which appears to have been eminently
useful to him.   The hand of  God inflicted a heavy
stroke on  the family, in the death of their eldest son,
William,  at  the age  of  twenty-five.   He had been
early religious ; but having been educated as a sur-
geon, he soon removed from under the immediate in-
spection of his parents, and served for some years a
gentleman of that profession in Dunse, who made  re-
ligion no part of his concern ;  and the  consequence
was, that his  early impressions  were  greatly effaced
by the conversation and example of those with whom
he had intercourse.   Having at  length formed the re-
solution of going to  sea, he went to Carnwath to take
farewell of his parents.   His stay having been pro-
tracted beyond his expectation or wish, they remarked
with grief, the sad change which had taken place dur-
ing his  absence,  and employed all the influence of
their prayers, and of their expostulations with him,
for his  reformation.  For some time all was without
effect.   Providence, however,  continuing by various
means  to  throw  obstacles in  the way  ot his going
abroad,  he was at length brought to see the hand of 
20              THE LIFE  OF
Heaven in it, and led to more serious thoughts than
before.   " Ephraim is an heifer ; but God passed over
her fair neck ;"  so, says his brother,  " it fared, with
him.  He began to consider  his ways, to relish reli-
gion, to be  conscientious  in the  duty  of prayer; and
not only was his conversation but converse changed,
to the no small joy of his friends."   After this  happy
change  he began to assist his  father in his  business,
and promised to be the joy and the support of his de-
clining years.  But the ways of God are often myste-
rious.   He  was seized with a nervous fever,  which
in the short space of eight days laid him silent in death,
on the 19th  of April,  1746.   " Joy and  grief," his
brother  remarks,  " were mingled  on  this occasion;
grief at  his death, but joy that he  died in such a hope-
ful  condition."   He adds, " The  conversation and
prayers  of his  Christian  acquaintances  who visited
him during his  illness, made  an impression  on my
mind, which I hope wiil never be effaced."
  The shock which this dispensation gave to his aged
parents, may be more easily conceived than expressed.
They had buried six sons,  besides a daughter,  and in
the grave with the eldest, they now buried their hopes
of comfortable support in the decline of life.  James,
their only remaining son, was in the 17th year of his
age ; promising enough indeed, but unprovided for,
and incapable of assisting the family in their straits.
It had for some time been his desire to prosecute his
studies with a view to the  holy ministry ;  but the sit-
uation of his parents did  not furnish  him  with the
means.   After spending the summer in contrivances
how to proceed, and in the perusal of  such  books as
were within his reach, he formed the resolution of
going to Edinburgh in  the beginning of winter, along
with his mother, whose presence was necessary there 
MR. JAMES  MEIKLE.
21
on account of the law-suit formerly mentioned.  On
his arrival, he engaged a private teacher to assist him
in his  studies, who, for reasons  known  to himself,
after receiving his money, chose within a few weeks
suddenly  to leave the place; and being unable to
engage another, he found it  necessary to return to
Carnwath, leaving his mother behind  him, and dis-
appointed for the present in his favorite object.
  A  greater  calamity succeeded.   He had not been
long at home, before his father was seized with a vio-
lent fit of asthma, which carried  him off in a few
daysj in the month of February, 1748 ; and before he
had opportunity to inform his mother, and elder sister
who had gone to visit her, of  his illness.
  The shattered  remains of the family, deprived of
their last support, after spending  some time in un-
availing grief, and melancholy reflections  on the des-
titute condition to which they were reduced, removed
to Edinburgh before Whitsunday; " but  with  what
money," says Mr. Meikle, " will scarcely be believed;
with little more than sufficient to pay carriage, and bear
our charges by the way."  God, however, raised up
a friend to aid them in their necessity. " A gentle-
woman who lived next door to us, who had been a
daughter of many afflictions, but to  whom they had
been sanctified, and  who spent much  of her time in
pr.iyer, showed  us no little kindness."   By the hu-
mane attentions of this lady, and the industry of Mrs.
Meikle and her elder daughter, who span or sowed as
they found employment, the few wants of the family
were supplied during the summer.
  But James  had now entered the  19th year of his
age, with little education, and without  an occupation
by which he  could  earn  his daily bread.   His mind
was  still  directed  towards  the holy  ministry, and 
22
THE LIFE OF
eagerly bent on acquiring the education which he
deemed necessary as a preparation for it; but Provi-
dence seemed to refuse his services in the gospel, by
defeating all his attempts to enter the university.  For
some time he  flattered  himself with  the hope of ob-
taining a bursary, or, as it is styled  in England, an
exhibition ; and he considered it as already secured by
the generous exertions  of a gentleman who took an
interest in .his affairs, when an unexpected objection
was started against  him, which blasted all  his pros-
pects.  Party  prejudices were  strong  at that  time
against those who had separated from the established
church, and he was refused the  bursary because he
was a Seceder.
  Despairing now of getting forward in his education,
and yet unwilling to abandon  his favorite pursuit, he
felt ashamed  of his  situation, in the  19th year of his
agej poor, in  health, and yet doing  nothing for his
own maintenance ;  and ho confesses, that when any
old acquaintance  inquired how he was employed, he
often wist not what to say.  Yet he was not absolutely
idle.  " All the summev," he says, "  I spent amongst
my books in a melancholy solitude, and contracted ac-
quaintance  with very few."   As a  species  of recre-
ation from  the severer  studies in which he was en-
gaged, he amused himself with an attempt  to versify
the book of Job, and proceeded as far as the  twentieth
chapter; but,  " on  a second reading  I found it," he
says, " so flat, and tending rather to  obscure than to
illustrate the beauties of that  noble book, that I never
transcribed it.  Notwithstanding, I  found  a double
advantage from my labor; for,  first, I spent  many
hours with pleasure, which  I might otherwise have
spent in repining thoughts at the providence of God ;
and; secondly, I grew much better acquainted  with. 
MR. JAMES  MEIKLE.           23
the book of Job, a book greatly adapted to my situ-
ation, than I could have grown by an ordinary read-
ing."  It appears, indeed, that the pleasure he found
at this period in writing of divine things in verse, gave
occasion to that custom of versifying hfs meditations,
in which he persevered to the very close of life, and
which has produced a number of  metrical  perform-
ances which is  truly astonishing ; many hundreds of
poems,  all on religious subjects, and sufficient to fill
six or seven volumes of the size of the present, be-
ing fpund  amongst his papers.
  This  melancholy period of extreme poverty, disap-
pointment, and anxious suspense, continued with lit-
tle variation  during  the  whole of the ensuing year.
Providence  deprived the family of the friend whose
humane attentions have been already mentioned.  Be-
sides, after their expectations of a speedy and favor-
able termination of  the law-suit had  been  consider-
ably raised,  they were dashed at once to the  ground
by a decision which put their hopes of relief from that
quarter more distant than ever. " Like  the  sinning
Jews,"  he says, " we expected much, but it came to
little ; for  it was entirely cut off, till better proof could
be brought that it was not prescribed."  So low, in-
deed, were their circumstances, that at Whitsunday,
1749, they found it a matter of the greatest difficulty
to procure a decent lodging  of two apartments, be-
cause they could neither find caution to the  landlord,
nor, as  is  customary when caution cannot be  found,
lay  down one half of the rent.  Yet when they were
brought low, God helped them.  They  were enabled
to endure their afflictions without murmuring at the
divine dispensations ; and besides, they were season-
ably relieved by the  sympathizing liberality of some
good Christians,  who, Mr. Meikle remarks, increas- 
24
THE LIFE OF
ed the favor by the truly delicate and Christian man-
ner in which they conferred it.
  With regard to himself, Mr. Meikle observes, that
although he was unable to enter the university, he
found means occasionally to receive instruction from
private teachers ; and that the adversity of this period
of his life was blessed to him for spiritual good.  He
expresses his warmest gratitude  to God for three
things in particular : first, that his proud spirit, which
at first rose  against  the  idea of dependence on  the
charity of others, was  brought down to submission
and thankfulness; secondly, that amidst his difficul-
ties, he was enabled to resist solicitations to go to the
Indies, where  he would have  been removed from the
means of grace, and where the friend who urged him
to go was soon cut off by the unhealthiness of the
climate; and,  thirdly, that when he  met with some
old acquaintances who had come to town to study at
the university, he was enabled to hold his peace, nei-
ther envying their prosperity, nor daring to dispute
the conduct of Providence towards himself.  His soul
prospered when outward things were adverse.  He
took much pleasure in prayer, and statedly performed
the duty four times a-day : " This," adds he, " I say,
not out of vain glory, but to  stir up those who have
much leisure and opportunityto abound in this delight-
ful and profitable exercise."   And he remarks, as the
result of his own happy experience at this time, " that
sanctified affliction, the chastisement of our heavenly
Father, is no  small  mercy to them that are rightly
exercised thereby ; that it is  honied  affliction which
brings the soul nearer to God; and that (alluding to
Hos.  ii. 14.) it is God's way,  in  the  time of melan-
choly solitude, to  speak  comfortably  to the soul."
Yet his spiritual prosperity was not without alloy ; for 
             MR. JAMES MEIKLE.           25

he complains bitterly of  the  motions of sin within
him, and remarks  with grief, that for some part of
this time he did not live so near to Cod as he ought.
   At the beginning of the winter, 1749, finding  his
inability to enter the literary classes of the university
as great as ever, and satisfied that it was his duty to
submit to what appeared to be the will of Providence,
and take some measures for his future maintenance,
he formed the resolution of commencing the study of
medicine': yet net, he  says, as his  ultimate object,
but as a  means of helping  him forward, if it should
be the will of God, by the profits of his  practice, in
his  main design of entering  into the sacred office.
The different professors of medicine, to whom it ap-
pears his father had been known, displayed great gen-
erosity in giving him liberty to attend their lectures
without  payment of  the  customary fees;  yet even
with this advantage, he could not avoid  contracting
some small  debts  which  his circumstances did not
enable him for several years to discharge.
   As a student of medicine, he  now entered on a new
scene, and became exposed to temptations from which
he had hi herto been free.   " I was afraid  of forget-
ting God my Saviour, as I  was to change my savoury
solitude for a correspondence with an indifferent sort
of youths ; but I still  kept up the form of religion as
usual,  what of the power I dare not say."  " My fel-
low-students, some  of whom were gentlemen of for-
tune, were obliging to  me, and gave me access at
pleasure  to their books ; though otherwise their com-
pany was by no means to be desired, as they were ac-
customed to swear in  conversation."—He adds  after-
wards, " I was grieved at the oaths I heard, for my con-
science was then tender: O that it were tender still !'•
                       C 
2G
THE LIFE OF
  How long Mr. Meikle studied medicine, and when
he commenced practice as a surgeon, cannot be as-
certained, as his papers for some years about this pe-
riod haye unhappily fallen by.  It is probable that he
removed to his native village of Carnwulh, towards the
close of  the year 1750,  where he continued to act as
a surgeon till the spring of 1758.  Two  loose papers
ha^ve been found, from which this is concluded.   The
one, written in the Latin language, and styled Petitio
ad Deum, 1 750, leads to the  conclusion, that when he
wrote it,  he had formed the resolution of practising
as a temporary  expedient, but  had not yet carried it
into effect.  It  is, as  far as its meaning can now be
collected, to the following effect: " Conscious of sir.,
deserving and fearing  divine wrath,  but hoping for
salvation  through the blood of Christ, 1 have formerly
made, and now again  make known to thee, O God !
the inmost  thoughts  and desires of  my heart;  and
trusting that thou wilt graciously answer, intreat thee
to hear and grant these my requests.  1. Look on me
with favour, for the sake of  Jesus Christ my Lord, in
whom thou art well pleased, and preserve me from
every thing,secrct or public,which is offensive to thee.
2. As I will, through thy good providence, have arri-
ved at a majority at the commencement of the ensuing
summer, enable me to recollect with lively gratitude
thy past care of me, and prosper  me in  what I propose
at Carnwath, that it may be subservient to my main
design.   3. *   *  *  4. Deal  with me as it pleases
thee,  in respect of riches, and all other temporal good
things ;  only grant me a place amongst thy sanctified
ones, and I am content.  5.  I most earnestly request
mat I maybe honoured to  serve thee in the gospel,
preaching the  words of truth and eternal life to my
fellow-sinners  all the days  of my life.   Hear me, I 
MR. JAMES  MEIKLE.
27
pray thee, and answer me in  thy time."  The other
piper, which contains a confession of sins, and aded-
icat';t»;i of  himself  anew to God, is dated Due.  15,
1750, and  contains this  petition :  "1 seek  thy  di-
re c lion in my business, and in my present views.   O
grant thy blessing,  while I  give  the glory of all  to
thee 1" from whicUit is  conjectured, that he  had be-
{,un  business as a surgeon, while  his views were still
directed  to the ministry as  his great aim  in life.
  The reference which  has just now  been made  to
these papers, suggests the propriety  of  remarking,
that  it was Mr. Meikie's custom occasionally to set
apart a day, or a part of a day, to solemn  meditation,
self-examination, and prayer;  and that on such occa-
sions he  wrote down, as a means of fixing his mind,
the heeds of what at the  time principally  engaged his
thoughts.  This  he did not merely when  at home,
but as often as he could find opportunity, with suffi-
cient secresy, when abroad.  Thus, during the years
he was at sea, we find him repe?tedly engaged in this
manner,  in the fields near Plymouth, on  a retired
part  of the rock of Gibraltar, in a forest  between Leg-
horn and Pisa, in Italy, and in a solitary spot  of the
island of St. Helena.  Many  of these loose papers
have been  found,  which it would swell this account of
him  too  much to  transcribe. Part of one of them,
however, is here subjoined as a specimen, and because,
after those which have been referred to, it is the first
distinct notice of him, after his removal from Edin-
burgh to Carnwath.  It runs thus :
  "Under a^ense of my  sins and unmerited mercies,
I desiic  through grace, in  sincerity and humility of
soul, to approach to the author of all my mercies, iind
to lay before thee, O nKi\,ii'ui Father 1 all  my.designs,
desiring  thy  divine direction. 
28               THE LIFE OF
   " And, in the  first place, I confess mine own sins,
the sins of my family and people, the sins of Church
and state.  I desire to be humbied under my natural
proneness to evil and aversion to good ; for  my many
sinful thoughts, which thou, O Lord, knowest; for
my wrong conceptions of the great Jehovah, and the
smallness of my holy  fear wh.cn in his  presence, call-
ing on  him before whom all tlfeJjeJ| th should tremble.
I also desire to be humbled for my limiting God, as if
he were not Almighty; for not  placing  all  my  faith
r.nd hope on him alone, but on appearances and proba-
bilities; for my ingratitude to God  for  his  many
matchless mercies to  me in feeding and clothing me,
i.nd giving me favour in the eyes of men with whom I
had to do.   Providence has never failed me, but ay
supplied me ; yet in the time of prosperity 1 sinned,
r.r.d icincd with sinners in  their follies, which now  I
lament, and desire to be humbled  for ; as also under
the stroke of my younger sister's death.  O to learn
the language of thy rod !
   " O  Lord ! I lament my detention  from  thy ordi-
nances ;* and O that thou wouldest cast my lot so (not
that I prescribe to God)  that I may serve thee  in
thy temple day and night!  I desire to be humbled for
all my prevailing lusts and passions ; for my spiritual
pride, ignorance of the things of God, barrenness
under the gospel, lukewarmness about the  things of
Christ; and for my carelessness about religious du-
ties, so that while the love  of Christ should constrain
me, custom leads me.  Ah !  that ever I should doubt

  * Carnwath is at a great distance from Davie's Dyke, in the
parish of Cambusnethan,  where Mr. Meikle  then attended
public worship ; and the necessary calls of business ofien pre-
vented his attendance, even when the distance and weather
would not have done it. 
              MR. JAMES MEIKLE.           29

 the good will of him that dwelt in the bush, and forget
 the day when he heard my cry and delievered me out
 of the hand  cf my fierce  afflictions, manifesting his
 mighty  power.*   I desire to be humbled for my
 earthly  mindedness  and  my desires  after temporal
 things, riches, honour, and glory, which perish and
 pass away.   I desire to be humbled for my breach of
 former engagements, and for that great mountain of
 sins accumulated on  me since the last time I was be-
 fore thee in this manner."    *    *    *
   " And now I desire to lay before thee my petitions.
 And first of all, O to be daily getting nearer and near-
 er thee ;  to be growing  more  and more acquainted
 with lovely Jesus, the light of the higher house, in-
 creasing more and more  in grace,  becoming more
 and more like thee, and daily less conformed  to the
 world; to be delighting more and more  in spiritual
 things, given more and more  to  meditation on  the
 glory to be revealed, loving him more and more who
 loved me ! O to be delighting in God all the day long,
 living  in his  fear as before him always, learning more
 and more submission  to his disposals in providence,
 ;.nd more and more  persuaded of the rectitude of his
 will, the equity of his law, the longncss of his patience,
 and his care  of his own.   O to get the better of pre-
 vailing sin, and that which easily besets me.
   " O Lord 1 1 lay another petition before thee, and
beg thou wilt hear it. O let me come into thy ser-
vice (in the ministry) and breathe my last under thy
colours, a volunteer ; and to this end  I beg a blessing
on all my studies.   O Lord ! hear me.

  * He had lately before been dangerously ill j  and, besidesj
had laboured uuder great dejection of soul.
                      C2 
30
THE LIFE OF
  " Also, I  lay before thee my design of courtship
with M. R.  If she be thine, one in whom the fear of
God is, may she be mine, if  for thy glory  ajid my
good.  Grant me  direction in this  matter, and give
me favour in her eyes.*
  " O prosper  me in my business!  Thy blessing be
on my endeavours for the health and cure of thy crea-
tures.  Let never the greed of  money get a hold of
my heart; keep me from covetousness, and all wrong
ends  in  following my business.   Bless, Lord, the
work of my hands.
  " May thy bounty  so provide for me, as that I may
not harm the world, or die in their debt.   I hope thou
wilt hear.
  " Never let any apprentice or servant dwell in my
house, who shall never dwell with thee ;  and let not
the  love of money make  me choose  the workers of
iniquity to be with me.
  " O look on Zion, Zion that is thine own ! Remem-
ber thy promise, O God!  and do her good.  Heal
her great breacht for thy name's sake.
  " Cause peace, concord, and love, to be in my fam-
ily  like  a little river, and thy  fear  like a  mighty
stream.
  " Now, O Lord, in the hope that thou  wilt hear, I
Jay all my petitions before thee.   Choose what thou
wilt,  cast away what  thou wilt, I will be content.  I
commit  myself to thee.   I take thee as before, for
my God and Father, for my Saviour, for my sanctifier
for ever.  To all my former engagements I again sub-

  * The death of this young woman some time after gave him
great distress.  lie  speaks  afterwards with the fullest confi-
dence of her piety.
  •f The division which had lately before taken place in the Se-
cession. 
             MR. JAMES MEIKLE.           51

 scribe, begging that thou wouldest provide for me, so
 that I may attend thine ordinances.  O hear i And I
 desire  in truth,  O terrible Jehovah !  to call  these
 heavens over my head,  the hills and mountains about
 me, the growing grass and corn, to be witnesses, that
 I this day subscribe with my hand to be, through good
 report  and bad  report, thine,  even thine.   Amen,
 amen.  So be it.
  July, 1752.                  James Meikle."

  It is evident from this paper, that a year and a half
 after he had begun business as a surgeon, his original
 resolution of employing his business only as a tempo-
 rary expedient to help him forward to the ministry,
 remained unaltered.  Nor did he finally abandon this
 design till the year 1763,  some time after his  return
 from the navy.  This was the constant subject of his
 prayers; this excited him to application to his busi-
 ness ; to this his private  studies were  uniformly di-
 rected.  Povertydistrcssed him, chiefly because it ob-
 structed his progress ; success in business elated him,
 only as it revived his languish ng hopes of attaining the
 summit of his ambition.   His heart was in divinity,
 while he practised surgery.  It escaped not the obser-
 vation of his pastor, the Rev David Horn, that he had
 never seen a person take so little pleasure in dis-
 coursing on subjects connected  with his own  line of
 business ; and he himself remarks it as an evidence of
thecare of God» that, notwithstanding his eagerness to
 acquire by his business, as a surgeon, what would ena-
 ble him to devote his time to divinity and the previous
 studies, he was  never permitted to exceed  in  his
charges for medicine or attendance in order the soon-
er to gain his object. 
32               THE LIFE OF

  It may here be as proper, therefore, as any where
elbc, to inquire into the ideas which lie had of that of-
fice which he was so anxious to fill ;  and into the mo-
tives which excited him so eagerly to desire it.  Hap-
pily two  papers  have been found in his hand-writing
which  serve to illustrate his views.   The first is dated
Carnwath, July 20, 1755, and begins thus : " O Lord !
conscious of ire levity of  mind I am vexed  with, my
soon wearyingin religious exercises, and my great un-
fitness for the weighty work of the ministry, I desire
to be humbled, and to implore thy kindness, and in the
sincerity  of my heart to lay before thee my motives
and my resolutions."  After stating  various import-
ant considerations which  moved  him to desire to
be employed in  the work of the  ministry,  he adds
these  memorable words :  " As I feel a constant  op-
position in me to all that is holy and divine, I desire
to be chained,  as it were,  by office to religion, and by
a close exercise  therein, and, breathing after commu-
nion with God, to get, through his grace, the antipa-
thy in my heart against what is good dispelled, as far
as my  militant state  can  allow of."  His resolutions
are, that if God should put him  into the ministry,  he
would, through  good  and  bad report, follow Christ;
would  be willing to be  the meanest of his servants ;
would  not take  it ill though he were despised, re-
proached, persecuted for  Christ's sake ; and was de-
termined to preach,  not  for vulgar applause, but to
advance his glory, and to promote the welfare of souls.
" I lay my account," he adds, " with hardships, incon-
veniences, troubles,  and mockings from  the world,
and the men of the world. Nor is it in view of profit
or honor that  1  desire to  change my occupation, for
by kind providence I am  now as well  as I can wish;
but I would fain be poor for Christ's sake, who, though 
MR. JAMES MEIKLE.           33
he was rich, for my sake became poor, that I through
his poverty might be made rich.  I shall never be sur-
prised to find all winds blow  against me, and every
thing blasted in my temporal estate ; it shall be my
joy, if the cause of God and the gospel prosper in my
hands.  And,  finally, I resolve to  be  honest  to the
trust committed to me, and in all things, to act not
only as before thee, but as one that  must give an ac-
count of my stewardsnip,  that I may do it with joy."
He concludes :  " Receive this mite into thy mighty
treasury; O Lord 1 and grant my request; and I beg
of thee that thou wouldest bless me with a sound judg-
ment, clear insight into the things of God, a stiong
memory, and with every faculty to fit me for so great
a work."
   The  other paper, which was written some years
after, consists of two parts—the one, a list of all the
scriptural qualifications of a gospel-minister, arranged
in order, that by it he might be guided in self-exami-
nation and prayer—the other, a series of advices re-
specting the conduct proper to be pursued by a minis-
ter of the gospel,  written with the evident intention
of assisting his own mindin weighing the importance
and duties of the office to which he aspired.  As these
advices not only shew how conscientious he was in his
views, but contain hints which may be profitable to
those whom God has put into the ministry, they are
here subjoined.
   "  Contract not much carnal  acquaintance.
   "  Learn to be abused without becoming angry.
   "  Meddle not much with the affairs of tuis life.
   "  Argue coolly, and from conscience,  not for vic-
tory.
   "  Affect not a shew of sanctimony before men.
   "  Be not ashamed of piety in any  company. 
34               THE LIFE OF

  " Whatever else thou readest, read a double por-
tion in the scriptures of truth.
  " Shun familiarity with the men of the world, else
celestial  truths, as uttered by thee, will be contemned.
  " Care not much about thine own reputation, so
truth  and the go  pel suffer not.
  " Learn daily more  of Christ and more of thyself,
else thy other studies will profit little.
  " Seek not great things for thyself, seek not great
approbation,  great applause, great conveniences, or a
great income ; but seek great things for Christ, seek
to him great glory,  many converts,  and   much  fruiVs
of righteousness.
  " Consider the  preciousness of souls, the value of
salvation, the weight of the sacred charge, the terrors
of the Almighty, the awful day of account, and thine
own  utter inability—then  shaltthou have no vain con-
fidence,  but depend on God alone.
  " Please all men in  the  truth, but wound not the
truth to  please any.
  " Set thy affections on things above, so shall spirit-
ual things be thy delight, and not thy burden.
  " In company,  always study to drop something for
edification, and so in a manner preach occasionally, as
well as statedly.
  " Be mucj with God in secret, so shall God be with
thee in public.
  " See  that the  carriage of-every  one  in thy family
be a pattern  to all observers, and  not matter of re-
proach, to the joy of enemies.
  " Let  thy  charge be continually on thy mind, and
not only  pray with them in public,  and from house to
house, but carry  them to thy closet, and pray for them
in private. 
MR. JAMES MEIKLE.
   " Neglect not to visit them at all proper times, but
especially embrace those golden opportunities, sick-
ness and affliction.
   " Have a fellow-feeling  with  the sufferings of all
thy flock.
   " Let thy conversation be uniform; and what thou
preachest on Sabbath, practise through the week.
   " Not only press charity on the wealthy, but let thy
example, according to thy power, shew the way.
   " Rather lend thine ear to reproaches than applaus-
es :  the  first may let us see some foible or failing
with which we are chargeable ;  but the  last  is very
apt to  kindle self-conceit, of which every one has
enough.
   " Act the Christian  even in eating and drinking;
and be not, when at a feast, though  temperate at other
times, a glutton or a wine-bibber.
   " With respect to thy charge consider that thou
art made the steward of a family, and therefore must,
seeing the great Master allows it, provide food for all,
flesh for the stiong, and milk for  bhe weak. See that
the worship of God be set up in all families, and per-
formed twice a-day, and  that parents instruct their
children in private prayer,  to say grace at meat, and
to keep the Sabbath.  See that  the rising  generation
under thy care grow in knowledge, and  be well ac-
quainted with the scriptures.   Be well  acquainted
with the  knowledge and conversation of  every one
that is admitted to the Lord's table.
  " Keep an  exact list or catalogue of thy  charge;
who  is pious or profligate, knowing  or  ignorant,  in
affluence or exigence, in health  or sick ; and read it
often. 
36               THE LIFE OF
  " Give a pleasant ear to the commendations of oth-
ers, but always frown away the friend that would com-
mend thee to thy face.
  " Be  sparing in producing specimens of thy learn-
ing, or criticisms on the words in the original, espe-
cially before the unlearned ;  for a nice grammarian
may be but a novice in the gospel.
  " In preaching, aim at God's glory and the good of
souls; and then, without  deviating from that  rule,
please all men as much as possible.
  " Let thy sermons be always the  fruit of much
study and application ;  and never dare to serve God or
his people with that which cost thee nought.
  " Never be biggotted to  thine own opinions, or in-
terpretations of particular  texts, lest,  in establishing
them, thou be seeking ;-.fter thine own fame ;  but if
the thoughts of others be as orthodox and c© sonant
to the analogy of faith, if  it be necessary for peace
sake, acquiesce in them.
  " Never shew a fondness for new doctrines, which,
among Christians, are little better than  new gods were
among the Israelites;  but  contend earnestly for the
faith once  (and but once, because sufficiently) deliver-
ed to the saints in the  scriptures of truth ; and  still
walk in that way which, though very old, is very good."
  Such were the views which Mr. Meikle had formed
to himself of  the nature,  importance, and duties of
the ministerial office, and of the qualifications neces-
sary for  the proper discharge of it; and so conscien-
tious and upright does  he appear to have been in the
motives by which he was influenced to aspire at the
honour  of filling it.   Yet  though possessed of tal-
ents also,  which, if properly cultivated, might  have
fitted him  for great usefulness in the church, it pleas-
ed God, who chooses whom he will to carry forward 
             MR.  JAMES MEIKLE.           37

 the designs of his grace, to decline his offers of ser-
 vice in the gospel.'  Providence continued, from the
 first moment that he formed the design, to hedge  up
 his way by one means or another, so that he could not
 find his desired path, till at length he abandoned the
 attempt, and became satisfied that it was enough that
 it had been in his heart to build the house of the Lord.
 The obstructions which prevented his progress in the
 earlier part of his life, have been already stated; the
 following narrative will sufficiently detail those which
 succeeded and finally disappointed his hopes.
  When he began the study of medicine, and after-
 wards commenced business, it was only, as has been
 mentioned,  as a secondary object.  He  hoped, by a
 few years practice,  to save as much money as would
 support him and the family during the course of  his
 studies for  the ministry ; but after making the trial
 he  found this impracticable.  When he went to Carn-
 wath, he had nothing; he was even somewhat in debt.
 His mother and two sisters were left behind i« Edin-
 burgh till his prospect of success should justify their
 removal; and, in the meanwhile, he resided for twelve
 months in a mean  house, without a servant, and  al-
 most without furniture.   His diligence and frugality
 soon placed  him in such circumstances, that he ven-
 tured, in the course of the year  1751, to move to a
 different  house,  and bring the  family to reside  with
 him; but the expencc of furniture, the charge of the
family's  maintenance, the distress and death cf his
younger sister, by severe disorder with which he was
himself attacked, and which for  some time threatened
his  life, together  with the narrowness of his income,
left him,  at  the close of the year 175S,  considerably
                       D 
38
THE LIFE OF
in debt, and as incapable of prosecuting his favorite
purpose as at any preceding period.
  It was perhaps this concurrence of circumstances,
adverse in themselves, and discouraging with respect
to his future views,  which in part occasioned  a de-
jection of spirits under which  he labored about this
time,  and  which it does not appear that he ever expe-
rienced in any great degree at  any  future  period of
life.  The duration  of-his distress of mind, and the
particular manner in  which it afflicted him,  cannot
now,  owing to the loss of a few leaves of a  manu-
script, be known.  It appears,  however, that his spir-
itual  gloom was suddenly dispelled, and that the ap-
prehensions of divine indignation with which he was
assailed, gave place to holy serenity and joy.   " The
light  of God's countenance beamed again on my soul,
as  I was walking alone from church,  and made my
wandering thoughts return to him as their centre, and
the rest of my soul; so I went  on rejoicing."   On the
review of his condition, he found that he had himself
only to blame for the distress which he had suffered ;
for ** he had not prized  the presence of God which
for some  time he remarkably enjoyed,  nor improved
those happy  moments as he should have  done.  He
 had,  besides, indulged in spiritual pride and carnal
 security; not looking narrowly lest any unobserved
 sins  might provoke God to frown on  him, boastiDg
 that  his mountain was established, and resting more
 on the bliss of enjoyment, than on him whom he en-
 joyed."
    For some lime after this, outward matters assumed
 a more promising appearance.  His business increas-
 ed ;  he was  enabled  to discharge some troublesome
 debts; and  he began to entertain the hope  of soon
  abandoning surgery for divinity.  In a little, however, 
           MR. JAMES MEIKLE.             ss

 the clouds returned after the rain ; he was seized with
 trouble of body, and this again was succeeded by dis-
 tress of circumstances.
   Towards the end of January, 1755, he felt himself
 one day much indisposed, but went about business as
 usual.  " I slept," says he,  "at the house  of an ac-
 quaintance who was always dear to me, his discourse
 ever edifying, and his prayer,s like one  of those  who
 are already on the borders of the better  country,  into
 which he soon after entered. I was very uneasy during
 the night, and still more so next day ; but I got home,
 though with difficulty, not being willing to be absent
 from my own house, either in sickness or in death.  I
 immediately took to bed, being seized with'a bad fever.
 Now, thought I, I am perhaps to die,  and  shall die
 in debt, and leave  my family destitute.   But what I
 lamented most was, that I should sleep in silence, and
 not serve the Lord in the land of the living, nor ex-
 ecute the designs which I had formed for the  advance-
 ment of his glory.   These thoughts tossed my weak
 spirits much ; but my eternal concerns gave me no
 uneasiness; for I can say, that  at that time I could
 commit my spirit into the hands of the God  of truth,
 my gracious Redeemer, knowing in whom I had be-
 lieved.  Thus, visited by my acquaintances, I continu-
 ed till about the  13th or 15th day  of the fever, when
 these words of the  118th psalm, " I shall not die, but
 live, and declare the works of the Lord," were, as it
 were, audibly  spoken to me between sleeping  and
waking ; and my faith helped me to lay hold thereon,
 so that my fears fled, and I was no more sad.   Praises
then dwelt on my faultering tongue, and I spake with-
in myself to God, what moment I had respite from the
disease, yea, I told my sister, when  weeping at my
bed-side, that I should not die.  From the 20th day I 
40              THE LIFE OF
 began to amend.  I now thought  that my life, in a
 double respect, belonged to God, who had  redeemed
 me from going down to the grave, and resolved, if he
 should be pleased  to accept of me, to devote the re-
 mainder of my days to his service in the gospel, and
 to arrange my affairs so as to begin my studies next
 Martinmas."
  Before Martinmas came, however, new  difficulties
 occurred to obstruct his design.  This was the mere
 afflicting, because he could not exculpate himself from
 having  involved himself in them by his own  impru-
 dence.  His debts were diminishing, his business in-
 creasing, and, had he had no further views than con-
 tinuance in business, he found himself, on the 20th of
 July,* "by the kindness of Providence, as  well  as he
 could wish.   But he hastily aspired at  conveniences
 which he ought for a while to have declined; for, find-
ing it disagreeable to be changing his habitation, as he
had done every season, he purchased a small house in
 the village, and thus increased his  debts.   This was
not all; when he took possession of it at Whitsunday,
 1756, some  repairs became absolutely necessary to
 render it habitable ; and though a  small  sum  must
have been sufficient for the  purchase and reparation
 of a thatched  house,  yet it was  more than he  could
aflord without borrowing,and itled to embarrassments
 which ultimately defeated his intention of prosecuting
 his studies.   " I cannot help thinking that I erred,
for I should have essayed to build the temple of the
 Lord, before I chose to sit in mine own house."
  It were tedious to  enter into a minute detail  of the
 embarrassments and distresses of the following year.
 Some of his  creditors became impatient, and took
* See p.-32. 
MR. JAMES  MEIKLE.          41
legal steps  to  enforce payment.  He examined the
state of his  affairs, and found that his property con-
siderably exceeded his debts ; but he had imprudently
locked it up, and was unable to raise what was neces-
sary to satisfy their demands.  The idea of bankrupt-
cy was terrible  to him; " for," says he, « the name
of honesty was  always dear to me ; and I cannot ex-
cuse peoples' becoming bankrupt, unless some great
loss or series  of misfortunes have befallen them;'
but how to escape it, occasioned him many  anxious
and  perplexing thoughts.  At last, after satisfying
the most clamorous of his creditors, by giving  to some
full, and to others partial payment, he resolved, May
1757, on committing the management of his property*
which was more than sufficient to answer all demands,
on him, to a friend, and betake himself to sea.
  It was not without much serious deliberation that
he formed this  resolution.  By  continuing in Carn-
wath, he  suspected he could never attain the object
which he  had so long in view; " for,"  says he, " al-
though I could  live  very well, yet, without demand-
ing higher prices than my patients were able to afford,
I could not clear my debts, and lay up any thing for
attending the university, and studying divinity."  Re-
solving, therefore, to make another effort to attain
his grand  object, he sat down, and weighed the argu-
ments in favour of going  to sea and against it, that he
might satisfy his conscience respecting what was his
duty. His reasonings,  as stated  by himself, were
after this manner : Pro. " Have I  not engaged to use
every effort to get forward to the ministry ?"   Contra,
" I  have,  and  am determined^ though I remain at
home, not to desist."—Pro. " What method, then,,
shall now  be taken to forward this intention ?"  Contra,
                      P 2 
42              THE LIFE  OF
« None that is sinful."—Pro. " But i& it sinful to go
aboard a man of war as a surgeon V   Contra.  " Not
positively, but it may be so by consequence."—Pro.
" How so I"  Contra.  " Because, by going, I shall
throw  myself into bad company, expose myself to
heai* the  sacred name  profaned, and see the Sabbath
broken, cast myself out of the church, and neither
enjoy ordinances, nor the fellowship of the godly."—
Pro. " I  grant it ; but I can say that I propose to do
(his, not  out of choice, nor directly for gain.  I will
study to reprove vice, and may have opportunity to do
good. O grant it, though it were but to one soul! I shall
have a separate place  in the ship, and will study to
keep it as close as possible, that I may not be grieved
with hearing and seeing wickedness, nor tempted to
commit it.   And as for sermons, except a few in sum-
mer,  I much oftener  want than  enjoy them, here
where I am : may I have God's presence."—Contra.
u But what moves me to go ?"■—Pro. " To get the
means of going forward to the ministry, to prepare
myself for it, to pursue  my studies  with this view,
and to have occasion and subject for some divine med-
itations.
  .Having thus satisfied his conscience respecting the
step he was to take, he accepted of an offer made him
to be surgeon to a ship which traded to the coast of
Guinea.  Every thing in his opinion was prepared, and
already he had taken farewell of many of his friends,
 when, on the day previous to his intended departure,
the 5th of July, 1757,  Providence blasted his design.
He had paid off almost all his creditors, as fast as his
 accounts came  in.   There  was nothing to give him
 uneasiness  except one bill, and  this his  agent had
 agreed to manage for him, having ample security for
 repayment  in  the property which was  left behind; 
MR. JAMES MEIKLE.
43
but the creditor took alarm at his going abroad, affect-
ed to distrust the agent who was to manage his affairs
in his absence, and  laid him under arrest.  Not a
friend to whom he applied would advance the money
for him, or even  become  his surety.  In  this emer-
gency, it became necessary to part with what money
he had reserved for defraying the expences of hie
journey to England ; and "when the day came which,"-
says he, " I, but not God, had appointed," he found
himself compelled to remain at home.
  How greatly he must have been mortified by disap-
pointment, attended with circumstances of such  pub-
licity, it is easy to conceive.   It is more interesting to
remark with what Christian temper he bore it.  Dur-
ing the tumult of  his passions,  he wrote Med. XI.
of " Solitude Sweetened," In which, after reviewing
the providence of  God, expressing his faith in  the
divine wisdom and care, and rejoicing in the  hope of
eternal life, he breaks out in triumph: M  I shall yet
see his kindness large as my faith, and his mercy mea-
sure with my widest expectations ;" and prays, " May
I never get  the desire of my heart but with God's
blessing, nor the request of my lips but with his good-
will."  After writing this Meditation, he remarks that
he was easy in mind, and dropped for the present the
idea of going abroad ; and when he reflected on his
duty to his friends who had abandoned him in his dis-
tress, " I could  not," he  says, " but forgive them,
and  even  cease in mine  own mind to be angry at
them."
  It was not long before he became satisfied  that he
had not acted'wisely in accepting of a place in a Guin-
ea ship, and that God had dealt kindly in restraining
him  from  countenancing a trade, on the iniquity of
which he had not sufficiently reflected.   As, however,, 
44               THE  LIFE OF
 no other method occurred by which he could extricate
 himself  from the embarrassments of his situation,
 and  be enabled to prosecute his studies, he still en-
 tertained thoughts of going to sea, and in the month
 of December resolved on entering the Royal Navy-
 It was time of war, and a situation as surgeon's mate
 was easily procured.   Before he left home, he endea-
 voured, as before, to satisfy his conscience respecting
 the lawfulness of his  scheme, and drew up a scries
 of resolutions respecting the line of conduot which he
 was determined to pursue.  One of the considerations
 which determined him to persist in going to sea, is too
 memorable, in consequence of the publication of this
 volume, and a former, entitled " Solitude Sweeten-
 ed," to be omitted :  " That if I shall write any thing
 for the support of virtue,  or the suppression  of vice>
 dated  from the watery element, it may be read by
 some whose curiosity  might incline them to look into
 what they would never seek after for the sake of the
 subject.  His resolutions are  expressed thus :
   " Through thine all-assisting grace,  I desire be-
 fore thee, O God, to humble  my soul on account of
my sins, and to seek thy blessing and thy countenance
in the way that I go, that it may be well with my soul.
And through thy grace, distrusting myself, and look-
ing to thee alone for strength to perform them, I de-
sire to lay down my solemn promises before thine om-
nisciency, that in time coming this paper may be a re-
membrancer to me.
   1.  " I resolve to make this  only an opportunity te
help me forward in my great design, and not the em-
ployment of my life.
  2.  " I promise and resolve, through grace, not to
neglect secret prayer and reading of the scriptures, in .
the same manner as I  haye done at home, 
             MR. JAMES MEIKLE.          43

  3. " I promise through the strength of grace, not
to be ashamed of religion, but to espouse it in all its
despised purity,  and to strive against the stream of
general irreligion and depravity.
  4. "  I promise and resolve, through grace, to ab-
stain from all appearance of evil, and to shun every
occasion of sin, as none knows how great a matter a
small spark may kindle.
  5. "  I promise and resolve not to wink  at  sin  in
others, but rather expose its ugly  appearance, that
my conversation may shine spotless before the sons of
vice.
  6. "  I shall remark the good hand of my God upon
me  in all his kind providences, with silence and resig-
nation  under all his disposals.
  7. "  I  shall employ my  time,  my pen, and the
talents thou hast given me, in matters of importance
for  God's glory and the  good of souls ; and therefore
beg thy kind assistance for this end.
  8. " I shall, through grace, study to keep an equal
frame of mind in every state, in adversity to be thank-
ful, in prosperity  humble, and in all conditions to live
to thy praise; and still to remember, that no change
of circumstances will release me from my obligation
to the above particulars : as a sign of which, through
grace,  and before thee,  I subjoin my name,
                               James Meikle."
                                V
  Towards the close of  December, he left Carnwath
for  Leith, from  which  he was to sail in one of the
King's ships appointed as convoy to the trade ;  but his
trunk, through the negligence of the person who had
charge of it, did not arrive in time, and he was again
disappointed.  Another convoy was not expected to
sail  for two months ; he was afraid lest a residence so 
46               THE LIFE OF

long in Edinburgh or Leith might exhaust his little
stock of money ;  and it became necessary  for him to
return to Carnwath.  This was to him a source of new
distress.  His acquaintances in jest  welcomed him
on his return from foreign places ; and some of them
insinuated, that neither formerly, nor at  this time,
had he any serious intention of going to sea, but that
he only gave it out as a stratagem to obtain payment
of his  accounts.  Suspected  by some, ridiculed by
others, almost without employment,  and  doubting
in his own mind whatthese continued disappointments
could mean ; he  studied  submission  to  the will  o*
God,* and spent two melancholy months waiting for
an opportunity to  depart.   At length, on the 10th  of
March, 1758, he left Carnwath once more, and the next
week embarked on board the Arcturus  tender  for
London.   After passing at Surgeon's Hall, he receiv-
ed an appointment from the Navy-Office, of second
surgeon's  mate to the Portland, a fifty gun ship, and
set out immediately  for  Portsmouth  on  foot.  Al-
though he could have reached that place on the even-
ing of Saturday,  the 29th of April,  he prefered halt-
ing at a village within ten miles of it till the morning
of the  following  Monday, "  not daring," he says,
w to join such company on such a day," and judging
it more proper to devote the last Sabbath which per-
haps for some time he should spend on shore to those
religious exercises which his circumstances particu-
larly required.  That he might not be exposed to in-
terruption, he retired into the fields, look his bible,
paper, pen, and ink, along with him, and spent  the
day " pleasantly," he says, " praying that he might
above all things be preserved in his new situation from

       * See Solitude Sweetened, Med. vi. ix. xxxix. 
MR. JAMES  MEIKLE.
47
:tn and vice,  and committing  his  friend at home to
the  guidance  of Providence."   In these fields he
wrote the ninth meditation in this volume, the peru-
sal  of which  will give the reader some idea of the
manner in which he was employed.
  Mr. Meikle had scarcely entered the ship, when he
was confounded at the discovery of a degree of wick-
edness, of which it does not appear that he had  ever
before formed any conception.  " It exceeded," he
says,  " all  belief,  and I soon concluded that here I
could not stay."  His journals are every where filled
with complaints of the abandoned conduct both of the
officers and crew.  Their vile habit of profane swear-
ing, their  contempt of the Sabbath, their drunken-
ness, and gross and  undisguised debauchery, were a
continual source of  distress  to him during the four
years that he continued on board.   " I believe," says
he, in a letter to the  Rev. Mr. Horn, " the demoniacs
in the gospel were never more under the devil's  pow-
er than many of these men are, whether we look to
their lives or their  language."   Flis righteous soul
was so vexed from day to day with their filthy conver-
sation and unlawful deeds, that it preyed on  his  spir-
its, and threatened to affect his health.  " This  day,"
says he, July 7, 1758, " when I took a serious  sur-
vey of the wickedness practised around me, when I
saw all fear of God cast off, heard them on the morn-
ing of the Lord's day swearing, and singing obscene
songs, and observed the ship's boats bringing  lewd
women aboard, no respect being paid to the holy Sab-
bath which God has set for a sign between the Chris-
tian world and himself, yea the very shame of sin being
gone, I was filled with vexation, grief, and, might I
say, holy indignation, till my breast ached, and I was
pained at my very heart.'1 
THE LIFE OF
  It was not merely compassion for the poor wretch-
es themselves that occasioned Mr. Meikle such dis-
tress.  He trembled for himself.  Some of his wicked
companions had been educated religiously;  when he
reproved them, they replied to his reproofs, that ere
long he would not be so squeamish, and quoted ex-
amples to convince him that he would soon be recon-
ciled to their manners, and adopt  them as his own.
" These," says he, " were terrifying thoughts to me.
They led me to reflect seriously on my own  vileness
and my own weakness, and to fly to the divine promise,
with resolution to keep out of the way of sin, lest, as
they predicted, I should be  ensnared, and become as
one of them."  It did not satisfy his conscience that he
abstained from their vices ; he dreaded  the effect of
witnessing their wickedness in lessening his detes-
tation of sin, and strengthening the depraved inclina-
tions of his heart.  " One thing," says he, in a letter
to a friend, " which I fear, is, lest the frequent sight
of sin diminish that abhorrence of it which  I should
always entertain.   Sin, the oftener it is committed, is
the more aggravated, and so the sight of it should be-
come the more grievous to me ;  and can I  say that I
have sustained no injury, if I begin, through famili-
arity with it, to hate  it less than before ? Sometimes
I reflect how under the law the touch of a dead body,
or  any unclean  thing, though accidentally or unwit-
tingly, made  the person ceremonially  unclean ; and
hence infer, that the very hearing, seeing, and  know-
ing of sin, considering the corruption that remains
within us, renders us unclean, especially, if by grace
in vigorous exercise,a real detestation of the sin be not
kindled in the soul,and a proper sorrow wrought there
for the dishonour done to the Most High.  Now, dear
sir, you see my critical situation ; pray for mc." 
MR. JAMES  MEIKLE.           49
  Amidst the dangers with which he was surrounded,
Mr. Meikle put his trust in God.   It comforted him,
he says, that the Lord, who delivered just Lot, know-
eth how to deliver the godly out of temptations ; and
that if he should not answer his prayers by delivering
him from this situation of danger, he would do it, by
making his grace sufficient for him, and his strength
perfect in weakness.  It was to him, according to his
faith.  " Though the wicked," he says, " gave me
grief without, yet God comforted me, and was the joy
of my soul."  And again he expresses himself thus :
" Woe is me,  because I am a man of unclean lips, and
I dwell in the midst  of a people of unclean lips I O
the unclean things that the unclean lips convey to us,
if not to our heart to defile us, yet to our ear to dis-
quiet us I Yet I have God to bless that I was, as it were,
saved by fire, purified even by means of sin—a myste-
ry I never knew before ;  for the  more of their sin I
saw, the more I hated it, and was made to deplore the
fountain of all, original guilt."
   Had it not been for the wickedness of those on board
the Portland, Mr. Meikle would have felt no desire for
some time to change his situation in life.  He kept his
health ; he was satisfied with his pay ; he had a birth to
himself and the first mate, who was a quiet, inoffensive,
but irreligious lad, and gave him  little disturbance ;
and the officers of the ship treated him with politeness.
His character  appears, during the whole period of his
continuance at sea, to  have commanded the respect of
his ungodly companions.  They sometimes ridiculed
him indeedfor his strictness; yet he remarks, "Though
they were wicked, I had their favour, which my fellow
mate had not." They desisted, on more occasions than
one, from sports on the Sabbath which were disagree-
                       E 
50              THE LIFE OF
able to him; and took it in good part when he reproved
some of them very sharply for their vices.  In conse-
quence of his honest endeavors for their benefit, some
of them even confessed and lamented their folly, and
putthemselves underrestraintfora while. Their fickle
resolutions, it is true, were commonly soon  broken,
" yet," says he, " I never gave  over now and then to
reprove, though I sometimes had little  thanks for it,
not knowing when God might give the blessing ;" and
though he could not boast of being the means of the
conversion of any of them, he had the comfort of doing
his duty, correcting some abuses, and preserving the
esteem even of those who would not be reformed.  Af-
ter he had been three years on board, he could write
to his sister thus:  " Abstracting from their wicked-
ness, and surely, when we see transgressors we should
be  grieved, my situation is singularly happy;  for
there is not an  officer aboard but is ready to oblige
me, and to do any thing to serve me."
  The happiness which Mr.Meikle experienced when
at sea, did not result only or chiefly from the favour of
man.   He had pleasures of a superior kind; the trans-
0«ndant happiness  of  fellowship with God,  joy and
peace in believing, and assured  hopes of eternal life.
" Whatever God shall do with me here,"  he says in
his journal, July 28, 1758,  " yet I know that I shall
praise him among  assembled elders, and  serve him
before the throne among those who are made priests
and kings to him for ever and ever." And about a year
after   he writes to his sister in  the following words :
" I may say from experience, that religion sweetens
all places and all conditions; and that the man who sets
his love on God, need not  live alone, though far from
all his friends and acquaintances.  Godrulesalwaysbest
for his people, and a cheerful submission to  the divine 
MR. JAMES MEIKLE.          51
disposal is our duty; and when frank, and full, and from
the heart, how pleasant is it !" Indeed, almost every
one of the meditations in " Solitude Sweetened," and
" the Traveller," which were written at sea, might be
quoted in proof of the veiy "flourishing  state  of reli-
gion in his soul.
  The religion of Mr. Meikle was not  the religion of
an indolent man.   He kept himself, he tells us, pretty
close in his birth, except when his duty called him on
deck: for the horrid oaths which were continually ban-
died about on it,  often drove him down sooner than he
intended ; but he filled up every moment of his time in
some useful or at least innocent employment.  As a
specimen of his  almost incredible diligence, take the
following summary of his occupations from the first of
May to the end of December, 1758, Let it be remem-
bered at the  same time, that during this  period the
Portland was sent on three different secret expeditions
to the coast of France, to St. Maloes, to Cherburg and
to St.Cas' bay ; that much time must have been occu-
pied in the embarkation and disembarkation of troops,
much confusion occasioned by the multitude on board,
and much additional duty necessarily laid on the sur-
geons by the number of wounded men under their
charge.  Yet during  this busy period, Mr.  Meikle
found leishre to  compose a paraphrase on the Song of
Solomon in  verse, and " the Christian Compass," a
paraphrase on the 119th Psalm, each of which would
fill a considerable volume ; besides a great variety of
occasional poems.  A small tract against the lewdness
and debauchery  so common in the Navy, and a consi-
derable treatise, which may perhaps afterwards be pub-
lished, entitled " A Word in Time of Need, or a few
Thoughts in  Honour of Religion," were  written  by
him within the same space of time.  To these must be 
52              THE LIFE OF
added, his journal, and his diary for these eight months,
and all the meditations in " the Traveller" and " Soli-
tude Sweetened." corresponding to this date.
  Yet though he wrote so  much, he did not neglect
reading, and other religious  duties.   " I began," he
says, June, 1758, "to prize time more than ever I had
done before, and studied to get up by fourin the morn-
ing; but sometimes slept longer."*  " Now the scrip-
tures were sweeter to me than ever  (July 7, 1758 ;)
and the method I pursued was, in the  morning first to
pray, lest any thing should disturb me afterwards; then
to read one chapter in the Old, and another in the New
Testament, and then a psalm in  the  metre  version.
At twelve o'clock I  prayed again, and again at four.
At night I read a chapter in both testaments, and an-
other psalm, and then prayed, which I postponed till
the lights were put out, as then I was  least disturbed.
This I mention, not as matter ofboasting, for my pray-
ers may humble, rather than elate me, but to signify
how sweet I then found living near God to be, and to
be in the exercise of commanded duty."
  While Mr. Meikle was occupying himself in this
truly Christian manner, the Portland  received orders
to proceed  to Gibraltar, as  convoy to the trade, and
thence down  the  Mediterranean as  far as Leghorn.
After encountering some hard gales, which drove
them back three several times, they left England on
the 20th January, 1759, reached Gibraltar on the 21st
of February, halted about ten  days at that place, and
arrived at Leghorn on the 25th of March, having nar-
rowly  escaped a French fleet which  had sailed from
Toulon with a view to intercept them.
  During the voyage, Mr. Meikle repeatedly remarks
• See Solitude Sweetened, Med. XLVL 
             MR. JAMES  MEIKLE.           o J

ihe divine kindness to his soul,  and the many sweet
hours which he enjoyed in delightful intercourse with
the God of his salvation.  The Sabbath in particular
was to him a day of spiritual joy.  It was his custom
distinctly to note it, both in his journal of ordinary oc-
currences, and in his diary, in which he recorded his
observations on the events of providence and the state
of his soul, for two reasons ;  first, lest in a situation  in
which there was no distinction made between it and
other days of the week, he should forget the return  of
the day of sacred rest; and, secondly, because, says he;
" I chose to mark how it fared with me on that day in
particular, and always made my request to God the
evening before, that it might  be a good day to my soul."
And though he often laments his exclusion from the
public ordinances of religion, and the great difficulty
which he found in devoting the Sabbath as he ought to
the service of God in private; yet, amidst these dis-
advantages, there is reason to believe that he  enjoyed
as  much of the presence of God, and tasted as much
of the joys of paradise upon it, as ever he did at any
other period of his-life.
   At Leghorn, he had occasion to remark the interpo-
sition of Providence in a very singular manner in his
behalf.  Several of the gentlemen belonging.tothe ship
had formed a party in order to visit the city  of Pisa,
which is not more than twelve miles distant, and enter-
tain themselves with the sight of its famous hanging
tower, and the other curiosities of the place. Mr. Mei-
kle, starting in the morning of the 12th of April, went
on foot  by himself, and enjoyed, he says, by the way,
" pleasant meditations on the lo*e of Christ;"  the rest
followed on horseback.  The afternoon was far advan-
ced before they had sufficiently gratified their curiosity,
                       E2 
54
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In the evening Mr. Meikle's companions  returned ;
but he, being fatigued, and observing that the wind was
foul, so that the fleet which the Portland was to con-
voy could not sail, ventured to remain in Pisa.  Earl)
next morning, he set out for Leghorn;  but the  wind
had changed during the night, and before he could
reach the city, the fleet had weighed, and were alrea-
dy several leagues  on their way.
  By this occurrence he was thrown into inconceivable
perplexity.   In a strange place, ignorant  of the lan-
guage, with no clothes except what were on his body,
with little money in his pocket, without  one personal
acquaintance, and even few Englishmen being left in
the place to take interest in the distresses of their coun-
tryman ; afraid, besides, of the fate of his papers and
other property on board, of the loss of what was due to
him on the  ship's books, and of being detained long be-
fore he could find  an opportunity of getting home ;
what was to be done ? In his distress he applied to the
English Consul; but every expedient  suggested  by
him and some others whom he consulted, misgave.
  After thus spending the remainder of Friday, and
the whole of Saturday, in fruitless contrivances how to
extricate himself from the embarrassments of his situ-
ation, the Sabbath came,on which he resolvedas much
as possible  to banish  care, and to .commit  himself to
God.  It was his custom, when an enemy appeared, or
when at any time he went ashore, to put his Bible in
his pocket, that in any event he might not be deprived
of the consolation which the perusal of it is calculated
to afford;  and on this occasion he remarks that " he
was so happy as to have along with him his dear com-
paniqn, the Bible."   Early on the morning, therefore,
of the lStJi of April, he retired to a forest which lay a
 considerable way out of town on the road to Pisa, and 
MR. JAMES MEIKLE.           55
spent the day in devotional exercises.  He sung the
sixty-third Psalm,  " a psalm written in a wilderness,
which," says he, "gave me great comfort in my wil-
derness."  He read the hundred and second Psalm,
which " well suits the afflicted when he is overwhelm-
ed, and poureth out his complaint before the  Lord."
He engaged repeatedly in prayer, and in  meditation
on  God and the dispensations of his providence  to-
wards his people, and himself in particular.  As the
day advanced, the  wind sprung up, and it began to
rain.  He took shelter from the storm in the trunk of
a hollow tree, and  standing  within it, wrote the fol-
lowing  lines,  which are inserted, not for any excel-
lence in the poetry, but because of the circumstances
in which they were  composed, and to shew the temper
of his mind on this  trying occasion.

   "the confidence of  the solitary exile ;
 Written  in a Forest beteveen Leghorn and Pisa, .Ipril 15, 1759,
    •' A  stranger in a foreign land,
      I tli row myself on thee :
    There's help in that Almighty hand
      That made both land and sea.

    " Though far from friends, and far from home,
      I am not far from God ;
    He will not stand aloof; he'll come,
      And surely do me good.

    " Upon thy pow'r, Lord, I  -jvill lean ;
      Why should I bound thy ways >
    Thy pow'r the hardest things can bring
      To pass with greatest ease.

    " Oft have I seen thy former love,
      Still will I trust in thee ;
    Thou cans't not cease from heav'n above
      Kindly to loek on me, 
Si
THE LIFE OF
    " How to relieve thou always know'it,
     Thou art as wise as true ;
    And what infinite wisdom plans,
     Infinite pow'r can do.

    " Why doubt my Father's love ? for though
     His providence now frown,
    To  me with kindness overflow
     His word and ways each one.

    " The world is thine ; and every where
     Thour't present, O most High !
    I cast myself upon thy care ;
     I on thy word rely."

  After the rain ceased, he drew nearer the city, andr
reclining on a bank, wrote a few verses ; but the wind
still blowing high,  the evening growing chill, and he
himself becoming faint, for he had tasted nothing  all
that day but a draught of cold water, and eaten little
the day before, he returned to the city.  Calling at a
house to  which he was kindly invited, he had not  sat
long before information was brought him that the Eng-
lish fleet had been  driven back by contrary winds, and
were arrived in the roads.  Animated by this delight-
ful, but unexpected intelligence of an event which so
evidently marked the care  of Providence, he made all
possible  haste  towards the shore ;  but it was late, it
blew hard, and it  was morning before he could  get
aboard.  As he rowed towards the ship, it fell calmer,
the wind became fair, the signal for sailing was hoist-
ed ; and within two hours after he entered the Port-
land, the fleet were under way with a fair wind and a-
fresh gale.
  How ignorant are we  of the gracious intention of
events, of which at the moment  we are disposed  to
complain ! The wind which chilled  him, and  the rain
Which  drove him for shelter into the trunk of a tree, 
MR. JAMES MEIKLE.
57
were the instruments of his deliverance.  " This in-
terposition of Providence for me,"  he says,  " was
astonishing ; that God should send a contrary gust of
wind out of his treasuries, and turn a whole fleet out
of their intended course for one  poor worm ! and,
whenever  that end was accomplished, ordered a fair
wind to blow, so that we were obliged to put back no
more."  It appears to have struck even the thought-
less sailors with  surprise ; for they hailed him as he
approached the vessel, in their rough and irreligious
manner, " Come along  you praying d—1;" adding,
that the winds would not permit them to leave Leg-
horn without him.
   His first care was to acknowledge God.   " I had
pleasant reflections," he soys,  " on the sudden and
sweet change which Providence had made in my cir-
cumstances.  The other day I was in a forest in Italy,
 solitary, left behind, and friendless; but now in my
 own ship, and already many leagues advanced in our
 intended  voyage."   Amidst the  glow of gratitude
 which he  felt for his deliverance, he wrote, April 18,
the following lines:

       *' Awake, each grateful thought, and sing
        The Lord's o'er-ruling hand ;
       For thee concern'd, th' Eternal King
        See, and astonish'd stand !

       " Heav'n's hosts might well engross his care;
        Angelic ev'ry form;
       Yet strange! see him on earth prepare
        His way to bless a worm !

       '• At his command, the billows swell,
        The  winds impetuous blow,
       And veer about, and  quick fulfil
        His kind designs below. 
58
THE LIFE OF
     " I cannot praise thee as I should—
        With gratitude inspire ;
     I cannot praise thee as I would—
        Accept the faint desire.

     " Thy kindness I will ne'er forget,
        But there astonish'd gaze,
     And all my life on earth will set
        Apart to shew thy praise."

