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ACCOUNT

OF A LATE

REVIVAL OF RELIGION

IN A PART OF THE

HIGHLANDS OF SCOTLAND;

BY ALEXANDER STEWART,
LATE MINISTER OF MOULIN, NOW OF DINGWALL;

IN A

LETTER

TO THE REV. DAVID BLACK,
MINISTER OF LADY YESTER'S CHURCH, EDINburgh.

And they passed through-declaring the conversion of the Gentiles,
and they caused great joy unto all the brethren.

ACTS XV. 3.

The Fourth Edition.

TO WHICH IS ADDED,

AN APPENDIX, CONTAINING SOME ACCOUNT OF THE
SUBSEQUENT STATE OF THE WORK.

EDINBURGH:

Printed by A. Balfour, Merchant Court,

FOR WILLIAM WHYTE, 12. SOUTH ST ANDREW STREET;

AND SOLD BY

R. OGLE & CO, AND T. HAMILTON, LONDON.

-

1815.

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PREFACE

ΤΟ

THE FOURTH EDITION.

THOUGH several years have elapsed since the last edi tion of the following narrative was printed, the writer has no material information to add to what it already contains. One reason is, that the distance of his present place of residence prevents him from knowing, by actual observation, what is the religious state of his former Parish; and he does not choose to present to the public what he has learned only by second-hand information. He has, however, sufficient reason to believe, that those who had received the love of the truth, continue to maintain a consistent unblemished character, suitable to their Christian profession. He has never found reason to retract or to alter any thing that he has said or written, either respecting the interesting facts related, or the religious doctrines asserted in this humble recital. On the contrary, he entertains an increasing persuasion, that the holy dispositions and purity of life, which distinguished many persons referred to in the narrative, were the genuine fruits of the Divine Spirit, working by that

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great and indispensable instrument the word of God; and especially by those peculiar doctrines of the gos pel, which assert the total alienation of the human heart from God; the justification of a sinner, as an act of free grace, by faith in the only mediator Jesus Christ the Son of God; and the necessity of the special agency of the Holy Spirit, to restore the image of God in the soul, and of his continued influence to carry on the work of sanctification till it be perfected in a future state of glory, and honour, and immortality. As he is convinced that there is but one name under heaven given among men, whereby a sinner may be saved; so he is equally convinced that there is but one system of doctrine whereof God honours the preaching to the conversion of sinners, and the edification of believers; viz. that which holds forth "Christ crucified," as the one all-sufficient sacrifice for sin, through whom God is reconciling a guilty world to himself; and the Holy Spirit, as the one Almighty agent, who, by enlightening the understanding and renewing the will, brings the sinner to repent, and believe the gospel; and which teaches the absolute necessity of a radical change of heart, by repenting, and believing the gospel, in order to the serving, glorifying, and enjoying of God, either in this world or in the next. He would only add his earnest prayer, that this feeble attempt to give to God the glory due to his sovereign grace, may be accepted by him, and accompanied by his rich blessing on all to whose hands it may come. And he would beg leave to renew his request to his affectionate brethren in Christ, that they would not cease to pray for a poor unworthy fellow-servant, that the Lord would be graciously

THE FOURTH EDITION.

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pleased to let him yet see the fruit of the travail of his blessed Master's soul among his present flock, by turning stout-hearted sinners in this place also to the faith and obedience of the gospel, and to cause this desert to rejoice and blossom as the rose. Surely this is the wish that ought to be nearest the heart of every minister of Christ, and the sweetest reward of his labour that he can obtain in this life. And while they pray for those under his charge, may he be permitted to beg that they would intercede in his own behalf also, that the Lord, who has borne with him thus long, would "not cast him off in his old age, nor forsake him when his strength faileth;" but would mercifully forgive his unfaithfulness, and strengthen his heart, now when "the day goeth away, and the shadows of the evening are stretched out."

DINGWALL, October 1815.

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