Back to the index.
a/src/0049.pm b/src/0049.pm index 8b5674c..839fff7 100644 --- a/src/0049.pm +++ b/src/0049.pm @@ -19,7 +19,7 @@ the Lord, who is pleased to bestow any good thing upon us, or to make us to be the instruments of any good. Lord, we beseech thee to circumcise our hearts, and purge of these evils that cleaves fast unto us; and we beseech thee to increase faith into us, and make it continually to go on both in sense and knowledge, and in the apprehending of that whilkwhich we know. It is faith that purifies the heart, and cleanses the life; we beseech thee to work that in us: and because the destruction of unbelievers is coming upon them very suddenly, and it will be very sore when it comes, Lord, give us faith that we may flee m, @@ -81,15 +81,15 @@ do it, but in the meantime uphold us: for it is better that we should suffer here for our sins, than that we should suffer eternally hereafter for them.
Bless thou all thy people who has been seeking to thee this day, and grant unto them their desires whilkwhich they have been seeking of thee in the name of thy Son Christ. And, Lord, we beseech thee to be merciful to us, and pardon us that we have not served thee as we ought to have served thee this day; and bring us once to the conscience of this, that we must serve thee as thou has commanded us, and not as we think meetest to do it; for except we give the whole man to thee, and labour to do all thy will, thou will not accept of us; but if we will study to do that, then we need not to care for anything. But this is our misery, that the best of us are but almost, and not altogether that whilkwhich we should be; and therefore give us grace to be altogether that whilkwhich thou requires us to be, at least to labour to it.
And Lord, we bless thee for this liberty that we have this day of thee. If so @@ -104,5 +104,5 @@ of death?" Lord, we beseech thee to relieve them.
And these who has professed to begin to shake off these bands, and to do anything that is good, we beseech thee to bring us on, pressing hardly (hard) towards the mark, till we come to the end of our faith, whilkwhich is the salvation of our souls, purchased to us by Jesus Christ. To whom, etc.
a/src/0049.pm b/src/0049.pm index b64be1f..8b5674c 100644 --- a/src/0049.pm +++ b/src/0049.pm @@ -55,7 +55,7 @@ should be bestowed upon men, that God himself shculd be so near to us, and yet that we should not be aware of him! There is no such dignity as this is, that we should come with our two or three words and speak to him, and then he should smile upon us, and take our bill out of our hand; and then we may be sure that we shall get ◊scottish{ane#an|one}an answer, although we get it not presently. O but this were a sweet and a pleasant life, to have God thus dwelling among us, and to meet with us, both in our kirks, and in our cabinets also, when we come to him quietly! if there be a heaven upon earth, surely this were it. And if so be that thou
a/src/0049.pm b/src/0049.pm index ecc681a..b64be1f 100644 --- a/src/0049.pm +++ b/src/0049.pm @@ -25,12 +25,12 @@ and because the destruction of unbelievers is coming upon them very suddenly, and it will be very sore when it comes, Lord, give us faith that we may flee m, and shelter ourselves in the holes of the rock. And since thy promise is sure, and thou has sworn to it, give us grace to believe that; and let our souls be sprinkled by the blood of Jesus Christ, and then we sallshall be sure to be safe, though all the world should be destroyed. Be merciful, O Lord, to thy kirk in all the parts of the world. Hasten the calling of these whom thou has not yet called, and yet belongs to thy election of grace. We know that all thy promises are true, and must come to pass; and thou hast promised that there sallshall be but one sheepfold throughout the world, and they sallshall all depend upon the voice of one shepherd: Lord, hasten that◊footnote{The ardent and enlightened mind of Henderson was even then revolving and planning a comprehensive union of all the Protestant Churches; and we know that in his eye the union of the British @@ -49,17 +49,17 @@ remove, then all will be gone: but we trust that thou will dwell still in the land, in every congregation thereof, and that now and then at least, albeit thou think it not meet at every time, thou will kythe (manifest) thyself to the hearts of thy people; and when thou comes there, thou will discover both thy secrets and their own secrets to them, and thou will speak to thy awinown people, and hear these who speaks to