  After a  prosperous voyage, the fleet  arrived  at
Gibraltar, about the middle of May; but the Port-
land, instead  of proceeding homeward,  was ordered
in a few weeks to join  Admiral  Boscawen, off Toulon,
and continued cruizing in the Mediterranean till the
month of August.  This was a serious disappointment
to Mr. Meikle.   He  was impatient to  get home,  in
order to pursue his intended studies.  He was beyond
expression  disgusted at  the  wickedness practised
around him, which his utmost  exertions were unable
to restrain, and which, in spite of himself,  he  was
obliged to  witness ; and no consideration of emolu-
ment could make him pleased with the prospect of
being doomed, for another season, to associate with
wretches, the greater part of whom neither feared
God, nor regarded man.   The crew rejoiced in some
prizes  they had  made, and in the  prospect of more
during their cruize ;  but  to Mr. Meikle,  these were
objects of little moment.  He  considered the divine
providence, of the goodness of which he had so large
experience, " as anever-failing treasure,  a bank out
of which the  necessities of all the  people  of God are
supplied."  He submitted to that as an affliction which
gave them  joy, and  felt  inexpressibly happy in being
enabled to  believe, that what to sense and reason ap-
peared so adverse, "  was  certainly well .'.one towards
him, being,"  he says, " the disposal of my best and 
             MR. JAMES  MEIKLE.          59

dearest friend." " This happy frame of spirit," he adds,
"and quietness of mind, which is  only his gift, this
resignation to his holy will, and confident dependence
on his providence and fatherly care,  I accounted a
greater prize than though I had shared ten thousand
pounds."
   Before they sailed, Mr. Meikle, on the 7th of June,
got ashore, climbed privately  the south side  of  the
rock, and spent the greater part of the  day in  prayer
and fasting, "pouring  out  to God,"  he says, "my
confession  and  complaint."  In  that  sultry spot, he
had " no shelter but the rocks, no covering but the
heavens :" but God was very gracious to him  ; " the
naked  rock was to me," he says, " like Bethel, God's
house, where God was pleased to meet with me."
   During  their cruize, we find him  sometimes re-
joicing,  sometimes  complaining.   "Vain  thoughts
rising within me," he says, on one  occasion, " made
it a melancholy day ;  yet I thereby learned to depend
more on all-sufficient grace and the  divine  promise,
than on the manifestation ; and I was led to see  my
own nothingness  if God  should withdraw  but for a
moment.   The ensuing Sabbath, God, who  is rich
in mercy, returned to my soul  with his loving-kindness,
and made me triumph in him ;  yet was  I vexed with
melancholy thoughts, springing from cursed unbelief,
how it might fare with my friends at home."  " The
God of never failing mercy," says he, on another oc-
casion,  " was  gracious to my soul this day, yet I
thought, and verily believed, that none who ever tasted
that God  is gracious, had such a multitude of vain
thoughts as I was troubled with."  Again, " not only
sinners without, but  sin within,  vexed me  this day,
yet God was good and gracious to me."  And  again,
" this day  I was satisfied with streams of the same 
iv               THE LIFE OF

overflowing river that had refreshed me often before ;
but wickedness swelled about me to an incredible de-
gree, so that I was weary of my life."
  The fleet under Boscawen had not long returned to
Gibraltar, before information was received that M. de-
la Clue, with the French fleet, were passing the Gut.
They immediately pursued, overtook the French next
day, and gained, on the 18th of August, a signal vic-
tory, taking three ships of the line,  and destroying
two.  The  particulars of  this engagement belong to
the history of the  country, rather than of Mr. Mei-
kle.   It is enough here to observe, that the Portland
was five hours engaged, and lost a considerable num-
ber of men  ; that she narrowly escaped being blown
up by a six-pound cartridge  of gun-powder, which
blew up at  the very door of the fore  powder maga-
zine ; that  Mr. Meikle sat composedly  during the
chase, writing Meditation  C. of this volume, till the
drum called all  hands to quarters ; and  that during
the heat of the engagement,  when, in consequence
of the blowing up of the cartridge, he  expected to go
down to the deep in  a moment; with a serenity of
mind, the thought of which long after refreshed him,
he committed his soul to God.*  He also  remarks
with gratitude to his preserver, that, while in one of
the ships, a surgeon, and  a  surgeon's mate, lost a
leg each, he escaped ; and observes, that he felt inde-
scribable horror  on reflection at the scene, stunned
with the noise of great guns, pierced with the groans
of the wounded, whose pains he was unable to relieve,
besmeared  with  human blood,  and surrounded with
the dying and the  dead.
  It added considerably to Mr. Meikle's duty  during
the  engagement and afterwards, that the  first mate
* See Secret Survey, Sept. 14, 1~6<). 
             MR. JAMES MEIKLE.           61

had been put ashore at Gibraltar, ill of the scurvy, and
never returned to the  ship.  In other respects,  he
accounted this a happiness.  Though a quiet lad, yet  .
being a stranger to religion, his conversation had often
distressed him, and his company deprived him of that
liberty which he desired for religious exercises. Now,
however, he had the birth for himself;  and as he was
soon after promoted to the rank of first mate, and the
place of  second mate continued vacant during the re-
mainder  of his time at sea, he enjoyed advantages to
which he had formerly been a stranger.  One  of the
first uses which he made of this change  in  his situ-
ation, was to take two of the ship's  boys into his birth,
and to endeavor to train them to the  knowledge and
practice of religion ; and though those  whom he first
took under his charge run off from  the ship as soon as
they reached England, he appears  to have persevered
in the practice as long as he continued on board.
   The Portland, and some other ships, being ordered
home with the prisoners, and  to be  repaired, Mr.
Meikle reached Spithead on the l-6th  of September.
His first business  was to write the  Admiralty, that he
might be superseded.   "  I could willingly," he says,
" have continued to serve my country in my mean sta-
tion,  in  defence of our religion  and  liberties, had
what I daily  saw and heard been  tolerable for me ;
but  their wickedness made  me weary of my life."
i< The poor wretches who had been  preserved from
death in  the late engagement, instead of rendering to
the Lord according to his goodness, gave themselves
up to all  manner of sin.  In their sin, I saw the cor-
ruption of fallen nature ;  for though many  unrenewed
men break not out into the same excess of riot,, yet,
till the saving change commence, the heart is in all the
                         F 
62                THE LIFE OF
same ; and I trembled lest their example should lead
me to look on sin with less abhorrence than before."
  The necessities of the  service, however, obliged
the Admiralty to refuse his petition ;  but he was pro-
moted to the rank of first mate.   They put  to sea,
therefore, on the  22d of October, for the coast of
France ^ and on this  voyage, as formerly,  he tasted
much of the pleasure of true religion.  " November
the 4th, being Sabbath," he observes, " was a day of
refreshing  to  my  soul ;  I was helped, not out of a
rbtoical stupidity,  but being convinced of the  equity
and noble ends, though to me unknown, of God's do-
ings, from  the heart  to welcome all that L.ul befallen
me, and keep silence  because HE had  done it."  And,
Jan. 27, 17G0, he exclaims,  il  O what sweetness my
soul enjoyed this day in his presence, even a foretaste
of that happiness  that refreshes the hosts  above.   I
was made rather to magnify  God in all his ways, than,
murmur at any of his doings."
  While on the coast of France, they  had two very
providential escapes.  The Portland, and  the other
iive ships of inferior force, were employed in watch-
ing a fleet of transports, intended for the invasion of
England, when the signal was  made  for an enemy.
They slipt  their cables and  pursued, supposing the
Heel they descried at a distance to be merchantmen or
transports.  Already they were within  a few leagues
t.f the enemy, when, to  their  confusion, they found
ihr.t the y were running into the  jaws  of  the  Brest
Sect,  commanded-by  Marshal Conflans.   They at-
tempted to fly, but with   scarce a hope of escaping.
The Portland, which sailed very  indifferently since
she was last repaired, was within reach of the ene-
my's shot, and expecting every moment the order  to
• tri^, when a man  ov the  mast-head, announced a 
MR. JAMES MEIKLE.           63
fleet bearing down before the wind.  Signals appeared
at the same instant flying in the French fleet, and in a
little  they  altered their course.  It was the British
fleet under Hawke which now hove in sight.  Every
heart on board the Portland was joy; she turned to
join in the pursuit of her pursuers ;  and by the even-
ing of that day,  Nov. 20, 1759,  one of the greatest
naval  victories was gained which adorn the  annals of
Britain.
  The remains of the French fleet took shelter in the
river Vilaine, and the Portland was stationed on the
coast, along with some other  ships,  to prevent their
escape.  While on this duty,  they were assaulted by
a dreadful tempest on the 1st of Jan.  1760; and the
ship drove.  One anchor was broken off by the fluke,
another through the middle of the  stalk ;  but when
they were almost on shore, and all on board  expected
to perish, the sheet-anchor was let go, which brought
the vessel up, so that she rode out the storm.
  While Mr. Meikle remarked these, and many other
less striking  circumstances in the  course  of divine
providence, his soul mourned in secret over the in-
sensibility  of his companions, whom neither judg-
ments could terrify, nor mercies allure. A paper has
been  found in his own hand-writing, which, in  the
most feeling  manner, expresses  the  anguish of his
heart on their account,  and will supercede the neces-
sity of a more particular  detail.  It has no regular
connection of sentences, but seems to have been writ-
ten occasionally during the ship's continuance on the
coast of France, when his mind was at any time more
than usually impressed with the view,of their wicked-
ness ; and afterwards written  out on Sept. 7,  1760,
immediately after their return to Plymouth from that
station, when, in  the  fields near that place, lie  dc- 
64
THE LIFE OF
voted a :'ay to prayer and fasting on their account and
his ov. n.   It runs thus :
  « Woe  is me that I sojourn in Mesech, and dwell
in the tents of Kedar.
  " My soul  is among fierce lions, though they are
sons of men; for their  words are spears and darts,
and their tongues are a sharp sword.
  " O how those who should live like expectants of
glory,  resemble the damned in hell !
  " Where is the honour of thy name, which by every
tongue is corHiniraliy blasphemed ?
  " How often wouli the loss of an organ have a little
felieved  the  anguisii of my mind, and the sleep of
death shut out the mournful scene  !
  " Who  can enough extol the patience of God 1
But who can be enough astonished at the impenitence
of man, who still goes on  in sin I
  " Whence shall I fetch floods of tears to weep over
my demented acquaintances, who  are  hastening to
hell, yet believe it not ?
  " Surely my dwelling is  in  the suburbs of hell,
where I hear the blasphemies of the damned '.
  " The lips that should daily praise thee, are daily
speaking perverse  things ;  the tongues that should
talk aloud of thy righteousness, are  set on fire of hell.
   " Where, in the  day  of judgment, where shall
these poor souls i.ppcar ? and whither will they cause
their shame to go ?
   " Ye saints!  ye  little  know what a life yum- chil-
dren lead when far from  you, however well they
may have been brought up.
   " Surely sinners come nearer to the devils in their
wickedness, than saints to the angels in their sancti-
ty ; yet a glorious change awaits the one,  but a fear*
ful end the other. 
              MR. JAMES  MEIKLE.           «5

   " When shall my silent Sabbaths pass away, so that
 I may praise the God of Zion in the Zion of God ?
   " How melancholy to dwell with those whom death
 at last shall  part, to meet  no more in one  society
 again!
   " Now it is proper that I pray for them, mourn  over,
 and deplore them ; for in a little their state will  eter-
 nally forbid it, and my state eternally forbear it.
   " How might one see, and not be greatly afflicted,
 nations  conquered, kings dethroned, prisoners pass
 in thousands,  and multitudes go to be broken on the
 wheel!  But who can see numbers of feliow-creatures
 daring the thunders of the Almighty, provoking his
 vengeance, and plunging into everlasting flames, and
 not be pained to the very heart!
   " Surely the  society  of the wicked is the  academy
 of hell,  where vice is taught, if not by precept, yet
 by practice, and sometimes hy both.
   " Every morning my sorrow returns upon me, and
 my anguish recoils with every fresh reflection.
   " How dangerous is  the company of the  wicked 1
 for though  they should not prevail on us  to commit
 sin, yet their often committing it in our sight is ready
 to blunt the edge of our detestation, and allay the vi-
 gour of our abhorrence of it.
   " Were men as stupid about the things  of this life
 as they are about the world to come, they would  be a
 burden to society, and  useless in  their generation.
 How deplorable is it, then, that they should be only
 prudent in matters, not  of the last, but of the least
 importance, and that even those who other wise  are
indolent, should^ perpetrate sin with the greatest ac-
tivity !
                      F 2 
66               THE LIFE  OF
  " When neither judgments nor mercies, promises
nor threatenings, patience nor examples of vengeance,
can prevail,  nothing can let them see their folly till
awakened by the flames of hell, when it will be too late.
  " Revolutions  here* have advantaged me nothing,
for it was still from bad to worse."
  Immediately after their  arrival from  the coast of
France,  Mr. Meikle began  to write what he styles
" A Secret Survey into  the State of the Soul,"  the
principal articles  of which have been published in  the
first volume  of his works.   To  this, therefore,  the
reader is henceforth referred for information respect-
ing his religious  views and  feelings.   It is proper,
however, to observe, that he did not satisfy himself
with watching over the state of his own soul, and  be-
wailing the wickedness of his companions.   He still,
as prudence dictated, continued to reprove  and  warn
them.   He still  privately continued to  instruct and
counsel the boys whom he had taken under his charge.
Besides, he  spent  many  hours, during  the greater
part of the year, 1760, in  conversation  and prayer
villi a young gentleman belonging to the ship, who
!iad fallen under strong convictions, and suffered very
singular horror of conscience ;  a minute  narrative of
-.i'hose case  has  been  found among  his papers ;  but
the issue, of which, whether in a gracious change or
r.ot, Mr. Meikle  could never learn,  as  the ship was
ordered to sea soon after the gentleman left it, and he
could  never afterwards obtain any  information con-
cerning him.t
  • Since he joined me ship, besides ctangea among the infe-
rior officers, they had three captains.   The chaplain was so ve-
ry wicked, that he had been expelled the ship!
  ■\ This Narrative  may perhaps Appear in the remaining vol
 time of Mr. Meikle's Works. 
             MR. JAMES MEIKLE.           6?

   While lying at Plymouth, Mr. Meikle bethought
 himself of a new expedient for the benefit of his com-
 panions.   Seizing a favourable moment, when some
 of the midshipmen had conducted themselves so ill as
 to be turned off, he prevailed on a few of those who
 remained, to  enter into a  solemn engagement re-
 specting  their future behaviour; and that he might
 not scare them, limited  the obligation to the period
 of one month, expecting  doubtless, if his attempt
 should succeed, to obtain  their concurrence  to a re-
 newal of the engagement, or to the adoption of some
 similar rules.  The original is in Mr. Meikle's hand-
 writing, and is subscribed by other three persons.  As
 it will be deemed by those who are acquainted with
 the prevailing manners of the navy, a curiosity,  and
 happily illustrates, not only his zeal, but his prudence,
 in adapting the  regulations to  the  circumstances of
 those  for whose benefit  they were devised, an exact
 copy is subjoined:

                   " On board the Portland, Jan. 3,1761.
      " We, the underwritten, subscribe to observe the
                  following Rules.
   I. " That none of us shall swear, or even mention
 the divine name, but when in reading it occurs.
   II.  " That we shall say grace before and after meat
 by turns, or every one for  himself.
  III.  " That every morning and  night we shall read
a portion of scripture.
  IV.  " That none of us sh^ll sing obscene songs, or
talk about lewd women.
  V. " That our table-discourse shall he improving,
innocent,  and merry.
  VI. " That we shall keep the Sabbath strictly, not
in telling idle tsdes^or vain discourse; but shall read 
68              THE LIFE 0!
 the Bible and good books  by turns, while the rest
 hear.
   VII. " Good  books to be put  into the foremost
 birth every Saturday night,  and nobody to come into
 the aftermost birth on Sunday, but the former inhabi-
 tants.
   VIII. " That, on  account of patients, every night
 at six o'clock, the  aftermost birth be evacuated.
   IX. " No lewd women  shall be admitted into either
 birth.
   X.  " That we will  not play at cards or any game for
 money, but at cards  at no rate.
   XI. " That  no dispute be  carried on too far; but
 when passion  begins to appear, it shall be  dropped.
   XII.  "That no new midshipman be admitted into
 the mess.
  XIII. " That none of us reveal our rules to any 0:1
 board.
  XIV. " That this continue  a month in force.
  XV.  " That the breach of any of the above rules
 ")y any  of us, dissolves  all.
  " To the above we set our  hand.
        (Subscribed)        " James  Atkin,
                            " Hugh  Fkhgus,
                            " James  Nelson,
                            " James  Meikle."

  How long- these regulations were kept, or what sal-
 utary  effects they had in the  reformation of the  sub-
 scribers, is not known.  Mr.  Meikle often complains.
in his diary of the short continuance of good impres-
sions on the hearts of those with  whom  he remon-
strated,  of their breach of pious resolutions, of their
goodness being like the early cloud, and of many of
 them  returning like the dog tp his yomit.  Grieved 
MR. JAMES MEIKLE.           «9
 at their conduct, he became more and more anxious
 to be released from his bondage.  With this view, he
 wrote to the Navy-Office in September, and again in
 November,  1760, but  in both instances was refused;
 and afterwards,  with no better success, attempted to
 exchange with a surgeon's mate whose ship was to be
 paid off.  Two considerations besides those already
 mentioned, increased hisdesire to get home.  He had
 received the greater part of his pay, and, " with great
 joy, sent home   as much as would clear all debts,"
 both those which he had left behind him, and those
 which, since his  departure, had been contracted for
 the support of his aged mother, of whose decease he
 had lately  before received information;  so that  the
 great  impediment to his studies was removed out of
 the way.  And besides, he had in some instances been
 unwatchful—had suffered his passion to get the mas-
 tery over him, in one instance, when he thought him-
 self ill-used—and in another, when in company with
 the officers of the ship, " had drank more wine than
 enough, which rendered him unfit for every duty in-
 cumbent on him."  " O  how  dangerous," he cries,
 " is it to dwell among the wick*ed !" and, conscious of
 his infirmity, he  longed to  get  out of the way of
 temptations before which he was apt to fall.
  In the month of March,  1761, the Portland sailed
 for the island of St. Helena, as convoy to the outward-
 bound  East-India fleet,  halted for some time at Ma-
 deira, on her passage out, and reached St. Helena, in
 the beginning of June.   She returned with the home-
 ward-bound fleet, and reached the Down6,  by the end
 of September.
  During this voyage,  Mr. Meikle persevered in his
 usual diligence. Besides his stated religious exercises
formerly mentioned, he  wrote many Poems and Medi- 
70
THE LIFE OF
t?tions.*  He applied himself also very diligently to
the study of the Hebrew language, and completed the
reading of the Pentateuch before he reached Englgnd.
The state of his soul may in part be learned by consult-
ing the " Secret Survey."   The  following  short ex-
tracts will serve further to show it.  " April 5. I had
reason to  say  that God's love is like the ocean, his
goodness like the floods,and that he is graciously near
to all that call on him." " May 3, was to my soul a good
day; and though the iniquity of my heels overtook me,
the God of my mercy prevented me, which made mc
singof the frecness of grace." " On the 17th, he kindly
opened the stores of his goodness,  and made my soul
delight itself in fatness."  " On the 24th, the wander-
ings of my heart were very grievous.  O when shall
my complaint cease 1"  He went ashore at St. Helena,
on the 8th of June, wandered to a considerable distance
into the country, and devoted the day in solitude to self-
examination and prayer.  « But  O what a black life
mine was, when narrowly surveyed, when by medita-
tion it was, as it were, taken to pieces.  Though the
world could say but little,conscience could say a great
deal."   " July 12, was Sabbath, and though busy for a
considerable part of the day among the sick, yet God
remembered  me in my  wilderness, and watered my
desart.  I found, that to be allowed to live near God
is the sweetest life in the  world, and sweetens every
condition."
  The scurvy and dysentery raged on board  the ship
during the voyage  home, to such a degree,  that they
lost twenty-six men,  and at one period had sixty-five
sick. Although the fatigue of duty must have been

  * He wrote also, when at sea, some small tracts, against pro-
fane swearing, and other vices, but at  what particular period
cannot be ascertained. 
             MR. JAMES MEIKLE.           71

great, Mr. Meikle remarks, with  gratitude to  God,
that, except during a few days when he felt what is
styled the prickly heat, he retained his health.   They
narrowly escaped, near the island  Fernandez de No*
ronha, beinjg captured by a French fleet which were
watching for them, by altering their course during the
night; and on the night of the 6th of September, they
were mercifully preserved in a storm, though a thun-
derbolt struck their main top-mast, broke it iti pieces,
and stunned several of the people.
   The ship went into dock after their arrival, and again
Mr.Meikle applied to the Navy-Board without success.
On the 25th of November, they sailed for Lisbon, and
returned to  Spithead on the 1st of February,  1762>
bringing home the Earl of Bristol, the British ambas-
sador at the court of Spain.   The moment he arrived,
he renewed his application to the Board,and, to his in-
expressible joy, obtained hie request;  "for which,"
says he,  " I bless the Hearer of prayer, and magnify
his name."   As soon as he could arrange his affairs,
he left the ship, hasted lo London, and took ship for
Berwick, whence he travelled on  foot to Edinburgh,
"  which," says he, " when I saw, I thanked God, and
took courage."
   At Carnwath, where  he arrived on the 24th of
March, he thought himself, he says, in a new world.
No oaths assaulted his ears; by many religion was pro-
fessed, and prayer performed; at Biggar, within eight
miles of  his residence, he had regular access to hear
the gospel; and he found in his neighborhood, godly
men with whom he deemed it a happiness to have it
in his power to associate.  His Sabbaths, in particular,
were very different from  those of  the four preceding
years.  " It was a sweet day/' says he, speaking of one
of his firet Sabbaths at home ; " no  disturbanee, but 
72               THE LIFE OF
from a wandering heart.  I was afraid that I was not
so thankful as I ought to be."   On his road to church
on a subsequent one, "I had pleasure," he says,  "in
meditation.  The sermon was divine and edifying. O
pleasant situation ! butO ungrateful I!"
  The object which he had had so long at heart  now
occupied his attention ; but a series of adverse occur-
rences had put the attainment of it for so many years
out of his reach, that now when he possessed the means
of prosecuting his studies for the ministry, he began
to hesitate  concerning  what was his duty.   He  took
the advice  of  several of the most  judicious of his
friends, and in particular of the Rev. John Patison, the
venerable predecessor of the writer of this Narrative ;
and the result  was, that considering how long Provi-
dence had obstructed his views ; that he had already
spent thirty-three years of his life, and several more
must necessarily elapse before, according to the rules
of the religious society of which he was a member, he
could obtain license to preach the gospel;  and more-
over, tnat his organs of speech did not promise that he
would ever be able to speak so as to meet with general
acceptance, it was his duty to abandon hisintention,and
to endeavor to serve God and his generation by the
diligent application of his talents to  the duties of the
station in which he waspUced.  He  did so, and was
respectable and  useful  during  life  as a surgeon.
Though Providence thus refused the aid of his tongue
to promote the interests of the gospel, yet his pen was
never unoccupied in private  in this glorious wouk;
and it is hoped, that now since he is gone  to a better
world, his pious example, which it is the  business of
these sheets to record,  and his pious writings, which
the writer of this accounts it his honour to have been
the means of introducing to public notice, will  long 
             MR. JAMES MEIKLE. •          75

 continue to plead the cause of that  God whom  he
 served, and to refresh the souls of many who are pre-
 cious in his sight.
   In the private station of a country surgeon, the uni-
 formity of Mr. Meikle's life furnishes henceforward,
 few incidents which are of sufficient importance to
 merit a detail.   The history of religion in his soul is,
 besides, recorded with  sufficient minuteness in the
 " Secret Survey," in the " Meditations," written  af-
 ter this period, and in the " Monthly  Memorial,"
 which together form an uninterrupted chain of infor-
 mation  concerning him from the period when  he left
 the navy, to the 2d  of  December,  1799,  within five
 days of his decease.  A less circumstantial account,
 therefore,  of the latter period of his life i6  deemed
 sufficient.
   Although Mr. Meikle did not immediately abandon
 the great object which he  had so long at  heart, he
 waj pushed into business as a  surgeon by the zeal of
 his friends soon after he arrived at Carnwath, in 1762,
 When he afterwards found that this was to be the em-
 ployment of his life,  he regreted, that, owing to the
 preponderance of a different subject of study, he had
 devoted less of  his attention to the study of surgery
 and medicine than he ought, and resolved to do whut
 in him lay to repair his error.  With this view,  he
 not only gave  attention to  reading in the line of his
 profession, but arranged matters so, that, without ma-
 terial injury to his business, he spent some months
 of the summer of 1764, in  Edinburgh, in the study
 of midwifery, and some other branches of science.
   With what ability  he  discharged the duties of his
station,  the writer of this has no sufficient means of
 knowledge.  He finds,  from some hints in Mr. Mei-
                         G 
Ti               THE LIFE OF
kle's papers, that the tongue of slander, in several
cases, reproached him for  the manner in which  he
had treated patients ;*  and  in  particular,  that  he
had suffered exquisite distress  from the  malevolent
insinuations of a person from whom he had reason to
expect different treatment,  respecting his conduct to
his only and much-beloved sister,  the last but himself
of his father's family, who had kept house with him
since his return to his native  place, and who was  cut
off by a  fever in the month of March,  1770.  One
thing, however, is certain, that if some have practised
with greater skill, none ever did so with  greater  up-
rightness of intention, and few, very few indeed, with as
religious a  dependance on  God for  his  blessing on
the means which he used for the  health and cure of
his fellow-creatures,and with as conscientious and lively
a concern for both  their temporal and spiritual wel-
fare.  "  I desire,"  says he, " to bear my patients  on
my mind ; they are my charge ; and I always implore
a blessing on the means : for the  apparently dying, I
make supplications in secret "  From his memoran-
dums it appears,  that before he undertook any opera-
tion which he deemed difficult, he applied to God in
secret for direction and aid ; and many a prayer stands
recorded in  his papers for the souls of those whom he
has considered as dangerously ill.   What religious fa-
mily would not prefer such assistance in distress, to
that of irreligious persons  of greater celebrity in
the medical world!
   Mr. Meikle devoted  many  of his leisure  hours,
during the  first ten or twelve  years after  his settle-
ment in  Carnwath, to the revision of the papers which
he had written at sea, or at an earlier  period.  He
   • Solitude  Sweetened, Med.  XVIU. refers to one of these
cases. 
MR. JAMES  MEIKLE.
75
transcribed "The  Traveller," which  occupies  the
greater part of this volume ; the greater part of " Sol-
itude  Sweetened," which  was formerly published;
and " A Word in Time of Need," which  may here-
after appear.   He likewise transcribed "The Chris-
tian's  Compass; Poems on  the  119th  Psalm,"  a
volume of 340 pages ; " The Traveller Entertained ;
or, Poems by Sea and Land ;" and " The Sacramen-
tal Table ; or,  Poems  on  Redeeming Love ;" each
of which, with the subsequent additions, would make
a volume equally large.   Within the same space, he
transcribed a considerable part of " The Christian ;
Spiritual Poems on several Subjects, relating to the
Conduct  of Providence, and Cases  of the Soul, in
Four Parts."  To this he afterwards made many ad.
ditions, and, entertaining serious designs of publish-
ing it in four  small volumes, he first took a voyage to
London, June, 1790,  to offer it to  the  booksellers,
and afterwards proposed to print it by subscription at
home ; but his design in both  instances misgave, for
this  reason, among others, that he  resolutely deter-
mined that the volumes  should appear without a name.
To this collection of his  poetical writings must be
added, " The House of Mourning,"  which has been
printed ;  " The Divine Epithalamium, or Song of
Songs, Paraphrased," a volume formerly mentioned ;
" A Poetical Present for a  bridegroom and Bride ;"
" Emmanuel ;" " Amoenitates ;  or, Mercies  Ac-
knowledged ;"  and, "Heaven;"  each considerable
pamphlets, besides some smaller pieces.
  The number and bulk of these manuscripts is such,
that the truth would not be exceeded, had it been said
that, instead of six  or  seven volumes, as formerly
mentioned, they would fill eight volumes similar to
the present.  Of the publication of them, however, 
76
THE LIFE OF
there is little prospect.   The public taste for poetry
is nice.  It will  not endure  mediocrity;  and Mr.
Meikle's verse, though always pious, has seldom those
flights of faney which are often conspicuous even in
his prose writings, or that smoothness of versification
which is now, by the greater part, deemed an essen-
tial qualification  of poetical  compositions-   It is in-
deed to be  regretted, that Mr. Meikle appears to have
been fonder of his poetical than of his prose compo-
sitions, and devoted so much of that time  which he so
highly valued, to a species of writing in which he less
excelled.   If, instead of  this,  he had cultivated  his
talents for  writing in prose,  the Christian  world,  in-
debted as they are  to him, would have been laid un-
der still deeper obligations by perhaps several volumes,
equal or superior to those which he has left  for their
edification.
  It has already been noticed, that in the  year  1770,
he lost his only sister, and that his grief for  her loss
was  embittered by  the  tongue of malice, which as-
cribed it to his want of skill or of care.  In what man-
ner this mournful event affected him, may be seen by
consulting  " The Monthly Memorial," and  " Secret
Survey," at the proper dates.  When he afterwards
sat dewn, and surveyed the  dreary solitude  in which
he was left, his grief flowed anew, and he cried out,
" O eternity ! all  my near relatives are swallowed up
in thee, and in a little I myself also shall be no more."
It was  assuaged, however, by  the  consideration of
the divine wisdom,and of  his  interest in the divine love
and care.   " O happy, not they who are not  afflicted,
but they who have  such  a friend in their aftlictions
as I."
   His afflictions do not appear,  either on This or on
any other occasion, to have slackened, but  rather to 
             MR. JAMES MEIKLE.           77

have quickened his progress in the divine life.  He
continued strict in the observance of religious duties,
and in watchfulness over his own heart.  He perse-
vered in an accurate and even minute observation of
the conduct of divine providence, as " The Monthly
Memorial," every where shews with regard to others,
and the " Secret Survey," with  regard to  himself.
He frequently, as in  the earlier period of his life,  de-
voted a day or a portion of a day to solemn humiliationj
self-examination, and prayer;  and occasionally, when
he had a family, kept family-fasts, the reasons of seve-
ral of which, have been found  among his papers, and
might have been inserted, were not this account  ex-
tending to too great a length.  The Sabbath, in par-
ticular, was the joy of his heart. He made it his study
to visit his patients, except in cases  of emergency,
either before or  after  the hours of public worship ;
and rather than be detained from church when he  did
nDtapprehendinconvenience or danger by delaying his
visit, risked incurring  the  displeasure of his employ-
ers, and the  consequent loss of employment.   Dis-
tinct notices are  found  among  his papers of almost
every  Sabbath, from the year 1762, to the day of his
death, and of the manner in which it was employed,
whether at Church,  in visiting the sick, or at home ;
besides lists of all the texts which he heard discoursed
on during that period,  often with the principal heads
of discourse, and  occasionally with brief hints of the
frame of his  soul while hearing them.
  Mr. Meikle had a heart too warmly  interested in
the cause of Chri6t, to be  able to look with indiffer-
ence on what was passing around him in the Christian
world.  His private papers record almost every occur-
rence in  his neighbourhood which  was calculated
                       G 2 
78
THE LIFE OF
either to afflict or gladden the hearts of the Godly ; the
death of faithful ministers, the feuds of Christian so-
cieties, the scandalous conduct of professors, and the
propagation of error, on the one hand;  and the re-
formation of the abandoned, the apparent success of a
gospel-ministry, and attempts to advance the interests
of religion, on the other.  They are so particular, in-
deed, that prudence requires their suppression.
  It was under the influence of this spirit of holy zeal,
that in the year 1777, he composed and prepared for
the press, a considerable treatise which  has been found
 among his manuscripts, in reply to the Rev. Dr. Dal-
gliesh of Peebles.  That gentleman had rashly stated
 some  ideas  respecting the Sonship  of Christ, and
 attempted to support them by means of a crude theory
 of animalcular generation which excited very gene-
 ral alarm among the Godly in this country.   His book
 has since sunk into deserved oblivion ;  but while it
 yet lived, it was attacked, and with success, by a host
 of adversaries.  How  it happened that Mr.  Meikle
 never published his answer, though it was prepared
 for  the press, is unknown.   His modesty in wishing
 to conceal his name, and his diffidence lest he should
 err in writing on so mysterious a subject, it is proba-
 ble, occasioned him to procrastinate, till others  had
 got the start of him, and he deemed  his answer un-
 necessary.   " I intend," says he, August 19, 1777,
 " great secrecy, and I am full  of trembling lest J
 should err against the truth which I would defend.  O
 to be guided of God, and to give God  the glory 1"
    After the death of his  sister, Mr. Meikle found, in
 a greater degree than formerly, the necessity of en-
 tering into the marriage-state.  He had made several
 attempts before that event, which it would be improper
 io detail, as well as some after it, which  misgave; 
             MR. JAMES MEIKLE.           79

and it was not till the 18th day of  August, 1779,  that
he was blessed with a partner of his cares, and a help-
er  of his faith and joy.  " It had always been," he
says, " Secret Survey," for that date, " a ruling prin-
ciple with me, not to be unequally yoked with unbe-
lievers."  How deeply his mind was impressed  with
the necessity of religion in one's partner for  life, is
strikingly shown by a small tract written by him oa
the eve of  his marriage, but from which, the  length
to which this narrative has run out will  not permit an
extract to be made.  He sought a religious  wife, and
God at length heard his prayers.  He was married to
Agnes Smith, the daughter of a respectable farmer in
his neighborhood, and married, there is every reason
to think, " in the Lord."
   In the prospect of entering into this new relation,his
intended wife and he, five days before, entered into an
agreement of a very different tenor from those which
 commonly occupy the sole attention of persons on the
 eve of marriage ; an agreement  which  refers not to
 the present world, but to the future.  It is in preser-
 vation, and the reader would regret its  omission.   It
 runs thus: •
   " As in  all our ways we ought to acknowledge God,
 that he may direct our steps ;  so, in prospect of our
 proposed connection, which is of great moment, it is
 the duty of each of us to implore the divine direction,
 and beg the heavenly blessing; and, in entering into
 it, to keep the following things in view  :
    1. " As we should neither eat nor drink for our-
 selves, soin our marriage we should eye his glory, and
 study to live together as heirs of the grace of life.
    2. " As there  is some  difference in  our views  of
 some things, instead of suffering this to breed discord
 and contention between us, let it  beget in us a proper 
80
THE LIFE OF
concern for the divisions of Reuben, and continual sup-
plication for the peace and prosperity of Zion, that as
there is one Lord, so his name may be one in all the
earth.
  3. " Let us expect troubles and trials while in the
world, bear them  with patience, and seek to get good
out of them.
  4. " Let us  take it for granted that each of us will
find some failing to bear with in the  other, and so re-
solve before hand  to behave wisely towards each other;
never to be both angry at once, to cover one another's
faults, and to forgive one another.
  5. " Let us  study to  esteem, respect, and  comfort
one another, and  so to  live in love.
  6. " Let it be our joint and earnest request, that the
grace of God may be in our hearts, his peace  rule
there, and his blessing rest  on our house.
  7. " If blessed  with children, let us remember that
they are but loans, and may be soon recalled; and when
one corrects, the  other is not to defend them.   Let us
bring them up for God, and much rather wish to see
them gracious than great.
  8. " Let us  remember that it is only the heavenly
favor that can make  us happy, with  little  or  with
much ;  for should'he be provoked to send an evil  spir-
it between us, we would be miserable, whatever wc
might possess.
  9. " Let us depend on the providence of God  with
greater  quiet and  confidence than on gathered sums.
  10. "  Hereby we also engage,  that the worship of
God is to be kept  up daily in our family, even though
the  husband should be called from home all night.
  11. " Moreover,we are never to seek heaven on earth,
or expect to find felicity below ; and so we must  v. t'- 
             MR. JAMES  MEIKLE.          81

come that lot, prosperous or afflicted, which Heaven
sees it fit to send.
   12. " Let  us  remember  that one of us  may be
snatched away by death before the other, and leave the
survivor drowned in sorrow ;  but let us study so to
walk, that the survivor need not sorrow as they that
have no hope.
   13. " Let us remember that this is not our rest, be-
cause it is polluted, and let us rejoice that there re-
maincth a rest for the people of God.
   14. " In all things  let  us endeavour to adorn the
doctrine  of God our Saviour, and to have our cenver-
sation in  heaven, from  whence we expect the Saviour
to come.
   " Aug. 13, 1779.  (Signed)   " James Meikle,
                              " Agnes Smith."

   The second article of this engagement makes it ne-
cessary to mention, that Mrs. Meikle was  connected
with that branch of the Secession which is denominated
Antiburgher, while Mr. Meikle himself was  in com-
munion with the other,  styled Burgher.  Though they
belonged to different Communions, neither appears to
have been animated by the intolerant spirit of party.
They mutually granted the liberty of conscience which
tliey demanded;  and enjoyed that pleasure and delight-
ful harmony in private Christian fellowship, which the
members of both societies, if possessed of a little more
of their spirit, mttjht enjoy in church fellowship, not-
withstanding  the minute and unimportant points in
which they differ.  In proof of this, it is not unworthy
of notice, that Biggar, where Mr. Meikle attended di-
vine worship,lies some miles beyond Ellfrii,hill, where
the Congregation of which Mrs. Meikle was  a mem-
ber assembled; and that he usually conducted his wife 
82              THE LIFE  OF
in the morning to Ellfrighill,and returned by the same
road in  the evening to bring her home.   It appears
also from a paper which has  been found in his posses-
sion, that he interested himself deeply  in procuring
assistance for the worthy man under whose  ministiy
she sat,  whose circumstances, through the poverty of
his  congregation, were very much  straitened.   To
these proofs that they not only lived  in harmony, but
as heirs together of the  grace of life, others might be
added.  It is enough  to  mention further that it was
their custom, besides -the prayers of the family,  and
secret prayer, to join together in prayer by turns after
they went to bed, before they composed themselves
to sleep ;* and that occasionally, when they could find
convenience, they devoted a day, or a part of a day, to
solemn humiliation and praye*.
  A paper dated February 3, 1780, and entitled " For
a family  fast," has been  found in Mr. Meikle's hand
writing,  and subscribed both  by him  and his wife,
which will give some idea of the manner in whichthese
days of private devotion were observed.  It is arranged
under four heads ; confessions, grateful acknowledge-
ments, petitions and resolutions.   They confess be-
fore God, that they have not in all things set God be-
fore them ;  that they have found too much pleasure in
perishing things ; that they have sometimes had unbe-
lieving fears and distrust of divine providence ;  that
they have felt an inclination at times to prescribe to
God with respect to what he should give or withhold ;
that they do not improve time  and  the quiet which
they enjoy as they ought; that they are not so deeply
affected with the sins of others, nor with the afflictions
and divisions of Zion as they should ;  and that they
* See Monthly Memorial, Oct. 8, 1781. 
             MR. JAMES  MEIKLE.           83

have not a due sense of gratitude for the  many com-
forts of fie'r lot.  Tney express their gratitude to God
for tne appearance of religion in their family ; for the
peace and hurmony enjoyed in their house ; for the
bounty <>f providence in supp.ying their wants ; for the
good crop which they had last  season ; for their con-
tinued health, while many around them were affl'cted;
and because their dependance  was on the providence
of heaven, and not on creature  security.   Their peti-
tions are, that religion may flourish, and professors see
eye to eye in the truth ; that grace may  be bestowed
on themselves, and on all  theirfriends; that if children
are given them, they may  belong to the election of
grace, and early know God ; that the blessing of the
womb and the breasts may come together; that both
may be enabled to instruct and  correct  children, if
given them, as becometh christian parents; and the
like. And their resolutions are, not to build their hap-
piness on the creature ; to submit without murmuring
to death when sent into  their  family ;  to keep their
hearts for God, and not to give them to any other; to
approve of Providence,should he be pleased to bereave
them of their all,  seeing they had  their treasure in
heaven ; to keep up the worship of God in their house,
and, finally,  to look out for death,  and improve for
eternity.
  Some months after, Mr. Meikle discovers the grati-
tude of his heart for the happiness he enjoyed in  the
marriage relation, and the tender solicitude of an affec-
tionate and pious husband, by  expressing himself in
this  manner: " May 30, 1780.  I wish to implore di-
vine mercy in these things.  1. That as God has been
pleased to set me, who was once solitary, in a family,
and bestowed on me one that fears his name, he would
be pleased, to spare her, and increase her graces.  2. 
84               THE  LIFE OF
 As it has pleased Heaven that she is with child, and
 near her time, that the child may be God's in life or in
 death.  O that its ooul may live before God 1  3. That
 she may have a happy delivery, and that I  may bless
 God for a living mother and a living child.  4. That
 'f the child be spared, it may be early brought  home
 to God.  5. I acknowledge that I leaned on thy pro-
 vidence for providing me a help-mate, and I have not
 had cause to complain of my divine support and guide.
 O to act faith always on him !"
   This happiness did not .ong continue.  Mrs. Meikle,
 some months after the birth of her first child, fell into
 bad health.   Hopes and fears appear for a long per .od
 to have had the ascendency alternately in his  mind;
 and  her recovery, uniformly  for more  than twelve
 months, forms one of the petitions recorded in his pri-
 vate papers.   On the 17th of May,  1781, they united
 together in supplications to God for the restoration of
 her health, and  express  themselves thus : " On  ac-
 count of the long distress  in our family,  we desire to
 humble ourselves before God, and to justify the hea-
 venly conduct; for we have sinned, and have had our
 hearts too little on  our  native country, too  little on
 heavenly things.  While we  accept  of chastisement
 from our heavenly Father, we desire  to  turn to him
 that smites us; and we humbly plead,  1. For patience
 till he remove his rod from us.   2. For the sanctified
 use of this affliction.  3. That he would be pleased to
restore to such a measure  of health, that we may be
enabled to attend on  sacramental solemnities in the
ensuing summer, and find his presence there. 4. That
he would direct  us to right means for recovery, and
bless the means  used.  5. That  we may  not rely too
 much on the means used, but look to him alone.   6.
Thai he nu.y bless our child, and hold his hand  ;-J<oui 
             MR. JAMES MEIKLE.           »5

her.  7. That he may give us his special presence in
the time of  our affliction, and  make  all tend to his
glory and our good.
       (Signed)              " J. Meikle,
                             " Agnes Meikle."

   The affliction, however, continued and increased
during the ensuing summer.  His prayers and  tears
could not avert the stroke with which Providence de-
signed to chasten him.  She languished till she brought
forth a second child, which was still-born, and survived
this event only three weeks.  On the 11th of October,
1781, he was left a widower, mourning the loss  of an
amiable partner, yet not mourning as one of those who
have no hope of their own happiness, or of the happi-
ness of those who have been  snatched  from their em-
braces.
   His  exercise on this mournful»oocasion maybe
learned by perusing  the Monthly Memorial, and Se-
cret Survey, under the proper date.   In addition to
what is to be found there, it appears from some other
private papers, that he revered the providence of God
in the dispensation, submitted to it as the  correction of
a father, and amidst his grief rejoiced in the persuasion
of the happiness of her whose  loss he bewailed.  On
the 22d of October he writes thus: " This  day my
dear wife  and I intended a private fast ;*  but now she
is removed by death, and I am  left alone  to mourn the
lose of a religious companion.  O to take God in place
of all 1 O  comfort me against  grief on every side ! I
wish not to have a stupid insensibility of such a loss ; I
wish also not to rise up in rebellion against the conduct

  * For some days after her delivery she was apparently recov- 
«6               THE LIFE OF
 of Heaven, who is sovereign of all.  I desire to lie low ir.
 the dust, and to go softly, because thou hast done it.'--
 And on the 25th he expresses himself in this manner :
 " This day  in my solitude, and after the loss of a dear
 wife, a religious companion, 1 desire to take  God for
 my God, and the God of my child; and I make  a cheer-
 ful surrender of myself and my child to God.  I roll
 her over on his divine protection ;  and though I too
 were to be called out of the  world, I can commit her
 to him, the best of parents and the best of guardians,
 who is a father of the fatherless.   I  wish to live only
 for his glory, and to his praise." The same day, among
 the mercies which he acknowledges to the praise of
 God, he enumerates the following :  " That my dear-
 est friend is gone to glory ;  that -my child is  in good
 health ; that God, though he has afflicted, has  not cast
 me off;  that there is a fulness of grace and consola-
 tion in God for-me;—that God  has  been pleased to
 connect me with a dear saint, and to bless us with the
 greatest  peace and  harmony  in our married  life,
 though he has seen fit to make it very short:  but the
thought is sweet, that she is  gone ro glory."
  Mrs. Meikle's  character may  be described in  her
husband's words, proposed to be engraved on her mon-
 ument :
      •' How sweet she shone in social life,
      As daughter, sister, friend, and wife !
      The closet, field, and shady grove,
      Attest her pray'rs, her vows, her love.
      Now done with all below the sun,
      She shines before the highest throne.
      Her race was swift, her rest is sweet,
      Her views divine, her bliss complete ;
      Her song's sublime, her transports sweH»
      Her state eternal,'God her all:
      This, this alone, her husband cheers,
      And joy wipes off the briny tears." 
             MR. JAMES MEIKLE.           £7

  Here, however, though with reluctance, the writer
of this  must stop.  The unexpected length to which
 this narrative has rtfn out, obliges him to forbear en-
tering into any details of the reman n^ eighteen yeai's
of Mr. Meikle's life, and to  break off his account at
the very period when his personal acquaintance with
him began.   Materials still remain for exhibiting his
character and exercise in various points of view.  If
what has been written should meet with acceptance,
and promise  to be useful,  he may be induced to en-
large his account, and  carry it down to the close of
Mr. Meikle's  life;  if not, more than enough  has
 been already said.
   He cannot close his account of him, however, with-
 out mentioning, in a word,  that he was married again,
 in the mouth of November, 1785, to the  worthy wo-
 man who yet survives to mourn  his loss ; that in July,
 1789, he was ordained to the eldership in the congre-
 gation of Biggar; that in the course of the year 1797,
 having overcome the reluctance to appear professedly
 as an author, which had prevented the publication of
 those pieces  which he had  formerly intended for the
press, he printed his " Metaphysical Maxims ;"  and
that on the 7th of December,  1799, he was removed
from this world to abetter, leaving behind him a name
which is better than precious ointment, and a widow
and five children, with little on which to depend for fu-
ture support but the good providence of that God, who,
to use his own words, " had guided him through ali
his wanderings, and  supplied him during life  to hi«
heart's content,"
   The cheerfulness of his disposition continued to the
last. Disappointments never soured his temper. Tho'
strict both in his principles and morals, he never ap-
peared sullen or morose; he was rather cheerful, jo- 
88   THE LIFE OF MR. JAMES MEIKLE.

cular, and merry.  There does not appear, for forty
years, among all his voluminous papers, notwithstand-
ing the many severe censures wliich he passes in them
upon himself,  one expression from which it can be
certainly concluded, that he entertained any doubt of
his interest in the divine favour.   This, and the con-
stitutional gaiety of his  temper, will account for the
surprise which many of  his  most  intimate acquain-
tances have expressed at the perusal of his writings,
and explain what otherwise mightbedeemecl paradox-
ical, that a man uniformly cheerful in company, should
in private,  make death  and the future world the  fa-
vourite subjects of his  meditations.  To him death
was  surrounded with no terrors ! the future world
captivated his imagination, and filled him, as frequently
as he contemplated it, with  most  exquisite joy.  He
maintained his reputation for piety, and his unshaken
faith in Gcd, to the end ; and the  God whom he serv-
ed honoured him with continued usefulness in  his sta-
tion, almost to his  last hour.  On the first of Decem-
ber,  he officiated at Lanark as an elder in the dispen-
sation of the Lord's supper ; on the second, he wrote
a short article in the Monthly Memorial; on the sixth,
he was still serving medicines to his patients ; on the
seventh he was with God.

                                           J. P.
Edinburgh, June 12, 1805. 
       THE  TRAVELLER.




               MEDITATION L

                 GOING ABROAD.

                                        1757.

  W HAT a load of business presses  me on every
hand when about to leave my native country ! I must
state and clear with all my creditors and debtors before
I go ! Besides, when I am about my ordinary business,
a little pocket-money will defray my charges ; but it is
not so when going abroad ; I must have bills of ex-
change for a considerable sum, and changes of apparel
agreeable to that part of the world to which I am bound.
  Now, if I am thus busied, thus anxious and concern-
ed about my going from one part to another of this ter-
restrial globe, with what justice will all this care, anx-
iety, and concern, be increased, when I must com-
mence my journey to eternity, and set out for the other
world ? This is an event that unavoidably awaits me ;
and who can tell how soon ?  Of what folly would  I
prove myself possessed, should I propose to go  so far
without a farthing ? But with much greater madness-
would I be  intoxicated, should I launch into eternity
without an interest in  the heavenly treasure.  To be
poor in any part of this world, begets contempt among
the men of the world ; but poverty in the world of spir-
Us, is an eternal shame, and an irretrievable loss.
                     H2 
90            THE TRAVELLER.

  Again, would I not blush to go with tattered cloaths
and coloured shoes, to a part of the world where it is
fashionable to be finely dressed ?  How, then, shall I
appear without the white  raiment of a Saviour's right-
eousness, in the presence of God, where angels walk
in robes of innocence, and  saints in broidered gar-
ments ? When the marriage of the Lamb shall be come,
and his wife shall have made herself ready,  if found
without the wedding-garment, with what confusion of
face shall I be covered, and with what anguish cast in-
to outer darkness !
  How I am hurried at the last in setting out, notwith-
standing I have been so long proposing, and so long
preparing for this voyage 1 Yea,  an  express arrives,
that the ship is ready to sail, and I am taken, as it were,
unawares, though for some time I have been expect-
ing  such a message.   Then, since  I have this mo-
mentous, this interesting voyage into the world of spir-
its before me, let my daily study  be  so to set  all my
grand concerns in order, that when  death the  trans-
port comes, I may have nothing to do but set my foot
aboard, and be wafted over to the land of rest.  Again,
though looking for death daily,  yet I,  and all my
friends, may be surprised at last.
   Now of friends  and  acquaintances  I take a long
farewell; but at death I bid the whole  world an eter-
 nal adieu. 
              THE TRAVELLER.             51
►■

               MEDITATION II.

              ON. TAKING FAREWELL.

                                            1757.

   EVERY thing beneath the sun has vanity and vexa-
 tion engraven on it; and it is fit it should be so, lest
 men, possessing what they aspire after, should forget
 themselves.  So we see, we feel, that pleasure is inter-
 woven with pain, sweet with sour, joy with sorrow,
 riches with anxiety and cares, greatness with torment,
 health with disease, and life with death.
   When I took farewell of my friends to see other na-
 tions, and rise into a more universal knowledge of the
 world and men (trifles that please an aspiring mind)
 yet how were all my fine prospects more than balanced
 to think,  that I might never see my native land again,
 the land of liberty and light, the Hephzibah of God !
 What if I sliould drop into the unfathomed deeps  of
 the ocean, and be a prey to the finny tribe ?. But, ab-
 stracting from these gloomy forethoughts, how was joy
 turned, into a flow of friendly  sorrow ! Can, I yet forget
 the  affectionate grasp of hand, the melting, tear, the
 parting kiss, and kindly look,  as if it  might have been
 the  last,* and allfrom friends so near and dear ?  Yet
 this must be : I must either  forbear going abroad, or-
 take farewell of all my friends ; and who knows if ever
 I shall see themagain,till in another world, where the
 nearest ties are loosed, and the dearest  relation dis-
 solved, unless a spiritual relation  unite our souls to
 him, of whom the whole family in heaven and earth is

  * The Author never saw some friends, alluded to. above,
 again in life, particularly his mother, 
9%           THE TRAVELLER.
named, a family that shall never scatter or be dispersed
through the ages of eternity ! The highest wisdom of
the traveller, then, is to get himself made a member
of the heavenly family.  Thus, when the frail family,
of which he is  a  mortal  member, must be divided,
parted, and spread abroad, some in death, some in dis-
tant lands, he shall never be cast out of the celestial
family, nor  denied the high privileges thereof, but may
cry to God, Abba, Father, and shall find him not far
off, when roaring oceans interrupt the father's passion-
ate care, and  bound the tender mother's melting flow
of affection.  Without such a relation we are orphans,
though we had the best of fathers, and the kindest of
mothers ; we  are friendless, though we had the most
sympathizing sisters, and obliging brothers; destitute,
amidst our  numerous, rich, and munificent relations ;
and more desolate than the pelican of the wilderness,
or the midnight owl, though crowded with visitants,
and among a world of acquaintances.   But, blessed
with it, no  tongue can tell our happiness.  Our hea-
venly Father, who knows our need, is ever at our hatfd;
his power and promptitude to do us good exceed the
father, excell the kindly mother ; his mercy outshines
the sympathizing sisters, and his bounty the obliging'
brother ; his promises are better than all our relations,
his providence than our richest friends ;  and his pre-
sence than  a  world of acquaintance, or the levee of
kings.  In such a situation, the deserts of Arabia shall
please, like the places where we were born and brought
up.  May this, then, be my case,  and I  am happy in
my peregrinations, and joyful in my journeys. 
              THE TRAVELLER.             9S


               MEDITATION III.

     THE TEMPER OF HIM THAT GOES ABROAD.

   NOW I leave my native land in peace with all, and
 wish well to friends and foes, as no doubt I have both.
   Gratitude binds me not to forget my friends ;  grace,
 to forgive my foes.  He carries but a poor principle
 in his breast, that goes away swoln with rage, in hopes
 to return and revenge ;  for  " anger rests only in the
 hosom of fools."   It is a Christian  grace to forgive
 even the  worst  of  injuries; for it  ennobles a man
 more to  conquer the  wicked principle of his corrupt
 nature, than to take a city.   Would I revenge  a per-
 sonal quarrel on  any at the day  of judgment ? Surely
 no.  Shall  I, then, carry rancour to the very giave,or
 lie down in a condition  in which I would not wiiii to
 rise? Therefore my passion shall be converted  oto
 pity, and I will  not only forgive men what they may
 have done amiss to me, but implore forgiveness for
 them in that wherein they may have offended  God.
 Thus shall I go lightly, compared with the mental mad-
 man who cherishes revenge.  He continually carries
 about with  him a load of hurtful two-edged, weapons,
in hopes  to find his  foe,  and  satiate his revenge upon
him ; but, while he waits his opportunity, he slips a
foot, and falls  among' the pointed weapons, which
wound  him  unto death.  So must  every malicious
person fare at last, who falls over the precipice of
time into eternity, full  of envy, and  inflamed  with
 wrath. 
94            THE TRAVELLER.


              MEDITATION IV.

     ON FINDING MANY PASSF.NGERS ON SHORE.

                             Leith, March 1758.

  BEFORE I came from home-, I knew not of a singla
person but myself that was to  set out from the same
port to the same place ; but, on my arrival here. I find
a great many from  every corner of the land, waiting a
fair wind to forward them  in their intended passage.
And may not this call to my mind, that, though only
now and then, one  here, and another there,  departs
this life,  yet on the confines of endless ages,  on  the
borders of the invisible world, \\ hat numbers of de-
parting souls are daily passing  from every part of the
inhabited  globe, to  appear before  the tremendous
bar!
  If we glance the mortality bills of well peopled ci-
ties, the  numbers that  daily  die are  astonishing.
And though nothing  be more common than death^ ytt
nothing is more affecting than  dissolution.
  I have  taken one step, which  may lemind  me of
another that shall overtake mc, and that, being my last
translation, shall never be succeeded by a future.  Let
not, then, my improvidence in  spiritual things, cause
me to repent, when repentance, though perpctuatedj
may be too late. 
THE TRAVELLER.            93
               MEDITATION V.

         ON ARRIVING AT A STRANGE CITY.

                                       London.

  THOUSANDS and ten thousands are the inhabit-
ants of this place,  and yet few or none of them do I
know.  How soon is man a stranger among his fel-
low-creatures ! He may be acquainted with the people
where he was born and brought up, or where he dwelt;
but a few days journey convinces him, even among the
multitude of men, that he is a stranger on this earth ;
for where he is acquainted with one, he is unacquainted
with ten  thousands.   This admonishes me to account
the world a strange  country, and  myself as only pas-
sing through it to my native  country, and therefore
to fix my affections on the things that are above, whith-
er I am hastening.
  My next reflection leads me to admire thine omni-
scence with astonishment. Not a person among these
many thousands but thou knowest their business, their
actions,  and their way of life, yea more, their words
and very thoughts.  Thou also rulest  and governest
them in all their various actions,  numbers of whom
have never known thee.  Nor does the conduct of thy
providence only extend to this circle of men, but to
every individual through the extensive universe.  O
wisdom to be adored !  O power to be depended on J
And shall not I, who am but one, trust in thee who
orderest all the world so well! Not only the peaceful
village in its ordinary round of human life, but the
hostile plain in all the  tumult and confusion  of war,
confesses thy sceptre.  Then,  if all have an interest 
95            THE TRAVELLER.

in thy common providence, shall not I have an inter-
est in thy special care ?
  My next reflection is on the almost incredible num-
bers of my fellow-creatures who inhabit here ; and if I
throw my thought through the world, what greater
numbers, what  nations are held in life I  what then
must the general  assembly at the great  assize be, if,
according to some, every thirty or forty years sweeps
the world of all  its inhabitants ? By the same great
God, who now governs  with  wisdom, shall all this
mighty assembly be judged with equity, who will ren-
der to every one according to his works.  While thou-
sands hang  their head for shame, may  I be among
those who shall lift up their face with joy before  the
great congregation.
               MEDITATION VI.

   GOOD AND BAD MEN MIXED TOGETHER IN THE
                     WORLD.

                         London, April 16, 1758.

  NOW the world of mankind is a mingled multitude;
good and bad are  mixed  together ; wheat and tares
grow in one field;  yea, they  dwell now in one house,
of whom at the last day one shall  be taken  and the
other left.  This is a grievance which cannot be avoid-
ed, for we must have  connexion with the wicked in
the affairs of life, else wc must  go  out of the world.
But to some  persons, as to  me at present, there are ,
certain stages of life,  in  which  they are as  it were,
chained with  the  wicked,  and handcuffed  with the
son. of vice, to whom  the things o:" God are foolish 
THE TRAVELLER            97
ncss, and by whom the concerns of the immortal soul
arc never taken into consideration.  They live as if
they were to live for ever in this present state, or as if
When they  die they should never see a resurrection.
   What comfort, then,  should it be to my soul, that
He who once made  all things, will again make  all
things new ! He will, as in the old creation, divide,
not only between night  and day, but between the sons
of night, and the  children  of the day.   And while
those are covered with shame and  confusion  of face,
and cast into the blackness of darkness for ever, the
righteous shall shine as the stars, and as the sun in
the kingdom of their Father.  Then shall  the people
speak a pure language, and to the people of a  pure
language will the Lord turn, in all the brightest man-
ifestations  of his glory.  Perverse thoughts within,
and profane talk  without,  shall  no  more  disquiet.
Neither wicked company nor wandering  cogitations
shall vex the child of God any more in  the house of
God.   Then they that walk with him in white, shall
talk  with one another  on the sublimest  subjects of
eternity, on  the love  and  sufferings of  the Son of
God.   Idle words in that  state of perfection  shall
cease, where every speech is pure and spotless, every
 whisper celestial, every word divine, and all is one
ravishing encomium on redeeming love \
I 
93
THE TRAVELLER.
              MEDITATION VII.

   ON BEING ENABLED TO RESIST A TEMTTATION.

                        London,  April 17, 1758.

   GRACE to help in time of need is the gift of God
to the child of grace, and the  greatest blessing  we
can receive from heaven in a state exposed to tempta-
tions from every quarter.
  All within me desires to  bless thy holy name, that
when the temptation was near, thou wast not far off;
..nd that, as it was consistent with thy divine wisdom
to permit me to be tempted to sin, it was  also con-
sistent  with thy grace and goodness to strengthen and
deliver me when I was tempted.  As my  finite wis-
dom cannot prevent, by timeous foresight, my being
overtaken with temptations, so my feeble powers can-
not resist when overtaken.  I have  thy providence,
therefore, to magnify, that  I am not overtaken with
more temptations than I am ; and thy grace to adore,
that I am not overcome with every temptation that  I
am overtaken with.
  Human nature (and in me more so than in many) is
like  a  pile of dry and prepared wood for  fuel, and
temptation is like a spark of fire cast into it; then it
must be power divine that hinders all from going into
a blaze.  O kind compassion ! O tender mercy ! O
glorious good will!  I am  nothing; hence I shall
think humbly of myself, but highly of thy grace.
  What a thorny path is human lite 1 How is it strew-
ed with snares, gins, and traps, for  head and feet, for
heart and hands.  If I lift up my head in pride, I fall
into the condemnation of the devil.  If I look not well
%o my goings, I am cast into a net by  my own feet. 
THE TRAVELLER.             93
and walk upon a snare.   Vanity is ready to fill my
heart, and wickedness, my hands.  Not an organ oS
my body, but satan has his battery played against it;
for my ear,  the  instruction  that causeth to err; for
my sight, the lust of the eye ; and for my touch, the
handling of the things that perish.  He turns desire
into covetousness, care into anxiety, fear into despair ;
would run down hope, miscall faith, and cast the soul
loose of both.   Seeing,  then, that  I am thus beset
with snares  on every side, from every hand, O that
on my soul, my  one precious stone, there may be se-
ven eyes, and a protection round about me better than
horses and chariots of fire.
   Two lessens I am taught, which, through grace,  I
never shall  forget:   1.  To  be diffident of myself•„
2. To be confident in God, strong in his grace, and
to boast in him all the day long.   Let the sanctity of
my  after  life,  shew  the  sincerity of my gratitude.
And may I mind with joy, that thy name, as to my
sweet experience I have  found, is a ''present help ia
time of trouble."
             MEDITATION VIII.

        THE PROMISES A DIVINE TREASURE.

