LIBRARY OF PRINCETON n MAR 2 9 2005 THEOLOGICAL SEMINARY 2.5 - / IDisruption Worthies A Memorial of iSjj. liaitb nn UMi^toricnl Shctcb of tbc Jfrcc Cburcb ot ScotlnnD from IS43 ^o\vn to tbc present cliinc Bv TiiK REV. JAMES A. \VV E I E, LE.D. ^-/^ )M£Mc^^ -^S1 I'DINIU'RCIl T 1 1 O M A S C. J A C K, G R A X (i ]•: 1" U 15 L I S 1 1 I X G W O R K S i,S,Hcrswr :o A. ludUnon i- t\'.) LOXDOX: 45 LUDGATK HILL TMaBYOFpffiwrrrnN MAR 2 9 2006 .■rr>innirei QFMINARY MINISTERS, OFFICE-BEARERS, AND MEMBERS C!jt fxtt Cijurcij of Scotlanb, MEMORIAL VOLUME IS RESPECTFULLY DEDICATED. PUBLISHER'S NOTE. In preparing the present edition of "Disruption Worthies," it has been felt that it ought to be more complete than the plan of the former edition permitted. There was a certain convenience in confining the Biographical Sketches to the deceased. But there is no sufficient reason for continuing this arrangement. Happily, there are not a few Disruption Worthies still spared, to the advantage of the Church and of tite world, and the title of the Publication suggests that Sketches of their lives and labours should be included in a Nav Edition. Alas that more than one who lived when their biographies were here written, have since passed over to the majority. In this edition appear the iiames of three Ministers ivho had no direct share in the act of the Disruption. No excuse, ho^va'cr, is needed for adding Sketches of the late Dr. M'Crie, Dr. Goold, and Dr. Rainy, considering their peculiar relations, as representative men and otherwise, to t/ie Church of the Disruption. The Publisher has introduced in this edition an entirely ?iru> series of Portraits, for the most part produced by a highly accomplished Artist. In other respects the present will be found an improvement on the old edition. The Publisher is much indebted to Mr fames B. Gillies for editing this volume. Grange Publishing Works, Edinburgh, iSSi. Contents. INTRODUCTION Hy the Hon. Lord Ardmillan. HISTORICAL SKETCH OF THE FREE CHURCH By the Rev. James A. Wylie, LL.D., Edinburgh. SKETCH OF THE DISRUPTION DAY By HfGH Miller (from the Witness, May 1843). Rev. WILLIAM ARNOT, Free High Church, Edinburgh (Portrait) By John Gifford, Esq., National Bank, Edinburgh. Ra'. JAMES BANNERMAN, D.D., Professor of Apologetics, N'cw College, Edinburgh By the Rev. J. R. Omohd, Monzie. (Portrait) Rev. JAMES BEGG.D.D., Neuiington Free'Church, Edinburgh (Portrait) . By the Rev. J. Mom Porteous, D.D., Edinburgh. Rro. ANDREW A. BONAR, D.D., Finnicston Free Church, Clasgo-.u (Portrait) . By the Rev. Alexander Moody Stuart, D.D., Edinburgh. Rev. HORATIUS BONAR, D.D., Grange Free Church, Edinburgh (Portrait) By the Rev. William Cousin, Melrose. JAMES BONAR, Esq., W.S., Eainburgh By the Rev. George R. Davidson, D.D., Edinburgh. The Most Noble THE MARQUIS OF BREADALBANE, K. T. By the Rev. William Chalmers, D.D., Principal, Presbyterian College, London. 1 DISRUPTION WORTHIES. 1 Sir DAVID BREWSTER, K.T. (Porlyail) i By the Rev. John Dlns. D.D., Professor of Natural Science, New College, Edinburgh. 59 Rev. CHARLES JOHN BROWN, D.D., Free New North Church, Edinburgh (Portrail) By David Dickson, Esq., Edinburgh. 65 Ret'. DAVID BROWN, D.D., PHncipal of Free College, Aberdeen (Portrait) By the Rev. Willum G. Bl.mkie, D.D., Professor of Apologetics, New College, Edinburgh. 73 Rev. JOHN BRUCE, D.D., Freest. Andrc.d's, Edinburgh (Portrait) By the Rev. James M'Gregor, D.D., Professor of Systematic Theology, New College, Edinburgh. 79 GEORGE BUCHAN, Esq. of K'elloe By the Rev. Adah Spekce, Houndwood. S7 Rcz'. JAMES BUCHANAN, D.D., LL.D., Professor of Systematic Theology, Nc.u College, Edinburgh (Portrait) ...... By the Rev. R. G. Balfouk, Edinburgh. 95 Rev. ROBERT BUCHANAN, D.D., Free Church College, Glasgow (Portrait) By the Rev. Robert Rainy, D.D., Principal of New College, Edinburgh. lOI Pro. ROBERT BURNS, D.D., Professor, Toronto College, C.W. (Portrait) By the Rev. James C. Birns, M.A., Kirkliston. III Rr', New College, Edinburgh. 215 Rc-j. HENRY DUNCAN, D.D., Ruthwell (Portrait) By the Rev. Jamrs Dodds, Dunbar. 223 Ret: JOHN DUNCAN, LL.D., Professor of Hebrew, Nc.o College, Edinburgh (Portrait) By the Rev. Alex. Moodv Stuart, D.D., Edinburgh. 231 ALEXANDER MURRA Y DUNLOP, Esq. ofCorsock, Advocate (Portrait; By the Rev. Thosias M. Lindsay, D.D., Professor of Church History, Free Church College, Glasgow. 237 Rev. PATRICK FAIRBAIRN, D.D., Principal and Professor of Theolog}; Free Church College, Glasgow (Portrait) ...... By the Rev. James Dodds, Dunbar. 245 Rev. JOHN FORBES, D.D., LL.D., Free St. PauFs Church, Clasgnu . By the Rev. Thomas Smith, D.D., Professor of Evangelistic Theologj-. New College, Edinburgh. 2S3 DISRUPTION WORTHIES. Rc'j. JAMES GIBSON, D.D., Professor of Church History, Free Church College, Glasso-M (Portrait) ........ By the Rev. Robert M. Wilson, Marj-hill. 261 Rev. WILLIAM H. GOOLD, D.D., Martyrs' Free Church, Edinburgh ( Portrait ) . By the Rev. William Bin.nie, D.D., Professor of Church History, Free Church College, Aberdeen. 26S 1 Rcj. ROBERT GORDON, D.D., Free High Church, Edinburgh (Portrait) . By the Rev. Norma.v L. Walker, Dysart. 309 Her Grace THE DUCHESS OF GORDON (Portrait) .... 271 By the Rev. H. M. Williamson, Belfast. Rci: ANDREW GRAY, Perth By the Rev. J. B. Irvine, Strathkinness. 279 Rev. THOMAS GUTHRIE, D.D., Free St. John's, Edinburgh (Portrait) . By the Rev. John Ker, D.D., United Presbyterian Church, Glasgow. 28s JOHN HAMILTON, Esq., Advocate, Edinburgh By the Rev. William G. Blaikie, D.D., Professor of Apologetics, New College, Edinburgh. 295 Rev. WILLIAM M. HETHERINGTON, D.D., Edinburgh (Portrait) . By the Rev. W. M. Falconer, M.A., Edinburgh. 301 JAMES MAITLAND HOG, Esq. of Newliston By the Rev. James C. Burns, M.A., Kirkliston. 317 Rev. JAMES INGRAM, D.D., Unst (Portrait) By James B. Gillies, Esq., Edinburgh. 32s Rev. ALEXANDER KEITH, D.D., Free Church, St. Cyrus (Portrait) By the Rev. David Brown, D.D., Aberdeen. 331 Rev. ROBERT LORIMER, LL.D., Haddington , By A. P. LoEiMER, Esq., Banker, Tillicoultry. 339 Rrv. JAMES MCOSH,D.D., Princeton College, N.J. (Portrait) By the Rev. Professor M'Closkie, Princeton College, N.J. 343 Rev. THOMAS M'CRIE, D.D., Presbyterian College, London (Portrait) By the Rev. Charles G. M'Crie, Ayr. 349 Rev. JOHN MACDONALD, D.D., Fcnntosh (Portrait) .... By the Rev. Thomas M'Lal-chlan, D.D., Edinburgh. 357 CONTENTS. Km. ROBERT M.ACDONALD, D.D., Xorth Lcith (Poiiiail) By the Rev. Rodert Cowan, Elgin. Rn: P.i TRICK M'FARLAN, D.D., Creaiock (Porlrail) By the Rev. William Lauchton, Greenock. PATRICK- BOYLE MURE MACREDIE, Esq. of Pacelon r.y the Rev. Thomas Maix, D.D., Edinburgh. Rn'. RODERICK APLEOD, Snizorl By the Rev. John S. MAcrHAiL, JOHN MAITLAND, Esq., Accountant, Auditor of Court of Session By Benjamin Bell, Esq., F.R.C.S.E., Edinburgh. Ret: A.XCVS MAKELLAR, D.D., Petuaitland (Portrait) By the Rev. John Thomson, D.D., Paisley. I/UGH MILLER, Editor of the " IVitness," Edinburgh (Porlrail) By James Sime, Esq., Craigmount House, Edinburgh. ALEXANDER EARLE MONTEITII, Esq., Advocate, Sheriff of Fifcshire By Francis Brown Dolglas, Esq., Advocate, Edinburgh. Rm. Sir HENRY VVELLWOOD MONCREIFF, Bart., D.D., Edinbursh (Porlrail) By the Rev. Thomas Crerar, M.A., North Leith. pace 363 3S3 3S9 397 405 413 ROBERT PAUL, Esq., Banker, Edinburgh By David Maclagan, Esq., C.A., Edinburgh. Rro. THOMAS PITCAIRN, Cockfen (Portrait) By the Rev. Andrew A. Bonar, D.D., Glasgow. Rm. ROBERT RAINY, D.D., Principal of New Collese, Edinburgh (Portrait) By Alexander Taylor Innes, Esq., Advocate, Edinburgh. GRAHAM SPEIRS, Esq., Advocate, Sheriff of Mid-Lothian By Lord Cowan, Edinburgh. Rev. ALEXANDER STEWART, Cromarty . By the Rev. Alexander Beith, D.D., Stirlin:;. Rr.: ALEXANDER MOODY STUART, D.D., Edinburgh ( Portrait j By the Rev. J. G. Cu.NNlNGHAM, Edinburgh. DISRUPTION WORTHIES. ALEXANDER THOMSON, Esq. of Bamhoiy 473 By Robert Lumsden, Esq., Banker, Aberdeen. Rev. WILLIAM KING TiVEEDIE, D.D., Free Tolhooth Church, EJinlmrsk (Portrait) 4S1 By William Brown, E.sq., F.R.C.S.E., Edinburgh. Rev. DA VID WELSH, D.D., Professor of Theology and Church History, Nc~iv Collcffe, Edinhirgh (Portrait) ....... 4S9 By the Rev. William Wilson, D.D., Dundee. Rev. JOHN WILSON, D.D.,F.R.S., Bombay (Portrait) . . . -497 By the Rev. J. Mirkay Mitchell, D.D., Edinburgh. Rr.: WILLIAM WILSON, D.D., Convener of Sustciitation Fund Co» By the Rev. John Maci'HERSOn, Dundee. (Portrait) 505 r«#?, m^^' INTRODUCTION. BY THE HON. LORD ARDMILLAN, ONE OK THE SENATORS OF THE COLLEGE OK JUSTICE. Intro Jiuttmtt. S this work may be considered a chapter in tiie " Memories of the Disruption," illustrating and commemorating some of the leaders and the heroes in the memorable struggle of which it was the culminating point, the retrospect, whether personal or historical, is full of deep interest. The wise man finds in it sometimes the " pleasures of memory," sometimes the bitterness of regret, but always grounds for thankfulness and trustfulness, and lessons for the guidance of life. To intelligent, earnest, and loyal Free Churchmen, Disruption Memories must be unspeakably precious ; and dear to them must be the names of those worthies — foremost in the conflict for conscience — who have now passed from the struggles of the Church on earth to the peace and the glory of the upper sanctuary. As no true Protestant would discard the memory of the Reformation, — as no DISRUPTION WORTHIES. true patriot would discard the Revolution Settlement, — so no true Free Church- man would part with the memory of the Disruption. But more than thirty years have now passed since the Disruption. A new generation has arisen, to some of whom ignorance is natural, and to others forgetfulness is easy. Ingenious efforts are made to commend oblivion, to induce indifference, and to enlist selfishness in aid of suggested surrender ; and it may not be useless or inappropriate to offer a few brief remarks in explanation of the Origin, the Principles, the Progress, and the Result, of the conflict. As of a stream winding through a fertile vale, the spring may be discovered far back amid the clefts of the rocks, so of the Free Church, which was the out- come of the Disruption struggle — the source and spring of the movement may be found in the great divisions of the Church more than a century back. The people of Scotland can scarcely require to be reminded of the theology, the policy, the literature, and the preaching of the party in the Church known as " Moderates." The sad results of the reign and the fruits of Moderatism are well known. Yet it was a potent and distinguished party. Its culture was attractive and commendable, and procured for it a general acceptance among the upper classes ; but its influence on religious conviction, sentiment, and character, was chilling and withering. Under the ascendancy of this " Moderate " party, the Church of Scotland, as established and endowed by the State, became a great political institution ; and, accordingly, the advantages of State connection rose higher and higher in ecclesiastical