402 LETTER TO HIS MOTHER. deavour to profit by seasons of adversity. For most, it is good to be afflicted. Beware of a gloomy, disconsolate mind. Let not grief prey upon your spirits, and unfit you for the duties of a Christian. We must all very soon die, and it is much better that our children should go early, than live to be old in sin, and then die without an interest in Christ. Cast all your care upon the Lord. Commit all into his hands. Blessed are they that trust in him!" A place is due also, to the only letter to his aged and declining mother, which is known to be in existence. DR. ALEXANDER TO HIS MOTHER. "PRINCETON, May 25, 1823. "MY DEAR MOTHER : "When I last saw you, it was very doubtful whether you would ever rise again from the bed to which you were confined. Indeed, considering your great age, it was not to be expected that you should entirely recover your usual health. I was much gratified to find that in the near prospect of eternity, your faith did not fail, but that you could look death in the face without dismay, and felt willing, if it were the will of God, to depart from this world of sorrow and disappointment. But it has pleased your Heavenly Father to continue you a little longer in the world. I regret to learn that you have endured much pain from a disease of your eyes, and that you have been less comfortable than formerly. Bodily affliction you must expect to endure as long as you continue in the world. The days of our years LETTER TO HIS MOTHER. 403 are three-score years and ten, and if by reason of strength they be four-score years, yet is their strength labour and sorrow; for it is soon cut off, and we fly away.' But while your Heavenly Father continues you in this troublesome world, he will, I trust, enable you to be resigned and contented and patient under the manifold afflictions which are incident to old age. "The great secret of true comfort lies in a single word, TRUST. Cast your burdens on the Lord, and he will sustain them. If your evidences of being in the favour of God are obscured, if you are doubtful of your acceptance with him, still go directly to him by faith; that is, trust in his mercy and in Christ's merits. Rely simply on his word of promise. Be not afraid to exercise confidence. There can be no deception in depending entirely on the Word of God. It is not presumption to trust in him when he has commanded us to do so. We dishonour him by our fearfulness and want of confidence. We thus call in question his faithfulness and his goodness. Whether your mind is comfortable or distressed, flee for refuge to the outstretched wings of his protection and mercy. There is all fulness in him; there is all willingness to bestow what we need. He says, 'My grace is sufficient for thee. My strength is made perfect in weakness. As thy day is so shall thy strength be. I will never leave thee nor forsake thee. Though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil; for thou art with me; thy rod and thy staff they comfort me.' Be not afraid of the pangs of death. Be not afraid that your Redeemer Grace to die comfortably is not com will then be afar off. 404 LETTER TO HIS MOTHER. monly given until the trial comes. Listen not to the tempter, when he endeavours to shake your faith, and destroy your comfort. Resist him, and he will flee from you. If you feel that you can trust your soul willingly and wholly to the hands of Christ, relying entirely on his. merits; if you feel that you hate sin, and earnestly long to be delivered from its defilement; if you are willing to submit to the will of God, however much he may afflict you; then be not discouraged. These are not the marks of an enemy, but of a friend. My sincere prayer is, that your sun may set in serenity; that your latter end may be like that of the righteous; and that your remaining days, by the blessing of God's providence and grace, may be rendered tolerable and even comfortable. "It is not probable that we shall ever meet again in this world; and yet, as you have already seen one of your children go before you, you may possibly live to witness the departure of more of us. I feel that old age is creeping upon me. Whoever goes first, the rest must soon follow. May we all be ready! And may we all meet around the throne of God, where there is no separation for ever and ever! Amen! "I remain, your affectionate son, “A. A.” CHAPTER SIXTEENTH. 1830-1839. DIVISION OF THE PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH-PROSPERITY OF SEMINARY-INVITATION TO VIRGINIA-LITERARY TOILS-WRITINGS OF THIS PERIOD DOMESTIC LIFE-CORRESPONDENCE-REVIVALS-SLAVES AND SLAVERYPROSPECT OF DEATH. ROM the year 1830, there was a period which was as FROM anxious as any equal portion of time, to the Church and the Seminary. We are not called upon to recite those painful controversies, which in 1838 resulted in the secession of a large body of ministers and Presbyteries from the Presbyterian Church. That history has been amply recorded, by persons friendly to both sides of the great question. But it would be impossible to write the life of Dr. Alexander with truth and candour, without representing his views, and stating his position, in regard to matters which connected themselves with all that he held most dear. As has been already suggested, the agitations of the Church communicated their impulses to the Seminary, and during the years of which we are writing, naturally occupied to a great extent the minds of both professors and students. But one reason which con 406 CHURCH DIFFICULTIES. clusively precludes the subject from these pages, as to any discussion of its merits, is that Dr. Alexander never chose to make himself prominent, even as a champion for the opinions which he firmly maintained. To this course he was led, partly by a temper eminently moderate and pacific, which some denominated timidity; partly by views which he entertained concerning the functions of a theological professor, as to a certain degree withholding him from the field of strife; but more than all, by his inability to coincide with many respected brethren, as to the particular means by which acknowledged evils were to be remedied. His position in regard to these controversies may be thus simply stated. In doctrine he was a Calvinist of the Westminster type, and was recognised as such, by friends and opponents. No single man can be found, even during this period of excitement, who employed his pen more laboriously or frequently, in defence of the doctrines which distinguish what had begun to be called Old School Theology. This is sufficiently evinced by his articles on Original Sin, on Natural and Moral Ability, on the Atonement, and on Imputation. And the doctrines which he believed, he also diligently, fully, and successfully inculcated upon his students, who were already becoming numerous in the ministry. In regard therefore to theological tenets, and his view of their importance, he did not yield to the most impetuous of his brethren. A second remark is equally just; he believed that a considerable number of ministers in our Church had departed from these doctrines, and in so doing had deviated from the standards of the church. Here arose a question, as to the |