                         London, April 19, 1758",

  ONCE, with the unthinking world, I esteemed the
poor miserable, and called, if not the  proud, yet the
rich happy ; but now, since I glanced the volumes of
revelation, I am of another mind.  If we compare poor
and rich in scripture account, we easily see a mighty
odds ; for while a threatening is dropt here and there
against the one, to the other pertain the precious pro- 
too
THE TRAVELLER.
*
mises.  " Woe to you that  are rich,  for ye have re-
ceived your consolation."  " Go, now, ye rich men,
weep and howl for your miseries that shall come upon
you."  Thus riches, though not a curse in themselves,
yet, to depraved and corrupt nature, yield so many op*^
portunities, set so many baits to sin, that it is a sacred
and  friendly admonition,  " Labour not  to  be rich."
Were we only to inspect  the lives and deaths of the
righteous, it might make us welcome poverty th.t de-
fends us, by depriving us  of so many opportunities  to
destroy ourselves ;  but when we  see the surprising
expressions of paternal care that Heaven has replen-
ished the oracles of truth  with, we can do no less than
account the poor the happy ones ; for such is the mer-
cy of God, that when a man  is in  misery, then  he be-
comes the object of his mercy.
  Now, to show that the promises of God are not bare
expressions of good will, let his providential conduct
be surveyed, as»recorded in the word of truth, and that
in a few instances.
  Hagar, an Egyptian, Sarah's handmaid, flees from
the face of her unfriendly mistress ; flees to whom she
knows not, whither she cannot tell.  She sits down by
a well of water in the wilderness, no doubt overcome
with sorrow.  But then the angel of the Lord accosts
her; tells her that the Lord had heard her affliction ;
speaks comfort to her, and makes her a promise, un-
der a grateful sense of all which she calls the name of
the Lord, that thus prevented her with unexpected
kindness, "Thou, God, seest me."—Again, the same
Hagar is plunged into a new scene of distress.  Her
care and confusion are augmented, as she is not now
alone in her perplexity, but has  her son, her only son
with her, the object of her  fondest affection, and the
hope of her infirm  old age.  The bottle is spent, and 
THE TRAVELLER.            101
the stripling, for thirst, the worst of all deaths, must
die.   Her melting bowels being unable to behold the
agony of his last moments, she lays him down under a
shrub, to screen him from the sultry heat, and goes
away from him.   Yet maternal care will not let her go
too far away ;  so she sits down over against him, and
fixes her eyes on the melancholy spot.  And now her
grief cannot be contained,  as before,  in  agitating
thoughts, but bursts out in briny tears : She lifts  up
her voice aloud, and weeps.   Well, the God that saw
her before, sees her still. The voice of the lad, who
no doubt mingled his tears  and complaints with his
mother's, is heard ;  and Hagar's eyes are opened to
see a fountain, at which she fills the bottle, gives him
 drink, and he revives again.
   It may not be amiss to name a few more  instances
 of providential care ;  as, Lot's rescue by Abrahams
 when he and all he had were taken captive ; and after-
 wards his miraculous deliverance out of Sodom :—Ja-
 cob's preservation from angry Laban, when  pursued
 and overtaken by him ;  and his still more amazing de-
 liverance from Esau's rooted revenge,  which is con-
 verted into congratulations, tears,and embraces:—The
 astonishing history of Joseph, through all its unparal-
 leledscenes: The deliverance of the children of Israel,
 when their bondage was grown insupportable, leading
 them through the Red Sea, while their pursuers per-
 ished in the waters; feeding them in the wilderness
 with manna from heaven, and keeping their clothes
 from waxing old.  And how many times, in the book
 of Judges, even when his  people had sinned against
 him, did he show mercy to them in their extremity of
 misery ?  The accounts of Naomi, Ruth, and Hannah,
 show how the mercy of God takes place in all the c.:'-
                       12 
102          THE TRAVELLER.
cumstances of the afflicted.   The memorable passage
of the ark of God in the Philistines' land ; Jonathan's
victory over the Philistines ; the death of giant Goliah,
who had defied the armies of  Israel, by the hand of
David, who afterwards has a beautiful chain of delive-
rances from a persecuting Saul, and in his old age from
the rebellion of his unnatural son ; the protection of
the seven and thirty worthies, amidst the dangers they
were exposed to ; Elijah fed by ravens, creatures that
live on carrion, and yet they bring bread and flesh to
the  man of God twice a day! the widow's barrel of
meal, and cruise of oil, blessed so as not to waste  by
using ; Elijah's forty days journey in the strength of
one meal; small armies defeating great hosts ;  armies
supplied with water in a miraculous way ; the  barren
woman made to bear; the dead restored to life again ;
poison prevented from doing mischief, and food aug-
mented ; the three children preserved in the fire, and
Daniel in the lion's den ; all manner of diseases cured
by Christ, and his servants, the prophets and apostles ;
the lepers cleansed, the blind made to  see, the deaf to
hear, the dumb to sing, and the lame to leap ;  the de-
liverance of the disciples on the lake, of Peter, when
sinking, and afterwards when kept in prison, adestined
sacrifice to  cruelty and rage ; Paul's escape when
watched in Damascus, and when laid fast in the stocks
with Silas, in the inner prison ;  when shipwrecked,
and when the viper fastened on his hand :—These are
some instances that  the promises of God have  been
made out to his people in their adversities.  And  let
those, on the one  hand, who  have no changes, and
therefore fear not God, know, that they have  neither
part nor lot in these promises.  But on the other hand,
let him know that suffers under  the greatest  load of
afflictions, that he has a right to the greatest number 
              THE TRAVELLER.           193

of promises ; and that whenever he loses another en-
joyment, then he has a right to another promise, which
makes up that loss with a, redundancy of goodness.
   Now, let us  glance at a few of these many great
promises, that  in all cases  and conditions we may
take comfort.
   If we are troubled  with sin in its uprisings in our
hearts, and butbreakings in our life, to us then the pro-
mise speaks, " I will  take away  the hard ai.d stoney
heart: I am he that  blotteth out your iniquities as a
cloud, and your sins as a thick cloud : he will  subdue
all our iniquities, and cast our sins into the depths of
the sea, so that in the day when Israel's sins shall be
sought for, they shall  not be found.: Sin shall not have
dominion over you : I will heal their backslidings;  I
will love them freely."—Again, with respect to temp-
tation, hear the promise, " He will not suffer you to,
be tempted above that yc are able to bear, but will with
the temptation  make a way to escape."  Moreover,
this promise is made by him, who being once tempted
himself, knows how to succour them that are tempted.
Also, if wc fear lest we fall into sin, or  be overcome
when we are buffeted, hear what he says, " My grace
is sufficient for thee, for my strength is made  perfect
in weakness: The just shall hold on his way, and he
that hath clean hands shall be stronger and stronger:
The righteous shall be like the palm tree in Lebanon,
always flourishing and bringing forth fruit,even in old
age, when others fade."—If suddenly attacked by the
tongue of reproach, or accused at the bar of iniquity,
he promises, that in that hour  it shall be given how
and what to speak, and therefore we should take no
anxious forethoughts in the matter.
   With his saints in all their afflictions, he is afflicted,
and his gracious promises measure breadth and length 
104
THE TRAVELLER.
to all the trouble and distress that can bcfal them—If
poor in spirit, those he cheers,  and contemns not his
prisoners.  A bruised reed he will not break,  nor
quench the smoaking flax ; but deals very compassion-
ately with  young converts,  carries the  lambs in  his
bosom, and gently  leads them that are  with young:
He commands Peter to manifest  his love to him by
feeding his sheep, his lambs : And says to those in the
pangs of the new birth, " Shall I cause to come to the
birth, and not give strength to bring forth ?"—Again,
if they are poor as to this world, he not only makes
promises to them himself, but importunes  others to
do them  good offices; and that he  may  prevail with
them, promises to them, that he that considers the case
of the poor, shall not lie on a bed of languishing un-
considered, but have his bed made by God in his sick-
ness.  O poor man 1 he puts thee and himself on one
side, by promising to repay, as  lent to  him, what is
given to thee.  Every  where in the scripture he in-
structs us to feed the hungry, refresh the  weary,clothe
the naked, receive the outcasts : " Let mine outcasts
dwell with thee,  Moab ; be  thou a covert to them:"
To entertain the stranger and the traveller  kindly, to
do  justice to the  oppressed, to help the widow, and
judge the  cause of the fatherless-.—To the afflicted
he promises deliverence in the day of trouble : " Call
upon  me in the day of trouble,  I will deliver thee : I
will be with  thee in trouble to  deliver  thee : I will
never fail thee nor forsake thee, till I have performed
the promised good."   If exposed to calumny, says
the promise,  " Thou shalt be hid from the scourge
of the tongue :"  or  if reproached, " He shall bring
forth thy judgment as the noon-day." 
              THE TRAVELLER.           105

  Now, though the promises suit the saints in their
various stations, yet, as the  afflicted and needy ones
have a double share  of trouble and sorrow, so they
have a double portion  of the promises.  If they are
exposed to storms and drought, he promises to be an
hiding-place from the storm, a covert from the tem-
pest,  as the shadow  of a great rock in a weary land,
and as refreshful rivers in a parched  place.  If they
are reckoned as the refuse of the world, and the off-
scouring of all things, he  counterbalances this, by
promising them that he will honour them, set them
on high, and confess  their names before his Father,
and his holy angels.   But they may be  in doubt how or
where to  walk, and how  to act; then,  says he, " I
will  lead  the  blind by a way they know not; I will
make crooked places straight, and rough places plain;
these things will I do unto them, and  not forsake
them."  And when they are so nonplussed  as not to
know what  hand  to turn to in their doubts and dis-
tress, he  says, " Stand still and see the  salvation of
the Lord."  Hence says the psalmist, and all saints
may say it after him, " Thou wilt guide me with thy
counsel while I live."
  But de-th may invade their family, and lessen the
number of their relations.  Then says he, " 1 am the
resurrection  and  the life ; and the hour is coming,
when all that are in their graves shall hear the voice
of the Son of man, and shall  come forth :"  There-
fore sorrow not for your dead as they, that  have no
hope ; for they are blessed that die in the Lord, and it
is better to be gone, and be with Jesus, than remain
here.
  If they are subject to bodily infirmity, and bowed
down  by disease ; then says he, " I am the  Lord that
healeth  thee;" and  he often shews himself merciful 
106           THE TRAVELLER.

to such as sit in darkness, and in the shadow of death,
being bound with cords of affliction, and sendshis word
and healeth them.  But the disease may be spiritual,
and so of a more  piercing  and pungent nature ; yet
says he,  " I will restore health  to his mourners:"
He healeth the broken in heart, and bindeth up their
wounds ; and gives the oil of joy for mourning, and
the garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness.—If
their grief be on account of the decay of religion, or
the afflicted state of Zion, these promises  may yield
them  comfort, " That Israel shall revive as the corn,
grow  as the  lily, and cast forth her roots as Lebanon ;
that Christ's name shall endure for  ever,  and a seed
shall serve  him to all generations ; and that the gates
of hell shall never prevail against his church, since
he is both the foundation  and chief corner-stone,  and
will be with her to the end."  But if their sorrow be
about the fewness of them that seem to be saved, or
that follow Christ, then the word of comfort is, " The
election shall obtain, whoever be blinded," so that a
great multitude of all nations, tongues, end languages,
shall compose the general assembly and church of the
first-born.—If they are under gloomy shadows by di-
vine hidings, yet then hear the promise, " At evening-
lime it shall be light: Who among  you that fear the
Lord  walks in darkness, and hath  no light, let him
trust in the name of the Lord, and stay upon his God :
To you that fear his name shall the Son of righteous-
ness arise with healing in his wings, and in the light
of thy countenance shall they  walk on for ever."   To
which promises the response  of faith is," When I sit
in darkness, the Lord will be a light unto me, for he
shall bring me forth to the light,  and  I shall behold
his  righteousness."  If they are disquieted through
trouble of mind, hear the kindly promise,  " As  one 
              THE TRAVELLER.           107

whom his mother comforteth, so will I comfort you :
Though  thou hast been called as a woman forsaken,
and grieved in spirit, and as a wife of youth, when thou
wast refused,  saith thy God, yet, after the few mo-
ments of my displeasure are past, with everlasting
kindness will I gather thee :  And,  as the waters of
Noah shall never return to cover the earth, so the cov-
enant of my peace shall never depart from thee ;
for though  thou seem as one altogether afflicted with
my waves,  tossed with the tempests  of my indigna-
tion, till thou groan under the anguish of a deserted
soul, yet the day is at hand, when I will no more hide
my face from you ;  for though a woman may forget
her  sucking child,  and have no  compassion  on
the fruit of her womb, yet I can never forget thee
who art so dear to me."—Again, to those that are dis-
tressed for the divisions of Reuben,  the promise
speaks, " The watchmen shall see eye to  eye,  when
the Lord bringeth again Zion.  There shall be a day
when  the  watchmen  in  Mount  Ephraim shall  cry,
Arise ye, let us  go up to Zion.  Judah and  Israel
shall be  one stick in  mine hand; for there shall be
one Lord over all the earth, and his name one."  And
the last prayer of the divine sufferer, which runs thus,
" That they all may be one, as thou, Father, art in me,
and I in thee, that they also may be one in us," shall
be answered in due time.
  To those who are called  out to dangers, says the
promise, "  Thou shalt tread on the lion,  and adder ;
the young lion and dragon shalt thou trample under
foot: When thou passest through the waters, I will be
with thee, and through the rivers, they shall not over-
flow thee;  when thou walkest through the fire, thou
shalt not be burnt, neither shall the flame kindle upon
thee : If ye drink any deadly  thing,  ye  shall not  be 
108          THE TRAVELLER.
hurt."  Again, if calamities be national, even the time
of Jacob's trouble, yet the promise is, " He shall be
saved out of it: This man shall be our peace, when the
Assyrian cometh  into our land, and treadeth in our
borders ; and, He will ordain peace for us, who makes
peace."  If enemies rise in war, then the promise is,
that they shall be found liars ; and though  they be nu-
merous, that one shall chase a thousand, and two put
ten thousand to flight; for no weapon formed against
Zion shall prosper.  But if they should be made pris-
oners,  the  promise reaches that situation also: "Ver-
ily, I will cause the enemy to entreat thee  well in the
time of evil, and in the time of affliction ;" which was
made good to Israel, who were pitied by them that led
them captive.
   Are they blind, dumb, deaf, maimed, deformed, fee-
ble, and perishing ? Then the promise is that the Son
of God, whose coming from heaven we look for, "shall
change our vile bodies, that they may be fashioned like
unto his glorious body,according to the working where-
by he is able to subdue even all things unto himself."
To the barren he promises to give in his  house, and
within his walls, a place and a name better  than of sons
and of daughters.  To the stranger he promises to be
a shield.  But perhaps they are not only strangers for
a little time, but outcasts for a long time  ; then " the
Lord gathereth the outcasts of Israel/and will say to the
north, Give up, and to the south, Keep not back." But
they, perhaps,  have  been long  expecting  the per-
formance of the promise, and praying for some bless-
ing that has not been bestowed ;  well,  but says the
promise, "The needy shall  not  always be forgotten,
the expectation of the poor shall not perish for  ever.
He will fulfil the desire  of them that fear  him, he will
hear their cry,  and  save* them.  « But  they may be 
               THE  TRAVELLER.           109

 exposed to the cunning plots of designing men ; true,
 say the sacred oracles, " The wicked plotteth against
 the just, and gnasheth upon him with his teeth ; but
 the Lord shall laugh at him," in way of derision, to
 see  him so bent to undermine another,  whose  more
 terrible doom is at hand, even a day coming that shall
 pluck  him  out root and branch, while the righteous
 shall be an everlasting foundation.   But one may be
 fatherless,  and such is ready to suffer injury at every
 hand : But, says the promise, " God is  a  Father to
 the fatherless, and the widow's Judge in his holy ha-
 bitation :" And so  says he, " Leave thy  fatherless
 children."—Ah ! Lord,  may the dying parent say, I
 must leave them : Well, but, says God,  " I will pre-
 serve them  alive;" that is, provide for them, and
 bring them up like a kindiy tutor, and what more
 couldst thou do though still with them ? Then, may
 the sympathizing husband say, And what  shall this thy
 handmaid do ?  " Let thy widow trust in me," and she
 shall not be ashamed of her hope ; I will  be to her
 as the most tender husband.
   Again, the comforting word to such as  are living
 among the  ungodly,  and  chained to bad  company,
 is, " The Lord knoweth how to deliver the godly out
 of temptation," as he did Lot in a like situation.—But
 their work allotted them may be arduous and difficult;
 then the promise is, " I will be with thy mouth ; thou
 shalt not be afraid of their faces, for I am  with  thee
to deliver thee ; the tongue of the  stammerer  shall
 speak plainly, and the heart of the rash shall under-
 stand wisdom ; I will direct their work in truth :  And
 as his day is, so shall his strength be."—But they may
be solitary, their dearest friends, and nearest relations,
being  removed by  death;  then, saith the  promise?
                       K 
110           THE TRAVELLER.
" God setteth the solitary in families, and bringeth out
those that are bound with chains."—But they may be
troubled to think how they shall hold on through the
wide, the waste, the howling wilderness ;  how they
shall make the steep ascent to the hill of God ; men
the promise is, " My presence shall go with thee, and
I will give thee rest: Thou shalt hear a voice behind
thee,  saying, This is the way,  walk ye in it, when ye
turn to the right hand, and when ye turn to the left:
They shall mount up with wings as eagles,  they shall
run and not be weary, they shall walk and not faint:
He that is feeble among  them,  at that day shall be as
David, and the house of  David  shall be as God, as the
angel of the Lord."—But they may have their daily
difficulties how to support their needy families ; well,
the promise also speaks to  that condition  : "  They
that fear the Lord shall  not  want any  good thing :
Behold  the eye  of  the Lord  is upon them that fear
him, upon them that hope in his mercy, to deliver
their soul from death, and keep them alive in famine :
Bread shall be given thee, and  thy  water shall be
sure : Therefore, I  say,  t;*ke no thought for your life
what ye shall cat, neither for the body what ye  shall
put on ; the life is  more than meat, and the body is
more  than raiment; consider the  ravens, for they
neither sow nor reap ; can ye be in a worse condition ?
Nor have they store or barn to lay up what they might
spare  in the  plenty of harvest, yet God feedeth them
all the year round.   How much better are ye than the
fowls  of heaven ; and think ye that ye  shall fare so
much worse than they at the hand of your heavenly
Father ?  And as for cloathing, consider the  lilies
how they grow, they neither  toil nor spin, yet surpass
Solomon in all his glory. If God then so cloathe the
yr;^?,  of the field, which ao  quickly  perishes  away, 
THE TRAVELLER.
Ill
how much more will he clothe you, O ye of little
faith ! Why fearful about these things, when it is your
Father's good pleasure, O little flock 1 to give you the
kingdom ?  Think not anxiously on your own neces-
sities, because your heavenly Father knoweth that yc
have need of these things.—But they may be distres-
sed with daily afflictions, and continued chastisements;
well, the promise speaks a  good word  to  dissipate
that pain : " Many are the afflictions of the righteous,
but the Lord delivcreth him out of them all."—But
perhaps old age advancing, with all its train of infirm-
ities, may trouble them ; then the promise proclaims
the divine protection :  " Even to  your old age I am
he, and to your hoar hairs will I carry you.  And thou
shalt pass into the land of glory in that beautiful ma-
turity, as a shock of corn cometh in, in his season."
But they may be under bondage through fear of death,
and even trembleto take the dark step into the unseen
world; then  the promise  speaks comfort in the very
last extremity :  " O death !  I will be thy plague ; O
grave ! I will be thy destruction :" So that they may
break out into the same raptures, that saints viewing
the same change, sweetened by  the same  promise,
have done of old, " O death !  where is thy sting ?  O
grave ! where is thy victory ?  This God is our God,
and will be our guide even unto death :   Yea, though
I walk through the valley and shadow of death,  yet
will I fear no evil, for thou art with me ; thy rod and
thy staff they comfort me," 
112           THE TRAVELLER
               MEDITATION IX.

             THE SACRED INSURANCE.

                       Horndean, April SO, 175*.

   MEN that go to sea, conscious of their danger,
oftentimes insure ; that so, though their ships should
be wrecked, their value may be secured to  them.   I
am also going to sea, and carry a cargo with  me more
precious than all the  treasures of the Indies, even
mine immortal soul, which is also in danger of perish-
ing upon the waters of vice and profanity.  How then
shall my all be sufe amidst so many dangers ; amidst
the corruption of nature and the seeds of sin within,
:.nd bad example, bi.se advice, bold attacks, and bane-
ful snares without,  while perhaps there is not one to
counsel me aright, to  strengthen ray hand in  Godi
and thereby comfort me ?  Blessed be the God  of all
consolation, that in this deplorable  situation I need not
despond.  The insurance-office of heaven is willing to
contract with me on  the most honourable, and ino»t
advantageous terms for my soul;  and holds forth to
me the stedfast promise of his faithfulness, " That his
grace shall be sufficient for me, because his strength
is made perfect in weakness, and that  he  will not suf-
fer me to be tempted above measure, but will with the
temptation make a  way to escape."
  Then, Lord,  my humble request is, That I may
never sin against thy love and grace,  nor cause thee
to hide thy countenance by my untendcr walk :—That
sin may continue, whatever shape it  may put on, as
ugly and abominable to me as ever I thought it, yea,
the more so  the more 1 am  entangled with it ; as I
would more  lothe the serpent twisting round my legs, 
             THE TRAVELLER.           n^

than crawling ten yards distant from me on the ground:
__That I may ever be grieved with the sins of others,
and that, in appearing against sin, I may not fear the
face of man -.—That the  more all things would draw
me from thee, I may draw the nearer to thee, and keep
the closer by thee :—That I may never be ashamed
of religion, or of thee :—That I may remember the
 concerns of thy glory as far as in me  lies, and pray for
 the reviving of religion, and  prosperity of Z'.on :—
That I may study, since I cannot have the ordinances of
 God in public, to enjoy the God of ordinances in pri-
 vate :—That I may never be cast down for temporal
 misfortunes, but own the  hand of God in all; and,
 like the honey-bee, suck sweetness to  my soul, from
 that same providence which affords rancour and dis-
 quiet to the unsubmissive mind :—That in the midst
 of all, I may bear my latter end in my mind,  and ne-
 ver forget the world to come -.—That I may depend
 on nothing in myself, but be always strong in the grace
 and strength that is in  Christ Jesus  :—That every
 Sabbath may be sweet to  my soul, in spite of all ob-
 struction ; and that an opportunity may  be afforded to
 me, to read that word which I should  esteem more
  lan my necessary food.  O grant  me my request!
 for, as of old, thou didst suffer none to  do thy chosen
 ones harm, yea,  for the sake of  thy prophets didst
 reprove  mighty  kings,  so now,  if I be among the
 number of thy people, thou canst, who hast the hearts
 of all  men in thy hand, not only restrain, but reprove
 the bold offender, and keep me safe in the midst of
 danger; and, as a sigh of my gratitude for thy great
 goodness, not a little, but all I am, have,  or can do,
 shall, all my lifetime, be devoted to  the advancement
 of thy glory, and  honour of thy name..
                       K.2 
114           THE TRAVELLER.
               MEDITATION X.

              ON PUMPING THE SHIP.

                         Spit head, May 11, 1758.

  NO ship can be so well caulked, but she will dra\tf
water, more or less, though where or how  we scarce
can tell; and though it is only by the assistance of the
watery element we sail from shore to shore, yet, if
too much water were let in on us, it would  sink us to
the bottom of the  mountains, and bury us amidst un-
fathomable waves : Even so, though a moderate por-
tion of the good things of this life be highly useful to
us through the various stages thereof, yet, when the
cares of this life, carnal pleasures, and a desire after
riches, break in on our souls like mighty billows, wc
bid fair  to be drowned  in distinction and perdition.
Again, on such an ocean of waters,  and when water
also swells within us, what a wonder that we are not
lost! So, in such a world of wickedness  (witness the
wretches around me) and  when corruption so swells
within, what a miracle of mercy that  the soul is not
lost for ever !
  Whatever way the water comes into the ship, it can-
not be sentout the same way, but must be pumped out
with care and toil ; even so,though death and sin came
in by mere man, yet life and salvation must be brought
in by him who is both God and man in one.  And as
this bilge-water comes not from a lave of the surging
waves, or breaking billows, but as it were, springs up
within the vessel, and thus is both dangerous and dis-
agreeable ; just so, though we keep from scandalous
outbreakings, yet, if we indulge ourselves in secret
sin, we both defile and destroy the inner man.   The 
THE TRAVELLER.           115
fasterthe shipmakeswater, the more we ply the pump;
so the more that sin attacks, and is likely to prevail,
the more I am to watch and  pray  against it; and
prayer is the Christian's chain pump, which must be
employed, else the soul would perish.  Lastly, as the
mariner must  pump again and again, and never think
his labour at an end, while his ship is at sea, so I must
watch against sin, keep myself from mine iniquity, at-
tend well to the  state of my soul, and implore the in-
habitation of the Divine  Spirit, till my vessel arrive
at the harbour of eternal rest.
              MEDITATION XI.

         ON  THE  ANCHORS OF THE SHIP.

                         Spithead, May 4, 1758.
  MEN unacquainted with navigation, would think
that the cables to which the anchors are appended were
fastened to some part above deck; but it is not so; they
come from the very inmost part of the ship, and are
as  it were its bowels winding out.  Even so, faith,
which is the anchor of the soul, is no external form,
or superficial act,  but the very soul,  in all her facul-
ties, going out and fastening on Christ.
  And, as it is enough to the ship that she  rides safe
at her moorings, though her anchors  are not exposed
to every eye, but hid  beneath an heap of waters, and
only known by their effects, that she keeps by her sta-
tion, in spite of winds and waves, of tides and storms :
just so, it is enough that the anchor of the soul be fixed
within the vail, though concealed from vulgar view;
it will be known  by its sweet effects.   The  soul shall
abound in fruits of righteousness, shall find a sweet 
116          THE  TRAVELLER.
tranquility  within,  shall be stable like Mount Zion,
while the wicked shall be tossed like a rolling thing
before the whirlwind.
  Sometimes a ship may drive, when neither the an-
chor is weighed, nor the cable cut or slipt; but then it
is owing to the anchor losing its hold ; but this is re-
medied by letting out cable, or dropping the anchor
anew : Just so, when the soul loses its hold of Christ
and heavenly things, it is no wonder that it be driven
hither and  thither, by storms and tempests, among
rocks and quick-sands ; nor is there any other way of
bringing the soul to rest and composure, but by acting
faith more strongly on Christ, and casting her anchor
anew within the vail.
  It would be ridiculous for the shipmaster to hoist his
sails before he weigh his anchors ; but the Christian
can never steer safely through the course of life, but
with his anchor fixed within the vail;  then, if he is
Jius heavenly wise, he shall weather every storm, and
make the haven, the long wished for haven, at last.
  Even the ship at anchor is never altogether free
from motion in the  greatest calm, and, at sometimes
will  roll in  such a manner a* to make some of -the
ship's company sick, and others believe that the an-
chor has lost its hold, and that all is in danger : Even
so, the saints, though secured against utter ruin, may
have many changes, may be much tossed with adver-
sities, and various afflictions, and may have fears with-
out,  and fightings within.
  But, how much wiser is the mariner in a storm, than
the children of wisdom  themselves!  The fiercer the
tempest, and the greater the danger, they cast out the
more anchors.  But the saints, in times of greatest
trouble, instead of acting the strongest faith, arc apt
to cry out,' Lost, and undone I' and so cut their cables, 
               THE TRAVELLER.           117

 and cast loose their anchors; and thus, and that always
 in a night of sorrow and anguish, are tossed  on the
 rough sea of despondency and doubt,for a time. Faith,
 however, has this advantage above all the cables ever
 made, and all the anchors ever fabricated, that it secures
 in spite of fiercest storms, and keeps safe in the midst
 of imminent dangers, relying more or  less on him who
 cannot  fail,  even when providence  contradicts the
 promise.
   Now,  as no ship goes to sea without her cables and
 anchors, though of no use till she come again near the
 land ; so I should do every thing in faith ; for without
 faith it is impossible to  please God, or  come to an
 anchor in the harbor of glory.


               MEDITATION XII.
                    THE SAILS.

                         Spit head, May 5,  1758.
  ANCHORS  are servants to us in the harbor, but
 are entirely useless at sea, where another kind of tacit-
 ling is absolutely necessary, to wit, the  expansive sails
 that spread their friendly wings, and  catch the favor-
 ing gales, to forward us in our intended voyage.
  Even so, the spiritual seamen must  to their anchors
of faith, add virtue ; and to virtue, knowledge ; and to
knowledge, temperance; and to temperance, patience;
and to patience, godliness ; and to godliness, brotherly
 kindness ; and to brotherly kindness, charity :  These
are the sails that bid fair for a prosperous voyage, arm
bring us daily-nearer to the celestial land.
  The Holy Spirit breathing on the public ordinances,
 and the  more private duties of Christianity, is like a
fair wind, and a brisk gale  on a full spread sail, which 
118           THE TRAVELLER.
answers the highest  expectation of the  homeward
bound ship.  No shipmaster could ever expect, under
his bare poles, to make the desired haven, though fa-
vored with a very fresh gale.  If he did not both un-
furl and stretch his sails in the best direction for the
wind, he would look more like a madman than a mari-
ner.   So he that attends on no  ordinances, attempts
the performance of no duljs reads not the scriptures
of truth, and prays not to the God of all grace, is not
in the way of the heavenly gale that wafts the saints
to glory.
  Again, the sails,  fore and aft, may all be unfurled,
by a skilful hand,  and spread out to the wind, and yet
the ship for  a time make little way,  because scarcely
favored with a breath of wind.   So the influences of
the Spirit may be restrained for a time, and the saints,
even  in the use of every mean, may make but little
progress in  their Christian course.  But as the expe-
rienced seaman, in such a case, crowds on all his sails,
adds a top-gallant sail, and appends studding sails ; so
we, with the spouse, should rouse up ourselves, rise
from our sloth, ask anxiously after him, be  earnest
and importunate in every duty, till we find him whom
our soul loveth.
  Nothing can be a more pleasant sight at sea than a
fleet of ships, richly laden, with a moderate gale, steer-
ing a straight course to the port, at which they have
long been expected, and which they have long desired
to see. But  a company of saints travelling Zionwards,
rich in heavenly graces,and the hopes of eternal glory;
and,  under the influences of the Holy Ghost, steering
a straight course to the church of the first-born, where
they have been long expected by the souls under the
altar,  and which they have long desired to sec,  is a
more noble  sight. 
              THE TRAVELLER.           119

  Finally, as the ship never takes in her sails till arri-
ved at her desired haven, so we should be always on
our guard,keep every grace in vigour, never be weary
in well doing, but press toward the mark for the prize
of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus, till we make
the haven of bliss, the harbour of glory.
              MEDITATION XIII.

           ON THE COMPASS AND HELM.

                         Spit head, May 6, 1758.
  ANCHORS and sails are both useful ; but without
something more, the mariner must steer an unsteady
course, and traverse  the- ocean to little purpose, not
knowing where he is,  nor whither he  goes.  These
handmaids of navigation are,  the compass, the quad-
rant, and the helm.   Without the compass, he durst
never venture from the coast, because  he would sail
he knows not whither ;  without the quadrant, he must
mistake his latitude ; and without his helm, he might
be driven whither he would not.  Even so all these in
a spiritual sense are absolutely necessary to every one
who would have  a safe passage to the other world.
Therefore, seeing I am  on a long, but interesting voy-
age to eternity, much care should be taken what course
I steer, since one point wrong, so to speak, instead of
landing me safe in glory, will run me among the
rocks of irretrievable ruin.   Did not they seem to bid
fair for,a prosperous  voyage, and for making the very
harbour, who could boast to Christ  himself,  " Lord,
Lord, have we notprophecied in thy name, and in thy
name  cast out devils, and  done  many  wonderful
works ?" and yet he professes to them that he never
knew them. 
120
THE TRAVELLER.
  Now, I must direct the course of my life, and the
end of my actions, by the sacred compass of divine rev-
elation. This should be a lamp to my feet, and a light
to my path ; my  counsellor in all difficulties, and my
song in the house  of my pilgrimage ; yea, my daily
and delicious food.
  Here I must observe, that if the most skilful pilot
cannot, without  the  compass, sail from England to
the Indies ;  so the heathen, for all  the blaze of natu-
ral parts, for all  their refined manners,  or excellent
morals, yet, wanting the word of God, the volume of
inspiration, can never reach the shore of happiness ;
for  "  how shall  they believe  in  him of whom they
have not heard ! and how shall they hear without a
preacher ? and how shall they preach except they be
sent ?"
  Again, like  the spiritual mariner, I should take my
altitude, and see what length I have run, what pro-
gress I have made  in my course  heavenward.   Now,
this is known by the  height of the  Sun of righteous-
ness in my sky.   If  he enlighten  the whole  inner
man,  shine into my heart,  irradiate every power of
mind,  cover me  with his healing beams, fill my rav-
ished  eye, engage my attention,  and excite me daily
to adore and bask beneath my Saviour's gracious rays,
surely I am well on to  the meredian,' well on  to  the
land of rest.
  Again, I should  steer the helm by  the compass of
divine truth, guard against running  out of my latitude,
but be attentive to my life according to thy word, and
have a zeal according  to  knowledge.  Thus shall I
at last, under a full sail, in a triumphant manner, have
an abundant entrance ministered  to me into the king-
dom of my Lord and  Saviour Jesus Christ. 
              THE TRAVELLER.            121


              MEDITATION XIV.

             PROVISIONS AND STORES.

  THE ship must not only be  well supplied with
every thing necessary for navigation, but with food for
the seamen on their voyage.   If they have not laid in
both bread and water, they shall soon be in a starving
condition, reduced to eat one another, or die, and nev-
er see the country for  which they set out.  Just so,
if we do not live on a crucified Jesus, if he be not the
food of our souls, and in us the hope of glory :  If we
cannot make a spiritual  meal, a spiritual feast on The
promises,  we shall be consumed of famine, and per-
ish  in our passage.
  Again,  as this day's allowance  will not support us
to-morrow, so it is not by grace received that we must
pursue our Christian journey ; for we must be strong
only in the grace that is in Christ Jesus, and daily re-
ceive out  of his fulness.
  Further, the provision which we carry  to sea must
be  prepared in another manner than what is used at
land, otherwise it will corrupt, and become altogether
useless.   Even so, a form of godiiness, and counter-
feit graces, a cradle-faith, and a family-piety, will not
support us in our passage to the world of spirits.
  Besides, in a scarcity of provisions, the vermin,  rats
to wit, will attempt to knaw the flesh of the poor sail-
ors.  Even  so, when grace is  languid or withheld,
what lusts prey on the vitalsof the soul 1  O, then, for
a full meal  on the bread  of life,  that I may be safe
from sin and satan,  earth and hell !
  Our provisions, when long at 6ea,  arc apt to breed
maggots,  worms, and  insects;  yet, if  wholesome
                        L 
122
THE TRAVELLER.
when put aboard, will support us till we accomplish
our voyage.  So, it is  no wonder though, amidst so
many snares, so many temptations, and in such a vari-
ety of circumstances and occurrences, the graces ne-
cessary to the Christian life, be  more or less languid
at times, and sometimes appear so much disposed to
putrefaction, that spiritual death is  dreaded to be at
hand ; but, if true grace be first implanted, the Chris-
tian shall not perish  by the way, but have the bread
and water of life bestowed upon him, till he  come to   '
the banquet above.
  Moreover, if a supply of provisions, suitable to the
length of the voyage, or of the time designed to be at
sea,  is neglected, a scarcity will  ensue,  that will ruin
the  ship.  So, how  sad to sail through life, with no-
thing but vanity and wind to feed on I The soul must
starve all his life-long, anddie at last of spiritual famine,
.the most terrible of all deaths.  A ship, indeed, short
of provisions, may meet another at sea, and obtain a
liberal supply; but this is not the case with a graceless
soul; no other can help, none can  spare  of his own
stores to supply others.
   No private person, yea, nothing less than majesty,
-could afford so many persons as are in the navy, this
ample provision. So, neither from saints nor angels is
 the  poor sinner to expect righteousness or grace ; all
arc beggars or bankrupts themselves, and so can give
no ransom for their brother's soul.  But how rich the
 King of heaven !  that gives both grace and glory to his
 angels and  saints,  and  yet remains an overflowing
 ocean of goodness !
   In a long voyage, it may be sometimes necessary to
 put the whole ship's company on short allowance, but
 death never follows this.   So, the saints, in their way
 [heavenward, may find themselves for a time deprived 
THE TRAVELLER.
123
of public ordinances, which should nourish the soul (it
is our sin, without urgent causes, to deprive ourselves
of them) yea, may find the communications of grace
more sparingly bestowed, or, to their sense, for a sea-
son withheld ; but still grace in the soul, and the soul
itself,  shall by faith  be kept alive, till  they land in
glory, where they shall feast on  the plentitude of all
diviQe goodness.
  Again, we must not only have  the ship thoroughly
equipped, but we must have spare anchors, spare sails,
and spare  masts ; else in a storm, when we  may be
driven from our anchors, or at  3ea,  when our  sails
may be blown to pieces, and our masts brought by the
board, we must remain at the mercy of wind and wave,
and perish  in our distress.  So, it is proper that every
Christian lay up  in his mind the promises, the word
on which God has caused him to hope  ; that in the day
of darkness and  tempest,  when like to sink in  the
mighty waves, he may have recourse to them, as hold-
ing forth an unchangeable love, and call to mind his
past experience of divine goodness ;  like the psalm-
ist, " I will remember thee from the land  of Jordan,
and of the  Hermonites, from the hill  Mizar."  Thus
shall  he weather out the storm, and have a safe  pas-
sage  to the land of promise. 
 124          THE TRAVELLER.


               MEDITATION XV.

                     BALLAST.

                          Spithead, May 8, 1758.

   NOTWITHSTANDING all this nice apparatus,
 and royal provision made for the vessel designed for
 foreign climes, there is one thing absolutely necessary
 for her safety in the main ocean, among roaring winds,
 and that is a due weight of ballast.   To see such a
 quantity of gravel, sand, stones, pegs of iron,  &c.
 thrown into the ship's hold,  would make an ignorant
 person apt to conclude, that it must sink the ship, and
 not conduce to her safety ; but, if she were not sunk
 to a proper depth, she would buoy up on the surface
 of the water, and be overset  by every gale that blows.
 Just so, a pressure of affliction is absolutely necessary
 for the saint  in his passage heavenward.  If every
 thing went prosperously on,  spiritual  pride might
 buoy up the soul, and expose her to be overset by every
 wind of temptation ;  and such winds the people of
 God may expect below.   Indeed,  there are causes,
 manifold causes of humility cleaving to the best; but,
 before God suffers his saints to be exalted above mea-
 sure, even through the manifestation of the divine fa-
 vour, he will  let loose the messenger of satan to buf-
 fet them, as he dealt with Paul of old.
  As the ship sails more safely thus ballasted, though
it has a greater depth of water to cut through ;  so it
is safer for the soul to be kept in a due poise of humil-
ity and Iowness of mind, than to float on the surface,
and catch every gale.
  Again, it may be necessary sometimes to shift the
ballast fore or aft,  as the ship goes more or less up- 
THE TRAVELLER.
125
right, to alter her  position.  Even so, according to
our  necessity, our  afflictions may be removed from
one  thing, and laid upon another that is  dear to us.
We may suffer in our estate, or good name ;  trouble,
disease, or death, may be laid on our children, or the
wife of our bosom;  and we may be afflicted in our
bodies, or in our minds, as Infinite Wisdom sees meet;
which should silence us under all.
   Again, the food that we eat, and the water that we
drink, is part of the ballast, and  keeps us deep in the
water.  Just so, our best comforts,  at least what we
thought best, are often made bitter with some cross.
Thus, have not some husbands sharp sorrow from her
that  lieth  in their bosom ?  Have not some  parents
much vexation from those whom they have swaddled,
and brought up ? Therefore, to expect little from the
creature, and all from God, is the way never to be dis-
appointed, but always at rest.
   Finally, here is the crowning  comfort, that, as the
ballast is turned out, when  the ship goes into dock,
so, when I arrive at my much-desired haven, affliction
shall no more have place in me  ;  then shall I obtain
joy and gladness, and sorrow and sighing shall for ev-
er flee away.
              MEDITATION XVI.

 1HE MORE WE SEE OF SIN, THE  MORE  WE SHOULD
                    HATE SIN.

  WHEN Israel  was in  their own  land, they were
mad on idolatry ; but, when forced to sacrifice at Bab-
ylon to idols  which they  knew not,  they got such a
                      L  2 
126           THE TRAVELLER;
surfeit of that  sin, that they loathed  it ever after.
How, then, should I henceforth hate sin, when I see
how naked it makes the soul, how it debases even unto
hell, how the longer the captive lies  in chains, the
fetters grow stronger, and the captive  weaker; how
it kindles hell, scatters brimstone over the tabernacle,
makes the language of the pit spue from the tongue,
and makes restless in the pursuit of sin ;  in a word,
contemns divine things, proclaims rebellion  against
Heaven, and wages war against God !
             MEDITATION XVII.

        KNOWING A SIN TO BE COMMITTED.

                        Spithead, May 15, 1758.

  IN vain, O foolish man !  in vain thou hidest thy-
self, for " there is no darkness nor shadow of death
where the workers of iniquity may hide themselves."
Hast thou chosen the  gloom of night ?  Well, but
night is to God as day, and darkness as the light.
Thou didst premeditate the perpetration of thy wick-
edness, and God is preparing the punishment of thy
crimes.
  Lord !  thy judgments are a great  deep,  and thy
justice shall shine in the punishment of sinners, who
shall confess  the equity of thy burning indignation.
Thus, they who unweariedly blaspheme in  pastime
and in sport,  shall eternally blaspheme in agony and
pain. Thus, the unclean wretch, who burns in impure
desires, and satisfies his lusts in an unlawful way, shall
be delivered to the flames, where the worm diethnot,.
and the fire is not quenched.  He who will not hear-
ken to God's reproof, in  the time of his long-suffering, 
THE TRAVELLER.
127
shall hear when vengeance shall be his garment, and
his fury shall uphold him.   Thus, the companions of
sin shall be the companions of suffering, being bound
in bundles to be burnt together.  Thus, the adulter-
ers, who  know  no shame, shall be ashamed, and
covered with confusion in that day.  And such as now
expose their wickedness to some, with impunity, shall
be exposed  before the  great congregation, and shall
not be able to hold up their  face  before the spotless
throne.
   Then thou, O sinner  I shalt be  there, and I shall be
there.  Here I know thy sin, and, if mercy prevent
not now,  there I shall see thy  punishment.   How
shalt thou wish this day, this night, out of the  num-
ber of  the days of  thy years, and not  added to thy
months 1  How wilt thou wish darkness to cover it,
and a cloud of oblivion to  dwell upon it 1  How wilt
thou curse it, when ready  to raise  up thine  ever-
lasting  mourning!  When  thou  wast  a child,  thou
couldst not commit  this wickedness, and  when thou
art a  man, thou shouldst not ; therefore, how shalt
thou curse thy manhood, and bewail the riper years ;
yea, wish that thou hadst been an  untimely birth, an
infant that never saw the sun ! Thy sin is  marked in
my mournful meditation, in thy conscience which is at
work secretly, and in the omniscience of thy tremen-
dous Judge.   There will be no want of proof against
thee in the day of thy cause ; the companion of thy
wickedness shall be present, I shall be present, con-
science shall be present, when thou appearest before
thy Judge, who, being  every where  present, is the
greatest witness of all.   There will be  no casting of
witnesses  there ;  for no false witness  can appear at
that tribunal, yea, thou thyself shalt never presume
to plead not guilty.  Assure as thou hast committed 
128
THE TRAVELLER.
this  sin, shall these events take place 1  And  yet, O
man 1 thou art merry in the midst of all  thy  misery,
and observest not the impending thunders that are
about to break on thy devoted head.   Sin is that poi-
son  that makes a  man  go  laughing to death,  and
dancing to destruction.  Then, let  my  soul weep in
secret places for those that cannot  pity themselves,
nor shew compassion on their own souls, but live in a
dream, die  in darkness, and plunge  into  despair.
             MEDITATION XVIII.

                 A MAN OF WAR.        --

                                  May  16, 1758.

  THERE is a grea't difference between a trading ship
and a man of war.   The one goes out for private gain,
the other for the public good.   That neither intends
to attack, nor is prepared to resist, if attacked in her
voyage ; but this spreads the sails, and sweeps the sea,
to find and fight the foe ; and, therefore, carries along
with her weapons of every kind, and instruments of
death.
  Even so, the Christian has another course of life to
lead than the worldling, even while sojourning in the
world.  And, as the ship of war must not  traffic from
port to port, having more noble things in view, life and
liberty to defend, and enemies to subdue;so, " no man
that wareth, entanglcth himself with the affairs of this
life, that he may please him who hath chosen him to
be a soldier."
   We are  never out of danger,  while at sea ; for,
 though it be a time of peace, we may be overtaken
 with a tempest, wrecked on a rock, or  sit down on a 
            ' THE TRAVELLER.           129

 sand-bank : But, in these disquieted times, we may be
 shattered by an engagement, sunk by the foe, or blown
 up by accident; or, should we escape all these, we may
 have a mutiny within.  Just so, whatever be the situa-
 tion of the sons of men, still the children of grace have
 a war  to maintain ;  not only a sea full of storms to
 struggle through, but a field of foes to fight through.
 It is through fire and water, through severe trials, and
 heavy afflictions, that all spiritual champions have to
 force their way.  Satan knows well how to act; when
 faith would look to the bright side of every event, sa-
 tan turns up the black side, to drive the soul to despair;
 and, on the other hand, when grace looks to the black-
 ness of sin, he turns up the beautiful side of pleasure.
 In adversity, I am ready to dash  against the  rocks of
 discontent; and, in prosperity,to fall among the quick-
 sands of worldly cares and temporal  concerns.   We
 have  foes  on  every hand to fight, temptations from
 every quarter to resist, all the powers of darkness, all
 the principalities of the pit, to combat with ; nor is
 peace to be expected while an enemy is on the field;
 neither must we lay aside our armour, the weapons of
 our warfare, till we lay down the  body of death.
  Again, though for a time wc have no foe to affright
 us, no tempest to trouble us, no rock  to endanger us,
 yet a mutiny may rise within, than  which nothing can
be more terrible ;  and it is always the dregs of  the
crew that arc chiefly concerned in it, while the officers
are sure either to be cutoff', or confined.  Just so, there
may be a tumult raised in the soul, a  war in the very
mind, when rascally corruptions, headed by unbelief,
claim the command ; when graces, faith, love, patience,
resignation, spirituality, See. are wounded, and put  un-
der confinement: Thus, one complained of old,  " I
see another law in my members, waring  against  the 
ISO           THE TRAVELLER

law of my mind, and bringing me into captivity to the
law of sin, which is in my members."   Now,  as no
scene can be more melancholy than a mutiny, till it be
suppressed, and order restored ;  so nothing can be
more melancholy than a soul suffering all the calam-
ities of a war within, corruption rampant,  and grace
bleeding.
  But, how happy is the ship, when peace is restored,
and-the mutineers secured in irons, and  what a strict
eye is kept on them during the voyage !  So it is with
the soul ; what joy, what exultation and triumph, pre-
vail, when sin is subdued,  and  the love  of  God, and
peace of conscience,  are shed abroad in the heart by
the Holy Ghost!
  This is known, that when the mutineers get the
ascendance, and compel the rest of the ship's company
to join them, they turn pirates, are resolute in battle,
bloody in their conquests, desperate in  all attacks, a
terror to, and  hated of every nation.  Even so, he that
sets  out with  a fair profession of religion, and on the
way to heaven, but turns a black  apostate,  spues out
malice against the ways of God, becomes the bitterest
of all enemies, the most profligate of all offenders, and
is hated  of saint and sinner.
   When a mutiny takes place, it is sometimes  requi-
site for the safety of the ship, and for the  honour of
government, to cut off some otherwise very  useful
hands.   Just so, we are to cut  off lusts, though dear
as our right eye, or useful as our right hand, that we
perish not for ever.
   Again, our being provided with what enables us to
defend ourselves, and to distress our foes, has some-
times been the  ruin of ships,  while the  fatal  spark
makes a terrible explosion, tears the vessel to pieces,
 and scatters the lifeless crew on the deep.  So the best 
             THE TRAVELLER.           131

of blessings, the choicest privileges, when not improv-
ed, entail the bitterest of curses. Thus Judas, who sat
in his  divine master's presence, heard his sermons,
and witnessed his miracles, not improving these gol-
den opportunities, turned traitor and hanged himself,
in the anguish of despair.  And Capernaum, that in
privileges was exalted to heaven, is threatened to be
thrust down to hell.
 When war is over, peace proclaimed, ships on foreign
stations called home, prize-money received, ships paid
off, and laid up, and the  crews discharged, and set at
liberty ; how is all mirth and  jocundity,  festivity and
joy ! But, what tongue can tell the transports, the joy,
the rapture, and delight, which the Christian shall feel
when his warfare is finished, and he translated to the
mansions of glory, to the presence of God !
  Some poor creatures,  who, though weary of the war,
yet not knowing how to support themselves, or where
to go after discharged from the ship, would be content
to continue still in the service.  And this reminds me
of some saints, who, not being free of doubts with re-
spect to their state in a future world, notwithstanding
all their toils in life, and struggles against sin,  cling
to life, and startle at the thoughts of death.
 But, there are some provident persons who have saved
a little in the course of  the war ; and  some so happy
as to get on the half pay list, or obtain a pension from
their prince : These cheerfully retire  to live on their
money, repeat their dangers, recount their conquests,
and  commend their king.  Just so, the souls that are
enriched by the King eternal, and blessed with the full
assurance of celestial felicity, go triumphant, at the
hour ofdeath, to dwell in the courts of God ,on the trea-
sures of glory, through  an endless  evermore. 
 132           THE TRAVELLER.

              MEDITATION XIX.

  THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN THE RIGHTEOUS  AND
                   THE GUILTY.

              Lying off Normandy, June 14, 1758.

   TFIOUGH,with respect to the outward man, there is
 no difference, as one Creator has fashioned them both
 alike in the womb ; yet, with respect to the inner man,
 there is an amazing dissimilitude. In the darkest night,
 there are some rays of light; but, in these sons of vice,
 there is not the least  vestige of holiness.  Yea, that
 modesty, which one would think was inseparable from
 human nature, they have eradicated by a long practice
 of sinning.   They seem  to have  stabbed their con-
 science, bound it hand and foot, and carried it forth to
 be buried, like a dead corpse, in the  deep dug grave
 of oblivion, from whence it shall come  forth upon
 them in a terrible resurrection.
   What a wide difference, then, between the shining
 examples of piety, and the sons of  profanity ? The
 affections of the one are refined, and their dcbires ex-
 alted ; but the inclinations of the other  are corrupt,
 and their desires grovelling.  Sin has but a tottering
 standing, and a momentary stay in those ; but has fix-
 ed his throne, and taken up his eternal  residence  (if
 grace prevent not) in these.  In the  one, grace and
 sin struggle for sovereignty ; in the  other sin domi-
 neers, and there is no disturbance.  The one is  wise
for a world to come, the other minds not  that there is
 a future  state.   The discourse of the one is always
.seasoned with salt; of the other,  insipid and  vain.
 The one  has his hope fixed in God, the  other lias  no
 fear of God before his eyes.  Those use the world 
              THE TRAVELLER.           133

 without abusing it;  but these, in using the world,
 abuse both themselves  and it.   The one confesses a
 God in his daily conversation, and rejoices  with his
 whole heart  in him ;  the other says in his  practice,
 there is and  wishes in his heart, there were no God.
 The one adores the Creator above all, the other wor-
 ships the creature more than the Creator, though he
 be God over all, blessed for ever.  The one names
 the  name of God, with profoundest reverence, and
 departs from iniquity $ the other profanes it with im-
 pudent loquacity, and adds iniquity to sin.   The one
 redeems common time,  and sanctifies that  which is
 sacred ;  the other trifles away the one, and sins away
 the other.  The one studies his  duty in obedience to
 all, the other  shakes himself loose of every law.  This
 forgives his foes, that lays a snare for his friends.  The
 one commits it to God to plead his cause, and avenge
 his wrong ; the other, fiery and tumultuous, threatens
 duels and death. The one loveth chastity in all things,
 the other wallows in uncleanness.   The one injures
 himself rather than  his  neighbour;  the  other, the
 whole world  rather than himself.   The one is content
 with his condition, the other covets all the day  long.
 The one is all glorious within, the  heart of the other
 is like a cage full of unclean birds.  The one walks
 at liberty in the ways of God, the other is the servant
 and slave of sin.  In this, dwells the spirit of  God ;  in
that, rules the god of this world.  The one has his
 conversation  in heaven ; the other, in hell.
   But, as there is a wide difference in their principles
and practice,  so in their privileges.   The one is under
the blessing of love, the other under the curse of the
law.  The one  is a child  of adoption,  the othtr, the
prey of the terrible one.   He is faithful that hath pr©-
                        M 
 184           THE TRAVELLER.

mised felicity to the saints, and threatened vengeance
to the wicked.  The one is allowed with joy to draw
water out of the wells of salvation, the other shall
drink of the wrath of the Almighty.  To the one per-
tain all the exceeding great and precious promises, to
the other all the threatenings of God.  " The right-
eous hath hope yi his death, but the wicked is driven
away  in his wickedness."  The one shall enter into
the joy of his Lord, but the anguish of his enemies
shall prey on the other for ever.  Heaven shall be the
palace of those, hell the prison of these :  And, while
the one shall dwell  through eternity with God,  the
other shall be driven away into everlasting darkness.
  Thus, the righteous and wicked are separated in
their life, and divided in their death; divided in their
principles and practices, in their choice and joys, in
their meditations and privileges, in their company and
in their converse, in their fears and in their expecta-
tions, in their death, and through eternity itself.
  Then, how much more excellent than his neigh-
bour is the righteous!  and how are the sons of Zion
comparable  to fine gold! As only among them, of all
the human race, I can expect to  spend eternity,  so
only among  them, to spend the remainder of my time,
in every tie and relation, is all the happiness of society
that I desire below. 
THE TRAVELLER.           lSo
               MEDITATION XX.

   THE  JUDGMENT OF  SWEARERS, ACCORDING TO
                     EQUITY.
             Lying off Normandy, June 15, 1758.
   HOW justly will God, the righteous Judge, mea-
 sure the purport of their imprecations into the bosoms
 of these blasphemers!  They swear by God,  and so
 they  own the divinity they offend; but, they profane
 the sacred name, and so  offend  the Deity they own.
 They damn the whole man,  their soul, their blood,
 their eyes ; and every part, even the whole man, shall
 be tormented.  They sow the wind, for there is nei-
 ther pleasure nor profit in any sense in swearing ; and
 they shall reap the whirlwind, whose truth is disap-
 pointment, and pain.  They sin  in sport, but God
 hears in earnest, and will punish in zeal.   They call
 on God profanely at every word, and God hears, and
 will answer them in wrath.  They swear, and forget,
 but God has sworn that he  will remember.   That
 which they think  adds beauty to their speech', and
 vigour  to their words, shall indeed add anguish to
 their  grief, and strength to their torments.   They
 are not weary in blaspheming, so as to cease from it,
 therefore they shall be weary in bewailing themselves,
 but never cease.  They choose to blaspheme through
the whole of  their time, and anguish shall cause them
 to blaspheme through a whole eternity. They despise
the day of God's patience, but shall not escape the day
 of his judgment.  What shall the  blasphemer say,
when tossing on the  fiery billows, shrieking under
consummate despair.  * O miserable state of intolera-
ble torments, which I  must endure ! How  shall I
spend this eternity  of pain! It was nothing to  «»e in 
S6           THE TRAVELLER.
time to hear others curse and blaspheme, and to join
rn the infernal dialect myself; and now I am encircled
with unceasing blasphemies,  from  all the legions of
fallen angels,from all the millions of miserable sinners,
suffering  under infinite vengeance ;  and I mingle in
the uproar, and  join in the terrible tumult against the
 throne of God, although dreadfully tortured  in my
rebellion;   Then, curses accented every sentence ;
now, every sentence is one continued curse. 1 thought
God was altogether such an one as myself, and that he
would never remember my oaths, which I never  mind-
ed, nor call me to account for committing what I made
lio account of.  Damn me,  damn me,  was always on
my tongue, and I am damned for ever 1 The oaths and
curses which I sowed in time, are now sprung up into
bitter  bewailings, and eternal  blasphemings.   As I
took pleasure in cursing, so it is come unto me, but
with inexpressible pain. O eternity, eternity, how long'.'
  This is,  indeed, the last, but  lamentable  end of
profane swearers, who shall confess the equity of God
 in their  torments ; nor let the petty swearer think
that he shall escape with impunity,  since the supreme
Judge  has said, that whatsoever is  more than yea, or
nay, is evil.
   But, as the wicked shall be answered in their  ways,
 so shall the righteous be in theirs.  All their imper-
 fect attainments, longings, wrestlings, hopes, desires,
 prayers, meditations,  .tears, godly sorrows, spiritual
joys, and the seeds of every other grace, shall  come
 to a comfortable conclusion at last.   Now they  servo
God with  weakness,  but  then  they  shall enjoy him
with a vigorous immortality.  They sow in tears, and
go weeping heavenward, but shall possess him in a tri-
umphant state,  where sorrow and sighing shall  for-
ever flee away. 
THE TRAVELLER.
137
             MEDITATION XXI.

          THINKING ON A  DEAD FRIEND.

                        Spithtad, May 10, 1.758.

  A MELANCHOLY gloom had well nigh spread
its midnight  shades over my  brooding mind, when
thinking on a dead friend, whom I represented to my-
self as no more ;  but, all on a sudden, a sacred sen-
tence beamed refreshful on my soul,  " That all live
unto God."
  Let me then borrow a similitude, and suppose that
my friends and I live under the government of a great
king, who has vast dominions, and who has chosen for
his royal residence, a pleasant, but remote province,
where his palace  stands, and where he keeps court,
shewing himself in kingly glory, and excellent majes-
ty, while we live, compared  to the royal country, in a
howling wilderness, a dry and thirsty land, but still
under the sceptre and protection of the king.   And
farther, let ine suppose,  that this great  king (which
would be stupendous condescension in him) had con-
ceived such a regard for my friends, that he had given
his royal word, that he would send a noble guard,  so
soon as  he thought fit, and fetch them home to him-
self, that he might bestow on  every one of them, not
a dukedom,  but a kingdom, a crown, and excellent
majesty.  Now, would I  storm at the guard, or mur-
mur at their errand ? Yea, would not I rather give the
messengers an hearty welcome, and bless their august,
sovereign ; and the more so, if I had the royal promise
also of being myself transported thither I
                     M2 
131           THE TRAVELLER.

  Then, is there any promise like his, whose counsel
stands fast,  and whose  faithfulness  cannot  fail ?  Is
there any-guard like that of heavenly angels ? Or any
happiness like the celestial felicity I  And, if these
things be so, is not the state of the dead happy beyond
conception that die  in Jesus ?  Now, the glory of my
departed friend, infinitely transcends the blaze of cre-
ated grandeur.  Mortality is put off, and immortality
put on; their house is not of this building, and so not
of this frame, nor on this foundation, but eternal in  the
heavens.
  Upon  the above  supposition,  my  friend, and  his
kingly patron, might fall out, as nothing is more fickle
than royal favour;  but  here, there is no fear of  his
falling from the favour of the Prince of life, because
he rests in his love  for ever, which kindles gratitude
and love in the saints through  endless day.  In such
a place, and in such a condition, would i not wish all
my friends ? Here we live to die, but there they .live
to reign I though to human  nature, a little regulated
sorrow may be allowed, yet, that boundless glory, and
eternal bliss,  which,  to the highest degree, my  de-
parted friend onjoys, forbid  me  to bewail him to any
great degree,  or lament him as  lost, who is found of
God, or as dead, who  never  could be said till now to
live.   Why should mysad reflections terminate on his
crumbling clay, and not rather  rise to meditate how
his active soul is incessantly employed in  the  hosan-
nah's of the higher  house, and urrtveariedly exercised
in beholding  and blessing Jehovah and  the Lamb  ?
and  thus convert my  pensive  thoughts into a Chris-
tian preparation for the same blessed passage to  the
same blessed place. 
             THE TRAVELLER.           l*>


             MEDITATION XXII.

  THE UNION BETWEEN CHRIST  AN.D BELIEVERS.

                        Spithead, May  14, 1758.

  THERE is an union between Christ and believers,
that every metaphor falls short of.   No relation so near
as he : The friend may prove false, the brother betray
the brother, parents east off the relation, and husband
and  wife be separated.  Three  strong figures hold
forth this union, that of the tree and his  branches, the
head and his members,  and  eating  the  flesh, and
drinking the blood of the Son of God.  Now, what we
eat and drink mixes with the mass of blood, and is so
intimately assimilated with the fluids, that no power
can separate it again ; so, when by faith I  receive the
Son of God, and eat his flesh, and drink his blood, my
soul  partakes of the divine nature, till every power is
holy, every  affection heavenly,  and till  the  life of
Christ is made  manifest in my body.
  After, this union, the soul and Christ cannot be sepa-
rated ; death may send the soul out  of the body, but
cannot send Christ out of the soul: And  hereupon fol-
lows a  commonness of interest.  Christ  renews the
will, sanctifies  the affections,  enlightens  the  under-
standing, and claims the whole soul for his temple ;
yea more, he  showers  down his mercies, numbers his
crosses, weighs his afflictions, wherewith he himself
is also afflicted, and bears  his sorrows.  And all of
Christ is the  soul's ; his righteousness, his love, his
joy, his pardon, his mercy, kindness, and compassion ;
hit protection, direction, and conduct;  his favour, his
power, and sympathy, his light, and glory, his crown,
and throne, his felicity, and his eternity in  life.   Thus 
140           THE TRAVELLER.
the soul lives in Christ, and he in the soul. Their life
is divinely interwoven ;  "you in me, and I in you."
Hence,because he lives, they shall live also. Husband
and wife must lose their relation by death ; the branch-
es may be cut off from the root, and the head, that sym-
pathises with all, may lose some  of its members : but
he that is joined to the Lord is one spirit, and a spirit
can never be divided.
  This mysterious union is bliss begun on earth, and
heavenly felicity tasted below, and shall be the eternal
admiration of angels, the envy of devils and damned
spirits, and the wonder of the higher house.
             MEDITATION XXIII.

             IMPERFECT ATTAINMENTS.

  HOW pitiful are our highest attainments in this im-
perfect state ! But, O how beautiful is it for the child
of grace to grow daily in grace, and in the knowledge
of God ! to rise step by step, till at length complete in
Him who  is  the pattern  of perfection ! Let it be my
continual struggle, then, that my grace, like the shin-
ing light,  may shine more and more  till the perfect
day of glory.  I can never get so near to God, but there
still remains, and through eternity will£main, a  dis-
tance, to be destroyed by approaching yet more near.
Mine attainments can never be so high, but there re-
mains something attainable, which I have not yet at-
tained.  " Not as though  I had already attained, either
were already perfect, but I follow after, if I may appre-
hend that for  which also  I am apprehended of Christ
Jesus." If this was the confession of the great apostle,
What must. I  say, who am but just setting my head 
              THE TRAVELLER.           141

 through the shadows of the night, ami peeping into
 the dawning of divine  things ?
   Hence let me press  vigorously towards perfection,
 and not be contented with one beam of his glory, see-
 ing he is  willing to  reveal it all.  Let me daily be
 drawing more near to him^till, Enoch-like, I walk with
 God,  and have my conversation  in heaven.  Let me
 daily  sit at wisdom's door, and stand at the gate of par-
 adise, that, since as yet I cannot enter in, I may send
 in my faith to view the fields, the land of my Beloved,
 and returning, bring me the substance of the excellen-
 cies hoped for, the evidence of the glorious things not
 seen.   Let me walk in the  mount of God, with him
 whose form is like the  Son of God.  Let the desire of
 my soul be to thy name, and the remembrance of thee.
 Let an uninterrupted communication  be  broken up
 between the fountain of life and my soul, that  I may
 bear no more the reproach of barrenness.   And from
 that river of life that springs from the throne of God,
 and of the Lamb, let me daily drink, that I  may thirst
 no more after  the vanities of time.  Let me live quite
 above the world,  above its  pleasures, and above its
 pains, disdain its flatteries, and despise its frowns. Let
 grace grow from one degree unto another, till, at lasts
 O desirable perfection ! it grow to glory. .Let me hold
 thee,  and not let thee go, till thou bless me, in perfect-
ing my attainments, and crowning my hapomess with
the full fruition, unclouded vision, and uninterrupted
 communion with  Jehovah, and the Lamb, for ever
 more. 
 142           THE TRAVELLER.


             MEDITATION XXIV.

             on king's  allowance.

                                 May 19,  1748.

  IT is surprising, thai government allows the least
boy the same kind and quantity of provisions that any
man or any officer aboard can claim ; yet, it is no more
than may be expected from royal  generosity,  since
they, in their capacity, support the same cause, undergo
the  same hardships, rush into the same clangers, and.
expose their lives, though young and tender, at the
commandment, and for the honour of the King.
  Even so, every child of grace that is born into the
family of God, has  the same  ample right to  all the
heavenly blessings.  No sooner is he a son,  than he is
an heir of all the  fulness of the covenant.  The young
convert is allowed, by the King eternal, to plead the
performance of all the promises, and to claim all the
privileges that the aged saint can do.
  Again, as nothing can be more pleasant, than to see
early youth walking in the ways of holiness ; so, often
to such have bright manifestations of love,  ami large
communications of grace, been given.   And the love
of espousals, and the kindness of youth, is a melting, a
long remembered kindness.   Have not some children
gone off the stage, with such a gale of glory on their
spirits, that aged saints have been at once astonished
and ashamed ?
  Have not some youths, who have suffered martyr-
dom for the name of Jesus, been so assisted with grace,
that they despised reproach, and smiled in the face of
danger—been so refreshed  with foretastes of glory,
that they could contemn torment, and mount the scaf-. 
              THE TRAVELLER.           143
                                i
fold with the same joy as if they had been going up
the rounds of Jacob's  ladder ?  And, have not some
striplings on a death-bed had such a double portion of
communion, that they could  look on dissolution with
delight, forbid their friends to pray  for their recove-
ry, and could meet their fatal moments with the same
alacrity as a young prince going to the grand solem-
nity of his own coronation ?
             MEDITATION XXV.

         ON THE BLOWING UP OF A SHIF.

   MANY are the appearances which  death puts on,
and in every one of them he is terrible.  Sometimes
his commission bears him to lay siege to the clay-walls
for a long time, and to waste them away with a linger-
ing consumption ; and then he steals on them so insen-
sibly, that they still entertain hopes of recovery, and
believe  themselves better a day or two before death.
Atone time he  comes in flames of fire,at another time
in swelling floods ; and at another time, by a sudden
Stroke, he sweeps the man at once off the stage.
  Though fire is terrible any where, yet much  more
so when the burning pile is surrounded by a boundless
sea.   It is, no doubt, a moving sight, to see a naked
family, with wringing hands, and weeping eyes, de-
plore their all in flames !  A family, just alarmed out
of their midnight sleep, by the doleful cries of affright-
ed spectators, with no more than time to escape the
burning blaze !  However, by the assistance of water-
engines, and a thousand friendly hands, the fire is got
under, and half the house is saved ; or, should all be
consumed, they arc still happy in the possession of 
144
THE TRAVELLER.
life, and the charity of well disposed Christians.   But
the scene alters at sea, and is much more dismal, as
the ship I speak of felt.   Strong and well equipped)
the  glory of the fleet, she spread the pompous  sails,
suspended by the lofty masts, divided  the rolling bil-
lows with the nimble keel, was rich in men and officers>
and waved the honorary flag from the highest top; but,
all at once, while no danger is dreamed of, and at noon,
a fire bewrays itself below, too far advanced to be got
under, too terrible to be beheld without trembling. It
kindles fear in every breast, and nothing can be done.
Signals of distress are fired, but only a poor merchant-
man comes to her assistance ; yet dares not come too
near, for fear of sinking by the wreck.  The fire rages
still, and it is straage, in the midst of water, to perish
by fire.  Were the oceans a plain, with what cheer-
fulness would they come down, and see the last plank
in flames ! But, death, gaping from the hollow waves,
forbids them to descend, and every moment they ex-
pect to be blown into the air, and strewed in mangled
legs and arms along the briny deep.  What confused
counsels ! what feeble hands !  what fainting hearts  !
what struggling thoughts ! what staring eyes !  what
screams and cries !  the ship'-s sides  are lined with
expectants of deliverance.   They look every way, but
in vain, for relief.  One boat only appears, which dares
not come along-side ; yet many take the desperate leap>
and falling short of the boat, plunge into the sea, and
are seen n6 more, a terrifying  sight  to all behind  !
Still the fire increases, till anon  the guns, loaded for
action, sweep the crowded sides of the ship, of these
very men they were designed to  defend.  Death  is in
the waters, death is in the fires ; it pursues behind, at-
tacks before, and  hedges in on everv side I  Old and
young, who had survived the clay of battle, are, in this 
              THE TRAVELLER.           145

melancholy manner,andon so short a warning,hurried
into another world.  The flames grow more furious,
and on all sides lifeless bodies float around, a sad sight
to surviving  friends 1  Her own boats carry off a few
men, but find not the way back again.   At length, the
masts break  down,  destroying numbers as they fall,
and officers die undistinguished in  the throng ; while
the admiral, stript of his uniform, hanging by an oar,
struggles  for life on the liquid wave, till taken up.
Many  attempt to  save  themselves on pieces of the
wreck,  while  the remains of the  ship  sink  out of
sight; but the angry waves wash them off their last
relief,  and they  perish   in  the  deep waters.   Yet,
mercy shines in the  midst of shipwreck and death,
for many escape with their life, though deprived  of
every thing else.*
  O ! strange to tell,  will we quit with all that we
have, for a few days,  or a few years of our  natural
life, and yet  quit with nothing at all for eternal life
and endless  glory ? And, if fire  that can be extin-
guished  with water, or  burn away to lifeless ashes,
be so terrible, what  must the  fire of infinite wrath
be, that  shall burn up the wicked for ever ?  Finally,
since my situation is the same, may  I study to pre-
pare for death at any  time,  and in any shape; then
I shall face the flames, yea, fall into them, knowing,
that my  immortal  soul,  from these  calcining fires,
more fragrant than the spices of the east, shall rise
a celestial  phcenix, to live  the many thousands of
eternity, and  never,  never die.

