338 Law's wide Repute as a Spiritual Adviser.

teenth century would in some points have been equally objectionable to him. One is reminded of the troubles of poor John Wesley in Georgia, just fresh from the influence of Law, as one reads in this letter of the Scripture baptism of the whole body under water' being 'only, as it were, mimicked, by scattering a few drops of water on a new-born child's face.' Law, if he were living, might still see this custom; and he might still hear what he terms 'prayers for the destruction of our Christian brethren, called our enemies, and thanksgiving for the violent slaughter and successful killing of mankind.' Many other points he specifies which he would like to see altered, especially in the ' outward form and performance of the two sacraments ;' But he comforts himself (though it is rather a cold comfort, one must confess) with the thought that all that is inwardly meant, taught, or intended by them, as the life, spirit, and full benefit of them, is subject to no human power, but is wholly transacted between God and myself.' And, therefore, he never ceased to be a regular worshipper in his own parish church; and this was the uniform tenor of his advice to all who, like his present correspondent, consulted him on the subject.

Of the remaining letters in the published collection, several are written to clergymen in answer to questions, some doctrinal, some practical, on which they had asked Mr. Law's advice. The wide extent of Law's reputation as a spiritual adviser appears from the mere titles of these letters. One is 'to a clergyman of Bucks;' another 'to a clergyman of Westmoreland;' another to a clergyman in the north of England;' another to 'the Rev. Mr. S.'that is, probably, Mr. Shirley; another, in answer to a scruple,' was written to one who was then in training for holy orders at Oxford, and who afterwards became a very eminent clergyman--the good Bishop Horne. Three more,

."

Letters to Lady Huntingdon and others. 339

though not addressed to clergymen, are all about clergymen. They are headed, 'To a person of quality,' the person of quality being none other than the pious Selina, Countess of Huntingdon. The first of them is evidently in answer to a letter which the good Countess had written to him at the request of one of her clerical protégés, who desired Law's advice on the subject of expounding the Scriptures; the second is the famous letter on the subject of John Wesley's pamphlet (to be noted hereafter); and the third refers to a letter which the Countess had received from 'a pious and very excellent clergyman,' who thought that 'Mr. Law had gone half a bow-shot too far,' because by his mysticism'he had touched the heart-string of all systematical divinity.' Then we have a long and very loving letter to a person burdened with inward and outward troubles.' This person was, I have very little doubt, Mr. Langcake himself, one of the editors of the letters; and to him and to his co-editor, Mr. George Ward, all the rest of the letters, under the headings of To Mr. T. L.' and 'To G. W.,' are addressed.

The letters in this printed collection were not published in the exact form in which they were originally written; therefore, although the alterations and interpolations were made with the concurrence of the writer, they are not the most satisfactory specimens which are at hand of Law's correspondence. For, happily, besides this published collection, and the numerous short notes from Law which Byrom has inserted in his journal, there is still a large number of Law's letters extant.1

From the nature of his position, Law had necessarily an extensive correspondence in his later years. For King's Cliffe was not so accessible as Putney; and, therefore, the

See Notes and Materials for an adequate Biography of the celebrated Divine and Theosopher, William Law, passim.

340

Law has but one Tale to tell.

little knot of disciples who looked up to him as a spiritual director were forced, in default of a personal interview, to have recourse to the post to obtain counsel; and moreover, besides his regular disciples, Law had several occasional and even anonymous correspondents (some being personally unknown to him), who rarely failed to obtain from him the advice they needed. It will be quite unnecessary, however, to swell the bulk of this volume by quoting at any great length from these letters. The tenor of them all is the same-Law had but one tale to tell. Death to self, and absolute resignation to the will of God, in gentleness, humility, and love-that was his one panacea for all the ills of life, the one method of cultivating the heavenly seed, that it might be fitted in God's due time to blossom in the Paradise above. Besides this, 'all was push-pin,' as he once expressed it. Less even than Wesley or Whitefield, or the good men of the Evangelical school, who were coming into prominence as his life was waning, did Law take any interest in what was going on in the outer world. Politics, literature, and even theology itself were matters in which he cared little to intermeddle. What could any of them do to help the inner, spiritual life, which to him was all in all? A typical specimen of his style in writing to correspondents of various classes will suffice for these pages.

