A
PASTORAL LETTER,
FROM A
MINISTER IN THE COUNTRY,
TO THOSE
OF HIS FLOCK
WHO REMAINED IN THE
CITY OF PHILADELPHIA DURING
THE
PESTILENCE OF
1798.
PHILADELPHIA:
Printed by JOHN ORMROD, No. 41,
Chesnut-Street.
1799.



THE following Letter was originally written in haste,
and intended only for a special occasion ; and it is now pub-
lished as it was written, with the alteration only of a few
words. This has been done in compliance with the solicitation
of the Author's Friends, who have expressed it as their
opinion, that the publication might do good — To the consideration
of doing good to souls, every other regard ought to be
sacrificed by the Ministers of CHRIST : And, that this de-
sirable end may, in some humble degree, be promoted, by
what is here submitted to the eye of the public, is the earnest
Prayer of
THE AUTHOR.



TO THE PEOPLE OF - WHO HAVE RE-
MAINED IN THE CITY OF PHILADEL-
PHIA DURING THE PESTILENCE OF 1798.
My Dear People,
THE Apostle Paul, in the Epistles which he ad_
dressed to the Churches where he had laboured, frequently
speaks of being " absent in body but present in spirit;"
and of being " taken from them for a short time in pre-
sence but not in heart." Of these expressions I have very
sensibly felt the meaning since I last saw you. From a
conviction of duty, I remain absent from you in body, but
my heart is truly with you: And I would now desire, in
humble imitation of the Apostle, to address to you, in
writing, a few thoughts, hoping shortly to see and speak
to you, face to face.
It has pleased a wise and holy God to lay his chastising
hand more heavily on our unhappy city for two months
past, than perhaps at any former period. The frequent,
and even annual recurrence, of this sore and awful scourge,
might be sufficient, one would think, to alarm and awaken
the most careless and secure. It would really seem as if the
God of Heaven had set himself to punish the cities and
towns of the United States, and was determined to in-
flict one stroke after another, till they were either reformed
or utterly destroyed. Plain, however, as this may appear, to
those who are accustomed to view and consider the hand of
God in all the occurrences of life, and painful as the indu-
rance of it certainly is to those who suffer in these calami-
ties, yet reformation will not take place, nor even be thought

(6)
of, unless it should please Him with whom is the " residue
of the spirit" to pour it out for the sanctifying of his
providential dispensations; for the opening of blinded eyes,
the unstopping of deaf ears, the softening of hard hearts,
and the effectual turning to the Lord of those who, by na-
ture and by practice, are enemies to him. Our past expe-
rience has surely been enough to convince us, that no pro-
vidences, however afflictive, awful or awakening in them-
selves, will make us any better, but rather much worse,
unless God accompany them by the influences of his
grace.
It is, indeed, a very important truth, which we ought
carefully to keep in mind, that all extraordinary dealings
and dispensations of the Divine Hand, will make us either
better or worse. They will not be indifferent ; the Deity
will not suffer them to Hand for nothing : If they do not
humble and reform us, they will certainly harden and es-
trange us the more from God, and thus be the occasion of
filling up the measure of our iniquities, till " wrath come
upon us to the uttermost." Now, the gloomiest thing
that I discern in the sufferings of our city and nation is, that
the bad consequences of being chastised, and not the good,
seem to have taken place among us. We have actually
grown worse, and not better, by all the chastisements we
have been made to feel for five years past. Even to a per-
son acquainted with human nature and the depravity of
the human heart, it may well seem strange and astonishing
that the awful visitations which our city has received,
should make so little impression as they have done : That
they should be slighted and forgotten, even before the
smart of them was over. Where, then, will this dreadful
insensibility carry us ! In what will it end ! These are me-
lancholy enquiries, indeed — God only knows the end of
these things — It is enough for us, that we know our duty.