  * The  ship alluded to, was Admiral Broderick's, which
blew up in the Straits of Gibraltar.
                        N 
146           THE TRAVELLER.
             MEDITATION XXVI.

    SOME SLAIN BY  MERCIES, AS WELL  AS  BY
                   JUDGMENTS.

                        Spithead, May 22,  1758.

  GRACE, and grace alone, can conquer the heart of
man ; for, have I not seen one, who had all manner of
misfortunes in his family, substance, relations, char-
acter, and person ;  his family carried off by  strange
deaths, his substance reduced to nothing, his pomp
blown away like a cloud of smoke, his friends falling
into grievous calamities, his character suffering by
every tongue, the heavens revealing his iniquity, and
the earth rising up against him, and his body long the
dwelling place of loathsome disease, till death  has sent
his stinking carcase to the rotten grave ;  and yet the
man remains a sinner to the last ?  Also, have I not
seen the soldier, and the sailor, who in the day of bat-
tle had lost a leg, an arm, an eye, apiece of the scull,
and some of their senses, have been made prisoners of
war, and worn  out with long confinement, and cruel
usage, and yet these men remain proof against every
judgment; incorrigible, though often corrected; stub-
born under the strokes of  heaven, inattentive to the
language of the rod,and daringly brave an angry God?
On the other hand, have I not seen a man, who had a
flourishing family, growing up to maturity, like trees
by a wall; bathing in pleasures,held in common esteem,
seeing his children's children, riches, with little indus-
try, pouring in on him from every quarter,  himself,
though full of days, and covered with hoar hairs, yet
possessing the vigour of youth, and his bones full of
 marrow, and yet this very man walk in a stated contra- 
THE TRAVELLER.
U7
diction to the Author of all his blessings ?  Have I not
also seen the man, who, when exposed on the thunder-
ing fields of war, or in the more terrible sea-engage-
ment, has yet stood safe amidst surrounding dangers,
and received not a single  wound, while some were
losing limbs, or falling down dead  on every hand ; or
when perhaps the ship sunk, or a  fire kindled in her
bowels, that consumes the miserable crew, yet escaped
the flames,  survives the wreck, and lives  to tell the
astonishing story of his deliverance in the field, or on
the flood ?   One would think that  such a man would
be melted down into gratitude,,and live to his glory,
who had been his help in the day of distress, and had
covered his head in the day of war ; yet he walks in a
stated opposition to the Most High, and boldly offends
the God of all his mercies.  Thus we see one that is
disappointed in every undertaking, crushed at every
hand, yet remain impenitent under judgments ; and
we see another that succeeds in every wish, swims in
created bliss, and walks in the clearnoon of prosperity,
yet remain obdurate under love, and chargeable with
an ingratitude towards Heaven, that would be accursed
among  men. To be slain by mercies, or by judg-
ments, is a terrible death ; it is the  death of the  uncir-
cumcised in heart. When they arc  not improved, they
give fury to the falling storm, and make the thunder-
bolts of wrath break with dreadful vengeance on their
guilty heads through an endless evermore ! O !  then
to be corrected in love, and to have my heart bettered
by the sadness of my countenance  ; and, on the other
hand, to have blessings with a blessing, and  all my
mercies sweetly  drawing my soul out to God. 
148          THE TRAVELLER.
            MEDITATION XXVII.

                 ON A FINE FLEET.

                         Spithead, May 23, 1758.

  WHAT means this splendid fleet, this  expensive
navy ? No doubt, to deal destruction to our foes, and
ride triumphant over the  sea.  Had the world been
peopled in some parts from the planets, we should not
wonder much to see fierce contests between the old
inhabitants and the new.  But the matter is not so, for
we have all one father, and are all of one blood.  Not
very many ages ago, the contending monarchslay in
one loins, and slept in one womb ; and all mankind are
brethren.  Whence are empires filled with  anarchy,
kingdoms with rebellion, families with terror and tears,
while  the brother butchers the  brother, the son the
father, the husband the wife,  and the person that is
driven into despair, rises in rebellion against his own
life ? It is because we are  all in  a  state of rebellion
against God.  What a shame is it for men to massacre
one another, or depopulate whole  nations, for a few
furlongs of earth, which, in a few years hence, their
eyes shall see in flames ; an agonising  sight to their
ambition !
  We think much of nation rising against nation, but,
since Adam turned rebel, the whole universe is up in
arms against Heaven, a few humble supplicants in all
ages excepted, who, having made peace through  the
King's Son, are again received into  favour ; but what
are they to the many millions that are under the com-
mand of the god of this world, the spirit that now
worketh in the children of disobedience !  What pity
to see at this standard the sovereign and the swain, the 
              THE  TRAVELLER.           149

statesman and the general,  the  soldier and the hus-
bandman, the merchant and the mariner, the master
and the servant; yea, and woman who, in other wars,
tarry at home ! Moreover, besides this general insur-
rection against Heaven, there is a war in the breast of
all believers, some of the old principles of rebellion
rising  up against the laws of their rightful Lord and
King : " A law in our members warring against the
law of our mind, and bringing us into captivity to the
law of sin ;"  however,  grace shall at last prevail.
  This is the army of Gog and Magog, which covers
the face of the whole earth, and makes war with the
Lamb; whom the  Lamb shall overcome, for he is
Lord of lords, and King of kings.  There is a day of
slaughter coming, when the sword of his justice shall
be drunken with the blood of his  enemies; when
those who would not have him to reign over them in
the spirituality of his government, shall be slain be-
fore his face, and cast into the lake of fire and brim-
stone,  which is the second death.
  Would the princes of the earth submit to the Prince
of peace, soon should  their beat they swords into
plough-shares, and their spears into pruning-hooks,
and every man sit under his vine, and  under  his fig-
tree.   Were they more careful to extend the Chris-
tian religion, than to extend their conquest and com-
merce, more to grow in grace than in riches, and to
improve  more for eternity than time, how would our
world be Hephzibah,  and our earth  Beulah, and the
general contention between crowned heads and their
subjects, through every land, be, who could live most
like angels, and love most like seraphim!
                      N2 
1§0           THE TRAVELLER.


            MEDITATION XXVIII.

                  SETTING  SAIL.

  SET sail, thou venturous rover, and let thy daring
keel cut the dividing billow, and plow the briny deep.
But whither art thou bound ? To cruize on a tempes-
tuous ocean, or  dash  against  inhospitable shores.—
Well, my soul, remember that thou also hast set sail,
and art rapidly  carried down the stream of time, to
the ocean of eternity.   I should consider under what
latitude, and to what point I am steering ; if under the
latitude of the new birth, and a lively faith, I shall at
last drop anchor at the haven of bliss ; but if under  *
the latitude of a natur J state and  unbelief, I shall be
driven, by divine indignation, on  the rocks of ever-
lasting  ruin, and tossed a deplorable wreck on the
Hoods of wrath.
  How ignorant is the heathen world of a future state !
But, since the Son of God is  come, and has taught us
all the mysteries  of the spiritual m »lgatim, we launch
>t once into  the depth of ages, and, in our exalted
views, leaving land on every side, we look not at the
things which are seen, but at the things which  are not
seen ;  for the things which are seen are temporal,
but the things which are not seen are eternal.
  Why should I fear, or be dismayed ; for shall I not
have a  prosperous voyage,  and a pleasant landing,
since Christ is both my pilot and  my pole?  since his
Spirit is promised to lead and guide me into all truth  ;
since the  scriptures are my compass,  a light to my
feet, and a lamp to my path ; since  hope is my anchor,
cast within  the  vail ;  faith my telescope, that gives
me views of the world to come ; self-examination my
6ounding line, to know what depth of water I am in, 
              THE TRAVELLER.            151
                           r
to try myself, whether I be in the faith or not;  and
my log-book a Christian  diary, that I may tell them
that fear God, what he hath  done for my soul;  and
since  all the  heavenly graces  are like the extended
sails,  one sail being unfurled after another, first faith,
which is to the soul as the main-sail to a ship, and ad-
ding to faith, virtue; and to virtue, knowledge ;  and
to knowledge, temperance ; and to temperance, pa-
tience ; and to patience, godliness ;  and to godliness,
brotherly-kindness; and to brotherly-kindness, charity.
Were I once in  such a happy state, my next petition
would be " Awake, O north wind 1  and blow, thou
south;" fill my extended canvass, and carry me to glory.
             MEDITATION XXIX.

             TIME TO BE REDEEMED.

                        Spithead, May 24, 1758.

  NOW I learn that  time is precious, though  mis-
spent, though despised. I begin to set an higher value
on that which is ever valuable, than I was wont to do ;
but, ah !  I begin to resolve when golden opportuni-
ties are past; and lost forever ! God has been  kind in
giving me time,  which I have not been cautious in
spending, in  improving ;  but, alas ! blanks  are not
the worst, for I have not only trifled away, slept away,
but sinned away, time.  And, O !   what great things
are to be done in this little inch  of lime.  God Will
have  none of his servants idle ;  we must trade with
his talents here, and the profit shall be ours hereafter.
We must work  out our own salvation with fear and
trembling, encouraged by this, that God works all our
works in us.  Thus, to speak, not like the proud le- 
152           THE TRAVELLER.

galist, but, like the laborious Christian, we must scale
the walls of heaven (for holy violence is allowed) and
take it  by force.   We must combat principalities and
powers, and crucify the flesh, with the affections and
lusts.   I must stand upon my watch, keep a sharp
look-out on all my foes, on the least sin, cut off hours
which  I have too  often  spent in (shall I call it) sinful
sleep and guard against trifling  amusements, and su-
perfluous visits ;  not that visits and recreations are
simply sinful, but the excess therein.  I must care-
fully attend to  my time as it passes, for with grief X
see that I cannot recal time when past.  I have much
work on my hand; I have to bear witness to the  ex-
cellency of  religion, and against sinners ;  my back-
slidings to bewail, my failings to amend, my conversa-
tion daily to inspect, my accounts to settle for the day
of judgment (O to be found in Jesus in that day !) my
treasure to lay  up in heaven, my  affections to set on
things  above,my sins to mortify,my graces to strength-
en, death to prepare for, eternity to improve for, my
salvation to secure, God to live to, and the Lord Jesus
daily to put on.  Now, say if such an one has reason
to be idle, or to trifle time away  ?
             MEDITATION  XXX.

          IN VIEW OF AN  ENGAGEMENT.

                                 May 24, 1758.

  A FEW days hence, and we shall be  contending^
with the foe ;  death will fasten his cold hands on many
of us, and numbers shall be dropping into an unknown,
an awful) an endless eternity ! 
              THE TRAVELLER.           153

  Though this is an event that will  certainly take
place, yet we  are all thoughtless and  secure, merry
and unconcerned, as if it were of no moment to change
states, and enter into an invisible world.  Ask us all,
one by one, if  we are afraid we shall die in battle ? and
all of us to a man, have the fond hopes that we shall
escape without a wound.   But it would look better, if
each of us were  saying, « Perhaps it may  be  I, per-
haps it  may be I, that  shall be slain.'  Though my
station  be not so dangerous  as that of some,  yet,  in
my situation, some now and then  are killed, and I
rejoice that when I am in danger, I dare not trust the
sides of the ship for my defence, but thy divine pro-
tection, which is better to me  than a  thousand bul-
warks.  Let me neither build on false hopes of life,
nor be filled with slavish fears of death, but  be pre-
pared for  all events.  In the mean time, I plead that
ourfleets maybe defended, ourfoes defeated, an honor-
able peace concluded,  and an end put  to the effusion
of human  blood.  And I also  plead,  that thou wilt
put a covering on my head in the day of battle, that I
may praise thy power,  and sing aloud of thy mercy in
the morning.
             MEDITATION XXXI.

ON OUR LORD'S  DISPLAYING HIS DIVINITY ON THE
                      SEA.

                         Spithead, May 26,  1758.

  TILL now, 1 never observed that our Lord, in the
days of his flesh, performed cures, and wrought mir-
acles on the sea.  At one time, from the surround-
ing multitude he steps into a ship, and teaches thou- 
154          THE  TRAVELLER.
sands attentive on the shore ;  and,  after finishing his
sermon, makes the  unsuccessful  fishers  cast  their
nets again into the sea, who, catching a great draught
of fishes, are also caught themselves,  and made fish-
ers of men.
  Another time, he will go over to the country of the
Gadarenes, for there was one there, the prey  of the
terrible, and captive of the strong, whom he is pleased
to deliver.  So he enters into a ship, and his disciples,
the close attendants on their  Master,  go along with
him ; but,  while his human nature, fatigued with the
toils he daily underwent, is fast asleep, a tempest came
down on the ship,  either sent by Prbvidcnce, that,  in
rebuking it, he might display his divinity, or perhaps
satan,  who is the prince of the power of the air, was
permitted to send out the fiercest storm which his hel-
lish rage could effectuate, to make the affrighted boat-
men row back again, and prevent the  happy passage.
However it was, his terrified disciples awoke him,
and his word makes the fierce winds fall asleep, and
his presence in a  little makes fiercer fiends cry out,
when turned out of their long  possession.  O how
pleasant to think,  that he who came from heaven  to
earth to save sinners, goes over a lake to save a soul or
two ; and  though he comes in love unsent for, yet  he
goes not away, till desired to depart!
   Again,  our great Lord, after feeding the multitude
with spiritual and earthly bread, constrains his  disci-
ples, who, it seems, were loth to move a foot without
his presence, to go into a ship, while he sent the mul-
titude away ; after which he retires unto a mountain to
pray;  but, by this time, they are tossed with a double
tempest, one beating their ship without, and another
disquieting their soul within.   It appears they had en-
tered the  ship between six and nine in the afternoon, 
              THE  TRAVELLER.           155

and were tossed on the waters till between three and
six in the morning, a long time indeed to the tremb-
ling disciples.  The  scene is altered now,  for before
they had no more to do but awake their Lord, to make
the tempest fall asleep ; but, though they saw not their
dear Master, yet he saw their distress ;  and, after let-
ting it heighten to an extremity, to sweeten their de-
liverance, he comes  a foot upon the flood, and journ-
eys straight to theirvessel. The disciples(no doubt, in
the morning watch, looking out for land) saw him, and,
supposing it had been a spirit commissioned tooverset
them altogether, it added so much anguish  to their
anxiety, and terror to their trouble, that they cried out.
But how soon does his kind reply check their fears,//?*
J, be not afraid. Peter, after asking liberty, comes down
to welcome him on the watery element; but  winds
above, and waves beneath, make Peter's faith stagger
so much, that our kind Lord must stretch forth  his
hand and save him.  No sooner did he enter the ship,
than nature is composed ; nor needs he  speak a word,
his  very presence calms  the tempest,  and the winds
immediately  forbear  to blow upon the  barge, where
their Creator is a passenger.  How happy, then, the
soul where he abides  forever ! This sudden change
in the storm effected  a no less sudden, but much more
momentous change in the minds  of the  astonished
spectators, who are all at once brought over to a belief
of his divinity : " Of a truth thou art the Son of God."
  How often might the observing mariner say of him
who did ride through the sea with his horses, through
the heaps of  great waters, that he hath  his way in the
whirlwind and in the storm, and the clouds are the dust
of his feet I How often sends he out the storm that
puts us to our wit's end, and again calms the dreadful 
156
THE TRAVELLER.
hurricane, to our great comfort! " O that men would
praise the Lord for his goodness, and for his wonder-
ful works to the children of men 1"
            MEDITATION  XXXII.

  A MEMORANDUM FOR HIM THAT GOES ABROAD.

                                 June 28,  1757.

  SOMETIMES the call  of Providence, sometimes a
covetous heart to amass riches, carry men abroad.  If
a man cannot exercise his religion with liberty in his
native country, which he can find in another land, then
he may  be  said, instead of going abroad, only to go
home.   But, on the contrary, he that wanders from the
place where God delights to dwell, and relinquishes
 Zion, which God has called his lest, may  indeed be
said to go abroad ; and unless  his reasons are valid,
when impartially weighed, he ought not to go.  On
no account shouldst thou  go with a design to remain,
unless the gospel gladden  the  distant region ;  but
when thou art away, remember a few things, that thou
mayest not forget thyself.
  1.  Be always under the impression of God's omni-
presence and omniscience.  Thou canst never wander
out of the hollow of his hand,  or  swim beyond his
ken.
  2.  Mind the terrible tribunal, where the  complete
register of all  thine actions shall be brought forth ;
such and  such  a sin at home, such and such a sin
abroad,  with such and such  aggravations.
  3.  Know, it is better to stand alone, than fall with
many.   It will not excuse thy wickedness, that thou 
THE TRAVELLER.           157
 wast among the wicked, for sinners shall be bound in
 bundles, that they may burn the fiercer.
   4. Think much on death, that thou mayest not be
 too much charmed with the vanities of life.
   5. Oppose sin in others with courage, for the right-
 eous shall be bold as lion; though the wicked flees
 when none pursues.
   6. Remember the deceitfulness and uncertainty of
 riches;  so shalt thou neither be puffed up with the
 possession, nor pained at the loss of them.
   7. Be not jeered out of thy religion, or flouted out
 of thy devotion ;  better be the object of man's ridi-
 cule, than the subject of God's wrath.
   8. Set  not thy heart on any intended acquisition
 abroad, and so thou shalt not return home disappointed.
   9. Remark providences, and thou shalt never want
 them to remark.
   10. Let Zion and the people of God have a place in
 thy prayers, and thou shalt again have a place in Zion
 among the people of God.
   11. Since thou canst  not have God in his public or-
 dinances, seek the God of ordinances in private daily;
 and, when deprived of the preached word, esteem and
 peruse  the written word the more.
   12. Be not hasty in making acquaintance, nor rash
 in chusingthy friends.
   13. Meditate often ;  a secret good  rises from this
secret exercise.
  14. Examine thy condition often;  it is the sign of a
bankrupt never to open his books,  nor look into his
accounts.
  15.  Let prayer  be thy daily pleasure and employ.
To be much in the presence of an earthly  king makes
                      O 
 158           THE TRAVELLER.

 a courtier;  but the presence  of the King  of  kings
 makes a Christian, an angel.
   16. Think much on the unseen world, and let the
 certainty of that which is to come, dispel the delusion
 of the present, which passeth away.
   17. As  thou mayest  never again see thy  native
 country, and thy father's house, let heaven be thy na-
 tive country, and then death shall bring thee to thy bet-
 ter home.
   18. Eye God's glory in all, and prefer the approba-
tion of God  and thine own conscience, to the applause
of men.
   19. Double thy diligence.   Satan will double his
 temptations, sins and snares will multiply around thee;
therefore multiply thy cries to God, keep in thy strong
hold, and act faith on him at all times.
  20. Remember that the Sabbath is alike holy in all
latitudes, and should be  sanctified with the same sin-
cerity in Britain and Japan: for, though Christendom
for a  while  may be absented, Christianity is never to
be abandoned.
  21. Beware that thou live not to thyself, the world,
or for time j but live above the world, for eternity, and
to God. 
              THE TRAVELLER.           159


            MEDITATION XXXIII.

   HOW  THE SABBATH, OR LORD'S DAY, IS  TO BE
                   SANCTIFIED.

                        Spit head, July 1'.  1758.

   WHILE my situation is  in a place where the Sab-
 Irath seems to bft forgot, what can be more proper than
 to ask myself, How the  Sabbath is to be sanctified ?
 Then, the Sabbath is to be sanctified by all men, in-all
 places,  throughout  the whole world,  and during the
 whole day ;■—is to be sanctified by breaking off from
 sins, abstaining from pleasures at other times allowed,
 and laying aside callings on other days lawful;—is to
 be kept  holy, outwardly, by the man, and his actions ;
 inwardly, by the mind and its thoughts :  But we may
 be employed in works of necessity and mercy, by de-
 fending ourselves and others, our cattle and substance
 from fire and water, from wild beasts and mad dogs;
 by feeding the poor, comforting the afflicted, and show-
 ing mercy to all in distress.  But, on the other hand
 this day is profaned  by men of every rank ; in the pa-
 lace,  by unnecessary levees, by introducing strangers,
 noblemen, and ambassadors into the royal presence,
 and by holding privy-councils without urgentnecessity.
Abroad  the  world,  this blessed day is profaned by
 gaming, riding  for recreation, taking unnecessary
 journeys, visits, banquetings,  and marriages; taking
 too much time up in  dressing our bodies,  allowing
ourselves to sleep longer in the morning, and go sooner
to bed, that day, than on any other; cloying our spirits,
that should be active in spiritual exercises, by living
sumptuously, and above our ordinary method, on that
day ;—by frequenting vain company, or using carnal 
169           THE TRAVELLER.

discourse, for, as the prophet observes, where he for-
bids to " speak words," thatbecause we on the Sabbath
can speak little to advantage,  it would be much to our
advantage to speak little ;—by traversing the streets
after sermon, or walking in crowds to fields, gardens,
and such like places; though, Isaac-like, we may go
alone to meditate in the field;—by having roving looks
in church, or allowingourselvesor others to sleep;—by
diverting our eyes out at doors,or windows, with every
thing that passes by;—by wandering thoughts,and idle
themes ;—by going  to  public houses, coffee houses,
and such like places,  reading histories or newspapers,
telling news or idle stories ;—by jesting, laughing, or
too much mirth, and  not having a composure of spirit
becoming the dignity of the day;—by carrying on love-
suits, or gallanting sweethearts on that sacred day, de-
signed for nobler entertainment;—by buying, selling,
or exchanging goods of any kind, laying wagers, shav-
ing, cleaning houses  or kitchen furniture on that day;
by flocking  to harbours to see ships set sail, bringing
stores and provisions on board on that day ;—by wash-
ing decks, making and mending ropes, scraping births,
sewing clothes,writing letters to friends, journals, and
log-books, which may be done the ensuing  day ;—by
whistling, singing  profane songs, and playing on mu-
sical instruments ;—by building bridges, ships, boats,
and other such vessels;—by viewing our fields, plan-
tations, orchards, gardens, corns, and cattle, to see if
all be in a flourishing condition ;—by surveying new
houses and  inclosures, or any thing that occurs to us by
the way, in  going to,  or coming from church ;—by
needless  compliments, and  useless congratulations,
multiplied to excess, when friends fall in our way ;—
by pos poning operations at hospitals, and infirmaries,
till this day ;—and by every thing whereby the glory 
THE TRAVELLER.           161
of .God, the edification of others, and the good of our
own soul's, is not pursued and promoted.
  This heavenly day is wholly to be employed in pub-
lic, private, and secret devotion, in the congregation,
with our families, and by ourselves alone ; setting our
affections  on things on high, and studying to have our
conversation in heaven, showing a proper concern for
the great salvation, and preparing for the world to come.
Alas !  then, I see how little I know of Sabbath-sancti-
fication, and of being in the  Spirit on the Lord's day !
And, alas  ! how is  this day profaned, by land and sea!
at home and abroad !  in our fleets, and in our armies !
in country, and in town ! by people of all ranks, and
by persons of all professions.
            MEDITATION XXXIV.

       ANCHORING OFF AN ENEMY'S COAST.

                     Cancal  Bay, June 21,  1758.

  NOW we are not far from land, but, however fierce
the storna, we  must not set a foot on shore, else we
should soon find ourselves in the power, and at the
mercy of our enemies.  Even so it fares with the wick-
ed, who are at war with the God of  the whole earth.
Now, in  the day of patience,  they can put off without
making friendship  with God ; but what will they do in
their last extremity, in the day of visitation, and in the
desolation that shall come from far ?  To whom will
they flee for help, seeing they will not lay claim to one
promise ; and  have no interest in him that made the
promises ? How will they stand when the storm pur-
                      02 
162           THE TRAVELLER.
sues behind,  and no shelter presents itself before ?
And how will it gall them to  see the saints in quiet
resting places, and themselves exposed for eyer to the
tempest ?
  But although we may not land here, yet we may
return to our own king's  dominions, where we shall
be joyfully received.  But it is not so with the sinner,
who is in rebellion against Heaven.  Whither shall fie
flee from God, or where can he hide himself from his
omniscient eye ? How shall he get without the reach
of his all-present arm, or  escape  the stroke of angry
Omnipotence ?  God he has disobeyed, Christ he has
rejected,the promise he has despised, sinned away the
day of grace, and trampled on the patience of Heaven:
So, when the Judge shall come in flames, and it shall
be very tempestuous round about, what will he do ?
To what God can he go ? To what Saviour can he
cry ? To  what hand can he turn—to whom shall  he
deplore himself—and in  what ear make his moan I
What promise  can he plead, or to which of the saints
can he turn ? Ah 1 God is his inexorable Judge, and
the Saviour is no more his friend;  all hopes perish,
all help3 fail, all friends forsake, pity has  no ear to
his complaint, and mercy no compassion on his moan !
O how miserable are the wicked, then, who thus on
oceans of burning brimstone, shall be exposed to the
storms and tempests of eternal wrath, and never, nev-
er see a 6hore 1
   But,  on  the  other hand, how happy art thou, O
saint! Every land is the  property of Him who in all
his vast possessions is thine by promise.  He is thine
who can make enemies entreat thee well in adversity :
he is thine who is not only the God of the whole earth,
but the possessor of heaven and glory; who is not
only the Prince of the  kings of the earth, but the 
              THE TRAVELLER.           163

Father of eternity who holds the waters in the hollow
of his  hand.   Thou art safe,  therefore,  upon the
depths ; and though thou sho.uldest never see thy na-
tive country, yet thou shalt make, vybenthy course is
finished, the land that lies afar off.
            MEDITATION  XXXV.

  COASTING ON A COUNTRY OF  ANOTHER RELIGION.

                               Under sail, 1758.

  SINCE the foolish sons of men fell a-building their
own confusion, what a difference of tongues has taken
place 1  Hence, though I was ashore on that land* I
could neither understand, nor be understood, but by
an  interpreter.   But,  since defection entered the
Christian church, how, in some lands, is all gone to
confusion !
  Still the Christian name continues, but primitive
Christianity is rooted out there, where a pretended
successor of Peter is the fulfilment of that prediction,
which mentions  the coming of the man of sin,  and
which to me confirms the truth of the scriptures.
They have turned the purity of religion into the pomp
of superstitipn ; the simplicity of the  gospel, into
mumbling and muttering of  prayers, in an unknown
tongue ; and the spiritual rule  over the flock of God,
into a temporal dominion over the kingdoms.   They
have let go the kernel and substance of religion, for
the shell and show ; hence, such adorning of churches,
and such abundance of altars and images.  There the
man of sin sways his midnight sceptre, forfilthy lucre,.
forgiving sins  which God  will  never acquit, because
in away God  never appointed, nor will approve of ? 
164           THE TRAVELLER.

and,  trampling on the  divine command,  prostitutes
sacred things ; hence baptising  of bells, consecrating
places, water, &c.   It were irksome to repeat their
impostures, and spiritual whoredoms, with which the
nations are drunk ; but, what a pity it is to see them,
in the matters of religion, go hood-winked to hell!
And men so polite, learned, and expert in other res-
pects, so easily imposed upon in the concerns of their
salvation !  When shall the brightness of the coming
of the Son  of man, in the purity, of the gospel, which
is the sword  that  proceeds out of his mouth, make
the kings, who now support, hate the whore, eat her
flesh, and burn her with fire ?
  How  great is the happiness, then, of a reformed
land, where the glorious truths of Christianity are not
concealed from any, where the poor have  the gospel
preached to them, and the scripturcslooscd from their
dark originals, in their mother tongue, and where the
people are allowed, according to the primitive institu-
tion, to commemorate, in both  kinds,  the death and
sufferings of our dearest Lord  !  Wo  to them that
dwell among a people that are terrified for Papal bulls;
that put  light for  darkness, and darkness  for light,
good works in the place of justifying righteousnessi
and  the  Pope in the seat  of God ; who, not having
attained to  the spiritual knowledge of the Redeemer,
enflame their affections, and kindle their devotions, by
gazing on  sensible representations of a suffering Sa-
viour, who can only  be beheld savingly by the eye of
faith.   Though  with  our bodily eyes we could see
Jesus expiring on the cross in deepest agony and pain,
which were  better  than a thousand  crucifixes, and
lively pictures, it could only move pity in us  to him as
a tortured man, but could not beget in us the faith of
his divinity ;  hence so many unconverted spectators of 
              THE TRAVELLER.            165

the awful scene; and hence still the lifeless devotions
of the blinded Papists.
  O ! then, that the days of the Son of man would beam
on  the Christian Churches, such as Rome  enjoyed
when first obedient to the faith ; that they might cast
off the yoke of the imperious whore that sits on many
a hill, and deliver  their souls  that dwell  in spiritual
Babylon!  O ! then, that the Son of Righteousness
would arise with healings in his wings, and with his
glorious  beams dispel the darkness  from  the  na-
tions, and the gross darkness  from the people, that
Rome, with  the lesser Asia, may return to their form-
er purity, to their first love, and over the revived uni-
verse there may be but one Lord, and his name one.
            MEDITATION XXXVI.

                   THE MASTS.

                          At  sea, June 25, 1753.

   HOW do the stately masts thrust their  head into
the sky, and see  the  breaking  billows  far beneath
them ! Even so sovereigns and princes are exalted far
above their subjects.  But, for as high as the mast is
raised  above the hull, yet its  safety  is only by  being
sunk into the very body of the ship ; so is the  king's
honour, and the prince's safety, in  the multitude of
their subjects.
   Of what service could a ship without masts, or masts
without a ship be  ? So in the body, political, spiritual,
and natural, Infinite Wisdom has made every member
subservient to another, that there may be no schism.
  Without  masts, which  support the takle, and ex-
panded sails, a ship could move no where, but would 
166           THE TRAVELLER.

lie like a wreck on the waters ; so without rulers, and
subordination, must a people perish in tumult and con-
fusion.
  If the masts are exalted in the view of all, they are
exposed to tempests from every quarter; so fares it
with men of station and power, they are hated by one,
and envied by another, reproached by a third, and un-
dermined by a fourth.
  In a storm, or tempest, it is sometimes necessary,
in order to  save the  ship, to cut the masts  by  the
board ; so, sometimes to save a state, or nation, it is
necessary to dethrone a cruel, an obstinate oppressor,
and chasa away a tyrant.
  If the hull is rotten,  and  leaky, though the masts
be never so strong and fresh,yet the vessel may perish
in the deep waters; so, if  the people be irreligious,
and licentious, the prudent conduct and probity of the
best kings cannot prevent their rushing into ruin.
   It is only when a ship goes to sea, with her  masts
and top-masts in order, and all her sails unfurled, and
filled by the gentle breeze, that she makes so grand an
appearance to the peopled shores ; for, stretching into
 the boundless ocean, she lessons gradually till she can
 be seen no more : Even so,  the men who now are
 famed over half the globe, shall in a  little be  lost to
 human eye,  on the ocean of eternity,  and have no
 more concern with time.
   When the ship is grown old, and accounted no move
 fit for service, she is brought ashore, and broken up,
 and then the stately masts lie equally humble on the
 ground with the meaner planks, or very keel; even
 so, in death, shall all flesh return to dust, and the dis-
 tinctions of a few days shall no more avail them, shall
 take place no more.  May a  belief of this influence
 me while I live below. 
             THE TRAVELLER.            167


           MEDITATION XXXVII.

   UPON ONE  BEING PUT UNDER CONFINEMENT
                   ABOARD.

                      Under sail,  June 26, 1758.

  TRULY we might be surprised  to think that one
could be closer confined in a ship at sea, than only to
be in it; for, what is the vessel but a floating prison,
where  the closest confinement can only deprive a man
of a few paces ?  Where can the man go, who has
nothing over him but the canopy of the sky, or around
him but the liquid ocean ?  Yet to  be forbid to walk
the very deck, to be  locked in the  cumbrous irons,
and put under the care  of the sentinel, and his naked
sword, are marks of anger and restraint.
  Even  so, a man may be straitened in himself, a
prisoner at home, though he might range the whole
globe,  and find himself fettered with grief, and man-
acled with sorrow, pensive amidst his pleasures,  and
dejected among his friends.
  Wherever these prisoners are permitted to go, they
are always attended with the sentinels in arms ; so the
man whose conscience is awakened, shall find a con-
stant companion, and unwearied  reprover, who  will
either reprove to purpose, or reproach for ever.
  When a man  has  transgressed  the martial  law,
neither money nor  friends sometimes  can prevent
punishment;  so nothing  in the world can preserve
irom, or enable to support a wounded spirit.  If the
stroke  comes from above, so must the relief.   How
poor are all possessions to a person that has not peace
within  ! 
168          THE TRAVELLER.
  One of these prisoners mutters and  complains, is
peevish and displeased at the sentence of his superior,
but it avails him nothing; just so, to repine at afflic-
tion, and complain on Providence, is the mark of an
unsanctified heart, and cannot shorten our trials, or
alleviate-our troubles, but must sharpen our sorrows
and heighten our sufferings.
  But another of them enjoys himself in his confine-
ment, is cheerful and composed,  knowing that a very
short time shall restore him to liberty ;  even so, the
saint, amidst his afflictions, can be happy and  serene,
knowing that the period is not far distant that shall
translate him into the glorious-liberty of the  sons of
God.  Paul and Silas could sing  praises in a  prison,
because when God giveth quietness,  none  can cause
trouble.
  In a word, what are all the people  in the ship, but
prisoners, whether they approve or disapprove  the ex-
pression ? Even so, what is the body  but a clog, what
the whole world but a confinement to heirs of immor-
tality, and expectants of heaven ?  in this we earnestly
groan for the better slate, and long to be unclothed,
not that we would peevishly  drop our  existence,  be
turned out of house and home, but only change our
prison for a palace, and this corruption put on incor-
ruption, and this mortal put  on immortality, and we
walk at perfect liberty through everlasting day ! 
             THE TRAVELLER.            169


           MEDITATION XXXVIII.

   THE PROPHET'S DESCRIPTION OF THE WICKEB.

  HOW just.how adequate, how expressive the divine
description, " The wicked are like the troubled ocean,
when it cannot rest, whose waters cast forth mire and
dirt!" When the tides have teemed their wrecks on
the inmost shores, and in the ebb have left the smooth-
ed sand, all looks gay, and one would think the bot-
tom of the ocean is swept, and washed of all its wrecks
and weeds;  but the next tide proves my conjecture
false, and spreads a fresh proof of my deception on
the shore : Just so it is with the wicked ; when I think;
they might have emptied themselves of oaths, impre-
cations, and filthy communicaiions,accomplished their
wickedness, brought forth all their vileness, and wea-
ried themselves in committing sin, yet, without inter-
mission, they proceed from evil to worse.
  As there is a continual growth of weeds, and acces-
sion of other wrecks, every tide, therefore, spues out
mire and dirt; so, out of the evil treasure of the heart,
evil  things  continually proceed.  But  the  civilized
sinner has nothing to boast;  for, though  his words
may not be so vile as  those of  abandoned wretches,
yet, as they pour from the carnal mind, and the carnal
mind being enmity against God, can produce nothing
pleasing in  his sight,  so they  are vile before God:
Therefore, though not  so disagreeable in a sober ear,
as the profane swearer,  obscene talker, or unprofitable
jester, yet, not coming from a sanctified heart, are ac-
counted sin in  his eye,  who is purity itself, and with a
pleasant countenance beholdcth the  upright.
                        P 
170           THE TRAVELLER.
  Sometimes the raging  seas  ebb, and leave  their
shores clean and  comely,  but, all of a sudden, they
return with fresh defilement, and scatter over them
mire and dirt.  Even so have I seen some persons, by
a temporary repentance,appear to forsake their former
courses, and to lead a new life,  but, all of a sudden,
like a spring-tide, their wickedness breaks out with
greater violence  than ever, and the last state of that
man is worse than the first.
  As nothing less than the voice of the Almighty can
calm the restless ocean, and say to  the raging sea,
Peace, be still;  so nothing  less than  infinite power
(let not mortals presume,  let not sinners despair) can
convert transgressors, and make their hearts precious
as a spring shut up, pleasant as a fountain sealed.


            MEDITATION XXXIX.

    ON THE  PATIENCE OF, GOD WITH SINNERS.

                       Off France, June 27, 1758.

  VERILY thou art God, that  thus bearest with the
wickedness of men, though of purer eyes than to be-
hold iniquity.   Did  our superior officers meet with
equal disobedience to their mandates, the same irrev-
erence, contumely  and reproach to their very face,
from these abandoned wretches, would they put up
therewith ? No;  death, or some dreadful punishment,
would suddenly be inflicted  on the daring  transgres-
sors.   God will be glorified in the bright display of all
his divine perfections ; and the  desperate madness of
sinners against  the  heavens, and their blasphemous
talk against the most High, cannot  prevail with him
to change  his purpose, and punish them  before the 
THE TRAVELLER.            171
time appointed, because he is God: Nor shall their
miseries and bemoaning, their anguish and their in-
treaties, make  him  spare  them  a moment longer,
when the appointed day comes, or  mitigate their tor-
ments, because he is God.  A thousand years are with
God but as one day, seeing all eternity is his immove-
able NOW.  Now, what are the few unhappy years
ef  a thoughtless  desperado's life, but as a few mo-
ments to a criminal betwixt his sentence and execu-
tion ? So God will fill up the measure of his patience;
and if they fill  up the measure of their  sin, in the
lime  of God's patience,  his justice  shall fill up the
measure of their punishment in the day that his thun-
dering right hand shall cast the  strength of his fury
and fiery indignation on them for ever.  He is silent
now in the day  of his. kjjg-suffering, and  they  will
not hear the voice of ht^goodness ; but he will  loudly
accost them in the day  of his anger, and they shall
hear the thunders of his wrath.  God,  by his  long-
suffering,  has a dou^e^gjP on the wheel,  his  wrath
to shew, and his power tojmake known on the vessels
of wrath, thereby fitted to destruction; and the riches
of his glory, to make known on the vessels of mercy,
who are thus prepared for glory. Let the sinner ac-
knowledge the patience of God, and be led to repen-
tance ; and the saint adore the patience of God, and
be encouraged to perseverance ;  and may God be glo-
rified in all his divine perfections. 
172           THE  TRAVELLER.
              MEDITATION XL.

ON THE EXCELLENCY  OF THE CHRISTIAN  RELIGION
  ABOVE THE JEWISH, WITH RESPECT TO A TRAVEL-
  LER.

                      Off France, June 28, 1758.

  THE Jewish religion consisted in a noble and em-
blematical assemblage of ritesand ceremonies, which,
though  glorious, was to give place  to that religion
which could boast of a triumphant majesty,  a super-
eminent glory, and a permanent duration.  That was
attended with external pomp and grandeur, the beauty
of this lies in its simplieily £rid spirituality.
  How uncomfortable weffcmry situation here, if  I
could not approach the altaWtat.  sanctifies the gift
without  being seen, praise God without the  high-
sounding cymbal, psaltery,  or  harp, and offer up to
God my sacrifice in mine^nBir^ast! if I cbuld not
be sprinkled with the blood^O clRinsing, without the
high-priest using all the nound of ceremonies ! if I
could not repent, and be accounted clean, without ex-
ternal  washings, and if I behoved to look towards Je-
rusalem,  in my adorations I  But, as a Ch|jsUan, I
may pray every where, and, even in the  midst  of the
unclean, may offer up my sacrifice of mental praise ;
yea, to God who sees in secret, and knows  the heart,
I may  pray in secret; or, when that is denied,  I may
in my own heart pour out to him my supplication, and,
in the  midst  of confusion, may meditate on his glory
and goodness.  And, as  I  may thus freely come  to
him, wherever I am, so he whose  fire of old came
down,  and consumed the sacrifice on the altar, in mer-
cy can come to me, and kindle a flame of love in my 
              THE  TRAVELLER.           173

soul, and speak kindly to me,  from off the invisible
mercy-seat, Christ Jesus.  Then there is one perfect
sacrifice which, every where, and always, I shall keep
in eye ; one fountain at which I shall always wash;
one Intercessor, and  great High-Priest, whom I shall
always employ, and through whom I shall seek access
to God, waiting to be blessed at last in the full enjoy-
ment of God, Father,  Son, and  Holy Ghost, world
without end.
            > MEDITATION  XLI.

   COASTING ALONt* ANOTHER KING'S DOMINIONS.

                    toj Under sail, July 1, 1758.

  THE contentejLswain may travel far and near, yea,
live and^Jie in airs own king's dominions ; but a fair
wind may soon fetch him that plows the flowing ocean,
where  his soyercignlcahnot claim an inch of land, or
if he stands to sea, he may soon find himself distant
from all shores, in an unmeasurable world of waters,
which o#^& no superior but Him who formed the sea
and the dry land.  I may offend my prince here,  and
yet fly  out of his reach, and bid defiance to his rage ;
but, if  I sin against God, whither shall I fly for help,
or how shall I escape ?  Britain and India are alike be-
fore him, height and depth are in his hand, and dis-
tance,  which  only bears relation to creatures, bears
none to the Creator who is every where present, and
filleth all in all.  I may sooner deprive a rational being
of self-consciousness, or hide me from  myself, than
keep concealed from Omniscience.
                      P 2 
J74
THE TRAVELLER.
  Would a king or an emperor, travel round  the
globe, many times he would find himself in kingdoms
where he could claim no interest; but, if I belong to
God, I can claim his providence and protection in every
dominion, and in every land.  How well pleased would
a young prince be, to travel home, in the dress of a
stranger, through the extensive dominions of his royid
father ! Could he quarrel at hard usage, the homely
fare, and the mean lodgings he must put iip with by
the way ?  Would it not quiet and content him under
all, to  call to mind that he is travelling home to the
palace  of his royal sire, where he  should be welcomed
by the loud acclamations of a splendid  court, and em-
braced  by the king  himself?  After this manner,
while  on  his journey, would he address  himself:
' Though I pass as a stranger in these remote parts of
my father's possessions, and ChobservetL because it is
not as  yet proper in the eyes of the king that I should
be clothed in princely attire, yetJ|how  am I  delighted
that all these kingdoms are under"'his government,
tremble at  his frown, and own/liis sovereignty: and
though I now seem poorer than many of his subjects
in these provinces, who  have  small estates in hand,
yet I am  so happy in the nobleness of my descent, in
 the dignity of my relations, in the prospect of my fu-
 ture  greatness, and approaching glory, that I would
 not change states with any of them ;  for, on the day
 appointed for my coronation, by the mighty sovereign,
 to whom  I am so nearly  related, I shall, in the sight
 of assembled thousands, receive a sceptre,  and a
 crown.'  Even so,  the saints are in all respects the
 happy ones, for the universe belongs  to him who has
 a care of  them.   Distant  climates, therefore,  need
 not look strange to them, for, if they live near God;
 they can never be far from home. 
THE TRAVELLER.
              MEDITATION XLII.

            ON HEARING FROM FRIENDS.

                        St. Helen's, July 5, 1758.

  HE that has not left his  affections and care in his
native country, as well as his friends, is not a little re-
freshed by frequent accounts from them, that they are
alive, and in prosperity.  But all  this will not satisfy
him that sore longeth to see his near relation, and his
native  country, after  being long absent from it.  A
thousand letters, written with all  the tenderness of a
father, embellished with all the rhetoric of paternal en-
dearments, must give p^tce to an hour's conversation,
mouth to mouth, with that father whose kind and
affectionate letters increased the filial regard, with that
mother whosejymtinual prayers and good wishes, have
strengthenedThe affection  of her  son.  Nothing less
than seeing  them face to  face,  talking  with tiiem
friendly and freely^hearing all their state, and learning
of all their welfare, can satisfy his  longing, and quic
his struggling breast.
   Even so, nothing can fully satisfy the desires of the
soul that is born from above, and is a native of the bet-
ter country, but the immediate vision of God.  All he
receives below, only  begets a disquietude in his soul,
(but such a disquietude as delights) that cannot be at
rest till wafted to the fruition of God.  The brighter
his views of heavenly things, the  more ardent  his
wishes for the possession of them.   Hence,  says the
aged, the experienced, and great apostle Paul, who had
been caught up into the third heaven,  carried into
paradise, and heard the unutterable language of bliss,
" 1 have a desire to depart, and to be with Christ." 
176           THE TRAVELLER.
  All the bright displays of the glory and goodness of
God, which saints enjoy below, compared with what is
reserved for eternity, is only a sight of his back parts.
Now, let us see the import of the metaphor : The face
is like the fair epitome of the whole man, so that lim-
ners commonly draw no more than the countenance ;
the face turned away denotes indignation, but bright
and smiling is a sign of favour ; and, again, the coun-
tenance is like the index of the mind, where we  oan
see clouds gather, and tempests break, or peace  and
tranquility  within.  Accordingly, we  have  these  ex-
pressions in scripture,  "Blessed are  the people that
walk in the light of thy countenance : Cause thy face
to shine on us: Thou didst hide thy face, and I was
troubled : Neither will  I hide my face any more from
them : As for me I shall behold thy face in righteous-
ness."  What, then, must the consummate happiness
of that state be, where  we shall see God face to face !
  Then, Lord, the most that I can fimftelow, is but a
crumb to the banquet above.   When thy appointed
time comes, with what  joy will I leave all these mer-
ciful communications of thy grace  and good will, con-
veyed through thy word and ordinances (which, like  let-
ters of favour, assure me of the affection of mine  ex-
alted Head, and cheer me in the  house of my pilgrim-
age) and go home to eternal,  uninterrupted commu-
nion with thee !  When, dear Lord, may my love and
longing ask, When shall I see the face of my Beloved,
that face that is fairer than the sun ?  When shall all
the vast expectations of my faith be realized in glory ?
When shall my well-beloved, who is unto me as a bun-
dle  of myrrh, lie, not for a short night, but through an
endless day, between my breasts ?   When shall dis-
tance be done away, that I may approach thee, and  ne-
ver more be debarred from thy throne ?   When tliull 
THE TRAVELLER.            177
my soul, all eye, fix for eternity on thy excellent glory ?
As yet, I have only seen some passing glimpses of thy
back parts ; but there is an abiding, permanent, assim-
ilating gaze on thy glorious countenance, which shall
crown my felicity through endless ages.   May not the
soul that is espoused to that glorious Husband, who is
the chiefest among ten thousand, long to see her hus-
band, long  for the marriage-supper of the Lamb, and
weary for the day of being brought  home, to be for
ever in his house, for ever in his presence ?  Surely,
were  my love to him more, I should long more for
him ;  but I am ready to take up with other lovers in
his absence.  The world, and the things of time, are
busy to cool mine affection  to the sacred  suitor, the
divine and unchangeable lover ;  but hence, all things
that would  divert my flame  from him who is altogeth-
er lovely.  When shall these eyes see him for myself,
and not for another ? I am like one born abroad, that
has never  seeffiis father,  nor  his friends ;  but am
travelling home, and shall  never be happy  till I be
with  my best Friend.   I have heard of thee by the
hearing of the ear,  and the account has comforted my
soul; but now I long to see thee with my eye, and be
for ever ravished with  the  heavenly vision.  Surely
at my arrival  at thy throne,  O gracious Redeemer 1
when I shall see thy wonderful  ascent to it,  even by
sufferings, the standing of thy saints about it, the ap-
parel and entertainment of thy chosen  ones, and all
thy other glories, I shall know then that all the account
which I ever heard falls infinitely short of thy majesty
and glory.  Let it, then, comfort me, that in a little
thou  shalt  fulfil my request, satisfy  my  longing, and
bring me home to be for ever with the Lord. 
178           THE  TRAVELLER.
             MEDITATION XLIII.

           ON THE WELL OF THE SHIP.

                          Spit head, July 7, 1758.

  ONE might be surprised, that when the ship admits
very little water within, they should by a pipe from the
ocean convey such a quantity, that the pomp must be
set a-work before it can be cast out again : Yet the de-
vice  is highly praise-worthy ; for thus the corrupted,
stinking, and poisonous dregs, are cast out,  which,
without this large addition of water, would never come
within the stroke of the chain-pump, but would grow
intolerably putrid,as it is well known to discolour solid
metals, and affect every thing near it.  Even so, ori-
ginal sin is that poison that lies deep within, contami-
nates all around, whose filth defiles all the powers of
the mind, all  the  members of the body,  and whose
guilt makes the whole man obnoxious to all the mise-
ries of time, to all the torments of hell.  Again, some-
times Heaven is pleased to permit a person to fall into
gross outbreakings, that thereby he may be led to see
the corruption of his nature, and to bewail the  spring
from which such deadly streams proceed.  Thus the
psalmist confesses, that he, as well as all mankind, was
conceived in sin, and born in iniquity.   And wherever
saving grace is displayed in subduing  sin, there also
the guilt of original sin is forgiven, and its filth taken
away.
  It  is very remarkable, that God refines his own peo-
ple, not only by afflictions, judgments, and  mercies,
but by sins ;  thus  sometimes the air is purified  by a
thunder-storm : Hence, says God by the prophet Eze-
kiel, xiv. 9. and 11.  «If a prophet be deceived, I have 
              THE TRAVELLER.           179

deceived that prophet, and the people that seek to hiih
are also deceived, and they shall bear the punishment
of their iniquity."  Now, for what end is a prophet
permitted to  speak lies, and the people to seek to a
lying prophet ?  That they might go no  more astray,
pollute his holy name no  more, but that he might be
their God, and they might be his people.  Thus, Pe-
ter's pride and self-confidence is so cured by his denial
of Christ, that when Jesus, after his resurrection puts
to him a kindly question,  " Simon, son of Jonas, lovest
thou me ?" he dares not say, as formerly, O Lord, my
love is such that I can die for thee, but humbly appeals
to himself, " Thou  knowest that I love thee."  Our
Lords repeats the question, and he returnsthe same an-
swer ;  but a third time puts him to pain, ' Does my
Lord distrust my love, doth he suspect its sincerity ?*
It is true, alas ! I have denied him, and he knows me
better than I do myself;  but my heart, conscious of
sincerity, appeals to his  omnisciency,  " Thou that
knowest all things, knowest that I love thee."
   Moreover, the daily experience of the saints will at-
test, that all their lifetime they hate and abhor that sin
most by which they have  most dishonoured God, and
wounded  their own souls.   Alas! what daily cause
have I to mourn over my depravity, whose life is black.
ened with daily  outbreakings from this fountain that
defiles !   Hence so many vain thoughts, and low ap-
prehensions ofthe holiness and majesty of God ; hence
so many trifling delights; hence such an eager pursuit
of perishing pleasures, and polluted joys, which, on
a narrow survey, and serious thought, I must throw
all away.
  But, such is the wonderful method of Him, whose
ways are past finding out, that he saves by casting
away, brings through hell to heaven ;  and, by one sin 
180           THE TRAVELLER.

breaking out, makes the soul hate and abhor, fight and
watch against all sin, and have daily recourse  to the
blood of sprinkling, and to the  Spirit of all grace for
divine assistance.
              MEDITATION XLIV.

          THE COMPANY OF THE WICKED.

                          Spithead, July 8, 1758.

   WHEN for our continual  company we have the
 wicked,  we cannot but continue our lamentation, and
 repeat our complaint,  " Wo is me that I sojourn in
 Mesech, and dwell in the tents of Kedar."  When I
 have considered the carnal men, who know nothing of
 the power of religion,  and the abandoned wretches,
 who have not  even the  appearance of religion,  how
 should I esteem the company of saints here below, and
 the communion of the  glorious hosts above !  When
 the day of my dissolution comes, how shall I be trans-
 ported to find myself among an assembly of sanctified
 ones, where religion, in its purity, is their eternal
 theme ! Not an idle word among all the amazing mul-
 titude,nor one vain thought among the vast concourse!
 Their societyisimproving, and their conversation shall
 comfort for ever.  No doubt but the wickedness of the
 present world will to the saints sweeten the sanctity of
 the world to come ; and their own corruption, from
which they cani:ot  wholly rid themselves now, dignify
that noble change, when corruptible shal. put on incor-
ruplion, and mortality be swallowed up of life ; so will
their imperfect graces aggrandize their perfection in
 glory.  What, then, shall be my happiness when my 
               THE TRAVELLER.           181

 fellow saints shall be spotless  flames of love, and I
 adore with ttiem in the unity of the Spirit, in the bond
 of perfect and perpetual peace  ! when the moving of
 their tongues in the  praises of my dearest Lord, shall
 assuage all my former grief, and charm my ravished
 ear !  when every soul shall attempt the loudest song,
 and highest encomium on our best Beloved! and when
 among the adoring throng, not  one sinner, which are
 now  so numerous, nay, not one hypocrite shall stand !
 O how shall  we speak to one another of Him  who is
 altogether lovely, and  being  transformed into his
 likeness,  how amiable and  agreeable shall  we be to
 one another 1 For, like lines in a circle pointing to
 the centre, the nearer to which they come, the near-
 er to  others they approach,  till  running into the cen-
 tre, they unite in one another :  Just so,  dwelling in
 Christ, we shall be united to  one  another in love.
 Then I shall not only be free from my  wicked com-
 pany, but from every thing in my soul that can disquiet
 or give pain.  No pollution  from  without, no corrup-
 tion within, but all is perfect sanctity.   O triumphant
 state  of perfect liberty 1 where  my companions shall
 not, as now,  drive me  from God,  but,  as  it were,  *
draw  me to the very throne : " Come, let us worship
the Lord ; I will go also."   The  forethought of that
happy state  shall  comfort me  till  the days of my
mourning be ended.
                       Q 
182           THE  TRAVELLER.

             MEDITATION  XLV.

           ON AWAKING AT MIDNIGHT.

  NOW the silent night spreads its shadows on all,
and calms  the uneasy crew, who are locked fast in
sleep, except those who are on duty ;  and never are
they less offensive to God or men, than when in slum-
bers.
  In a little, the busy world shall be awake'd to pursue
the affairs of life ; but the greater part,  in respect of
spiritual things, are  fast asleep, yea, chained among
the dead;  hence  says the  apostle, "  Awake, thou
that sleepest,  and arise from the dead, and Christ
shall give thee light."
  Amidst the blackest gloom that dwells on midnight
with respect to the natural eye, the soul is at no loss
to view  immaterial beings by the eye of her under-
standing, and to behold her supreme good by the eye
of faith. Yea, a day dwells within the soul that is en-
lightened from above,  even  while shades of darkness
surround the body ; and this day is much more beauti-
ful than the brightest sun-shine to the naked eye.
   Though, through  ignorance, I thought that ull had
been darkness in the universe till the sun was kindled
up, yet I see that even then all was blight, unbound-
ed, and eternal day ; because God is light, and in him
is no darkness, and he filleth all in all.   But whenGod
was pleased to bespangle a little track, afoot-breadth
or two of space, with various globes,  and on some of
them to form creatures  with bodily  organs, which
needed a material medium, to judge of  sensible ob-
jects, in this respect,  " darkness was on the face  of
the deep ;" for their comfort he created the light; 
THE TRAVELLER.
183
and from the light he formed the sun, to illuminate
the body : being still himself, the infinitely more glo-
rious Light of the mind, so that whenever he is pleas-
ed to display himself in a special manner, the sun is
darkened at his presence, as befel Paul when favoured
with the heavenly vision.  Now, had all been created
spirits,  like the angels, there had been no need for
natural  light, for  the  Father of spirits is to them
the  Fountain of light; and sometimes  they have
brought such a brightness with them from the throne
of glory (like Moses when  he came down from the
mount of God) such  a blaze of light spreading round
about, as has amazed  the astonished spectators. Thus,
neither the  natural  darkness of the night, nor the
thick darkness, of sorrow, affliction, and woe, nor the
pitchy darkness of death, shall spread a shade  over
those who have his presence, diffusing serenest noon
in their souls wherever they go ;  as, on the other
hand, tne fallen angels, cast out of his favourable pre-
sence, are kept in chains of darkness, though allowed
to roam over this universe in the noon-day beamings
of the  natural sun.
   Again, a man may enjoy the light of life, and bask
himself in the pleasant beams of affluence and peace,
while nothing but a  dark and stormy night surrounds
his soul.  As the evening-shadows mantle the world,
so they produce a silence and tiv,i.quality over all; but
the  darkness that seizes the soul  from an angry or
concealed  God, awakens the keenest  anguish, and
pours storms and  tempests  in  ali the powers of the
mind,  which raise this comp'.aint, " Thou d.dst hide
thy face, and I was troubled."  But what comfort may
it yield me, that, though the nights seem long, the
darkness thick, the  tempests loud, and the thunders
terrible, the Sun is on his way, will shortly rise,  and 
184          THE TRAVELLER.
afford eternal day 1  th?t I shall walk in the light of
his countenance, and in his  light see light clearly !
Then, and not till then, " shall  mine age be clearer
than the noon-day, and 1 shall shine forth, and be as
the morning."


             MEDITATION  XLVI.

 • N  ONE CURSING AND  SWEARING AT AN AFFRONT.

                         Spit head, July 10, 1753.

  THIS discloses to me the dreadful confusion and
deplorable passion which the wicked shall be put into
at the tremendous bar!  Hear that poor wretch, for a
matter of  no moment compared to his  eternal felicity,
roars, rages, foams, and blasphemes.  What surpris-
ing, chilling, and unheard-of oaths, even where oaths
are too  much heard every day,  pursue one another in
his fiendlike fury 1  Scarce can he tell what troubles
him for belc.ing out hideous, horrid,  and uncommon
oaths,  protestations, and imprecations, not to be al-
lowed to return ever into the  memory again but in a
Way of  deploration.
   Now, if such be the  language of sinners on earth,
what shall be their dialect in hell, when they shall turn
 their blasphemies against the blessed,  but tremendous
 Avenger  himself 1  when  their  kindling eyes shall
 swell with fury 1 Here  they curse  others, or invoke
 damnation on themselves ; but  then  and there, they
 shall blaspheme God for his burning indignation, and,
 in perpetual rage and fury, rise up against incensed
 Omnipotence itself; and this shall increase their tor-
 ment, that they madly oppose their feeble power, and
 unsubdued enmity,against the infinite  *£flictor, where- 
              THE TRAVELLER.           18i

by they, as it  were, approve  of their old rebellion
against their rightful Lord, and make  it evident that
he is just when he  condemns and  punishes his foes.
But  O what a countenance will  they put on, what pas-
sion, what revenge, what anguish, what rage,  what
horror, what burning envy in their soul, what rolling
e yes, and trembling joints, what tormenting confusion
of thought, what terrible  disquiet, and consummate
despair, will tear and prey on them forever 1 Against
whom will they stamp,  frown, storm, and  foam, like
this  desperado ? Whom  will they threaten ? God, their
eternal foe, is fur above their reach, holds them down
in chains of everlasting  wrath, and roars against them
with the thunders of his right hand for ever.
  Now, as  I heard  expressions terribly strange, and
oaths to me entirely new (which I pray may be so for
ever, and never grate my ear again) from hence I in-
fer,  that the blasphemies of the damned, now past all
hope, and filled with unrelenting enmity, are so ex-
tremely  and  inconceivably dreadful, so excessively
horrid, that the most abandoned swearer,  the master
of the  newest and blackest  blasphemies  on earth,
comes pot near them ; just as  the sharpest pain* we
feel in time, bear no proportion to the excruciating tor-
ments  of the damned.   This desperado's passion as-
suages by little and  little, and he becomes  himself by
degrees ; but there their passion  and tumult ever
grows,  even against God.  Their soul abhors  him,
and his soul also loathes them.  O then to be wise,
and learn wisdom from every thing I see !
                      Q2 
[So
THE TRAVELLER.
            MEDITATION XLVII.

   GOD'S EQUITT IN THE ETERNITY OF TORMENT.

                                  July 10, 1756.

  MAN is daringly bold to find fault with God, and
tell him to his face, that his ways are not equal.  To
make a creature only to be miserable for some small
offence, to make a creature to be damned, they think
is not just in a Being said to be infinitely just;  or to
punish a few follies in frail man, the extravagancies
of a few days with eternal wrath, and the failings of a
finite creature, that is crushed before the moth,  with
the whole collected fury  of an Omnipotent God, an
Almighty Avenger.
  As to the first, God creates not to destroy, but still
delighteth in mercy; yet,before any creatures rob him
of his glory by a course of sin, he will  magnify  him-
self in their  damnation.   Again,  shall the  man  that
derides revelation, scorns to search the word of truth,
 contemns counsel,  casts  instruction behind  his  back,
hates him that reproveth, sins against  his light, will
not  hearken to the reproofs of conscience, but runs
into all sin with precipitance, and commits wicked-
ness with greediness, dragging as many as he can
 with him to hell;—-shall such a wretch (and generally
 such they are who have these sorry and pitiful pleas)
 talk of mercy ? Would he have God to lake him, sin
 and all to heaven, who would not forsake his sin for
 heaven, nor cease from wickedness for  God ?  Those
 who will not receive mercy, who will  not have  a gift
 pf salvation on God's terms, and in God's  time, must
 expect damnation from him in due time;, which  shall
 measure with eternity. 
THE TRAVELLER.
187
  I have, for a long time,  been convinced of the
punishment for sin being infinite (as far as creatures
can sustain) and eternal, on  account of the infinite
Majesty against whom it was committed ; because it
is impossible for finite creatures, who despise the sat-
isfaction provided by God, to satisfy in their own per-
sons for one sin ; and because the sinner continues,
even in torment, the enemy of God and righteousness.
But now 1 see  another thing, even that punishment,
infinite and eternal, is no more than the just reward of
their sin ; for the sinner employs all his thoughts, ex-
erts all his might, and goes to the very utmost of his
finite omnipotence (may I use the expression?) against
God.   By his power, had he power equal to his impi-
ous inclinations,he would destroy righteousness out of
the world, just as he does in his own breast; yea, could
he  effect  it, he would pull the angels out of heaven,
who daily tears the moral law in pieces;  nay, could
he  rise in power he would contend even with the Al-
mighty, and take the  government of heaven and earth
out of his hand, who will not let God govern his poor
insignificant self.  Now, is  it not no more than strict
justice in God to punish to the uttermost of his power,
those who sin against him to  the uttermost of their
power; and not to repent in casting the fury of his
wrath on them who, in theirsinning against him, knew
no repentance ? Moreover, is it not equhable with God
to punish  those as long as he  lives, who sinned against
him as long as  they lived ?  So may an earthly king
condemn to perpetual imprisonment a rebel or a regi-
cide.   Again, though their life was short and passing,
yet how did they spend it,every moment of it, in abom-
inable  sin  ! and since they spend the eternity of their
life (might I again use the expression?) against God,
and would never cease to offend, the everlasting Jeho- 
188           THE TRAVELLER.
vah, were they to continu. in their present state to per-
petuity ; therefore it is but jusi that he should punish
them through the eternity of his existence.   Finally,
sinners have  no groui'ds of excuse or complaint left,
being well apprised  of their danger in time, and there-
fore shall, thiough an eternity of torment, confess that
their own ways have been unequal, but that God is just
and equal in ail his ways.
             MEDITATION XLVIII.

 INSTRUCTIONS FROM THE COMMUNICATIONS  OF THE
                     WICKED.

                         Spithead, July  12, 1758.

