taken place here, but such as were held for the preaching and teaching of the Gospel, and for prayer. It will not be maintained by any one, that the meetings in the sanctuary every Lord's Day are intended for any other purpose than the revival of genuine godliness, through the conversion of sinners, and the edification of saints. All the meetings in this place were held, I believe, with a single eye to the same object. There seems, therefore, to be no propriety in applying the name peculiarly to any meetings that have been held in this place. It is true, indeed, that on week evenings there is not generally the same formality as on Sabbaths -the congregation are commonly dressed in their working clothes, and the minister speaks with less regular preparation.

During the autumn of 1839, the meetings were in general dismissed at ten o'clock; although, in several instances, the state of the congregation seemed to be such as to demand that the ministers should remain still longer with them, that they might counsel and pray with the awakened. I have myself, once or twice, seen the service in the house of God continue till about midnight. On these occasions, the emotion during the preaching of the word was so great, that after the blessing had been pronounced at the usual hour, the greater part of the people remained in their seats, or occupied the passages, so that it was impossible to leave them. In consequence of this, a few words more were spoken suited to the state of awakened souls; singing and prayer filled up the rest of the time. In this way the meeting was prolonged by the very necessity of the case. On such occasions, I have often longed that all the ministers in Scotland were present, that they might learn more deeply what the true end of our ministry is. 1 have never seen or heard of anything indecorous at such meetings; and, on all such occasions, the feelings that filled my soul were those of the most solemn awe, the deepest compassion for afflicted souls, and an unutterable sense of the hardness of my own heart. I do entirely and solemnly approve of such meetings, because I believe them to be in accordance with the Word of God, to be pervaded by the Spirit of Christ, and to be ofttimes the birth-places of precious never-dying souls. It is my earnest prayer that we may yet see greater things than these in all parts of Scotland.

XII. There was one death that took place in very solemn circumstances at the time of the work of God in this place, and this was ascribed by many of the enemies to religious exciteThe facts of the case, however, which were published at the time, clearly show that this was a groundless calumny. XIII. I have been led to examine, with particular care, the accounts that have been left us of the Lord's marvellous works in the days that are past, both in our own land and in other parts of the world, in order that I might compare these with what has lately taken place at Dundee, and in other parts of Scotland. In

doing this, I have been fully convinced that the outpouring of the Holy Spirit at the Kirk of Shotts, and again, a century after, at Cambuslang, &c. in Scotland, and under the ministry of President Edwards in America, was attended by the very same appearances as the work in our own day. Indeed, so completely do they seem to agree, both in their nature and in the circumstances that attended them, that I have not heard a single objection brought against the work of God now, which was not urged against it in former times, and that has not been most scripturally and triumphantly removed by Mr. Robe in his Narrative, and by President Edwards in his invaluable Thoughts on the Revival of Religion in New England:-" And certainly we must throw by all talk of conversion and Christian experience; and not only so, but we must throw by our Bibles, and give up revealed religion, if this be not in general the work of God."

XIV. I do not know of anything in the ministrations of those who have occupied my pulpit, that may with propriety be called peculiar, or that is different from what I conceive ought to characterize the services of all true ministers of Christ. They have preached, so far as I can judge, nothing but the pure gospel of the grace of God. They have done this fully, clearly, solemnly; with discrimination, urgency, and affection. None of them read their sermons. They all, I think, seek the immediate conversion of the people, and they believe that, under a living gospel ministry, success is more or less the rule, and want of success the exception. They are, I believe, in general, peculiarly given to secret prayer; and they have also been accustomed to have much united prayer when together, and especially before and after engaging in public worship. Some of them have been peculiarly aided in declaring the terrors of the Lord, and others in setting forth the fulness and freeness of Christ as the Saviour of sinners; and the same persons have been, at different times, remarkably assisted in both these ways. So far as I am aware, no unscriptural doctrines have been taught, nor has there been a keeping back of any part of "the whole counsel of God."

XV. The ministers engaged in the work of God in this place, believing that children are lost, and may through grace be saved, have, therefore, spoken to children as freely as to grown persons; and God has so greatly honored their labors, that many children, from ten years old and upwards, have given full evidence of their being born again. I am not aware of any meetings that have been held peculiarly for children, with the exception of the Sabbath-schools, the children's prayer-meetings, and a sermon to children on the Monday evening after the Communion. It was commonly at the public meetings, in the house of God, that children were impressed; often also in their own little meetings, when no minister was present.

26th March, 1841.

ANOTHER LILY GATHERED.*

CONVERSION OF JAMES LAING.

"My beloved is gone down into his garden to gather lilies."-SONG vi. 2.

God loves his mighty works to be remembered. We easily forget the most amazing displays of his love and power, and therefore it is right often to set up a stone of remembrance. When Israel passed over Jordan on dry land, God commanded Joshua to take twelve stones out of the dry bed of the river, and to set them up at Gilgal for a memorial, "That all the people of the earth might know the hand of the Lord that it is mighty;" Joshua iv. 24. Whenever the children of Israel looked upon these massy stones, they would remember how God brought their fathers through the swellings of Jordan.

God has done great things for us in this corner of his vineyard, whereof we are glad. The word has often grown mightily and prevailed. Many old sinners and many young ones have given clear evidence of a saving change. And though we cannot say that "the Lord added to the Church daily such as should be saved," yet we can say that from the first day until now he has never left himself without a witness.

