FAMILY LETTERS.

FROM MR. NATHANIEL PATTEN TO HIS SON, SETTLED IN THE MINISTRY IN HIS NINETEENTH YEAR,

My Son,

AT HALIFAX, MASSACHUSETTS.

ROXBURY, October 17th, 1764.

In hopes to get a few lines to you by favor of Mr. C., I catch a few minutes in haste, and after the most sincere, parental love, presented to you and your spouse, and your children, I inform you, that since you were here, I have been concerned lest my natural and moral modesty hath rather discouraged than_encouraged you; for when you asked me how I liked your preaching, I have just signified that I approved of it very well, in general, without giving you my sentiments so fully as perhaps I ought to have done,-necessity, therefore, seems to be laid on me to give you some further hints of my ideas concerning your preaching. You were, by your parents, early devoted to God for the work of the Ministry. By the will of God, and with the utmost concern, we did all that was in our power to give you all the help we were capable of, and blessed be God, He was pleased to hear the prayers of His most unworthy servants, and gave you a genius for learning, and a studious mind,

so that you made great proficiency in your learning—and we were rewarded as we went along, and after you left College, it pleased God, in his sovereign, wise, and good providence, to put it out of our power to afford any further assistance to you. We could only cry to God for more faith, and that you might find favor in the eyes of the people, where ever his providence should call you. That he would please to qualify you for, and dispose you to, the work of the ministry, and in his own good time open a door for that purpose, and make you happily instrumental in promoting His glory, and eminently serviceable to the souls of men in the world. That he would always accompany your ministration with the mighty power and energy of His Holy Spirit : and above all, that he would give you his special grace, that after you have preached and showed the way of life to others, you may not be a castaway yourself.

And behold! I live to see my hopes almost out-done, for I trust God hath done all this. He hath not only put you into the ministry, but adorned you with special gifts, that make you shine in the world. He hath also given you that understanding that is essential to our religion. He also gives weight to your words, so that they take effect. They fall as rain on the inown. grass, and like dew on the tender herb. Your preaching with us was wonderfully applauded, I have not heard any man so much admired since I have lived at Roxbury. You was preferred to

;

that so much admired, I might almost say, adored Mr. Whitefield, they seemed as if they could not be contented without hearing you again.

One of the best judges of preaching among us, who admired you exceedingly, said, he could hardly help sitting down and writing to you in the strain of the Queen of Sheba to king Solomon, when she expressed the happiness of those who waited on him continually. He took notes of what I mentioned to you as a doctrine inconsistent with the doctrine of predestination, and said he believed you did not hold it. I told him, without doubt, you did, for I had mentioned something to you on that subject, and you got your notes and read what you had written, which, for brevity sake, you did not fully explain at that time, if you had, I thought it would have appeared in a better light. He said he did not see how you could deny it, the Scriptures were so full in favor of it. You must not be grieved that I mention this, for you must confess, with the great Apostle of the Gentiles, that you have not attained to perfection; there is something of the old man to be seen; we do not expect that even our ministers can be perfect in this imperfect state we readily grant that they are better judges than ourselves, in general, to distinguish between truth and error; but you must allow us, with the Bereans, to search the Scriptures, and judge for ourselves, and not practice with an implicit faith what we cannot understand. I am far from condemning any man for differing

from us in sincerity, on points not essential to salvation. Upon the strictest search of the Scriptures that I am capable of, I really believe that God never intended, or desired the salvation of one soul more, than He chose to be heirs of eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord before the world began; nor do I think there is any thing in the Scriptures, when taken together, can give us any reason to think otherwise. The

Scriptures cannot be broken. If we take separate parts, and judge of them literally, we shall soon get lost and confouuded. If we would understand Scripture, we must distinguish between absolute and conditional promises. Christ hath said, all that the Father hath given Me shall come; whosoever cometh to Me, I will in no wise cast out. He further saith, no man can come to Me, except the Father draw him. And this should encourage, rather than discourage, all to strive; and although God's elect, and none but they, shall finally be saved from the wrath to come; yet, the promises and threatenings in the Bible are not in vain, even to the wicked. For if they were not allured, and deterred by them, perhaps there would be no living in the world; and beside, their state in the future world would be more or less dreadful, according to their moral conduct in this life.

But, to conclude, I refer you to the Scriptures, begging of God to enlarge your understanding therein. The scripture saith that God is not a man that He should repent. As I live, saith the