The works of Thomas Smyth on missions are a hidden gem

One goal of Log College Press is to collect in one place all of the works of 18th and 19th century American Presbyterians that are accessible in digital format. Some of these works are nearly unavailable in actual book form, unless you are near one of the few libraries that hold copies. The Works of Thomas Smyth fall into this category. A Southern Presbyterian from Ireland, and the brother-in-law of John Bailey Adger, he was a stalwart of the Presbyterian church in South Carolina, though he was also something of a thorn in the side of James Henley Thornwell, opposing him on the question of church boards and ruling elders. Yet one of the things that Thornwell and Smyth agreed on was the importance of gospel missions. Volume 7 of Smyth's works (found here) contains his works on missions. They are a rich encouragement to the church today, though are little known. His article on "The Duty of Interesting Children in the Missionary Cause" is particularly helpful. A taste:

"A missionary is one who is sent to preach the gospel to those that are “sitting in darkness and in the shadow of death,” whether abroad, or in our own country. To have a missionary spirit, is to be anxiously desirous that such missionaries should be sent, and the gospel made known to all that are “perishing for lack of knowledge.” And a missionary practice or habit, is the habit of carrying out this desire, first, by praying that such missionaries may be raised up and sent forth by the Lord of the harvest, into every part of his vineyard; secondly, by contributing as far as we can towards meeting the necessary expense of sending and supporting these missionaries, and supplying what is necessary to establish schools and print bibles, and other needful books; and, thirdly, by uniting with zeal in such efforts as will promote this spirit, and secure this habit…"

We're almost finished uploading all the volumes of Smyth's works, so check back frequently for more! 

Happy Birthday to and Happy New Year from Henry Augustus Boardman!

Henry Augustus Boardman (1808-1880) was born on January 9, 1808 (210 years ago today), in Troy, New York. A most prolific writer, and an ecclesiastical leader of the Northern Presbyterian Church with Southern connections, he would go on to serve 43 years in the pastorate of the Tenth Presbyterian Church in Philadelphia. It was his custom to preach New Year's sermons for the edification of his flock, a volume of which was published under the title Mottoes For the New Year as Given in Texts of Sermons (1882). On the occasion of his birthday, and while we are still in early January, we commend these sermons to your edification as well. 

Pilgrim, Be of Good Cheer

The English Puritan John Trapp once wrote: "One Son God hath without sin, but none without sorrow." The American Presbyterian clergyman Theodore Ledyard Cuyler (1822-1909) was also, like his Savior, "a man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief" (Isa. 53:3). 

Cuyler lost two infant children, as well as a daughter who was 22 when she died. In the midst of the deepest bereavement, he began to write God's Light on Dark Clouds (1882). Later, he would go on to write Beulah-Land; or, Words of Cheer for Christian Pilgrims (1896); and Help and Good Cheer (1902). These devotionals for weary, hurting and discouraged Christian pilgrims were all written by one who understood the hurt and anguish of loss, and had tasted of the sweet comfort of Christ, who tells his disciples to be of good cheer, for he has overcome the world (John 16:33). Cuyler also wrote Pointed Papers for the Christian Life (1879), a guide for the Christian along the journey, through all its vale of tears (Ps. 23:4; 84:6). 

These volumes of encouragement have helped many pilgrims from the 19th century to the 21st. Dear Reader, if you have need of such encouragement, take note of them and may you find comfort there. 

The Death of Samuel Miller: January 7, 1850

It was the end of a span that covered the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, from the colonial era to the establishment of the American republic. He had been ailing for some time. At the age of eighty, he had regrets from his early years, including his involvement in the Masonic Lodge (which he would later warn his children against), and his political support for Thomas Jefferson (whom he came to regard as a dangerous infidel). But over his lengthy career as a pastor and professor, he was the epitome of "an able and faithful ministry." Ordained as a Presbyterian minister in 1793, Samuel Miller (1769-1850) served as Trustee of Princeton University from 1807 to 1850, and as Professor of Ecclesiastical History and Church Government at Princeton Theological Seminary from 1813 to 1846. As a writer, he was prolific; as an historian and as a theological scholar, he distinguished himself. As a pastor, father, husband, and friend, he was beloved by many.

