Eheu! quanta tenent Scotos mala! quanta doloris
Copia! qui PATRIAM luctus ubique premit!
1747
COPY of a LETTER from the Rev. Mr. ROBERT LYON[13]
to his MOTHER and SISTERS.
[13] Mr. Lyon was incumbent of the Episcopal Church in Perth, being
elected thereto as colleague to the Rev. Laurence Drummond (whom
he mentions in this letter) in or about 1738. When Prince Charles
and his army passed through Perth on his way south, Mr. Lyon
joined himself to them, especially as the most influential part
of his congregation had gathered to the Prince's standard. He was
appointed chaplain of Lord Ogilvie's regiment. After his arrest he
was imprisoned at Montrose, and thereafter at Carlisle, where he was
tried, and sentenced to be executed. He accordingly suffered death at
Penrith on 28th October 1746. For further particulars about Mr. Lyon
the reader may consult the _Episcopal History of Perth_, by the Rev.
George T. S. Farquhar, M.A., 1894, pp. 131-186.
[Sidenote: 1746 23 Oct.]
[Sidenote: _fol._ 1.] MY DEAR MOTHER AND MY LOVING SISTERS,--How ever
great a shock to nature I presently feel in writing you upon this
occasion, and the great trouble and affliction it must give you all
in reading my last, yet I could not allow myself, having warning of
my approaching fate, to leave this miserably wicked world, without
bidding you farewel and offering you my advice.
It has pleased Almighty God in His unsearchable Providence for some
time past to afflict me with grievous and sore troubles, everything
that could be look'd on as comfortable in this world being denied me
that was in the power of my enemies to grant or refuse. But blessed
be my merciful God, they could not stop the inward consolations of
God's Holy Spirit, which has hitherto supported me in health and
vigour under all this miserable scene of calamities, for which I have
the greatest reason, while I live, to bless and adore His glorious
name. The miseries I have already undergone, and humanly speaking, am
still to suffer, are undoubtedly inflicted upon me as a just reward
and punishment for my manifold sins and iniquities, [Sidenote: _fol._
2.] and I trust they have been dispensed as the chastisements of a
merciful Father to a prodigal child in order to draw me to a nearer
acquaintance with Himself, to wean my heart from all inordinate
affections to the follies and vanities of the world, to enlarge my
heart with desires of being with Jesus, my Saviour, of the freedom
from sin and of the fruition of my God to all eternity. This is the
proper influence His afflicting hand should have had upon me. And, if
my heart deceives me not, I have made it my endeavour, tho' with a
great mixture of weakness during my long confinement, it should have
its due effect.
Before this will reach you (my dear mother and sisters) the last
fatal scene of my sufferings will be over and I set at liberty
(even by my enemies themselves) from the heavy load of irons and
chains I have so long drag'd. Lord, loose me from the burden of my
sins! Assist me in my last and greatest trial! Receive my soul,
and bring me into the way of eternal happiness and joy! Grieve
not for me, my dearest friends, since I suffer in a righteous and
honourable cause, but rather rejoice that God has assisted me by
His grace, the most unworthy of [Sidenote: _fol._ 3.] His servants,
to act agreeably to my conscience and duty by bearing testimony
to truth and righteousness, religion and loyalty in midst of a
wicked and irreligious, perverse and rebellious generation. Let
this consideration, the motives of Christianity, and the hopes and
assurances which our holy religion so plentifully affords, allay in
you all immoderate grief, and make you thoroughly resign'd to God's
holy will in all His wise dispensations; which howsoever harsh at
present they may appear to flesh and blood, yet they shall all be
made to work together for good to them that love and fear Him, and
put their trust in His mercy.
I am very sensible how much easier it is to give advice against
affliction and trouble in the case of others than to take it in
my own. It hath pleased God to exercise me of late with very sore
trials, in which I do, I think, perfectly submit to His good
pleasure, firmly believing that He does always that which is best.
And yet tho' my reason was satisfied, my passion was not so soon
appeas'd; for to do this is a work of some labour and time.
But since that God hath thought fit to warn me of my own mortality
by giving me a summons to die a violent and barbarous death by the
hand of man, I thank God for it; it hath occasion'd in me no very
melancholy reflections. But this perhaps is more owing to my natural
temper than wise considerations. [Sidenote: _fol._ 4.] But yet,
methinks, both reason and religion do offer you, my dear mother and
sisters, considerations of that solidity and strength, as may very
well support you under all the afflictions of this present life. Pray
then consider:--
That God is perfect love and goodness; that we are not only His
creatures, but His children, and as dear to Him as to ourselves;
that He does not afflict willingly nor grieve the children of men,
and that all evils of afflictions which befal us, are intended for
the cure and prevention of greater evils, of sin and punishment.