estimation. On the other hand, the Church, in its own pecuhar and essential character as a Church of Christ, apart from its establishment — the Church, as a witness-bearer, and a message-bearer, and a missionary institution — was lowered and weakened in purity, power, and acceptance, by the prevalence and the influence of the Moderate party. But there was another party in the Church, called by some in derision " the Wild," and known by the people as the " Evangelical,"— a party whose theology INTRODUCTION. was in accordance with the standards of the first and second Reformation, and whose principles were those of the Puritans and the Covenanters, and whose preaching, faithful and fervent, had the scarlet thread through it, and tlie blood-bought salvation in its freencss and fullness, as its constant and urgent theme. To that party the spiritual liberty and life of the Church was far more important and more precious than its establishment or endowment. Tims it came to pass that the stream of the Church's history flowed, as it were, in two different channels. To the Moderate party the establishment of the Church— the favour of the State, and the dependence of the Church on the State — was the muniment of her political and social position. To the Evangelical party the spiritual independence of the Church was the muniment of her Christian liberty and her living power. So also in regard to Patronage, the channels of thought and feeling were quite distinct. The Moderate party, desirous to retain the fitvour of the patrons and the government, naturally supported and enforced the rights of Patronage, quite without consent, and almost without limit or restriction, on the part of congregations ; while the Evangelical party, leaning on popular rather than State support, sought to protect congregations from the intrusion of unacceptable ministers. It naturally followed tiiat, so long as the Moderate party retained the ascendancy in the Church, the enforcement of Patronage — the settlement of ministers over reclaiming congregations — was con- tinued and accepted, and no attempt was made to vindicate the separate and independent spiritual jurisdiction of the Church. But it was manifest that, if the time came when the Evangelical and popular party could guide the councils of the Church, the abolition or effectual limitation of Patronage would be attempted, and spiritual independence would be proclaimed. And so it came to pass. Sir Henry Moncreiff, Dr Andrew Thomson, and others, did not live in vain. The Evangelical party — the party whom the people trusted, and through whom the most devout and earnest of the people hoped to see a revival of religion DISRUPTION WORTHIES. in the land — became the majority in the Assembly; and gradually, but surely, the principles now held by the Free Church were developed, proclaimed, and carried into action. Tlie adoption and practical vindication of these principles of non-intrusion and spiritual independence, was the natural and appropriate result of the transfer of Church influence from the Moderate to the Evangelical party. It was a result expected by intelligent observers on both sides of the Church — expected with desire by the one party, and with apprehension by the other. It was also a result to be anticipated from the progressive earnestness and piety of congregations trained under the influence of Evangelical ministers. It was plain, that those who had been taught and stirred by the full, faithful, and fervent preaching of the gospel of grace and love, would not long submit to the enforced settlement of "Moderate" ministers, and would, when opportunity offered, assert the congregational right to resist Intrusion, and the Church's right to Spiritual Independence. No one could doubt that the people would follow their faithful pastors. Occasion, fit and urgent, soon appeared. In the case of the parish of Auchterarder, where only two persons out of three thousand signed the call, and in several other cases, the most high-handed and tyrannical patronage was exercised, and was enforced by all the authority and the severity of the law; and the exercise of that patronage was accepted, and the severe interposition of the Civil Courts was craved, approved, and defended, by the Moderate party, then the minority in the Assembly, who afterwards formed the Established Church, when the Evangelical party were compelled by conscience to secede. These Moderates are represented by the Church now established, as the Evangelical party are represented by the Free Church. In the cases of Settlement, — in the Stewarton Case — in the Strathbogie Interdict, — the distinct and independent jurisdiction of the Church in matters spiritual was denied, assailed, and crushed bvthe judgments of the Civil Courts; while, at the same time, the attempt to INTRODUCTION. impose on Patronage even the mildest restraint, failed, and was pronounced illegal. Revered ministers were called to the bar of the Civil Court, and publicly rebuked. It became impossible, and was authoritatively declared impossible, to maintain the spiritual independence of the Church within a Church established and endowed by the State. The surrender by the Church of power to protect reclaiming congregations, and the surrender by the Church of free and independent spiritual jurisdiction, was felt to be, and was indeed declared to be, the condition and the price of Establishment. The principle of spiritual independence has been much misunderstood. It has been imagined that our Free Church view of spiritual independence savours of priestcraft. This is a great mistake. There is, on the contrary, no Church in which the lay element has more weight and influence. We hold that no eccle- siastic is, as a citizen, above the law, or beyond the reach of the law. We loyally and respectfully recognise the authority of the law on all questions of civil rights. But, on the other hand, we hold, that of every true man and every true Church our Lord Jesus is the spiritual Head, and that within the sphere of spiritual jurisdic tion, His Church has, in her orderly courts, distinct and independent authority. The Free Church principle, when rightly understood and applied, does indeed guard alike the true liberty of the State and the true liberty of the Church, by drawing a clear distinction between civil and spiritual jurisdiction. The freedom of the State from ecclesiastical usurpation is imperilled by Vaticanism. The freedom of the Church from usurpation by Civil Courts is imperilled by Erastianism. The Free Church protests against both usurpers. She maintains the freedom of both jurisdictions against encroachment from either side, on a jurisdiction distinct and independent— in the one case civil, and in the other case spiritual. Practically the spiritual jurisdiction of the Church was, during the conflict, chiefly exercised to protect congregations Irom the intrusion of ministers by violent settlements. It was exercised in vain. The violent settlements were DISRUPTION WORTHIES. enforced by law ; and both to the people and to the Church it was, by deed and by word, plainly intimated, that continued connection with the State could only be maintained on the condition of the surrender of congregational liberty, and of spiritual independence. Separation from the State then became the duty, the urgent and paramount duty, of all who were not prepared to accept that condition and pay that price. Those who remained established at the Disruption of 1843, accepted the con- dition, and consented to pay the price ; and they still enjoy the State favour, and the State endowments, and enjoy them on the condition which they accepted, and .It the price which they paid. Those who rejected the condition, and refused to pay the price, of Establishment, seceded, surrendered the advantages of State connection, and formed the Free Church of Scotland. Continued conformity involved the sacrifice of conscience ; and that sacrifice being in regard to matters of momentous and sacred principle. Nonconformity became an imperative duty. If, after the rise of the Evangelical party to influence in the Church, and after the Ten Years' Conflict, there had, in 1843, been no Disruption, all con- fidence in the power or reality of conscience, and in the sincerity of religious profession, would have been destroyed. It is difficult to conceive anything more injurious to the cause and progress of vital religion than would have been the cowardice or unfaithfulness of the Evangelical party at that crisis. The tone of feeling at the solemn Convocation of Ministers which preceded the Disruption, made it certain that surrender or compromise could not be thought of without dishonour ; and the elders, with responding fidelity, resolved to maintain the same great principles, and to adhere to the out-going ministers. The words of the Rev. Mr Stewart of Cromarty made a deep and lasting impression. " When I read that interdict by a Civil Court, which the Church was called and commanded to obey, I felt, as I could imagine a child to feel hanging at the breast of its mother, if that mother had been suddenly shot through the heart. I might cling to the body, IXTRODUCTION but the life has gone out of hei." In this state of feehiig, with the lieart of the Church deeply stirred, with conscience sensitive, and honour pledged. Disruption and continued separation became inevitable. This was felt and appreciated— the serious step was deliberately and prayerfully considered, and bravely taken —and graciously has God guided the Free Church, and has, in her Noncon- formist condition, blessed her with peace, liberty, and purity. One part of this gracious dealing has been the gift to the Church of her " Disruption Worthies," whose wisdom, courage, faithfulness, and godliness, have promoted her progress and her usefulness, and sustained her renown. The purity of motive, the un- flinching stedfastness of principle, the spiritual elevation and evangelical earnest- ness of character, by which these leaders of the Exodus were distinguished, have won the admiration of all good men— even of many who honestly differed and remained behind. Another part of God's gracious dealing has been the bringing the Free Church into close and cordial relations with the Evangelical Seceders of an earlier date, with churches — Protestant, Presbyterian, Evangelical — holding, as their forefathers held, all the great principles for which our " Disruption Worthies" contended. It is, however, now said, that Disruption Memories should be consigned to oblivion, and that, as Patronage has been abolished by Act of Parliament, Free Churchmen should return to the Establishment ; and it is indeed obvious that to attract them back is the policy of the hour. It is therefore necessary for Free Churchmen seriously to review the past history, and to consider the present position, of the Church. This they must do, in order to estimate aright the attractions or invitations presented or suggested. Now, no narrow-minded jealousy, no unkind feeling, should actuate