His funeral sermon was preached by his close friend, Archibald Alexander (1772-1851), for whom Miller had preached on the occasion of Alexander's inauguration as professor at the College of New Jersey (Princeton) in 1812. Commemorative discourses on his life were given by other close friends, such as William Buell Sprague (1795-1876) (see here) and Henry Augustus Boardman (1808-1880). Miller's son, Samuel Miller, Jr. (1816-1883), tells of his final days and the memorials rendered to him in The Life of Samuel Miller; as does James Waddel Alexander (1804-1859) in his Life of Archibald Alexander, who was one of the last men to speak with Miller on this earth (Miller died about six hours after Archibald Alexander's visit). See more about Miller's life, theology and final days in James M. Garretson, An Able and Faithful Ministry: Samuel Miller and the Pastoral Office (2014).

Alexander said this of his friend: "In all the private and domestic relations of his life he was exemplary. As a neighbor he was kind and courteous to all, and exactly just in his dealings. As a minister he was faithful and evangelical, and was accustomed to present the truths of the Gospel in a manner so distinct and methodical, that his discourses could not only be understood with ease, but readily remembered by the attentive hearer. As a member of the church judicatories, he was an able advocate for truth, a warm friend to experimental and practical piety, and of course a friend of revivals. No member of the Church has done more to explain and defend her doctrines than our deceased brother. With his colleagues he was uniformly cordial; and I have never known a man more entirely free from vainglory, envy, and jealousy." 

We remember his passing on this anniversary with the text that Henry Boardman chose for his discourse on Miller's life: "And Samuel died: and all the Israelites were gathered together, and lamented him" (1 Sam. 25:1). 

Devotional Poems of James Waddel Alexander

As we have before noted, J.W. Alexander (1804-1859)'s Thoughts on Preaching: Being Contributions to Homiletics (1861, 1864) is not a volume confined just to the subject of homiletics. The whole of the book is made up of extracts from Alexander's private journal and correspondence, most of which share insights about aspects of preaching. The final section ("Miscellaneous Paragraphs") includes devotional meditations and poems that he wrote in his journal. All of these extracts were edited into one volume posthumously by his brother, Samuel Davies Alexander (1819-1894).

Four of Alexander's poems are found in the Miscellaneous Paragraphs, along with one prose paragraph on the nature of "true poetry," which, he says, should aim at religion for its highest theme.

Just one of his poems is here given, along with encouragement to the reader to seek out the other three as well ("Thy Word is Truth"; "The Scriptures"; and "Song in the Night"). 

On the Late Cloudy Weather

Clouds on clouds have long been here,
Overhanging all our sky;
Scarce a sunny hour did peer
Through the mantle spread on high.

Yet we know the sun is still
Reigning in his bridegroom power,
And the happy instant will
Pour his radiance through the shower.

Then the tinted promise-bow,
Spanning woods and meads, shall smile,
Then the cornfields brilliant glow,
If meek patience wait a while.

Nature is the type of grace --
Spirits have their cloudy time;
'Tis, alas! our present case,
While we wait the dawn sublime.

Yet in darkness we will hope,
He is coming who is Light,
Though we may disheartened grope
For a season -- as in night -- 

He is coming; lo! his beam
Gilds already yonder hill,
Streaks of opening clearness seem
The horizon's edge to fill.

Come, expected brightness, come,
We are panting for thy ray,
Let not hopeless grief benumb
Souls that do thy word obey.

Weeping may a night endure,
Yet the morning shall be joy;
Trust the promise -- it is sure,
Hopeful toil by thine employ.

He who loves me makes my day,
Clouds but minister his will;
Christ is waiting to display
Charms that every wish shall fill.

To Catch Sight of the Ineffable Vision

Have you visited the Compilations page at Log College Press recently? We are adding special volumes by multiple authors as we can. One such gem that is very much worth downloading and studying with care is the 1909 Calvin Memorial Addresses.

