Secondly, Some of the great things he seeks here, may be these. Freedom from having his sorrow augmented by the addition of grief. Freedom from fainting under his sad condition. And yet, many times, the Lord will have the grief of his children so to be increased, as that the deliverance shall not come, until they be brought very near,-yea, sometimes, even unto fainting. Psal. xxvii. 13, Psal. lxi. 2. And therefore, they are not, with Baruch here, too peremptorily to seek to decline this condition; but only to seek grace, so to be borne out, as not to dishonour God by fainting; especially, when the cause [and need] of it is so eminently held forth, as in his time it was, and now is in ours,-when all God's precious interests, yea, piety and religion itself, seems to be at stake.

Thirdly," I find no rest," says he. He would have been in a quiet, peaceable condition, while God was intending no such thing to his people: this, God reproves him for, and counts it a great thing, sought for himself, which he would not give him, because it is not good for him. Neither must we seek it, or count greatly of it, in such a time. When the Lord intends a general stroke upon a people, as here," I will bring evil upon all flesh,"-then, the godly may not promise themselves exemption; they may, yea, they must suffer with the rest,-at least in sympathizing, with the godly especially.

But yet, observe,-" Thy life will I give to thee for a prey," &c.; that is, not only the preservation of his natural life, but a lively frame of spirit,—which is the very life of a believer's soul,-is here promised, in this time of calamity, in all places where he should go. Without this, especially in time of trouble, they

dwindle and die, and their very life becomes a burden to them. This day, the Lord was pleased, I hope in mercy to my soul, to open the said Scripture to me; and, in some measure, a desire [prevailed], to sit down contentedly under the want of all the aforesaid great things," if I may but attain to have a daily increase of this good thing, my "life for a prey;"—a

more distinct knowledge and observation of, and conformity to the presence and power of Christ, who is the true Life within me.

CHAPTER XII.

1661: ALEXANDER JAFFRAY VISITS SOME PRISONERS IN THE TOLBOOTH; AS, ROBERT TRAIL, JOHN STIRLING, GILBERT HALL, AND ALEXANDER MONCRIEF-HE HAS AN INTERVIEW WITH JAMES GUTHRIE, ON "THE CAUSES OF THE LORD'S CONTROVERSY WITH THE LAND"-HIS DESIRES ON BEHALF OF HIS WIFE-CHRIST'S VOICE IN THE HEART-THE DUTY AND BENEFIT OF BEING "QUIET," AND NOT REPINING, OR BEING DISMAYED AT THE LORD'S WAY OF EXERCISING THE SOUL-HE OBTAINS ACCESS TO ROBERT MACQUARE, THEN A CLOSE PRISONER FOR HIGH TREASON: HIS CONFERENCES WITH HIM AND OTHER PRISONERS-ON CONFORMITY TO THE WORLD-" 3rd JULY, 1661:"

THE DANGER OF SETTING UP "DUTIES" IN THE PLACE OF CHRIST-ON KEEPING CLOSE TO CHRIST, THE FOUNTAIN OF LIFE, &c.

THE 8th of March, 1661, having been, divers days. before this, some way moved and pressed in spirit, to visit some of the prisoners now in the town, I did, at divers times, visit Mr. Robert Traill, and Mr. John Sterling, ministers of Edinburgh, Mr. Gilbert Hall, and Mr. Alexander Moncreife, minister at [Scoonie]; minding, as occasion should offer, to have communicated with them my thoughts of the dangers and duties of this time, and to have heard theirs. But, partly through want of opportunity, and by reason of much darkness, that both they and [I lay un]der, nothing worthy the mentioning, to any purpose, was amongst us. [SEE APPENDIX, NN.]

That day, I went to visit Mr. James Guthrie in the Tolbooth; and resolved, to be more free and plain with him, than I thought safe or convenient to be with any other, which at last I [ventured] to do, laying [open] further my thoughts freely to him. And,

lest he might have been jealous of me, as being under a temptation, because of these times, (seeing my present thoughts of the Lord's controversy with his people, seems to fall in and suit with what the men that are now in power, for their own ends, are acting,) I desired him not so to judge of me, as favouring them or their ends, in what they do: for, I am very confident, God is highly displeased herewith, and will overturn them, and their doings and ends both, if they repent not. But, I desired him to mind a paper, he did see me give in to a meeting of ministers and professors here, in Edinburgh, in October, 1651; containing my judgment and thoughts, of what might be the occasion and cause of the Lord's controversy with his people. The which paper he did well remember. And I told him, that my present thoughts were much the same, that then they were. And the Lord had been ever since, and now was more plainly, making it appear to be so; by having, in a great measure, shaken loose and overturned the national way of [church] government, in its method and way, and all the dependencies of it, as they were formerly, and [as they were] later, in these times, framed and carried on, by the will and inventions of men-as the uttermost height and pitch of reformation, to which the Lord was to have his work brought, in these latter days. In like manner, the national Covenant, and League and Covenant,-which were the great idols of our invention, for carrying on of these things,-the Lord had, these divers years by-gone, in a great measure [shaken;] by this, testifying so eminently against them, after solemn appealations,-likewise his so dividing and renting them among themselves about them; thereby, as I suppose, very clearly calling to

lay them by, as means not of his appointment, but of their own invention, and that he would no more bless for carrying on [his work]

[Here, at the 103rd page of the second pocket volume, the manuscript once more breaks off:-the only remaining fragment of the Diary, that was discovered, is as follows.]

and exercising me with manifold and various dispensations, both of mercy and judgment;-especially at such a time, I should be thus assaulted, and brought sometimes well near to the gates of hell; so that hell itself should not be more terrible and loathsome to me, than some fits of distemper and sad exercise, that it pleased Him to suffer me frequently to be under: [my desire was,] that the Lord would show me, why it is thus, and what he would have me to do in this case. To this purpose, was the desire of my soul laid out to him; with expectation and some hope, that he will make way for my escape from this sad, distressed, and miserable condition, or else enable me to bear it, as becomes a soldier of Jesus Christ, with courage and confidence; knowing that his grace is sufficient for me, and that his strength is made perfect in weakness.

The 17th day of June, 1661, I received a line from my wife; wherein I perceived, and was desiring much to pity, her confused and dark condition, being nothing comforted and less edified by her letter. As I could, I was desiring of the Lord on her behalf, that she may be helped to improve the dispensation, and saved from the sad stroke of being deprived of the right use of it, which would look more sad and judgment-like than any thing she or I have ever yet met with.

The 18th day. Having been, for many days, sadly

M