   SURE, if ever grace dwelt in my soul, if ever I was
 among the saints I  have  been to blame, that had no-
 thing to utter in commendation of religion, nothing to
 say in honour of God ; or if I dropt a word or two, that
 I drew it not out into a discourse, and dwelt not longer
 on the theme;   but if ever providence  permit me to
breathe again in  the fragrant air of converse with the
godly, 1 think I shall be more open hearted than ever I
have been.  Forgive me, Heaven ; forgive  me, saints;
forgive me, sinners,  who knows  what good a good
word might have done some of you ; forgive me, my
own conscience; and as I cannot excuse  myself for
time past, for opportunities lost, let me be mofe watch-
ful in all time coming.
  I am instructed to this  by the open profanity of the
wicked.  They are not ashamed to speak and talk in a
strain which we  would think  the fiends of hell could
not go beyond.  They expose their secret sins in a
manner which might  make  ordinary sinners, blush. 
THE TRAVELLER.            IS*
 How soon they reveal their wickedness to one another,
 and let it be  known to what society they belong, by
 baseness in the extreme ! and shall thou, O saint! and
 I, when we shall meet, not let it be known that we are
 heirs of the same promise,  soldiers under the same
 colours, combatants in the same cauve, servants of the
 same Lord, disciples of the same master, and expect-
 ants of the same glory ? It is true, religion is a secret
 thing ; its duties  are to be  performed in the closet,
 not in the street, and He who sees in secret will at the
 last day reward us openly.   Again,  we who bear the
 ChristianjMime choose to be silent too often on serious
 matters, lest at any time, by gross outbreaking, we be-
 come a scandal to religion ; or those who have not the
 root of the matter in them scandalize us for our reli-
 gion.  But as these wicked ones are under no restraint
 in their profanity, shall we, who rrrctke- so high profes«
 sion, be altogether silent en serious subjects I They
 avow their God, who is the god of this world ; and shall
 we not avouch  the Lord for our God ? They are of
 their father the devil, and do his works ; and shall we
 not walk in the name of the Lord our God for ever and
 ever ? Is not our Master more honorable, our service
 more noble, our encouragement more powerful, our re-
 ward more certain, our  associates more eligible, and
 our delights and pleasuresmorepermanentand divine,
 than all the wicked can boast of? Why  then not talk
 to on« another of the excellencies of our great Lord,
 his kindness to his  servants, what befalls us in our pil-
 grimage, the  surprising providences of our life, and
the outlettings of his love to our souls ?  " Come, hear,
all ye that fear God, and I will tell you what he hath
done for my soul,"  said the psalmist; and have we no-
thing to tell, no words wherewith we may comfort one
another ? Yea, we  should -^peak in commendation of 
190           THE TRAVELLER.
religion to all; for whoever mock, still wisdom is jus-
tified of her children ; and scoff who will, we ought to
do our duty.  Then, in  my present situation, all  my
communings must be with mine own heart;  I must
talk with myself, but must be silent to others ; yet I
may make my prayer to the God of my life, express
my trouble to him, and pour out my complaint before
him, pleading, that as the years are  full of evil,  and
the days of  grief, so he may comfort me.
             MEDITATION XLIX.

       SORROW FOR SIN  A SIGN OF GRACE-

                        Spithead, July  13, 1758.

  SURELY I am not so zealous for the God of heaven
as I ought to be.  Had I  this day received an affront,
©r had any spit in my face, would not the affront go to
bed with me, sleep and wake with me, yea, disturb me
of my sleep ?  Where  is,  then, my zeal for God, that
I can quietly go to rest, and with an easy mind, when
I see  and know sinners avowedly wound the glory of
God, spit in the face of Divine majesty ; daringly break
all thy commandments, think thy precepts are a jest,
trample  on thy reproof,  laugh at thy  threalenings,
brave thy thunders, and defy thy wrath ?  While their
practice is so cursed, should  my  spirit be so uncon-
cerned? Should the  loyal subject be quiet and still
when he knows a plot of rebellion is forming against
his king, by whom  he is maintained, yea, beloved I
Then, what shall I say of these obdurate sinners ?  I
complain against them to thee ; I hate their conduct,
I lament their infatuation and deplore their case. The
 day is conscious of their crimes, the night attests their 
THE TRAVELLER.           191
debauches.  I deplore and protest  against all  their
oaths and profanity, their obscenity and vileness, their
Sabbath-breaking, and all their  other abominations.
They fly from thee in the day of thy grace, and shall be
punished with everlasting destruction from thee, and
the glory of thy power, in the day of judgment.  May
thy honor  never be less valued  by me,  nor  I less
grieved for the wounding thereof, that so many  value
it so little.   M.«y sin never become  less  odious to me
by being committed before me ; and  let my sorrow for
sin in others testify my innocence, and that I have no
delight therein, while my souj[ shall mourn in secret
places for them who hate holiness and  love death.
               MEDITATION L.

         ON HEARING A  RUMOR OF PEACE.

                         Spithead, July 19, 1758.

   WITH what a cheerfjl countenance did the greater
part appear to hear the report of peace ! These poor
fellows, some of whom  were impressed to the field,
some to the fleet, now worn out with war, and long ab-
sent from their nearest  relations, and  their dearest
friends, exult at the very thought of peace,  and  feel an
inward satisfaction that refreshes every power.   How
then, O my soul !  who art engaged in a more cruel
war, carried on by more  bloody foes, pursued without
intermission,  with all the rage of the roaring lion, the
cunning of the old serpent, and vigilance of the pit, the
issue of  which is  of much  greater moment than the
struggles for empire, or the  strife of kings ; how
shouldst  tlrou rejoice at that eternal peace which shall
take place when all thy foes shall fall before thee, and 
 194           THE TRAVELLER.

 death, the last enemy, shall be destroyed for ever!
 Then thou shalt not only quit the field with safety and
 honor,  but come  off more than conqueror through
 him that loved thee !
   Are men so fond to quit the martial plain, and taste
 the sweets of peace ! What madness then by sin  to
 rise in rebellion against Heaven, and maintain a war
 against God, to run on the thick bosses of his buckler,
 and defy Omnipotence himself, who can  crush worlds
 with a frown, and punish the most stubborn offenders !
   How pleasant for the man that has been often in dan-
 ger and death, who has long heard the sound of the
 trumpet, the alarm of war, who has been covered with
 wounds and blood, and been daily beset by cruel blood-
 thirsty foes, to dwell in peace, and walk at safety, to
 heighten his present happiness by the remembrance of
 his past danger, assured that tie shall nevermore be
 in a state of war, but spend his days in peace and quiet.
 Even so, the soul that has been often in danger from
 spiritual death, his long heard the sound of Sinai's
 trumpets, the curses of the fiery law, and war denoun-
 ced from  Jehovah's throne, has not only been sore
buffeted and wounded, but accounted itself free among
 the dead, beingdaily beset by sin, and itsoutbreakings,
 Satan and his temptations; how sweet for such a soul
 to be filled with peace and joy in believing,  to have
the intimation of pardoned sin, and acceptance through
the Beloved; and, instead of storms and tempests from
 Sinai, to have the blessing out of Zion ; in a word, to
have the full assurance of unchangeable love, and end-
less felicity, and that, in a little, all the enemies of his
salvation, as they are now chained, so shall never vex
him more, but he shall sing the riches  of grace, and
the righteousness of Jesus, world without end. 
              THE TRAVELLER.            1»3


               MEDITATION LI.

              THE NOBLE PRINCIPLE.

                         S/iithead, July 19,  1758.

   NOW I am distant from all my religious acquaint-
 ance and civilized friends, who might be a check upon
 me ; and, what is worse, I am out of the church, there-
 fore out of the  reach of her discipline ; but what is
 worst of all, I am where religion is a stranger, and is
 voted to have no interest on the  element of water.
 Here it is social to be wicked, and profanity and impi-
 ety are supported at the expence of all that is sacred or
 valuable. Here shame is laid aside, brazen impudence
 is worn on every brow, and he that departs from ini-
 quity becomes a prey to ridicule and scoff.  Yet, for
 all this, how can I commit wickedness, and sin against
 God ? Shall I not improve this opportunity, put into
 my hand, to  witness for religion against all their vile-
 ness, and to strike a terror into the most abandoned ;
 as there is no conscience that slumbers so securely,
 but there are now and then clamors rising within ?
   What thanks to me to be for God among his saints,
 where for very shame I dare not be against him ? But
 surely it is commendable, when called in providence
 to be among those among whom satan has his seat,
 not only to abstain from the sins in  which they revel,
 but to oppose, to reprove, to let my  hatred of the vices
 which they  admire, be known, and not to drop my
 testimony against sin, thcAigh with  sinners I  prevail
 nothing; for though our diligence be  not successful,
our duty must not be slackened. The sinner mistakes
 the matter ; for he thinks he has liberty to sin in one
                         R 
194           THE TRAVELLER.

situation more than in another :  but it mightily aggra-
vates his wickedness, because he carries not the awe
and  belief of God's  omnipresence  every  where
Were he at home, no man more civil than he.  But
the eye of man prevails more with him than the om-
niscience of God ; for when he leaves his friends and
native land, he leaves the fear of God  also (that is,
the  form of godliness,  for he never knew the power
thereof) and rushes into sin wherever he goes.  Like
the ignorant Syrians, he thinks that God is a God of
the hills, but not of the vallies,  a God of the land, but
not  of the sea; and thus,  when he casts off men by
distance, he sets God also at a distance, and the divine
law  at defiance : but, to his endless remorse, he shall
know that God seeth, not only under the whole hea-
ven, but through  the whole heart; and filleth not on-
ly time, but eternity itself.
   As no grateful  soul could injure a generous friend
-though he could never know it;  so,  for my part, I
would not  sin against God, even supposing that he
could not know it.  How should  I forget thy tender
anercies, thy love, thy compassion, thy kindness, and
supporting grace ! How should I sin against thy holi-
ness, offend my best, my never-failing friend,  wound
my conscience,  slay my soul, and trample on thy glo-
ry !  Thou art ever in the heart that loves thee, and
thou wilt bring them that willingly forget thee to  a
remembrance of thy omnipresence by the down-pour-
ing  of thy dreadful wrath.  If nothing but the eye of
man be on the mind, it will make but small impres-
sion, and the impression will be quickly gone ; but  I
•can  never hide  me from Heaven,  nor conceal myself
from my own conscience.
   Moreover, I am bound to be for God by many ties.
O how shall I honour him whom all dishonour, and 
             THE TRAVELLER.           m

appear for him when all appear against him! In the
time that  I may appear alone  for him, I should not
loose the opportunity which may never be put into my
hand again.   How then should I love him whom the
sons of men  refuse to love ; and hate sin the more
that men hate it so little !  Surely my zeal  should be
the warmer that men have lost all zeal for God and his
glory.  What can be more ungrateful than to sin
against that God that has sent his Son to  save me ?
than to offend him who defends me every day, than to
cast off his fear, who  has fed me all my life  long;  or
join a multitude against'him, who, passing by a mul-
titude, has chosen me ? I should have an eye to his
glory, and his love should be always before me ; his
greatness should fill my mind with holy awe, and his
goodness with gratitude and joy.  But, ah !  worthless
I,  how shall I hold up  my face when I  fall so far
short of my duty, and do so little for him,  who  has
done so much, who has done every thing for me !
              MEDITATION LIE

                  COMPARISONS.

                                 July 20, 1758.
  TO  make my situation more pleasant, in this med-
itation, let me run a comparison between the sea-life*
and the Christian life, which is properly called a war-
fare.
  1. Then, we embark all in one common cause ; so
have all Christians one interest.
  2. We leave our own country, our friends, and our
native  land ;  so must every Christian, so must the
church forget her father's house, and her own people. 
196           THE TRAVELLER.

  3. Sometimes we enter into his majesty's  service
against  the  opinion and  inclination of  our  nearest
friends ; so sometimes, in becoming disciples of Jesus,
we must deny our nearest connections,  and dearest
friends.
   4. We do not entangle  ourselves with  the affairs of
the land, as we belong to  the sea ; so must the saint
not entangle himself in the affairs of this life, that he
may please Him who hath chosen him to  be a spiritual
soldier.
   5. We are all maintained by the  King ; so arc all
Christians by the throne of Ileaven.
   6. We come here neither uncalled or unwelcome,
 however unfit ; so none that come to Jesus, shall ever
be cast out.
   7. Some are impressed for the service  of their king
 and country ; so nothing  less than almighty power can
 make the sinner submit  to Jesus.
   8. We undergo a great change of life when we for-
 sake the land, and dwell  on the ocean ; but they share
 in a greater change, who are translated from darkness
 into light, from the power of satan,  to the living God.
   9. Our way of walking must be  changed, else  we
 shall have many a fall on  the deck ; so Christians must
 not walk as other  men,  else, they shall not keep the
 path of life.
    10. Our  food must be changed, and adapted to our
 way of life; so must Christians live  as well as walk by
 faith, and feed on heavenly food.
    11. Our provisions must be of such a nature as to
 keep long, free of putrefaction, and answer in every
 climate ; so must the saint feed on Jesus, the bread
 of life, who can nourish in every condition below.
    12. We must forego our easy life, and expect to be
   vashed by the briny wave, and beaten  by the storm; 
              THE TRAVELLER.           197

■o Christians must not expect to loll in the lap 6f plea-
sure in a world where they are to have tribulation and
pain.                                       '
  13. We must keep continual watch fore and aft tha
ship, and the crew dare never all sleep at once ; so
must the Christian watch continually, watch unto all
prayer, and be ever on  his guard.
   14. Our very dialect distinguishes us from the in-
habitants on land; so should the Christian  be known
from the men  of the world, by his innocent, useful,
edifying, and  religious discourse, managed always
with discretion.
  15. We have a discipline peculiar to ourselves, and
pretty severe;  so has the Christian church from her
Lord a government and discipline which none can alter
or abrogate.
   16. We must not expect to  quit the tempestuous
element till the war be  finished, and  peace  proclaim-
ed ; so the Christian needsnot expect to be disengaged
from trouble and turmoil till the spiritual war is ended,
and  eternal peace brought hi.
   17. We must always be ready te engage the enemy,
as we know not when we may  meet, and where we
must fight;  so  the Christian, being  in  the midst of
his enemies, must al" ays be ready for the battle.
   18. We are provided with arms and ammunition for
the day of battle at the king's cost; so  is every saint
with the  whole armour of God.
   19. Sometimes an engagement at sea is made more
dreadful  by the darkness of the night; so sometimes,
in the darkness of desertion, the saint is surrounded
with all his cruel foes.
  20. Wc must fight before  we get the victory ; so,
must the Christian conquer ere he obtain the crown.
                      R2 
198           THE TRAVELLER.

  21. We are provided with men of the healing art to
give assistance to the wounded and diseased ; so have
the saints a tender-hearted Physician, who binds up
the broken heart, cures the painful wound, and pours
in the healing balm.
  22. We have a steward  who gives us our provis-
ions daily, and not all at once, yet we have no uneasi-
ness, knowing there is plenty under his hand, and that
he has orders not to let us starve ;  so the saints,  either
in respect of spiritual provision, or daily  bread, need
never  be disquieted  for futurity, since Jesus is ap-
pointed of the Father, a steward to all the children of
God, since all the fulness of the Godhead is treasured
upin him for their supply, and since, to their unspeak-
able profit, all their provision, of  one  or  other kind,
is not given to them at once,  but kept in his hand.
  23. We have persons among us  of all nations, Eng-
lish, Scots, Irish, Dutch,  Swedes, Danes,  French,
Spaniards,  Germans, Swiss, Italians, Russians,  Indi-
ans, &c. of all dispositions,  of all  employments, and
of all ages;  so the Catholic church is composed of
all nations, people, and languages, and of young and
old.
  24. We are appareled in a  different  manner  from
the men on land ; so Christians are covered, both with
the justifying righteousness of Christ,  and with the
righteousness of saints.
  25. Officers,  men,  boys, are  allowed the  same
quantity of provisions in the same  time ;  so  the ful-
ness of the covenant, the  fatness  of God's house, is
alike free to all the members of Christ.
  26. We have several officers here, without whom
we  could not be governed ; so in the church, there are
officers for the government of the whole body. 
              THE TRAVELLER.           199

  27. We are in the midst of dangers, and yet are pre-
served ;  so the church, like a lilly among thorns,
grows and is not choaked ;  is a bush burning, but not
consumed ; sometimes persecuted of men, but never
forsaken of God.
  28. In a voyage, or on a cruise, we are cut off from
all the world, and have no communication with, any;
so the church and the people of God shall dwell alone,
not mingle with the people, nor be reckoned among
the nations.
  29. Every loss we sustain in an engagement is borne
by government; but when we conquer,  we divide the
spoil, and share the prize-money among us; so God
supports his people in their spiritual warfare, makes
up every loss, enriches them with the spoils of their
enemies, and at last puts palms in their hands, and
crowns on their heads.
  30. When the war is ended, and peace restored, we
retire with all our acquisitions, to receive the congrat-
ulations of our friends, and enjoy  ourselves in peace
and tranquility  as long as we shall live;  even so, at
death we trample on our last enemy, quit the field with
triumph, go to the blessed society of saints and angels,.
receive a crown of immortal glory, and are happy be-
yond expression, beyond conception, in the enjoyment
of God and the Lamb for evermore. 
20n
THE TRAVELLER.
              MEDITATION LIII.

     OUR SORROW FOR SIN  TOO CONTRACTED.

                                  July 22, 1758.

   NOW to my grief I am among sinners ; and it cor-
rodes my spirits that they with whom I am concerned
in one vessel and in  one interest should so sin against
God.  Though there were no wickedness committed
in this  ship, yet how does it prevail through the whole
British fleets with which I am connected ; but though
I were out of the navy, yet I am still concerned with
Britain;  or though  out of Britain,  I am  still in  the
world, and therefore concerned with the whole inhabit-
ants thereof.  Now I see  my sorrow for sin is not so
universal as it ought to be ;  for while I lament great
sins, gross abominations, and detestable crimes, I am
apt to overlook mental corruptions, and natural depra-
vity, which is the spring of all.   Again, it is loo con-
tracted, in that I confine my grief to the wretches that
are daily in my view ; for though the crew here were
all saints, yet how, through the  whole fleet, have of-
ficers and men all corrupted their way ! or though  the
whole fleet were innocent, yet how through Britain, by
her armies, and  men of all ranks, is the divine law
broken with impunity !  But  though Britain were as
righteous as Israel  in  their  purest  times,  yet what
wickedness against the majesty of Heaven is commit-
ted through the world !
  O contracted sorrow ! to grieve for nothing but wha£
I see ;  as if the glory of God were not  alike dear to
him in all places ; or as if he were not offended ut sin
on every shore,  in every land,  and in every heart  J
Though what I see and hear deserves my first tears, 
              THE  TRAVELLER.          201

yet I should continue the flood, because iniquity over-
flows the universe, because the whole world lies in in-
iquity, and the earth groaneth under the inhabitants
thereof.  Though the enemies of God may not be al-
ways in my sight as now some of them are, yet they
are always in the  sight of Heaven ; sinning against
him who is every where present: my sorrow therefore
should continually be before me, and the  shame of my
face  ever cover me ; and my unremitting  request
should be, and shall be, that the knowledge of the Lord
may  fill the earth, as the waters cover the sea.
             MEDITATION L1V.

                   PRISONERS.

                       St. Helens, July 29, 1758.
  THIS is a common affliction in war, that whoever
 conquer at last, in the mean time many on both sides
 loose their life, or suffer by imprisonment,  as these
 poor men, who carry the effects of their long confine-
 ment,  and short allowance,  in  their countenance.
 Their meagre looks tell they have not been upon the
 bounty of their own  sovereign, under whose colours
 they fought. Butnow, when again possessed of liberty,
 they betake not themselves to a slothful, indolent, and
 easy life, but, with redoubled ardour, fly again to arms,
 eager to be revenged on their enemies, and take them
 prisoners whose prisoners they were.   Even  so the
 soldier, that in the Christian warfare (and all his life is
 one campaign) is taken captive by Satan, is cast down
 by some temptation, and overcome by some lust; who
 is imprisoned in carnality, whose iron gate isdeadness,
and its brazen bolt despair, and the, chains and fetters 
 :02           THE TRAVELLER.

 which bind the prisoners are insensibility, and impeni-
 tence of heart; while satan, to keep all secure, stands
 sentry himself; even so, when such an one is recovered
 from his deadncss, is restored to libeity, by him who
 lakes the prey from the terrible, and delivers the law-
 ful captive, how does his holy indignation rise against
 sin, and th.it sin especially which had ovcicomc him !
 As he had gone backward, now  he  runs in the way of
 righteousness,  and studies that his path  may be like
 the shining light, that shineth more and more unto the
, perfect dv.y.   None has a greater hatred of sin than he,
 a greater zeal for the glory of God, a greater jealousy
 over himself,  and  greater compassion for those that
 groan under the assaults of satan, and swellings of sim
 His jail disease (adeathonthe whole soul) is removed,
 and being fed and  feasted with the bread of life, he
 grows strong as David, for the war, as an angel of God.
 Not a wound of all those which he received when ta-
 ken captive, but is  healed by the balm of Gilead which
 is poured in by the Physician of souls. And he is filled
 with joy by the sweet assurance, that none of all the
 armies of God shall die in prison, but with full triumph,.
 and loud  hosannah, shall at  last enter the realms of
 everlasting day.
              MEDITATION LV.

        A SHIP FALLING FOUL Or  ANOTHER.

                     Under sail from Cherbourg.

  HOW sweet is life, for which a man will quit with
his all!  When these two ships, which mine anxious
eyes beheld, fell foul of one another, from the lesser
vessel which seemed in greatest danger,how did every 
THE TRAVELLER.
203
one fly, and never look behind !  One comes out half
naked, but finds no cold ; another, in getting into the
other ship, catches a bruise or a wound, but leels no
pain till afterwards.  I see, then, that man needs no
 admonition to preserve his temporal life, or avoid bod-
 ily danger ; but how do they sleep on in sin  till awak-
 ed in everlasting agonies!
   " Fly from the wrath to come," is the divine  admo.
 nition to all; but a raging sea, and a roaring tempest,
 a sinking vessel, and a swelling wave, are more preva-
 lent with men to attempt their escape, than all the ter-
rors of the Lord, the prospect of future wrath and eter-
nal torment.  But some may  be discouraged to essay
reformation, or begin to amend, because they have sa
long followed the ways of sin ; yet this, instead  of de-
terring them from, should determine  them to  make
their last efforts to escape.  Tell the affrighted crew,
that because they are in danger, they must dwell in
danger sedately,and letthemselvcs drown without dis-
turbance, since it seems to be their fate.  Such an ad-
vice would seem the language of a madman, an advice
they never will accept of.   They will make  the more
haste the greater their danger, and the  greater  speed
to deliver themselves the nearer they seem to destruci*
tion ; yea, they will  attempt  to  make their escape
though they should perish in the attempt.   They will
rather be in motion, than sit still and perish.  O that
men, the worst of men, would follow their example !
for if they abide in their sins they perish, and though
they misgive in their attempts to escape (but when
does this happen ?) they can but perish.
  Again, a man fast asieep could not have been con-
cerned in all the confusion  these men were in, but
should have sunk like a stone in the mighty waters.
But ^11 that ate awake see their danger, and endeavour 
"?04
THE TRAVELLER.
to accomplish their escape.   So those that arc in *
natural state are spiritually asleep, and see no danger
till they plunge into the flames of hell: but the soul
that is awake to eternity, sees his danger, and flies
from the wrath to come ; and there is as great differ-
encebetween a man ina renewed and unrenewed state,
as between a man fast asleep and broad awake.
   Moreover, we see that these men minded  nothing
but life, left all behind them, even their most precious
things, and made their escape.  So, when a soul seeks
to be  found in Christ, not  having his own rigeteous-
ness,  he counts all things but loss and dung, even the
things he had counted gain before, for the excellency
of the knowledge of Christ Jesus his Lord.   He sets
his eye on the unseen world, and secures his  interest
there. Looking on the present world  as a shattered
vessel that cannot long carry him safe, but must sink
him at last, he sees that it is his highest wisdom to get
out of the leaky vessel, into the safe ark of the covenant,
that still keeps above the swelling floods. And finally,
he sets his affections on heavenly things,  and antici-
pates  a little of that joy and serenity which shall take
place  in the world to come,  when storms and tem-
pests  cease.
              MEDITATION LVI.

                      WAR.

                    Under sail, August 18, 1758.

  HOW often have we cause to cry out of the cruelty
of men ! Mankind, allied to one another by blood, and
human reason, yet have more cunning to destroy each
other than all the beasts of the forest.  No sooner were 
THE TRAVELLER.
205
 these poor innocents as to personal  prejudice (who
 never met before, and only meet now that they may
 meet no more) within the reach of mutual destruction,
 but they fall to work, and deprive each other of their
 life, and hands unknown send souls into the world mi-
 seen.   Cannon roar like the destructive thunders, and
 all the instruments of war are set a sounding terror
 and dismay.  Pity, that character of Heaven, knows no
 egress from the human breast, till the enemy are cut
 off, or yield prisoners to the victor.  How m:iny souls,
 by the  unsheathed and naked sword, are  sent  naked
 into the world of spirits ! Unprepared  for their last
 moments, they have not a quiet moment at last to pre-
 pare for death, but are hurried into their last, unalter-
 able state at once, with a few melting groans.  What
 a piteous sight is the field of battle I The very ground
 is plowed  with the  irresistible  cannon-balls;  or  if
 the battle  borders on  a wood,  the trees are barked
 with continual firing, and the neighbouring hills echo
 with the noise, the confused noise of war, while the
 shrickings and groanings of the deadly wounded add
 to the  horrors of the day.   Such are  the contests of
 rourts, such the  ambition  of kings,  who purchase
 i-lbow-room to their sceptres, at the expence of their
 subjects lives.
  But  if the war of mortals be  so  terrible to one
 another, what must that day be when God shall rise up
 to the prey, to rid him of his enemies, and ease him
 of his adversaries ? when his angry countenance shall
 kindle the heavens above, and set the  earth on fire be-
•ncalh ?  when the thunders of his right hand  shall fill
 hell with universal trembling ; and his flaming throne
that is  rolled on wheels  of  fire, and  whence a  fiery
 sircam issues, shall affri»-htcn the human race, being 
206
THE TRAVELLER.
summoned to make their last appearance before the
judgment-seat ?  No pity,  1.0 compassion  then, no
mercy,no forgiveness there !  If men are cut off by
the weapons ot war, in the hand of frail mortals,* how
must they  perish  under the  stroke of Omnipotence,
which shall reach to the soul in all her powers ? when
his almighty hand takes hold of, and whets the glitter-
ing sword, and swears he lives for ever, to punish his
enemies for ever ?
   O that men  were wise, and would consider their
latter end ; would throw down the weapons of their
rebellion,  and fight under the Captain of salvation !
then should they be happy in war and in peace;  in
this, and in the world to come.


               MEDITATION  LVII.

             UNFORTUNATE RETREAT.*

                           St. Cas, Sept. 12, 1758.

   AH, mournful day!  what moving  sights, what
melting sounds have I seen and heard by sea and land
 this day I My heart bleeds for the sons of war, who
 boldly shed their blood. For though their scanty num-
 ber was overpowered by the enemy, who poured in
 fresh supplies, yet their courage was conspicuous to
 the last.   Ah, doleful event of one fatal day 1   Many,

   • Our forces having made a descent on the coast of France,
 the enemy assembled their forces,  before whom our little
 army retreated,  to  re-embark : but  when the greater part
 was carried aboard the transports by  the flat bottomad boats,
 the enemy came do*n, and killed and made prisoners, about
 1400.  The action  lasted abeut two  hours, the frigates  and
 bomb-ketches assisted the kr.d-forces  al&o. 
              THE TRAVELLER.           207

gay and cheerful in the morning, lay gasping at noon,
and are clay-cold by the evening twilight! My heart-
strings are pierced with pain, while I remember the
anguish of their last moments : they fall, but none to
lift them up ; they groan, but no kindly sympathiser ;
they  die, and  there is no tender-hearted mourner,
none to deplore them.   The little army is broken by
superior numbers, and take to flight ; but whither can
they fly ? A victorious enemy is before, rocks on every
3ide, and a raging sea behind ;  some even .adver.ture
into the water, and are shot while wading for life, or
perish in the waves !
  How vain the  confidence of man !  how empty the
boast of invincible courage 1 Let  men remember that
God gives the victory,  and that at  his frown  heroes
full, and armies fly.
  Methinks I sec the yet more awful, univeisal, and
conclusive day, when the  heavens shall open in tre-
mendous thunders, when the dreadful trumpet,  with
louder sounds  than  ever echoed  from the martial
plains, shall raise the sleeping dust, and the tremen-
dous Judge descend in flaming vengeance on his fiery
throne; before whom the nations shall be assembled,
and by whom the final sentence passed.  This is  the
decision  that shall  concern the victors and the  van-
quished : The survivors and the slain ; sovereigns and
their subjects ; yea, the whole world and me. 
208          THE TRAVELLER.


             MEDITATION LVIH.

    THE NATURAL MAN INSENSIBLE OF MERCY.

         Portsmouth Harbour, November 1, 175S.

  DID  men look but a little towards  God, and into
themselves, it would be their wisdom ; but true wis-
dom can never  shine  where saving  grace does not
dwell.   There are some men saved from dangers, the
relation of  which must astonish.   They are standing
monuments of singular mercy, when numbers were
dropping down  around them, when  instruments of
death were rattling thick about them, like  the hail
from the thunder-cloud, and bullets falling like drops of
rain, and yet they preserved safe among the gasping
crowd.   And there are others who have still a more
narrow  escape, while the bullet breaks a bone to them,
which might have cut the thread of their life ; wounds
an extremity, which might have pierced the heart and
dislodged the soul.   For a month or six weeks they
have a kindly remembrance of their singular preser-
vation and heaven's peculiar mercy.   But, O chilling
thought! how soon do these very persons forget their
great deliverer,  shew  not the least gratitude to God,
but  return to sin, and   proceed  from  evil to worse !
Had any person  been  a mean of  their pit serration,
they had displayed so much of the  gentleman as never
to forget it: but it was God and they display so much
of the  sinner, 'the abandoned sinner,  as never to  re-
member it, never to  acknowl6dgc it!  They pursue
their sinful practises, as if their life had  at first been
given, and preserved when in danger, for no other pur-
pose.   These men are the enemies of God ; they have
been hungry and he  has  given  them bread to cat; 
THE TRAVELLER.
209
they have been thirsty and  he has given them water
to drink;  they have been in disease, and he  has re-
covered them ; in danger, and he has preserved them ;
therefore, if they continue still his enemies, he will
heap coals of fire on their head, while his kindness shall
be renowned for ever. Where mercies have no effect,
judgments shall without fail have most terrible effect
at last.   Since I am a child of many merciesN,  may
gratitude  write them, in indelible characters, on the
table of my heartJ


              MEDITATION L1X.

        THE WORD  OF  GOD IRRESISTIBLE.

                                   Nov.  3, 1753.
  O HOW glorious and irresistible is the word of
grace, when it comes accompanied with divine power !
a word that turns a sinner from his wickedness to God.
Fire and  sword cannot convert ;  war and shipwreck
cannot reclaim ; dangers and deliverance cannot re-
form ; mercies and judgments cannot change the man;
but one verse in the holy scriptures, a sentence or pa-
ragraph in a religious treatise, or an expression in a
sermon, backed with the divine blessing, and  sent
home by  the Spirit of God,  can prick to the  very
heart, overpower the whole soul, and open  his eyes
towards God, himself, and eternity ;  towards God, to
see his holiness and  indignation against sin ;  towards
himself, to see  his desperate  and deplorable state in
such a gulph of impurity and raging enmity against
God ; towards  eternity, to see his vast  concerns and
interests there, and that they are of another kind than
                       S 2 
SlO
THE TRAVELLER.
he dreamed of.   Once he thought of nothing but as-
semblies, balls, and the theatre ; of rv tilings ai,d
parties of  pleasure ;  of knowing and being known;
of  posts,   preferment, and  commissions  from his
prince ; of grand appearance, noble equipage, splen-
did retinue, and high-sounding titles.   But now he
sees that judgment awaits all  his actions, eternity
treads on the heels of time, and  that there is a world
to come.  These things cast out the vain and trifling
phantoms that engrossed all his attention before, and
give him just and proper ideas of every thing around.
And this great and wonderful change, which makes
him account every thing loss, dung and dross, in com-
parison of the excellency of the knowledge of Christ
and the unseen world, is effected by a very word, that
the excellency of the power may be seen to be of God ;
while others hear thousands of such words, and con-
tinue in impenitency.
  Though u man were  thrown into hell, and saw and
suffered all the torments of the damned, for years and
ages,  and brought up again to the land of the living,
to the place of hope, yet all would be to no purpose,
for without the blessing of the  Most High,  on tho
means of grace, he would not accept of salvation, nor
receive the Saviour by  believing on his name ;  and
this is evident in those who have a foretaste of the ter-
rors of hell, by the horrors of an awakened conscience,
which,  instead  of bringing  them nearer to,  drives
them  farther from God, and plunges them intothct re-
mendous deeps of despair.
  Though  the words of peace may be more glorious^
from mount Zion to those that have heard the threal-
enings of mount Sinai, and though the  thundcrings of
the law may precede to prepare his way ; yet still God
comes to a soul in the still small voice of the gospel. 
              THE TRAVELLER.           311

Then happy they that know the joyful sound, for faith
comes by hearing,  and hearing by the word of God.
By what experience shall they support their plea, who
are tar free will, and a kind oi self-agency, in the work
of conversion, when we see thousands and ten thou-
sands perish, although it is natural for all men to wish
to be happy ! The Armenian will say, because they will
not, therefore they are not happy; but says the  scrip-
ture,  " No man can come  to me except the Father,
which hath sent me, draw him." Now, whether  I am
to  believe the Armenian or God, let  all the world
judge.
               MEDITATION LX.

                  DOCKING SHIPS.

                                   Nov. 4, 1758.

   IT is requisite at certain times to bring ships in te
the dock, that they may be cleaned, caulked, and fitted
out for sea again.  This is indeed attended with trou-
ble, as guns, carriages, shot, stores, provisions, and
ballast, must be taker, out, that the ship may easily be
got into dock, and a proper inspection made into those
places that need repair;  and that stores, provisions,
and everything needful,inay be completed  fora cruise
or a voyage.
   Then how much  more necessity have Christians,
who steer on a more icinpesiuous sea than  '.no watery
elciiint, to inspect and try themselves 1 For such se-
rious  and  oien.t: work, ll:«.y should set a-day spur for
;-.r..)cr and ^xumin;.tio>i; v.'.ien, that tir^y  may know
then-  situation, they  should ux k. into their heart and
inclination., their life aud con rersation, tlivir thoughts, 
212           THE TRAVELLER.

the ends and motives of all their actions.  Assisted by
the light of revelation, they should see, and comparing
themselves with the rule of the word, they should un-
derstand what is wrong, what is wanting, what is de-
cayed, and what  is defective.  They  ought to search
into the state of  their soul, and the condition of their
graces; and also  see what sins have been most predom-
inant in them.  Surely those who are cast into wicked
company, and arc  daily hearing and seeing sin, have
much to mourn over ; for such an exercise is highly
requisite in all the candidates for glory. They are also,
from the royal magazine of grace, which, for the saints,
is treasured up in the Sen of God, to take in provisions
of every kind, and all sorts of warlike stores, such as
the sword of the Spirit,  the helmet of salvation, the
shield of faith, the anchor of hope, and the compass of
truth ; as they must steer over roaring oceans,  strug-
gle through storms and tempests, and fight their pas-
sage all along through foes, and thus, spiritually refit-
ted, proceed in their voyage to Immanucl's land.
              MEDITATION  LXI.

             ON GOING INTO HARBOUR.

                                   Nov. 5, 1758.

  ONE should think that when the tempests and the
dangers of the sea are over, all were safe ;  and that in
sight of land we should laugh at  shipwreck ;  yet the
loss of nations, and the experience of thousands, attest,
that on coasts  more ships are lost than at  sea ; and so
the Government  has prudently  appointed pilots to
bring in his Majesty's ships, that they may be in no
danger in coming into harbour. 
              THE TRAVELLER.           213

  Now, what may this remind us of, but that the sajnts,
and such as look for an happy anchoring in the port of
bliss, should be very  careful how they steer the  last
part of their long  and  momentous voyage  ;  how they
enter the harbour  of death, where theirshipistobe laid
up, not for a winter, but for ever.   They are to beware
that they do not stick  on the sands of carnal security ;
or run into the shallow waters of lukewarm indiffercn-
cy; or be blown on the rocks of false confidence,  by
the high winds  of spiritual delusion.   A mistake here
may occasion damage, but,  though it cost expences,
may be mended ;  but among men, a mistake at death
is fatal,  and  of  the last consequence, because it can
never be mended afterwards.  Again,the tide is a migh-
ty assistant in our getting into harbour here ;  but to
dying mortals, the Jordan of death is a terrible river,
which overflows all its banks ; and it is the fear of dis-
solution that keeps some all their lifetime subject to
bondage ; yea, and by  this current, thousands and  ten
thousands are hurried into the horrid pit of perdition.
But in a surprising manner the saimsgo over drv shod;
for the High Priest, who bears the ark of the  everlast-
ing covenant, and  all the rich grace and precious pro-
mises that it contains, havingthatriverto wade through
which runneth in the way of all living, once did so, with
the soles of his feet, when he was found in Lshion as a
man, and humbled himself, and became obedient unto
death, even the death of the cross, so that it remains
still cut in two to the saints, even while it overflows all
its banks to the wicked.
  The more we advance into the  harbour, we are the
more out of danger from the storms and tempests that
sweep along the ruffled ocean.   But it is otherwise
with the dying  saint ;  Satan does  all he can to cloud
his evidences, to deaden his fait Ii. to blacken his infirm- 
■214  .         THE TRAVELLER.

ities, to make him  doubt his own condition, to nick-
name his graces, to slay his confidence, to draw him
from Christ, and drive him into despair, anxious to
make a wreck of him even in sight of Immanuel's
shore :  yet all il:e powers of hell shall never pluck the
least of Chris'.'o little ones out of his hand.  But  how
watchful should we be, and how careful to prepare for
these critical moments !  for we are like a ship thai has
traded for a long time in the East-Indies,  and comes
home with  all her  treasures ;  so our all, our everlast-
ing all, l>; lost if we  founder at our last.  However, our
safety lies in this alone, that he whese presence calms
the raying  sea, and rending winds, shall be our pilot
to the haiLcur of tlx bei'.Lr  country, to l':c  port  of
 glory.


              MEDITATION  LX1I.

         O.N TAKING  IN LARGE PROVISIONS.

                   Portland  Eoacls, Dec.  15, 1758.

   SURELY  the children of  this world are wiser in
 their generation than the children of light;  for at land
 every man provides what he cv.n zgainst winter ; and
 at sea we t«.kc in lai ;5e ttoves of all thi.ii^s, when we are
 t j make a long voyage.  Now, my soul, what hast thou
 laid up for eternity ? This awful, this interesting voy-
 age, theu must make ;  it is  already begun, and thou
 shalt never tread on the earth  t.gain,never more return
 to tin.2 after death ; and if thou earliest not something
 with thee, thou must  suffer ineparable loss for ever,
 as there is no oil to be bought (this the foolish virgins
 shall find) in the  other world ;  no grace to be found,
 r.or pardon to be expected (this all impenitent sinner., 
THE TRAVELLER.
215
shaft  experierc )  on tic o^iuer ddc of the grave,
De'.th cuts down i'ie tree as it stcmds, which fills as it
grows, and us it falls  must lie forever   Wkv ihen, O
blinded P-pists 1 prayers *ind masses for  the ck>ad ?
To as good put pose apply medicines to deH bodies to
bring them to life agtm,  as use prayos for departed
souls to uving the.n to  salva';on.  It is now that we
nr; . ■ improve for eternity, where our vast and  high-
est concerns lie.
   If this ship should go out to cruise for three months
in the main ocean without bread or beer, wood or wa-
ter, or any ether provisions, would not all concerned
in .'icr be  chargeable whh consummate folly,  as  the
whole crew must inevitabiy perish with hunger ?  but
of greater madness am I possessed, if my soul go out
into the boundless ocean of eternity without an interest
in Christ, who is the tree of life that feeds the higher
house, and river of life that waters all the paradise of
God.
   According to the length of our voyage must be the
quantity of provisions taken aboard; and indeed nothing
less than  a whole God,*  in all his fulness and perfec-
tions, an all-sufficient Saviour, in all his offices and re-
lations, and the Holy Ghost, in all his divine influences
and consolations,  can be  a proper  provision for my
soul through a whole eternity. 
 216           THE  TRAVELLER.

             MEDITATION  LXIII.

  COMFORT  AND TERROR  IN  ONE CONSIDERATION.

                 Portland Roads, Dec.  19, 1758.

  WHEN the affairs of war, and protection of our
 trade, call for a change of climates, and hurry us from
 the chilling North to the burning South, it may afford
 comfort to the pious soul to reflect, that the God on
 whom he built his hopes here, is also there to answer
 all the expectations of his faith.  But it may strike ter-
 ror into the profligate wretch, to  think that the God
 against whom he sinned he re, is also there to punish his
 iniquity.  Then I see that the omnipresence of God
 may be  ^.panacea,  an  universal cure,  to the anxiety of
 my soul every where ; for God may call his own peo-
 ple from their own home, their friends, their country,
 but he will never cast them from  his  protection, his
 presence,  himself.   Then, though I leave my friends
 and acquaintance, and  go  to  the remotest Indies, or
 most distant parts of the world, still the same God that
 here manifests himself so gracious and so kind, is the
 same  God that governs under the  whole heaver, and
 there  can manifest himself in his wonted tender mercy,
 and former loving-kindness.   Whither can I  go from
 him who is every where ?  this is my comfort.   And
 whither wilt thou, O sinner ! fly from him who is every
 where ?  let this 1 c thy terror.  For the  God that dwells
 between the chciubims of  a gospel-dispensation, sits
 also on the floods ; and he  that rules  in Jacob,  rules
also unto the ends of the earth.  Moreover,  when I
leave  this world to go into the world  unknown, then
the same God (for he inhabits eternity, who.measures
the  moments of rr.y time)  whom I served here, shall 
THE TRAVELLER.
217
 receive me there. This is the excellency of the Chris-
 tian religion, that we, as it were, begin eternity in time,
 and join in our adorations with the sons of day, with
 the hosts of heaven.  Deluded nations of old trusted in
 gods, that could not go, but must needs be borne by
 their demented votaries ; but the true God, who is an
 everlasting King, has been the God, of his chosen peo-
 ple in all places of the world,  and in all  ages, yea, be-
 fore the world began ; hence says Moses, " Thou hast
 been our dwelling*-place in all generations, before thou
 hadst brought forth the mountains ;" and when time is
 gone, and ages finished, he will be their dwelling-place,
 who is from everlasting to everlasting God.    Then
 happy I, if I have an abiding relation, and sure interest
 in him who is every where present, as to his essence
 and inhabits eternity, as to his duration.   Time past
 and to come only respects us, for with God it ever was,
 is,  and will be one eternal now.
  Every way I look there is safety :  Dwell  I at home,
 he  is there ;  go I abroad, he is there ;  live I in this
 world,he holds it in h'is hand, and sees under the whole
 heaven ; die I,  and go out of the world,  he  is there fil-
 ling all, and in all. Now, O sinner !  stand still, and see
 thy misery.   Thou sinnest against God, and how shalt
 thou escape ? thou mayest injure a fellow creature,
 and,by going into some distant part of the world, elude
 law, and laugh at justice ;  and if thou diest, thou art
 out of the reach of the pursuer here to  all  intents and
 purposes ;  but go where thou wilt, thou art still  in his
 power, still in his presence, whom thou hast offended.
 Then mind, that he whom thou hast made thine enemy
all thy life long, will at last be thy judge, and supreme
 tormentor,  whose breath  shall kindle  the burning 
218           THE  TRAVELLER.

stream.   Sinners and saints may have  common cotn-
forts,and common crosses, but one thought on eternity
spreads horror through the soul of the one, while it
diffuses consolation in the breast of the other.
             MEDITATION LXIV.

   ON BEING IN HOT CLIMATES  IN A FEW DATS.

             Under sail for Gibraltar, Feb 2. 1759.

  HOW few days sailing from the temperate zone,
can chill us in the freezing north, or scorch us in the
burning south 1 Of the last we had experience, while
inclement winter receded from the plowing keel, and
smiling summer approached the expanded sail! This
short and  sudden  change suggests an interesting
thought to  my mind ; that at the hour of death, in a
shorter time than this, the soul shall either be placed
in that degree of distance from  God where eternal
winter blows terrible, with all the angry storms and
tempests of vindictive wrath ; or (may I use the ex-
pression ?)  under the very line of  union and commun-.
ion with the Most High, where the  Sun of righteous-
ness shall shine from his cloudless meridian, and pour
down assimilating glory in every beam. This stupen-
dous thought I cannot, I dare not pursue, but, falling
off in silence, give way to deep meditation. 
              THE TRAVELLER.           219


              MEDITATION LXV.

      AN HIGH WIND  PREFERABLE TO A  CALM.

                       Under sail, Feb. 15, 1759.
   AMONG the wonders of navigation, this is one, that
 through opposing waves which dash on every side, and
 amidst winds so strong that they  seem rather a tem-
 pest than a moderate gale, the ship should pursue her
 voyage with  more expedition,  and  reach her port
 sooner, than in a profound calm.  Indeed he that never
 had his foot on salt water before, and adventures only
 on the glassy surface  to take his pleasure, will bless
 the serenity, and congratulate the calm ; but the spirit-
 ed sailor who minds his business,and has other climes
 in view, will rather wish a brisk  gale to waft him to
 the  distant shore,  than to roll about in a dead calm
 till his vessel be eaten with worms, or grow rotten in
 the water, and perish.
   Even so, Christian,  it fares with thee.  Believe it,
 the best weather does not make the best voyage hea-
 venward.  It is better for thee to proceed on thy course
 through the rolling waves of affliction, attended by the
 ruffling winds of adversity, than  to be  becalmed by
 affluence, ease, and prosperity.   The one, through
 seeming difficulty and threatened  danger, shall at last
 let thee arrive at thy desired haven,while the other de-
 tains  thee to thy eternal ruin.  God, that sjts as king
 on the swelling flood, rules also all the afflictions of his
people.  Though sometimes they complain, " All thy
waves and thy billows are gone over me," yet not one
can attack them, but by his permission, nor swell be-
yond  the given bounds.   Covenant-mercy has  estab-
lished the  kind decree,  "Hitherto shalt thou come, 
320           THE TRAVELLER.

butno further, and here shall thy perplexing waves be
stayed."   Why then should the Christian mariner on
the flood of time, cry out so against the boisterous wind,
afflictive wave, and foaming billow, which hasten the
out-bound sail to the pacific shore ?  Have not some,
by 'the thorny cross, been startled out of their delusive
dreams, and awakened to the concerns of a world to
come ? by the loss of a  child, found the Son of God I
and by the death of an earthly father, been brought into
subjection to the Father of spirits, and so made to live I
And have not some, while unjustly deprived of a small
part, and petty inheritance in this world, been made to
look out for an inheritance in the better country, an
house  not made with  hands, eternal in the heavens I
To say no more, will not the experience of the saints
agree  in this,  that he knows their souls in adverst'y ;
and that while their  outward man seemeth to decay
llnou-h the lushes cf daily affliction, their inward ruan
L renewed day by day, so that in the year of uroughl
their soui is as a watered garden I



            MEDITATION  LXVI.

      ON SAILING NEAR DIFFERENT NATIONS.

                                  Feb.  20,  1759.
   THERE  is a great pleasure in sailing to different
parts of the world, to see the divine wisdom, and pro-
fuse bounty every where displayed, of him that made
the whole ; but there is a great pain in this, that wher-
ever we go, we see  the terrible devastation of sin.  If
we look to one shore, there superstition reign; if to
another, there cruelty rages.  These pretend to be
Christians, those avow themselves Musselmen, while 
             THE TRAVELLER.           221

a third are mere infidels.  All worship some God, but
how few the true God, how very few, the true God in
truth ! O, then, that Gcd would  have respect to his
covenant, because the dark places of the earth are full
of the habitations of horrid cruelty !  When shall the
darkness that covers the nations, the gross darkness
that covers the people, be dispelled by the light of the
glorious gospel of the Son of God ?  When shall Je-
hovah, as his special  and spiritual inheritance, take
all nations ? Shall satan continue to take kingdoms  cap-
tive at his will ?  Shall the destroyer of the Gentiles
ruin precious souls withoutnumber?  Shall they there-
fore empty their net, and not spare continually to slay
the nations? Let not the curse devour the  earth, and
them that dwell thereon.   When shall the name of
Jew and Gentile be lost in that of Christian, and Chris-
tians become the true  worshippers of the Father, the
followers of the Lamb ? When shall that reviving ac-
clamation charm the ears of all the expectants, of the
sacred conquest, " The kingdoms of this world are be-
come the kingdoms of our Lord, and of his Christ j
and he shall reign for  ever and  ever ?"   Hasten the
lime when the Lord of universal nature shall bestow
this general benediction, saying, Blessed be Asia and
Africa, my people, America, the work of mine hands,
and Europe, with her Isles, mine inheritance.
                     T 2 
THE TRAVELLER.
            MEDITATION LXV1I.

 ON REACHING  A PORT AFTER BEING LONG AT SEA.

                   Gibraltar Bay, Feb. 21, 1759.

  NOW we have reached the desired haven,  when
patience was almost worn out, and we had been long
sported with by the unfavourable gale.  Among the
baffling winds  we spent at least thrice the time that
might have brought us hither;  but now, when safely
moored, the dark reflections fly, and the disagreeable-
ness of our passage decreases, through joy that we are
come so safe to an anchor : the very  difficulties that
overtook us on the ocean make our coming to harbour
afford us greater pleasure, than if a favourable wind in
a few days had wafted us hither.
  Even so, when the  saints of  God reach  the happy
shore, it shall, as it  were, heighten the joys of the
higher house, that they dwelt in the house of mourn-
ing; soften their rest, that they were tossed on a stormy
ocean ;  brighten the  heavenly vision, that they have
seen scenes of affliction ; swell their delight and com-
placency, that their life was full of disappointment and
pain ; and sweeten these rivers of pleasures, that they
have drank the waters of  Mara.  Here  the troubled
sailor in a storm is afraid of shipwreck every moment;
but the saint may be  assured, (\\! y then,0 saints ! so
much doubting  ?,. that he shall safely arrive at lmman-
uel's coast, in spite of all the storms  that attack, and
tempests that attend him by the  way.  Courage, then,
my soul, and weather out the squalls, and endure the
bitterest blasts that can blow against thee, triumphing
in this one consideration, that eternal veracity is en-
gaged for thy security.   The storms that  now beset 
              THE TRAVELLER.          223

thee are but transient, and also bounded ; but the rest
and peace,  the felicity and joys, that are reserved for
thee, are eternal, immense,  and passing all  under-
standing.


            MEDITATION  LXVIII.

        ON A MAN THAT DIED BY  LIQUOR.
       Under sail, Mediterranean, March 6, 1759.
  IN how many  things is it possible  for man to trans-
gress ? Not a blessing but he can turn into a curse ;
not a mercy but  he can suck misery from it, and, by
excess, the  means  of life  become  the occasion of
death.  How sad an use  make we  of the creature,
when it renders us incapable of serving our Creator ;
which is  the case, not only with the drunkard and
glutton, but with the carnal-minded man, who surfeits
on the cares and riches of this world !
  This demented wretch, this poor fellow-creature,
tried his strength to his own destruction,  and was a
more cruel suicide or self-murderer, than if he had
given himself a mortal  wound ;  for then  he might
have died awake, and with the exercise of  his reason,
but now he undergoes the last, the most tremendous
change asleep, and totally deprived of the use of rea-
son !  He drank  till he dropped down in a dead sleep,
out of which it was impossible to awake him (for death
was in it) till plunged into the world of spirits.  But
how terrible to die in such a condition ! If any dreams,
reflection, or remembrance of former things, could
penetrate  his  profound slumber,  his deep sleep, he
would believe himself to be still  among his compan-
ions, drinking the other glass,  and quaffing it out mer-
rily among his mess-mates. But O how inconceivably 
224           THE TRAVELLER.
astonished,  and terribly surprised, to  find himself
disembodied, and in his sober wits, pannclled before
the awful tribunal, and hear the final sentence passed 1
Fain would he recoil into the body which he lately left,
but the union is dissolved, the tie is broken, and he is
thenceforth an inhabitant  in  the world of spirits!
Perhaps he  dreamed, while the  fiery  spirits  were
burning up his vitals,  that he was drinking at some
cooling stream ; but how disappointed to find his first
draught the wine of the fierceness of the wrath  of
God,  poured out without the least mixture of mercy !
The last words he spoke were oaths,  but how would
it strike with terror to hear the belching of consum-
mate  despair !   While  he  felt himself  at once sur-
rounded with the howlings of Tophel, the blasphe-
mies  of the damned, and all  the groans and veilings
of the burning pit, what tongue can tell, what heart
conceive what he must feel ?
  Indeed  the  thoughtless  rabble seemed somewhat
amazed at this uncommon death ; but how superficial
is their concern while they continue the very same ex-
cesses which proved fatal  to their fellow-creature !
But however much amazed man may be at this man-
ner of the soul's going out  of the body into eternity,
in such a doleful case, in such a melancholy condition,
the whole graceless world die : for though they can,
talk to men, and have their eye, their ear, their tongue,
in a word, the use of all their senses, and the  exer-
cise of their reason to the laat, yet their souls,  with
respect to spiritual things, sn,d communion with God,
are as fast asleep, as deadly ahd deeply intoxicated with
the juice of the vine of Sodom, even the draughts of
sin and pleasure, as this poor man that died with too
much liquor; and shall be equally astonished, terrifi-
ed}, tormented, when awaked in the world of spirits. 
              THE TRAVELLER.           225


             MEDITATION LXIX.

              THE EARTH, A GLOBE.

      Under sail, Mediterranean, March  13, 1759.
   WHEREVER I sail, the earth is still beneath my
 feet, and the heaven is still above my .head;  which
 shows the madness of man's desire, that has no  limits,
 when its object  is every where circumscribed.   It is
 not for a kingdom exalted above  the hills, that the
 contending nations now are at war; it is but for  afoot-''
 breadth of dust,  a province, an island, or a frontier
 town, that tribes are slaughtered, and nations are un-
 done.  Were there nothing better than this earth, no
 wonder if we sought to  extend our possession in the
 earth.   It would be  excusable for avarice to seek to
 the ends of the world, if there the golden mountains
 arched above our heads with all their sparkling veins j
 but still this idol of mankind lies buried  in ore, and
 deep in the bowels of the earth, that it may not affect
 our ambitious eye  ; and still the heavens  bend  above
 us, to attract the soaring principle essential to the hu-
 man soul. But as man despises what he should esteem,
 and doats on what he should abhor, seeking the crea-
 ture more than the Creator, who is himself blessed.
 for ever, and makes all that seek him blessed ; God,
in a way of  judgment, " has  set the world in the
 hearts of the sons of men."   Hence their whole chase,
 study, and endeavour, is for the world, which, though
in great abundance abtained, connot satisfy us;  yet,
 believing that an  addition to  what we already have,
 will afford that satisfaction which we are conscious we
want, our chase is  perpetuated, and we are stilldtfc^p*
pointed.   But how poor.an heart-full have we wjftq-firn- 
226           THE TRAVELLER.

brace our sepulchre, and hug our very tomb ! For we
must shortly lie buried among the mould we so much
admire, and rot in the  grosser particles of dust which
we so regard.  What  is empire to an immortal soul ?
What the enjoyment of the universe for a few years,
to one whose existence must  measure with endless
ever more ?  Then, as  the earth is under my feet, and
the heavens above my head, wherever  I wander, let
my affections trample  this with just disdain; but my
soul, on  the  wings  of  holy desire, soar to the re-
gions of  eternal day!
              MEDITATION LXX.

        ON SH1FS MISTAKING ONE ANOTHER.

                 Mediterranean, March 14,  1759.
  How often on  the  ocean do we prepare to fight a
friend !  Wherever we see a strange sail that belongs
not to our fleet or squadron, we look upon her as an
enemy, and so give chase, bring to,and speak with her.
When we learn that she is out on the same errand, to
distress  the common foe, and by the same authority,
at last our preparation for an engagement issues in an
agreeable beguile.  But at other times we are still
more unhappy, while in the dark night, and not at-
tending to, or understanding each other's signals, we
think we have found our enemy, and so fire upon one
another.  When  the morning light, or some other
means, undeceive us, we  feel in the most exquisite
manner  for our  mistake ; though  his majesty has
made provision for the friends  of the unhappy suffer-
ers if they die, or the sufferers themselves if rendered
lame,by engaging one another through mistake. 
THE TRAVELLER.           227
  Even so  is the case often among the saints and
churches of God.  Contests come between the best of
men, and sonietiii.es about the smallest matters. Paul
and  Buu.abas  are so hot about their companion, that
they pail company ;  -'.d to this day the teachers of the
good knowledge  of God can fall out about a word,
thoui^h they own one Lord, one faith, one baptism, and
subscribe one creed.  Then,  from these differences,
we apprehend one another to be enemies ; and, giving
ground to our apprehensions, we begin to treat each
other as enemies to the truth, and to the King of Zion,
to the injury of the common cause of religion, and the
hurt of the loyal subjects of Heaven.
  Such indeed are the trials of the saints and church in
their militant state,such are the calamities that are con-
tingent to her in these clays of darkness, and on this sea
of trouble ;  but when  they come to speak  mouth to
mouth, and  to see eye to eye in the light of glory, they
shall be all  one.  We should indeed contend for the
truth with a zeal and concern due to its divinity, but
with a tenderness and sympathy which our present im-
perfection pleads for. We should love the truth dearly,
but yet rather pity than despise those that depart from
some points  which we count truth.  We should not sell
the truth to  buy friends, to make a party, or gain num-
bers to our side; but we should forego our own humors,
that the truth by us get not a wound.   We had some-
times better employ our time in prayer to God, to turn
them from the error of their way, than show our parts
and  our spleen, in proving them to be wittingly blind,
and to have  wilfully erred.  We should do all things,
except wound the truth, to make all men one in the
truth ; and when differences are done away, personal
affronts should never stand in the way of reconciliation.
How deplorable would it be,  if my hands, instead of 
THE TRAVELLER.
being a mutual  help, should scratch and tear one
another ;  if my  feet,  instead of bearing me out the
way, should stand still to kick at one another ! So, and
much worse is it for saints, who are the spiritual
members of Christ, the living head, to bite and de-
vour one another ; but this is owing to the remains of
 corruption  in them ;  and perfect peace is reserved
 for the state of highest perfection.
   Now, as it is only at  sea, and under the gloom of
 night, that we  are like to make mistakes, for when
 we come into harbour, and enjoy the noon-day beam,
 we have no doubt of one another, but know that we
 are all the subjects of one King, engaged in one cause,
 and combined against  the common enemy ;  so it is
 only in this vale of tears, this day of thick darkness,
 that we  cannot understand one another, but are ready,
 like the officious disciples, to forbid them that follow
 not with us in all things, though they be the servants
 of Christ.  But when the warfare is finished, and the
 saints assembled before the  throne of God and the
 Lamb, all wrong views, jarring opinions,  discordance
 and difference, shall be done away for ever; in view
 of which eternal tranquility we must comfort ourselves
 under the disagreeable  occurrences of this trouble-
 some life, where we not only must fight with  foes, but
 fall out with dearest friends, and differ with our own
 selves. 
               THE  TRAVELLER.           339

              MEDITATION LXXI.

          WHAT WE OUGHT TO REMEMBER.

                          Leghorn, Aprils, 1759.
   AS we can never be from under the eye of God, nor
 would choose to be cast out of his care; so Zion should
 never be out of our mind, nor cast out of our concern.
 Besides, as we still think ourselves branches of the
 family to which we belong, and are glad to hear from
 our parents and relations of their welfare, however
 distant from them ; so if we are members of mystical
 Zion, we will rejoice in her prosperity, and flourishing
 condition,though we be in the utmost parts of the earth.
 Surely,  then, if I remember the Lord afar off, as I
 oight, Jerusalem will also come into my mind.
   " How, then, have matters stood with Zion; in the
 land of my nativity ? What success  has the glorious
 gospel  had ? how have the flocks been fed ? how have
 people  profited in the day of their merciful visitation ?
 how has vice been suppressed, and religion prevailed?
 how has truth been'defended, and error exposed?
 how have the  oppressed been relieved, and the;  heri-
 tage of God watered ? what sons and daughters  have
 been born in Zon ? and are the true worshippers of
 the Father increased ?"  These thing3, amidst all my
 other concerns, sliould go nearest my heart, and the
 interests of Christ's kingdom  should i;e my first con-
 cern, wherever my habitation for a time may be,  hop-
 ing he will bring me again, and shew  me bctii him-
 s," If and  his habitatioi1.  {i It'I forget thee, O Jerusalem!
 let  my  right hand  forget her  cunning; if I do not
 remember thee, let my  tongue cleave to the roof of
 my  mouth, if I prefer  not Jerusalem above my  chief
joy."
                        i 
230           THE TRAVELLER.

            MEDITATION  LXXIL

        THE PATIENCE OF GOD VERY GREAT.

                         Leghorn, April 6, 1759.

  TRULY  it astonishes me that God spares those
 abandoned wretches, who day by day grow more wick-
 ed, and set  their blaspheming tongues against  the
 very heavens,  and  multiply rebellion against God.
 Truly it surprises me, that that vengeance which they
 so often invoke, is not poured down on them ; that
 that power which they so often dare, does not destroy
 them 1 but  God  will manifest himself to be God by
 his adorable patience, as well  as by his terrible jus-
 tice.  Let me suppose that the subjects of a certain
 great  king rise up in rebellion against him, but by his
 superior power are  routed, reduced,  and all made
 prisoners ;  that royal clemency makes out a pardon
 for many, who are so sensible of the unmerited favour,
 that they throw away the  weapons of their rebellion,
 and  ever after live the most obedient, loyal, and affec-
 tionate subjects that can be ;  but that others are appre-
 hended, tried, condemned,  and cast into prison, till
 the day they are to be brought forth and broken on the
 wheel; that in the mean time the stubborn wretches
 keep railing and abusing the prince, and spewing out
 their malice to every one that passes by, till it reaches
 ;he royal ear ; yet that it could not so incense the king
 is to cause  him to send and tear the rebels  limb from
 limb an hour before the set time.  Even so deals God
 with sinners ; he exercises amazing forbearance, not
 willing that any should perish, but at last he will pun-
 ish awfully, and suffer no sinner to escape. 
              THE  TRAVELLER.           231

  Do I, then, envy them their few peaceful year* ?
or would I, like the disciples of  old, fetch down con-
suming flames from  heaven to burn them up, before
he come in flaming fire to take vengeance on his ene-
mies ?  No; let mercy reign her time ; for with re-
spect to the wicked,  mercy shall soon quit the throne
to inexorable justice, and then their misery shall be
past expression, and their overflowing anguish shall
exceed the fountain of their tears.
            MEDITATION LXXIII.

                    DELUSION.

                        Leghorn, April 9,  1759.

  AMONG all the  various kinds of delusion, that
which concerns the soul, religion, and God, is most
melancholy, and has  the most dismal effects.  Some,
because born in a religious family, account themselves
Christians from their cradle, and give themselves no
concern about the new birth.  Others think all is well
with  them,  because  they are  neither swearers  nor
liars, drunkards nor fornicators; they are justhetween
man and man,  have  a form of godliness, and hence,
think themselves in a fair way for  heaven, though ig-
norant of spiritual union to him who is the life of the
soul, and quite unacquainted with a life of faith on
the Son of God.  Again, there  are others who have
been very wicked in their younger days, have been in
the army or  navy, and then and there have committed
all wickedness with greediness.   Now, if these men
are separated from their wicked companions, and live
where sobriety is more in fashion, they drop their
aaths, and go regularly to church; and if they have 
212           THE TRAVELLER.

entered into the  married state,  and prove faithful te
the marriage-bed,  then they count  themselves  con-
verted, and bless their happy state, though they have
never  undergone, and  know  nothing of,  a  saving
change.  Though the most wicked are at all periods of
life invited to return to God, yet what numbers perish
through delusion,  are averse to try themselves, and
build for eternity on sand !  Not to speak of the  delu-
sions of popery, which make6 a merchandise of souls,
there are some who, because they have had some legal
terrors, some awakenings, and some  resolutions to
amend, though ignorant of the new birth, think they
are converted ; and some, in the decline of life, feeling
death fast approaching, begin to be startled at dissolu-
tion, and affrighted to plunge into eternity, condemn
the grosser actions of their life, and their  ill-spent
time, and so, to make amends for all, read much in the
Bible,  and other religious books; but still the sin of
their nature  lies out of sight; nor do they advert to
this, that a man must be born again, else he shall nev-
er see  the kingdom of heaven ; and  yet such men pass
for converts among the men of the world.



            MEDITATION LXXIV.

           ON SFE1NG SLAVES AT  WORK.

                       Leghorn, April 10,  1759.

