Very interesting group of sermons purporting to be by Rev. Lyall of Angus County, Scotland, per the attached 1844 note, "These ten sermons sent me by Rev'd Mr. Jolly of Brechin, as being by the late Mr. Lyall, but I am doubtful. Make some enquiry! Oct. 1844."
Regardless, they certainly belong to an earnest, Scottish Episcopal divine who is equally opposed to the Roman Catholic church and to the newly emerging Presbyterians. A very good mix of pastoral sermons, prayers, an extensive manuscript on the history of idolatry and heresy [which we presume he takes for Roman Catholicism on the one hand, and the Presbyterians on the other], etc,.
Items include:
A Prayer for a Sick Child. Visitation Office. [with a partial MSs prayer and discourse on judgment, sickness, and the works of the Devil on the Judgment of God in general]. c.1750's. [7pp].
Manuscript sermon [complete] on Philippians 1.10, "That ye may be sincere. . . " Notated as preached at Auchterhouse, 1759 on the front sheet. Final sheet notes it as being preached also se Montrose, Prosenhaugh, and Kinnaird [16pp].
Extensive, red-hot manuscript lecture or address discussing at length idolatry, superstition, heretics, simony, the "diabolical arts" of magic and sorcery, etc., describing the cult attached to one traveling sorcerer / magician, i.e. Simon. He is described as . . . a man of such a base and wretched life, [that it] cannot be supposed to be guided by better Principles, accordingly we find him asserting the boldest blasphemies, and the grossest absurdeties, such as giving himself out to be the Son who appear'd among the Jews, the Father who descended in Samaria and the Holy Ghost who came to the Gentiles. He taught that Jesus was not really, but in appearance only a man, that he Suffered in similitude only and not in reality; he taught that Helena, a common strumpet he carried about with him, was his first conception; that this Helen produc'd the Angels and Powers by whom this World was created; that by his Grace mankind was saved, etc. Thus Blasphemously did he perfect the inscrutable mysteries of the blessed Trinity, the eternal generation, the incarnation, and sufferings of the Son of God, etc. then the heretics Saturninas and Basilides, gnostics, etc., with the lengthiest section being on Arianism [as it was resurgent in the 18th century] [51pp].
Manuscript sermon [complete] on Hebrews 11.6, "Without faith it is impossible to please him." No place. c.1750's-1760's. [16pp.]
Manuscript sermon [complete] on I Timothy 6.6, "Godliness with contentment is great gain." Preached throughout the 1760's and 1770's at Kinnaird, Prosenhaugh, etc., [20pp.]
Manuscript sermon [complete] on Proverbs 13.21, "Evil pursueth sinners, but to the righteous good shall be repaid." Preached extensively from 1756-1788 in Kinnair, Prosenhaugh, Cortachie [Mod. Cortachy]; Kerrymuir,etc. Contains fascinating content on the relationship between the righteousness of the individual, the goodness and rightness of civil government, and the prosperity of a nation, etc. [15pp.]
Manuscript sermon [complete] on Psalms 50.14, "Offer unto God Thanksgiving." Fascinating on the role of the prophetic in the book of Psalms, the worthlessness of external duties and ceremony, etc., Appears to have been perhaps preached upon a day for receiving the Lord's Supper. It appears complete, but short, perhaps the rest preached extemporaneously. [4pp.]
Manuscript sermon [complete] on Ecclesiastes 8.12, "Surely, I know that it shall be well with them that fear God." No date or places, though consistent with the others. Stained, final leaf detached and torn, but all legible. [18pp.]
Manuscript sermon [complete] on I Timothy 6.6, "Godliness with contentment is great gain." Extensively preached throughout the 1750's through 1770's at Prosenhaugh, Kinnaird, Kerrymuir, Cortachie [Mod. Cortachy], et. [18pp.]
Perhaps in another hand, another 32pp of manuscript sermons from Kirriemuir, Scotland, dated 1738-1751. These appear to all be incomplete.
Worthy of further research; very legible, occasional minor losses, especially in the final 32pp of miscellania.
