s his subject; and in the close, his hearers
remember well how affectionately and solemnly he said: "Dearly beloved
and longed for, I now begin another year of my ministry among you; and
I am resolved, if God give me health and strength, that I will not let
a man, woman, or child among you alone, until you have at least heard
the testimony of God concerning his Son, either to your condemnation
or salvation. And I will pray, as I have done before, that if the Lord
will indeed give us a great outpouring of his Spirit, He will do it in
such a way that it will be evident to the weakest child among you that
it is the Lord's work, and not man's. I think I may say to you, as
Rutherford said to his people, 'Your heaven would be two heavens to
me.' And if the Lord be pleased to give me a crown from among you, I
do here promise in his sight, that I will cast it at his feet, saying,
'Worthy is the Lamb that was slain! Blessing, and honor, and glory,
and power, be unto Him that sitteth upon the throne, and to the Lamb
forever and ever.'"

It was much feared for a time that a jealous spirit would prevail
among the people of St. Peter's, some saying, "I am of Paul; and
others, I of Cephas." Those recently converted were apt to regard
their spiritual father in a light in which they could regard none
besides. But Mr. M'Cheyne had received from the Lord a holy
disinterestedness that suppressed every feeling of envy. Many wondered
at the single-heartedness he was enabled to exhibit. He could
sincerely say, "I have no desire but the salvation of my people, by
whatever instrument."

Never, perhaps, was there one placed in better circumstances for
testing the Revival impartially, and seldom has any Revival been more
fully tested. He came among a people whose previous character he knew;
he found a work wrought among them during his absence, in which he had
not had any direct share; he returned home to go out and in among
them, and to be a close observer of all that had taken place; and
after a faithful and prayerful examination, he did most unhesitatingly
say, that the Lord had wrought great things, whereof he was glad; and
in the case of many of those whose souls were saved in that Revival,
he discovered remarkable answers to the prayers of himself, and of
those who had come to the truth, before he left them. He wrote to me
his impressions of the work, when he had been a few weeks among his
people:--