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Copy of a Letter from the Rev. Mr. Robert Lyon ¹³ to his Mother and Sisters

1746 23 Oct.

[fol. 1.] My dear mother and my loving sisters, – How ever great a shock to nature I presently feel in writing you upon this occasion, and the great trouble and affliction it must give you all in reading my last, yet I could not allow myself, having warning of my approaching fate, to leave this miserably wicked world, without bidding you farewel and offering you my advice.

It has pleased Almighty God in His unsearchable Providence for some time past to afflict me with grievous and sore troubles, everything that could be look'd on as comfortable in this world being denied me that was in the power of my enemies to grant or refuse. But blessed be my merciful God, they could not stop the inward consolations of God's Holy Spirit, which has hitherto supported me in health and vigour under all this miserable scene of calamities, for which I have the greatest reason, while I live, to bless and adore His glorious name. The miseries I have already undergone, and humanly speaking, am still to suffer, are undoubtedly inflicted upon me as a just reward and punishment for my manifold sins and iniquities, [fol. 2.] and I trust they have been dispensed as the chastisements of a merciful Father to a prodigal child in order to draw me to a nearer acquaintance with Himself, to wean my heart from all inordinate affections to the follies and vanities of the world, to enlarge my heart with desires of being with Jesus, my Saviour, of the freedom from sin and of the fruition of my God to all eternity. This is the proper influence His afflicting hand should have had upon me. And, if my heart deceives me not, I have made it my endeavour, tho' with a great mixture of weakness during my long confinement, it should have its due effect.

Before this will reach you (my dear mother and sisters) the last fatal scene of my sufferings will be over and I set at liberty (even by my enemies themselves) from the heavy load of irons and chains I have so long drag'd. Lord, loose me from the burden of my sins! Assist me in my last and greatest trial! Receive my soul, and bring me into the way of eternal happiness and joy! Grieve not for me, my dearest friends, since I suffer in a righteous and honourable cause, but rather rejoice that God has assisted me by His grace, the most unworthy of [fol. 3.] His servants, to act agreeably to my conscience and duty by bearing testimony to truth and righteousness, religion and loyalty in midst of a wicked and irreligious, perverse and rebellious generation. Let this consideration, the motives of Christianity, and the hopes and assurances which our holy religion so plentifully affords, allay in you all immoderate grief, and make you thoroughly resign'd to God's holy will in all His wise dispensations; which howsoever harsh at present they may appear to flesh and blood, yet they shall all be made to work together for good to them that love and fear Him, and put their trust in His mercy.

I am very sensible how much easier it is to give advice against affliction and trouble in the case of others than to take it in my own. It hath pleased God to exercise me of late with very sore trials, in which I do, I think, perfectly submit to His good pleasure, firmly believing that He does always that which is best. And yet tho' my reason was satisfied, my passion was not so soon appeas'd; for to do this is a work of some labour and time.

But since that God hath thought fit to warn me of my own mortality by giving me a summons to die a violent and barbarous death by the hand of man, I thank God for it; it hath occasion'd in me no very melancholy reflections. But this perhaps is more owing to my natural temper than wise considerations. [fol. 4.] But yet, methinks, both reason and religion do offer you, my dear mother and sisters, considerations of that solidity and strength, as may very well support you under all the afflictions of this present life. Pray then consider: —

That God is perfect love and goodness; that we are not only His creatures, but His children, and as dear to Him as to ourselves; that He does not afflict willingly nor grieve the children of men, and that all evils of afflictions which befal us, are intended for the cure and prevention of greater evils, of sin and punishment. And therefore we ought not only to submit to them with patience as being deserved by us, but to receive them with thankfulness as being design'd by Him to do us that good and to bring us to that sense of Him and ourselves which perhaps nothing else would have done. That the sufferings of this present life are but short and light compar'd with those extreme and endless miseries which we have deserved, and with that exceeding weight of glory which we hope for in the other world, if we be careful to make the best preparations for death and eternity. Whatever hardships and afflictions we suffer for our attachment to truth and righteousness bring us nearer to our everlasting happiness, and how rugged soever the way may [fol. 5.] be, the comfort is that it leads to our Father's house where we shall want nothing that we can wish for.