thee. What a honour is this, that such a dignity should be bestowed upon men, that God himself shculd be so near to us, and yet that we should not be aware of him! There is no such dignity as this is, that we should come with our two or three words and speak to him, and then he should smile upon us, and take our bill out of our hand; and then we may be sure that we sallshall get ane◊scottish{ane#an|one} answer, although we get it not presently. O but this were a sweet and a pleasant life, to have God thus dwelling among us, and to meet with us, both in our kirks, and in our cabinets also, when we come to him quietly! if there be a heaven upon earth, surely this were it. And if so be that thou dwell among us, then we sallshall have wealth, peace, and safet from all our enemies. Lord, bless for this effect all these who are in authority,---our king, etc. Lord, we beseech thee to instruct our king's majesty his heart in the right way, and let him not be drawn away by bad and evil counsel; but make @@ -70,7 +70,7 @@ themselves, but forsaking themselves for that end.◊footnote{The contrast is here admirably and truthfully stated between the Prelatical party and the Covenanters, in respect of the ends they had respectively in view, and the spirit by which they were respectively actuated.} And Lord, give him grace to prefer thy will in everything to his awinown will, or to the will of any mortal man. Lord, bless his Queen; we beseech thee, O Lord, to convert her soul from blindness and errour◊footnote{A more explicit allusion to her Popery than any that has yet occurred.} to the love and obedience of thy simple truth. If thou @@ -84,7 +84,7 @@ Bless thou all thy people who has been seeking to thee this day, and grant unto them their desires whilk they have been seeking of thee in the name of thy Son Christ. And, Lord, we beseech thee to be merciful to us, and pardon us that we have not served thee as we ought to have served thee this day; and bring us anesonce to the conscience of this, that we must serve thee as thou has commanded us, and not as we think meetest to do it; for except we give the whole man to thee, and labour to do all thy will, thou will not accept of us; but if we will study to do that, then we need not to care for anything. But this is our @@ -95,14 +95,14 @@ requires us to be, at least to labour to it. And Lord, we bless thee for this liberty that we have this day of thee. If so be that thou had rewarded us according to our deservings, we had been altogether miserable or now; but where there be but few who seeks to thee, thou accepts of these and hears them, and then gathers in the rest again in thy awinown time: blessed be thou for this. Lord, look in mercy upon this poor congregation; and look compassionately upon these who are in distress, and these who are in darkness, and in the valley and shadow of death, and are crying to thee, "O miserable man that I am, who sallshall deliver me from this body of death?" Lord, we beseech thee to relieve them.
And these who has professed to begin to shake affoff these bands, and to do anything that is good, we beseech thee to bring us on, pressing hardly (hard) towards the mark, till we come to the end of our faith, whilk is the salvation of our souls, purchased to us by Jesus Christ. To whom, etc.
a/src/0049.pm b/src/0049.pm index 4a1fc82..ecc681a 100644 --- a/src/0049.pm +++ b/src/0049.pm @@ -86,8 +86,8 @@ Christ. And, Lord, we beseech thee to be merciful to us, and pardon us that we have not served thee as we ought to have served thee this day; and bring us anes to the conscience of this, that we must serve thee as thou has commanded us, and not as we think meetest to do it; for except we give the whole man to thee, and labour to do all thy will, thou will not accept of us; but if we will study to do that, then we need not to care for anything. But this is our misery, that the best of us are but almost, and not altogether that whilk we should be; and therefore give us grace to be altogether that whilk thou requires us to be, at least to labour to it.
a/src/0049.poly.pm b/src/0049.pm similarity index 100% rename from src/0049.poly.pm rename to src/0049.pm
a/src/0049.poly.pm b/src/0049.poly.pm index cd1fc3f..4a1fc82 100644 --- a/src/0049.poly.pm +++ b/src/0049.poly.pm @@ -1,18 +1,5 @@ #lang pollen
- [ ] Completed?
[Link to this page on Archive.org](https://archive.org/details/sermonsprayerspu00hend/page/248/mode/1up)
--- Page 248 ---
248 PRAYER.
of us may be partakers of, through Jesus Christ. To whom, etc.
PRAYER.