In May 1909, the Presbyterian Church in the United States (PCUS) assembled in Savannah, Georgia, to honor the 400th anniversary of the birth of the French Reformer, John Calvin. It was on this occasion that a gavel was presented to the Moderator of the General Assembly. That gavel was made from a timber of wood obtained from the tower of the St. Pierre Cathedral in Geneva from which John Calvin preached. It was a fitting tribute to a man whom we admire because he, it seems, had "caught sight of the ineffable Vision." In the Calvin Memorial Addresses delivered on that occasion, B.B. Warfield (1851-1921) gave a description of Calvinism and what it means to be a Calvinist, a description that resonates a century on: 

"The Calvinist, in a word, is the man who sees God. He has caught sight of the ineffable Vision, and he will not let it fade for a moment from his eyes—God in nature, God in history, God in grace. Everywhere he sees God in His mighty stepping, everywhere he feels the working of His mighty arm, the throbbing of His mighty heart. The Calvinist is therefore, by way of eminence, the supernaturalist in the world of thought. The world itself is to him a supernatural product. not merely in the sense that somewhere, away back before all time, God made it, but that God is making it now, and in every event that falls out. In every modification of what is, that takes place, His hand is visible, as through all occurrences His “one increasing purpose runs”. Man himself is His— created for His glory, and having as the one supreme end of his existence to glorify his Maker, and haply also to enjoy Him for ever. And salvation, in every step and stage of it, is of God. Conceived in God’s love, wrought out by God’s own Son in a supernatural life and death in this world of sin, and applied by God’s Spirit in a series of acts as supernatural as the virgin birth and the resurrection of the Son of God themselves—it is a supernatural work through and through. To the Calvinist, thus, the Church of God is as direct a creation of God as the first creation itself. In this supernaturalism, the whole thought and feeling and life of the Calvinist is steeped. Without it there can be no Calvinism, for it is just this that is Calvinism....But let us make no mistake here. For here, too, Calvinism is just Christianity. The supernaturalism for which Calvinism stands is the very breath of the nostrils of Christianity; without it Christianity cannot exist. And let us not imagine that we can pick and choose with respect to the aspects of this supernaturalism which we acknowledge—that we may, for example, retain supernaturalism in the origination of Christianity. and forego the supernaturalism with which Calvinism is more immediately concerned, the supernaturalism of the application of Christianity. Men will not believe that a religion, the actual working of which in the world is natural, can have required to be ushered into the world with supernatural pomp and display. These supernaturals stand or fall together....This is what was meant by the late Dr. H. Boynton Smith, when he declared roundly: 'One thing is certain,—that Infidel Science will rout everything excepting thoroughgoing Christian orthodoxy. . . . The fight will be between a stiff thoroughgoing orthodoxy and a stiff thoroughgoing infidelity. It will be, for example, Augustine or Comte, Athanasius or Hegel, Luther or Schopenhauer, J. S. Mill or John Calvin.' This witness is true....Calvinism thus emerges to our sight as nothing more or less than the hope of the world."

The Published Works of James W. C. Pennington

James William Charles Pennington (1807-1870) was an African-American pastor in the Congregational and Presbyterian churches. He escaped from slavery at the age of 19 and became a leading abolitionist. His story is told on the website of the Presbyterian Historical Society and in the 2011 book  American to the Backbone: The Life of James W.C. Pennington, the Fugitive Slave Who Became One of the First Black Abolitionists by Christopher L. Webber. 

Pennington wrote many articles for magazines and newspapers, and he published two books: The Fugitive Blacksmith (1841), and A Text Book of the Origin and History of the Colored People (1850). Both can be found on the Log College Press website here. 

Dabney Translated: January 3, 1898

Have you read the lectures given by Robert Lewis Dabney (1820-1898) in October 1897 on the penal satisfaction of the atonement of Christ? These lectures, given at Davidson College, North Carolina and Columbia (South Carolina) Seminary, while Dabney was frail and blind, comprise the last written work of his life, published posthumously as Christ Our Penal Substitute (1898). 

