Page:Robert Carter- his life and work. 1807-1889 (IA robertcarterhis00coch).pdf/200

184 “We commit you and your dear daughter E. to our covenant-keeping God.”

Reference has been made several times to Mr. Carter’s friendship with Dr. McCosh, which began in 1850 and continued to the close of his life, when Dr. McCosh stood beside his coffin and paid a true and tender tribute to the memory of his tried and faithful friend. Dr. McCosh. gives the following history of his intercourse with Robert Carter:—

“I was first brought into communication with Mr. Carter when, in 1850, I published in Edinburgh my first book, ‘The Method of Divine Government, Physical and Moral.’ He immediately republished the work in America, sending me the nice little sum of fifty pounds. He took a deep interest in the book, and promoted its sale, not merely because it brought him business profit, but because he thought it would do good, and because he believed that it set forth what he was sure was the true doctrine in regard to God and his government. From that time I corresponded with him occasionally. I saw him in Edinburgh when he came on a visit to his native country looking out for good books to republish and make known and circulate in the wider country of America. I owe to him, as many others do, the introduction of my early works into the wide continent of North America. He threw himself heartily into this work, and carried it on in a business-like manner, believing that in this way he could do most good both in his native and his adopted country.

“Being now somewhat known in the United States, I paid a visit to that country in 1866. He received me as his guest, first in New York, and then in his summer quarters in a farmhouse near Lenox. In that latter place I saw him at his best. He had gathered his family around him. He was lively, he was genial. He had many an anecdote to tell of the scenes through which he had passed in Scotland and