(7)
This duty consists in taking care to improve these provi-
dences to our own spiritual and eternal benefit, and to pray
and labour that they may not be lost on others.
Those who have remained in the city during the pestilence
have, probably, in general, felt the present calami-
ty most severely. This, however, is no indication at all,
that their criminality has been greater than that of others, nor
even as great as that of many who have fled away, and felt
nothing. The afflictions of those who have suffered may
be made the means of their greatest benefit, while the mon-
strous stupidity of those whose feelings have not been touched
at all, is certainly one of the most dreadful curses that they
couldhave experienced. It may be an awful forerunner of a
heavy doom yet before them, even in this life ; or of some-
thing more awful than any thing that can be inflicted here,
in the world to come. God, no doubt, has called home to
himself, and to their everlasting rest, a number of his own
dear children by this destroying disease. They have gain-
ed, and we who remain, have lost much, by this removal.
They have escaped from all sin and all suffering, to the
abodes of perfect holiness and joy, to the immediate presence
of God, and of the Lamb : We have lost the bene-
fit of their company, their prayers, and their labours.—
We are yet called to do and to suffer more, while their do-
ing and suffering is past forever. There are, no doubt,
others of God's children who have survived the disease,
that will have reason to praise their Heavenly Father to all
eternity, for what they have been able to do, and for what
they have been called to see and to feel. Their labours of
love, their painful cares or distressing sickness, their won-
derful support, their numerous mercies in the midst of a
host of evils, the shocking scenes that have passed before
them, the distinguishing goodness of God to them and to
their families, their gloomy hours, their seasons of divine

(8)
consolation, their dispondent thoughts, their triumphant
hopes, their loss of dear relatives and friends, their living
in the near views of eternity, their being spared and dis-
posed yet to labour in the vineyard of the Lord ; all, all
shall " work together for their good ;" shall speed them in
their christian course, shall brighten their various graces,
shall increase theirfuture reward,—shall add value and
splendor to the eternal " crown of glory" which shall be
finally bestowed upon them. Let the people of God com-
fort themselves with these reflections. Let them rejoice
that " the Lord reigneth, that his counsel will stand and
that he will do all his pleasure." Let them fly to him as
to " their strong tower," and hide themselves under " the
shadow of his wings, till the indignation be over past."
Let them leave the government of the world, and the dis-
posal of his creatures to the God who made them. Let
them call to mind the divine promises, and keep in view
the important truth, that however dark the aspect of Divine
Providence may be, or however grievous the things that
they are called to witness, yet " verily there is a reward
for the righteous, verily there is a God who judgeth in the
earth." He will yet " arise and plead for Zion." He
will not suffer his faithfulness to fail. He will remember
and fulfil all his promises to his Son, and all his engage-
ments to his church and people.
It is predicted that "in the last days perilous times shall
come." Those days it is our lot to behold. The present
times are indeed perilous throughout our land, and through-
out the world: And it requires the exercise of much vigilance,
much faith, and much patience, in the christian, who would
support his character, maintain his stedfastness, and adorn his
profession, at such a period, and in such circumstances as those
in which we are placed. But " great will be the reward
in Heaven" of those who are found faithful; and there is a

(9)
sufficient supply of grace and assistance treasured up in our ado-
rable Redeemer, for every possible want that any of his fol-
lowers can feel, " It hath pleased the Father that in him all
fullness should dwell — In him dwelleth all the fullness of
the Godhead bodily — From his fullness have we all receiv-
ed and grace for grace." What inestimably precious,
words are these ! Oh to think that this blessed Jesus, in
whom there is such fullness, is the spiritual head, the hus-
band, the brother, of every believer ! Yet divine truth as-
sures us that such is the fact. Who is there, then, that
wants pardon - that wants much of it — that wants it con-
stantly and unceasingly ? Behold there is a fullness of par-
don in Christ: His divine, his infinite nature is full of it.
You may take all you can want — you may take it freely -
you may take it as often as you please and always when you
need, and yet you will not diminish that fathomless fullness
that there is in him. It has washed away sins of every
dye, and cleansed sinners of every description, and yet
its quantity is not impaired, nor its efficacy lost. Come,
then, believer as often as you will, and take a fullness
of pardon for all your sins, from the fullness of your
precious Saviour. Who is there, in like manner, that
wants " grace to help in time of need ?" That wants
corruption slain, unbelief subdued, darkness chased away,
coldness and indifference removed, love enkindled, confi-
dence inspired, hope animated, zeal and diligence quick-
ened, direction in duty afforded, assistance in duty bestowed,
resignation to the divine will granted and preparation for it
conferred ? behold in the fullness of Christ all this furni-
ture, all this variety of gifts, is found and is freely offer-
ed; nay it is kindly pressed on your acceptance. "My
grace is sufficient for thee — my strength is made perfect in
weakness." — These are his own gracious words. Go,
then, with your wants to Christ, and try to get as pressing a
sense of them as you can ; for the more your wants are felt, the