Read an account of these lectures and the reception given to them, and of Dabney's final days, in Thomas Cary Johnson (1859-1936)'s Life and Letters of Robert Lewis Dabney (1903), pp. 520 ff.

Dabney's writings, of course, are in English, but to speak of his translation is to recall that on January 3, 1898, he left this world for a better, heavenly country. His final lectures remind us of a precious truth - that we need the vicarious substitution of One who was perfect, righteous and holy, who alone could pay the penalty for our sins, and that because we are sinners, there is no hope for us apart from this precious gospel truth! 

The 1813 Resolutions of Samuel Miller

When Samuel Miller took his place as Professor of Ecclesiastical History and Church Government at Princeton Theological Seminary in 1813, he set down in writing a series of resolutions. Though not New Year resolutions per se, yet they set a good example of what pious resolutions can be.

December 3d, 1813. This day I arrived in Princeton, to enter on the discharge of my duties, as Professor of Ecclesiastical History and Church Government in  the Theological Seminary of the Presbyterian Church in the United States.

I feel that, in coming hither, I am entering on a most weighty and important charge. At this solemn juncture I have adopted the following Resolutions, which I pray that I may have grace given me faithfully to keep.

I. Resolved, that I will endeavor hereafter, by God's help, to remember more deeply and solemnly than I have ever yet done, that I am not my own, but Christ's servant; and of course, bound to seek, not my own things, but the things which are Jesus Christ's.

II. Resolved, that I will endeavor, by the grace of God, to set such an example before the candidates for the ministry committed to my care, as shall convince them, that, though I esteem theological knowledge and all its auxiliary branches of science very highly, I esteem genuine and deep piety as a still more vital and important qualification.

III. Resolved, that I will endeavor, by the grace of God, so to conduct myself toward my colleague in the seminary [Archibald Alexander], as never to give to give the least reasonable ground of offence. It shall be my aim, by divine help, ever to treat him with the most scrupulous respect and delicacy, and never to wound his feelings, if I know how to avoid it.

IV. And whereas, during my residence in New York, a very painful part of my trouble arose from disagreement and collision with a colleague, I desire to set a double guard on myself in regard to this point. Resolved, therefore, that, by the grace of God, while I will carefully avoid giving offence to my colleague, I will, in no case, take offence at his treatment of me. I have come hither resolving, that whatever may be the sacrifice of my personal feelings - whatever may be the consequnce - I will not take offence, unless I am called upon to relinquish truth or duty. I not only will never, the Lord helping me, indulge a jealous, envious, or suspicious temper toward him; but I will, in no case, allow myself to be wounded by any slight, or appearance of disrespect. I will give up all my own claims, rather than let the cause of Christ suffer by animosity or contest. What am I, that I should prefer my own honor or exaltation to the cause of my blessed Master? 

V. Resolved, that, by the grace of God, I will not merge my office as a minister of the Gospel, in that of professor. I will still preach as often as my Master gives me opportunity and strength. I am persuaded that no minister of the Gospel, to whatever office he may be called, ought to give up preaching. He owes it to his ordination vows, to his office, to his Master, to the Church of God, to his own character, to the benefit of his own soul, to go on preaching to his last hour. Lord, give me grace to act on this principle!

VI. Resolved, that, as indulgence in jesting and levity is one of my besetting sins, I will endeavor, by the grace of God, to set a double guard on this point. The example of a professor before a body of theological students, in regard to such a matter, is all important.

VII. Where so many clergymen are collected in one village, clerical character is apt to become cheap; and it seems to me, that a peculiar guard ought to be set, by each one, to prevent this, by a careful, dignified, and sacredly holy example. Resolved, that I will endeavor, by the grace of God, to exercise special and prayerful attention to this matter.