   TO what hard circumstances  are some fellow-crea-
tures reduced! These poor men are in bondage, with-
'out  any expectation  of  freedom till  death deliver
them.   Arc not their heavy burdens and severe labor
punishment enough, without dragging the iron chain,
which, locked about their ancles, links them two and 
              THE TRAVELLER.           235

two, or couples them like dogs together ? and yet, as
if all this were not severity enough, see the armed sol-
diers attend them every where !
   So, O sinners ! and worse deals satan with you, and
yet you will not leave his service, his slavery, and be-
come Christ's free men.
   Whence is it that the men of the  world, the sons of
vice, think the saints of God shackled and confined,and
that themselves only are free ; and assume the title of
libertines and free-thinkers, when indeed they are fet-
tered drudges, narrow souls, and bond-slaves ?  The
saints, and they alone, walk at liberty, being ransomed
from their cruel captivity by price, and delivered by
power.
   These slaves  have hard labour, but a coarse and
scanty diet; so, when sinners weary themselves in the
fire, they are fed, but with wind, and their belly filled,
but with the whirlwind.
   They are under the  check and controul of soldiers,
who are commonly the dregs of the people ; so the
sinner is under the check of the meanest passions, un-
der the influence of the most sordid lusts, and sees not
his misery.
   Satan, like this prince,* makes the men that run in
his service,drag along with them all the signs of slave-
ry, and badges of bondage, which it is possible for them
to be loaded with;   and they even weary themselves
for very vanity.  Their pleasures pierce (what can slaves
enjoy ?)  and give pain  ; their joys are acid, and their
enjoyments full of torment.   All that they can possess
themselves of, has still a deficiency  ; and yet they hunt
after shadows, and pursue imaginary bliss.  Moreover,
  * The grand duke of Tuscany,  who was sovereign of Leg-
horn.
                    ■   U 2 
2S4
THE TRAVELLER.
  satan, like the ccntries of these poor slaves, is still
  pushing sinners on to works of darkness, and the re-
  ward at last is more shame, more sorrow, and more
  torment.
    Though these men toil hard all the day, yet at night
  they have not a soft bed to rest  thereon  their weary
  limbs;  so the sinners that weary themselves to com-
  mit wickedness all the day of life, at last lie down in
  sorrow  amidst devouring flame:,.
    Indeed these poor creatures have the night allowed
  for their repose, but sinners often pass the silent night
  in scenes of darkness, and their very dreams are filled
  with the rambles of the day.
    Again, these are slaves through life, but death un-
  locks the fetters, and knocks off the chains, and gives
  them perfect liberty : but with the wicked it is not so,
  for if grace deliver them  not,  death only seals their
  slavery, and shuts them up in the prison of the bottom-
  less pit. Oh ! melancholy truth,  that satan's slaves
f should  be so many, and so  content with their sad con-
  dition, though  death and hell attend its latter end.
            MEDITATION LXXV.

                   QUARANTINE.

         Under sail near Sardinia, April 21, 1759.

  IT is a laudable practice among these nations, to
make all ships, that  come from places where  the
plague now and then appears, perform quarantine;  and
during that time to forbid their own people all corres-
pondence with the suspected crews. If it is commend-
able to be careful of the welfare of a nation, how cul-
pable is that church that receives or keeps in her com- 
             THE TRAVELLER.            235

 munion persons immoral in their life, or unsound in
 the faith.  How dangerous in private persons, who pre-
 tend to be religious, to contract acquaintance, intimacy,
 or friendship with men of loose morals or libertine
 principles.  Omysoull come not thou into their secret,
 into their society ! How cautious  should  we  be  to
 mingle in the company of  the wicked, where we are
 sure to suffer one way or other !  And our care herein
 ought to extend to all the connections of life.  Would
 I live in the same city with men dying daily of infec-
 tious  diseases ? would I admit into my house persons
 to serve me, if laboring under the plague ?  and would
 I take into  my bosom that person, in other respects
 however amiable and dear, if lull  of the pestilence I
 How agreeable, then, to have the fearers of God, the
 citizens of  Zion,  for the  men of my city?  to  have
 Christ's free men for servants in my family ! and such
 as have an interest in Christ  for my nearest connec-
 tions !
    Some suttlers adventure along-side, and  sell for an
 extravagant price  such things as we want, and cannot
 go ashore to purchase ;  they pretend not to touch us,
 but at arm's length, and with a board too, to reach out
 the commodity, and  receive  the  money :  Even so,
 men for the love of gain will go every length ; will risk
i not only the peace, but the salvation of their souls, for
 a temporal advantage.  O  to see things in  their pro-
 per light, and not put bitter for sweet, and sweet for
 bitter; time in the place of eternity,  and eternity  in
 the place of time ; the creature in the room of God,
 and give God no room at all.
   The longed  for day arrives, when the  officers  of
 health inspect the  crew, pronounce us clean, and per-
 mit us to  conic ashore ;  and then we mingle in every
 company, appear in every place : Even so, when Jesus; 
236
THE TRAVELLER.
in that memorable day, a day longed for by the lovcra
of his name, acquits his saints before an assembled
world, they shall rise to fVeavcn,  walk the streets of
glory, mingle with angels,  and dwell for ever  with
God.


             MEDITATION LXXVI.

                  THE NEEDLE.

                                   May 5, 1759.

   OF what excellent use is the compass to the mari-
 ner in his course from one  country to another 1  It is
 his guide over the trackless ocean, so that the darkness
 of the night shortens not his sail, nor turns him out of
 the way.  By this he reaches the remotest parts of the
 world, and adventures out into the unmeasurable main.
 By this the trading nations stand and flourish, and
 kingdoms share mutually the commodities of one an-
 other.  Even such is the everlasting gospel, such the
 word of God, to the rational world   By this we  reap
 the blessings of paradise, and are enriched with  the
 productions of the better country.   By that mariners
 plow the wide ocean ; by this we launch into unbound-
 ed eternity itself.
   The usefulness'bf the needle rises from the magne-
 tic virtue with which it is impregnated, and  which
 makes it point always to the pole ; so the excellency of
 the scripture is, that it came not by the will of men,
 but holy men spake as they were moved by the Holy
 Ghost; and therefore it leads all who will attend to its
 instructions only out to God.  Now, as one piece of
 metal, capable of receiving the magnetical influence,
 will  communicate it to another piece of the same mc- 
              THE TRAVELLER.           237

tal ;  yet, whatever way the virtue is received, when
properly suspended, it points not to the load-stone, but
to the true pole ;  so the scriptures and the ordinances
never teach men to rest in  them, but to rise to God,
the chief good, and ultimate end of all; and to this pur-
pose all inspiration points, and all teaching and preach-
ing tend.
   How deplorable were a ship at sea without its com-
pass !  and no less so were the world wanting revela-
tion, without which they could not find  the  haven of
glory.  What, then, must the misery of those nations
be, who sit in gross darkness ! and the cruelty of those
who will not  let the poor people look into the words
of eternal life !
   But, alas 1  for all this noble assistant of navigation,
how many ships  perish in  storms,  or mistake their
reckonings, and are dashed on rocks 1  Even so, in the
Christian world,  for all this divine guide,  how many
make shipwreck  of a good  conscience, perish  amidst
the storms of temptation,  in the dark night of defec-
tion, and, by  opposing error to truth, dash against im-
moveable rocks, and are lost for ever.
   The load-stone is in no respect so useful to the sea-
man, as the scriptures  to the Christian, by  which er-
rors are discovered, dangers disclosed, doubts discus-
sed, darkness dispelled, and our eternal concerns laid
open to our view.  They are our cloud that covers us
iu the desert, a light to our pa.h, our companion by
the way, our  counsellors, and our song in the house
of our pilgrimage.
   The compass is of little or no use at home, when we
take up cur fixed residence,  and pass no more from
shore to shore, from pole to pole : So, when  the saints
arrive at heaven,  and take up their  last abode in the 
238           THE TRAVELLER.

divine presence, of gospel ordinances and the scrip*
tures, they shall  stand in need no more.
  But again how does that needle give a lively idea of
the soul that is truly united to Christ! it seeks its cen-
tre, and the suint says to his soul, " Return to thy rest,
O my soulT' Take tne compass to whatever part of the
world you please,still i  turns to the pole; so the saints,
in ail conditions, aim in all places, still seek to Christ;
and like  the Jews in captivity, who prayed with their
faces toward Jerusalem, so the saints in their pilgrim-
age have their faces towards  Z:on, their hearts hea-
venward, their conversation  in heaven.
  Indeed it is possible to toss the needle from its pole,
but see in what confused motion it agitates, and never
rests till  it has reached its centre again ; so the spouse
may miss her Beloved, but she re?ts not seeking him
every where, and asking at every one she meets, "Saw
ye him whom my soul loveth ?" nor gives over the in-
quiry, till she find him, and, with all the vehemency of
divine affection, embraces him in the arms of her soul,
with a resolution never to let him go again.
  The  attractive power in the magnet is a secret in
nature,for no viaible change is in the needle more than
before ; it is by  the effects that we know it has been
touched by the load-stone, in its attracting, and being
attracted, and turning to the pole : So the new birth,
the spiritual union between Christ and the soul, is an
unsearchable mystery that no finite creature  can ex-
plain ;  for there is a glorious change  made in the
man, yet the man is not changed; he continues still
a man, human, frail, changeable, mortal, possessed of
the same feelings, powers, passions, only they are all
directed  into a noble channel, and by this the change
is known. 
              THE TRAVELLER.           239

  Finally (to add no more) as the needle is always in
a tremulous motion, though pointing toward its  pole;
because  of the restless ocean on which it is, and the
false  attraction with which  it meets; yet, when the
ship is laid up and the compass set on  solid ground,
the needle will point to its pole for ever, without the
least hair-breadth of variation : So is it with the saints.
They endeavour to make God the rest and centre of
their souls ;  yet in this day of sin and sorrow, in this
vale of misery and tears, where false attractions sur-
round them,  their dependance is not so entire on him,
 their faith not so firm, nor their communion so  close
as they could wish ;  but  when they  are  translated to
the highest heaven, a three-one God shall be the rest
of their souls, their centre and sole delight for ever.
            MEDITATION LXXVII.

          IN A ROMAN CATHOLIC CHURCH.

                                 May 18, 1759.

  AH!  what a  poor figure  does human invention
make in the worship of God ! Where a superstitious
shew prevails, godly sincerity decays.   The expen-
ces here are great, but the profit  none.  They have
lifted up the graving tools of human invention on the
altar of God, which  renders it polluted.  To  what
purpose are all these statues, images, and paintings ?
to what end so many  representations  of a suffering
Saviour ?   The new life is begun by the operation of
the Spirit of God,  and not by  an inspection of pic-
tures ; and Christ formed spiritually in the soul is the
end of revelation, but not to cut him out by the tool of
the statuary.  It is true, here he stands  with  all the 
240
THE TRAVELLER.
signs of agony  and pain, the pricking thorns arc
wreathed about his head, and the blood is streaming
down on every side !  but who is this ?  did I not know
the story, did not the superscription tell me, I should
take him for some great malefactor that was so cruelly
used ?  A  man, indeed, in all imaginable  anguish, is
cut out to  the  life, where the skill of the  artist, but
the folly of the contriver, eminently appear ; but no-
thing  more  appears,  not one beam of his divinity
shines forth.   If he were no more than what this sta-
tue  sets him forth,  a poor, infirm suffering mortal,
onr hopes would have died with him, but had had no
resurrection : it might excite our sympathy as  to a
fellow-creature,but never claim our faith as a Saviour,
Christ the Lord.  The union of the two natures in
one person, and his substitution in the room of sinners,
is the interesting mystery, and  basis of religion.
Now, what painter or limner, what sculptor or artist
can exhibit this ? how vain, then, their incentives to
devotion !  Yea, though our Saviour were  yet  alive,
his humanity could  not be the object of adoration ;
hence  he reproved  the young man for calling him
"Good Master," seeing he  considered  him not as
God-man, but only as man :  and  so says the apostle,
"Yea, though we have known Ciirist,  after  the flesh,
yet henceforth know we him no more." Streams rise
no higher than their  fountain, so that their unwarrant-
able representations give me at most but a  faint view
even of human sufferings.  The dumb statue  emits
no melting cries, no  throes and twistings of the body,
or varied distortions of the countenance, no affecting
sighs, or agonizing groans; still the tears stand in
one place, and  the falling blood is not succeeded by
more, because  the  tears have no fountain, and th.:
blood no veins to afford a supply ; so that 10 re-a the 
THE TRAVELLER.           241
inspired account gives the Christian a more perfect
knowledge and striking view of his sufferings, than
all the master-pieces of the best painters.   But when
they give  but a faint view of bodily sufferings, what
can set forth the agonies of our Saviour's soul, which,
like wax before the fire, was melted in the midst of
his bowels, and was poured out like water ? Can they
paint the strokes of divine vengeance which he bore
for us, or depict the hidings of his Father's counte-
nance, which gave so deep a wound ? These are things
for faith,  not for sense ;  and it is the excellency of
faith that it can and may intermeddle with divine
things, while sense must stand at a distance.
  As images strike  our fancy, and impressions of
them abide with us,  a dumb image stands before us,
when we  adore the living God ; so that in effect we
are praying to an idol, rather than  to the Searcher of
hearts.  The idolators of old represented  God by an
ox, calf, fire,  sun, man, and such-like, with which
he was displeased  ; and the idolators of late represent
the incarnate. God, as a scourged, bleeding, suffering
creature,  with which he is no less  displeased.  But I
must form no idea of God, that gives figure, limitSj
or  bounds to him, because  he is infinite ;  my soul
must go out in my prayers, in the immensity of his
perfections, and I  must make my plea the meritorious
sufferings  of  Jesus, which  no art of man can  set
forth,  as the Spirit of God can to  the eye  of faith in
the renewed soul.
                        W 
242           THE TRAVELLER.

           MEDITATION LXXVlII.

               IN A HOT CLIMATE.

                  Gibraltar Bay,  May 18,  1759.

   WHAT frail creatures are we the  sons of men !
jet how madly bold, that dare contend with God, when
heat or cold, increased but a few degrees, becomes in-
tolerable !  Here, in this southern clime, how scorch-
ing is the noon-day sun ! the earth receives so many
solar sparks of fire, that sand and stones almost burn
the  naked skin that touches them.   Now, if it is so
hot so many degrees from the mcrielian, what must it
be there, by the sun darting down his  direct beams ?
and if carried nearer the sun still, hew must the heat
increase, till approaching the burning  orb, we find it
all one material fire, one  substantial flame ?
   Now, saints and sinners are like the inhabitants of
the world, some dwelling in a mild, some in a scorching
climate.   O miserable  condition  of the wicked, who
change from ill  to worse,  till their misery can admif
almost of no increase, but in the eternity of it!  Here
his anger scorches, and hereafter his wrath consumes
them.  O ! who knows the power of his wrath ? Now
they can put up with their case through stupidity, tho'
they know no inward solid comfort; but how will they
stand when oceans of boiling vengeance will roll over
them for ever ? when they shall be set under the burn-
ing beams of inexorable justice, and fiery indignation •
Our sun, even at his surface or centre, is mild com-
pared to his displeasure who kindled that sun, and set
it in the firmament.
   Just now my head is pained with the beating of the
 sun-beams, and all my members lifeless; every pore 
              THE TRAVELLER.          243

pours out my strength, and every fibre of my tongue
pants for the cold spring ;  but there a rock presents
itself, whose friendly  height takes off the scorching
beams, and hides me from the heat.—Now that I am
arrived, how refreshful to  stand in  the shadow here,
while all is parched and scorched around me. So, and
vastly  more, desirable is   Christ to  the soul  that is
scorched with Sinai's fiery flumes, and stands panting
under the burning  wrath  of an  offended God. The
God-man "is an hiding-place from the wind, a  covert
from the tempest, as rivers of waters in a dry place,
and the shadow of a great rock," which neither melts
before the heat, nor transmits it on  the fainting pil-
grim " in a weary land."   My body is sensible of this
covert from the heat; may my soul be as sensible of
thy diviner shadow 1  Some rocks  are parched with
drought, but the Bock of ages has the fountain of sal-
vation flowing from  him.  I must leave this rock,
though refreshful, otherwise I cannot pursue  my in-
tended journey ; but in the shadow of the everlasting
Rock, I must rest forever, else  I shall not be able to
reach  the  end of my journey, the land of promise.
To my comfort I find  refreshing in the Rock of sal-
vation,  even all that  is needful in  my passage hea-
venward, till I arrive  at glory, become an inhabitant
of the Rock for ever, and shout mine everlasting song
from the top of the mountains of bliss. 
244          THE TRAVELLER.
            MEDITATION LXXIX.

                    FISHERS.

                   Gibraltar Mole, May 31, 1-7 J9.

  HERE, on the shore of this  vast sea, where innu-
merable creatures are, I stand, and am entertained to'
see the various methods fishers try to entangle the
finny tribe; some with the hook and bate suspended on
the water, others with the bait sunk quite  to the bot-
tom ; some use the insignificant earth-worm, and suc-
ceed therewith, and what they catch with it they make
a bait for larger fish ; others use all sorts of nets, and
spread the sail, and ply the oar in pursuit of the prey,
and thus catch some of all kinds.
  The ocean is the world, where all the sons of men
swim, every one pursuing his own game ; and it holds
truer of them than of the scaly family, that though they
too often devour one another, yet they have their com-
mon enemy, the old serpent, the blood-thirsty dragon.
Now, of those whom satan makes a prey, some are ta-
ken with baits of pleasure, others  in  the snares and
nets of temptation, at first as it were against  their will,
through the reproofs of a natural conscience, or the
effects of a religious education, but in a little are taken
captive by  him at his will.  Again, how  does satan
make use  of one  man to ensnare another, and draw
him to hell!  How often do evil communications cor-
rupt good manners, and companions of fools  are de-
stroyed !  Therefore how careful should we be to shun
the company of the wicked,  for no sooner has satan
made a prey of one soul, than he makes him a bait for
others; and whomsoever this old serpent  stings, he
instils such a poison into them, that they can do no- 
             THE TRAVELLER.           245

thing but sting others to death,thoughthey themselves
be mortally wounded. This may look strange, because
some men, though they have no religion, appear very
Bober,but attend them a little,and you will find hothing
but carnality, deadness, earthly-mindedness, breathe
through all they do and say.
  At shore and at sea fishers are busy to unpeople th*
waters, fowls Jrom above feed on them, and fishes
through the whole deep prey upon one another ; but
man's condition is still worse, for, though he has ene-
mies behind and before, dangers on every hand, and
satan watching at all points, he is also his own enemy.
  But, on the other hand,  O that the waters that issue
out of the sanctuary would come into the great sea, to
heal the waters, whither the curse has already come,
that every thing might live.  Let the gospel, that con-
tains this flood of life, spread through the world with
healing to every creature ;  and let men of all ranks
and conditions be taken in the net of the gospel.  Let
the fishers stand all along the banks, and be success-
ful  in catching souls, and winning them to Christ, out
of every tribe and tongue under heaven.
             MEDITATION LXXX.

            IN A SOUTHERN CLIMATE.

  THESE southern climates certainly, as to fruitful-
ness, have the better of our northern isles ; and when
the travellertells the entertaining account of spreading
vines, and shady fig-trtes, the beautiful pomegranate,
and i ourishing almond, the fragrant orange, and cool-
ing lemon,  with every other  rare and useful produc-
                     W 2 
246           THE TRAVELLER.
tion, it kindles a desire in others to possess them, and
makes them bless the inhabitants of such fine and fruit-
ful countries.  "But were the relation full, and the ac-
count faithful to every particular, it would make them
bless their situation in a land, where the mountains are
sometimes covered with snow, and the waters conceal-
ed in ice.  Did they rehearse the dangers and difficul-
ties found there, where the lion roars after his preyj
where bears and tygers range for blood, where scor-
pions instil  torment with their poison, and serpents
sting to death ;  yea, where, though free from all these
misfortunes, the scorching sun fatigues even to faint-
ness, and the beautiful day by extreme  heat becomes
a burden ; I say, were the delights weighed with the
dangers, the fatal incumbrances with the fruitful pro-
ductions,  it  would cast out ambition, bring in contcnt-
ment,and make ussettle with pleasure inwhatwemight
call the barren spot. This is a real truth,and an interest-
ing inference may be drawn from it, whereby we may
regulate our wrong notions and blind opinions  of rich
and great men.   Like the  fruitful countries, they  are
only  happy in our esteem, because they seem to lie
under the meridian of worldly felicity,  and sun-shine
of prosperity ; yea, we are confirmed in this opinion,
because the better part of their condition oniyistoldus,
as travellers do of the fine, but foreign  fields.  With
them, however, it too often fares as with these  fertile
lands ; for worldly grandeur has ihe roaring lion of un-
bridled lust often let loose on it,withall the train  (more
destructive than the tyger, bear, and other beasts of
prey) of unruly passions, besides the  unnumbered
swarms of poisonous  thoughts crawling over all the
powers of mind.   Now, though  prosperity of itself
brings not forth sins, any more than the heat of these»
climates creates hurtful creatures,yet there they grow. 
              THE TRAVELLER.           247

 and find large pasture ;  while sanctified affliction, like
 a cold and northern climate, has none of these incum-
 brances.
   Were the life of great men, to their secret thoughts,
 laid before us, they would appear  far from being so
 happy as we suppose.  Their ambition, their emula-
 tion, their jealousies, their projects, their disappoint-
 ments, their cares, their company and confusion, hin-
 der them to enjoy themselves as men ; yea, should all
 these remove, the abundance of their wealth will not
 suffer them to sleep; and, take them in the general,
 whatever they may be in this world, they are,  a few
 excepted, far from being happy with respect  to  the
 world to come.
   The world, then, is like a great body which God has,
 made, and tempered so that there should be no schism
 in it.  He has lessened the pleasures of the sweetest
 climes by some real disadvantages, and sweetened the
 most disagreeable  spots by some  noble accommoda-
 tions ; that man, who is but a pilgrim, may be pleased
 with every place where God may cast his lot, and nei-
 ther boast of his own country, nor despise the  native
 places of others.
   Again, the same is in the world  of mankind, the
 rational body,  that  there should be no schism  there.
 Hence the poorest man has as much sweetness in  his
 condition (bodily health, exercise of reason, peace of
 mind, obedient children, 8cc.) as blunts his grief; and
 the greatestman has as much gall, (corroding anxiety,
 insatiable  appetites,  broken  constitution, pensive
 thoughts,peevish temper, inward disquiet, &c.) as aci-
 dulates, or embitters his joys.  This should render
men content with that station God has placed them in,
and not to expect perfect felicity below ; for every man
thinks happiness is in another, not in himself, which 
^
243           THE TRAVELLER.

proves that there is not one possessed of it on earth ;
but he comes nearest it who is most content with his
own condition and present circumstances in every re-
spect, noteither murmuringatcrosses when they come
upon himself,  or envying others who seem to be ex-
empted from them ; and keeps his mind on the better
country, where all glorious beatitudes shall be enjoy-
ed without any thing to lessen the felicity, or abate the
bliss.
            MEDITATION LXXXI.

              ON A COURT-MARTIAL.

                Gibraltar Bay, August 8,  1759.

  EVERY law is made to re strain from vice, and bind
to duty, and every nation has its own code of laws, mi-
litary and civil.  The martial law is accounted severe ;
and there is a necessity for it, because mutiny and dis-
obedience to orders, cowardice in the  time of action,
and desertion to the enemy, would have the most fatal
effects--.  But  whatever be the offence, a few consid-
erations would not be  improper at such a time for the
members of the court-martial.
  1. To do to the pannels,  in their circumstances, as
they would wish to be done to themselves if in these
very circumstances.
  2. To mind that an  example and admonition to oth-
ers is costly when at the life of an individual.
  3. To pass no other sentence on the meanest than
they would do on the  highest for the same fault.
  4. To consult how they can answer to  their con-
 science and to God, for their decisions, deaf  to every
 thing but justice and humanity. 
THE TRAVELLER.           249
  5.  To incline rather to thcside of mercy than seve-
rity ;  and thus to imitate God in his  most amiable
perfection.
  6.  To reflect, if they are as strict in punishing sins
against God, as desertion against their Sovereign, and
offences against themselves ; and to consider whose
honour should be  most  attended to.  And,
  7. To fix it in their mind, that in a little  they must
stand  before  the tremendous bar of God, where all
distinctions cease.   No more  the sovereign and the
subject, the admiral and seaman, the captain and the
soldier, the judge and the pannel.
  But from the  proceedings of these courts I may
learn instruction  ; for  if earthly kings so punish de-
serters, will  not the King of glory deal awfully with
the backsliders in heart ?  Those he has vouchsafed
to know,  and taken into his  honourable service, shall
 suffer severely, if they fall away from him.  Sinners
 in the Christian world shall have the hottest hell; and
of all  sinners, those who once tasted of the powers
 of the world to come, shall suffer the  most excrucia-
 ting tormen,ts.
   Again, this may remind me of that day when not
 only actions shall be tried, but even my inmost thoughts
examined, and not one concealed. The sentence of this
 court only respects the body, and must be executed in
 time, though in the execution thereof, it should finish
 time to the criminal; but the sentence of that tribunal
 reaches my soul in all her powers, and stands in force,
 and is put in execution, through the endless ages of
 eternity.   O  that it may be a sentence of absolution
 and peace! 
250           THE TRAVELLER.


            MEDITATION LXXX1I.

©N SOME WHO WERE BURNT BY A qUANTITT OF GUN-
  POWDER CATCHING  FIRE, IN TIME OF AN ENGAGE-
  MENT.*

                     Under sail, August 29, 1759.

  MATERIAL fire sometimes in its effects is terri-
ble.   What can be" quicker,  and more transient than
the explosion of gun-powder ; yet what direful effects
has it had on these poor men whom it only seemed to
touch as it flew  along ! So dismal, that even those who
have lost their limbs are objects of delight in compari-
son of them whose visage is blacker than a coal; whose
beauty is marred, and whose countenance cannot be
known ;  whose skin is parched, and falleth off from
their  flesh ; and, to sum up the whole, whose pain,
though external, has kindled such a fcvcr within, that
the frame of nature  suffers ;  they rave and pine away*
till the scene is finished in death.
  Now, can I look on these miserable patients without
letting my reflections shoot away, and fix on the world
of spirits, on such of them as are suffering the ven-
geance of eternal fire ?  Ah ! what a shocking sight
is a tormented  soul, and what miserable spectacles
will the damned be, when soul and body are united to
suffer in  the fire that shall not be quenched,  and by
the worm that never dies ! the most lovely person will
be a loathing, and the  most beautiful an abhorring to
all flesh.  When a passing flame, that goes but skin-
deep, produces such dismal effects, what soul can ap-
prehend the torment of those that are sentenced to

  •  Six men were miserably burnt at one gun during the en-
gagement, August 17, some of whom died. 
             THE TRAVELLER.           251

the flames of hell ?   Who can dwell with devouring
fire ? (think on this, my soul, and study to escape) who
with everlasting burnings ?  If the  productions of na-
ture and human art can be so destructive, how much
more fierce must that fire be that is not blown, that
flame that is not kindled by created invention ?
   There are some antidotes against the scorchingsof
material fire,  but none against the burnings of de-
vouring wrath.  Here the poor patients are perpetu-
ally sipping some cooling liquid to allay their thirst
within, but there not one drop of water can be had to
cool their scorched tongue,  who swim in  seas of fire,
mingled  with brimstone,  which go  into  their very
souls, tormenting every parj, agonizing every power.
Here, in these  poor  men on»  part  suffers, and the
rest sympathize ; but there every part, every power
suffers, and  none can sympathize.  Surely, were the
covering taken off hell, and the world allowed to look
into the burning lake, they would drop down dead in
a  moment, the saints in a transport  of joy, that  they
are to escape the flames ; and sinners in the anguish
of despair, that they are to plunge into them at their
departing moments. Now, seeing  these things are
not dreams, why will not we awaken to our danger and
our  duty, and be wise before it be  too late ? 
252
THE TRAVELLER.
           MEDITATION LXXXIII.

    ON A SEA-ENGAGEMENT, FOUGHT AUG. 17.*

                               August 22, 1753.

  SIN is  the source of all human miseries, making
men, who should like brethren live together, devour
one another like the wild beasts of the  field.  The
ocean, which is the boundary  of kingdoms, by their
invention, is made the seat of war ; hence the briny
wave is tinged with human blood; and  dangers, un-
known to the land, surround us, for we may be blown,
up in a moment, or in the  twinkling of an eye go
down to the chambers of the deep.  Besides,  what
can be a more terrible scene than so many great guns
thundering  mutual destruction, darkening  all with
smoke, and spewing out fire and death ?  The loss of
officers, the groans of the wounded,  cause no inter-
mission till the vanquished yield and strike to the con-
querors.
  Now,  if  the wrath  of men, who  themselves  are
crushed before the moth,  be so fierce, and if it be
terrible to meet an enemy, though formed of the clay,
how much more so to meet the God of forces, the
 Lord of Sabaoth, in his burning wrath 1   How awful,
ineffable, and tremendous,  beyond conception, must

  • The engagement  referred to, is that of Admiral Bosca-
wen with the Toulon fleet, commanded by  M. de la Clue.
It was fbught a little without the Straits, and lasted five hours.
Three of the enemy's ships were  taken, and two burnt.  The
Portland, on  board of which the author was,  engaged the
French Admiral for nearly an hour before she received assis-
tance.  Her loss was very considerable; yet during the firtf
hour's fighting, not one was even wonnded. 
THE TRAVELLER.           253
be  the thunders of his incensed right hand ! When
■the hour of patience  is  past, the thunderings shall
begin, but who  shall be  able  to stand before  them
through  eternity; compared with  whose  bolts,  the
broadsides of a. first-rate are but the falling drops of
morning-dew ; for who knows the power of his wrath,
the terror of his vengeance ?
   But^again, the sons of men reprove the expectants
of a future world.  When they see they neither  can
escape nor overcome, but must  perish  unless they
strike their colors, anon they yield themselves pris-
oners, and live :  but sinners  are obstinate to the very
last, though  they can never fly  out of his hand  ; yea,
the rebellion of their heart remains, though the Lord
God of recompcnccs punishes them through eternity.
   Again, what a lively representation of our uncertain
departure is here ! One who is now  well is in a  mo-
ment no more, and is taken away from the midst of his
companions  into the world of spirits, unconscious of
the stroke that finishes him,  till felt! When the en-
gagement began, many might hope to  share the  honor
of the victory, and to divide the spoil, who, by a sudden
death, are disappointed of all ;  so, many in  the prime
of life, when projecting great schemes, are cut off by
a fcvcr, or a  fall, and must leave his tdi'airs in extreme
confusion.   How great is the folly of man I Though
noiiiing  concerns him  so much as  death, y<-'_ with
nothing docs he concern  himself so little ! J!c;-e a f;;v>
:.our« close engagement cools the :\>.gc of the keenest
warrior,  and decides  the contest ; how  meiancholv,
then, must their condition be, who, on seas of  wra;h}
must bc^r the tlumderbolts of Jehovuh's right hand
for,an eternity, without intermission,  and without  ur.y
possibility <,i" l.h  escape ' On t.uch  a duy as this, a;
                         X 
254           THE  TRAVELLER.

enemy's powder and  shot may  fall  short; but the
magazines of vengeance arc infinite,  and the perpet-
ual frown of him who is angry with sinners every day,
will protract their agony and torment with their ex-
istence.
            MEDITATION LXXXIV.

                  ON  PRISONERS.

                    Under sail, August 30, 1759.
   ONE consequence of war, at least of victory, is, that
 some are made prisoners; and among contending ar-
 mies on the day of battle, prisoners arc  made on both
 sides.  By the laws of civilized nations, they are treat-
 ed with sympathy and tenderness, as becomes fellow-
 creatures and prisoners of war; yet their best situ-
 ation has always something in it disagreeable, and (by
 the cruelty of those who forget the  golden rule, to
 deal with others, in every situation, as they themselves
 would choose to be dealt with if in the same condition)
 something almost intolerable.   For,  1.  Though they
 are fed, yet their allowance is not the same with the
 king's servants.   2. They have not the privileges of
 the ship's crew as to  bedding,  but are  crowded to-
 gether in an uncomfortable confinement.   3 No con-
 fidence  can be put in them ; hence, though we  should
 chance  to engage an enemy, as  they could not be
 trusted to fight, so they would  not  share in the honor
or advantage of the victory.  4. Though in the day-
time they sometimes mingle with the ship's company,
and paru.ke of their liberty, yet they have always the
 badge of bondage, being attended by sentries, and at
night ate separated and put under double guards, and
 so remain till the ensuing morning. 
THE TRAVELLER.           255-
  This is the fate of many in war ; but, alas ! a worse
fate attends the rational world, where all are prisoners,
and bound with the fetters of sin, but such as walk at
large in  Christian liberty.   And  though the wicked
enjoy liberties and riches in  common with others, yea,
more than others, yet "a little that a righteous man
hath is better than the wealth of many wicked ;" lor if
a little where love is, be  better than an  house full of
sacrifices with strife, surely a very little, with the love
of God, is belter than great riches with his curse.
   Now saints and sinners meet and mingle in the same
assemblies, join in the same societies, and share  the
same privileges ; yet the one always drags the  heavy
chain about w'uh him, is a slave to every lust, the ser-
vant of sin, the captive of the mighty enemy, and the
prey of the terrible destroyer ; but the other, being de-
livered from these, walks in the glorious liberty of the
sons of God.   While sinners feed on swinish  husks,
and break  their teeth with  gravel, the  saints are al-
lowed to feast on heavenly manna, and to drink of the
water of life.  The first lies down among thorny cares,
disquiet, terror, and  remorse ; but the last has a sweet
recumbency on the love of God, takes his rest in  the
promise, and finds it a couch that  can  ease  his pain,
and remove his complaint.
   Again, as these men are  separated and classed to-
gether at night, so, at the night of death, the wicked
mingle no more with the righteous; for while the souls
of saints soar aloft to everlasting day, and their bodies
rest in the peaceful grave till the joyful resurrection,
the spirits of sinners are shut up in the prison of hell,
and their bodies in beds of corruption till the general
judgment.  A little  time brings about the freedom of
our captives, they are set at liberty in  a few months
perhaps, and at the longest,  when the war comes to an 
256
THE TRAVELLER.
end ; but should the war continue as long asthi-) live
yet death shall deliver them from the power of every
mortal, and translate them into the world of spirits;
but those that are risen up in rebellion against God, ho
shall shut up in hell, and pour forth his vengeance on
them for evermore.
   Finally, we may see the depravity of the world in
the conduct of our friends, who would condole more
our being taken prisoner by an enemy, and losing all
we had, than they bewail our natural, our unrenewed
 state, our loss  of the image of God, of heaven, ;md of
 glory.
           MEDITATION  LXXXV.

A REFLECTION ON  THE ROYAL PSALMlS'l's EXPRES-
  SION, psal. xlii. 7.  All thy waves and thy  billows
  are gone over me.
                   Near Guernsey, June 3, 1758L

  O ASTONISHING comparison of an ineffable ex-
cess of aguish 1  "  At the noise of thy wutir-spouts,
deep calleth unto deep," that both may meet together,  ^
to heighten the now of my misery to the  h.bt  t :.lie-
yrity.  Now, from the tossing of this rcslh ss occt.n, I
may somewhat learn the  force of the  nu-t;.phor, Here,
then,many waves, many  billows dash upoi. us; nor do
a thousand preceding waves, or ten thousand foaming
billows that  have spent their fury on us, stir up pity in
the raging flood that forms itself into dreadful billows
to fall on us afresh, and that in all quarters, not like the
regular course of a  rapid torrent, but like the random
surges of an  unruly ocean.   The sea-sick passengers
aboard find no compassion, but reel and stagger if they 
THE TRAVELLER.            257
attempt to walk ; and if they sit, are thrown from side
to side ;  nay, thouedi we were hanging for life upon
the very wreck, the briny deep  would cover us in its
cold bosom, or, dashing us from wave to wave, would
spew us on the shore.
   Now, if  nothing  milder than the ocean, not in hal-
cyon days, but when wearing all its terrors, when roar-
ing and raging with universal confusion, when covered
with ten thousand wrestling waves all eager to destroy,
urged on  by succeeding billows, and  raised by the
ruffling tempest from the foaming deep,could describe
the condition of the psalmist, who was a saint, a favour-
ite of heaven, in the day of  God's withdrawing and
hiding himself, though but for a moment;  what shall
 set out the eternal  anguish of those from whom he is
 gone for ever ?  What billows of eternal wrath, what
 surges of divine indignation, shall overflow  them for
 evermore ? There, in that state, their misery is with-
 out mercy, their sea has no shore,  and their  ocean no
 bound.  Hence I  see, that if God  is pleased to shine
 on the soul, all crosses are sweetened, all afflictions
 lightened, and the man made greatly to rejoice ; while,
 if he hides himself, even blessings wear a gloom, and
 every thing lowers, till he arise again with healing in
 his wings.
                      X2 
258           THE TRAVELLER.
           MEDITATION LXXXVI.

           ON A SHORT INDISPOSITION.

  TWO days ago,flying pains perplexed me,and made
me turn and toss from side to side, seeking what I
could not find, ease to my weary body.  The indisposi-
tion filled me with disquietude, scattered  each compo-
sed thought, and fixed an acute sense of pain.  Indeed
I soon got the better of it, but may 1 thereby  be in-
structed of the fierceness of the torment  of the damn-
ed : and let them who have cancer, gout,  stone, or any
other grievous complaint, think what torment must be,
and thereby study to escape, while there  is left a way
to escape ;  or to prize their deliverance (if delivered)
from so great a death as the second death  is, where all
is torment in the  highest degree ; where the  bed is
burning brimstone, the  chains and fetters of fire and
flame, their horizon the blackness of darkness for ev-
er, their companions devils and damned  spirits; and
where every part is on the very rack, and  nothing free
of torment.  The most acute agonies which we feel in
time, would be a kind of pleasure and delight, in com-
parison of the torments of hell !
  What shall people, labouring under excruciating
diseases then think, if they have no hopes that death,
which must end the disease, shall mend  the matter ?
O then, to be wise in time, and to be taught by  every
indisposition to mind the concerns of an unseen world,
for who knows the power of his wrath ?  and if i can
scarce endure a little  pang in one part,  how shall I
suffer torment in a every part and power, in  every
sense and faculty, through the whole soul and whole
body, and that ages without end ? 
              THE TRAVELLER.           259

           MEDITATION LXXXVII.

            ON PUTTING OUT  A LIGHT.

           Off the Coast of France, June 8, 1758.
  THE place I dwell in being secluded from the solar
ray, is obliged to a glimmering candle ; and when that
is extinguished, total darkness prevails at once. This
puts me in mind of the more mournful situation of the
natural man, the  unrenewed soul, that  stumbles in
darkness, and walks in the midnight gloom.  While the
saints walk in the rays of the Sun of righteousness, and
rejoice in the light of his countenance, poor sinners
dwell in the region and shadow of death.  Let them
boast of the glimmering light of reason ;  it  can no
more  direct them about the affairs of their souls, the
interests of eternity, than we can survey the midnight
stars by the light of a candle.  But faith beholds spir-
itual things,and takessteady viewsof eternal excellen-
cies.  With what reluctance do we remember the wick-
ed, who  " caused their terror in the land of the liv-
ing !"  and how does their memory slink when dead,
like the snuft" of that extinguished candle ! And as
there is no light, no spiritual illumination in them, so
at death they are  driven  from  the light of life, the
light of hope, and the light of the gospel, into the dark-
ness of  utter despair, and into the eternal storm and
tempest of God's devouring wrath.   And  is this the
last, but lamentable  end of the wicked !  while the
righteous,  on  the other hand,  like the morning-sun,
concealed by the disking clouds  of worldly meanness
and contempt,  shine more and more unto the perfect
day, grow from grace to grace; till, fixed in the firma-
ment of glory, they shine celestial suns. Let my light,
then,  be spiritual, my happiness that which is  hereaf-
ter, and my glory that which shall be revealed. 
260
THE TRAVELLER.
          MEDITATION  LXXXVIII.

             ON DIVIDING THE SPOIL.

  IN all ages  of the world, so great has the joy Of
men been on this occasion,  that it has become pro-
terbial, " as men rejoice that divide the spoil:" and
no wonder.   To come off in safety from the field of
battle, while not  only  foes, but  fellow-soldiers fell
around them ;  and to come off victorious, and find
themselves possessed of goods  they never  labored
for, of riches they never expected, must  swell their
breast with transport and joy.   And this joy of theirs
in the severest manner reprimands me for not being
filled with  more joy  in believing, for not thinking
more of him who  is more  " glorious  and excellent
than the mountains of prey." Now,  though the me-
tropolis of this kingdom (the gleanings of whose vil-
lages create this cheerfulness) were  robbed of all its
wealth, and laid in one heap ; and, to swell the won-
derful pile, though all the stores of the silken Indies,
the gold of Ophir, and the  precious stones of every
land, were added ;  yea, to make the collection  perfect
in its kind, though all that ever had a place  in the mu-
seum of the philosopher, the cabinet of the curious?
or the treasures of kings, were amassed together, till
the heap rose into a hill,  or  swelled into a mountain,
from  which the slaves might gather crowns and scep-
tres,  the poor treasure in abundance, and  the naked
shine in silks and cloth of gold ; yet thou art infinitely
more excellent than this mountain of prey, and that
on a double account.  1. Nothing here is for the soul,
all is for the  body.  ?. All  these  things must be torn
from the possessor in the hour of death,  and cannot 
               THE  TRAVELLER.           261

 attend him to another world.  But Christ satisfies all
 desires, replenishes the whole soul, makes happy in
 time, and happy to eternity,  and is a portion  every
 w»y commensurate to the unbounded wishes, and im-
 mortal nature of the soul.  Why should the saints less
 rejoice than these men that divide the  spoil, when in
 a little the King himself in person shall deal crowns
 and thrones, kingdoms and dominions, yea, the goodly
 heritage of the hosts of nations, to every saint above ?
   This spoil, if it enrich the conquerors, impoverishes
 the conquered,  and perhaps  has cost  many of them
 their lives ; but Christ may, in all his offices, relations,
fulness, and glory, be the  entire  possession of every
particular child of adoption, without diminution or in-
jury to any of their happy fellow-heirs.
  Some who engaged the enemy  fell down slain, and
are now where a whole world of  these trifles, wliich
afford survivors so much joy, would not be accounted
worthy of a wish or a  glance forever,
  Henceforth, let me  rejoice at thy word as one that
findtth great store of spoil, and esteem the word of
thy mouth better than thousands of gold and silver.
I shall never be  robbed of the heavenly treasure,which
scattei?  !•.;• fears, dispels my despondencies, enriches
rr.y  ilvrmty, ;.;id  lwibhcs my whole !;o\d. 
262
THE TRAVELLER.
           MEDITATION LXXXIX.

        A DAILY CATECHISM FOR SEAMEN.

                                March 25,  1758.

  1.  HOW do I like the company of the wicked, and
the converse of ungodly men ?
  2.  Is their swearing as disagreeable to me as when
I came first aboard ; or am 1 more reconciled to their
blasphemous talk ?
  3.  Is n.y abhorrence of sin the greater, the more I
see of sin ? as man's fears increase with the increase
of his foes, so should my hatred of sin with the in-
crease of my danger.
   4. The mere that 1 am beset with snares and sin,
am I the more watchful against sins and snares ?
   5. Have I forgot to look into myself in the midst of
this  hurry and confusion ? reflection is a duty  which
no situation can loose me from.
   6. Does the reaction  of sin reiterate my grief and
abhorrence of it t or, i:ke a lion's keeper, venture 1 to
sport with the destroyer, from which at first 1 started ?
   7. Do I resist the first appearance of bin ?  for sin,
as well  as strife, is like the letting  out of waters,
which at first appears a litle spout, but as it passes
along pushes on every side, till it spreads into an im-
petuous torrent, which nothing can resist, and  there-
fore should be  icii off before it be meddk-d with.
   8.  Does the impiety ot ll.c company, or imy o.htr
 hindiv.nc:.', prevent the performance of secret prayer,
 on reading u,e scriptures, as formerly \
   9.  Is the  sabbath still strictly observed by me, by
 my keeping not only from bad actions, but idle words
 and  vain thoughts I 
              THE TRAVELLER.           263

  10. Am I careful to purge myself from all the sins
which I have heard through the day, by reflecting on
their vileness, protesting against them in mine own
breast, dipping by faith in the blood of sprinkling, and
praying that wherein I have been guilty in a greater or
less  degree, I may  b- pardoned ?
  11. Am 1 studious to draw the  more near to God,
the more that all things would drive me  from God ?
and to  beg of him,  that according to my days and  de-
mands for aid, so my strength from him may be ?
  12. Am 1 ready  to drop a word against vice, or in
favour of religion, without regarding ridicule,  not
knowing where a blessing may light ; or that at least
they may know that there has been, if not a propheti
yet a reprover among them ?
              MEDITATION XC.

               A PROPER INSPECTION

         Lying off the French Coast, June 8, 1758.

  AT all times, men ought to examine their state,
and fitness for going into another  world ; more espe-
cially when old age has overtaken us, or the pestilence
is in  our borders; or when called into the field of
battle, or into the dangers of the roaring ocean. Now,
as we may be  surprised at  any  time by some event,
we should be  prepared at  all times for  every event.
And, as one of these situations is at present mine, it
is my duty to propose some interesting questions, lo
try myself thereby.
  1. Am I content with salvation from Christ on any
terms, that he be my complete Saviour, and that  I be
nothing at all ? 
264           THE TRAVELLER.
   2. If 1 believe, is  my faith dead ? or is it a living
 faith, working by love, and bringing forth the fruits of
 righteousness ?
   3. Do I love God ?  " He that loveth not, knoweth
 not God, for God is  love ;" and love to God and man
 is the fulfilling of the whole law.
   4. Do I love  the  saints, and esteem the poor but
 pious ones, more than all the pompous  sons of vice ?
 " He that loveth him that begat, loveth him also that
 is begotten of him."
   5. Is it my desire, that in all things God may be glo-
 rified, though it were by my dishonour and  loss ?
   6. Do I choose rathertobe the proverb and reDroach
 of all the ungodly among whom I dwell,> than to ad-
 vance  one word against religion ?
   7. Do I hate sin in its profits and pleasures in myself
 and others, because  God hates it, and it ruins souls ?
   8. Do I rejoice more in hope of the glory of God,
 than in view of possessing all that the world can afford?
  9. Is the exercise  of religious duties the secret de-
 light of my soul ?
   10. Do I faithfully strive against all sin,  and  count
 the victory over one lust a greater conquest than  the
 taking a city ?
   11. Am I entirely resigned to the will  of  God in
 all things, being not only contented, but comforted
 with his disposal, though sometimes not what I would
 wish?
   12.  Is death often  in my mind, judgment and eter-
nity in my meditation ; and am I always studying  to
be mortified to sin, and crucified to the world, Unit I
may live to Christ ?
  13.  Is the word of God the light, life, comfort, food,
and inheritance of  my  soul, into which I  daily  seek
and search ? 
THE TRAVELLER.
265
   14. Is sin growing more and more my burden ; and
 are my struggles after perfection more vigorous than
 before, and more constant ?
   15. Am I, through grace, ever searching my ways,
 examining mine actions, looking into my  heart, and
 watching over myself?
   16. Is my desire of life mostly to  serve God, and
 not to enjoy the pleasures of sense, but to be useful
 even in the matters of religion ?
   17. Is communion with God the delight of my soul ?
 and have I more joy in the fore-thoughts of that frui"
 tion which the saints expect, than in all  present vani-
 ties ?
   IS.  Have I daily recourse to the fountain of purifi-
 cation to be washed from my filth, and to be accepted
 in the Beloved ?
   19.  Do I remember Z;on in her affliction, Jerusa-
 lem in her calumitv. being filled with a zeal for the de-
 clarative glory of God ?
   20.  Dare I ver'ure my eternd welfare on  his gra-
 cious word of promise, <Iu<i whosoever believes in him
 shall be*saved ;  and that no sin shall condemn  the soul
 that casts itself on Christ ?
  21.  Do I believe that the love of God  is unchange-
 able, that his gifts and callings are without repentuice,
 and that at all times he is it hand, nor will  desert his
 own in their  last moments ?
  If I could return an affirmative  to each of these
 queries it would shew me to be in a happy state, at
 peace  with God, and  in some  measure  prepared for
 the other world,  so that I might go with undaunted
courage to the day of battle, and fearless  tread the
field of blood, leaning on Christ alone.
                        Y 
        \
206           THE TRAVELLER*.


              MEDITATION XCI.

  ON  A GREAT STORM OF THUNDER,  LIGHTNING,
                    AND RAIN.

                  Lying off France, June 9, 1758.

  DARK is the night, but dismal the flash that scat-
ters the darkness.  At times the whole  heavens seems
in a blaze, while material  streams of  fire twinkle in
our astonished eye, and dart across the skies ; then
tremendous thunder roars, and whole clouds descend
in heavy rain, while the noisy wind blows with impet-
uous force.  Now, durst the atheist yet deny a God !
Would not his conscience answer to the flames of fire,
his troubled thoughts agree to the language of  the
thunder, that there is a Power above, that rules events
below ? When the  night is so dark, the  lightning so
dreadful,  the thunders so loud, and the rain so inces-
sant, can  any ascribe all to blind chance ? Nay,  the
atheist himself must confess and tremble ?
  But, O sad effets of sin !  what fills the pious soul
with fear, and a secret sense of the power and great-
ness of God, drives the wicked into sin.   They fear,
but they swear; they are troubled, but they transgress.
How  terrible, then, will that day be, when the Judge
shall come in flaming fire,to take vengeance on his foes!
w hen flames shall dwell in ether, the skies be kindled,
and cities, kingdoms and continents, be cast into the
burning embrace!  when thunders bursting from every
cloud, around the whole sky, admit of no interval, but
with one continued roar terrify all the  nations, till si-
lenced and lost in the sound of the last trumpet, which
the de^.d, hitherto undisturbed, shall hear ! 
              THE TRAVELLER.           247

  When fire and water in contention  or elements at
war are so terrible,  how much  more terrible must
the God of nature  be, when, arrayed in awful ma-
jesty, he comes to take vengeance on his enemies?
Lest we forget his greatness, nature  preaches to us,
raging tempests and rending winds turn  our remem-
brancers, flames of fire unfold our lesson before our
eyes, and roaring thunders awaken our  meditation?,
A$ in' his temple every one talks of his glory, so in his
tent (for which he has stretched out the heavens) every
thing shews  forth  his power.  Fire, rain, vapour,
stormy wind, lightning, hail, snow,and thunder, praise
him.  Then, since in all things, I may see God, may
my soul ever go out-after him, and  above all  things
see him in the face of Jesus, as reconciled, and  speak'-
ing peace to me !


              MEDITATION XCII.

    ON  BEING INTERRUPTED IN SECRET PRAYER.

                Lying off France, June 13, 1758.

   NOTHING can still the agitation of my spirit, but
the fore-thoughts  of perfect and eternal liberty, into
which the sons of God  shall shortly  be delivered.
tittle needs the world without,  disturb our  retired
moments;  there  is  enough within  to  distract our
meditations.   But, O thrice happy day,  which is ap-
proaching on the out-stretched wings of the promise
when I  shall stand among a numerous throng of ador-
ers,  worshipping before the throne, with the eye of
my soul fixed on him that sjits thereon ;  and not one
pf the many  thousands of eternity shall disturb  my
adorations.  The eye of my  mind,  the flow of my 
•26?
THE' TRAVELLER:
affection, and the flame of my love, shall eternally fix
on the divine object, from whom none shall draw one
thought away.  Here my circumstance is doubly calam-
itous ; for, though the busy throng should not  break
in qn me, there is a throng of base distracting thoughts
already within me, that will not be at rest; but  there,
as nothing shall disturb without, so nothing shall dis-
tract within.   Not one trespassing thought, not one
trifling idea, not a moment  lost, nor  one expression
unbtcoming the sacred subject, but all wrapt  to the
sublimest height of ecstacy ; and  every adoration of
God, who is a Spirit, shall be in spirit and in truth—
shall be without intermission through  an indefatigable
immortality, without  interruption through consum-
mate perfection,  without wearying  through incon-
ceivable joy and delight, and without end, through an
eternal duration.



             MEDITATION  XCIII.

           ON THE  ARMOUR OF SOLDIERS.

             Lying off Normandy, June 13, 1758.

  WHEN I behold the warlike race, and their glit-
tering arms, how well they are accoutred for the field
of battle, at no less than royal expence ; it puts me
in mind of him who is Prince of the kings of the  earth,
and has an army maintained at much  immenser cost,
harnished with much diviner armour,  engaged in  a
more bloody war, against more  depserate foes, butj
supported by Almighty strength, are assured of con-
quest and a crown at last.
  How are these men burdened  with instruments of
war wherever they go, for a soldier is but a poor man 
THE TRAVELLER.           269
without his arms ! Even so the spiritual soldier must
never be without his armor, for the better armed, he
finds himself the stronger.   Besides, this is the word
of command by the  Captain of the Lord's hosts, to
his armies : " Put on the whole armor of God, that
ye may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil;
for ye wrestfe not against flesh and blood, but against
principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the
darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness
in high places.  Wherefore, take unto you the whole
armor of God, that ye may be  able to withstand in
the evil day, and having done all, to stand.  Stand,
therefore, having your loins girt about with truth, and
having on the breast-plate*of righteousness, and your
feet shod with the preparation of the gospel of peace ;
 above all, taking the shield of faith, wherewith ye shall
be able to quench all the fiery darts of  the  wicked ;
 and take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the
 Spirit, which is the word of Ood ; praying always
 with all prayer and supplication m the spirit, and watch-
 ing thereunto with all perseverance,  and (not forget-
 ting brother-soldiers) with supplication for all saints."
   But One thing I see, these men are  allowed to car-
 ry no toys or trifles with them, only their arms, am-
 munition, and necessaries ; so " no man that warreth'»
 against hell,  " entangleth himself with the affairs of
 this life, that he may  please him who  hath chosen
 him to be a soldier."
    Again, these men are only safe, in setting  their face
' always against their  foes, being naked behind ; so
 there is not a promise in  all the scripture for the saint
  that turns his back before the enemy ;  while,  if they
  resist, eyen their grand enemy shall flee from then*,
                        Y 3 
270
THE TRAVELLER.
  These poor privates, as well as their commanders,
must be in the hottest battle, encounter all the dan-
gers, and perhaps fall in the engagement; but the
Captain of our salvation has for us both fought and
foiled the foe, swept the field of battle, of principali-
ties and powers, so that we are only called  to  return
lo the spoil.
  Finally, how happy are Christ's soldiers, in compar-
ison of these military  men  ! The  one is wounded
often to death, the other is made always to triumph ;
the one  has a scanty allowance every day ;  the  other
has access to all the fulness  of God.  The one is dis-
banded  at last,  and sent, when least able, to beg his
bread, and die in poverty ;  the other shall  at last re-
ceive a crown,  and be taken to  dwell with the king
eternal, immortal, invisible, for ever !
  Let the potsherds of the earth strive  with the pots-
herds of the earth for earthly things ; but may  I fight
on the side of Heave^  against sin and hell, lor a hea-
venly crown, a crown *>f glory, that fadeth not away 1
             MEDITATION XCIV.

         ALL THINGS  MADE UP IN CHRIST.

                   Quiberon Bay, May  11, 1760.

  EVERY one is subject to so many losses here, that,
unless he has a share in the bank of bliss, he may soon
become impoverished of all his enjoyments, and be u
bankrupt as to felicity.  But what an enriching privi-
lege  is an  interest  in Jesus, wnereby I am insured
against  all losses, and furnished  for all misfortunes !
for though in the world I may have tribulation, yet in
him who overcame the world, shall I have joy.  It is 
* THE TRAVELLER.           271
true my nearest and dearest friends may be removed
by death ;  but in him I have a store of dearer and di-
viner relatives.  My riches may fly away as on eagle's
wings, but in him I have the treasures of eternity ; so
that it is but for a moment, and in the meanest things,
that I can sustain any loss. My name may be reproach-
ed among men, but  here is a divine antidote  against
that, that my name is written in the Lamb's book of
life, who will confess it before his Father, and before
assembled men and angels.  My soul may be troubled,
and my mind broken, but in him I have health and
tranquility for both, for he alone giveth quietness, and
when he giveth it, none can cause trouble.  My soul
desires much, but in  him is more than my soul can de-
sire.   My wants are great, and my necessities many,
but in him I find an overflowing abundance that sup-
plieth all.  My situation  for a time m<^y be lonely and
desolate, but in him I find the divinest company, the
dearest converse, and in his presence a paradise beiow.
Sin and sinners may cause me daily sorrow, but in nim
that saves  from both, I have abundant consolation.
The things of this world may all seem jointly to go
against me, but in him the things of the next world
shall all assuredly make for me. I may wander from
one place of the world to another, and be persecuted
hither and thither for his sake ; but he, who is every
where present,shall be ever with me,and nothing shall
be able to separate me from his love.   My comforts
may all fall oh', like the blasted blossoms of the orchard;
but in him ten thousand more noble comforts  shall
flourish, and never fade nor wither.  Every day may
bring me new disappointments (and  what else should
I  look for in a perishing  world ?)  but in him I  shall
never be disappointed, even to eternity.  Here infirm-
ity may often break off my noblest exercises; but in a 
272
THE TRAVELLER.
little I shall put on  the immortality of bliss, and rest
neither day nor night in his praises, yet never be wea-
ried.   Here doubts and darkness may distress me, but
in him is  my direction  and my light.  In a word, I
may be a complication of wants and adversities, crosses
and calamities, disappointments and distresses, sorrow
and concern ; but, in a word again, whatever my exi-
gence  can demand, whatever my soul can desire, is
fully, wholly, and eternally in him.  Therefore, though
death in a few moments may advance to put a period
to my time, and cut me off from the world below, yet
then shall my felicity begin, when, to sum up all my
bliss, enjoying the fellowship of the world above,I shall
for ever be with the Lord.
             MEDITATION XCV.

                 THE BIRTH-DAY.

                    Quiberon Bay, May 30, 1760.
  THE observation of nativities seems to be both an-
cient and universal, but by none more splendidly kept
than those, who, not attending to the end of their crea-
tion, have but little reason to rejoice that ever they
were born.   Of old, a  king's birth-day,  in its conse-
quences, cost our Saviour's forerunner his head ; but
at many such feasts now-a-days, the Saviour himself is
crucified afresh, and put to open shame.
  Surely to be is desirable, but to be  happy is much
more so ; and who can claim this, but such as remem-
ber the  day of their death oftener than the day of their
birth,ar.d choose  rather to go to the house of mourning
than the house of feasting ?  If joy belongs to  any on
their birth-day, surely it is to those, who not only know, 
THE TRAVELLER.
273
 that on such a day of the year they become one of the
 numerous family of mankind, but also can, by solid ar-
 guments, and on  good grounds infer, that, by the se-
 cond birth, they are of the family of the living God.
 Though  Job and  Jeremiah, in their anguish, cursed
 their day, yet when the storm passed over, their souls
 returned to their quiet rest, and irreprehensible joy :
 however, he who only waits for the manifestation  of
 that glorious life, which has neither change nor end,
 may, to the praise of God, with an exulting breast, talk
 in an opposite strain :  " Let the day prosper wherein
 I was born, and the night in which it was said, There
 is a man-child conceived.  Let that day be brightness,
 let God regard it from above, and let the light shine
 upon it.  Let light, and the beaming  hope of eternal
 life, beautify it to me.  Let serenity dwell upon it, and
 the brightness of the day banish every gloom from it.
 As  for that night, let the beauty of the day be spread
 upon it; let it be joined and added as a remarkable day
 to the days of the year, and let it come chief to me
 among the number of my months.   Lo, let that nighj;
 be solemn and sweet,  while my anthem imitates the
 song above, and my soul, on wings of faith, mixes with
 the adoring multitude on high."
   There are a variety of arguments against carnal feast*
 ing on my birth-day.  Had I come into the world laugh-
 ing, I might live feasting, and die rejoicing; but as I
 came in weeping,  and  breathed my  first breathing in
 disquiet and cries, so it teaches me to live sober, and
die serious.  Since we are all born under the curse,
why such  a noisy commemoration of that day, when
another sinner first burdened the earth, when another
rebel against Heaven first breathed the common air ?
But  if we are to acknowledge it as a mercy that we
were born, as no doubt it is, yet it is not ih.3 way to 
274           THE TRAVELLER.
show our gratitude to the Most High, by pampering
perishing clay.  God will not be praised over our cups;
then his name is often blasphemed.  Such a practice
is consistent in an idolatrous Belshazzarand his guests,
towards gods who neither see nor hear, but he who is
a Spirit will be  spiritually honored.
  A back-look on my life, may hinder carnal mirth on
its commencement. Sin and vanity twisting with every
day of my life, should make me consider on my birth-
day with more enlarged views than the sons of sense
can take, how  I have fallen  from  the  noble end for
which I was  created, how I have  sinned, and come
short of the glory  of God,  I who have an immortal
soul within me, that shall live to eternity.
  One thing, however, I should consider, that since I
came into this world, many thousands of my contem-
poraries have gone into the unseen world. The spread-
ing forest of my acquaintance is fearfully  thinned by
the felling axe of death.  It is a chilling thought, that
so many of my  companions, who lately made a figure
in the gay world, are now wrapt up in an eternal gloom.
Many of my school-fellows and comrades, of my friends
and neighbors, are now no more; yea, into my father's
family, since 1 made one of the number, death, though
not a stranger befoie, has made five desolating visits,
besides the redoubled blows, that made me fatherless
and motherless  ; and though, in unbounded goodness,
I survive, yet all these occurrences cry to me, that I
also in a little must remove,  and be no more.
  In this contracted span, there are not many now who
reach three-score years ; yet, at such a calculation, my
sun is at his height, my day arrived at noon ; and  shalj
I not yet put away the follies of youth, when 1 know
pot but my sun may £o down at noon, never more to
rise ?  Then henceforth may 1 be the man, yea, more, 
THE TRAVELLER.
275
the Christian, and spend every year as my last, perfect-
ing holiness in the fear of the  Lord, laying hold on
every opportunity to do good, observing the conduct
of Providence towards me, and doubling my diligence
in the duties of religion. And, as I am drawing nearer
the unseen world, so by thinking the oftener on it, I
should prepare the better for it.  And as noon is suc-
ceeded by night, so, with loins girt, and lamp burning,
I should expect the evening ol death, .md the coming
of my great Master, rather astonished that the shadows
arc not sooner stretched out, than surprised, as being
unprepared, that they are stretched out so soon.
            MEDITATION XCVI.

            TIME PAST NEVER RETURNS.

                        Under sail, June 16, 1758.

   FOOLISH  man thinks he is born to live to himself,
 and that he is lord of his own time, to spend it as he
 pleases ; but, alas !  he is mistaken, for he should live
 to God, and spend his time to his glory.  How watch-
 ful, then,  on  a double account, should I be over my
 time ; first, because I cannot recal it when past; I can-
 not bring again  my childish years, or fetch back my
 more advanced days. Now, on the sea, I cannot recal
 the  time I spent on land ; nor, when at land again, this
 time I  spend  at  sea ; yea, I cannot lengthen out the
 minute, or make the passing moment lie too, till I fin-
 ish the sentence. I cannot say to time, as Joshua once
- did  to the sun, " Stand thou still," for it is in continual
 progression.  The  sand-glass of my  life pours down
 night and day;  and though the gradual waste seems
 trifling, yet how soon shall  the last sand be run, and 
276
THE TRAVELLER.
 not a dust left 1 and then there is no turning of the
 glass again.
   Secondly,  As time cannot be recalled, so the things
 done in time  cannot be disannulled.  I cannot undo my
 deeds, unspeak  my words, and unthink my thoughts.
 It would be  less galling,  did time fly off in a blank ;
 but it is full of records, for as it is always on flight, so
 the soul is never idle, but is at work night and  day,
 which we little think of.  How would it mitigate our
 mournful reflections, if we could get our wicked deeds
 undone, and  our bad actions annihilated !  but still they
 are actions once done,  and stand on record, to shew
 either the mercy of God when we are pardoned, or  to
 condemn us  when we  are judged.  I said,  time past
 never returns, and so it never  does, for us  to mend
 what we  have done amiss ; but mispent  time is pre-
 sent to torment the wicked through  eternity.
   How cautious should I be in spending time which  is
 so precious,  and on which so  much depends !  The
 past is entirely lost, the present is on the wing, and
 the future is  uncertain.  The past is mine  no more,
 the future never may be mine, and the present is mine
 but for a moment.  In the time past I can do  nothing,
 as it is already fled ; in the time present I  can do little,
 as it is on the wing; and in the time to come, as it lies
 concealed, I know not what I may do.   So then  the
 presi nt breathing, this very twinkling, the single mo-
 ment, and naked now, is mine without the  least appen-
 dix of time past or  to come,  but in reflection on the
 one, and expectation of the other.   The present only
is n ine, which, while I use, wasteth, while I  possess,
passeth away. In a little the angel shall lift up his hand
to heaven, and swear, by him that  liveth for ever and
ever, that time shall be no more.  And as past time
never returns, t>o the works I leave unfinished in time) 
              THE TRAVELLER.           277

 cannot be wrought out in eternity.   The foolish vir-
 gins will find no oil to buy in the other world; no accep-
 table repentance in the pit; no work nor device in the
 silent grave.
   I sec, then, that every moment of time is of great
 consequence to one on whose time eternity depends-
 O to spend that well which is so valuable, till acquitted
 in  mercy at the  end of time ! Now, as  time passes
 not to return, so all the things of time pass, both trou-
 bles and pleasures, never to return; but to render eter-
 nity, in all its beatific exccllencies,a state of truest and
 sublimest happiness, it  is a permanent, present, and
 abiding duration, and eternal now, that knows no after
 btate, no futurity, or succession of revolving periods.
 Then, may it be my happiness, that when time passes
 from me, never to return, and eternity of glory, to con-
 summate my bliss, may be present with me, never to
 pass away !