And therefore we ought not only to submit to them with patience
as being deserved by us, but to receive them with thankfulness as
being design'd by Him to do us that good and to bring us to that
sense of Him and ourselves which perhaps nothing else would have
done. That the sufferings of this present life are but short and
light compar'd with those extreme and endless miseries which we have
deserved, and with that exceeding weight of glory which we hope for
in the other world, if we be careful to make the best preparations
for death and eternity. Whatever hardships and afflictions we suffer
for our attachment to truth and righteousness bring us nearer to our
everlasting happiness, and how rugged soever the way may [Sidenote:
_fol._ 5.] be, the comfort is that it leads to our Father's house
where we shall want nothing that we can wish for.
But now you labour under affliction for the death and loss of your
only son, and all of you of your dearest earthly friend. Consider
then that, if you be good Christians, God who is your best friend,
who is immortal and cannot die, will never leave you nor forsake you,
but will provide both for your temporal and spiritual concerns beyond
what you can either ask or think. But nature, you say, is fond of
life. I acknowledge it. But then consider, to what purpose should we
desire a long life? since with the usual burdens and infirmities and
misfortunes that attend it, it is but the same thing over again or
worse, so many more nights and days, summers and winters, with less
pleasure and relish, every day a return of the same and greater pains
and troubles, but perhaps with less strength and patience to bear
them.
These, and the like considerations, have under my present calamities
entertain'd me not only with contentment but comfort, tho' with great
inequality of temper at several times, and with much mixture of human
frailty, which will in some degree stick to us while we are in this
world. However by this kind of thoughts afflictions and death itself
will become more familiar to us, and keep us from starting at the one
or repining [Sidenote: _fol._ 6.] at the other.
I acknowledge I find in myself a great tenderness in parting with
you, my dearest relations, which I must confess doth very sensibly
touch me. But then I consider, and so, I hope, with all of you, that
this separation will be but a very little while, and that tho' I
shall leave you in a very wicked world, yet you are all under the
care of a good God who can be more and better to you than I and all
other relations whatever, and will certainly be so to all those that
love Him and hope in His mercy.
It likewise gives me no small uneasiness that I should leave you
in a worse way as to your worldly circumstances than I could
have wished or once expected, having spent my own and made some
encroachments upon poor Cicie's[14] stock. But then I must say in my
own vindication, this was not by any luxury or riot, as you can bear
me witness, but rather owing to a small yearly income, an expensive
place for living, and being too liberally disposed upon certain
occasions; but, above all, by my being engag'd in the late glorious
cause of serving my King and country. You'll easily see it was no
mercenary view, but purely obedience to conscience and duty that made
me take [Sidenote: _fol._ 7.] part in the fate of my royal prince and
country when I tell you that I never received a farthing of his Royal
Highness's money, nor was assisted in the least penny by any engaged
in his service. So that this undertaking consum'd no small part of
my private stock; and I hope you'll readily grant it could not have
been better bestow'd, altho' all of you must feel the want of it. But
God who has formerly done wonderful things for us all will, I trust,
provide for you the necessaries of life.
[14] Mr. Lyon's favourite sister.
And even poverty rightly weigh'd is not so very sad a condition. For
what is it but the absence of a very few superfluous things which
please wanton fancy rather than answer need, without which nature is
easily satisfied, and which, if we do not affect, we cannot want?
What is it but to wear coarse cloaths, to feed on plain and simple
fare, to work and take some pains, to sit or goe in a lower place, to
have few friends and not one flatterer? And what great harm in this?
If I had time to compare it with the many dangers and temptations
to which wealth is expos'd,--pray consider that poverty is a state
which many have born with great chearfulness. Many wise men have
voluntarily embrac'd it. It is allotted by Divine wisdom to most men,
and the very best of men do often [Sidenote: _fol._ 8.] endure it.
God has declared an especial regard to that state of life. The mouth
of truth hath proclaimed it happy. The Son of God dignified it by His
own choice, and sanctified it by His partaking deeply thereof. And
can such a condition be very disagreeable to any of you (who were
never over-prosperous in the world)? Or can it reasonably displease
you?