Free Churchmen in this matter. There is much worth, capacity, and piety within the Established Church. She has a wide field for usefulness, and she has done, and is doing, much good. In all such good. Free Churchmen rejoice. It is the duty and privilege of Free DISRUPTION WORTHIES. Churchmen to cherish friendly feelings, and to maintain friendly relations, and to co-operate heartily in Christian work; and all this they can do without com- promise of principle. But, for members of the Free Church to ignore or forget the Disruption, and to make, or indicate a readiness to make, any movement in the direction of returning to the Establishment, or resuming connection with the State, is quite out of the question. It would be foolish, and it would be wrong, to think of such a step, or even to dream of returning again to bondage. It is alike the part of wisdom and of duty to hold fast the principles vindicated at such cost in the Disruption, and to maintain the position of Nonconformity ; for that is our true position, since Nonconformists all Free Churchmen became, when they quilted the Establishment in 1843. The recent alteration in the law of Patronage does not affect our position. It may, or may not, be satisfactory to the Established Church. Of course, we cannot approve of Patronage. We have never done so. It was not in the Evangelical party that Patronage found support, nor can it find support in the Free Church. But the new Statute, whatever it does, does not remove the causes of separation ; it does not secure, and was not intended to secure, the spiritual independence of the Church ; and after thirty years' experience of Disruption life, all thoughtful Free Churchmen must have been taught, that Evangelical Nonconformity has in it a charm and a power which the State cannot bestow, and must have been taught also, that the Church is freer, safer, and purer, when depending only on the free-will offerings of the Christian people. All our experience has tended to deepen our convictions on these points. Nor can it be overlooked, that return to State connection would painfully rend asunder the ties now uniting us to those older Nonconformists who have done such great service to the cause — the good old cause — of gospel truth and civil and religious liberty. The true part for the Free Church, at once the wisest and the bravest part, is to hold fast our freedom, and to strengthen our alliance with the free. INTRODUCTION. But it has been recently maintained, on the part of the Established Church, and of those politicians who invite return to State connection, that the spiritual independence of the Church is not in danger, that it has never been authorita- tively denied, and that the law has never negatived the Church's claim to such spiritual independence, and, therefore, that the subject need not trouble us or scare us from return. This, after all that has passed, is, indeed, a strange view ; but the stating of it at present is not without importance. It seems to be adopted to serve the purpose of the passing hour, and is somewhat rashly adopted, for it cuts away the only excuse which can even palliate the oppressive proceedings that led to the Disruption. To sunender the Church's liberty when the law demanded it, was a weakness and a grave mistake. But to surrender it, when the law did not demand it, would have been an act of treachery and guilt. If it really were the case, as is now alleged or suggested, that the law of the Established Church, and the constitution of the Established Church, never enforced, accepted, or recognised the authority of the Civil Courts, and the subordination of the Church Courts, in matters spiritual, then, how can the actual facts of enforced edicts of the Civil Courts, and the ready submission of that portion of the Church which is now established, be explained] That the Civil Courts did actually command and ordain the doing of spiritual acts, and did forbid and prohibit the preaching of the gospel in Strathbogie, and that the command and the prohibition were both obeyed without protest by the Moderate party — the party remaining in the Church — is beyond doubt. The defence or explanation given at the time, and till recently, was, that the Church was, in respect of its establishment, bound in law and in duty to obey the edicts of the Civil Court, even in these matters clearly spiritual, even in the calling and the collation, involving the ordination, of ministers, even in the preaching of the word. The Lord President (Hope) said, on 5th March 1841, "What makes the Church of Scotland, but the law?" Lord Mackenzie said, that the Court DISRUPTION WORTHIES. did not, in the first Auchterarder case, pronounce " a judgment limited to the effect of determining the right to the stipend only, or the manse and glebe ;" and he added, what the Lord President had stated on i8th November 1840, that the obligation to receive and admit a qualified person, implies an obligation to ordain, since ordination is necessary to admission. The Strathbogie Interdicts were recognised by the Moderate party— by those who adhered to the Establish- ment— as competent and legal, as according to the law of the land and the constitution of the Church. The Non-Intrusionists were accused of disloyalty for not obeying them. Dr Guthrie, Dr Cunningham, and Dr Candlish were denounced in the strongest terms. Now, on this law,— a law recognising and enforcing authority in Civil Courts, and obedience in Church Courts, even in matters spiritual, — there has been no change. The repeal of the law of Patronage has nothing to do with it. A settle- ment on a presentation was only an occasion for crushing or for vindicating the principle of spiritual independence. The condition or status of subordination, and the relative or emerging duty of obedience, to Civil Courts, remains now exactly as it was in 1841. The facts in regard to violent settlement, and enforce- ment of the edicts of a Civil Court, are beyond question. The authority, in its most startling form, was exercised, maintained, and vindicated ; and was not only distinctly accepted, but was invoked and appealed to, by the party led by Dr Cook — the party who adhered to the Establishment in 1843, ^'^^ who sub- stantially constituted the Established Church from and after the Disruption. This, therefore, is the alternative. Either there is no spiritual independence — no distinct and final spiritual jurisdiction — in the Established Church, and the edicts of 1840 and 1S41 are still competent, legal, and constitutional, and may be repeated ; or the great Moderate party which forced out the Non-Intrusionists, and remained established, were voluntary actors in those violent settlements, and in that acceptance of spiritual subordination, and have been excusing themselves, INTRODUCTION. by laying on llie law and constitution of the Church a guilt and a responsibility which were all their own. On the one alternative, the same law may be again enforced, and the Church's spiritual jurisdiction again crushed. On the other alternative, the same surrender of the Church's rights may be again made — the same wrong may be again done by the same party, and done with the same results. In any view, it is plain that the position of the present Established Church is not mended by this suggestion, and is not such as to invite, or justify, or even excuse, the return of any leal-hearted Free Churchman. None but the weak or the unfaithful could think of returning. Those who quitted the Establishment on religious conviction and for conscience sake, may and should feel kindly towards those from whom they have parted ; but they cannot return without compromise of conscience, and cannot resume State connection without surrendering the principles on which they acted. Besides, the invitation or suggestion, such as it is, has been mere talk. No approach to the Nonconforming Churches generally or to any Nonconformist Church as a body, has been made, or is likely to be made. The idea of union between a Church supported by the State and a Church supported by voluntary contributions, is ridiculous ; and the device of attracting weak or selfish adherents one by one, in the hope of aftecting statistical returns, is too transparently foolish to require remark. Mr Gladstone asked in Parliament if such a course was " fair or generous" \ The question was natural. No answer to this question has been given, in Parliament, or in the Assembly of the Church. On the probability of continued permanent Establishment, it is premature now to speculate. Questions now raised in England as to education, and as to burials, and as to ceremonies and services, will not be without influence. The question can wait. Time — it may be a short time — may clear it up. Disestablish- ment is not directly or specially the aim of the Free Church. Her aim is to convert, and to build up, to instruct and to edify, to proclaim and commend the gospel. But Disestablishment may be the result of the advancing strength and DISRUPTION WORTHIES. progress of Free Church principles, since these are alike the principles of Evan- gelical Presbyterianism, and of civil and religious liberty. Duty, faithfulness, conscience — these are our guides. Results are in the hands of God. There are good men in the Free Church, who would regret to see the State Church dis- established. There is no sound and loyal Free Churchman, who, for the sake of supporting the Establishment, would compromise the principles, or imperil the spiritual liberty and independence of the Free Church. The time has come for friendly co-operation among all earnest Christians, since vice, ignorance, infidelity, and superstition are our common enemies. The time may come — God grant that it may soon come ! — when, under general awakening and revival, increased depth of conviction and intensity of devotional feeling may lead to union among all sound and free Evangelical Presbyterians. Mean- while, let all Free Churchmen maintain their principles and their liberty. Let them resist all temptations to Erastianism, and hold in grateful memory the "DISRUPTION WORTHIES." listovical Slutclj of tijc Jfitc Cljuitlj of Scotlanb, BY JAMES A. WYLIE, LL.D. CHAPTER I. V^z ((Hstatiltsfjmrut jFalls anli tijc Jrrc Cijurrlj Ixtsrs. )HE Reformed Church of Scotland, has, from the very moment of her birth, claimed to be free. She has rested that great claim on no insufficient grounds, and she has stated it in no ambiguous terms. From no monarch or government did the Church receive her being. She is a Divine institution : and therefore, though in the world she is distinct from it, and owns no subjection to the principalities and powers of a secular kind, with which she is surrounded. Such, in brief, are the grounds on which she has advanced her claim of immunity from all control from without. God is her Author, Christ is her King, and the Bible is her law. TiiK Liberty of the Church. The source whence the freedom of the Church springs, determines both its nature and its limits. As regards its nature, it is eminently DISR UP TIO.