From Samuel Miller, Jr., The Life of Samuel Miller, 2:9-10 (quoted in James Garretson, An Able and Faithful Ministry, 83-85

A New Year's Sermon by Benjamin Morgan Palmer

In the twilight of his life, Benjamin Morgan Palmer (1818-1902) was asked to give a sermon marking not only the beginning of a new year, but a new century as well. At his Presbyterian church in New Orleans, on January 1, 1901, he gave what has become known as the "Century Sermon." In it, he reminds his listeners of God's providential workings through history up until the present day, and ponders the future ahead as it lays in God's hands. While much has happened in the last century that Palmer perhaps could not have imagined, his faith in the Lord of history ought to be our faith. We can learn much from a step back in time to listen to a 19th century Presbyterian pastor's words at the cusp of the 20th century. 

Happy New Year from all of us at Log College Press, and blessings upon you and yours! 

Have You Read Samuel Davies' New Year's Sermons?

Samuel Davies (1723-1761), who was only 37 years old when he died, preached two New Year's Day sermons at the end of his life. Together, they constitute a remarkable examination of the brevity of life and the importance of redeeming the time - given providentially as he prepared to step into eternity. He, now being dead, yet speaketh (Heb. 11:4). 

On January 1, 1760, he preached "A New Year's Gift" (see Sermons on Important Subjects, Vol. 3, Serm. 59, pp. 309 ff), using Rom. 13:11 for his text: "And that, knowing the time, that now it is high time to awake out of sleep; for now is our salvation nearer than when we believed."

Listen to how he begins: "Time, like an ever-running stream, is perpetually gliding on, and hurrying us and all the sons of men into the boundless ocean of eternity. We are now entering upon one of those imaginary lines of division, which men have drawn to measure out time for their own conveniency; and, while we stand upon the threshold of a new year, it becomes us to make a solemn contemplative pause; though time can make no pause, but rushes on with its usual velocity. Let us take some suitable reviews and prospects of time past and future, and indulge such reflections as our transition from year to year naturally tends to suggest. 

The grand and leading reflection is that in the text, with which I present to you as a New-Year's Gift: Knowing the time, that it is high time to awake out of sleep."

The following year, his last on earth, on January 1, 1761, Davies preached "A Sermon on the New Year" (see Sermons on Important Subjects, Vol. 2, Serm. 34, pp. 139 ff), from Jer. 28:16: "This year thou shalt die." Because Davies died just one month later, on February 4, 1761, it has often been said (even by Davies himself before he died) that here Davies preached his own funeral sermon. Interestingly, he borrowed the same text that College of New Jersey Founder and President Aaron Burr, Sr. (1716-1757) had preached on his last New Year's Day on earth. 

In a most sobering sermon, Davies reminds us that "Thus it appears very possible, that one or other of us may die this year. Nay, it is very probable, as well as possible, if we consider that it is a very uncommon, and almost unprecedented thing, that not one should die in a whole year out of such an assembly as this. More than one have died the year past, who made a part of our assembly last new year's day. Therefore let each of us (for we know not on whom the lot may fall) realize this possibility, this alarming probability, 'this year I may die.'" 

None of us knows how long the thread of our lives may extend on earth. Our times are in the hands of the Lord (Ps. 31:15). Therefore, as one year closes, and a New Year begins, let us take stock and heed the words of Samuel Davies: "Therefore conclude, every one for himself, 'It is of little importance to me whether I die this year, or not; but the only important point is, that I may make a good use of my future time, whether it be longer or shorter.' This, my brethren, is the only way to secure a happy new year: a year of time, that will lead the way to a happy eternity."

The Presbyterians, by Charles Lemuel Thompson

Charles Lemuel Thompson was a 19th-century Presbyterian pastor in Juneau, Wisconsin; Janesville, Wisconsin; Chicago, Illinois; Cincinnati, Ohio; Kansas City, Kansas; New York City, New York; and the Secretary of the Board of Home Missions of the PCUSA. He was a poet, a preacher, and an historian. His book The Presbyterians (1903) gives us insight into how a northern Presbyterian who ministered a good deal of his life in the west of his day, and was involved deeply in home missions, viewed the history of his church. 

Log College Press exists to collect and reprint the writings of and about American Presbyterians from the 18th and 19th centuries, and works from the period that tell the story of the period are particularly interesting to the historian. Browse our site and you'll find many more books like this history by Thompson. 