             MEDITATION XCVII."'

 ON SHIPS STEERING DIFFERENT COURSES WITH THE
                   SAME WIND.

                       Under sail, June 10,  1758.

   IT is surprising that one wind should carry ships to
 the different points of the compass, even to quite oppo-
 site points ; but this is owing to the setting of the sails,
 and steering of the helm.
   And is it not more surprising, that the same wind
 that forwards the  saints heavenward, should drive the
 wicked nearer hell ?  If the godly have their fair wind
of  prosperity,  then, like  Jacob, they  confess their
                       2 
278           THE TRAVELLER.

smallness, and that God has done all for them ; or, [ik-c
David, come and  sit before God, and  pour out  the
ebulations of a greatful heart ; or if the  saints (which
is frequently the case) are tossed with the rough wind
of adversity, then they hear the rod, and who hath ap-
pointed it, turn to him that smiteth them, and see that
it is good that they have been afflicted, avowing, with
that  eminent saint,  "Though he slay me, yet  will I
trust in him."  But the wicked, if full, forget God, and
wax  wanton ; if they have no changes,  they fear  not
God  ;  if Heaven bestows plenty  on them, they con-
sume it on their lusts ; nor does adversity with them,
mend the matter, for, like Ahaz, in their distress they
trespass yet more against the Lord ; and, like the rem-
nant of the Jews who were mad on idolatry, that very
sin for which their  land was  laid desolate and their
temple burnt, while suffering for sin, they continue in
sin.   The  same crucified Jesus is a stumbling-block
to the Jews, and to  the Greeks  foolishness, but the
power of God, and the wisdom of God, to the true
Christian.  The ordinances of grace soften and  im-
prove the saints for  glory, but harden and prepare the
sinners for wrath.   The patience of God leads the  one
daily to repentance,  the other to presumption.  The
terrors of the Lord  deter the first from sinning,  but
drive the last to despair.
  Hence they may live together in one house, enjoy
the same privileges, share in the same common mer-
cies, rest in the same tranquility, and be partakers of
the same outward comforts and happiness; or be visit-
ed with the same  trials, walk under the same  cross,
drink of the  same  cup of adversity,  and share the
same afflictions;  and yet out of both conditions the
«nc shall extract food and medicine, the other poison 
              THE TRAVELLER.           279

and death : by either wind the one shall arrive at hea-
ven and glory, the other at perdition and woe.
  Hence may I, like the wise mariner, make the best
of a contrary wind, of cross dispensations, and adverse
providences, and, in spite of opposition, reach my hap-
py port at last, having my soul brought into a sub-
missive frame to every turn  of life and crook of 1st
that providence may lay in my way.
            MEDITATION XCVIII.

      ON  BEING DRIVEN BACK TO  HARBOUR.

                 Lying off I'ranee, June 17, 1.758.

  THERE is an unseen rotation of circumstances ac*
cidental to all conditions of life, which we cannot pro-
vide against.  Had we known yesterday that we should
have been driven back to-day, we had not left our sta-
tion, nor undergone toil, danger, and damage.  Even
so,  how many fruitless efforts have the  sons  of men
made in pursuit of temporal things, where the people
weary themselves for very vanity !  So is his fate who
sets out  for  happiness below ; for after a thousand
tackings  and turnings to the empty creature for satis-
faction, still the wind of vanity and vexation of spirit,
which  spreads over the whole universe,  and blows in
the face of every  son of man, brings him back, with
boisterous squalls, to where he first set out, to see his
folly, and  confess his mistake.  So must the Christian
lay  his account to meet with crosses in his course, for
it is through much tribulation that we must enter into
the  kingdom.   Often in the day of darkness and tem-
pest, the  believer is apt to doubt his progress heaven-
ward, and to think himself still in the port of a natural 
280           THE TRAVELLER.
state ; butasthe seaman, that would reach his desired
haven, however often he be blown back, must still put
to sea again, so the Christain, whatever  storms and
tempests roar around him, must still endeavour to be-
lieve on his all-sufficient Saviour, who with equal ease
can save the signer from hell as the saint from falling
away.        *
   Again, as it is safer for a ship in a storm to stand to
sea, than make the shore, lest she be wrecked upon
the rocks that lie along ; so every disciple of Jesus is
to contend earnestly for the faith once delivered to the
saints, is to hold fast the form of sound words, is to
avoid luke-warmness,  hypocrisy  and defection, lest
thereby he be undone for ever.   Finally whatever the
seaman  does,  the  Christian must still  hold  on  his
course through storms and tempests till  he arrive at
the heavenly shore.


             MEDITATION XC1X.

     THE SPIRITS OF JUST MEN MADE PERFECT.

                 Lying off Normandy, June, 1758.

   MANY are the articles of the heavenly bliss, many
are the joys of the higher house, and the sweet society
and company is no small part of the happiness of the
general  assembly and church of the first-born.  Whciv
sobriety is fashionable, we too little esteem the saints,
these excellent ones of the  earth ;  but when  we arc
among the blackest sons of vice, we learn to compute
otherwise, and clearly see the worth of the saints.   Ac-
cordingly, it is one branch of the blessedness of be-
lievers,that they shall be brought "to the spirits of just
 men."   But, as even the godly here-away are apt to be 
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THE TRAVELLER.           285
most distressing vicissitudes of lot; for in this promise,
which is sweeter than honey, and the honey-comb, the
ear of faith may hear God speaking thus, " Believer,
canst thou for shame look sad, or grudge the tempo-
ral happiness of any, who hast the treasures of eter-
nity reserved for thee !  Neither should it vex  thee
too much, that thy situation is not such as thou wouldst
in a transient world,  seeing thou art ever to be with
me, where all my perfections shine, and all my glory
beams forth."  O how happy, then, are the saints of
God,  who may put on a  cheerful countenance even in
the general conflagration ; and if so, how much more
under a few disappointments which are sent  for wise
endsvand redound to their spiritual good in the issue.
Invested with  this  celestial charter,  well  may we
smile, though all nature frown,  and triumph, though
an angry world rage   By this wc dwell in the sun-
beam, and walk in endless light; nor need be greatly
troubled at the loss of all things.  But what do I  say ?
For how can the  heirs  of God, and joint-heirs  with
Christ, loose any thing ut all ?  The thief only removes
his stolen goods from one place  to another ;   how,
then,  can he  that fills heaven and earth be  stolen ?
Ah ! cruel unbelief only  attempts the horrid sacrilege
to steal Christ from the  heart,  but such a promise  as
this bids defiance to the  monster; and while we ex-
pect its full accomplishment (nor let the time seem
long)  the day dawns, which ends  the  dark night of
our sinning and suffering, and translates us to the
realms of bliss, wherc-r-but eternity only can declare
what it is to be with him,  whose presence  makes a
heaven, and whose love  is better than life ; and what
it is to enjoy all the fulness of the Godhead,  as far e.s
glorified creatures can. 
236           THE TRAVELLER.


              MEDITATION CHI.

             APPROACHING FRUITION.

                       Hamoaze, Dec. 28, 1760.

  STILL, my soul, in spite of all thy fears, remember
thatthe nay-spring of eternity knows its place, and wiil
appear at the appointed time.   Sin's gloomy night is
far spent, and the morning drawing near, when all the
thick shades will dissolve in endless light.  A few rev-
olutions will bring the longed-for day, when he shall
appear without sin unto salvation.  A general  shout
shall welcome his second coming, and united hallelu-
jah's attend the triumphant Judge (when sin and sin-
ners are no more) to the highest heaven, where the
bliss of saints and angels is complete, without the least
shadow of change.  O how sweet the warblings of ce-
lestial song, how fair the beauties of eternal noon, and
how divine the glories of the throne I
  What must the promised land be in the eternal pos-
session, when the account of the  two faithful spies,
faith and hope, backed by the divine record, is so rav-
ishing ! Creation can scarcely furnish fine enough
materials for comparison, much less for ourbli3s itself.
There  gold is but the dust of our feet, pearls the  gates
of our city, and gems the foundations of our  walls.
The sun is an extinguished taper in the diviner blaze
of glory.   The stream and tree of life, at  which we
feed, continue us immortal.  But all this is only the
index of our happiness,for God reveals himself to every
glorified saint in ways not known before,  and then
what transport fills the soul,  what floods of pleasure
rise, and deluge every power of mine ! O how shall
IJlie dissolved in ecstacy through love's eternal day • 
             THE TRAVELLER.           287

But this abundance of  joy shall not have the effect it
has on earthen vessels here, to crack and crush them,
but shall strengthen all my  inward man, that  I may
praise like angels,and love like seraphim.   What rap-
tures shall  arise from that intimate communion my
soul shall then enjoy with God, though now my words
cannot express it, and  my thoughts cannot conceive of
it 1 Then there shall  not be the least remains of sin
in my soul, not a wandering thought, which now at
my best times troubles me, nor a frown in the counte-
nance of God, and therefore no more grief or sorrow.
Then I  shall fear him out of the purest  love, serve
him, and not be afraid  ; approach and come  close to
his throne, and yet not be accused of presumption.  I
shall  see him, and not die, and enjoy the nearest and
sweetest fellowship with him for ever, without being
in danger of a wound from spiritual pride.   Then will
God  in very deed dwell with men, and in men ; and
then, O how full shall my soul be of God, and how sa-
tisfied with  the society of the heavenly inhabitants !
God stamped on every soul, dwelling in every breast,
possessing every thought,  the subject of every song,
and the object of all our love, renders the whole celes-
tial multitude happy, extremely and eternally happy!
              MEDITATION CIV

INFINITE AND ETERNAL PROPERTIES OF  THE BLISS
                     ABOVE.

                                   Jan. 4, 1761.

  HAD I but one moment's glance of the glorious^
though created sun, which, while I began to gaze, were
concealed, never to be seen again, such a view would 
288           THE TRAVELLER.
only kindle an anxious curiosity, but not satisfy  one
longing desire; even so, a passing glimpse of the ce-
lestial glory would only set on edge, but never satisfy
the holy appetite of the  heaven-born soul.   There is
an immortality in my soul, and there is an eternity in
my portion.  Vast are the demands of the renewed
mind, such as the whole creation cannot satisfy ; but in
God's sacred super-abundance, in his infinite fulness,
there is enough and to spare.  What divine harmony
in all respects  takes  place above !  God, the enjoy-
ment of whom is  paradise and bliss, is infinite, and
every faculty of the soul is capacitated, in the highest
degree, to enjoy much of God ; and our divine com-
munion and fellowship also is eternal.  What keeps
the worldling in perpetual anguish, but because  his
portion here is neither complete nor permanent ? Yea,
what would the bliss above be,if either infinity or eter-
nity could be separated from it ? for what would avail
the possession of crowns and kingdoms, nay, of more
substantial bliss, if but for a moment ? and what would
perpetuity itself profit, if spent but in gazing on  a
glow-worm, or enjoying a circumscribed good ? Well,
but it is otherwise here; for when wafted to the higher
house, to the heaven of heavens, I shall find myself in
the midst of ineffable glories, and plunged among infi-
nite beatitudes,  and all the unbounded emanations of a
Deity,  whose every perfection may through endless
ages employ the whole multitude of glorified admirers.
Butwhile his eternal excellencies possessmy ravished
powers, and all his goodness passes before me, how
would my  finite  mind be pained that I can comprehend
so little of this almighty all, if not comforted on the
other hand with this, that I shall go on, and grow in
knowing God through eternity !  O eternity, eternity !
how much shall my soul know of God before ten thou- 
THE TRAVELLER.           289
sand years are spent! and yet  these cannot diminish
the eternal duration one moment!  And, as my por-
tion, even after all that I shall have seen, adored, and
enjoyed, will remain full and overflowing, being infi-
nite; so the time of possession, communion, and enjoy-
ment, even after ages of bliss are elapsed, will always
continue the same, being eternal.
              MEDITATION CV.

                  BAD  COMPANY.

                     Hamoazc, January 11, 1761.

  SOMETIMES our situation may be solitary, our
friends  being cut off from us  by  death, or we from
them by distance ; or our company may be such for
a while  as that the safety of our souls forbids us to con-
verse with it. It is become customary with us to com-
plain of this, and to cry out for the communion of the
saints;  and indeed it must be owned, that as iron
sharpenethiron, so doth the  face of a man his friend.
Vet, if grace is at work to find God in every circum-
stance, even this prejudice may be turned into a spir-
itual advantage; for, alas ! I may  fondly meet with
my fiicnds, and freely talk vvith them, and yet Christ
have little of the conversation, though the kind Author
of our bliss should often be the subject of  our  dis-
course ; but when my company is such  that I shun lo
sit with  them, then I dwell alone, and seek after com-
munion  with God himself; and while faith gets a view
of his divine love, and dazzling  perfections, I can
never want matter for meditation.
                      A a 
290           THE TRAVELLER.
  Thus the right improvement of a eross, which ii»
itself is heavy and afflicting, even sojourning  in Mc-
sech with the sons of consummate folly, may produce
the greatest blessing, even communion with the Most
High.   And, though I am not to expect a voice from
heaven to cany on a dialogue with mc, yet, by his spir-
it  speaking  in the scriptures, and  breathing on my
soul, I  m.iy converse with God, and talk of the glories
of the  world to come.  Yea, this situation, though in
itself mournful, is not barren of useful instructions ;
for  I learn, 1. What a pleasant place the  church and
Zion of God  is, where saints may talk together of
redeeming love,  till their hearts  burn within them.
2. That the expectants of the better country are  too
shy to tell to one another what God hath done for their
aouls,  that all may give him  praise.  3. That  one
Christian is readier to receive hurt from the wordly and
carnal  discourse of another, than from the belchings
of the profane; for this drives him to God, but the
other,  though not to his profit, gains upon him by its
seeming innocence.  4. That no confusion or confine-
ment can hinder the rightly-exercised soul from walk-
ing at large in the promise, and with God.  I may have
neither field nor garden to walk into,and yet walkover
the fields of bliss, and take  a tour through the para-
dise of God ; my situation may, in a great measure,
forbid  the use of my voice in my devotions, yet I  may
cry and be heard in the  highest  heavens.  5. To ad-
mire and adore the  goodness of God that turns all
things lo the believer's advantage, who, when asso-
ciated  with men that seem incarnate devils,  may en-
tertain heavenly meditation, and maintain  communion
with the God of angels.  6. To put a proper estimate
on  the saints ; to choose all the members of my family
of such ;  and to be ready to break off other theme a, 
THE TRAVELLER.           291
and begin the divine subject among them.   And, 7.
To look forward to that day when the wicked shall fall
oft' round about us, as the falling leaves from a frost-
bitten tree, and wc shall rise to dwell among glorious
angels, and perfected saints, where we shall  talk of
him and  lo him for ever, and not a wretch break in to
mar our dearest, our divinest theme.
              MEDITATION CVI.

          ON  GOING BKYOND  THE LINE.

               Plymouth Sound, March 14,  1761.

  COMMANDED by our Sovereign, vvith cheerful-
ness we l<»ave our native land, and pursue our course
through  raging and  extensive oceans,  to unknown
climes abroad, though we may  meet with enemies, be
overtaken with diseases, and  must  pant beneath a
scorching sun.   Why  then, O my soul 1  afraid,  at
thy heavenly Sovereign's command, to pass the line of
lime into the wide ocean of eternity, and unknown
worlds above, seeing thou hast his divine promise for
thy protection in the hour of death, and the sure hope
of a non-such friend  before thee,  who is Lord of all
the unknown regions of glory ?
  The saint should  even rejoice in the prospect of
death, wliich turns out to his immense, his everlasting
gain ; for here he may  have little or nothing, there is
his inheritance ; here he may be an exile, there he is
at home ; here a stranger, there among his friends;
here often mourning without the sun, but there eter-
nally with God.
  One, from the large  quantity of stores and provis-
ions of all kinds which  is brought aboard, might well 
292           THE TRAVELLER.
conclude we were not designed  for channel-service,
but for some distant part of the world : O ! then, see-
ing I have such a long voyage before me, and must
live in worlds to come, how is my  soul provided ? what
have I in hand, what have  I in hope ? have I the pro-
mise, and Christ in the promise in hand ? and its full
accomplishment in the full enjoyment of him in hope ?
Were I only to coast on the shores of time, die like
the beasts,  and be no more, to be  unprovided would
not be a crime.  But to launch into eternity without
the provision proper for an immortal soul,  is  more
desperate madness than for ships to sail to the farthest
Indies without bread, wood and water.
  It affects me a little to go abroad, and not know if
ever I shall return to my native land, or see a friend I
have in life ; but faith's enlarged vUiw sha* dissipate
the gloom, for the sun shines as brightly on the other
side of the line as this ;  the stars  twinkle alike richly
in all quarters ; and heaven, surround'ng the whole
globe, is alike near to all places ; yea, God being ev-
ery where present, he that lives in him cannot be di-
vided from him, or die out of him, by distance from
his  country and his friends, but at the hour of dissolu-
tion shall go to be for ever with  the Lord, where  he
shall be allowed the nearest approaches, and  most in-
timate communion with him that  dwells in light inac-
cessible and full of glory. 
THE TRAVELLER.
292
             MEDITATION  CVII.

  ON A POPISH PROCESSION, TO PREVENT THE RE-
            TURN OF AN EARTHQUAKE.

                         Madeira, April 2,  1761.

  OF all curses, those that are spiritual are most ter-
rible ;  and none more dismal than to be given up to
strong delusions to believe a lie.  Do these men think
that the Deity is like children, pleased with pomp, and
novelty, and show ? When the power of religion de-
cayed in the soul, it came  more and more into bodily
exercises, which profit little, and into external forms
and farces.  Will a few boys, creeping on their hands
and feet, before you through the streets, make the
heart-searching God believe you are truly humbled ?
do ye substitute the walking bare-footed along a stony
cause-way, in the room of walking with God by faith ?
imagine ye to avert divine wrath by gently whipping
your naked bodies ? or are such touches of the flesh
equal to a  real sorrow for, and turning from sin ?
Think ye God has ceased lo be a spirit, and no more
demands to be worshipped in spirit and in truth, but,
like the idols of old, with the fooleries of men ?  Are
the graces of  the Holy Ghost converted into bodily
gestures ?  and can your being veiled in a mournful
manner deceive him who seeth through the thick
darkness ?  Think ye, the  carrying a piece of wood,
in the form of a cross, through your city, will  awe
the earthquake  into eternal silence ? or will God look
down propitious on the  image of your saint and pat-
roness which ye  have made  in breach of his own
express command ? Our blessings must come through
                     A a 2 
294
THE TRAVELLER.
his hands that suffered on the cross, and for his sake,
but we must expect nothing from the cross itself.  Of
old the doctrine of the cross was foolishness to Jews
and heathen Greeks ;  but now the  cross, while its
divine doctrine is dropped, is very folly among nomi-
nal Christians.
  Now, if God, who has another time to judge, should,
in his  general forbearance and common  mercy, not
send a second sliock,  how will they be persuaded of
the prevalency of their procession, and thus be hard-
ened in their superstition and delusion ! O with what
fervour, for it is the interest of Christ;  with what con-
stancy, for souls  are precious ; with what tenderness,
for they are our fellow-creatures and brethren, should
all the reformed churches pray for the destruction of
the man of sin, and the fall of Babylon, that nations who
have nothing but shadows for substance, rites for re-
ligion, and the inventions of men for the doctrines of
truth, may  walk  in the light, and enjoy the  liberty of
the glorious gospel!
  But  shall I forget the special favour of Heaven to
me ? fcr it  was not by  chance that I was born in a Pro-
testant land, but  by the good will of  him wh© hath de-
termined the times before appointed,  and the bounds
of the  habitation of every individual  under the sun.


             MEDITATION CVIII.

           SAILING IN THE TORRID ZONE.

                                  April 11, 1761.
   What extremes are found on this little ball that is
 hung upon nothing!  Here nations tremble among
 mountains of ice,  and deluges of snow ;  there  king-
 doms pant under a scorching sun, and breathe in a sul- 
THE TRAVELLER.
29 j
try air; while others (though perhaps not better pleased
with their situation than the former) have but a mode-
rate degree of either.   It fares the same way with the
rational world as it does with the  terrestrial globe;
here some live in chilling penury, there others wanton
in enfeebling luxury and wealth, while some have the
golden mean,the desirable sufficiency,and yet,like the
inhabitants of the temperate zone, are scarce content
with their situation ,or thankful for the mercies of their
lot.  The inhabitants of one country think that another
country abounds with the plenty of the universe ; but
he that tries all,  finds a deficiency in each.  But what-
ever diffeiency there be among men with  respect to
the bounds of their habitation, surely the whole world
dwell either under Sinai's tremendous thunderings, or
Zion's peaceful voice.  The situation of the one is ter-
rible, but of the other triumphant.  And what is awfully
surprizing, is, that though the thunders are both loud
and long, yet, being asleep in sin, they hear them not,
and so bless their state, till the terrors of death, rouse
every organ to be with the deepest anguish, attentive
lo the everlasting thunderings of. an avenging God.
But the still small voice,being accompanied with divine
power,, speaks into the very hearts of those, who, by
believing on the mediator of the new covenant, are
come to the heavenly Mount Zion.
  A warm sun, and a bright day, are big words among
the northern nations, who  have often a cloudy sky, a
short noon,  and  a long cold night.  So affluence and
plenty are words of a big meaning to them whom pov-
erty follows, and from whom pity flies ; but it is bet-
ter to struggle with losses and crosses, if so the graces
of the soul be kept alive, than to lie on abed of down,
fall asleep in carnal security, and  never more awake.
It is dangerous to swim in hot seas, where sharks, or 
296
THE TRAVELLER.
along shores where alligators devour; and doubly so
to wallow in wealth and case, where lusts and Satan
destroy.
  The European beauty would not exchange her fair
face with a swarthy complexion, for all the treasures of
the south ; and should the Christian  who is all-glori-
ous within, choose a condition that may cast a blemish
on his better part, like Jeshurun, who, when he waxed
fat, kicked ;  and in his greatness forgot him that made
him great ?  More venomous creatures crawl in those
countries which never felt a cold clay, than in such as
annually feel a pinching winter.  So, generally speak-
ing, more corruptions  (pride, lust,  carnal security,
wrath, &c.) abound among such as are finely cloathed,
and fare sumptuously every day, than among those
that sit down to one meal, and know  but little how to
provide the next.
  But again, are the distant beams (for even under the
meridian line the  sun is millions of miles removed
from  us) of a burning mountain,  or a  measurable
world of fire, so excessively hot and scorching ? then
what must the wrajh of  the Almighty be ?   Though
all the sky were full of scorching suns, they could con-
vey no idea of thy terrible  indignation.  Who, then,
can describe thy terrors, or the fierceness of thy wrath ?
immensity can only measure its extent, and eternity
its duration ;  well then may it awe a finite worm into
silence.------ 
THE TRAVELLER.            297
               MEDITATION CIX

           UNDER THE DIRECT MERIDIAN.

                Lat. 0. W. Lon. 9, April  16, 1761.

   STRETCHING towards the south, we are at last
 arrived at the true meridian, where our eyes need not
 travel through spacious.skies, or journey towards the
 chambers of the south, to findthe glorious Lord of day;
 seeing from the summit of the skies he shoots down
 his perpendicular beams, and gives the brightest day*
 This appearance would look strange  in the northern
 isles, and therefore invites to some meditation.  Then,
 as one that is always sailing  to the south, though some-
 times he  may be  overtaken with calms, or  contrary
 winds, yet sooner or later will reach  the line ; so the
 Christian that steers his course heavenward,  though
 he may have many heavy obstructions, from without,
 and from within, as the contrary winds of strong temp-
 tation, the bursting squalls  of inbred corruption, and
 the no less dangerous calms of spiritual sloth and car-
 nal security, shall, in  spite of all, reach the meridian
 of glory.  Indeed, the poor sailor may perish before
 he can come to his port; but the believer,  having his
 anchor within the vail, though earth and hell, and re- ■■>■
 mainingsin, the worst of all the three, often threaten
 his ruin, shall  safely arrive  at the haven which he de-
 sires to see, and then shall he remember the perils of
 his passage, and dangers of the sea, only in  grateful
 songs to his divine Deliverer.
  Never was I apparently so near the  sun as now, and
yet never did the sun seem so high above  me : So it
is with the Christian ; the more he knows of God, and
the  nearer he is permitted to approach to his throne, 
298
THE TRAVELLER.
God is the higher in his esteem, and the more glorious
in his adoring eye, while he is the lower in his own
sight, yea, ready to sink into nothing while admitted to
unclouded views of the divine majesty.  And this, and
this only, is the desirable situation below, when the
soul, in deep humility, adores the high  and lofty One
who inhabits eternity, wholly emptied of himself, and
fully replenished with God.
  Again, only under the  meridian can I set  my face
every way, and look up  and see  the sun, because he
shines straight above my head, and all in the same lati-
tude share the  same amazing noon; so in the  land of
glory shall the Sun of righteousness shine in all the
brightness of his uncreated beauty,into every soul, and
be no more a rising, a sotting, or a cl^fcded sun, but
eternally dwell in the full view of all lis numerous
adorers.   The Deity,  in  his most ampl5*revelations,
in his most satisfying  manifestations, shall fill all the
higher house ; yea, every entranced  adorer sees God*
in one another, for seraphims and cherubims Dime in
his  brightness ; angels and archangels sing and shout
in his day, and  all  the saints shine in'his similitude.
Nothing is there (for the fearful and final separation
has taken place, O tremendous day !) but God and
goodness, but innocence and peace, but sanctity and
joy, but harmony and song, transport and delight, love
and illumination.
  Here or.!'bright di.v hits an enfeebling influence,
and our high sun-beams almost insufferably hot; but
there (O ! shall such an one as  I be ever there ?) I
shall bask in his noon-day beams, and share the efful-
gence of his inconceivable divinity, yet not dissolve into
inactivity and death, but thereby be invigorated for ihc
whole task of an eternal adorer ! 
THE TRAVELLER.
299
  Is this globe of light and ball of fire, so ariiazingly
majestic, that heathen  nations have  given him divine
honour as a God ?  then how incomprehensibly great,
how ineffably glorious  must Jehovah be,  whose bare
word  spake such a beauty into being !  and is my eter-
nal noon to be by the brightness of his presence, the
emanations of his love, and the  glory of his power ?
yea, is even Jehovah himself to be my light and day,
iny life and bliss, my portion and song ?  what  then,
though some few dark nights intervene, since this day
is on  the wing, when  my views shall all be  bright,
because in his light I shall see light  clearly  ? O these
transporting, these transforming views, that shall for
ever entertain every enquiring, enlarged  faculty  of
soul;  Henceforth let my soul dwell by faith  in endless
noon, till over all my shades this endless noon  prevail.
              MEDITATION CX.

 UNDER THE MERIDIAN, THE SUN AND MOON HIGH.

              N. Latitude 5°. 35'. April 19, 1761.

  WHFN the starry heavens engaged my attention in
the northern climes, many of their bright inhabitants*
and the moon herself, seemed low to me ;  but here,
under the meridian, not only the sun but the moon in
her proper  hour possesses the summit of the sky, and
the bright beauties  which  seemed to be in some de-
pressed station, partake in the same exaltation.  Now,
is not this a lively picture of that happy and triumphant
state that the  militant church shall be  exulted to at
In.-51 ? Christ is ascended  up on high, not for himself
(for as God he is over all blessed for ever") but as our
reprcs ji.tativc,and in our name, that w'iere he is,therc 
soo
THE TRAVELLER.
we may be also ; and as his Father has a seat on  his
throne for his beloved Son, so has the Son promised
that such as overcome shall sit with him in his throne ;
yea, every saint shall partake of his Redeemer's glory,
for if we suffer with him, we shall also reign with him ;
and if we confess him, before an abandoned world, he
will also confess us before assembled men and angels.
  Then, although the  moon suffer an eclipse, it is not
to be thought that a planet is destroyed, for she shall
yet reflect many  a bright beam,  and, to some parts of
the   world, run  in  an elevated orbit; so it is with
saints in particular, and the church  in general, they
may be both low and little in the account of carnal men,
but they are not the less noble  in themselves, nor of
smaller account with God.  The certainty of this  ex-
alted state may  well support us  under  the deepest
abasements,for because he lives,  we shall live also, and
every member shall rejoice with his glorified Head.
What though the saints now suffer under diversified tri-
als, like the inhabitants of the frozen north,who have on-
ly a peep of day through the whole winter, but are har-
assed with one burst of tempests,one coveringof snow,
and one field of ice ; since they may  look a little for-
ward, and see themselves placed in these happy  re-
gions where their divine Sun sheds eternal noon, and
makes them shine forth as stars in thekingdom of their
Father! 
              THE TRAVELLER.           301


              MEDITATION CXI.

  A SQUALL OF RAIN, LIGHTNING, AND THUNDER.

                                April 20,  1761.

  THE other day, when the meridian sun brightened
a cloudless sky with amazing effulgence, and all round
about was light and beautv, I did not dream that such
a tremendous night would so soon ensue.  The winds
blowing  with amazing  vigor, the disquieted ocean
roaring beneath,  the glaring lightnings flashing over
the whole heaven, the broken clouds pouring out floods
of water, and the rolling thunders echoing the majesty
of the Eternal, through the conscious void, makeup
the awful scene.   So trouble and disappointment will
olten break in on the most beautiful prospect of sub-
lunary felicity, and raise a hurricane amidst the most
perfect calm.' Hence, we should learn, amidst the pos-
session or expectation of any created bliss, or temporal
good, tu hold all we have or hope for, at the kind hand
of the Sovereign Disposer of all things, of whose con-
duct none of his saints could ever yet complain.
  Again, if the least contest among the elements, pro-
duce such dreadful effects, how terrible must the state
of sinners be, who wage eternal war with heaven, and
shall have the arrows of  the Almighty  within  them,
the poison whereof drinketh up their soul !
  No place or latitude can at times boast of so delight-
ful a day, but  at other times no place undergoes a more
dismal night; so let churches in  general, and saints in
particular, stand in awe to sin, and beware of presum-
ing on their privileges, saying, The temple of the Lord,
the temple of the Lord are these; and, We have Abra-
                       B b 
5©2           THE TRAVELLER.
ham to our father ; for of all people  none arc more
severely punished than those that he has made ap-
proach nearest to him : " You only have I known of all
the families of the earth, therefore will I punish you
for all your sins."  Capernaum, that was lift up to hea-
ven, is threatened to be thrust down to hell, for abusing
these singular blessings ; and Jerusalem, the beloved
city,whither resorted the chosen tribes,where stood the
holy temple, and where God was served, and manifest-
ed his glorious presence, yet for her  sins, oftener than
once had it done to her as it had not been done under
the whole heaven.
   Woe, then, a triple woe, to the poor apostate, who
has once tasted of the good word of God, and has been
made partaker of the  Holy Ghost, and tasted of the
heavenly gift,  and the powers of the world to come,
when he  falls from God, and falls into his hands as an
offended, angry, and avenging judge  ! Oh ! with what
care should he that thinks he stands, look to his ways,
that he may never fall!
   This heavy rain reminds me of the deluge ; the fire
and thunder, of Sodom's overthrow.  The first shews
me how the old world perished, the last how this world
shall be destroyed. The bellowing wind proclaims ship-
wreck to the sailor, and the sudden squall bids me be
always ready for the worst event, and the whole scene
summed  up together, preaches to me the goodness,
the power, and providence of God. 
              THE  TRAVELLER.           SOI


             MEDITATION  CXII.

                   EMULATION.

   S. Latitude 16°. W. Longitude 26°. May 10, 1761.

  IT was a saying of Moses, the man of God, when
one told him  that two men prophesied in the camp,
" Enviest thou for my sake ?  would to God all the
Lord's people were prophets."   The holy man took it
not amiss that others had of the same spirit he had, to
perform the same functions,and shine in the same char-
acter.   What a shame is  it, then, that the saints and
sons of God should envy one another for the excellen-
ciesoftheir gifts and graces! IfGod be greatly glorified
by any, should I be greatly displeased that it is not by
me ? shall I contend with God about his distribution of
blessings, and begrudge his liberality to anymore than,
myself? Does one minister darken  another in preach-
ing,  or one saint excel another in prayer? who of
Christ's servants can bedarkenediftheii Master shine?
or who of his saints will not bless him for his goodness
to others as well as to themselves ?
  It is as base to be peevish because of the excellen-
cies of others, as to be proud of our own.  Our great,
our universal struggle should be to set up God on high,
and our great joy should  be to  see him set on high,
whoever be the happy instrument. Ah, how base to
bow the ear to vulgar applause, and listen to, or lust
after,  empty fame !   In  the natural  body, is the one
hand affronted that the other hand wears the signet or
the ring ? and among David's worthies, were the thirty
chagrined that they did not attain  to  the first three ?
then why should taints and the servants of God, envy
for one another's sake ! Surely, it is rare to have sin- 
,"">-{•
THE TRAVELLER.
gular gifts and graces, and  not know of it; and it is
almost impossible to know it, and not be puffed up in
a greater or Jess degree.  O what a degree of humility
should the spiritual worthy pray for, lest at any time
he be puffed up ! Should the servant of Jesus take it
ill that hearers flock more after others than  himself,
seeing it is, at least  should  be,  still Christ they  are
running after ? can it vex him, if he speak in sincerity,
because some are masters of more eloquence than he ?
  O for that noble disposition of minding  the things
of others as well as mine own, and blessing God with
cheerfulness for the singular gifts  of others  whereby
he  is glorified, which should  be  my whole aim, as
well as for mine own 1 Let others excel in setting thee
upon high, though thou shouldst always refuse my ser-
vice. Let the spiritual temple be built,though I should
never lay  one  stone in the  edifice.   Give liberally*
very liberally, to all thy saints and  servants, and mine
eye shall  never be evil because thine is good.  It is
enough to be  a cup in thy bouse,  though others be
fccwls and flaggons.   Surely the loyal subject wil! give
his  joyful acclamation  at the coronation of his  king,
though not permitted to place the crown on his head,
or perform any of the ceremonies.   Is there any dis-
sonance among the stars (nor should there be among
the saints)because one star cxcelleth another in glory  I
  Such and such gifts, or such and such  degrees in
these gifts, which I emulate for, might hurt me.  Fire
may be kept in a brasen  vessel, which would burn a
wooden one. Boiling water might crack a glass bottle,
but not a  stone bowl: so  these qualifications which  I
think would make me all vigour and spirit, might hurt
my  spirit  in more spiritual ihings.  Few, like Moses,
could carry a command so vastly great, with a vastly
greater meekness j  or have  the humility to cover  his 
THE TRAVELLER.
SOS
face when it shines, and  reflect the glory God-ward.
Though I could pray like an apostle, and speak like
an angel, yet, if the least pride spring from the per !
formance, it were better to speak like a babbler, and
pray like a babe in grace.  I should press after grace
continually, and grace in the highest degree, without
which the noblest gifts will be but sound and smokes
without heat; while the weakest gifts, with true grace,
may edify both  myself and others.   I should rest sat-
isfied  in the all-wise disposal of Providence, who giv-
eth to all as he pleaseth, since, though there be diver-
sities  of gifts,  it is the same Spirit who knows best
how to divide, and to whom;  and if God  be exalted,
though I should exert myself, and would choose to
excel, yet I should not take it amiss, that in that excel-
lent work every one excels me, and out-does my ut-
most.   Finally, though my capacity may be weak, and
my faculties shallow, yet hereby may all my wants be
made  up, if I be rich in faith, to draw out ef his fulness
for my exigence;  in humility  and gratitude, to dis-
claim any thing in myself, and give him all the praise ;
and in love to  God,  to  pour out my whole  soul on
him, while he kindly dwells in  my heart, and replen-
ishes every power with his presence.
Bb 2 
306           THE TRAVELLER.


             MEDITATION CXIII.

                   BIRTH-DAY.

                  S. Latitude 26°, May 30, 1761.

  WHEN I dropped some thoughts last birth-day,  I
was uncertain tbjil should see another, but now may
be quite certain mat this day I shall never see again ;
therefore  I am another year nearer to the unseen
world, were my years  never so many.   Surely my
years, like figures in arithmetic, rise in their value as
their numbers increase, and tne last  redoubles the
whole.  Why ? so much experience of the vanity of
all things, so many providences ever working for me,
such fatherly chastisements, such rich displays of
grace, such divine admonitions, so many tender mer-
cies, and such sweet, sweet outlettings of love, leaves
a heavy charge at my  door, if I walk not answerably
to them all.
  Though I am still alive, and O that I could live to
him  in whom 1 live, yet several families both of my
friends and acquaintance  have  wept and wrung their
hands for their expiring friends, in the short period of
a year; and O how soon must I feel the mortal dart
fixed in my heart, and every sickening pulse proclaim
the approach of my last moments !
  Then  only thus  shall  I be before-hand with my
wasting years, and  get my  heart fenced against the
terrors of death, by having my life hid with Christ in
God, and my conversation in heaven ;  so should I an-
tedate my future happiness,  begin eternity in time,
and, like Enoch, walking with God, would get my soul
filled with such an ardent  flame of  heavenly Jove,
that I would have a desire to be dissolved, and to be 
             THE  TRAVELLER.           307

with him.  What a happy state were this; for death
would drop his sting, the grave would cease to gloom,
and awful eternity excite a song of triumph !  Thus,
while unprepared mortals tremble at the thoughts of
death,  I, longing for perfect freedom from sin, and
eternal communion with God,  in a kind of holy impa-
tience, would cry out,  Why is his chariot so long in
coming ? why tarry the wheels of his chariot ?
            MEDITATION CXIV.

THOUGH  WK WALK  ON EARTH,  OUR CONVERSATION
             SHOULD BE IN HEAVEN.

                   5. Latitude 10°, July 7,  1761.

  THE way-faring man has little on the fatiguing road
but his weary feet;  his heart being set on his family,
his friends,his home ; his affections on his native coun-
try, and his desires  terminating on his journey's end.
Then, am not I a traveller heaven-ward, a pilgrim, and
a  sojourner on earth ?  What then have I here,  or
whom have I here, to captivate my affections, and hin-
der them from being set on high ? If I have any trea-
sure, it must be in heaven, for nothing on  earth is
worthy of the name, seeing all terrene things take
wings, and fly away  ; or if they remain, it is but to be
consumed in the general conflagration.  Nothing sure
of mine should dwell in this world, but the body of my
mortality.  My inner man should be an inhabitant of
the better country : and it is highly reasonable it should
be so, for my hope, my joy,  my all are there.   1. The
Father of my spirit  is there, the beloved of my soul,
and the husband of mine espousals ; the sanctifier of
mine affections, and the kiudler of my love, is there. 
 308           THE TRAVELLER.

 2.  All my friends in a spiritual respect are there, even
 the whole family of my heavenly Father, angels, arch-
 angels, cherubims, seraphims, and the spirits of just
 men made perfect.  Who would not then dwell in such
 an  assembly, and love  such a divine society ?  3. My
 house and home are there, and it must be an estranged
 heart indeed that never thinks on his own house, and
 never longs for home.   4.  Mine inheritance  is there,
 and a goodly portion it is, and pleasant lines they are>
 that are fallen to me.  The  heirs of this world only
 farm from father to son, and death  determines the
 lease; but there every one inherits forhimself, and that
 for eternity.   5. The objects of my faith, the  subjects
 of my song, and the darling excellencies of my love,
 are all there ; and what soul would not dwell among
 such divine delights,  walk in such a paradise,  and
 breathe  in the very air of sanctity and bliss ?
  O what a loss do I sustain by my ignorance of the di-
 vine life, and by the carnality of my mind !  But is such
 an  happiness attainable below ?  Yes; the Christian,
 even here, may have his conversation in heaven, or (as
 the  word signifies) his civil life.   Then,  1.  He that
 lives a civil  life any where, must buy and sell, and do
 business with the men of his place ; so may I in hea-
 ven even buy the merchandise of bliss without money,
 and without price ;  and carry on the noblest business
 with the highest One in the most interesting concerns
 of my soul.  2. Where one lives he necessarily  walks
 and talks, eats and drinks, sleeps and  wakes ; so may
 my  soul  by faith walk over the fields of light, and talk
 with the Author of my bliss, the  fountain  of  my joyj
and the centre of my love :  there I may eat of the hid-
den manna, pluck off the drop-ripe apples of the tree
 of life, and drink of those rivers of pleasures that eter-
 nally overflow  in his presence j yea,  and  fall asleep 
THE TRAVELLER.
309
amidst the numerous beatitudes above,and awake with
God in the morning.
  Now,  as  one travelling home,  only attends to his
journey, and provides his viaticum,  his food for the
way ;  (nor  would his  friend greatly oblige him that
would load him with golden  dust,  or silver ore ;) so a
few of the necessaries of life are sufficient for my sup-
port, till I arrive at that better life that shall need no
such assistance.
  Then, seeing my house, my home, my friends, my
bliss, my joy, mine inheritance, my crown, my life, my
light, my glory, my Saviour and  my God, are all on
highland nothing here but a waste and howling wilder-
ness, through which I travel with  danger and dismay ;
thither let  my longings  tend, my wishes wing, and
there let my desires center, my affections be fixed, and
my whole 60ul dwell,that at death  nothing may remain
but to quit this house of clay, and  at once be a free and
immortal citizen of the Jerusalem above.
              MEDITATION CXV.

    GREAT LOVE IN GOB, THAT WE MAY LOVE .GOD.

               N. Latitude 0°, 18', July 19, 1761.

   O HOW ardently would I love thee, who art amia-
bleness itself!  Fain would I have my heart filled with
divine breathings after thee, who art all beauty and de-
sires ! but, alas !  I know not what it is to love thee,
which is the highest attainment of the first born sons
of light, and the best exercise of the brightest seraphs-
I have heard a  soul-warming fame of thy likeness in
thy saints, and thy similitude being  put on the spirits
©f thy people ;  and where it is most perfect, it gives 
310
THE TRAVELLER.
   them such a celestial tincture, such an heavenly hue,
   that they are like angels dwelling among men, or saints
   whose conversation is already in heaven.  But woe'a
   me !  my ignorance, my ignorance ! I know not thee,
   and how can I know thy likeness !  alas ! my chains are
   heavy, and my wings are weak ; my affections sensual,
   and my spiritual desires languid.   Yet I have some
   blinks amidst my blasts, some sun-shine and serenity
   in my winter:  and though I cannot  love thee as I
   would, yet I am filled  with longing after some of this
   divine flame of love, that shall turn all the out-goings
   of my soul God-ward, and turn the world, in all its be-
   guiling and bewitching vanities, eternally out of doors.
   O that I knew where,  how, and in what I  might love
   thee  ! May I love thee any where, and every where!
   at home, or abroad, on sea or land, among friends  or
   foes, among men or devils, among saints or sinners,
   in life or death,  in time  or in eternity !   But again,
   how  or after what manner may I  love thee ?  May I
   delight myself in thee, meditate  on  tl.ee, walk be-
   fore  thee,  imitate thy divine perfections,  talk of thy
   glory, mention thy righteousness, recount thy mer-
   cies, and sing aloud of thy love !  may I  praise thee,
__  pray to thee, plead with thee, depend upon thee, and
   roll myself wholly over on thee !  But again, in what
   may  I love thee ? May I love thee in thy Son and in
   thyself, in the unity of Godhead,  and  in the trinity of
   persons, in thy perfections and attributes, in the large-
   ness of thy love,and in the brightness of thy glory ! May
   I love thee in thy angels, in thy saints, and in all thy
   other creatures !  May  I love thee in thy power and in
   thy providence, in thy counsel  and in thy  conduct, in
   thy chastisements and in thy Comforts, in thy favours
   and in thy frowns,  when thou woundest or niakest
   whole, when thcu givest and when thou ukestaway ; 
THE TRAVELLER.
311
in a word, in all thy secret decrees, and in all thy open
dispensations !  May I love thee in thy gospel, and in
thine ordinances, in thy law and in thy testimonies, in
thy s< riptuies and in thy sacraments, in thy promises
and in their performance, in thy saints, in thy servants,
and even in mine own soul (O to  see thee, O to know
thee there !) and in thy grace, and in thy glory ! Again,
may I love thee at all times  and all seasons, in youth
or in old age, in my family or in the field, in company
or alone, lying down or rising up, going out or coming
in, in health or sickness, in wealth or in poverty, in
a prison or in a palace, in reproach or applause, in the
body or among the spirits of just  men made perfect!
  O astonishing  condescension !  that  one under so
many deformities and deficiencies, may love continu-
ally so great a Being in all his glorious excellencies !
Will a king accept of the love of  a subject, especially
if loaded with infamy and reproach, reduced to pover-
ty, and languishing on  a sick bed ? and yet, though
poor, reproached, and infirm, God despises not my
love, but welcomes even its few ascending sparks. O !
then, what a field of love is this, God looking out at so
many windows,  shining in so many excellencies, and
still calling, Son, give  me thy heart; soul, give me
thy love !  O what must that love be that prevails in
 the higher  house, in the highest heavens !  Oh ! were
 my soul  dipt in the celestial  Jordan, I  should be
cleansed from the leprosy of earthly-mindedness, and
 carnal affections, which always  renders the persons
 infected,  unclean, and incapable of holding commun-
ion with the Most High.
   O dearest Lord ! thou hast blown up a spark in my
 breast, that lives in spite of all the waters of corrup-
tion ; cherish and increase this fire,  till in the day of
eternity it break forth into a spotless flame.  And then
i 
512            THE TRAVELLER.

(O could I antedate that day !) I shall even be refresh-
ed with the perfection of my love,  when 1 find it so
spotless, vigorous, and divine, that not only I, but God,
its glorious fountain, and eternal object, shall be pleas-
ed with my love ; when its quality shall be suitable to
that state  of consummate perfection, its quantity such
as replenishes the most enlarged powers of glorified
souls, and its duration through all evermore.
   Now, since thou art seen in all things, and canst not
but be loved wherever thou art seen, how is it that I
am not wholly taken up with thy love, and lost in tran-
sport and delight, in the  divine survey of thine excel-
lencies ? Can a poor soul like mine  not find sufficient
matter for meditation, where a whole heaven  of per-
fected adorers find enough for their most enlarged ca-
pacities through eternity, and to spare?
   Now, here is the wonder, that God is not only lovely
in himself, and in all things whereby he reveals him-
self, but also permits, yea, commands me to love him,
making my indispensable duty my daily privilege, and
my highest privilege my daily duty.
   All subjects may and ought to reverence and love
their sovereigns, but sorm countries not only  forbid,
but make it penal, for any of the hir sex, though nobly
born, to be espoused to their prince, and so of  course
forbid them to love him in the highest degree.  But,
O the  condescension of the high and lofty One, the
chiefest among ten thousand, that I may love him, and
not be reproved, and kiss him,  and not be despised !
As he is the greatest, so is he the most generous  of
lovers, not only ever returning love  for love, but for a
spark returning a flame, and for a faint wish, som* full
expressions of captivating love ; and as he is a noble, a
none-such lover, so he does all things answerable  to
this divine character. His decrees are love ; " I have 
               THE TRAVELLER.          313

loved thee with an everlasting love ;" his counsels are
love, " I counsel thee to buy of me gold;" his cords
are love, wherewith he draws; his rod is love, with
which he corrects, for " whom he loves he chastens ;"
his providences are pregnant vvith love ; his promises
are pure  love ;  his name is love ; his offices are love,
for to teach and  instruct, to plead and intercede,  to
lead, rule,  and defend, to help and heal, to counsel
and comfort, are certainly offices of love ; his relations
are love, a kinsman Redeemer, a friend, a brother, a
father, an husband, are kindly names,  and full of af-
fection, especially in him ; his banquet is a feast  of
love; his banner is a banner of love ;  his chariot  is
paved with love ;  and he himself is altogether lovely.
May I, then,  love such  an amiable one with all the
vigor of divine affection, and not be  deemed auda-
cious !  May I claim the darling of heaven as mine,
and maintain, with all  the warmth  of immortal love,
" This is my Beloved,  and this is my friend," and not
be accounted an offender amongst all the enamoured
adorers of the higher house !
   But, O where shall I find,  or whence fetch, a love
worthy to be bestowed on this lover, who hath not his
like on earth, or in heaven ?   O could I love thee like
thy saints in the clay of their espousals,  glow like an-
gels in their celestial  ardors, and burn like seraphs
in their deathless flames !  O strange ! may a worm
of yesterday's production love the mighty One of eter-
nity ? may a daily sinner presume  to be a daily lover
of him whose name is holy ?  may dust  and ashes not
only talk, but carry on a communication, aninterchange
of love, with  the Father of spirits ? Yes ; for  thou
not only allovvcst me to love thee, but lo know that I
am loved of thee in an infinitely  higher manner than
                        C c 
314
THE .TRAVELLER.
I can love thee.  Thine is the ocean, mine a drop from
thy fulness ; thine is the sun, mine a spark kindled in
thy beams ; thine is the eternal emanation of sovereign
good-will, mine the reflection of heaven-born  grati-
tude,  for I love  thee,  because thou first lovedst me  ;
and as thou wast first, so art thou highest in thy love.
It was much for thy saints, yea, was it not enough for
them, and more than enough for me, to be loved like
thine angels, archangels, thy seraphs, and all thy bright
armies of light ? yet thou hast loved them  with a love
above that; for in that matchless prayer (John, xvii.)
pleading  for the perfection  of his  spiritual  seed,
through union  to him,  the  divine Redeemer says,
" That  the world may know," (and let all the world
know it, repeats a ransomed  worm) " that thou  hast
loved them, as thou hast loved me !"
   What a wonderful love is this ! but what  a worthless
lover am I! O happy, thrice  happy heirs of God, and
joint-heirs with Christ! whom he invites to a  sent
vvith him on his throne !  Surely, under a sense of so
much love, and yet power to love so little, I should
die, did I not wait for my  removal to the region of
love, where mypowers of mind, enlarged and strength-
ened for the transports of eternity, shall be wholly ex-
ercised in love.  O that  divine freedom I "wait  for,
that glorious liberty of immortal lovers that I pant af-
ter, where mine eye  shall be  all  intuition  of his glo-
ries, and mine  ear all attention to the account  of his
excellencies !  Surely, my song and soul shall be full
of love to him !  Yea, nothing but  love, centering on
him, and singing of him, with the  highest degree of
ardor, shall employ my every power for ever.  And
here, dear Lord, while I walk on the dark  mountains,
let it be regarded as a kind of love to think (since  I
cannot love thee as I should and would) how perfectly 
              THE  TRAVELLER.           315

I shall love  thee  in  those blissful regions,  in those
days of future glory, and in thy heavenly presence;
with what fresh ardour, and unknown delight, I shall
adore the God of love, who is not  only lovely alto-
gether, but teems out full floods of love on the emmets
of creation, and welcomes the trifling returns of love
from the atoms of his footstool.
             MEDITATION CXVI.

         rReviDi;\cr to bk aitrovkd of.

             Portsmouth Harbour, Oct. J I, 1761,

  NOTHING is harder to  attain to, than  an entire
resignation to the disposal of Providence ;  and in this
very thing I  condemn myself.   But, O how absurd to
quarrel with Heaven about one individual, if pleased
with his conduct towards the totality of beings !  Did
1 ever wish a reason why God sends his Gabriel on this
or that message, and  not some ether of the bright ar-
mies of bliss ? Durst I ever find fault with the immense
distance of the  stars  or  the huge  magnitude of the
sun ?  Did it ever give  me uneasiness, though' the
Ottoman empire was  a scene of revolutions, or a field
of blood, or  though  nations nearer home underwent
changes  and war ?   But if any trying providences
come home, I am up, if not in arms, yet in astonish-
ment, at heaven,  and wonder why God deals so and
so ! Now, God's right over, and propriety in me, is as
full and sovereign as over any other of his creatures ;
and so should I be as  well pleased with what he carves
out for me,  as I am with what he does for others.  I
never complained of the age of the  world in which I
was born (nay, but haye blessed God for it;) and why 
316
THE TRAVELLER.
should I, of the time of life that  this or  that event
concerning me takes place ?  1 pant after some things
which in themselves are good, but God postpones
them, as I  think ;  but the truth  is, the proper time
of God's giving, and my receiving, is not come ; and
yet in  the  greatness of my folly, I grow impatient,
like the husbandman, that for an early harvest, reaps
corn not fully ripe.
   Now, my will shall be swallowed up in thine, since
I am  more thy property than  mine own.    And as I
Would  not direct Omniscience how to dispose of his
armies of light,  so will I never tell him how to deal
with the inhabitants of his earth,  though I make one
©f the number.  Yet, O Most High 1 as thou wilt be
inquired of by the seed of Jacob for these free mer-
ties which thou wilt bestow, and even importuned (as
once by wrestling Jacob) for blessings, and the per-
formance of thy  promises -r so I implore thy divine
interposition in my behalf, if it be thy holy will, and
that thou wouldst bring me again to the place of the
soles of thy feet, that I may hear blessings instead of
blasphemy, and  see thee  in thy glory  in thine  own
courts.   O let mine absent  moments from Zion  be
numbered up, and finished ;  my wanderings counted,
and completed ; my company changed, and  my song
be to the God of my mercy in  the  courts of his holi-
ness ;  and make  me yet see some of the  days of the
Son of man, in commemorating the sufferings and
death of my divine Redeemer ! in thy lender mercy,
hear, help, and give an answer  of peace.
   But, Lord, if thou shalt (and for thy glory I would
fain live)  be more glorified in my resignation to thy
holy will, and my remaining in the slate I am in, than
in my possessing all those things I long  after, 1 roll
myself over on thee, and to thy disposal say, Amen. 
              THE TRAVELLER.           Sir


             MEDITATION CXVII.

    BRIGHT VIEWS AND BOLD LANGUAGE ABOVE.

             Under sail for Lisbon, Nov. 2 J, 1761.

  OFTEN  at the description of divine things, by a
masterly pen, or a truly poetical genius, I have been
astonished, and admired the enlarged views of those,
and their sublime thoughts, who,likemyself,but dwelt
in clay.  Then said I, What must the songs of the new-
Jerusalem be, when a stanza or two, wrote by a poor
mortal, labouring with corruption, and bewailing his
ignorance of sacred things, yields so much  pleasure
and delight!
  I shall, then, for a moment, suppose myself arrived
at the regions of glory, and welcomed by the Kingeter-
nal to the upper  world :  But how am I at once trans-
ported with the harmony of bliss, while I am indulged
to look into the library of heaven, and read all the es-
says of eternity itself! First, then, a celestial canto
spreads before me, whose  majestic  style astonishes,
whose  soft  and flowing  numbers ravish, which was
sung by the morning-stars together, by all the sons of
God, when  the earth  was created.  And next, an ini-
mitable song, composed by the first bards of light, and
sung by part of  the  celestial choir, when the son of
God condescended to be born.  Then a triumphant
anthem, sung and echoed round the whole  court of
heaven by all the hosts of light, when the Son of God
ascended conqueror over all his foes, and sat down oh
high at the  right hand of God.   But the most amazing
.;id inimitable piece, for abundance of subject, for ex-
cellency of matter, for beauty oppression, for ardency
                     C c2 
318
THE TRAVELLER.
of love, for intimacy of communion, and for refined and
exalted thought, is the divine cpithalamium, which, at
the marriage supper of the Lamb, when the whole fa-
mily of heaven is assembled to divide no more, shall
be sung by every guest at the feast of love, at the table
of biiss.  Besides these, here are some reviving hymns
composed by angels rejoicing over repenting sinner3.
What exalted joy  sparkles in that angelic composition
over a penitent Manasses, and every returning prodi-
gal ! Gabriel, in this matchless ode, sings of the eter-
nity of God, in such strains as would  astonish all the
bards of time ;—in that, Raphael dwells on the trinity
of persons;—while Michael celebrates  the majesty
and power of the Eternal, with such energy of thought
as would darken the brightest wits the world ever saw.
In another, a mighty seraph sings inimitably of sacred
love, and all heaven echoes amen to his divine enco-
mium.   Yea, now every  saint is a poet, every believer
a bard ;  and O how sweet are the songs of the higher
temple ! how soft the harmony of eternal day ! What
hallelujahs rise from the angels of God ! what hosan-
nas from the church of the first born !   What concord
and symphony are in the songs above! how dark, com-
pared to these, were the brightest descriptions of God
I ever heard below ! how dull my former ardours to
those which now I feel! How faint and languid my love
to what now kindles in my breast!  Here is the refined
expression, here the noble idea, here the exalted turn
of thought, here the true  sublime of divine poetry, and
here the enlarged, the naked view of divine things, of
heavenly glories, to embolden and enliven every song.
Here we talk of God at his throne, and while we com-
mend him, we behold  the beauties of  his face ; while
we  exalt him, we  enjoy him, and so  can never cease
extolling him. 
THE TRAVELLER.
319
  But, alas ! my dark views of future things convince
me that I am still in the body.   Yet great things I
may expect in that state of perfection.  And though
now I cannot serve God, nor sing to God,  as I would,
and as I should, yet there is a day on the wing when I
shall join the anthem of love, and, being loosed from
all my present fetters, shall sing through eternity with
the bards of paradise, " To him that loved us, that di-
ed for  us, that rose again, and reigns on high, be hon-
or and might, power and dominion, blessing and glo-
ry, for ever and ever, Amen."
            MEDITATION CXVIII.

                DECLINING  YEARS.

     River Tagus, at Lisbon, December 26,  1761.

  HITHERTO I have looked upon myself as young,
and  coming to my best;  but henceforth I shall con-
sider myself asin my declining years. I am certain how
long I have lived in the world, but quite uncertain how
soon I must leave the world ; and therefore should be
preparing for my  final departure, and daily be ripen-
ing for the regions of bliss.
  Nothing would be a more forbidding prospect, than
the verdure of spring to cloathe the fields in harvest;
but nothing more pleasant, than to see maturity keep
pace with the approach of autumn.  So should I grow
daily riper for the great harvest, as the time of in-
gathering draws daily nearer and nearer.  Leaves are
pleasant in the infant orchard, but fruits are expected
from the full grown trees :—So in the young converts,
the breathings of grace are sweet;  but aged saints are
expected to abound in fruits of righteousness.  My 
320           THE TRAVELLER.

love, like Ezekicl's holy waters,  the longer it runs,
should rise the higher, and spread the wider, till lost
in its divine ocean above.  The longer we live with
our friends, we grow better acquainted, more intimate
with, and fonder of them ;  so the longer I enjoy com-
munion with God, the more ardently should I breathe
after  uninterrupted communion  with  him.  As  my
years decline, and my outward man wastes away, so
should my graces  bloom, and my inner man grow
strong ; and when it is almost dark night with my life,
it should  be bright noon with my  expectations.   O
how pleasant is it,  that the longer I live in the world,
I rise the nigher to heaven !  If I make progress in
my spiritual pilgrimage, I will daily lose sight of the
world and all its vanities, which is the wilderness'I  tra-
vel from, and will daily see more of the  tops of the
heavenly mountains, of the towers of the New Jerusa-
lem, toward which I travel.  A state of grace is a glo-
rious condition at all times ; but a growth in grace is a
sweet proof and heavenly consequence of being in a
state  of grace.  My  affections should be more  and
more loosed from the creature, while  the pins of my
earthly tabernacle  are loosening every day.  I should
at all times have  my conversation in heaven, but  es-
pecially when walking with one foot in the grave.
   Now, though the period of three-score years seems
far distant, yet, as there is not an hour of the day of life
but the sun goes down at, so I should just walk as un-
der a setting sun, seeing upon thousands at my age the
shadows of an everlastingevening have fallen, who had
as many pretensions to longevity as I.  My walking
with God will not shorten my span, but brighten my
noon, and make my sun set with all the sweetness of a
cloudless evening. Enoch walked with  God t.'ncc
 hundred years, and, in a manner, begun heaven y;  ' 
THE TRAVELLER.
321
earth, so that he grew immortal, and ascended death-
less to the very throne.   O how pleasant is  it to feed
on the fruits of Paradise, while entering iuto the land
of promise, and as it were, to be naturalized in the
world of spirits, ere I go to dwell for ever there.  A
!;rey head, and a carnal worldly heart, is a wounding
sight; but a young man, and an aged love, one in his
prime, and all his graces flourishing, is comely to be-
hold.  Henceforth,  be gone bewitching vanities, and
all the enchantments of the world !  the evening of my
life is not to be trifled away with you.  Death attends
me,  the  grave  awaits me, and  eternity  is  at hand ;
therefore, may my  purified affections, river-like, en-
large as they approach the ocean ; and on the wings of
faith and love, may  I often fly to the hills  of spices,
where thy glories shed their beams   May  I walk in
the liberty of spiritual meditation in the land of bliss,
that so death, when it comes, may have no more to do
than lay my slumbering ashes in the silent grave, and
let my soul  remain a free inhabitant in  her blessed
abode. 
  322            THE TRAVELLER.

              MEDITATION CXIX.

              THE EXPECTED CHANGE.

                      Jan. 10, 1762, Lisbon River.

    WHATEVER horrors may beset the  carnal and
  secure, when their gloomy momenta come on  apace,
  yet no prospect affords  mc equal pleasure to  that of
  my last change ; and I have exceeding great  cause to
  rejoice,  when  I compare what I now am and suffer,
  with what I tiiall then enjoy and be.  Nov. my joys are
  mostly future, and in expectation, for I walk by faith,
  and live on hope ; but then ;hey  shall be present, and
  in possession, for I shall dwell in light, and feed on
  fruition.  Novv I am daily struggling with death and
  sin, but then  I shall eternally triumph over both. Now
  I toil along a tiresome road, but then I shall walk above
,  these skies in the very heavens.  Now mine eyes rove
  from vanity to vanity; but then tliey shall see, yea, fix
  on the Kinginhis glory,on the King of kings  in his di-
  vinest glory.  Now I dwell among fire-brands, and sur-
  rounding sinners daily give me pain ; but then I shall
  dwell among the armies of redeeming love, see angels
  and archangels increase the throng,  cherubims and se-
  raphimsjoin  the song,and net one sinner among all the
  hosts cf light.   Now I  bewail myself often as a frail
  inhabitant cf feeble  ciay ; but then I uhall find rnybtlf
  possessed of all the  vigour  of immortality, of all the
  briskness of eternal life.   Now I  am often puzzled
  about the providences of my lot ; but then 1 shall ap-
  prove,  and see a divine beauty  shining through  the
  whole  conduct of providence, in the  light of glory,
  Now,in the noblest subjects my ignorance often leaves
  tne greatly in the dark; but then shall I know,  am! 
THE TRAVELLER.
323
that even as I am known.  Now I have foes without,
and foes within, the sin of my nature, and the idols of
my heart, enemies from earth and  hell to grapple
with ;  but then, triumphing over every foe,  I shall
sing the conquest of the Captain of my salvation,  the
victories of the  divine Conqueror,  and never cease
from this interesting, this unexhausted theme.  Now
sometimes, from the precious ordinances and sacred
courts of God I am debarred for a time ; but then shall
I be a pillar in the temple of God;  and go no more
out, but always worship at his throne.  Now the cruel
hand of death comes among my friends and familiars,
and  leaves me like a sparrow on the house-top alone,
or a pelican in the wilderness mourning ; but then not
one  of all the numerous inhabitants  shall so much as
say, " I am sick," because they are an assembly of sin-
less ones.  My Sun often conceals  himself, so that I go
mourning without him ;  but then in the light of his
countenance,  in the brightness of his glory, shall I
walk on for ever.  Now I am crawling along the road
of life in company with fellow-worms, who dwell in
cottages of clay,  and are crushed before the moth ; but
then, dignified with his divine similitude, I shall dv/ell
with the Ancient  of days, and enjoy the dearest and
most intimate communion vvith Jehovah and the Lamb
for ever.   Now my time  is wasting away, and I am
not  far, yea, for aught I know, am very near my latter
end  ; but then an  endless eternity shall be mine,  and
my bliss be as durable  as  desirable,  as permanent as
pleasant.   O 1 then, who would not prepare and wait
for a change that is  so pregnant with glory and bliss ? 
324           THE TRAVELLER.


