the earth, and take no heed to have them gathered in before they come to meeting-truly, it is no wonder to see such disappointed. And therefore, my dear Friends, be careful, every one in particular, to have your minds stayed upon the Lord, and the Lord will not be wanting to you; for great is his condescending to us in this day, and wonderful is his work to those that truly watch and wait upon him!

"Therefore, my dear Friends, every one know your place, and let not any go out, nor look out beyond your measures; and let none speak, nor sing, nor sigh, nor groan, but in a true sense of their conditions; and let none make haste to speak any thing before the Lord, which they know not to be from the true power; but all wait for the power and life, and the love of God. For, truly, where the love of God is not placed in the heart, the true power will not attend their performances, neither will God regard their speech or prayer. Therefore, dear Friends, dwell in love, and walk in love towards all men and women; and feel the love of God in your hearts flowing forth to all, whether they love you or hate you. For where hatred is brought forth against any person, upon whatsoever account it be, although you may think the cause just, yet it will separate you from the love of God; for envy and hatred are of the devil, and he is there where this is; and Christ Jesus will not dwell with him in unity. And therefore, my dear brethren and sisters, love one another in that love wherewith CHRIST hath loved you, and likewise your enemies; for love gathereth to God, but envy scattereth. Therefore, I warn you, in the fear and dread of the everlasting God, that ye be not hinderers of the work of the Lord; for dreadful will their portion be, that let or hinder it in this day, or bring an evil

report upon it. So, take warning, my Friends, and every one look to their way, and to the prosperity of Truth. And, my Friends, I thought the zeal of Truth should have had more effect upon some, than I see it hath; but I shall forbear, leaving every one to their own Master :-but they that follow for loaves and fishes, when they get them not, will fail even in that zeal also.

"My little children, love one another.'

"GEORGE GRAY."

CHAPTER XV.

1690: RELIGIOUS PROGRESS AND LATTER END OF ROBERT BARCLAY-LETTER OF GEORGE FOX TO HIS WIDOW-HIS CHARACTER.

BUT the loss which the Friends in this part of the country sustained, by the removal of such men as George Gray and David Barclay, was not all; it was quickly followed, and without doubt exceeded, by the death of one, whom they and the Society at large were bound in a more than ordinary manner to esteem, as "worthy of double honour." Surprising," says William Penn, "was the death of dear Robert Barclay, to me particularly, from the share I claimed in him, and the esteem I had for him: but that which gave weight to my sorrow, was the loss which thereby comes to the church of God, and especially in Scotland. That he lived no longer, who was so well fitted to live for the service and honour of the Truth, and the good of God's people, must render his death more afflicting to all those, who desire to be reckoned among this number."-" O Friends!" continues the same writer, "if precious in the eyes of the Lord be the death of his saints, ought not their labours and death to be precious to the Lord's people?"

But before touching upon his close, we must take ą view, such a superficial view as the existing documents oblige us to take,-of those transactions which throw light upon the religious progress of this "prince in Israel," 2 Sam. iii. 38, during the last ten years of

his pilgrimage. Hitherto his course has been that of the Christian advocate, strenuous and firm, yet tender and discreet, in all his services for the cause in which he engaged; meek and patient also, under those numerous provocations which were poured upon him. But the days of public persecution being now over, as regards the Friends in Scotland, and the principles they uniformly held becoming better understood by the public, we do not find that fresh occasions presented for such laborious exercises as those, in which Robert Barclay had been hitherto involved for the defence and spreading of the gospel. The same voice, which had sounded an alarm in the ear of his soul, which had girded him for this description of warfare and put him forth in it, many a time giving him the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ, doubtless conveyed to his submissive spirit a release from the field of controversy. It was this, which now led him in a line of duty, less conspicuous indeed, and less accounted of by men, but in its place and season no less acceptable in the sight of God. Not that it was the easeful, inert, instinctive observance of such duty, either in a private, social, or more enlarged scale, that could satisfy the cravings of his enlivened soul;-for if so, the character of Barclay has been strangely misrepresented. We have, on the contrary, good cause to assume, however few the traces of his latter years which have come down to us, that this portion of his life was equally passed under the blessed influence of that Sun of righteousness, which had gilded his earlier path, that the evidences of his peace and adoption grew brighter and brighter till his final change.

We find him represented, during this period, as being warmly alive to the welfare of his fellow-men,

his family and relations, his friends and his acquaintance; but more especially so, in what concerned the cause of his brethren in religious connexion. He employed himself in many acts of kindness and friendship towards each of these; and was several times from home at Edinburgh or in London, more often on behalf of others than on account of his own affairs; but particularly applied his interest at court, which was considerable, and the frequent access which he had to the person of King James the 2nd, for the benefit of his friends and of others. Being connected, or on terms of intimacy, with some families of the highest rank in Scotland, he had great opportunity of evincing, in his daily intercourse, the practical operation of those religious principles, respecting which both vocally and with his pen he had so largely treated. And there are sufficient proofs, that he possessed the esteem and confidence of that class in no common degree. On one occasion, it appears, he was made use of, in composing a difference between the Duke of Gordon and "Sir Ewen Cameron," who had married his sister, Jean Barclay; and undertook a journey to London chiefly with this view; which object was at length accomplished, as it is said, by the King's interposition. SEE APPENDIX, AA.

In the Memoirs of the family, it is also stated, that In 1682, the Earls of Perth and Melfort, with the other proprietors, elected him Governor of East Jersey, North America; and to induce him to accept thereof, they gifted him a large propriety with five thousand acres more for him to bestow as he should think fit, the government being confirmed to him. during life by King Charles the 2nd's letter;-his commission bears, that such is his known fidelity and capacity, that he has the government during life, but