The Story of the Original Log College

Founded c. 1726, by William Tennent, Sr., (1673-1746), who saw the great for theological training in America, the story of the original Log College, which was the antecedent to the College of New Jersey / Princeton University, and the Log College Men, is a story that we think our readers will enjoy as much as we do here at Log College Press. It was the first seminary to serve Presbyterians in North America, and its alumni played important roles in the Great Awakening, the Old Side-New Side Controversy, and in the theological training of ministers for generations. The story in all its branches is bigger than can be told here, but we have the resources to help our readers dig further into it themselves.

For the first telling of this story, we look to Archibald Alexander, whose Biographical Sketches of the Founder, and Principal Alumni of the Log College, explains how the Log College was founded, and outlines the lives of the Log College Men, men such as William Tennent, Jr., Gilbert Tennent, and Samuel Davies, among others . Of these ministers, Alexander said it well: "These men may be said to have lived fast. They did much for their Lord in a short time. Being burning as well as shining lights, they were themselves consumed, while they gave light to others. Oh, that a race of ministers, like-minded, burning with a consuming zeal, might be raised up among us!" For more specimens of the writings of these Log College Men, see also, his Sermons and Essays of the Tennents and Their Contemporaries, which was published posthumously by S.D. Alexander, and has since come to be known as Sermons of the Log College. 

For another valuable resource, turn to Thomas Murphy's The Presbytery of the Log College; or, The Cradle of the Presbyterian Church in America. Among the many details of the story to be gleaned here is a tribute to Catharine Tennent, née Kennedy, who Murphy describes as "the real founder of the Log College." Murphy, like Catharine, came from Ireland (as indeed did Francis Makemie, the first Presbyterian minister in America), and like her as well embraced the Presbyterian cause in America. The support she gave to the cause is worthy of remembrance. The scope of the Log College story first told by Alexander is greatly expanded in Murphy's work. 

These three volumes combine to tell a story not merely of a theological school derisively termed "the Log College," but also of men who sacrificed much and gave of themselves to the ministry of the Lord in colonial America, on whose shoulders we stand today. 

Happy Birthday, Charles Hodge!

Dr. Charles Hodge was born on December 27, 1797 (220 years ago today). He was one of the great leaders of the 19th century American Presbyterian church, and a very prolific writer. We continue to add works by him to Log College Press, among which are his commentaries on Romans, Ephesians and First and Second Corinthians. Less well-known, but very much worth reading still, are the study guides he prepared to go along with his commentaries on Romans and First Corinthians. Be sure to check out these works and more by a remarkable pastor-scholar. 

William Swan Plumer's The Rock of Our Salvation is Well Worth Your Time

If you are looking for a work on the person and work of Jesus Christ, don't overlook The Rock of Our Salvation (1867), by William Swan Plumer. This 500-page tome is theologically robust and devotionally affective. A simple survey of the Table of Contents should whet your appetite for the rich fare you'll find within:

1. Christ All in All
2. The Divinity of Christ
3. The Sonship of Christ
4. The Incarnation of Christ
5. The Messiahship of Jesus of Nazareth
6. Christ the Mediator
7. Christ a Prophet
8. The Priesthood of Christ
9. Christ a King
10. Christ's Humiliation
11. General Views of Christ's Work
12. Redemption in Christ
13. The Atonement
14. The Folly of Objecting to the Atonement
15. Christ's Resurrection
16. Christ's Ascension and Session
17. Christ in Heaven
18. Christ's Personal Absence From This World
19. Christ on the Judgement Seat
20. Christ the Good Shepherd
21. Christ a Physician
22. The Gentleness of Christ
23. Christ Shall Yet Have a Glorious Reward
24. The Gospel of Christ is Hid From Some
25. The Sin and Danger of Not Believing in Christ
26. The Reproach of Christ
27. Conclusion

If you've never read Plumer before, you're in for a treat!