\ IVOR THIES. spiritual, and as regards its limits, it is restricted to things spiritual. The Church is not free to gainsay or resist the edicts of princes in matters political, much less to claim supremacy over them. Neither is she free in the sense of being absolute mistress, and sole unchal- lenged disposer of the goods and temporalities with which she may happen to be endowed. Nor is she free, even to enact what doctrines she pleases, and bind them upon the consciences of men, or to set up what polity may seem to her expedient. Her freedom may be summed up in a single phra.se — the Church is free to obey Christ. The freedom of the Church, then, is a freedom that consists, not so much in power to rule as in power to obey — liberty to submit to the authority, and carry out the will of Him who is her alone Lord and Monarch. He has communicated to her a system of truths which she is to believe, and a code of laws which she is to administer, and no power under heaven has a right to step in and offer hindrance to her in the profession of the one and the execution of the other. This liberty is altogether indispensable to the accomplishment of the great ends for which she has been called into existence. Not to flatter her pride, and enable her to lift up her head in idle or mischievous supremacy over other societies, was this freedom bestowed upon the Church, but that through her the Heavenly King might reign upon the earth, and society be built up in righteousness. This it is that makes that liberty so unspeakably precious. And this it is that makes it so imperative on the Church to vindicate it at all costs, and never to surrender it, be the wealth, the power, the tem- poral advantages which may be offered in exchange ever so great. In surrendering it she not only dishonours her King ; she not onl)- degrades herself, she inflicts an injur}- on that verj' power at whose feet she lays it down. }1IST0RICAL SKETCH. The Liuektv oi- the Church Guaranteed nv Siatute in Scotland. The Reformed Church of Scotland was careful at the outset uf her career to set before the world in precise, full, and well-defined terms, that spiritual independence which she claimed as her birth-right. No sooner had she emancipated herself from the tyranny of the Papacy than she boldly traced the line over which she pledged herself not to pass to assail the state, and within which she was equally resolved not to suffer invasion from the secular powers. In the Book of Policy, or First Book of Discipline, drawn up by Knox and other leading ministers in 1 560, the foundations on which the Reformed Church is seen to place herself, are those of spiritual independence. The power of admission to, or exclusion from, membership and office in the Church, the Book of Policy reserved to the Church exclusively. In doing so it conferred upon her the right of independent self-government. For the authority that can admit or exclude, without challenge from without, has in its own hands the supreme government of the society. All Church power centres here. On this one point did Calvin suspend the whole battle for the Church's independent jurisdiction in Geneva ; and though it may seem a part only of that power which the Church of Scotland in after times claimed and exercised, it is in reality the whole ; it clearly establishes a principle which carries the jurisdiction of the Church triumphantly to the veiy frontier of the spiritual domain ; for to say that ministers are not obliged to admit the unworthy to the communion table, is but another way of saying that ecclesiastical sentences cannot be reviewed and reversed by the civil courts, and that their interfer- ence is shut out in things sacred. In her very dawn the Reformed Church of Scotland is seen taking up this ground. She is free from her birth. She never once, in the course of her future career, abates or modifies DISK UP TION 1 1 VK THIES. that high claim, but, on the contrar}', presents it in terms more explicit, and embodies it in declarations and acts more formal and complete. In the Second Book of Discipline, drawn up by Andrew Melville, and agreed upon by the General Assembly of the Church in 1578, the essential line of distinction between civil and ecclesiastical power is boldly traced, — "Jesus Christ," it declares, "has appointed a government in His Church, distinct from civil government, which is to be exercised in His name by such office-bearers as He has authorised, and not by civil magistrates, or under their direction." * Commenting on this declaration, the historian M'Crie, says : — " It establishes their (the ecclesiastical authorities) inde- pendence in all matters that belong to their cognisance, and guards against what is the great bane of religion and curse of the Church, a priesthood, which is merely the organised puppet of the State, and moves and acts only as it is directed by the State. ... It has secured the cordial and lasting attachment of the people of Scotland ; whenever it has been wrested from them by arbitrary violence, they have uniformly embraced the first favourable opportunity of demanding its restoration; and the principal secessions which have been made from the national church in this part of the kingdom have been stated, not in the way of dissent from its constitution as in England, but in opposition to depar- tures, real or alleged, from its genuine principle." f This spiritual independence, though co-eval with the Church, and of her very nature and constitution, had to fight its way to recog- nition over the dislike and resistance of the civil power. The years that followed 1578 witnessed numerous collisions between the two authorities, and it was not till 1592 that a satisfactory adjustment of the relations between Church and State was reached. Speaking of that famous settle- ment, M'Crie says:— "What she (the Church) now obtained was a legal recognition of those powers which she had long claimed as belonging to her by Scriptural institution and the gift of her Divine Head. She had * M'Crie's Life of iMclvillc, i. 167, Edin., 1810. + Life of Melville, \. 172. HISTORICAL SKETCH. now a riglit by human as well as by divine law, in foro f^oli et soli, to hold her assemblies for worship and discipline, and to transact all the business competent to her as an ecclesiastical society, without being liable to any challenge for this, and without being exposed to any external interrup- tion or hindrance whatever, either from individuals or from the executive government." * There followed in the seventeenth century a series of terrific assaults on the spiritual independence. The last three Stuarts set themselves to crush the Presbyterian Kirk of Scotland, and, along with it, all the rights and liberties of her members, and to erect upon the ruins of Pres- byterianism their own sole prerogative. They sustained themselves supreme in all causes ecclesiastical. It needs not that we here recite the tale of that frightful period. All through the " Twenty-eight Years " our fathers are seen contending on scaffold and battle-field for the " Headship of Christ," as the spiritual independence now began to be termed. The Stuarts were worsted ; the Church came triumphant out of the conflict, and again re-asserted her God-given and indestruc- tible liberties. The Fifth Statute of the first Parliament of Scotland, after the Revolution of 1688, ratified and established the Presbyterian form of Church government, and also the Westminster Confession of Faith, which the Church of Scotland had adopted as its confession in 1649. In that noblest of all the symbolic books of the Reformed Church how clearly and fully is the doctrine of the Church's inherent jurisdiction in all matters spiritual proclaimed. "The Lord Jesus," says the Confession (chap, xxx.), " as King and Head of this Church, hath therein appointed a government in the hands of church-officers distinct from the civil magistrate." And again (chap, xxxiii.),— "The civil magistrate may not assume to himself the administration of the Word and Sacraments, or the power of the Keys of the Kingdom of Heaven." * Life of Melville, i. 403. DISRUPTION WORTHIES. The Disruption. The Powers of the world have ever been jealous of all rights which do not owe their origin to them, and which are not supen'ised and controlled by them. A few years only was the Church of Scotland left in undisturbed possession of the liberty which the Revolution Settlement had recognised as rightfully hers, and which the Union of Scotland and England in 1707, had solemnly sealed, as what was to remain unchallenged and unrevoked in all time to come — a preroga- tive inviolable. This national pledge hindered not, however, that in 1712, the Act of Patronage was passed. The object sought, was by the subtle working of a hostile law, to undermine and destroy what the open violence of the dragoons and scaffolds of a foregoing period had been unable to overthrow. The Act of Patronage gave to the State the power, not indeed of seating men at the communion table, but of putting them into the pulpits of the Church. Whether through the " pulpit " or through the " communion table " mattered not : Patronage held open the door for the State to enter the ecclesiastical courts, and to take into its own hands, in process of time, the whole adminis- tration of ecclesiastical affairs to the destruction of the inherent spiritual jurisdiction of the Church. Divers checks were employed in the hope of preventing, or at least delaying the disastrous effects which it was foreseen would flow from the working of this Act. The call of the congregation was maintained with the view of balancing the power of the Patron. But the latter, backed by the State, and favoured by the indifference that began to weigh upon the Church courts, gradually encroached upon the rights of the people. At last the call of the congregation fell before the nomination of the Patron. From a reality the call became a mere form, and from a form it soon sunk into a nullit)-. The entire independent action of the Church was threatened with paralysis. At that crisis, there arose a party in the ecclesiastical courts, ff/S TO RIC 1 1. SKE TC 7/. led by Sir Ilciiiy MoncrcilT and Dr. Andrew Thomson, and ultimately by the great Chalmers, which sought to roll back the tide of civil invasion which threatened to overwhelm the Church's liberties. This party strove to resuscitate the call, and so give an effective voice to the people in the settlement of their minister. Never did a more brilliant phalanx fight in the battles of the Presbyterian Church. Those who lived through the period and still survive, will recall with emotion, the splendours of that golden age. Genius, learning, eloquence, rushed to save an ancient and venerated jurisdiction, under the shadow of which Scotland had grown to greatness. The battle is not always to the strong. The champions of the imperilled liberties failed to save them in the way they wished, and which it was then thought, was the only way in which they could be saved. One