              MEDITATION CXX.

         ARGUMENTS FOR FAITH  IN  GOD.

          Jan. 22, 1762.  Under sail for England.

   THE Noblest way to glorify God, is to be strong in
the faith, like Abraham, the friend of God ; and as this
confers most honour on the divine Promiser, so it con-
veys,, the greatest quietness to the soul.  But, as I am
more fearful than many  of the faithful, and cannot at-
tain to that confidence in God that the most part of be-
lievers have, let me strengthen my faith by the scrip-
tures of truth, which can never  be broken.
   First, then, these sacred records  hold out a chain of
the nearest and dearest relations between God and the
happy soul that has an interest in him.  He is a Judge,
the Judge of all the earth ;  and can  I dread wrong
judgments at  his hand ? He is the  orphan's stay,  the
strength of the poor, and the stranger's shield ; what
then may not the orphan, the poor, and the  stranger
expect from him ?
   Again, he is a Father ; and what may not I expect
from such a Father, who, in the tenderest manner has
said again and again, " Son, all that I have is thine ;"—
a Father, who has heaven and earth at  his disposal
and  the  hearts  of all men in  his  hand—a Father,
whose divine affection infinitely exceeds that of  the
best of the name to his most engaging son, or of the
most loving mother to her most  amiable babe ;—a Fa-
ther,  whose wisdom knows infinitely well both what
and when to give ;  whose eyes and ears are continually
open to their calamities  and complaints;  whose love
waits lo bestow,  and is,  as it were, impatient to be
gracious ; whose promise is no dead word, but living, 
              THE TRAVELLER.           325

and pregnant with good ;—a Father, who has given
the most amazing instance of love, in that he kept not
back his Son,  but delivered him up for us all; and if
he gives me his salvation,  gives me the graces of his
Spirit, promises me his heaven and his  glory,  in  a
word, gives me himself, what will he with-hold,  what
will he  deny ?
   Surely, I have hitherto had too mean  thoughts of the
goodness of God, and looked on the promises as only
fair words, when they arc very faithfulness and truth ;
yet I may assure myself with as much  certainly as the
sun is in the heavens, that all the promises of God  shall
have their  full, their perfect, their complete accom-
plishment toward me, and at the time that is most pro-
per in the eye  of Infinite  Wisdom.  Hencef6rth no
doubt shall disturb my breast;  I will patiently wait on
the Lord, who not only promises great things, but per-
forms whatever he promises ; knowing assuredly that
though  now I too much imitate murmuring Israel in
the wilderness, yet, like them, when  I arrive at the
land of  promise, the Canaan above, I shall profess be-
fore the  whole assembly of bliss, that  there hath not
failed any good  thing whereof the Lord had spoken,
or given promise—all is come to pass. 
325           THE TRAVELLER

             MEDITATION CXXI.

            THE TRAVELLER AT HOME.

                             September 7, 1776.

  THESE many years have I dwelt in my native coun-
try, and in mine own house.  Through the perils of
war, the dangers of the sea, extremity of cold in one
part, and scorching heat in another, have my life and
health been preserved, to my own surprise, while num-
bers saw their native land no more.   But, as a travel-
ler, what have I seen ?  Just sin and vanity in every
land,  grief and pain in every breast, the fruits of the
fall,  and the havoc of the curse in all nations.
  I dwell in mine own house, and bless the bounty of
Providence, which, from floating on a restless ocean?
has given me a^ettled habitation.  But I look forward,
and see that I  have  a long,  an interesting, an awful
journey before me, not from one kingdom to another,
but from one world  to another.  Hence (not forgetful
of all his mercies that prevented me in all my wander-
ings) to lay up my treasure in the belter country,  te
prepare for my approachingchange, to improve formy
future society, and to ripen for heaven and glory, shall
employ the remainder of my life, that I  may finish
my course with joy.  Amen. 
•
111 ■ ■'. -   I'll   1   I





  CONVERSE




      WITH THE




WORLD UNSEEN. 
 
CONVERSE
          WITH THE

WORLD  UNSEEN.
                        i.

                  FUTURE GLORY.

                                      Oct. 1763.

 \V HEN, some years ago, I left my native country
 for another land, my thoughts went before me ;  and
 when I foresaw, that, in the course of providence, I
 should cross the glowing Equinoctial,still my thoughts
 got the start of me, and were, as it were, acquainted in
 the place ere my arrival there.  Since, then,  I am on
 my journey towards eternity, and the  world  unseen)
 why is not my meditation there ? Shall the howling de-
 sart, through  which  I haste, engross my attention
 when paradise is before me ?
  Tell me, ye inhabitants  of bliss,  how you employ
yourselves, ye who have bid everlasting farewell to all
 created things ? " Oh ! man, thy question moves our
pity, and proves that thou dweKest in thick darkness.
Couldst thou thrust thy head through these heavens,
and get one glance of the glory we dwell in, of the di-
                     Dd 2 
330
CONVERSE  WITH
vine person  we adore,  thou wouldst never move the
question again, but ardently long to come up hither,
and  account  the  conquest of a kingdom like the
childish acquisition of a feather or a fly ; thou wouldst
turn the world out of thy mind,  and trample  on its
noblest things with a disdain  becoming an expectant
of glory."
   My  divine Redeemer, I see, then, that in thy pre-
sence  there is fulness of joy, and that at thy  right
hand are pleasures evermore.   Too  long the things
of time have gained  on my esteem ;  too long have I
been enamoured with creature-charms, and  mistaken
the chief good ; henceforth will I dwell in that world,
where in a  little I shall dwell for ever.   The more
I meditate on divine things,  the more I  love  therm
and find the greater delight in my meditations ;  but
the less my thoughts are on them, alas 1  the less do
I esteem them.  Ah ! hitherto  how have  I refused
and fled the purest felicity, and followed tutcr vanity
and pain! 
         THE WORLD UNSEEN.          351


                       II.

            ON WANT OF DIVINE LOVE.

  BLEED, my heart! and be pained, my inmost soul!
at the irreverence  that too  often troubles mc in my
devotion, and defiles my best duties.  O ye sons of
light! I see you stand at the eternal throne, and wor-
ship, with profoundest  awe and  reverence, the  Al-
mighty.  Yes, ye angelic throng ! though your coun-
tenance sparkles with glory, yet, before the Ancient of
Days, ye hide y*our faces with your wings, drop your
greatness in his effulgent Majesty,andlose your beauty
in his diviner beams.  There the mighty Gabriel is a
celestial worm ; and all the seraphic principalities are
insects round the throne !
   What, then, must I be  before the High and Lofty
One who alone inhabits eternity ? I who dwell in clay,
am crushed before the moth, clouded with ignorance,
defiled by sin, dogged by death, pleased with phantoms,
and charmed with gilded nothings !   The language I*
write in, cannot afford words to describe my vileness ;
metaphors  fall short, and fruitful fancy toils in vain :
Then let me tl ink, and debase myself even unto  hell.
   O tremendous gulph ! where am 1 now !  Ye fallen
hosts! ye infernal throng ! you I resemble in my  irre-
verence towards God.   Oh, horrid ! shall I be  like
these grinning spectres, these  eldest sons of sin and
death ?   Out of the belly of hell will I cry unto thee :
yet thou hast my heart, thou hast my love, and I will
worship at thy throne prostrate on the humble ground.
   O ye  happy assembly on the  heavenly mount, the
mount of God !  could I think like you, could I know
like you, could my whole soul be wrapt up in adoration. 
S32
CONVERSE  WITH
and divine attention to the sweet employ, what delight
would diffuse through  all my powers of mind in my
happiest moments !
  What cause have I to fear lest thy burning thunder-
bolts break on my irreverent head, and dash the daring
wretch out of thy gracious presence into perdition and
woe ? But be thou exalted in thy condescension to my
stale, in thy pity  to my frame, and let thy patience
and  forbearance  swell my grateful anthem, while I
long for that perfect state, wherein,  though blessed
with the nearest approaches, I shall always be filled
with the profoundest respect, and divinest awe, and
not one improper thought of God shall pass my breast.
                       III.

   WE GROPE IN THE DARK WHILE HERE BELOW.

  YE heirs of endless rest! ye know no more the
anxious thought, the troubled  breast; your cares are
past, and your concerns have  come to an happy end,
while this day I wait the doubtful issue of some grand
affairs  which very much concern  my passing life.
Not a cloud is in your sky, not a doubt is in your mind,
while I dwell in the  stormy twilight, and fear a tem-
pestuous night.  O ye shining ones !  is it possible,
that ever, like  me, ye dwelt in  the vale of Achor ?
were ye not born in the better country ye now inhabit ?
Were ever these composed countenances disfigured
with sorrow, or did  the briny tear  ere trickle from
these sparkling eyes ?
  " Yes, mistaken man ! we all, and every one of us,
came  out of great tribulation j not an  inhabitant  of 
           THE WORLD UNSEEN.        333

the Canaan  above,  but longer or shorter travelled
through the wilderness below.  We lost our sorrows
with our mortal frame, and at once found immortality
 and joy ;  and now our happiness is vast as thought?
unbounded as our wish,and stable as the hills of bliss !"
  Well, well, ye  sons of joy!  I boast my happiness
as well as you. If your felicity be secured in the pos-
session, mine is secured in the promise.  He that de-
livers  out of Egypt,  also brings  safe over Jordan,
Once, like me, ye wept, ye mourned, ye stood amazed,
and  knew not  what to do ;  so, in a little, I, like you,
6hall shout and sing, and  share eternal peace, and
praise the conduct of my glorious Guide.  Comforted
with these prospects, I will encounter all the changes
of a  transient state, and fix mine eye on the felicity to
come.    By faith  I will drink at the river that flows
from the throne of God; and thus, become immortal
in my highest hopes, and  most endearing prospects,
I will bid defiance to all the darts of woe that can teem
on me  in time.  What can changes do to me,  since
my last and most terrible change shall fix my felicity,
and render my best state unchangeable ? 
334
CONVERSE WITH
                      IV.

    ALL THINGS WORK FOR GOOD TO THE SAINTS.

  MAY I endure as seeing him who is invisible, and
having mine eye much on the world to come ! Time
now passes, and passing time has perplexing scenes ;
but, O ye citizens of the New Jerusalem, your moun-
tain stands fast, and shall never be moved, and your
beloved is in your arms ;  and an everlasting  hallelu-
jah dwells  upon your tongue.   Here I dwell in the
dark, and am much in doubt, nor know what conclu-
sion to draw from the conduct of Providence concern-
ing my present state.  I deprecate and pray, and often
am at a loss to know my duty.   Is there none in your
great assembly that could be content that some of your
crosses had not taken place in time ?  and that the di-
vine conduct hud been otherwise ?
  " No,  complaining mortal!  no.   Be it known  to
thee, and all the mourning throng, that we adore and
acquiesce in all that ever befel  us below.  Yea, the
very providences  which crossed us most, and made
us almost doubt the love,  and disbelieve the promise
of God, now, when unfolded  in tne light of glory,
fill our hearts with joy, and our mouths  with songs,
while we adore the infinite Ibve and amazing wisdom
of our God, that made all things work together for
our eternal good!"
  What! Is there not one in all your numerous as-
sembly that has had dark and unintelligible providen-
ces in his lot ?
  " What, then,  presumptuous  inquirer ?  It, com-
poses us, that God, our own  God, sent  them; and
though we should never be able to find out the cause, 
           THE WORLD UNSEEN.         335

or be indulged with the mystery unfolded, we are all
well pleased to have the strongest impressions of Je-
hovah's absolute sovereignty, who gives not accountof
any of his matters to men or angels, thus preserved
on our enlarged souls,  to all eternity."
  Shall I  not, then, from this  time, O  Lord, claim
thee as my Father, and the guide  of my life ?  Thou-
sands, and ten thousands,  by thy divine conduct, are
safely arrived at  bliss, and not a complaint on their
tongue, not a murmur in their mind at one step in all
the rugged way.
                        V.

   A SOUL CONVERTED, JOY AMONG THE ANGELS.

                                   Dec. 6,  1763.

   WHAT meaneth the noise of this  great shout in
 the camp of heaven ?  What! ye holy angels, there
 cannot be war in your borders, or death  in your im-
 mortal family ?  " No, but one of our blessed number is
 just now arrived from ministering to  the  saints on
 carth,and brings the joyful tidings,that a sinner is con-
 verted,an heir of glory born,and therefore joy sparkles
 in every angelic countenance,and triumphs in our rap*
 turous  hallelujahs.  Let this day be marked  in  the
 records of heaven, in the annals of eternity ; and may
 to-morrow be as this day, and much more abundant."
   Hail, happy day, when the conversion of my friend,
 that shares my daily prayers, shall cause  joy  among
the angels of God  ; yea, when God the Saviour shall
see of the travail of his soul, and be satisfied  !  Me-
 thinks I see the  rosy dawn of divine power, when the 
536           CONVERSE WITH

soul that once resisted Jesus flics into his arms. Then
the pleasing dreams fly away, and the  unseen world
presents itself to view.   Then the peace of <Jod, and
peace of conscience, are prized above all the things of
fame.  Wherefore do I doubt, since thy name is sal-
vation, thy word enlivening, thy merits infinite, thy
call at every hour, and all thy bowels love ?
   Again the heavenly arches ring, " Another captive
won from hell,  another  sinner  converted from the
error of his way ; and who can tell but it is my absent
friend ! Let all the ransomed throng exalt the riches
of free and sovereign grace, while all my powers are
swallowed up of astonishment and love !
                       VI.

             EARTH NOT OUR HOME.

                                Sept.  16, 1764.

  WHY am I  so fond of the land wherein I am a
stranger, of the place of my exile ?  The decease of
all my ancestors proves this ; not one of them is this
day alive, and I fall the next by course.  O to get this
world under my feet, that it may not lie a dead weight
on me in my last moments !  This is the land of grav-
en images, and every image dares compute with the
things of the unseen world ; for relations claim to have
as much of my affection as Christ; time,  to be as  oft
in my thoughts as eternity ; and the earth to engross
my concern as much as heaven.
  Now the men of the world think I am at home ;  but
the expectant of glory will not own his home beneath 
           THE WORLD  UNSEEN.         337

the sun ; for it is but a coldrife home where sin  and
satan dare appear, God is seldom seen, and the tenant
is  often weeping;  but, O blessed inhabitants ! who
dwell where the Lord God and the Lamb are the tentv-
ple, the Lord God and the Lamb are the light, and
the joy of the Whole land.  You not only dwell in
heaven, but heaven dwells in  you, while earth  and
hell struggle  hard for room in my heart, and, alas !
too, too oft prevail.—Compassionate Redeemer! when
shall thy stranger arrive at these realms of day, and
join the sinless throng that worship at thy throne, and
never,  never, sin ?
                      VII.

       WE SHOULD  LIVE ABOVE THE WORLD.

   O DIVINE Lover !  O divine love ! how wonder-
ful are thy works !  Six or eight thousand years ago,
there was not one adorer to be found before thy throne;
but now how are the courts of the great King throng-
ed ! and  thousands and ten thousands daily worship at
the throne ! and by and by not only the angels of light,
but the heirs of love, shall all sit down in the kingdom
of their Father.  Then shall I  get full views of thee,
O thou darling of thy  Father,  thou desire of all na-
tions, and light of the world above !  Men and angels
were created to be happy in thee, and got their brings
that thou mightest be  glorified, and they might  be
blessed ;  but men and angels fell, of the human race
all, that some  might be  redeemed ; of the angelic
some, that none should be recovered.  O wisdom i..
                      F. e 
 38           CONVERSE WITH

finite !  O sovereign love J  Then, not only being and
bliss have I from thee in creation, but in the wonder-
ful work of redemption.  And yet I am a stranger to
my divine Redeemer !  O when shall I come and stand
before thy throne ?  As fast as the chariot of time can
drive, I am posting to the unseen world, but how shall
I be ashamed that I had not one meditation before me ;
and chiefly, O thou glory of thy Father's house,  that
I  had not more acquaintance with  thee !  To sit at
thy feet, will  bless my eternity; and to  talk of thy
love,  will heighten my joy ; then, let me  just dwell
before thee in  time,  and with my spirit within me seek
thee early.  Should not love be my daily theme, which
shall be the table-talk  at the marriage-supper of  the
Lamb through eternity ?  Do I believe that this world
and I must part, and that atodds ? how then will the,ex-
pectant of glory like to get the lie from lying vanity!
It is best here to be first in the quarrel, to fall out with
the world, so as not to  leave it one affection, but have
them set on things above.
                      VIII.

            JOY  AWAITS THE SAINTS.

                                          1765.

  CAN I take it ill, Fountain of joy J that I sorrow
now a little, since in a little, like those who walk in
white robes, with crowns on their heads, and palm*
in their hands, I shall be in an ecstacy of joy for ever I
When I am brought from the house of mourning, to
make my solemn entrance into the King's  palace,  it
will be with gladness and rejoicing.   All my powers 
           THE  WORLD UNSEEN.         S3*

of mind will be entranced at my admission into thy
beatific presence ! All the heavenly graces will sing
in concert at receiving the crown of perfection !  All
the angels of light will welcome me with joy to their
great Master's house ! and the whole church of the
first-born will shout my happy accession to the pur-
chased throne !
  Yet, for all this, my welcome would be but dry, and
their song but dull, didst not thou, O Jehovah !  re
joice over me ! didst thou not rest in thy love,  and
joy over me with SINGING.  How can hosts or an-
gels  look sad, if their Maker  joy ?   How  can  the
heavens be silent, if Jehovah sing ?  All thine attri-
butes, all  thy perfections shall  harmonize in my sal-
vation.   Mercy  and truth, righteousness and peace,
shall meet and  kiss, and shout  and sing.  O what
astonishing transports and entrancing meiody shall fill
the highest heavens ! where, O amazing ! where the
subject of our songs, and object  of our love, shall
himself be the sweetest singer, because he does every
thing according to the grandeur of a God.
                       IX.

           THE  JOY OF SAINTS UNSEEN.

  HOW do the  men of the world mistake religion,
and think the Christian dull and melancholy, dumpish,
and morose ! But, O Fountain of my joy ! thou know-
est what divine delight  I find in my retired moments
I only lament that I am not more alone, or, when alone,
that I am not more  with thee.   The  request of the
spouse  shall be  mine—Come, my beloved,  let me 
340
CONVERSE  WITH
get up early from an enchanting world, let me go forth
from the vanities of time, let me lodge in the humble
village of solitude, let me walk in the flowing field of
the promise, and there will I give thec my loves.  In
these sweet moments heaven smiles in my face, and
my soul exults in God.  I grasp at my expected bliss,
and taste the joys on high.
                        X.

         HEAVEN  THE BEST INHERITANCE.

   A DIVIDED sea, and a flaming Sinai, falling man-
 na, and a friendly cloud, were wonders of old ; but, O
 what a wonder this, that the God of glory should cornc
 down to give wings to worms of the earth to bear them
 to the skies !  Amazing ! to see insects soar above the
 stars, and arrive at the realms of day ! When, O when
 shell I also  join  the shining multitude that sits on
 Zion's hill ?—But there is not one  crawling insect in
 all  the  heavenly country.   So,  though 1  be a worm
 below, while I rise to the throne, I shall  rise into an
 angel in the assimilating beam.
  Truly, O King eternal!  my faith sees that the land
 of promise is  a pleasant land, and  that thy presence
 makes heaven a desirable habitation.   Let the men of
 the. earth contend about thy footstool; I will not be sat-
 isfied with any thing beneath thy throne.   What is a
 province, what is a kingdom,  what is an empire, what
 a continent, what the whole world to an inheritance in
 the  highest heaven !  To thy honour,  O thou King of
 kings! all thy glorified subjects  are  both  altogether
and always kings.  In thy favor they are exalted, and 
          THE WORLD UNSEEN.         341

none shall ever drive them from their state.  A por-
tion, or division,  of the Arabian  desarts, would have
been no compliment to the tribes who were travelling
toward the land of promise ; nor shall I much esteem
a plot of this enchanting world, who desire to be only
charmed with my heavenly possession.
  O pleasant country ! Oland of delight 1 where  the
winter is past, and eternal summer dwells ! Sin dares
not pass the frontiers of Immanuel's land ; sorrow and
sickness dare  not invade the  seats of bliss.  Shall I
hereafter inhabit the land where sin shall no more in-
fest it ?  I who have been in  hot wars with it all my
life I   Shall, then, a land that is within the sea-mark
of wrath, engage my  attention,  or gain my esteem,
when my native country is so very near ?  I have but
a little way to go till I pass over Jordan, and enter into
mine eternal possession, not of Canaan, not of paradise,
not of heaven, but of Jehovah and the Lamb, where I
shall enjoy all thy communicable  fulness, ages with-
out  end.
                      XL

             ENEMIES OVERTHROWN.

  THOUGH Israel was, without doubt, safe under the
conduct of the man of God,  while recoiling seas left
their bed a passage for the ransomed tribes, and the
angel and the cloud interposed between the heirs of
promise, and the hardened pursuers ; yet when their
enemies are no more, but their lifeless bodies, which
caused their terror in the land of the living, are lying
                     Ee2 
342
CONVERSE WITH
on the shore, how do they sing and boast in their di-
vine Deliverer !  Even  so, though under thy conduct,
O Captain of salvation !  I am safe in spite of earth
and hell at my heels,  in spite of sin and corruption
rising in my heart; yet how desirable is it to enter into
the land of rest! how pleasant to join the triumphant
throng, who have put off their armour, and on their
crowns; dropped the spear, and taken up the palm |
In a word, how sweet, how ineffably  sweet, to cease
 from sin!
   Thou knowest I desire to depend on promised grace,
 and in the strength thereof to cut my way through all
 my enemies; but I also desire to pant for promised
 glory, when not an enemy shall be found in all the hea-
 venly world.  Hail happy day, when death, spiritual
 death, that choaked my graces, and slew my comforts,
and hell,  even sin and satan, shall be cast into the lake
of fire.   To believe in thee is my duty while below,
but to behold thee will be my bliss above.  Faith and
hope refresh and support me in the militant state, but
vision and fruition shall transport  and ravish me for
ever.  Indeed my defence is the same, but the sense
of my security differs.  Though grace shall rise into
glory, yet often my faith of this is shaken, and a heavy
tumult  ensues in my  soul; but when crowned  with
glory, and seated before thy throne, I shall sin no more,
I shall fear no more, but enjoy divine ecstasies, sacred
tranquility, and all the pleasures of the land of love. 
           THE WORLD UNSEEN.         343


                      XII.

         THE  EXERCISE OF  THE  BLESSED.

  O YE heavenly hosts, how are you this night em-
ployed ?—" In beholding him, and blessing him, in
seeing him, and singing to him.  We look on him, and
love him; we look to him and are enlightened ; we see
him, and are like him ; no fatigue deadens our devo-
tions, no weakness inclines us to repose ; we are im-
mortal, and our  theme is eternal; so we  cannot be
wearied, and it cannot be exhausted !"
  What high and beautiful flights are in your songs,
then, O ye redeemed from among men ! O the ravish-
ing accents of the hosannahs above, and the raptures
of the hallelujah on high i O the sweetness of the song
of Moses and the Lamb, and the melody of the ming-
ling notes of men and angels ! O the sublime subject
of the anthem, and the eternity of the concert! " True,
O man !  for our day knows  no night,  our song no
pause, our vision no vail, our sun  no cloud, our light
no shadow,our strength no decay,our felicity no period,
our love no allay, and our eternity no end !"
  Did ye see, O ye exalted ones ! would ye not pity us
the sons of men, to find us so anxious and eager in the
pursuit of lying vanities,as if eternity were come down
to time, or the things of time could suit eternity ? Ye
are honouring,Christ to the highest, for he is in your
soul, and in your song ; in your love, and in your eye.
O blessed exercise 1 O excellency of bliss ! The Most
High, in the highest heaven,  in the brightest display
of his glory, in the sweetest manifestations of his lov«,
is the subject of your song, the object of your adora-
tions, and the plenitude of your possession !  My  rest 
344            CONVERSE WITH

would be your uneasiness ; for I must fall asleep in
order to bear the toils of a perishing world, but ye rest
not day nor night, and yet are sufficient for the ecsta-
sies of an eternal heaven ! These are the years of the
right hand of the Most High ; the days of the exalted
Son of man, one of which I long to see. O the strength
that flows from that  exceeding and eternal weight
of glory 1"  the more weight the more might!
   Oh! at an immense distance I only look toward that
land of bliss,but have I any thing to do with your joys ?
methinks I claim them all.*  That God is my God by
the same relation to whom I shall shortly come ; that
immortality I shall shortly put on; I shall shortly join
in that song, possess that glory,  plunge into that bliss,
be satisfied with that likeness, see that well-beloved of
my soul, burn in that love, share of that fulness, and
enter into that joy ! Therefore,  in this low condition,
it shall be consolation to me to meditate on the sublime
employment of the higher house, till I am transported
thither.
                      XIII.

       COMPLAINTS OF SPIRITUAL LANGUOR.

  O LORD  these  many  years I have pretended to
love thee, I have indeed tasted that thou art gracious^
but, alas !  how can I say  that I love thee, when my
heart is not with thee ? Can I love thee, and not long
for  thee ?  Surely it  is the  nature of love to be impa-
tient and restless till possessed of the object beloved,
yet  how little do I long for thee !  How can I dwell
with so much contentment  at such a distance from 
            THE WORLD  UNSEEN.         345

 thee !  I am not only astonished, but terrified at my-
 self.   O lukewarm heart!  O lifeless lover that I am !
 is this my kindness to my friend ?  Did I esteem the
 smiles of thy face, and the light of thy countenance, as
 I should, I could not dwell with so much pleasure in
 the land of darkness.  Did I regard  the honor of thy
 name  as I ought,  the daily sight of thine enemies
 would be my daily  grief, and to find myself so often
 acting the enemy against my dearest Lord,  and best
 friend, would be my continual lamentation and burden.
 Is it possible I can be an heir of God, an expectant of
 glory, and not pant after communion with God ?  Ah !
 in  what delusive dreams have I hitherto been held t
 Is the  whole creation able to balance the loss of one   <
 moment  in heaven ?  Shall I dwell so long at Jerusa-
 lem, and not long to enter into  the palace to see the
 King's face !  O thou chiefest  among ten thousand !
 strike  off my fetters, and captivate my love.  Divide
 thy heavens, and let mine eye of faith look in, and my
 soul will follow mine eye.  Why should I,  when in-
 vited to a crown of heavenly glory, like Saul, hide my-
 Belf among the stuff of worldly cares ? What a strug-
 gle have I with stubborn sense, and present things, a
 carnal mind,  and a weak faith, with cold desires, and
 languid love ! O to be enriched with that faith which
 is the substance of all that a believer can hope for, the
 evidence and earnest of all the divine excellencies of
 the unseen world !  Then, my faith shall work by love,
and my love shall go out on God, and I in very  deed,
Ion.": to be for ever with the Lord ! 
346           CONVERSE WITH
                      XIV.

            PREPARATION FOH HEAVEN.

  WERE I to go abroad, with all my substance, and
spend the remainder of my days in another land, would
not some things gain my attention ?  1. I would study
the language of the country, thatl might converse with
the inhabitants in their own dialect.   2. I would get
all the knowledge I could of the laws, liberties, &c. of
those'among whom I were to take up my fixed abode.
3. I would use my  utmost endeavor to contract ac-
quaintance, and establish a friendship with  the men of
the place. And, 4. If possible, would  get recommend-
ed to the favor and protection of the  lord of the land.
Alas, then !  am I less provident for heaven than I
would be for earth ?
  Yc inhabitants of the heavenly Canaan, how will ye
stare at me, if I enter your assembly an utter stranger
lo your songs ? My trifling discourse, and carnal con-
verse, will sound and smell rank of hell, in the courts
of heaven ! Oh ! am I to converse through eternity in
the language  of love, and yet not know a letter below ?
2. Am I  to be under the laws of thy sceptre, O King
of saints  I and not know that God is love 1 O ! now to
be searching  into the privileges of that land which I
am  to inhabit, not for the  short term of life,  but for
eternity itself;  where I shall see the King in his beau-
ty, and share of the divine fulness of my exalted Head.
3. Would I be acquainted with the church of the first-
born, and all  the angels of light (and, ye happy ones,
I hope to join you soon ;) then only in our employment
we contract acquaintance, for while Ave worship at the
game throne, and behold the same amiable Being, faith 
           THE  WORLD UNSEEN.         547

and vision having like effects, we are companions in
love, and associates in work ! and are assimilated  to
the glorious object we behold.   And, 4.  Since in the
smiles of thy countenance I shall find my eternal hea-
ven, how should  I esteem thy  favour above life, and
ardently breathe  after communion with thee below !
I may dwell in any  country here, and neither know
nor be known of the king; but so I cannot in thy land,
O Immanuel! for unless I know and be known per-
sonally to the King, I will not have one known face in
all the world of spirits !
                       XV.

             THE ETERNAL SABBATH.

  HOW is it that I, who pretend to love thee, should
ever be wearied with a Sabbath-day's devotion ?  If
the body is fatigued, or  the spirits exhausted, how
shall I stand  under much  intenser ardours, through
eternity itself ?  What say ye, ye adorers round the
throne ? do  ye never long to rest from your divine
employment ? " O poor mortal! how ignorant art thou
of our frame, our faculties, our felicity and strength !
The rest thou speakest of  would be our  torment; an
intermission of praise would pierce us with the severest
pangs of anguish.  Didst thou see him as we do, thou
wouldst wholly melt in  admiration, dissolve in love,
and pour forth in praise, and  never cease, and never
tire through eternity itself."
  O Father of lights !  pity  my darkness, and enlight-
en me !  O fountain  of  life !  pity  my deadness, and
enliven mc 1 While 1 call in mine own experience to 
348
CONVERSE  WITH
convince me,that the saints in glory never are fatigued
or dulled in their divine exercises, have not I had some
happy moments,  of which  I  did not weary ?  Now,
when in my best frames, I have found it so  for a short
while, but corruption and infirmity daily distressing
me altered all, else I should have found it so for a long
time.  But in heaven the spiritual frame is fixed, and
infirmity and corruption are no more ; therefore, with
equal  ease and vigor I will  worship  God through
eternity, as I would one hour on earth.  Well may
the  fire of love continually burn in heaven, having
fresh fuel added to it by the hand of God ;  well may
my soul follow hard after thee, being upheld by the
arm of thine Omnipotence.  Then to worship at thy
throne shall be both the business and the bliss of my
eternity.  When  once I have tasted what it is to rest
in the bosom of God, to drink the spiced wine of bliss,
to hold communion in the holy of holies, and to wor-
ship  at the highest  throne, then all created beings
joined together will not drive  me one moment from
my dear enjoyment and divine employ !  Roll on, thou
longed-for day, when I shall mourn no more  over
feeble nature, and the short-lived frame, a hiding Jesus
and  imperfect  love ;  but rise to ardors only known
above, and,  full of heaven, go wholly out on God. 
           THE WORLD UNSEEN.         349


                       XVI.

          INDIFFERENCE TO THE WORLD.

   IT is a certain truth  that countenances are some-
 thing a-kin to climates;  hence the visages of  some
 reveal their country :  even so my soul has but a dusky
 colour, an earthly hue, because earth engrosses all my
 thoughts, my cares and concern.  O how little con-
 verse have I with the  unseen world !  how little com-
 munion  with God !  One step  into the future world
 will render this  as if it  had never been,  and my first
 step may be it,  since  I walk on the frontiers of each
 world.   Because this  world will cheat  me, shall I
 cheat myself?  It will be a costly pledge, to give it
 my soul till I yield my body to  its bowels.  Wherein
 shall the expectant of glory excel others, if his  caus-
 es  and cures'of joy and grief are the same ?  Should
 one who  would fain  be conversant about a world to
 come,  so much concern  himself with wind and vanity,
 dust and ashes ?  Bags of white and yellow dust may
 bring me to court here, but the whole world on my
 back, will not procure me entrance into the palace of
the King Eternal. When arrived at the seats of bliss,
 it will not matter whether my journey was in the fair
 day of prosperity and  fame, or in the tempestuous day
 of affliction and disgrace.  Buth are forgotten in glory.
 But if  I love God, I will  long  to be with him, for I
 shall never get my fill  of love in a foreign land.  Well^
death is fast approaching, and the wondrous hour that
 divides Jordan.   Both deliver me from the howling
desart, and possess me of the land of promise.  Under
such a  prospect, well may I with cheerfulness give up
the ghost, saying, Into thy hand I commit my spirit,
                       Ff 
3se
CONVERSE  WITH
                     XVII.

            THE DISEMBODIED SAINT.

                                          1765.

  WHITHER, dear ar.gels, whither do ye carry my
soul just disembodied ?  " Commissioned from  thy
Father's throne,  we come to carry thee safe into his
immediate presence."  What dismal howling is that
I hear behind r.s ?  " It is  the last yells ef hell's old
lion, at thy safe  escape."—Ah !  where am  I  now ?
what wonders rise around-mc 1 what fragrance meets
me from the mountains of myrrh, from the hills of
frankincense !  I  hear the voice of my beloved ; sacred
guardian?,  let me leave you, and  fly into his arms !
Am I he who lately lay tumbling and tossing on adcath-
bed, who now walk in beds of roses, and on banks of
bliss ? Am I he  who a little  ago had none around his
r>ed, but weeping friends, and concerned spectators,
who now am surrounded with song, entranced with
harmony, and  ravished  with delights ? Am I, who
lately lay struggling with the pa*ngs, and trembling at
the approach of dissolution, now above the reach of
fear, and stroke  of death ?
   But, O thou  Majesty of  heaven !  I blush at my
very entrance into thy courts, that I have been such a
stranger here.   Enoch, the divine Enoch, is a wonder
in the upper world, he  had so much of God with him
 on earth, he brought so much of heaven with him to
heaven ; he came not from earth to heaven, but from
 one heaven to another.  What precious time and sweet
 meditation have'I wasted on toys and triflcs,and despis-
 ed the joy of angels and the work of heaven ! Where 
THE WORLD  UNSEEN.         351
are all the things of time now, which could once dis-
pute the possession of my heart vvith God ?  Why did
not thy perfections feast my meditations ? why did not
thy love attract, constrain mine ? why did not the joys
Of heaven drown the fanciful joys, and dissipate the
imaginary sorrows of the world? why did I prostitute
the temple of my soul to the idols of time ? why per-
mit  ihe world and self a. place in  that temple which
the Godhead is to inhabit for ever?  There are  none
before the throne but supreme lovers of God, a name
I dare not claim; then, let me retire  to the  outmost
 confines of the land of bliss, as unworthy to be nearer.
Ah ! no ; at thy throne I will dwell forever, and glow
in  ardors, and  dissolve  in love.   And the sacred
 spark, which sin and satan, the world and  self,  smo-
 thered while below, shall  burn a flame intejise and
 strong through everlasting day.           ,  *.-M
  SHALL I chaunt, or shall I complain ?  Even my
complaints praise tnee ; it  is thy kindness opens my
mouth.  Had I been thrown into hell, my revenge had
been against the throne of God ;  but while I find my-
self in the arms of bliss, with what language shall I
condemn my  conduct in   time !  Was  I  content to
have dwelt on the other side of Jordan for ever ? to
put up with a fool's paradise for eternity !  O !  why
did not my soul go out more after God ? why did not
my love center on him alone ? how could  1 treat my
best, my heavenly friend, worse than a common trav-
clle ■ 1  My house received the one, but my heart
bolted out the other ! How mean was mine esteem
of the fairest one that  ever angels saw,  or  seraphs
sung I  O that ever  trifling avocations should haye 
CONVERSE WITH
called  my meditations off that work that would have
kindled my love and heightened my joy '.  Why did I
look always through a false medium, on every thing
that concerned me ?  Is it possible that this vast in-
heritance of glory could appear in mine eyes  a little
despicable island, that lay beyond an unknown  ocean ?
O !  hast thou bestowed on  me the boundless  inheri-
tance of bliss, who once gave mine affections so much
to a few miles square on  thy footstool, that lay within
the sea-mark of corruption and the curse ?  Was my
love ardent to every other object but the God of love I
Oh ! was mine  esteem proportionate to their excel-
lency, yea, was it not beyond what all  their excellen-
cies put together deserved, yet dead and dull, low and
languid to the Father of lights, and Fountain  of per-
fections ?  Why did not the fire of love burn continu-
ally*wUJi a most vehement flame, a flame that many
waterB could not quench ?  Why did I not  consider
that thou wast love, and that this world, where I am
now arrived, was a land of love, and that the song of
the redeemed is just the  warmest breathings of divi-
nes! love, " To him that  loved us ?" O what a hard,
adamantine heart was mine, that in the midst of so
many spicy flames was not melted into love ! Bi.t here
the furnace is seven times heated, and the cloudless
emanations of eternal love make every grateful power
of mind rise to  the  throne  of God, like savory in-
cense from the smoaking altar. 
          THE WORLD UNSEEN.         353


  CAN I ever forget, in this exalted state,  my folly
when in time ?  How unbecoming for an heir of heav-
en to take so much thought about the earth ! Did my
faith believe that such immense treasures were reser-
ved for me in the land of promise ;  and yet my unbe-
lief  distract me about  the trifles of a day ?  Where
now is the advantage of all my  corroding cares, and
disquieting forethoughts ?  How unbecoming for one
whose  strength was the joy of the Lord, to  feel grief
for the perishing things of time !  Why did I take it
in bad  part to be poor in a world, where my dearest
Saviour,  whose hands founded  the golden mines,
beautified the sparkling diamond, and enriched the
precious stones with brilliant glow, lived and died in
extreme  indigence ?   Why did any sorrow that was
bounded  by time, and ended in death, disquiet my
immortal part ?   Whatever I lost in time being of a
perishing nature, could not enrich me  now; and  it
matters not what be now and then burnt, where all i»
devoted to fire.



  ANOTHER  error I was guilty of in the days of my
pilgrimage below, was joy in the world ; and yet all
that I was possessed of, when I came to the hour of
death,  could neither avert the stroke, nor mitigate the
pangs of dissolution.   How like the sons of sense and
earth, to rejoice in that which is bestowed on the basest
of men, and often tends to the basest of ends ! Neither
the angel nor the animal regard the golden sum ; and
yet was I, whose animal life could not be supported by
such} nor mine  angelic expectations terminate there,
                      Ff 2 
354           CONVERSE WITH

bewitched with shining dust ?  How lonely had my
passage been, O best Beloved, through the  valley of
death, for all  the treasures of the world, without thy
presence !  With triumph I  walk along the golden
street, and with endless joy trample the shining metal,
that durst once invade my heart, and decoy my affec-
tions from divine things !  Ah ! was I ever so stupid,
so brutish, as to make any comparison between riches
and righteousness, gold and glory, ear th and heqven, the
creature and God ?   Now 1 would not slop  my song
one moment to give laws to the whole  world, nor stir
one foot from the throne of God, to sway the sceptre
over the nations.  Now I am happier than the nobles,
higher than the kings of any land !
                                          1766.

  O KING Eternal, how am I changed since I came
into thy presence !  the emanations of thy cloudless
glory have made me exceeding IV.ir ; and thou hast be-
stowed upon me excellent majesty.   Whence  is this,
for a worm of thy footstool to rise into an angel before
thy throne, and grow fairer and fairer in thy  assimila-
ting beams ?  Sin would not know me now, that often
blackened my conscience, and saddened my counte-
nance, for now my conscience sings, and  my counte-
nance shines, having full redemption in his blood. Who
would say that ever my heart, which is now a garden
inclosed for my well-beloved, was  a field of battle,
where the company of two armies daily set the battle
in array ?  Fellow-sufferers  would not know  mc.now,
but take me  for an ancient inhabitant of  the land of
bliss, and not for one that lately sojourned in  Mesech,
and dwelt in the tents of Kedar.  O what an  heavenly 
           THE WORLD UNSEEN.        355

change, what a divine metamorphosis is this ! in which
all my powers of mind so deeply share.  In the day of
grace it was much to be like  David the man of God ;
but now in the year of glory, I am like the angel of
God ; ah ! deeper wonder still! like the God of angels t,
Hosanna,  Hallelujah ! Selah.
  NO wonder that in the world I did not think more
of salvation, and the work of redemption, for I dwelt in
darkness, and tabernacled in clay ; but since I have en-
tered within the vail, and come into the presence of
God himself, the mystery is revealed, and my  enlarged
powers of mind are oppressed with wonder and amaze !.
I once thought that I was something, but since arrived
into the more immediate presence  of the Being of be-
ings, I see I am very nothing,  a  mere  non-entity !
Now, had the shining seraphims left  their sparkling
seats, and rapturous songs, to lead such emmets through
the howling wilderness, it would have been a wonder ;
but for him, at whose throne the prostrate angels fall,
and on whose glory Gabriel cannot look, the Father's
fellow, the God of angels, the fountain of happiness,
and the  king of heaven,  to descend to time, to clothe
himself with flesh, to humble himself to death, and to
encounter all the storms of his Father's tremendous
wrath !  and that for the very wretches that  rebelled
against him, is, and will be the wonder of eternity 1 
356
CONVERSE  WITH
                                           I7«7.

   HERE in the highest heavens I see  the  extrava-
gance of my folly, when on the footstool.  How did I
mourn for my expiring friend, as if I had never heard
of immortality, and sorrow for the dead as one that had
na hope 1 To what purpose were my tears, mine an-
guish and my wounded heart ? did I dispute the will of
God, or envy them their bliss I  did such sadness in my
countenance make my heart belter ?  Why  did not
faith behold  afar off this happy day,  when so few mo-
ments intervened between their  decease and mine ?
Now earthly relations are lost, but not forgotten ; lost
in the dearer tie and diviner unity of the heavenly  fa-
mily.  The  dear infant retains not the putrid disease
that snatched him from his parents arms, but appears
beauteous as the smiling morning, and lovely as the
sons of God.  Not a gracious relative is lost, but  meet
here with mutual  advantage.   In  some, imperfect
grace and perverse nature might raise domestic storms,
and impede  their  prayers  at  the  throne ; while  in
others, too high esteem and fond delight might prove
as fatal to their soul's concerns;  but now all sinful dc*
fects and lawless excess are removed, and we share in
others' bliss,and join in others' songs,triumphing over
death and weakness through eternal day ! 
THE WORLD UNSEEN.         357
  WHILE walking through the vale  of tears, how
many have my  mournful melancholy Sabbaths been !
While sin and satan, objects without, and distractions
within, have harassed, how has the clay been profaned)
my mind perplexed, and sadness seized on my soul, so
that I have often pleaded a visit from the Lord of the
Sabbath, and implored  his pity against my foes, and
longed for this eternal day of rest. Now, what stream-
ing joys dilate my ravished soul, to find myself pos-
sessed of everlasting Sabbath !  nothing from without,
nothing from within, can defile my soul, or distract my
devotions.  This is the day that I have longed for ; and
in thy presence, O thou Son of man, O thou majesty
of heaven,  shall eternity be one Sabbath-day ! and all
the day shall I worship at thy throne, and the length of
the day shall be the delight of my soul; nor shall my
sanctified heart need a constant watch, as once against
her rovings, seeing it is essential to the perfect state}
and heavenly frame, to go out only on God.




                                           1769.

  THE heirs of heaven need not take it amiss that
they are  mourners while travelling through the fields
of Bochim, the  vale of Achor.   So short is the dura-
tion of their sorrow to the eternity of their song, that
they have hardly time to heave  the deep fetched sigh,
till their  heart-strings snap, and their joyful soul flies
into their heavenly Father's arms, and enters eternally
into the joy of their Lord.
  Such is now my happy state above; and though in
the dark night of time I mistook every mole-hill of trial 
358            CONVERSE WITH

for mountains of distress, yet it was only the  shadow
of'rouble that attended me, the shadow of grief that
way-laid mc, and  the shadow of death that I  walked
through ; so that  trouble could lxt distract mc, grief
could not destroy  me, and death could not devour mc.
But now even shadowv evil ic  past,  anct solid,  sure
substantial good is mine.  I enjoy the essence of joy,
the quintessence  of bliss, even God  in his own hea-
ven, God in his own Son !  noondays  of glory, rivers
of pleasures, fulness of joy, oceans of ecstasy,  ages, of
communion, entrance my every ravished power.
                                      Feb. 1777.

   HOW happy are all the hosts around the throne!
how content those who have been often disappointed !
how cheerful  the mourners, and how happy all the
sons of sorrow ! Glory is such a weight, God is such
a portion, that every power of soul  is ravished and
blessed above  conception.  O the fulness of the hea-
venly bliss ! there is neither want nor wo, vanity nor
vexation, preying on any soul; but God, in his divine
perfections, fills and overfloweth all. 
           THE WORLD UNSEEN.         359


                     XVIII.

 A CHECK FOR NOT MEDITATING ON DIVINE THINGS.

                                        Jan. 1.

  DOES  my faith expect a- kingdom, an  heavenly
kingdom, and a crown of glory that fadeth not away ?
and  can I live  days  and weeks,  months and years,
without a real ardent desire to be put in possession of
the promised land ?  I wonder not so much that the
wicked  think nothing of  heaven  (for who admire un-
known lands ?) as that the saints think so  little of it,
thovigh now and then allowed to pluck the fruits of
paradise !  Were the  day fixed, on which  I  should
make my appearance i.t an earthly court, to be created
a peer,  and continue in  my princess  favor and p"es-
ence everafter till death,how often would my thoughts
revolve  the auspicious day, and feast on the imaginary,
the transitory grandeur!  And  in  the mean time,
were it  notified to  me, that my sovereign woujd not
only permit me, but would take it kindly, and expect-
ed that I should often, meditate on the majesty of his
throne,  on the equity of  his  seeptre, on the immuta-
bility r;f his laws, on the wisdom of his government,
on the riches of his treasures, on the sweetness of his
favour,  on the munificence of his love, on all his ad-
mirable perfections, and on the amiable person of the
prince-royal, the heir of his crown, and beloved of
his soul, I would not need a second invitation to these
meditations.  Now, when all these supposed excel-
lencies in an earthly monarch are realized in the King
Eternal, and in the King's Son ;  and I am not only
permitted, but invited  and commanded to meditate on
him, assured that the day is on wing when I shall be 
360           CONVERSE WITH
brought into the palace of the King, crowned with im-
mortality, and serve him in his temple  evermore;
what a shame, what a sin,  yea,  what a loss is it, that
my whole soul, in all her thoughts, meditations,  de-
sires, delights, longings, and outgoings, is  not on
God, and the things of God !
                       XIX.

      APPROBATION  OI TRYING PROVIDENCES.

                                     Dec. 1770.

   O  GOVERNOR  of men  and angels !  how well
 does  it become mc to be conformed to the Captain of
 my salvation,  who was made perfect through  suffer-
 ings  ! Who ever expected to find bright noon in the
 dark  night, or serene summer in the middle of stormy
 winter, or grottos, arbors, and  flower-gardens, in a
 barren desart ? why  then am I surprised that I stum-
 ble while travelling  in the night, or that it rains and
 is sometimes very tempestuous in the winter-season ?
 or that I find barrenness in the desart, and lose sight
 uf my fellow-travellers in the dark ?  I will count my
 afflictions then, but I dare not quarrel ;  I will plead
 for compassion, but I will not complain.   Death has
 m> often  preyed around me, that I only am escaped
 alone  to  tell, that I have neither father nor mother,
 sister nor brother, nephew nor niece, nor any nearer
 relative.  Yet,  when the Son of righteousness shall
arise on  mc, I shall  share an eternal  day above the
reach  of night,  a serene summer where wiater shall
return no more ; and a blooming paradise, and arbours 
           THE WORLD  UNSEEN.        361

of bliss, where there is no barren desart.  Also, while
1 leave all my infirmities, and all my afflictions in the
vale of misery behind  me,  I shall find treasures of
glory, rivers of pleasure, in  thy presence,  fulness of
joy at thy right hand for ever : Moreover, I shall find
my religious friends in the better country,whose death
I now bewail; but verily I believe, I shall lose and
overlook  them, and all the heavenly crowd, while en-
tertained with belter company, and admitted to more''
divine communion with Jehovah and the Lamb.
                       XX.

        FAITH'S TRIUMPH OVER AFFLICTION.

                                  Sept. 26, 1772.

   IN a little I  shall be where I never was before, and
 where I now am, I shall never be again.  With every
 immortal, I shall be in eternity, and bid a final fare-
 well to time.  I shall  just be in that heavenly place
 where my happy meditations now are. In thypresence,
 O Saviour!  at thy throne, O King of kings 1 shall I
 find my heaven.   Sure, then, it can never become an
 expectant of so much  bliss, to be sad for any thing
 but sin, or to joy in any thing but in God.   When I
 am no  more  numbered  with  the living, but lamented
 over as a broken vessel, I shall mingle with the hosts
 of the living God, with  the armies of light, and exult
 in my celestial privilege for  ever.
   Like the rest of Adam's discontented family, I am
 often grumbling at my griefs, complaining of my af-
flictions, and on the brink of quarreling at the conduct
                      Gg 
3€2           CONVERSE WITH
of Providence itself.  To be without afflictions is im-
possible below, where man  is born to trouble as the
sparks fly upward; not to feel when afflicted, is a sto-
ical, is an impious stupidity ; but to sink under trou-
bles of any kind, is beneath the character of the Chris-
tian. Yet, when  I reflect on that eternity of bliss which
is before me, on that world of glory of which I am an
heir in minority, I wonder that my afflictions are not
rather more, than that they are so many.  Is it much
for me to stumble among the rough stones of adversi-
ty, to have my flesh pricked with the thorns of trou-
ble, who shall walk the golden streets of heaven, and
wear a crown of immortal glory ? Though the whole
earth should rise up against me, if heaven, and the
God of heaven be for me, I am in perfect safety, and
may sing  my requiem in the midst of all the storms
and  tempests,  whirlwinds  and hurricanes,  that cau
■blow.
                      XXI.

      A SWEET PROSPECT OF FUTURE BLISS.

                                 Nov. 20, 1773.

   HOW soon  I shall mingle with the inhabitants of
 the invisible world, I cannot say;  but I may assure
 myself  it cannot be long.  Why then converse  I so
 seldom w ith the unseen world ? why daily  strike my
 roots deeper into this world, like an old tree, when,
 like an old tree,  I  must shortly be cut down ?  By
 kind providences, and gracious promises, I am hired
lo be heavenly-minded, and by afflictions am I chasten-
ed for my carnality; but could my faith get one sip of 
           THE WORLD UNSEEN.         363

the heavenly banquet, I would long to sit down at the
marriage-supper of the Lamb.  What a rich feast is
found in the kingdom of God, which entertains thou-
sands and ten thousands of happy souls through eter-
nity ; and shall my immortal  soul feed on the refuse
of creation !  I tread under foot  the  flowers of this
footstool, and rise in my ambition to the bliss of hea-
ven, to the  fruition of God.  O  what beams of glory
shine on  me L what treasures open in my view ! the
all-sufficient good enjoyed through everlasting day  by
all the powers of my expanding,  wondering, ravished,
and enlarged mind.
                     XXII.

 THE RAVISHING EMPLOYMENT OF SAINTS IN GL0RT.

                                 May 22,  1774.

  IT is owing to the richness of grace, and stability
of love, that I do not forfeit my title to the heavenly
inheritance, by taking so little delight in divine things,
and being so captivated with the perishing creature !
O fool that I am ! to be busied about dust and ashes,
and to delight in a thing of nought; for the whole cre-
ation shall at last be set on fire, and deceive for ever
all the votaries of sense.  Then, when admitted into
thy unclouded and beatific presence, what a strange
change shall take place in my pursuits ?  I shall feel
a frame of mind superior to the claim of my faith, and
my soul shall be filled with raptures never felt, never
known below. My soul shall largely open to the sacred
emanations of the Deity,  and exert all her ravished
powers in searching the divine perfections,andthrough < 
364^          CONVERSE WITH

eternity pursue the blissful  theme.  Then, and not
till then, shall I know what it is to see God, to  have
communion and fellowship in their perfection with
the Father, and with his Son, Jesus Christ,  and, with
saints and angels, to enjoy him in all his inexhausti-
ble fulness.  There shall not be an unemployed mo-
ment, nor an idle thought there.  Crowns and king-
doms shall not excite one wish there (why then should
lesser things excite so many wishes now, since, 1 am
to be so soon there ?)  but God's infinite  self 6hall be
my all in all through eternity !
                      XXIII.

      A REPREHENSION FOR DECAY IN GRACE.

                                 Dec.  17, 1775.

   WITH tears of blood might I write bitter lamen-
tations over the deadness of my soul, the darkness of
my state !  Is the beloved of my soul in heaven, and
shall the love of my soul grovel  on the earth ?  Has
he who is  fairer than the children of  men, than the
angels of God, lost all his beauty with  mc ?  Has  he
no form nor comeliness that I should desire him, me-
ditate on him, and long for him ? O the mad career
of my unestablished mind, to hunt after shadows, van-
ity, wind, and let heaven and glory  \\o !  O lnppy
day of glory that is on the wing, when sin shad poit'.n
my pursuits no more; but all  my soul, with the ar-
dor of heavenly  love, and the  vigor  of  perfected
l,race,  thill search the adorable perfections of God, 
          THE WORLD UNSEEN.         365


                     XXIV.

           THE NOBLE INDIFFERENCE.

                                April 13, 1776.

  THE brevity of time, and the near approach of eter-
nity, give to the rightly-exercised soul a noble indiffer-
ence about every thing below.   What matters it Whe-
ther I dwell in a palace or a prison, since it is but for a
day, an hour, a moment J What disappointment should
pain me in time, if I shall possess God for eternity ? I
look around  me, and  see multitudes  eager on the
chace,  keen in the  pursuit of created good, forgetful
that the world passeth away.  I look forward to the in-
visible world, and see multitudes in their eternal state,
astonished at the stupidity of saints and sinners, that the
trifles of a day should with them preponderate so much.
I also find myself in the deluded throng of triflers,and
condemn my own conduct. An  hundred years ago, O
ye disembodied nations, some of you  were inhabitants
in time, and ere an hundred years hence, I shall  dwell
in eternity.  Ye then straggled along the road of human
life with care and concern, withburdensand bitterness,
but now are forever at your journey's end ; I  am now
travelling the thorny path, and shall also shortly arrive
at home.  Then there shall be no difference between
you and me,  when both dwelling in the same eternal"
world ; and the interim is so short, that nothing that
can befal me should cither give pain or pleasure.  I
am on the wing to the celestial paradise, and no  blasts
in my face shall hinder my flight to the mount of God.
The brevity of time may be bitter to the sinner,  be-
cause torment and eternity seize him in the same mo-
                      Gg2 
36*           CONVERSE WITH

ment; but it must afford me joy, for the shorter my
time, the nearer to my endless felicity.  Bodies can
never be larger than the orbits in which they move ;
then all the complicate afflictions of time must disap-
pear when time is  no more.   Why, then, take deep
thought, or long sorrow, or much joy, or lasting de-
light, at the ill or good of a few flying moments.   My
soul is immortal, and God is eternal; therefore in thee
below, and in thee above, in thee in time, and in thee
in eternity, shall my soul find boundless pleasures and
unfading bliss.
                     XXV.

              NO HAPPINESS BELOW.

                                  Nov. 18, 1777.

  NEVER shall I attain to happiness, while I seek it
in the creature, or expect it out of heaven ; and O how
little concern have I with the things  of time, who am
so far on  my journey towards eternity!  When the
world gets into the affections, there is nothing but tu-
mult and disorder there ; this I have  long found ; but
when heaven dwells within, the heart becomes a little
heaven, and all is peace and serenity, composure and
joy.  O !  then, to keep the  heart barred against en-
chanting trifles, and to live above every thing below.
At the hour of death, I shall make  my triumphant en-
try into the New Jerusalem, and from the walls of the
holy city I shall bid defiance to all the cares of life, the
pleasures of sense,  the armies of corruption, and the
legions of hell. 
               THE WORLD UNSEEN.          367

                          XXVI.
              GOD A NEVER-FAILING  PORTION.
                                                   %
                                     Dec. 12, 1778,
        WITH respect to this world, I sleep but a part of
      every day ; but with respect to a world to come, alas!
      how long is my sleep, how little am I awake ! O it is
      sad to be taken up with dreams and shadows, and to
      neglect eternal realities !  I am happy to be shaken
      out of my false confidences, and tohangonmyheavenly
      Father alone, and if disappointed in my support, it will
      not be owing to the instability of my prop,  but to my
      not leaning aright on him.   However, I am happy, and
•*    I claim to be happy with his rich grace and overflowing
      love, in spite of all temporal disasters^hould the whole
      of my time be one series of disappointments, one con-
      tinued tempest and storm, since the  hour of death
      brings me  safe to the other shore, where the enjoy-
      ment of God and the Lamb shall replenish my whola
      soul.
                    XXVII.

        GOD  CLAIMS THE  WHOLE HEART.
                                May 30,  1779.
  0 TO have communion with God in all things, and
at all times ; and for this end I should keep for him my
heart.  If I am visited of a great friend, I must not
speak twice to an impertinent neighbor that intrudes
ii to our company, and but once to him, lest he take it
amiss, and depart; I must not give some rascally ac-
quaintance the chief seat in the best part of the room,
and set him in the  corner, lest he grow angry, and be
gone.  Just so, God expects my heart, claims my me- 
S68
CONVERSE WITH
ditations, and is affronted when he is not in all my
thoughts.  O ! then, to get my  idols destroyed, my
meditations swept of vanities,  and my heart wholly
kept for God.


                   XXVIII.

             THE BEST EMPLOYMENT.
                                 June 13, 1779.
  TO prepare for a world to come may well employ
me while in this world, and the sweet hopes of the
heavenly paradise may well support me while travel-
ling through this earthly wilderness ; and when I ar-
rive there, it shall not diminish  my bliss, that in my
pilgrimage I had sometimes storms and  tempests in
my face, clouds and thick darkness around me, trou-
bles and dangers in my way, aliens and enemies as my
companions by the way, and that I was often walking
without any company at all, or with  company worse
than  none.  When I arrive there, 1 shall get such a
view of the wisdom that conducted me along, that I
shall now only approve of it, but admire, adore, and
sing  of it for ever.


                     XXIX.

          ON THE DEATH  OF  FRIfcNDS.
                                 Dec. 9,  1781.
  IF we love to converse with our friends, or where
the greatest part of our friends dwell, surely I should
love  to converse much with  the unseen world, where
almost all my friends are.  Several years ago, death
swept off u:i my father's family,  but him who  now la-
ments a second stroke, by which the complete  half of 
            THE WORLD UNSEEN.         S«9

 ray little family (the child of mine own body, and the
 wife of my bosom) is carried it. to the unseen world.
 Thus Provide ce has torn my fi.mily to pieces, blasted
 my pleasant prospects, plucked up the olive-piant that
 might have graced my t:.Lu , and cut down the fruitful
 vine that flourished by my house-sides, and thus made
 desolate all my company, so that I have no near friend
 to consult with about tne affairs  of this world, or the
 concerns of the unseen world.   Now, if there was no
 other state than this,  no other world but the present,
 surely my situation were extremely melancholy ;  but
 there is a future  state, an unseen world, that balances
 all.  So, while the tear starts in  mine eye from affec-
 tion to my friends, a triumph rises in my heart, from a
 faith  of their felicity.   The days of my mourning will
 come to an end, but their happiness and hosannahs are
 eternal 1

                      XXX.                    t
       DIVINE  WISDOM IN OUR VARIOUS  -,OTS.
                                 Nov.  12, 1783.
   THE wisdom of the gardener is seen in the dispo-
 sition of his plants ; some he sets in the sun, others in
 the shade ; some  in a rich, fat soil, others in a dry and
 barren ground; and thus the nursery-man's skill is con-
 spicuous, for each thrives best in its own soil.  Then,
 since  Infinite Wisdom has allotted a great part of mv
 lifi to sorrow and  solitude (not that I complain) I may
 see that I could not grow in arioJ.-cr soil.  O that I bo
 not unfruitful in this !  Behind the high wall of adver-
 sity, and in the shade of affliction, the saints will bring
forth fruits (humility, stlf-denial, resignation, patience*
 &'c.) that cannot ;*row so well inlhe sun-beams of pros.
periiy.  Now, if another soil would be more agreeable 
370           CONVERSE WITH

to me, I should rather seek to change my nature than
my station ; for, were* I that active vigorous plant that
would abound in fruits under abright sun, and in a rich
soil, and not grow too luxuriant through pride, shake
off my unripe fruits through carnality, or rot through
sloth and security, the heavenly  husbandman  would
soon trans-plant me there, for he  does not afflict  wil-
lingly, or grieve the children of men.   No matter
though, with respect to the things of time, I grow in
the  shade, if the Sun of righteousness shine  on my
soul, and make every grace to flourish.   He  knows
better what lot is best for me than I do myself;  and)
in choosing it for me, I am rather to admire his wisdom,
than  complain of his conduct; the more  so, when I
consider that, on a barren soil, and in a lonely  shade,
he can rear plants that shall enjoy the noon of commun-
ion, and bask in the eternal beams of glory.


                     XXXI.

        THE MIND TOO LITTLE ON HEAVEN.
                                  Jan. J, 1786.
   ALAS 1 how little do I converse with myself, how
little with the unseen world, how  little with God ! and
yet what various events in adorable Providence call for
my attention !  With God there is a time to give, and
a time to take ; a time to remove, and a time to restore;
a time to afflict, and a time to comfort; but all these
tilings point me to my latter end, and admonish me to
converse  with the  unseen world.  Now,  what solid
consolation may this yield to me, that he who is my
best friend, is Supreme Governor over all; and will
shortly, through all events, bring me to the eternal
enjoyment of himself! 
THE WORLD UNSEEN.
37-1
                     XXXII.

          THE DUTY OF THE AGED SAINT.
                                 March 1, 1793.
   THE kind providences of my lot, command my gra-
 titude to  Heaven, my entire  dependance on his arm,
 and peace and composure in  my breast.  But the hea-
 venly promises of being brought  home to glory, and
 satisfied for ever with his likeness, may shed a  little
 heaven through my breast; and that I am so far ad-
 vanced in life, may rather cheer than distress me.  O
 how vain and  uncertain is this world,  but how sweet
 and sure the unseen world,  towards which I  look !
 When  Hezekiah got the message of his  death,  he
 turned  away his face from his courtiers, his officers of
 state, and  his attendants, towards the wall, for none of
 our friends can attend us through the dark valley;  so
 in view of my approaching dissolution, I should turn
 my face, my affections, away from all  created things.
 I am now, lite the Israelites, arrived on the very bankB of
 Jordan, and just waiting for the cammand to pass over;
 and till that day come, I wish by the eye of faith to take
pleasant and  repeated views of the unseen world, to
 wean me from this wilderness, to endear that land  to
 me, and to encourage me in view of passing over the
 river.  Israel dwelt forty years in the desart, but when
they left it, they left it forgoodand all,and never pitch-
ed a tent there again, or expressed the least desire  of
returning thither; just so, though I should dwell se-
venty years in this weary world, yet when called away,
O with what cheerfulness will I quit the land of my
 pilgrimage, the place of mine exile, and when gone, I
 shall be gone for ever, and raise a triumphant song at
beingentered on mine everlasting rest; and being set fcr
ever free from sin and earth, from infirmity : r.d death. 
*r*        CONVERSE WITH, &c.


                    XXXIII.

    AFFLICTIONS W ILL ATTEND US TO OUR LAST,  i

                                Dec. 16, 1794.

  SHOULD I be surprised at suffering like them that
have gone before me ! However numerous or uncom-
mon some of my afflictions may be, I thereby am con-
formed to the happy souls before the throne, who came
out of great tribulation and fiery trials.  I am to acquit
Sovereignty in  the kind (though I may be ready to
say, Is there any trouble like  my trouble wherewith
the Lord hath afflicted me ?) and in the continuance of
my afflictions, while only sin in the instrument, and sin
in myself, are to cause me daily grief.  But Divine
Love, Infinite Wisdom, and Sovereign Grace, can turn
this shadow of death into the morning, and out of thu
roaring lion bring forth food to my soul. 
 
I 
IS/2.
c»«
:v* 


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