Row, in his "History of the Kirk of Scotland" (p. 396), wrote in 1650
regarding these Letters:--"Sundry have whole books full of them,
whilk, if they were printed, I am confident, through the Lord's rich
mercy and blessing, would not fail to do much good." This was written
fourteen years before any attempt had been made at collecting them for
publication.
I. The First Edition appeared in 1664, in duodecimo. The place of
publication is not given on the title-page, these being days of
persecution; but it is known to have been _Rotterdam_, in Holland,
under the superintending care of Mr. M'Ward, who was once Rutherford's
amanuensis. It is divided into two parts, the one containing 215
Letters, the _other_, 71. It has a long recommendatory Preface,
containing matter that is of no great interest to us now; but it
preserves one weighty saying of this man of God on his deathbed. "When
he was on the threshold of glory, ready to receive the immortal crown,
he said, 'Now my tabernacle is weak, and I would think it a more
glorious way of going home, to lay down my life for the cause, at the
Cross of Edinburgh or St. Andrews; but I submit to my Master's will.'"