hostile decision followed another, fulminated by the civil courts, each sapping more deeply the independent spiritual jurisdiction of the Church than that which had gone before it. The Veto Law by which the reforming partj- sought to make the call effective, and to restore to congregations their ancient rights in the choice of their pastor was declared to be illegal. This inevitably led to collision with the civil courts along the whole line of the Church's spiritual action. The luminous state- ment of Lord Ardmillan, and the graphic sketch of Hugh Miller, render here unnecessary a detailed narration of the steps that led up to the issue. It soon came to pass that the spiritual sentences of the General Assembly were reviewed and reversed by the civil courts ; and the Church was held bound, under pains and penalties, to discharge certain functions, undeniably spiritual, and clearly falling within her own domain at the bidding of the State. This laid the axe at the root of the independent self-government of the Church. These decisions quietly ignored the Church's Divine institution, and God-given powers, and ranked her no higher than a department of the State for ecclesiastical affairs. They made her the organ simply through which the civil DISRUPTION n-ORTHIES. authority might give effect to its will in matters ecclesiastical and spiritual. The spectacles of other days, believed to have gone by for ever, again reappeared, and ministers were seen standing at a temporal bar to be rebuked and punished, for disobedience to a civil mandate in things spiritual. Clear it was that if this authority could legitimately place them in the criminals' dock, it could quite as legitimately send them to the Grassmarket. The Church sought relief in the Parliament of the nation. That relief was refused her. The State would not undo the j'oke which the law courts had wreathed round her neck ; the Church herself must break it. And now came the Disruption of 1843. Possessions of which the Church could not be stripped. The Disruption carried back the Church of Scotland to her starting ground. The event of the i8th May, 1843, set down the Free Pro- testing Church at the same point where the Reformed Presbyterian Church had stood on the 22nd of August, 1560. Naked and penniless, she escaped at the Reformation out of the immuring walls of the Papacy where she had been held captive four centuries. Naked and penniless she escaped from the new thraldom into which the hostile, and as she deemed them, unconstitutional decisions of the civil courts, confirmed by Parliament, had thrown her. Of all her temporal emoluments, and legal defences, she retained nothing. She was left without churches, without glebes, without manses, without stipends, without school-houses. She was stripped of all. Thus, literalh-, was she brought back to her beginning. " I remember," said I\Ir. David Fergusson, in the Synod of Fife, relating when an old man what had been the experiences of his youth, " I remember when such was the unfortunate state of our affairs, that we were stript of all our temporalities, and there was no such thing as a stipend, or a glebe, or a manse, through the whole of Scotland. And there were just si.x of us who laid our HISTORICAL SKETCH. heads together, and we determined to plant congregations wherever we could." A second time she presents herself before Scotland without the fence of law, or the doiuiy of earthly goods. But there were things of which the Dis-Established Church of Scotland could not be stript. No human power could annul the charter which she held of God, and which was written in the Bible. No decision of court, and no edict of Parliament could filch from her her right to a liberty which a higher than earthly monarch had bestowed upon her. Nor could she ever be robbed of the memory of her past. The halo of that glory would be for ever around her, and its impulse for ever stirring within her. Nor, whatever the degradation, distress, and poverty into which she might be reduced, could she ever cease to be the object of reverence and affection on the part of a people for whose rights and liberties she had so often poured out her blood. These were riches more precious by far than those of which she had been stript. No external power could despoil her of them. And if she must needs go back to her first condition, and plod her weary way over again, she had the satisfaction of thinking, that she had now at her service an array of spiritual forces, which had been silently growing up during the past three hundred years, and which the Disruption, so far from extinguishing, had set free and awakened into tenfold mightier energy. In the exercise of these powers she would soon recover all, and more than all of what had been taken from her. When she looked abroad over Scotland on the i8th of May, 1843, her fathers' land was no longer hers, she had suddenly become a stranger in it. She found herself on the morrow of the Disruption an exile ; but if she had lost Scotland, it was only for a moment, she would again take possession of it, and would hold it by a new and more sacred bond, which no exterior power should be able to break. Strong in faith, she went forth to re-possess the land, and we are rapidly to follow her in the accomplishment of her great task. DISRUPTION WORTHIES. Three months before the Disruption, that is, in the February of 1843, there was sketched a programme of work to be undertaken by the Church after the Disruption, which was now looked upon as certain. That work was arranged under the four following heads: — (i.) The erection of churches. (2.) The providing of a Sustentation for the ministry, together with a Theological College. (3.) The extension of the Gospel at home by the planting of new charges. (4.) The evangelisation of the heathen world by means of foreign missions. This was no light programme on the part of a Church that stood face to face with dis-establishment. In the prosecution of it numerous calls to labour, not specified in this outline, and which could not then be foreseen, would, she well knew, emerge, of a subordinate but not unimportant kind ; for these also she stood prepared. Manifestly her spirit did not quail. At a time when many thought she was about to vanish from the land, she was meditating wider conquests, and girding herself for greater labours. Let us follow her as she fulfils her programme of work, and step by step builds herself up. The Work before the Disestablished Church. The essential and primary duty of a Church is worship, and conse- quently the first care of the now disestablished and disendowed Church of Scotland was to make provision for the orderly and commodious cele- bration of public ordinances. All her sanctuaries had been taken from her. Accordingly the erection of suitable fabrics for her congregations was the first work to which the Free Protesting Church of Scotland must put her unfettered hand. She could worship, it is true, on the mountain, or on the wild, or on the sea-shore ; or, if these places should be inter- dicted to her, she could hold her solemn convocations on the highway. But only during the summer months would this be practicable. As soon as the dripping rains and the keen blasts of winter should set in, it would be impossible without serious risk to health and life to worship HISTORICAL SKETCH. without shelter from the elements. Early in the year of the Disruption provision began to be made in prospect of the emergency. All idea of costly edifices was laid aside. This was left over for wealthier and better times, should such times ever come. Meanwhile, plain but com- modious fabrics, such as were suitable for the Presbyterian worship, would suffice. Their erection was set about with system and vigour. A Provisional Committee was formed by the conjunction of the com- mittees respectively appointed by the Convocation of Ministers which met at Edinburgh in the November of 1842, and the General Meeting of Elders, which had been held in Edinburgh on the ist of February, 1843 ; and on this Provisional Committee was laid the burden of making all necessary preparations for an event which was now seen to be impending. That committee issued its first "Circular" to the friends of the Church on the 17th of February, 1843. It bore, prefixed as its motto, the words of Psalm cxxxii. 3, 4, 5 : " Surely I will not come into the tabernacle of my house, nor go up into my bed ; I will not give sleep to mine eyes, or slumber to mine eyelids, until I find out a place for the Lord, an habita- tion for the mighty God of Jacob." It opened thus : — " In the judgment of all men the period is near when the pleasant and the beautiful house in which our fathers worshipped will be laid waste. In that mournful day we are not to sit sad and inactive amid the ruins of the sanctuary, nor to hang our harp upon the willows when assailed by the mockings of the stranger ; but, in duty to ourselves, in duty to generations yet to come, above all, in duty to Him whose mercy, amidst the judgments sent upon us, is conspicuous, we must arouse ourselves to determined action — not only that we may secure for ourselves the means of worshipping our God according to our consciences, but that a testimony for the pure truth of God may not fail from this land, in which our fathers were strengthened to witness so goodly a confession in the times of old." The undertone of sadness which these words breathe was well fitted to give depth and power to the call to active exertion, which, as with DISR UP TION M'OR THIES. trumpet's peal, the circular sent forth. The men whose words we have quoted saw clearly the approaching overthrow; all beyond was veiled in uncertainty and darkness, but their resolution is seen rising only the higher as the day of discomfiture and trial draws nigh. Accordingly the " Circular "proceeds :— " Let it be assumed that the Church is to be disestablished after the meeting of Assembly in May, that five or six hundred ministers are then to resign their livings and leave their churches, that these, with their congregations, are to be provided with places of worship with the least possible delay, that the two hundred faithful pro- bationers are to be employed as ministers or missionaries among the people who adhere, in different parts of the country, where the ministers do not quit the Establishment, that the means of decent support are to be found for these labourers, and that, too, without neglecting the care of education and the cause of missions, and that all this is to be done in the course of the ensuing summer, so that, if possible, before winter sets in, the Church may be in a comparatively organised state — safe and sheltered, if it please God, at all events from the winds of heaven, even should she be followed in her retreat by the wrath of man, which, however. He, in His mercy, can restrain." They had verily good cause to add — " This, it will be seen, is a good summer's work carved out for our poor Kirk." The Disruption viewed Before and After. We who stand on this