We have done little in the way of making known the doings of the Lord. The record of many a saved soul is on high, and many in their heavenly walk amid a polluted world are living monuments of what a God of grace can do. In this little narrative we would raise up an humble stone to the memory of a dear boy who now sleeps in Jesus, and to the praise of that God and Saviour who planted, watered, and gathered his own lily.

JAMES LAING was born on the 28th July, 1828, and lost his mother before he was eight years old. Of the living members of the family I do not mean to speak; they have not yet finished their course, but are still in the valley of tears, and trials, and temptations. This only must be noticed, that not long after God took away the mother, he dealt so graciously with the elder sister that she was. henceforth fitted to watch over the other children with a mother's tenderness.

James was seized with the same fever as that of which his mother died, and he never enjoyed good health afterwards. He was naturally a very quiet and reserved boy, not so rough in his language as many of the boys around. One day when he was lying on his dying bed, I was asking his sister what kind of boy he had been. She said that he was as wicked as other boys, only he did not swear. After I was gone, he told his sister that she was

• Published by James Gall and Son, Edinburgh, of whom it may be had in a separate form.

wrong. He never used to swear at home, because he was afraid he would be punished for it; but when among his companions he often used to swear. "Ah!" added he, "it is a wonder God did not send me to hell when I was a swearer." Another day, hearing some boys swearing near his window, he said, "It is a wonder God did not leave me to swear among these boys yet." Such was the early life of thiş boy. He did not know the God who guided him, and in whose hand his breath was; and such is the life of most of our children-they "cast off fear, and restrain prayer before God."

The Holy Spirit strives even with children. And when they grieve him, and resist his awakening hand, he suffers long with them. The first time that James showed any concern for his soul was in the autumn of 1839. It was a solemn time in this place; St. Peter's was like Bethel. The divine ladder was set down in the midst of the people, and its top reached up to heaven, and even strangers were forced to say, "Surely God is in this place." O that these sweet days would come back again! His elder brother, Alexander, a sailor boy, was at that time awakened, and the same glorious Spirit seemed to visit James for a time. One evening their sister Margaret, returning home from a meeting, found her two brothers on their knees earnestly crying for mercy. She did not interrupt them, but Alexander afterwards said to her, "Jamie feels that he needs Christ too. We will easily know if he be in earnest, for then he will not need to be bidden to pray." The test was a trying one; James soon gave up secret prayer, and proved that his goodness was like a morning cloud and the early dew which goeth away. This is the mark of the hypocrite laid down by Job, "Will he always call upon God. ?" Job xxvii. 10.

Another night Margaret observed James coming from the prayer-meeting in the school in great distress. He kept close by the wall of the church that he might escape observation. He was much concerned that night, and, after retiring to rest, said to his sister, in his own Scottish dialect, "There's me come awa' without Christ to-night again."

One Thursday evening he attended the weekly meeting held in the Church. The passage explained was Romans iv. 4-6, and sinners were urged to receive the "righteousness without works." Many were deeply affected, and would not go away even after the blessing. James was one of those who remained, and when I came to him he was weeping bitterly. I asked him if he cared for his soul he said, "Whiles." I asked if he prayed; he said, "Yes." He was much concerned on his return home that night both for others and for his own soul. But these dew-drops were soon dried up again.

He attended the Sabbath-school in the lane where their cottage stands. Often when the teacher was reading the Bible, or some

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awakening anecdote, the tears flowed down his cheeks; but he tried to conceal his emotion from the other boys lest they should laugh at him. He afterwards said in his last illness, "O that I had just another night of the Sabbath-school! I would not care though they should laugh at me now." Sometimes during the reading and prayer in the family, the word of God was like a fire to him, so that he could not bear it, and after it was over he would run to his wild companions in order to drown the cries of his awakened conscience.

In July, 1841, he went up to Glammiss for his health. I was preaching in the neighborhood, and he wished much to go and hear, but was not able to walk the distance. One night he heard Mr. Cormick of Kirriemuir preach in a cottage on John vii. 37. He felt it deeply, and wept bitterly, but he remarked that none of the people wept. He knew well when people showed any concern for their soul; and he often remarked that to be anxious is not to be in Christ. When he came home he spoke much of the carelessness of the people where he had been. "Ah! Margaret, there was no Bible read yonder. The people a' went to their bed just as if there had not been a God." What a faithful picture is this of the state of many of our country parishes!

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One night after his return a neighbor was sitting by the fire reading the work of an old divine. It stated that even carnal men sometimes receive a conviction they never can forget. She turned to James and asked him if he had never received a conviction that he could not forget. "Yes," he said, "I can never forget it; but we cannot seek Christ twice." Thus did the longsuffering of God wait upon this little boy; the good Spirit strove with him, and Jesus stood at the door and knocked; but he would not hear.

The day of Immanuel's power, and the time of love, was however near at hand. As the cold winds of October set in, his sickly frame was much affected; he became weak and breathless. One Tuesday, in the end of October, he turned decidedly worse, and became intensely anxious about the salvation of his soul. His lamentable cry was, "Oh, Jesus, save me-save me!" Margaret asked if his concern was real, for he had often deceived her hopes before. He wept, and said "Yes." His body was greatly pained, but he forgot all in the intense anxiety for his precious neverdying soul. On the Saturday I paid a visit to their humble cottage, and found the little sufferer sitting by the fire. He began to weep bitterly while I spoke to him of Jesus having come into the world to save sinners. I was enabled in a simple manner to answer the objections that sinners make to an immediate closing with Christ. Margaret wondered; for the minister could not have spoken more to the case of her brother if he had known it; and she inwardly thanked God, for she saw that he was directing it. James spent the rest of the day on his knees in evident dis