Devotional Meditations of James Waddel Alexander

James Waddel Alexander's volume on homiletics (1861, 1864) -- Thoughts on Preaching: Being Contributions to Homiletics -- is an excellent help for pastors. But it should also be noted that extracts from Alexander's private journal make up the final portion of this book, and they comprise of devotional thoughts and poetry worthy of every Christian's attention. For an example of the former, see his first of his "miscellaneous paragraphs": 

"To do good to men, is the great work of life; to make them true Christians is the greatest good we can do them. Every investigation brings us round to this point. Begin here, and you are like one who strikes water from a rock on the summits of the mountains; it flows down over all the intervening tracts to the very base. If we could make each man love his neighbour, we should make a happy world. The true method is to begin with ourselves, and so to extend the circle to all around us. It should be perpetually in our minds." 

Reading his journal extracts, one is struck with 1) his desire to exalt Christ even above the most godly of teachers and writers; 2) his thorough acquaintance with the great pastor-writers of centuries before (scribble down the names he mentions if they are new to you); 3) his love of books in conjunction with his understanding that of reading many books there is great weariness, and that it does a person good to step out of their library to converse with others; and 4) his poetic eloquence. 

This writer aims to highlight his poetry further in the future, DV. For now, take note of his devotional meditations, in addition to his excellent homiletic counsel. 

Devotional Meditations of James Waddel Alexander

James Waddel Alexander's volume on homiletics (1861, 1864) -- Thoughts on Preaching: Being Contributions to Homiletics -- is an excellent help for pastors. But it should also be noted that extracts from Alexander's private journal make up the final portion of this book, and they comprise of devotional thoughts and poetry worthy of every Christian's attention. For an example of the former, see his first of his "miscellaneous paragraphs": 

"To do good to men, is the great work of life; to make them true Christians is the greatest good we can do them. Every investigation brings us round to this point. Begin here, and you are like one who strikes water from a rock on the summits of the mountains; it flows down over all the intervening tracts to the very base. If we could make each man love his neighbour, we should make a happy world. The true method is to begin with ourselves, and so to extend the circle to all around us. It should be perpetually in our minds." 

Reading his journal extracts, one is struck with 1) his desire to exalt Christ even above the most godly of teachers and writers; 2) his aim to do good to those around him; 3) his thorough acquaintance with the great pastor-writers of centuries before (scribble down the names he mentions if they are new to you); 4) his love of books in conjunction with his understanding that of reading many books there is great weariness, and that it does a person good to step out of their library to converse with others; and 5) his poetic eloquence. 

This writer aims to highlight his poetry further in the future, DV. For now, take note of his devotional meditations, in addition to his excellent homiletic counsel. 

A 19th Century Devotional for Youth, by Charles Salmond

If you're looking for a way to get your junior high and high school children into the word of God, check out this 19th century devotional by Charles Adamson Salmond (1853-1932), For Days of Youth: A Bible Text and Talk for the Young for Every Day in the Year (1896). In this devotional, Salmond expounds a different verse each day of the year (there are even 366 entries - 1896 was a leap year), applying it to the hearts and lives of young people. The applications are somewhat dated, although the temptations and trials of young adulthood have not changed in the least, and so the principles of truth found in this book are enduring. 

Here is the entry for January 1, to get a taste of Salmond's book.

January 1
The Days of Thy Youth

“Remember now thy Creator in the days of thy youth.” (Ecclesiastes 12:1)

Thy youth! As the old preacher utters his counsel, he calls to mind his own youth with a sigh. It is for ever gone. Its days, and years too, are like a short-lived dream of the long ago. But thy youth is still thine, though its days are hurrying by. Remember God in them, he says. Let no day pass without thinking of Him, and of what you owe to Him. Hear His loving-kindness in the morning — in the morning of your life — in the free bright morning time, before the noisy voices of earth can claim and keep your ear and heart. And as you hear His loving-kindness every morning, let your life each day speak forth His praise!

“The days of thy youth” — how precious they are! They are happy days, influential days, fleeting days.