My dear mother and sisters, these considerations, I hope, thro' the
Divine assistance, will be a mean to support you under your present
and future afflictions, and preserve you from repining at my fate and
your own loss.[15]
[15] The paragraph following in brackets was at first omitted by
Mr. Forbes, with this explanatory note inserted at the end of the
letter. '_N.B._--In the original of the above letter there was a
paragraph about a very particular concern of Mr. Lyon's which I did
not chuse to transcribe.' But he afterwards supplied it by writing it
on the inside of the front board of the volume, with the following:
'_N.B._--Finding that Mr. Lyon's own relations and Mrs. Stewart Rose
made no secret of the mutual affection that had been betwixt the
young lady and her departed friend, I obtain'd a true copy of the
paragraph and transcrib'd it as above.--ROBERT FORBES, A.M.'
[Before I end this letter I must take this opportunity to acquaint
you of one thing that none on earth knows but the person immediately
concern'd. The matter is this. Had it pleased God that I should
have surviv'd my dear mother, and been provided of any tolerable
subsistence in this world, I design'd and propos'd to make Stewart
Rose (whom I know to be a virtuous, wise, good, and religious young
woman), partner of my life and fortune. I am too sensible of what
she suffers on my account, and which would make her affliction sit
the harder upon her, the natural modesty she is mistress of, would
never allow'd her to give vent to her grief, had not I mention'd it
to you. I therefore recommend her to you, my dear mother, always to
look upon her as your daughter, and to you, my dear sisters, to treat
her always as your own sister, she being really so in my most serious
intention and fix'd resolution. And I am persuaded there are none of
you but will bear so far a regard to my memory as to value, esteem,
and, as far as in your power, cherish and comfort the person on whom
I had so deservedly settled my love and affection. I am sensible that
all of you esteem'd her before on your acquaintance with her and her
own proper merit, and am convinc'd that my discovering my mind thus
far will more and more increase and not lessen your love and regard
to her. May Almighty God support and comfort her and you all, and
make you with humble submission resign'd to the Divine will.]
I must next acknowledge with all the tender-heartedness of a brother,
the grievous troubles and afflictions both of body and mind my dear
sister, Cicie, hath undergone, in order to be of use and comfort to
me under my severe trials. Her firm love to me has made her follow my
fate too far, and be a witness of more of my troubles than I could
have wish'd. But whatever she has suffer'd on my account, which
indeed cannot be express'd, she has been of unspeakable service to
me. May Almighty God reward her, and whatever love all of you bore to
her formerly I hope it will be enlarged to her on this very account.
[Sidenote: _fol._ 9.] I cannot conclude without offering my best
wishes (as they have always had my prayers) to Mr. Drummond, my
colleague, and every individual person a member of our congregation.
May Almighty God bless all of them both in their temporal and
spiritual concerns, and of His infinite goodness reward them for
their love and kindness, their attachment and concern for me in
the several difficulties I have undergone! May the same God in His
due time afford them authoriz'd guides to perform Divine offices
amongst them, to administer to them the means of grace and bread of
life, that they may be no longer as sheep without a shepherd. Till
which time may the Holy Spirit direct every one of them into the way
of truth, and assist them earnestly to contend for the faith once
delivered to the saints, in unity of spirit, in the bond of peace,
and in righteousness of life. And finally, may the same merciful
Lord save them and bless them, make them to the end of their lives
stedfast in the faith, unblameable in holiness and zealous of good
works.
You'll be pleased to offer my hearty and sincere good wishes to
Balgowan[16] and all that worthy family. I gratefully acknowledge
their remarkable and undeserved favours. May Almighty God return them
sevenfold into their bosom!
[16] John Grahame of Balgowan.
[Sidenote: _fol._ 10.] I sincerely pray that Almighty God may
reward the family of Moncrief, Mr. Smyth's, Mr. Stirling's, Dr.
Carmichael's, Mr. Graeme's, ladies of Stormont, Lady Findal's, and
all other my kind benefactors and well-wishers with you (who have
so bountifully ministred to my necessities) with His eternal and
everlasting good things.
As I expect and earnestly desire forgiveness from God of all my sins
and transgressions, thro' the merits and mediation of my only Saviour
and Redeemer Jesus Christ, so from the very bottom of my heart I
forgive all my enemies, persecutors, and slanderers, and particularly
Clerk Millar,[17] who, I have reason to believe, has prosecute me to
death, and whom, to my knowledge, I never injured in thought, word,
or deed. May God grant him repentance that he may obtain forgiveness
at the hands of our heavenly Father. And with the same earnestness
I desire all of you to forgive him, and tho' it should be in your
power, never in the least degree to resent it against him or his.
