I conclude with my sincere and earnest prayers for myself and my readers, in the words of the apostle, "That Christ may dwell in our hearts by faith; that

we, being rooted and grounded in love, may be able "to comprehend, with all saints, what is the breadth, "and length, and depth, and height, and to know the "love of Christ, which passeth knowledge, that we 66 may be filled with the fulness of God!"

OMICRON.

A LETTER TO A YOUNG WOMAN.

MY DEAR MISS

I THANK you for your letter, and for your kind sympathy with me; but I am not much to be pitied. My trial, if I may call it one, has been very light, and sweetened with innumerable comforts and mercies. I fell in the street, not down stairs; but I strained my instep a good deal, and was confined to the sofa for near a fortnight. Last Sunday I was enabled to mount the pulpit, and I am now returning into my old track; but I cannot yet walk in the street, because I cannot wear my own shoe. I trust, in the Lord's good time, I shall recover my former liberty and till his time comes, which is always the best, I hope I shall not desire it. I felt little pain, except for about half an hour after my fall. Perhaps my confinement may have kept me from some greater harm.

The text of my first sermon on my return to church was suggested by my own case: John v. 14. Methinks it is applicable to you likewise. You have been sick, nigh unto death, but the Lord has raised you

up: may he enable you to consider sin, as the source and cause of every sorrow; and that the afflictions the Lord sends, however trying to the flesh, are light, compared with what sin deserves; and designed, if rightly improved, to prevent still worse things which may come upon us, if we despise the chastening of the Lord. It is my heart's desire for you, that you may not only say with gratitude, He hath healed all my sicknesses, but be able to add, He has pardoned all my sin.

An accomplished and well-behaved young woman is an amiable object in the sight of her fellow-creatures. She may be sensible and obliging; she may dress and dance genteelly; she may play well upon the harpsicord: she may have much finer work to show, than the coats and garments which Dorcas made; and, by her vivacity and good humour, she may become the idol of all her acquaintance: but if she does not know her state as a sinner, if she admires herself, and is pleased with the admiration of others, while her heart is cold to the love and glory of God our Saviour; if she has no taste for prayer or praise; if her mind is engrossed by the pleasures and prospects of this poor world; she is dead while she liveth. In the sight of God her Maker, she is insensible and ungrateful, she is poor, blind, and miserable.

is

When you were a child, I could observe in you, not only the sprightliness common to children, but indications of sense and mental powers above the common standard. Could see you now, I think I should see person, I you greatly improved. Your formed, your education finished, and your powers expanded. Happy you, if with these advantages you should be led to devote yourself to the Lord in early life. Then he will guide and bless you, and make you

suppose,

a blessing in all your connections. You will live ho nourably and usefully, and die, whether sooner or later, comfortably. You will have a double relish for every temporal comfort, because you will see his hand providing and bestowing it; and in times of trou ble, which you will surely meet with, you will have a refuge, a hiding place, a present and effectual helper, when the help of man would be utterly in vain.

But unless you enter the narrow way by the straight gate, all your talents and accomplishments will be snares to your feet, and thorns in your eyes. Though the world, at first, may appear like a beautiful palace, or a pleasant garden, it is enchanted ground, it is all illusion; and when, at last, the charm is broken, you will find yourself in a desolate wilderness. May the Lord preserve you from those awful disappointments, and bitter reflections, which are the inevitable consequences of living without God in the world!

Shall I advise you to change your own heart, to make yourself (what you must be if ever you are a Christian indeed) a new creature? This would be no less vain, than if I advised you to fly in the air, or to touch the stars with your finger. Yet there is some. thing within the reach of your ability, and which if you neglect, the fault will be properly your own. This is, the use of what we call the means of grace. The promise of God has connected the appointed means and the promised end; so certainly that no one, who carefully attends to the former, can possibly fail of attaining the latter and no one, to whom the Lord's word of salvation. is sent, shall finally miss of happiness, unless the appointed means of attaining it are wilfully neglected. You can read, the Bible is in your hands; read it therefore attentively; by it God speaks to you, and he deserves to be heard." Your heart tells you that he ought to be worshipped. Let

this conviction engage you to pray, and especially pray for the teaching of his Holy Spirit, to enlighten your mind to see and understand the great things of his Word. Reverence his sabbaths, and public worship. Where two or three are met in his name, he has said, I am in the midst of thein. Prize the preaching of the Gospel when you can have it, for ordinarily faith cometh by hearing. If you persevere in this way, you shall find that he is able and willing to do that for you which you cannot possibly do for yourself.

I commend you to the care and blessing of the Lord. I hope you will always believe me to be. Your affectionate friend,

MEMORABLE CIRCUMSTANCES IN THE LIFE OF THE LATE MR. RICCALTOUN.

SIR,

To the Editor of the Evangelical Magazine.

SOME months ago I met with the works of Robert Riccaltoun, late minister of Hobkirk, in Scotland. I am not in the habit of recommending books. Some sentiments of this author appeared to me rather singular; but his originality, genius, and force as a writer, engaged my attention. And though I do not think myself bound to plead for every thing he has advanced, I readily acknowledge myself a debtor to him, as an instrument, for a more enlarged view of some truths, which have been long dear to my heart. I found, upon inquiry, that it was a posthumous publication, and, though printed fong since (the last vo

Vol. II.

lume in the year 1772), there were few persons within the circle of my acquaintance who had either seen it or heard of it. A considerable part of the edition remained unsold, and almost forgotten; and I was told that the editor, the Rev. John Riccaltoun, the author's son, and his successor in the charge of the parish of Hobkirk, was a considerable loser by the impression.

My

A friend of mine in Edinburg wrote to Mr. Riccaltoun, at my instance, requesting some information concerning his father, who, I judged from his writings, must have been a very considerable man. friend transcribed a copy of the letter he received from Mr. Riccaltoun. If you think proper to insert the annexed abstract of the most interesting particulars of this account, in your Magazine, it is at your service. Perhaps it may not be unacceptable to some of your readers.

Mr. Robert Riccaltoun was born (I am not told where) in the year 1691. Some indications of the genius which he afterwards displayed, appeared in early life. He could read the Bible distinctly before he was five years of age. His father, who was a substantial tenant, probably had a design of educating this his only son, with a view to the ministry. He was placed in the grammar school at Jedburgh, where he made a rapid progress in learning. He could write and speak in Latin, with the same ease and readiness as in English. From thence he was removed to Edinburgh, attended the university, and became a proficient in all the various branches of literature. About the time he had finished his course in the college, his father died, and left him in the possession of a very good farm. He then seemed resolved to follow the farming business, and therefore did not attend the Divinity Hall. However, he studied the Holy Scriptures with great diligence, before he attained the age of twenty, and