But now you labour under affliction for the death and loss of your only son, and all of you of your dearest earthly friend. Consider then that, if you be good Christians, God who is your best friend, who is immortal and cannot die, will never leave you nor forsake you, but will provide both for your temporal and spiritual concerns beyond what you can either ask or think. But nature, you say, is fond of life. I acknowledge it. But then consider, to what purpose should we desire a long life? since with the usual burdens and infirmities and misfortunes that attend it, it is but the same thing over again or worse, so many more nights and days, summers and winters, with less pleasure and relish, every day a return of the same and greater pains and troubles, but perhaps with less strength and patience to bear them.

These, and the like considerations, have under my present calamities entertain'd me not only with contentment but comfort, tho' with great inequality of temper at several times, and with much mixture of human frailty, which will in some degree stick to us while we are in this world. However by this kind of thoughts afflictions and death itself will become more familiar to us, and keep us from starting at the one or repining [fol. 6.] at the other.

I acknowledge I find in myself a great tenderness in parting with you, my dearest relations, which I must confess doth very sensibly touch me. But then I consider, and so, I hope, with all of you, that this separation will be but a very little while, and that tho' I shall leave you in a very wicked world, yet you are all under the care of a good God who can be more and better to you than I and all other relations whatever, and will certainly be so to all those that love Him and hope in His mercy.

It likewise gives me no small uneasiness that I should leave you in a worse way as to your worldly circumstances than I could have wished or once expected, having spent my own and made some encroachments upon poor Cicie's¹⁴ stock. But then I must say in my own vindication, this was not by any luxury or riot, as you can bear me witness, but rather owing to a small yearly income, an expensive place for living, and being too liberally disposed upon certain occasions; but, above all, by my being engag'd in the late glorious cause of serving my King and country. You'll easily see it was no mercenary view, but purely obedience to conscience and duty that made me take [fol. 7.] part in the fate of my royal prince and country when I tell you that I never received a farthing of his Royal Highness's money, nor was assisted in the least penny by any engaged in his service. So that this undertaking consum'd no small part of my private stock; and I hope you'll readily grant it could not have been better bestow'd, altho' all of you must feel the want of it. But God who has formerly done wonderful things for us all will, I trust, provide for you the necessaries of life.

And even poverty rightly weigh'd is not so very sad a condition. For what is it but the absence of a very few superfluous things which please wanton fancy rather than answer need, without which nature is easily satisfied, and which, if we do not affect, we cannot want? What is it but to wear coarse cloaths, to feed on plain and simple fare, to work and take some pains, to sit or goe in a lower place, to have few friends and not one flatterer? And what great harm in this? If I had time to compare it with the many dangers and temptations to which wealth is expos'd, – pray consider that poverty is a state which many have born with great chearfulness. Many wise men have voluntarily embrac'd it. It is allotted by Divine wisdom to most men, and the very best of men do often [fol. 8.] endure it. God has declared an especial regard to that state of life. The mouth of truth hath proclaimed it happy. The Son of God dignified it by His own choice, and sanctified it by His partaking deeply thereof. And can such a condition be very disagreeable to any of you (who were never over-prosperous in the world)? Or can it reasonably displease you?

My dear mother and sisters, these considerations, I hope, thro' the Divine assistance, will be a mean to support you under your present and future afflictions, and preserve you from repining at my fate and your own loss.¹⁵