side the Disruption and look back upon it from the midst of well-filled exchequers, flourishing schemes, and sump- tuous churches, would do well to place ourselves where our fathers stood, and view the Disruption, and the Church that arose from it, from their stand-point. What they risked was not the loss of their livings. That would have been comparatively a small matter. Their stipends were in their own power, and they could keep them or cast them away, as it seemed good to them. They incurred a responsibility infin- HISTORICAL SKETCH. itely higher than the loss of their emoluments, and nothing but a strong confidence in God could have enabled them to adventure on that respon- sibility. They risked the overthrow of the Church of Scotland, — the \ Church which Knox had founded, which martyr-blood had nourished, and which had ministered the Bread of Life to many successive generations of Scotchmen. It was in this light — the razing even of the Church, the throwing down of what they never would be able to rebuild — that the world beheld the coming Disruption. It was faith only that could sec the Free Church while as yet she was not — while, as j'et, there was not a penny in her exchequer, nor a sanctuary in all the land which she could call her own. The words we have quoted seem sober, read at this day, and the anticipations which they express seem well founded, now that they have been fulfilled. But to the bulk of those who were living when these words were first written and given to the world, they sounded like the effusions of fanaticism, and the hopes which they held out were pro- nounced to be Utopian and chimerical. It is when we carry ourselves back to those days, that we are able to take the measure of the faith ' and courage of the men of the Disruption, and the grace given them of ; God to go forward in the face of a universal scepticism and derision, in j the way of vindicating the honour of the Church's Head, and maintain- I ing the liberties of her members, not doubting that if the ancient and ^ beautiful house in which their fathers had worshipped should be rent ! asunder and cast down, another would arise upon its ruins, fairer, purer, j and statelier than that which had been overthrown. The Building of New Churches. Full of this faith, they began to build. Promptitude, method, and professional skill came to the aid of a devout faith in the execution of this work. A sub-committee was formed for collecting funds and obtaining - subscriptions for the erection of the new edifices. Another sub-committee was formed for obtaining sites, procuring plans and estimates, and taking DISRUPTION WORTHIES. charge of the erection of the fabrics. A third sub-committee was appointed to correspond with local committees and individuals as to the localities in which the new churches should be planted. This triple machinery was soon in busy operation over the whole country. The note of preparation was heard in rural glen as well as in populous city. It was resolved that the new fabrics should be commodious, but severely plain, and reared on a system of rigid economy. Not a penny was to be lavished in useless ornament. And it was also enacted that the city churches should be of the same unpretending style of architecture with the country sanctuaries, for the present at least, that all might share to the extent of their needs in the offerings of the people, and the unseemly spectacle be avoided of the wealthy congregations worshipping in splen- did edifices, while their poorer brethren were insufficiently accommo- dated, or, it might be, compelled to assemble on the open wild. Half-a- million sterling, said the Committee, would not suffice to provide churches for the outcoming congregations, if these were to be ornamental, and, of course, costly. If it were attempted to realise the object on this scale the result would be that the Church would be crushed by the insuperable load she had taken upon herself, whereas, should plainness and economy be studied, a third of that sum would suffice to construct six hundred commodious churches, guaranteed to last for a considerable number of years, and would leave the energies of the Church free for the prosecu- tion of her higher spiritual work. On this principle, plans were prepared and issued, accompanied with drawings, exhibiting the exterior appearance and the internal arrange- ments of the proposed edifices. In form they were quadrangular, the width being about two-thirds of the length. Their capacity varied from 350 sittings to 600 or 1000, and were to cost, in some cases only five shillings a sitting, and in no case more than fifteen shillings. The churches hitherto in use had cost, at an average, £2 a sitting. The seats were to be placed on the ground floor, arranged in a semi-octagonal HISTORICAL SKETCH. form, and sloping upwards from the pulpit, which was placed low to render the speaking without effort. The walls were to be of stone, or of brick, or of timber, according to the peculiar resources of the different districts. The roof, which in some cases consisted of a single span, in others of a series of spans resting on timber pillars placed twelve feet apart, was to be covered with patent felt, or the thinnest Welsh slates. Galleries were rarely introduced. The heating and ventilating processes were carefully attended to. In their acoustic properties and general convenience these new structures excelled the old churches. They were humble, but comfortable withal. "If," said the Committee in their " Fifth Communication," which unfolded the plan of the new sanctuaries with which they were about to cover Scotland, " if, in respect of lowly, con- trite, exercised worshippers entering their unadorned gates to meet with God, they are found really ' heaven's gate ' and ' God's house,' the remembrance of glories which have passed away will be obliterated by the felt presence of a glory that excelleth." It needs no gorgeous cathedral, no fane rich in the glories of architecture, in order that God's message of forgiveness may be preached to sinful men ; it needs that no mystic rite, no blaze of taper, and cloud of incense accompany the celebration of the sacraments, in order that they may impart their efficacy to the worshippers. Else what had become of religion in early times, and in many subsequent periods, when the Church's sky was overcast, and the storm of persecution blew loud and fierce. A boat anchored a little offshore served as a pulpit for Him who spake as never man spake. Peter's first sermon, which resulted in the conversion of four thousand souls, was preached on the street of Jerusalem. The catacombs below the city served as the oratories and chapels of the first Roman Christians. Luther opened his ministry in a tottering wooden shed in the great square of Wittemberg. A fish-stall in the market-place formed the pulpit of the first Protestant preacher in Geneva. The Huguenots worshipped in woods, and our fathers in DISRUPTION WORTHIES. dens and on mountains. The Disruption Assemblies, on the eve of expulsion from their national edifices, had the prospect of being not so badly off as their predecessors. " In the adaptation of the plans proposed to our circumstances and resources," said the Provisional Committee, " and to the wants of this suffering land, we acknowledge the unspeakable goodness of the Lord, who, we trust, will continue to smile upon our unworthy efforts to testify for His injured truth, and to rebuild the ruined walls of His sanctuary." Under the government of the Most High, the world is advancing from age to age to a higher platform. Governments are growing in humanity, and peoples in intelligence and piety. Had the Disruption taken place in the seventeenth century, a horde of dragoons would have been poured in upon Scotland, the leaders in the movement would have been hunted out, shot down or hanged, and the people would have stood by in callous indifference, or in helpless despair. But happening, as it did, in the nineteenth century, the severities employed to crush the movement were confined to legal measures. The faith and enterprise of the pastors were met by the abundant offerings of a willing people. What the devotion of the one surrendered, the piety of the others gave back. Associations were formed all over the land ; local and con- gregational agencies were multiplied ; collectors offered their services ; to each collector was assigned a district containing twenty-five contiguous families ; the rich gave their thousands, the poor their pence, and in some instances their pounds, and soon a Treasury was formed, filled beyond the expectations of the most sanguine, to rear up the tabernacles which had fallen, and to presei-ve to Scotland that evangelical ministry which had been the glory of the land, and which its sons showed they knew how to appreciate. The report of the Building Fund Committee was given in to the General Assembly, which met at Glasgow in October, 1843, the Free Church being then just five months old. From schedules which had HISTORICAL SKETCH. been sent out, and to which returns had been made, the Committee, say, "We cannot calculate the number of churches now building, or speedily to be proceeded with, at fewer than 700. Four hundred and seventy ministers left their churches on the 18th of May; and in the course of five months, we find ourselves in the course of being called upon to form seven hundred congregations, and to erect seven hundred churches." The report goes on to speak of the Fund whence the erection of these seven hundred churches was to be defrayed. The total amount of donations and subscriptions sent in to the general Treasurer of the Fund was £y6,iio, 2s. iid. The total subscriptions for local objects reported to the treasurer of the Financial Committee amounted to £^,t)62, 4$. 