[172] Ask.
LXXX.--_For_ MARION M'NAUGHT.
(_HIS COMFORT UNDER TRIBULATION, AND THE PRISON A PALACE._)
MY DEARLY BELOVED SISTER,--Grace, mercy, and peace be to you. I
complain that Galloway is not kind to me in paper. I have received no
letters these sixteen weeks but two. I am well. My prison is a palace
to me, and Christ's banqueting-house. My Lord Jesus is as kind as they
call Him. O that all Scotland knew my case, and had part of my feast!
I charge you in the name of God, I charge you to believe. Fear not
the sons of men; the worms shall eat them. To pray and believe now,
when Christ seems to give you a nay-say, is more than it was before.
Die believing; die, and Christ's promise in your hand. I desire, I
request, I charge your husband and that town,[173] to stand for the
truth of the Gospel. Contend with Christ's enemies; and I pray you
show all professors whom you know my case. Help me to praise. The
ministers here envy me; they will have my prison changed. My mother
hath borne me a man of contention, and one that striveth with the
whole earth. Remember my love to your husband. Grace be with you.
Yours in the Lord,