We are bound, and it is no less nor reasonable, to serve thee the Lord with all our soul, with all our mind, with all our strength, for we have all of these of thee allanerly (only); and they are upholden by thee: and therefore it is good @@ -23,13 +10,13 @@ when we are about the matters of thy service and worship, then the most part is withdrawn from it. Thou gets only a part of our mind, a part of our will, etc.; and that part is not rightly exercised neither. And therefore we beseech thee, O Lord, to pardon us of this, for we cannot deny but there are special and great infirmities ‘inin us, and the best thing that we have, it is not so perfect as it ought to be. And therefore, as we have reason to magnify and to extol thy praises for thy goodness towards us, so we have reason also to be humbled for our infirmities; and this were the sweetest life that could be, to see that there were continual matter of humiliation in us, and of thanksgiving to thee, the Lord, who is pleased to bestow any good thing upon us, or to make us to be the instruments of any good. I.ord,Lord, we beseech thee to circumcise our hearts, and purge of these evils that cleaves fast unto us; and we beseech thee to increase faith into us, and make it continually to go on both in sense and knowledge, and in the apprehending of that whilk we know. It is faith that @@ -37,115 +24,73 @@ purifies the heart, and cleanses the life; we beseech thee to work that in us: and because the destruction of unbelievers is coming upon them very suddenly, and it will be very sore when it comes, Lord, give us faith that we may flee m, and shelter ourselves in the holes of the rock. And since thy promise is sure, and thou has sworn to it, give us grace to believe that; and let- [ ] Completed?
[Link to this page on Archive.org](https://archive.org/details/sermonsprayerspu00hend/page/249/mode/1up)
--- Page 249 ---
PRAYER. 249 our souls be sprinkled by the blood of Jesus Christ, and then we sall be sure to be safe, though all the world should be destroyed. Be merciful, O Lord, to thy kirk in all the parts of the world. Hasten the calling of these whom thou has not yet called, and yet belongs to thy election of grace. We know that all thy promises are true, and must come to pass; and thou hast promised that there sall be but one sheepfold throughout the world, and they sall all depend upon the voice of one shepherd: Lord, hasten that*that◊footnote{The ardent and enlightened mind of Henderson was even then revolving and planning a comprehensive union of all the Protestant Churches; and we know that in his eye the union of the British Churches was but a step towards that great consummation.} And, Lord, we entreat thee that the afflictions of thy kirk may do her good; for we have heard of the troubles of thy kirk in other parts, but we have not heard of her reformation as yet:+yet:◊footnote{This description applies to the state of matters in England, which was behind Scotland in respect of the reformation of religion, and which in the end was mainly indebted to Scotland for direction and assistance in effecting her own reformation.} Lord, let us hear of that also. And, Lord, thou who has chosen a dwelling to thyself here, when we were lying in darkness, and has stayed still here when we would have had thee away; Lord, we beseech thee that thou will not depart now when we would have thee to stay. If so be that thou will abide among us, then we need to fear nothing; but if thou once remove, then all will be gone: but we trust that thou will dwell still in the land, in every congregation thereof, and that now and then at least, albeit thou think it not meet at every time, thou will kythe (manifest) thyself to the hearts of thy people; and when thou comes there, thou will discover both thy secrets and their own secrets to them, and thou will speak to thy awin people, and hear these who speaks to thee. "WhatWhat a honour is this, that such a dignity should be bestowed upon men, that God himself shculd be so near to us, and yet that we should not be aware of him! There is no such dignity as this is, that we should come with our two or three words and speak to him, and then he should smile upon us, and take our bill out of our hand; and then we may be sure that we sall get ane answer, al * The ardent and enlightened mind of Henderson was even then revolving and planning a comprehensive union of all the Protestant Churches; and we know that in his eye the union of the British Churches was but a step towards that great consummation.
t This description applies to the state of matters in England, which was behind Scotland in respect of the reformation of religion, and which in the end was mainly indebted to Scotland for direction and assistance in effecting her own reformation.
- [ ] Completed?
[Link to this page on Archive.org](https://archive.org/details/sermonsprayerspu00hend/page/250/mode/1up)
--- Page 250 ---
250 PRAYER.
thoughalthough we get it not presently. O but this were a sweet and a pleasant life, to have God thus dwelling among us, and to meet with us, both in our kirks, and in our cabinets also, when we come to him quietly !quietly! if there be a heaven upon earth, surely this were it. And if so be that thou dwell among us, then we sall have wealth, peace, and safet from all our enemies. Lord, bless for this effect all these who are in authority,---our king, etc. Lord, we beseech thee to instruct our king's majesty his heart in the right way, and let him not be drawn away by bad and evil counsel; but make thy statutes to be the men of his counsel. And give him a clear sight to discover clearly betwixt these who are seeking themselves, and the overthrow of religion, and these who are seeking to have religion set up but are not seeking themselves, but forsaking themselves for that end.*end.◊footnote{The contrast is here admirably and truthfully stated between the Prelatical party and the Covenanters, in respect of the ends they had respectively in view, and the spirit by which they were respectively actuated.} And Lord, give him grace to prefer thy will in everything to his awin will, or to the will of any mortal man. Lord, bless his Queen; we beseech thee, O Lord, to convert her soul from blindness and errour +errour◊footnote{A more explicit allusion to her Popery than any that has yet occurred.} to the love and obedience of thy simple truth. If thou wilt, thou can make that to be the way of setting up thy truth here, or use some other mean; or if not, we beseech thee to do it immediately from heaven. And if so be that thou be pleased to put us to a trial here for our sins, Lord, do it, but in the meantime uphold us: for it is better that we should suffer here for our sins, than that we should suffer eternally hereafter for them.