(1) Happy days — surely you feel them to be that! No doubt youth has its own troubles; its sorrows, losses, disappointments. It is not all brightness. But there is in it far more of the sunshine than of the shadow. Youth’s tears are quickly dried; and there is soon again the clear shining after rain. One thing you may be very sure of — that, if you are spared to be old, you will look back upon the days of your youth as very gladsome days. “The days of our youth” — when we looked with new eyes upon a new world that met us with a smile — when the earth seemed so beautiful, and men so true, and women all so good — when we marched to the music of hope, with few burdens upon the back, and few cares upon the heart, to make the wealth of life our own — what wonder that we who are older look back upon them even now with a peculiar pleasure! They were for us what God and all the good desire that they should be for you — happy days.

(2) Influential days — yes, they are that too, even when you are least thinking of it. Youth is undoubtedly the seed-time for the harvest that is to follow. The babe has been called “a bundle of possibilities.” In youth you have already begun to determine what you are actually to be. Your heart is now open to impressions which will leave their mark on all your future life. The choices you now make, the friendships you form, the patterns you accept, the habits you acquire—tell me these, and I may with much confidence predict what sort of man or woman you will be. Now is the time for high thoughts and noble purposes. Now is the time for seeking a lifelong friendship with Him who will enable you to realize them.

(3) Fleeting days — how swiftly fleeting! You are anxious to grow quickly older? That is a wish very sure to be fulfilled. The year just gone — how short it seems to look back upon! The years will ever seem to vanish more swiftly as they go. The days of youth will speedily pass into other days. But they need not be “evil days”; and will not be, if we have Him with us who has promised to be with His people “all the days even to the end.” With a heart kept young by His presence even to old age, you will have the best of life — an immortal youth — before you still.

“Then be thou zealous in thy youth;
Fill every day with noble toils;
Fight for the victories of Truth,
And deck thee with her deathless spoils.”

Presbyterians and the 'Revolution' of 1776

Presbyterianism has always been odious to tyrants. It motivated revolts against tyrants by French Huguenots, Scottish Covenanters, Dutch Calvinists, English Puritans, American Presbyterians, and other Reformed Protestants in history. David W. Hall in The Genevan Reformation and the American Founding (2003) and Douglas F. Kelly in The Emergence of Liberty in the Modern World: The Influence of Calvin on Five Governments From the 16th to the 18th Centuries (1992) are two modern works which have studied this phenomenon. 

In the 19th century, on the occasion of the centennial of the American War of Independence, William Pratt Breed (1816-1889) published several works dealing with how the the colonial American conflict with Great Britain was a war largely based on Presbyterian principles of resistance to tyranny. There were those in England who described it as a "Presbyterian Rebellion." Breed quotes Thomas Carlyle thus: "Protestantism was a revolt against spiritual sovereignties, popes and much else. Presbyterians carried out the revolt against earthly sovereignties." Even Robert Burns once wrote about the Scottish Covenanters: "THE SOLEMN League and Covenant / Now brings a smile, now brings a tear; / But sacred Freedom, too, was theirs: / If thou’rt a slave, indulge thy sneer."

Breed published: 1) Jenny Geddes, or, Presbyterianism and Its Great Conflict with Despotism (1869); 2) Presbyterianism, and Its Services in the Revolution of 1776 (1875); 3) Presbyterians and the Revolution (1876); and 4) a tribute to John Witherspoon (1877), who was the Presbyterian pastor who so largely influenced the American War of Independence and signed its Declaration. (See Witherspoon's Works here.)

For an introduction into American Presbyterian history and how our nation became an independent republic, for reasons based on Presbyterian principles of resistance of tyranny, these are works still worth reading today. 

A Word to the Weary

Christian, Are you physically weary from many labors during the day, or due to sickness and troubles in this earthly tabernacle which we bear? Are you vexed in your soul due to unkind words, or at the state of the church today, or for the injustices in this world, or from spiritual warfare or persecution for the name of Christ in your life or in the lives of saints around the world? Remember the words of Christ: "Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light" (Matt. 11:28-30). 

In that vein, then, also consider this little book of encouragement by a 19th century Southern pastor: A Word to the Weary (1874) by William Swan Plumer (1802-1880). It is a balm to the soul filled with words of comfort from the Physician of Souls. Take up and read, and be comforted, Christian.