[Before I end this letter I must take this opportunity to acquaint you of one thing that none on earth knows but the person immediately concern'd. The matter is this. Had it pleased God that I should have surviv'd my dear mother, and been provided of any tolerable subsistence in this world, I design'd and propos'd to make Stewart Rose (whom I know to be a virtuous, wise, good, and religious young woman), partner of my life and fortune. I am too sensible of what she suffers on my account, and which would make her affliction sit the harder upon her, the natural modesty she is mistress of, would never allow'd her to give vent to her grief, had not I mention'd it to you. I therefore recommend her to you, my dear mother, always to look upon her as your daughter, and to you, my dear sisters, to treat her always as your own sister, she being really so in my most serious intention and fix'd resolution. And I am persuaded there are none of you but will bear so far a regard to my memory as to value, esteem, and, as far as in your power, cherish and comfort the person on whom I had so deservedly settled my love and affection. I am sensible that all of you esteem'd her before on your acquaintance with her and her own proper merit, and am convinc'd that my discovering my mind thus far will more and more increase and not lessen your love and regard to her. May Almighty God support and comfort her and you all, and make you with humble submission resign'd to the Divine will.]

I must next acknowledge with all the tender-heartedness of a brother, the grievous troubles and afflictions both of body and mind my dear sister, Cicie, hath undergone, in order to be of use and comfort to me under my severe trials. Her firm love to me has made her follow my fate too far, and be a witness of more of my troubles than I could have wish'd. But whatever she has suffer'd on my account, which indeed cannot be express'd, she has been of unspeakable service to me. May Almighty God reward her, and whatever love all of you bore to her formerly I hope it will be enlarged to her on this very account.

[fol. 9.] I cannot conclude without offering my best wishes (as they have always had my prayers) to Mr. Drummond, my colleague, and every individual person a member of our congregation. May Almighty God bless all of them both in their temporal and spiritual concerns, and of His infinite goodness reward them for their love and kindness, their attachment and concern for me in the several difficulties I have undergone! May the same God in His due time afford them authoriz'd guides to perform Divine offices amongst them, to administer to them the means of grace and bread of life, that they may be no longer as sheep without a shepherd. Till which time may the Holy Spirit direct every one of them into the way of truth, and assist them earnestly to contend for the faith once delivered to the saints, in unity of spirit, in the bond of peace, and in righteousness of life. And finally, may the same merciful Lord save them and bless them, make them to the end of their lives stedfast in the faith, unblameable in holiness and zealous of good works.

You'll be pleased to offer my hearty and sincere good wishes to Balgowan¹⁶ and all that worthy family. I gratefully acknowledge their remarkable and undeserved favours. May Almighty God return them sevenfold into their bosom!

[fol. 10.] I sincerely pray that Almighty God may reward the family of Moncrief, Mr. Smyth's, Mr. Stirling's, Dr. Carmichael's, Mr. Graeme's, ladies of Stormont, Lady Findal's, and all other my kind benefactors and well-wishers with you (who have so bountifully ministred to my necessities) with His eternal and everlasting good things.

As I expect and earnestly desire forgiveness from God of all my sins and transgressions, thro' the merits and mediation of my only Saviour and Redeemer Jesus Christ, so from the very bottom of my heart I forgive all my enemies, persecutors, and slanderers, and particularly Clerk Millar,¹⁷ who, I have reason to believe, has prosecute me to death, and whom, to my knowledge, I never injured in thought, word, or deed. May God grant him repentance that he may obtain forgiveness at the hands of our heavenly Father. And with the same earnestness I desire all of you to forgive him, and tho' it should be in your power, never in the least degree to resent it against him or his.

And now, my dear mother and sisters, it is my dying exhortation [fol. 11.] to you, as well as to every particular person, who (by the providence of God) was committed to my spiritual care, stedfastly and constantly to continue in the faith and communion of our holy persecuted mother, the Church of Scotland, in which I have the honour to die a very unworthy priest, whatever temporal inconveniences and hardships you may wrestle with in so doing. Nothing must appear too hard which tends to the salvation of your souls; and the disciple is not to expect better treatment than his Lord and Master. For as they persecuted Him, even so will they persecute you. Strenuously adhere then, in spite of all opposition, to those doctrines and principles, which thro' the grace of God and my own weak abilities, I endeavoured to teach publickly and inculcate upon you in my private conversation, I mean the doctrines of the Holy Scriptures, with their only genuine and authentick comment, the universal doctrines and practices of Christ's Church in her purest ages, even the three first centuries, before the manifold errors of Popery, on the one hand, or Presbyterian enthusiasm, on the other, prevail'd; both of which have been dangerous to the souls of many. Let no worldly consideration [fol. 12.] prevail with any of you to join with schismaticks of whatever kind; and more especially be not deceived by those who may come unto you in sheep's cloathing, having the appearance of sanctity and righteousness more than others, but in Divine offices offer up to God unlawful petitions and immoral prayers.