Bless thou all thy people who has been seeking to thee this day, and grant unto them their desires whilk they have been seeking of thee in the name of thy Son Christ. And, Lord, we beseech thee to be merciful to us, and pardon us that we have not served thee as we ought to have served thee this day; and bring us anes to the conscience of this, that we must serve thee as thou has commanded us, and not* The contrast is here admirably and truthfully stated between the Prelatical party and the Covenanters, in respect of the ends they had respectively in view, and the spirit by which they were respectively actuated.
+ A more explicit allusion to her Popery than any that has yet occurred.
- [ ] Completed?
[Link to this page on Archive.org](https://archive.org/details/sermonsprayerspu00hend/page/251/mode/1up)
--- Page 251 ---
PRAYER. 251 as we think meetest to do it; for except we give the whole man to thee, and labour to do all thy will, thou will not _dcceptaccept of us; but if we will study to do that, then we need not to care for anything. But this is our misery, that the best of us are but almost, and not altogether that whilk we should be; and therefore give us grace to be altogether that whilk thou requires us to be, at least to labour to it.
And Lord, we bless thee for this liberty that we have this day of thee. If so be that thou had rewarded us according to our deservings, we had been @@ -154,56 +99,10 @@ accepts of these and hears them, and then gathers in the rest again in thy awin time: blessed be thou for this. Lord, look in mercy upon this poor congregation; and look compassionately upon these who are in distress, and these who are in darkness, and in the valley and shadow of death, and are crying to thee, ¢ O"O miserable man that ]I am, who sall deliver me from this body of death?" Lord, we beseech thee to relieve them.
And these who has professed to begin to shake aff these bands, and to do anything that is good, we beseech thee to bring us on, pressing hardly (hard) towards the mark, till we come to the end of our faith, whilk is the salvation of our souls, purchased to us by Jesus Christ. To whom, etc.
- [ ] Completed?
[Link to this page on Archive.org](https://archive.org/details/sermonsprayerspu00hend/page/252/mode/1up)
--- Page 252 ---
AT AFASTI My & 538,
[Of this Fast no trace is to be found in any of the histories of the period. Beyond what is here said of it nothing is known. Public Fasts were this year observed on 3d June, 22d and 29th July, 16th Sept., and 4th Nov., of all of which notice is taken by Baillie, (See vol. L., pp. 71, 93, 103, 111); but of any Fast on 5th May there is no intimation. It 1s probable, therefore, that this Fast was a local one, confined to Henderson's own congregation, or to the Presbytery of which he was a member. The gth of May this year was a Saturday. As, however, at this time, Fasts were usually observed on Sabbath, and as all the other Fasts observed this year, and enumerated above, were observed on that day, itis just possible that there may be a mistake here in the date, and that the 5th has been put for the 6th. On the other hand, the correctness of all the other dates in the volume, and the general correctness of the entire MS,, are rather against the idea of there being any mistake in the present instance. In the following Preface a good deal is said as to the necessity and design of this Fast, which, in - the absence of other sources of information with regard to it, will prove all the more interesting to the reader.
We may add, that the sermon preached on the afternoon of this day is that of which, as stated in the General Preface, there is a duplicate version in the Advocates' Library, Edinburgh. A portion of the latter version is subjoined as a footnote to the other, that the reader may have an opportunity of comparing the two. ]
[ForENOON.] PREFACE.
Ye may marvel, perhaps, at least some of you who are not well acquainted with matters, how they go among us, what should be the reason that there is so frequent fasting and humiliation, and afflicting of our bodies and spirits among
us in publick. Ye know that whilk the Lord says to his
a/src/0049.poly.pm b/src/0049.poly.pm new file mode 100644 index 0000000..cd1fc3f --- /dev/null +++ b/src/0049.poly.pm @@ -0,0 +1,209 @@ #lang pollen
- [ ] Completed?
