the prevalence of fuch works of the flesh in themselves, as we condemn and preach against in others. This hath been, and will be the way of the world; the way of enemies towards the faints, especially towards the minifters of Christ; and it is both pity and fhame that it should ever be their way one towards another. Charity rejoiceth not in iniquity, but rejoiceth in the truth. If there had dropped from one's pen, on a paper which in his account the world was never to fee, expreffions not fo well chofen, or guarded; would not the love of God, the love of truth, and the love of our neighbour, which the gospel so much teacheth and recommends, make all men in whom it dwells, rejoice to fee thofe things elsewhere in the fame paper, more plainly and fully expreffed to fatisfaction? And will not that humility, modefty, and compaffion, which a sense of human weakness and frailty, which a sense of our own imperfections, and liableness to mistake, begets, perfuade the fame thing? Even the wifeft of focieties happen at times to express themselves fo as they fee need to explain themselves, for removing fuch misapprehenfions as their words had given occafion to. The training or wrefting of words, or occafional paffages, in this cafe, in order to the fathering inferences or confequences not owned, or to the fixing of odious notions, that the words neither exprefs, nor, candidly interpreted, give any countenance to, cannot mifs to be held as a clear evidence, that fomething is aimed at, either with refpect to the perfon or doctrine, that is not fairly and honeftly owned, and ipoken out. Moderator, Though I fhall readily own, that any who hear the word at the Lord's mouth, and bear his meffage, may be able to exprefs the truth in more fit and acceptable words than I have done in thefe papers; yet, confidering my unfkilfulness, and my profound fecurity from all fears of fuch unprecedented measures, I conceive I have much reafon to blefs the name of the Lord, who inftructs the fimple, and guides the blind in the way they know not; and accordingly here I defire, with all my foul, to blefs him, that my escapes were not both more and greater than they are: elfe, alas! where had I been? I had been fwallowed and eaten up as bread; the truth had fuffered by my means, and the friends of truth had been afhamed for my fake. Which brings to mind another thing, namely, whatever imperfections or alledged offenfive things may be found in that fermon, you are not, Moderator, fo much as in thought, to impute them to any but me. My reafon for faying fo is, that I know it has been ftrongly, though most invidiously fuggefted, that there was concert and advice in this affair; but never was any thing less true, Moderator. No advice, no confultation, about word or thing in these pa B 2 pers pers; yea, fo far from it, that I fincerely declare, no one in the world knew fo much as the text I was to preach from, till I read it in this place. Moderator, we have not fo learned Christ as to confult with man in fuch cafes. I own, Moderator, I have caufe, more than for all the committee's remarks, to be humbled, that I had not more of the Lord's prefence in the delivery of that fermon, (yet I defire to bless him for carrying me through); and that fo little of the Lord's power accompanied the word from my mouth for it is but too evident, it has been an unbleffed fermon to many; woes me for it! However, it might have been expected, fome regard would have been had to confcience, honefty, and fincerity, in declaring one's mind as to what he reckoned amifs or in danger, on an occafion the moft folemn and public he ever had before, or was like to have again. Whereas, or at the fame time, it may be easily seen, these measures tend to difcourage all faithfulness and plain dealing for the time to come, be the evidence or aspect of affairs in the church what it will; which, therefore, fome will perhaps think might have fallen lefs unfeafonably our in fome other juncture than this. Moderator, However contemptible I may be in the eyes of many, this piece of conduct being io very extraordinary, and of fuch a confpicuous judicatory in the church of Scotland, will be under the obfervation and examination of, not only both friends and enemies at home among ourselves, but of ftrangers (I doubt not) alfo for all people are at this day wrestling for liberty, and many will be curious to look into a cafe reckoned to have fo unfavourable an afpect upon it. To conclude, Moderator, I can fay it in truth, though my brethren and mother's children have been very angry with me, and have dealt roughly with me, my Lord and mafter has not yet, to my difcerning, difovered himself difpleafed with me on the account of that fermon, or of any one thing in it. No doubt, he faw many more fauits, and other fort of ones, than you can find; yea, the whole performance, I know, was full of blemishes, and would not at all abide a trial at the bar of his holy law yet I believe he has gracioufly pardoned all, and will never article me on that head; which, though it may be of no confideration with others, nor do I defire it fhould be of any, yet it is of great importance to me. And as for the little remarks fome people make on it, I believe I may venture to fay, he laughs at them; nay, I will fay more, Moderator, I believe he will deliver me out of all this trouble I am meeting with on the account of it, when fuch as feek my hurt have done their worst and utmost against me: yea tho' I fhould be toffed like a broken veffel to affemblies and commiffions, I am not afraid of the iffue. But though in fuch an event I may be delivered, allow me to fay it, Moderator, tho' it may feem bold, it fhall not, I hope, be found irrelevant; and was their foul in my foul's ftead, none here prefent would think much of any thing I have yet faid, or am going to fay; whoever shall fend me there, I regard their doing fo, can import no less than that they reckon me worthy of death, or of bonds, neither of which I deferve at the hand of man; they fhall be held guilty of my blood before the Lord. To the above is fubjoined another speech. MODERATOR, I own the copy by me delivered to the brethren appointed. by the fynod to receive the fame, to be a true copy of the notes or papers from