and therefore it should be spent
for him.

His friends importuned king James very much, that if be might not return
to Scotland, at least he might have liberty to preach in London, which
he would not grant, till he heard all the hopes of life were past, and
then he allowed him liberty to preach, not fearing his activity.

Then as soon as ever he heard he might preach, he greedily embraced this
liberty, and having access to a lecturer's pulpit, he went and preached
both long and fervently: which was his last performance: For after he
had ended his sermon, he returned to his chamber, and within two hours,
quietly and without pain, he resigned his spirit into his Maker's hands,
and was buried near Mr. Deering, the famous English divine, after he had
lived little more than fifty two years.

During his sickness, he was so filled and overcome with the sensible
enjoyment of God, that he was overheard to utter these words, "O Lord,
hold thy hand, it is enough, thy servant is a clay vessel, and can hold
no more."----

If his diligence was great, so it may be doubted whether his sowing in
painfulness, or his harvest in success was greatest; for if either his
spiritual experiences in seeking the Lord, or his fruitfulness in
converting souls be considered, they will be found unparallelled in
Scotland; And many years after Mr. Welch's death, Mr. David Dickson, at
that time a flourishing minister at Irvine, was frequently heard to say,
when people talked to him of the success of his ministry, That the
grape-gleanings in Ayr, in Mr. Welch's time, were far above the vintage
of Irvine in his own. Mr. Welch in his preaching was spiritual and
searching, his utterance tender and moving, he did not much insist upon
scholastic purposes and made no shew of his learning. One of his
hearers, who was afterward minister at Moor-kirk in Kyle, used to say,
That no man could hear him and forbear weeping, his conveyance was so
affecting.

There is a large volume of his sermons now in Scotland, only a few of
them have come to the press, nor did he ever appear in print, except in
his dispute with Abbot Brown, wherein he makes it appear, his learning
was not behind other virtues; and in another called Dr. Welch's
Armagaddon, supposed to have been printed in France, wherein he gives
his meditation upon the enemies of the church, and their destruction;
but the piece itself rarely to be found.

_The Life of Mr. ROBERT BOYD._

He was first