[Link to this page on Archive.org](https://archive.org/details/sermonsprayerspu00hend/page/248/mode/1up)
--- Page 248 ---
248 PRAYER.
of us may be partakers of, through Jesus Christ. To whom, etc.
PRAYER.
We are bound, and it is no less nor reasonable, to serve thee the Lord with all our soul, with all our mind, with all our strength, for we have all of these of thee allanerly (only); and they are upholden by thee: and therefore it is good reason that they should be employed for thee. But alas! the truth is, there is but little of them that is employed for thee: we can gather all our forces, and bend them wholly together, when we are about the committing of any sin, but when we are about the matters of thy service and worship, then the most part is withdrawn from it. Thou gets only a part of our mind, a part of our will, etc.; and that part is not rightly exercised neither. And therefore we beseech thee, O Lord, to pardon us of this, for we cannot deny but there are special and great infirmities ‘in us, and the best thing that we have, it is not so perfect as it ought to be. And therefore, as we have reason to magnify and to extol thy praises for thy goodness towards us, so we have reason also to be humbled for our infirmities; and this were the sweetest life that could be, to see that there were continual matter of humiliation in us, and of thanksgiving to thee, the Lord, who is pleased to bestow any good thing upon us, or to make us to be the instruments of any good. I.ord, we beseech thee to circumcise our hearts, and purge of these evils that cleaves fast unto us; and we beseech thee to increase faith into us, and make it continually to go on both in sense and knowledge, and in the apprehending of that whilk we know. It is faith that purifies the heart, and cleanses the life; we beseech thee to work that in us: and because the destruction of unbelievers is coming upon them very suddenly, and it will be very sore when it comes, Lord, give us faith that we may flee m, and shelter ourselves in the holes of the rock. And since thy promise is sure, and thou has sworn to it, give us grace to believe that; and let
- [ ] Completed?
[Link to this page on Archive.org](https://archive.org/details/sermonsprayerspu00hend/page/249/mode/1up)
--- Page 249 ---
PRAYER. 249
our souls be sprinkled by the blood of Jesus Christ, and then we sall be sure to be safe, though all the world should be destroyed. Be merciful, O Lord, to thy kirk in all the parts of the world. Hasten the calling of these whom thou has not yet called, and yet belongs to thy election of grace. We know that all thy promises are true, and must come to pass; and thou hast promised that there sall be but one sheepfold throughout the world, and they sall all depend upon the voice of one shepherd: Lord, hasten that* And, Lord, we entreat thee that the afflictions of thy kirk may do her good; for we have heard of the troubles of thy kirk in other parts, but we have not heard of her reformation as yet:+ Lord, let us hear of that also. And, Lord, thou who has chosen a dwelling to thyself here, when we were lying in darkness, and has stayed still here when we would have had thee away; Lord, we beseech thee that thou will not depart now when we would have thee to stay. If so be that thou will abide among us, then we need to fear nothing; but if thou once remove, then all will be gone: but we trust that thou will dwell still in the land, in every congregation thereof, and that now and then at least, albeit thou think it not meet at every time, thou will kythe (manifest) thyself to the hearts of thy people; and when thou comes there, thou will discover both thy secrets and their own secrets to them, and thou will speak to thy awin people, and hear these who speaks to thee. "What a honour is this, that such a dignity should be bestowed upon men, that God himself shculd be so near to us, and yet that we should not be aware of him! There is no such dignity as this is, that we should come with our two or three words and speak to him, and then he should smile upon us, and take our bill out of our hand; and then we may be sure that we sall get ane answer, al * The ardent and enlightened mind of Henderson was even then revolving and planning a comprehensive union of all the Protestant Churches; and we know that in his eye the union of the British Churches was but a step towards that great consummation.
t This description applies to the state of matters in England, which was behind Scotland in respect of the reformation of religion, and which in the end was mainly indebted to Scotland for direction and assistance in effecting her own reformation.
- [ ] Completed?