(10)
more truly you will desire relief and the nearer you proba-
bly are to a deliverance. In deep humility, at the throne
of grace, tell your God and Saviour, that such and such
are your wants ; that in such a particular, especially, your
necessity is indeed very urgent. Tell him that you have
come there, a poor child, a poor prodigal, on his own free
and gracious invitation : Tell him that though he was un-
der no obligation to make one gracious promise, nor to
bring one guilty sinner to plead it, yet, having given the
promise and the disposition or desire to plead it, his faith-
fulness is engaged to answer — and you know it is ready to
answer — the demands that faith shall make upon it. Then
lay your case to the covenant — humbly put God on his own
word of promise — tell him that you trust it — tell him that
you do look to his faithfulness to make it good, and to do
the best for you in this straight. Oh believer ! you never
did this, and no disciple of Jesus ever did it, without get-
ting an answer of peace. God never did refuse to help, nor
long delay his help, when thus the soul has rested on his
word. He would sooner destroy the universe than be found
unfaithful in such a case. And who can tell the value of
this privilege, of having an Almighty God to go to, for a
sure relief in all our necessities. It is indeed a richer por-
tion than if we had a thousand worlds entirely at our com-
mand. How foolishly do Christians act, that they do not
make more use of this privilege. Their heavenly Father
does not grudge them the use of it. He is never so well
pleased with them, as when they thus come and put him on
his word to answer them — The answer, indeed, will be
in his own time, and in his own way — but it will be in the
best time and in the best way ; and it will almost always be
a better and a fuller answer even than the Christian himself
had formed any conception of. It will, also, commonly be
a very sensible answer, the soul will be sensible that its pray-
er was verily answered. But this delightful subject has led
me farther than I intended.

(11)
It was my purpose to remark, that the " perilous times"
which we now experience will, ere long, be past ; and that,
then, God will do wonderful things for his church. " A
thousand years are with the Lord as one day." The time
that seems long and tedious to us, is all an instant with him.
His works, future as to us, are all present withhim-
self. He now sees all his promises fulfilled, and all
events that lead to their fulfilment accomplished. Let us
then wait in faith. Let faith often act upon that precious
promise, the last, and one of the richest, in the book of life —
" He which testifieth these things faith surely I come quick-
ly, Amen:" And let faith repeat with earnestness — " Even
so, come, Lord Jesus" — Come in thy power into the souls
of thy people, come to convince and convert the ungodly
world, come to gather in thy elect, come to accomplish all
thy purposes, come to judgment, and let all thy people come,
in full perfection, to thy blissful presence.
With our prayers, our endeavours, for the good of pre-
cious souls, must also be united. In every way in which
we have influence or opportunity to oppose vice, to promote
virtue, to adorn our profession, to stir up the careless, to
alarm the secure, to direct the enquiring, to comfort the
feeble-minded, and to recal the wandering, we must let our
zeal and diligence appear : And who can tell but " a time
of refreshing may come to us from the presence of the Lord ?"
who can tell but our eyes may yet see glorious days of the
Son of Man on earth? But however this may be, all who
are "faithful unto death" will assuredly receive " a crown
of life."
If this letter should be read in the hearing of any
whose consciences testify against them, that they have never
yet given themselves to the Lord, and committed their souls
into the Saviour's hands, I would desire to intreat them "by

(12)
the mercies of God," that they forthwith yield themselves
as "a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to him, which is
their most reasonable service." Is it not a mercy which
ought to melt your heart, that you have been spared amidst
the ravages of death that have been all around you ? that
you have not been cut off in your sins ? that you are not in
hopeless misery ? but yet receiving the calls and invitations
of the gospel. Surely every principle of gratitude should
make you resolve, in the strength of God, that you will
now be for him and for no other. To his grace I com-
mend you, making it my constant and earnest prayer, that
you may be found of him in peace—" Brethren pray for
us"—Farewell.
Your affectionate Pastor.