And, as you know, the man cannot be perfectly happy without the reunion of soul and body (in consequence of which principle it was my practice, in my family devotions to commemorate the souls of my deceas'd friends who died in the Lord), so I earnestly beg and intreat when you approach the throne of grace that you'll pray for rest and peace, light and refreshment to my soul, that I may find mercy in the day of the Lord, and that I may be partaker of perfect consummation and bliss both in body and soul in God's eternal and everlasting glory. May our good and wise ecclesiastical governours, with the Divine assistance, contribute their endeavours to restore this and all other primitive and apostolic practices in due form to the publick offices of our Church, which would be a mean to administer comfort and great consolation to many a pious and devout soul. I cannot finish this subject [fol. 13.] without putting up my petitions in the same words of our holy mother, the Church, as she appoints the very day¹⁸ on which it is determined I should suffer: 'O Almighty God, who hast built thy Church upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ himself being the head corner-stone, grant us so to be joined together in unity of spirit by their doctrine that we may be made an holy temple, acceptable unto Thee through Jesus Christ, our Lord. Amen.'

And now, my dear mother and sisters, I must conclude this my too long letter with my prayers for you. May our most gracious God pardon all your offences and correct whatever is amiss in any of you. May He preserve you all in health, peace, and safety, and, above all, in mutual love to one another. May He pour down upon you His spiritual blessings, and vouchsafe you also such a measure of temporal blessings as He sees most convenient for you. May He of His infinite mercy let you want nothing either for life or for godliness. I pray God to fit us all for that great change which we must once undergoe; and if we be but in any measure prepared, sooner or latter makes no great difference. I commend you all to the father of Mercies and the God of all consolation and comfort, beseeching Him to increase your faith, patience, and resignation, [fol. 14.] and to stand by you in all your conflicts, difficulties, and troubles, that when ye walk thro' the valley of the shadow of death you may fear no evil, and when your heart fails you may find Him the strength of your heart and portion for ever.

Farewel, my dear mother! Farewel, my loving sisters! Farewel, every one of you for ever! And let us fervently pray for one another that we may have a joyful and happy meeting in another world, and there continue in holy fellowship and communion with our God and one another, partakers of everlasting bliss and glory to the endless ages of eternity.

The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ and the love of God and the communion of the Holy Ghost be with you all evermore, is the prayer and blessing of, my dear mother, your obedient and affectionate son, and my loving sisters, your affectionate and loving brother, while

Robert Lyon.

Carlisle Castle, October 23d, 1746.

To my mother and sisters.

The Last and Dying Speech of Robert Lyon, A.M. Presbyter at Perth. ¹⁹

28 Oct.

[fol. 15.] The death I am now to suffer by the hands of violence the partial and unthinking world will doubtless be ready to imagine a sign of guilt and a stain upon the character with which I am invested.

But would the hardships of a close confinement and the time permit me to explain and vindicate my principles, I am persuaded I could prove them just and my conduct guiltless in the things for which I am to die.

That I may not, however, leave a natural curiosity on such occasions quite ungratified I shall briefly run over the principal passages of my past life, and represent my genuine sentiments in some material points. Which I hope will have the greater weight and efficacy upon you, my dear fellow-subjects and beloved countrymen, as I am just about to step into eternity where, at the greatest tribunal, on the last day I know I must be judged according to the works I have already done. And

[fol. 16.] First. It will be very proper to inform you that I have the honour to be more immediately descended from one of those Scottish clergymen,²⁰ who unhappily surviv'd our flourishing Church and prosperous nation at the late Revolution; by which means it was my lot, by the wise providence of God to be early train'd up in the school of adversity, inasmuch as he underwent the common fate of our other spiritual pastors and dear fathers in Christ who were by merely secular, and what is worse, unlawful force thrust away from their charges and depriv'd of that maintenance to which they had a general and divine right as well as a legal title by our Constitution. And this in many instances was executed with the utmost rigour and severity, attended with every wicked and aggravating circumstance. For how could it be otherwise when allowed to be done by an ungovern'd mob, distracted with enthusiasm and misguided zeal, but whose deed received its sanction by some subsequent pretended laws.