6|d. "And," say the Committee, "adding the central Fund, and the subscriptions for local objects together, we have thus the sum of £i66,yo2, ys. 5id. as the amount of the pecuniary contribu- tions to the great building object of our Church." To this is to be added the churches built and presented b\- indi- vidual donors, sites for edifices, and also stones and timber, and other materials wherewith to erect them, the munificent gifts of noblemen, landed proprietors, rich merchants, and wealthy ladies, estimated at a value not less than ;^i 5,000, and swelling the amount contributed towards the accomplishment of this great undertaking to ;£'i8i,702 7s. 5^d. Nor did this sum, great as it was, fully indicate the height to which the liberality of the members of the Church had risen. The Committee had good reason to conclude that, from inaccuracies and omissions, the sums reported to the Committee was less than the sums at that moment available throughout the country for local building purposes by ;f 25,000. " So that if we add this sum," say the Committee, " to the amount already paid, or actually reported to the Committee, we shall have as the grand total, which we may consider available for our great object, the sum of ;^206,702, 7s. 5 id., being not very greatly short of two-third parts of the entire sum of ;^3 50,000 requisite for the DISRUPTION WORTHIES. absolute completion of our vast undertaking." Hardly had the old edifices been lost when they were as good as replaced by others, and these even more commodious. The Church expected, when the stroke of State disestablishment should have fallen, that she would open her eyes on ruins, she opens them instead on the pleasant though unexpected vision of fair tabernacles spread out over the land, with her flocks gathering into them and uplifting the psalm in worship of the God of their fathers. Let no Church, in any country or in any age, after this, hesitate to follow where the voice of conscience calls. Much less let no one imagine that by obeying the Word of God we can by any possibility be exposing to ruin the Church of God. It was not expected that the Building Fund would maintain the same continuous flow as other funds of the Church. It was an emergency which had called it forth, and its tendency was to extinguish itself by extinguishing the object which had made it necessary. But the exten- sion of the Church demanded year by year the erection of additional fabrics, and year by year the Building Fund, with continuous increase, furnished the means for the construction of the needed edifices. We do not go into minute details, because we aim at compiling not a statistical account, but an historical sketch. The average of the annual amount of the Building Fund since the Disruption has been, in round numbers, £6\fXX>. Additional burdens came immediately to be laid on this Fund, for it is not necessary to say that not only did congregations require churches in which to worship, but ministers needed houses in which to live, and the youth schools in which to be taught. The first and most pressing necessity, which was churches, being so far met, manses and ele- mentary schools were next thought of The amount raised for all build- ing purposes in the year succeeding that of the Disruption was ;£'i3 1,731. This year, for obvious reasons, was an exceptional one. In the following year the building pressure was less, and the Fund diminished in propor- tion. Its amount was ;^89,840. From this time the Fund gradually dimin- HISTORICAL SKETCH. ished as the claims upon it grew fewer, till in 1S50 it stands at £77,2,17. Ten years onward, i860, it shows a total of £<\2,t,7i. From this point it begins to advance. In other ten years it has increased its annual aver- age by ;^20,ooo, showing a total in 1869 of ^£'62,3 19. By this time the Free Church had built 920 churches, 719 manses, 597 schools. The total amount raised and expended on these numerous fabrics was, in round numbers, ;£' 1,667,000.* Advancing another decade, we find the " Local Building Fund," in 1879, amounting to £67,072. The number of churches built may now be reckoned roundly at 1000. Steadily, this great Fund, ever since the Disruption, is seen to keep pace with the necessities of the Church, and to display an elasticity which enables it to contract or expand according to the demands upon it And now we see its place taken, to some extent, and its work crowned, by the " Church Extension Fund," with its munificent realization, the effort of one or two years, of One Hundred Thousand Pounds. The significance of these sums lies in their being the indices of a spiritual Power, which, mightier than the edicts of kings, can fill to overflow the Church's treasury with the free-will offerings of her people. CHAPTER II. 3[ j^eijj ((Fxctcqucr for a 0cb) i^attonal Cljurrfj. HERE is there a land on earth better known than America? ,^ Letters and intelligence from it are seen on our tables every day. Ships by the hundred are setting out or returning from it every week. We cannot even conceive of our globe without this great fourth con- * The authorities on which these statements are made are the " Communications," issued before and after the Disruption, the "Records" of the Free Church, and Dr Buchanan's " Finance of the Free Church." DISR L P TION 1 1 -OR THIES. tinent ; and were it by any possibility to be dropped out of the terraqueous sphere, what a void would be thereby occasioned ! Com- merce would be paralysed, politics would be less healthy and free, and the shadow would go back on the dial of Christianity itself. And yet not a very long while ago there was no America. That country, now so powerful a factor in the world's affairs, was then unknown. Till Columbus, by dint of long, wearisome, and venturous search, found it out no one knew the road to it, or even dreamed of what mighty sources of power, wealth, and enjoyment lay hid in the unexplored darkness of the far West. The " Sustentation Fund " is a household word. It is so, not in Scotland only, but in almost every land where Christianity is known, or Christian churches have been planted. Nothing appears to us more natural and equitable, than that the men, whether few or many, who discharge the common ministry of a church should be supported out of the common offerings of its members. And yet, till Thomas Chalmers announced the idea of a common Sustentation Fund, no one had thought of the plan, or ventured to act upon it. A method which works with such simplicity, which so apportions its burden as to make it oppres- sive to no one, and lightens it to all, which gathers its store from week to week with regularity and certainty, and distributes it so equitably and impartially, which carries its aid to the obscurest pastor in the remotest part of the country, as well as to the most distinguished metropolitan minister, which expands with the expansion of the Church — this method, we say, of sustaining the ministry was no more believed in, than were the boundless and munificent capabilities of the world that lay concealed in the western ocean prior to the discovei-y of Columbus. There had been, it is true, approximations in former times, to this method of supporting the ministry. But neither in conception nor in practice had the plan of the Sustentation Fund been really hit upon. HISTORICAL SKETCH. Its special characteristic, and that which gives it its peculiar power, was lacking in these earlier methods. In primitive times the ministers of the Gospel were supported by the voluntary oblations of the people. These offerings were made in some cases weekly, in others monthly, and the two together would seem to have furnished sufficient maintenance for the Church's pastors ; but a time came when the Church began to be enriched with lands and houses. The gifts of the few were poured in with a too plentiful prodigality, and the oblations of the many began to be withheld, their donors deeming them no longer necessary. Thus what was designed to suppleiiietit came eventually to supplant the Church's ordinary revenue, and, to the great body of the pastors, abund- ance was succeeded by comparative indigence. So does Bingham, gleaning his information from the early fathers, represent the matter. At a period long subsequent, the ancient method of supporting the ministry was again brought into use. The pastors of the first Secessions from the Scottish Establishment in the eighteenth century, were sup- ported each by the congregation to which he ministered. But different were the position and aims of the Free Church, and this necessitated in her case a different scheme of finance. The Secession began with some six ministers, the Free Church started into being with six hundred. But the main difference between the two does not lie here. The Secession neither professed to be national, nor contemplated being permanent. The Free Church claimed to be both. The special object of the Secession was to testify against the corrupt and tyrannical administration of the prevailing party in the Courts of the Establishment. It fulfilled this end, if it was able to plant its congregations in those places of the country where there was wealth enough to sustain them. It was not necessary that it should take possession of the whole land, or that it should displace the National Church. It disavowed any object of this sort. The Secession thought only of reforming the administration of the Establishment, especially DISRUPTION WORTHIES. as respected the enforcement of the law of patronage, and, this end accompHshed, to resume communion with tlie National Church. It had no quarrel with the constitution of the Established Church — no quarrel with its doctrine, government, and worship. These it venerated and clung to. Its quarrel was with the prevailing party in the Church Courts. From this party, and this party alone the Secession held that it had separated. Doubtless in process of time it came to modify these views, and to contemplate both a more permanent existence, and a wider sphere of operations : but these were the views with which the Secession started. And it is easy to see that a congregational scheme of finance might suit a Church whose position and aims were what we have described. But in the case of the Free Church of Scotland let us mark the difference. It was not a body of ministers, less or more, protesting against a dominant party in the Church, and separating from that party, or even from the Church ; it was the Church herself protesting against and dissolving her connection with the State. All through these contendings, from the initial step in 1833, to the final act of constituting her General Assembly in Tanfield Hall, on the i8th of May, 1843, she acted in her character as tlic Church, the Reformed Pres- byterian Church of Scotland. She complained that the State had broken Treaty engagements, and altered the conditions on which she was established, and that the homage which she owed to her Head, and the care she was bound to exercise over the liberties of her members, forbade that she should longer retain her State connection. But she was still the same Church. Though she had suffered wrong, that was no reason why she should denude herself of her rightful character. She dared not do so. The memories of the past and the duties of the present alike forbade it. But if she claimed to be the Reformed National Church of Scotland — the Church which Knox had led out of the Papacy ; the Church whose HISTORICAL SKETCH. Moderator's chair Melville and Henderson had filled ; the Church which had sent so many martyrs to die in the Grassmarket ; the Church which had been set up again on the old foundations at the Revolution, — if she claimed to be this Reformed National Church, she must sustain that claim suitably and worthily ; that is, she must in very deed and fact be national. She must spread herself out and fill the whole land. It were not enough that she should plant her churches in the wealthy localities and keep herself visible by a few representative fabrics scattered over the country. She must build her churches eveiywhere, even in districts where she could not hope to receive so much as a single pound or a single penny for their support. She must supply the ordinances of grace to the whole