which I preached the fermon before the laft fynod; and that the faid copy contains nothing but what is my fentiments; and being favourably conftructed, will be found, I hope, to bear no ground of offence. The additions, being moftly of words deficient, tranfitions, or enlargements upon heads barely named in the papers, together with the filling up of fome pieces of the method propofed, but left blank, are all diftinctly marked, and do not touch the fenfe of what is in the notes; nor do I crave any benefit of them. But for as much as it ought to be presumed, that the Reverend Synod did peremptorily require the copy aforefaid, only in order to fatisfy themselves as to fome particular points touched in the fermon, and not out of it to form a libel, or draw articles against me, upon which I may be judged in order to cenfure; and fince I neither did, nor could exactly repeat these notes or papers in the pulpit, and likewife fince many things in them were not at all delivered, and other things were delivered that were not in the faid notes, which nevertheless are now added in their proper places, fo far as I could remember them, and feveral things were delivered purpofely in other and imoother words than were written: I do proteft the faid copy cannot be improved to the forming of a libel or articles against me, as faid is; and that the ufing it to fuch a purpose, would be in effect to make me mine own accufer, contrary to the word of God, the form of procefs, and the natural rights of mankind; and also that the faid copy can never be used, and fuftained as probative, in any procefs against me, on the account of the fermon above mentioned. And finally, that which I may reckon myself concerned to fay here on this affair, for fatisfying the committee as to my fentiments on the heads they may be pleafed to bring into question, fhall not militate against me in any process upon the account of thefe heads, or that fermon aforefaid. Upon all which I take inftruments in the clerk's hands. No 5. Note on p. 399. l. 1. at folio. THIS MS, with the addition of three chapters more, which the reader will find taken notice of in the fequel of these memoirs, confifting in whole of 352 pages, is preserved, and will be published, if encouragement be given. The author intended it for the prefs, and left it prepared for that purpose. Concerning this Effay on the Hebrew text of Genefis, the author wrote the following memorial, when a copy of it was sent to Mr Grant at London. 1. The defign of it is, to explain the text immediately from the Hebrew phrafeology. For that effect, the facred Hebrew pointing, or ftimalology, is religiously stuck to, and expreffed in the versions by equivalent ftops; and in the rigidly literal verfion, the words are generally ranged according to their order in the Hebrew: but where that could not be obtained, the Hebrew order is notified by a figure above the word; as, I Gen. i. 1. GOD he created; the figure 1 notes, that word to be the first of the two in the Hebrew: and more than that, the original words are, wherefoever they occur, rendered in that verfion, in their one formal fignification, according to the use of them in the Bible; the which fignification is established in the notes, being discovered by comparing of other places where the words occur. For which effect, the Bible itself, with Buxtorf's Hebrew Concordance, is, I humbly conceive, the best Lexicon. Upon this fubject, I cannot but mention with honour Guffet's Comment. ling. Ebr. Meanwhile this cannot miss of making that verfion uncouth, and even fhocking to fome. Nevertheless, by means thereof, the English reader hath a kind of original (if I may fo express it) in his own language, by which he may the better judge of fmooth verfions; and the Hebrew reader may discover the true fenfe of a text, together with the reafon thereof, from the language itfelf, and the phrafeology of the Holy Ghoft. But however fhocking it may be to any, I am apt to think, that a verfion of any Roman author, on such a plan, and under such strict rules, would be far more fo. 2. The notes are formed on the rigidly-literal verfion; and, in compiling of them, the philological part was first studied and written, and from thence was the theological fenfe of the text inferred and written. Howbeit, tranfcribing the whole in mundo, I judged it expedient, especially for the fake of the unlearned reader, to invert that order: fo that the philological part comes laft, that they who have no guft for it may pass it. Meanwhile it contains the reason of the versions, and sense of the text, which are given. 3. The more imooth verfion will, I apprehend, be judged by 1 by far too harsh and literal; and therefore it may yet again be 4. The authentic copy written with my own hand, from which it must be printed, if deemed worthy to fee the light, is in my closet. I do not remember that I have fo much as feen, far lefs revised, the whole of the other, now at London, it being kept partly at Edinburgh, and partly at Aberdeen, till it was fent thither.' N° 6. Note on p. 409. l. 15. at paragraph. THE Copy of the paragraph here mentioned is as follows. -'I fincerely defired to have been ufeful to you, to my power, fince you were fettled in the neighbourhood; and that was the fpring of fome parts of my conduct. But we having now twice encountered, you treating of faith, and I of repentance, and again you of repentance, and I of faith, I perceive our strain is so very different, that there seems to me to be a danger in our encountering before a multitude from feveral places in the country wherein our lot is caft. However venturous others may be, I, who have had about twenty years experience of the temper of the people in these parts, would be very inexcufeable if I fhould not be wary." C No7. Note on p. 470. l. 16. at accentuation. THE following is a copy of the memorial here mentioned. 1. The English copy of the Effay on the Hebrew accentuation, being written feveral years before the Latin copy, there are fome things in the former altered in the latter: particularly, one whole fection is dropped, being, I fuppofe the 3d of the 5th chapter; another chapter or fection is tranfpofed; and there are fome few alterations and amendments of another kind made |