Into this once glorious but now declining part of the Church Catholick I was thro' the care and piety of my loving parents enter'd by a holy baptism. For which inestimable benefit, as my judgment ripen'd and my reason improv'd I ever found [fol. 17.] greater cause to bless the happy instruments, and to thank my God, as it clearly appeared upon impartial enquiry that this Church for purity of doctrine, orthodoxy in the faith, perfection of worship and her apostolical government, equals, if not excels, any other church on the earth. And therefore I persisted by Divine grace an unworthy member in her faithful communion till thro' various instances of the goodness and care of Heaven manifested in the wonderful support and preservation of our family, I received a pious and liberal education (tho' my father, wore out with sufferings, lived not to see it half compleated), and at length arrived at that age when by the canons of the Church I could be admitted into holy orders; which I received at a time no earthly motive could influence me, but a sincere intention to serve God and to my power to do good offices to men.

Both which I, tho' most unworthy of the sacred character, have ever honestly endeavour'd to the utmost of my weak ability, by enforcing and practising, as far as circumstances and my station in the Church would permit, that golden and glorious rule for the conduct of a Christian, and for every [fol. 18.] church whereby to reform itself, and moreover which alone can unite the differing parts of Christendom, I mean the Holy Scriptures, with their only genuine and authentick comment, the universal doctrines and practices of Christ's Church in her first three centuries. Which that it may again universally obtain God Almighty grant for his sake who purchas'd the Church with the effusion of his blood.

In perfect consistency with this Catholick and noble rule I declare upon this aweful occasion, and on the word of a dying man, that I ever abhor'd and detested and do now solemnly disclaim the many errors and corruptions of the Church of Rome; as I do with equal zeal the distinguishing principles of Presbyterians and other dissenting sectaries amongst us who are void of every support in our country but ignorance and usurping force, and whom I always considered as the shame and reproach of the happy Reformation, and both alike uncatholick and dangerous to the soul of a Christian.

I must further declare that by the same method I found out [fol. 19.] the absurdities of these two differing parties, I was soon determin'd from rational and solid arguments to embrace the doctrines of passive obedience, the divine right of kings, and in particular the indefeasible and hereditary title of our own gracious sovereign, James the Eighth and Third, and of his royal heirs, whom God preserve and restore.

For these I am thoroughly convinc'd are doctrines founded upon the best maxims of civil government and on the Word of God; and besides the very essence of our own Constitution and municipal laws. And therefore I could never view that Convention which pretended to depose King James the Seventh, our King's royal father, and dispose of his crown; I could never, I say, view that unlawful and pack'd Assembly in any other light but as traitors to their country and rebels to their King.

And as our then injured King and his undoubted heirs have from time to time uninterruptedly claim'd their right and asserted their dominion, I am so far from thinking that the [fol. 20.] royal misfortunes loose the subjects from their obedience, that I rather apprehend they loudly call for a steadier allegiance and more faithful duty.

In which sentiments I have been still more and more confirm'd by the lamentable consequences of the opposite opinion, and by that sad affliction and load of misery, which a long usurpation has brought upon my country and which it is needless for me here to insist upon, as our numerous grievances, too heavy to be born, have been strongly, but alas! in vain, represented and loudly proclaimed even in some late pretended parliaments.