It has been seen that Law's natural character was somewhat stern and unbending; but grace had softened nature much, and some of his letters are written with an exquisite tenderness, which, if foreign to the natural man, was the natural outpouring of that spirit of love which had become the very breath of his life. Let us take the following, dated October 12, 1757, as an example :

'My unknown friend in Christ Jesus,—I am glad that you are so heartily affected, and so deeply instructed in

Letter to an unknown Friend in Christ Jesus.' 341

the things of God. It is a happiness that no one knows, or can know, but he that is possessed of it. One of the şurest signs of Divine light and true regeneration, is an inexpressible tenderness, an unfeigned love, an unchangeable compassion towards all that are under any hardness of heart, blindness, or delusion of our fallen nature. This is the necessary effect of regeneration; it brings forth nothing but the nature of Christ in the soul. All that Christ was towards sinners, is in its degree found in the truly regenerate man. He cannot murmur or complain, though he sees foxes have their holes, birds their nests, but he hath not where to lay his head. He must turn the other cheek to the smiter; he cannot revile the reviler; is as free from censure, and judging his brother, as a new-born infant. As all that he has to rejoice in is the unmerited free love and compassion of God towards his own once wretched state, so he has no eyes but those of love and compassion towards those who are only as blind and dead as he was, till the Giver of life and light did that for him which He did for Lazarus lying in the grave. All the concern that he has for the outward state of things, whether in Church or State, is discharged in these words: "Hallowed be Thy name; Thy kingdom come, Thy will be done on earth, as it is in heaven;' and, as for those who oppose this kingdom, he only thinks and speaks of them in the spirit of its King: "Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do." Wishing you all increase of light and life in Christ Jesus, is the best proof I can give you of my being your hearty friend, WM. LAW.'

The following letter of condolence is worth quoting, among other reasons, on account of the interest which attaches to the subject of it. Lady Elizabeth, or, as she was commonly called, Lady Betty Hastings, was one of the

342

Lady Betty Hastings.

excellent of the earth,' whose merits extorted the admiration of people who were by no means inclined to follow her strict and unworldly mode of life. In her youth she was immortalised in the 'Tatler.' It was to her that the chivalrous Steele paid what has been well termed 'the finest compliment to a woman that perhaps ever was offered': To love her is a liberal education.' Congreve drew a portrait of her under the singularly inappropriate name of 'Aspasia'; and, after having described her perfections in rapturous, though somewhat stilted and conventional terms, he thus concludes: This character is so particular, that it will very easily be fixed on her only by all that know her; but I dare say she will be the last that finds it out.' 2

Law was not given to paying compliments to young ladies; but, thirty years later, when this saintly woman had just gone to her rest, he took occasion to pay a fine tribute to her memory in his 'Answer to Dr. Trapp ;'3 and in the same year (1740) he wrote to her sister in a strain which is at once tender and respectful, but dignified withal, and utterly free from that tone of servility in which the great were then too often addressed. His letter runs thus :

Thackeray's English Humourists: Steele. By a slight but important alteration, Thackeray, in his quotation, makes it appear as if Steele himself had loved her, which the original does not justify. Steele does not say 'to have loved her,' but to love her is a liberal education,' which he thus ingeniously explains: 'for, it being the nature of all love to create an imitation of the beloved person in the lover, a regard for Aspasia naturally produces decency of manners and good conduct of life in her admirers.' If such were the result, it would perhaps have been well, if the simple and kindly, but very frail, writer had been one of the lovers. See Tatler, No. 49.

2 Tatler, No. 42. With extremely questionable taste, Congreve wrote, 'Methinks I now see her walking in her garden like our first parent, with unaffected charms, before beauty had spectators, and bearing celestial conscious virtue in her aspect.' In the 8vo. edition of the Tatler of 1797, the annotator remarks on this with delightful näiveté, This fine lady's character seems to have been superior to that of our first parent!'

See Law's Works, vol. vi. (2), p. 281.