[17] George Miller, town clerk of Perth, who seems to have taken an
active part in the prosecution of his townsmen who engaged in the
rebellion. See fol. 27.
And now, my dear mother and sisters, it is my dying exhortation
[Sidenote: _fol._ 11.] to you, as well as to every particular person,
who (by the providence of God) was committed to my spiritual care,
stedfastly and constantly to continue in the faith and communion
of our holy persecuted mother, the Church of Scotland, in which I
have the honour to die a very unworthy priest, whatever temporal
inconveniences and hardships you may wrestle with in so doing.
Nothing must appear too hard which tends to the salvation of your
souls; and the disciple is not to expect better treatment than
his Lord and Master. For as they persecuted Him, even so will they
persecute you. Strenuously adhere then, in spite of all opposition,
to those doctrines and principles, which thro' the grace of God and
my own weak abilities, I endeavoured to teach publickly and inculcate
upon you in my private conversation, I mean the doctrines of the
Holy Scriptures, with their only genuine and authentick comment, the
universal doctrines and practices of Christ's Church in her purest
ages, even the three first centuries, before the manifold errors of
Popery, on the one hand, or Presbyterian enthusiasm, on the other,
prevail'd; both of which have been dangerous to the souls of many.
Let no worldly consideration [Sidenote: _fol._ 12.] prevail with
any of you to join with schismaticks of whatever kind; and more
especially be not deceived by those who may come unto you in sheep's
cloathing, having the appearance of sanctity and righteousness more
than others, but in Divine offices offer up to God unlawful petitions
and immoral prayers.
And, as you know, the man cannot be perfectly happy without the
reunion of soul and body (in consequence of which principle it was
my practice, in my family devotions to commemorate the souls of
my deceas'd friends who died in the Lord), so I earnestly beg and
intreat when you approach the throne of grace that you'll pray for
rest and peace, light and refreshment to my soul, that I may find
mercy in the day of the Lord, and that I may be partaker of perfect
consummation and bliss both in body and soul in God's eternal and
everlasting glory. May our good and wise ecclesiastical governours,
with the Divine assistance, contribute their endeavours to restore
this and all other primitive and apostolic practices in due form
to the publick offices of our Church, which would be a mean to
administer comfort and great consolation to many a pious and devout
soul. I cannot finish this subject [Sidenote: _fol._ 13.] without
putting up my petitions in the same words of our holy mother, the
Church, as she appoints the very day[18] on which it is determined I
should suffer: 'O Almighty God, who hast built thy Church upon the
foundation of the apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ himself being
the head corner-stone, grant us so to be joined together in unity
of spirit by their doctrine that we may be made an holy temple,
acceptable unto Thee through Jesus Christ, our Lord. Amen.'
[18] St. Simon and St. Jude's Day, F.
And now, my dear mother and sisters, I must conclude this my too long
letter with my prayers for you. May our most gracious God pardon all
your offences and correct whatever is amiss in any of you. May He
preserve you all in health, peace, and safety, and, above all, in
mutual love to one another. May He pour down upon you His spiritual
blessings, and vouchsafe you also such a measure of temporal
blessings as He sees most convenient for you. May He of His infinite
mercy let you want nothing either for life or for godliness. I pray
God to fit us all for that great change which we must once undergoe;
and if we be but in any measure prepared, sooner or latter makes no
great difference. I commend you all to the father of Mercies and the
God of all consolation and comfort, beseeching Him to increase your
faith, patience, and resignation, [Sidenote: _fol._ 14.] and to stand
by you in all your conflicts, difficulties, and troubles, that when
ye walk thro' the valley of the shadow of death you may fear no evil,
and when your heart fails you may find Him the strength of your heart
and portion for ever.
Farewel, my dear mother! Farewel, my loving sisters! Farewel, every
one of you for ever! And let us fervently pray for one another that
we may have a joyful and happy meeting in another world, and there
continue in holy fellowship and communion with our God and one
another, partakers of everlasting bliss and glory to the endless ages
of eternity.
The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ and the love of God and the
communion of the Holy Ghost be with you all evermore, is the prayer
and blessing of, my dear mother, your obedient and affectionate son,
and my loving sisters, your affectionate and loving brother, while