But what more naturally falls to my share to consider, and what I fear has been still less regarded in the long persecuted state of my dear mother, the Church of Scotland, that Church of which it is my greatest honour to be a member and a priest, tho' very undeserving of either; a Church, national and independent of any other and of every power upon earth, happily govern'd by her own truly primitive bishops, as so many spiritual princes, presiding in their different districts, and in them, accountable to none but God for the administration of her [fol. 21.] discipline; a church, whose creeds demonstrate her soundness in the faith, and who is blest with a liturgy (I mean the Scots Liturgy,²¹ compil'd by her own bishops) nigher to the primitive model than any other church this day can boast of (excepting, perhaps, a small but I believe a very pure church in England²² who, I am told, has lately reformed herself in concert with the forementioned and infallible rule) – in one word a church very nearly resembling the purest ages, and who (after more than half a century groaning under persecutions and mourning in her own ashes, but all the while distinguishing herself no less by forbearance and charity to her bitterest enemies than by her steadiness to principle and Catholick unity) is now at last, alas! devoted, in the intention of her adversaries to utter destruction; which I fervently pray God to prevent.

Her oratories have been profan'd and burnt, her holy altars desecrated, her priests outragiously plundered and driven from their flocks, some of them imprison'd and treated with uncommon cruelty, her faithful members almost depriv'd of the [fol. 22.] ordinary means of their salvation, and this mostly done without so much as a form of law, by a hostile force specially appointed by him who calls himself the Duke of Cumberland, and who (God grant him a timely repentance and forgive him) has occasion'd the painful and untimely death of many innocent and inoffensive persons; and by wilful fire and sword, by every means of torment and distress – barbarity exceeding Glencoe massacre itself – has brought a dreadful desolation upon my dear country.

All which evidently shews that there is nothing, however necessary and dear to mankind, however sacred and near allied to Heaven; that must not give way to their resentment and to the better establishing their ill-got power, and that no lasting security even to the present established Church of England can reasonably be expected from this ruinous and usurped government. And indeed the reigning impiety and that flood [fol. 23.] of wickedness which the kindly influence and encouragement of a corrupted court has drawn upon us must speedily deface the very form of religion and give the finishing stroke to virtue, tho' no harsher methods were us'd by them.

But may the gracious hand of Heaven interpose and stop the wide destruction! May our Church once more resume her antient lustre, her priests be cloathed with righteousness and her saints yet sing with joyfulness! May her members yet be multiplied, blessed with peace and felicity in this world, and crown'd with immortality in that which is to come!

And now, my dear fellow-subjects, you cannot be at a loss to apprehend the reason of my appearance on this occasion, and of the death I am to suffer. For when our brave and natural-born Prince (a Prince endued with every virtue proper to grace a throne, and a stranger to every vice that high life is most subject to, in a word a Prince adorn'd with every quality that could attract the hearts of a wise people or make a nation [fol. 24.] happy) generously hazarded his own valuable person to relieve us from slavery and to retrieve his father's crown; and every steady patriot who had courage to resolve to conquer or suffer in the way of duty, according to the will of God, join'd his royal standard; thither many, to whom I was attach'd by relation, friendship and several other ties, dutyfully resorted, and kindly invited and earnestly importun'd me to attend them as their priest, while they were laudably engaged in their king and country's cause; which agreeably to my now profess'd principles I readily consented to, as I plainly foresaw that I could not discharge my function with more safety in that congregation to which I have a spiritual and peculiar relation where part of the Prince's forces always lay, than in going along with my worthy friends in their glorious expedition.

And here I must declare that while I accompanied my brave [fol. 25.] countrymen in their noble enterprise I saw a decency and order maintained amongst them, equal if not superiour to any regular disciplin'd force. And if any hardship or severity was committed I am fully persuaded it was unknown to, and very cross to the inclination of their merciful and royal leader.

And in particular I do believe that the destruction of St. Ninian's²³ was merely by accident and without any order from his royal highness. And this is the more evident since the person who had the fatal occasion of it lost his own life in the conflagration. But it was maliciously represented and put in the worst light to vindicate the malicious procedure of the Usurper's forces; whose conduct let it be compar'd with that of our King's army and then you may form as ready and just a judgment of the true and pretended father of the country, as Solomon by a like experiment did of the true and pretended mother of the child.