_Mr. Rutherford's Letters_,
Divided in two Parts.
_The First_,
Containing those which were written from Aberdeen, where he was confined by a sentence of the High Commission; drawn forth against him, partly upon the account of his declining them, partly upon the account of his Non-Conformity.
_The Second_,
Containing some which were written from Anwoth before he was by the Prelates' Persecution thrust from his ministry; & others upon diverse occasions afterward, from St. Andrews, London, &c.
Now published for the use of all the people of God, but more particularly for those who now are or afterward may be put to Suffering, for Christ and His cause.
_By a Wellwisher to the Work & People of God._
John xvi. 2. "They shall put you out of the synagogues; yea, the time cometh, that whosoever killeth you will think that he doeth God service. V. 3. And these things will they do, because they have not known the Father, nor me."
2 Thess. i. 6. "Seeing it is a righteous thing with God, to recompense tribulation to them that trouble you; V. 7. And to you who are troubled rest with us; when the Lord Jesus shall be revealed from heaven, with His mighty angels," &c.
Printed in the Year cI[c] I[c]c LXIIII By some mistake in reading the numeral letters, booksellers' catalogues have spoken of editions in 1662 and 1663; but there were none such. Such a mistake might easily occur in writing the numerals. In a _Manuscript of the Letters_ (kindly forwarded to the Editor by Rev. A. B. Grosart, Kinross), the date of the First Edition is written thus: cIↄ Iↄc; LIIII. Here there is, beyond doubt, a mistake; the X is omitted from LXIIII.; for the MS. is merely a _copy of the First Edition_. It copies out the title-page in full, and then appends this note: "_Intended to be wryten from the printed book, by the wryter, for particular use, and for several reasons unnecessary to be inserted._" Some of the "Testimonies of the Martyrs" are appended, as they appeared in the "Cloud of Witnesses" afterwards. There are now and then marginal notes, all of which are simply hints as to what the Letter contains, thus: "Cause of Rutherford's confinement;" "Comfort for the servants of God and for ministers." The existence, however, of such a MS., copied with such pains from a printed volume, tells the high esteem in which the Letters were held. We may note one small matter. In this MS. the name "_Bethaia_" (so written in all the printed editions) is given "_Bethia_;" showing that the name was so written at _that_ time also, as it is always now.
2. The _Second Edition._--It appeared in 1671, an exact reprint of the first, with the same title-page, etc. But it is very inaccurate; _e.g._ there are ten obvious misspellings of common words in the two first pages, not to speak of _bad punctuation_, which is a fault common to all the early editions.
3. The _Third Edition_, in 1675, retains the original title-page, except that it has, "In _Three_ Parts," and "The _Second_ and _Third_." This last Part contains sixty-eight additional Letters. This edition is the one which subsequent editors follow. It omits the original "Preface to the Christian Reader," and has only four introductory pages, two of which are the advertisement about the lost MS. of Rutherford on _Isaiah_. It has a long "Postscript," in which we cannot say there is much that is important.
4. The Edition of 1692.
5. The Edition of 1709. Edinburgh.
6. The Edition of 1724. Edinburgh. 12mo. "Printed by T. Lumsden and J. Ritchie, and sold at their printing-house in the Fish Market, and by John Paton and James Thomson, booksellers in the Parliament Closs; and sold at Glasgow by John Robertson, James and John Browns, and Mrs. Brown, booksellers. 1724." It is marked "The Fifth Edition." If this means the "fifth" of those editions that contain the "Three Parts," then our list is not complete. But it seems as if the editor had overlooked one of the earlier editions; and if so, this is the sixth.
7. The Edition of 1738. Edinburgh. Marked "Sixth Edition."
8. The Edition of 1761. Edinburgh. In two vols.
9. The Edition of 1765. Glasgow. A good edition. It has the author's Testimony and Dying Words, as well as the original Preface of the earliest edition. It is marked "_Ninth_ Edition."
10. The Edition of 1783. Glasgow. Marked "Tenth Edition." 8vo. Printed by John Bryce.
(The Eleventh Edition we have not seen, but it may be that of 1796.)
11. The Edition of 1802. Aberdeen. Marked "Twelfth Edition."
12. The Edition of 1809. Edinburgh. Marked "Thirteenth Edition."
13. Another in 1818, "One hundred and fifty-two Religious Letters," to which is added a Testimony to the Covenanted Work of Reformation between 1638 and 1649. Octavo.
14. Another in 1821. With a brief notice of the author.
15. The London Religious Tract Society's Edition, first published in 1824. It is properly only a _selection_ of sixty Letters, with extracts from many others. It has "Contents" prefixed to each Letter.