[Link to this page on Archive.org](https://archive.org/details/sermonsprayerspu00hend/page/250/mode/1up)
--- Page 250 ---
250 PRAYER.
though we get it not presently. O but this were a sweet and a pleasant life, to have God thus dwelling among us, and to meet with us, both in our kirks, and in our cabinets also, when we come to him quietly ! if there be a heaven upon earth, surely this were it. And if so be that thou dwell among us, then we sall have wealth, peace, and safet from all our enemies. Lord, bless for this effect all these who are in authority,---our king, etc. Lord, we beseech thee to instruct our king's majesty his heart in the right way, and let him not be drawn away by bad and evil counsel; but make thy statutes to be the men of his counsel. And give him a clear sight to discover clearly betwixt these who are seeking themselves, and the overthrow of religion, and these who are seeking to have religion set up but are not seeking themselves, but forsaking themselves for that end.* And Lord, give him grace to prefer thy will in everything to his awin will, or to the will of any mortal man. Lord, bless his Queen; we beseech thee, O Lord, to convert her soul from blindness and errour + to the love and obedience of thy simple truth. If thou wilt, thou can make that to be the way of setting up thy truth here, or use some other mean; or if not, we beseech thee to do it immediately from heaven. And if so be that thou be pleased to put us to a trial here for our sins, Lord, do it, but in the meantime uphold us: for it is better that we should suffer here for our sins, than that we should suffer eternally hereafter for them.
Bless thou all thy people who has been seeking to thee this day, and grant unto them their desires whilk they have been seeking of thee in the name of thy Son Christ. And, Lord, we beseech thee to be merciful to us, and pardon us that we have not served thee as we ought to have served thee this day; and bring us anes to the conscience of this, that we must serve thee as thou has commanded us, and not
* The contrast is here admirably and truthfully stated between the Prelatical party and the Covenanters, in respect of the ends they had respectively in view, and the spirit by which they were respectively actuated.
+ A more explicit allusion to her Popery than any that has yet occurred.
- [ ] Completed?
[Link to this page on Archive.org](https://archive.org/details/sermonsprayerspu00hend/page/251/mode/1up)
--- Page 251 ---
PRAYER. 251
as we think meetest to do it; for except we give the whole man to thee, and labour to do all thy will, thou will not _dccept of us; but if we will study to do that, then we need not to care for anything. But this is our misery, that the best of us are but almost, and not altogether that whilk we should be; and therefore give us grace to be altogether that whilk thou requires us to be, at least to labour to it.
And Lord, we bless thee for this liberty that we have this day of thee. If so be that thou had rewarded us according to our deservings, we had been altogether miserable or now; but where there be but few who seeks to thee, thou accepts of these and hears them, and then gathers in the rest again in thy awin time: blessed be thou for this. Lord, look in mercy upon this poor congregation; and look compassionately upon these who are in distress, and these who are in darkness, and in the valley and shadow of death, and are crying to thee, ¢ O miserable man that [ am, who sall deliver me from this body of death?" Lord, we beseech thee to relieve them.
And these who has professed to begin to shake aff these bands, and to do anything that is good, we beseech thee to bring us on, pressing hardly (hard) towards the mark, till we come to the end of our faith, whilk is the salvation of our souls, purchased to us by Jesus Christ. To whom, etc.
- [ ] Completed?
[Link to this page on Archive.org](https://archive.org/details/sermonsprayerspu00hend/page/252/mode/1up)
--- Page 252 ---
AT AFASTI My & 538,
[Of this Fast no trace is to be found in any of the histories of the period. Beyond what is here said of it nothing is known. Public Fasts were this year observed on 3d June, 22d and 29th July, 16th Sept., and 4th Nov., of all of which notice is taken by Baillie, (See vol. L., pp. 71, 93, 103, 111); but of any Fast on 5th May there is no intimation. It 1s probable, therefore, that this Fast was a local one, confined to Henderson's own congregation, or to the Presbytery of which he was a member. The gth of May this year was a Saturday. As, however, at this time, Fasts were usually observed on Sabbath, and as all the other Fasts observed this year, and enumerated above, were observed on that day, itis just possible that there may be a mistake here in the date, and that the 5th has been put for the 6th. On the other hand, the correctness of all the other dates in the volume, and the general correctness of the entire MS,, are rather against the idea of there being any mistake in the present instance. In the following Preface a good deal is said as to the necessity and design of this Fast, which, in - the absence of other sources of information with regard to it, will prove all the more interesting to the reader.
We may add, that the sermon preached on the afternoon of this day is that of which, as stated in the General Preface, there is a duplicate version in the Advocates' Library, Edinburgh. A portion of the latter version is subjoined as a footnote to the other, that the reader may have an opportunity of comparing the two. ]
[ForENOON.] PREFACE.
Ye may marvel, perhaps, at least some of you who are not well acquainted with matters, how they go among us, what should be the reason that there is so frequent fasting and humiliation, and afflicting of our bodies and spirits among
us in publick. Ye know that whilk the Lord says to his