population, to the men of the Highlands and Islands as well as to those of the Lowlands. But with her pecuniary resources suddenly and completely cut off, with not a shilling to be now got from the National Exchequer, where was she to find the means of ] discharging these vast obligations and enlarging herself to these truly national dimensions ? It was now that Chalmers, filled with that wisdom that cometh from above, showed the Church, as she stood in presence of these tremendous responsibilities, where she might open a richer treasury than that which had just been closed against her. It was in November, 1842, at a general meeting of ministers in Edinburgh, termed the Convocation, that Dr Chalmers first made kncwn his plan of a Sustentation Fund. "The arithmetic," he said, "on which I found the confidence I feel, that is, of creating a new National Exchequer on which to base a new National Church is soon told. It is not because I count on a multitude of great things. These may be either more frequent, or more numerous than I shall attempt to specify. But I do count on a multitude of little things. It is not on the strength of large sums that I proceed, it is on the strength and accumulation of littles. It is on the assiduities of habit and DISRUPTION WORTHIES. principle, sucli as a verj- common and every day exertion in our land might secure if begun, and such as the general influence of custom alone might suffice to perpetuate. Such is the character — the plain unimaginative character — of the premises with which I am dealing ; and the conclusion I draw from them, what I call my minimum result ; " and we may imagine how the assembled ministers would here hold their breath, to catch what was the "minimum result" which the speaker anticipated from this as yet untried, and, as it seemed to them, not verj* hopeful experiment. They expected doubtless to hear the Doctor name thirty thousand, or it might be forty thousand a year. " The very least to which I aspire," Dr Chalmers went on to say, " is a hundred thousand pounds in the year ! " It was a new Utopia which was being disclosed to their gaze. So did some, perhaps most of the men who were now listening to this address believe. As the crew of Columbus heard with incredulous ears the assurances which he gave them, and which he reiterated from day to day, that in the far-off depths of the ocean on which they were voyaging there lay hid magnificent lands, whose virgin fields teemed with all kinds of riches, and that they had only to hold on in their present track, in order to reach this goodly inheritance, so too, we can ima- gine, did the members of the Convocation listen to Chalmers as he painted, with an eloquence which he alone could wield, the resources of this new El Dorado, this as yet uncreated Sustentation Fund. They did not doubt or hesitate a moment as regarded their own dutj^, but they doubted the practicability and success of the financial scheme on which they were invited to rest the support of the ministrj'. It might realise the expectations of its founder, in part at least, in the period of enthusiasm, but in years to come, when the fire had burned out, and all things had returned to their ordinary course, would not this Fund drj' up and disappear ? This was the fear that possessed them. The doctor went on to expound the ground on which he based his HISTORICAL SKETCH. expectation. This was, in brief, the Gospel, — the enduring Divine power of the Gospel. Enthusiasm was transient, the moral forces by which he hoped to create this Fund were eternal. It was not on the transient, but on the eternal that he leaned. He passed next to speak of the dispensa- tion of the Fund. " All the means raised throughout all the localities," he said, " should be remitted to a large central Fund, whence a distribution of it should be made of the requisite sums or salaries for the ministers of all our parishes. . . . The ministers of the most opulent parishes, whence the largest contributions will be made to the General Fund, agree to share and share alike with the ministers of the poorest parishes in Scotland." But with this equal division, beautiful as it was in itself, the ministers of the Church might yet, owing to the greater cost of living in cities than in rural parishes, fare unequally. To remedy this inequality, Chalmers proposed that congregations should be at liberty, over and above their quarterly contribution to the general treasurj-, to make a supplementary effort for the purpose of increasing the stipend of its own minister. And lastly, and to complete his scheme, he proposed, as an essential feature of it, that provision should be made for not only maintaining the existing ministr>', but for increasing its numbers as occasion might require. Such was the earliest sketch in outline of the future financial system of the Free Church of Scotland. The machinery for carrjMng out this plan was speedily constructed and set a-working. The first tentative efforts were most encouraging. We find Dr Chalmers stating to a public meeting in Glasgow, in the March following, that in his own particular parish, in the immediate neighbourhood of Edinburgh, consisting of about 1600 people, an experi- ment had been made. Operations had been begun amid a perfect storm of opposition from the higher classes, but the collectors persevered, " and we are now receiving," said the doctor, "at the rate of £6, i6s. a- week from 1600 individuals, which amounts to £lS^ a-year; and if that proportion were carried over the whole of Scotland it would yield half- DISRUPTION WORTHIES. a-million a-year, and pay the whole expense of the present estabhshment twice over. Is it to be endured that the upper classes shall tell us that they support the Church? They don't. The only relation in which they exist to the Church is, that two hundred years ago they robbed it ; and now they offer to enslave it. But say that they give us the ;^250,ooo a-year — say that they do it — when we go forth among the people, and raise half-a-million a-year, is it to be endured that, on the plea of their endowment, we shall surrender the liberties that belong to a free Christian Church ? . . . Princes and parliaments may now look hardly on the Church of Scotland. But our consciences are at rest ; and the confidence of all is strong and high that our God has not forsaken her — and at this moment He is sending us the visible tokens of His favour. We are like to be over-borne by a heartless Government and a hostile aristocracy. But at a time when we have been deserted by a 'i-ear was 583, and of these 470 received a full equal dividend. The sum raised in the first year of the Free Church for the support of the ministry was £62,^6?i ; and for all objects, including the building of churches, missions, Highlands, School-Master's Fund, ^366,719. " Turning round to the population of the country," said Dr Chalmers in the Glasgow Assembly, " after it had cost us years of unavailing negotia- tion with the Government, in a few months the population came back with the magnificent response of ^300,000. In the second year of the Free Church (1844-45) the sum cast into the treasury of the Sustentation Fund was £y6,200; the number of ministers receiving a full equal dividend was 557 ; and the sum allotted to each was ;^I22. The amount raised this year for all objects was ^334.483- In the seventh year of the Free Church (1850) the Susten- tation Fund had risen to £ig,6^Z ; the number of ministers on the equal dividend to 647 ; and the stipend to each to £123. By this time churches had been erected in nearly all the localities where they were needed; as a consequence, the Building Fund, the largest of all the Funds in the Disruption year, had fallen to ;£'SS,7S3 ; but this was balanced by an increase in the other Funds of the Church, which amounted in the aggregate to the munificent sum of upwards of three hundred thousand pounds. The number of her ordained ministers had risen to 706. She had besides a body of some 200 probationers, or licensed preachers, who were constantly employed in her service, under whose ministrations stations were being nursed into congregations, and thus was going on a steady extension of the Church's boundaries, and a gradual increase in the numbers of her pastors. Other ten years pass on. We measure the progress of the Free Ui HISTORICAL SKETCH. Church during this decade, by marking the point at which tiic Fund stands in i860, the seventeenth year of her existence. Her ministers are now 846. The full equal dividend is ^^135 ; and the income of the Sustentation Fund is ;^ 109,259. Thus does the Fund pursue its prosperous course. Every year the Church's treasury is more amply replenished ; and eveiy }-car a more liberal allowance is dispensed from it to its ministers. In 1869 it has risen to ^132,125, i6s. 7d., and the equal dividend to ;^I50. In 1879 it reaches ;^ 175,990, os. 5d., and the dividend ;£■ 160. The number of ministers participating in the Fund this year is 1094. The above dividend is exclusive of the congrega- tional supplement, which adds considerably to the ministerial income. The average congregational supplement in 1879 was £^6. Taking these two together, the Free Church distributed as stipend last year no less a sum than two hundred and twenty-five thousand pounds, which gives an average of two hundred and twenty pounds to each charge. Enjoying, as the Fund now does, the benefit of the financial and administrative talents of the Rev. Dr Wilson, a still further increase may be looked for in years to come. Meanwhile, we are warranted in saying that the idea of Chalmers has been realised. A new national exchequer has been provided for a new national Church. CHAPTER III. lUstoratton of iBanscs. EANSES for her outgoing pastors was one of the first and most urgent of the many necessities which pressed upon the attention of the Free Church. How many memories, tender and thrilling, how many hallowed associations cluster round a manse ! It is no common home. The joys that brighten it, and the sorrows that at times darken liii DISRUPTION WORTHIES. it, are both of them of a kind, to sanctify and endear the spot beyond the measure of ordinary dwellings. It was in leaving the manse that the Disruption culminated : for not till that hour had come and the manse had to be left, could all that the sacrifice involved be fully realised. When the pastor had seen his family go forth, and he only remained behind to extinguish the fire on the hearth, and to follow those who had preceded him over that threshold which they were to cross no more, he might truly say that now the bitterness of the Disruption was past. Dr Chalmers had, by anticipation, painted the "manse leaving" with graphic power, the event, in itself sufficiently painful, being made still more so by its taking place at a season of the year when Nature was attiring herself in the fresh robes of her summer glory. The pathos of his words lingered in the memories and in the hearts of his hearers, and gave birth to the first efforts to replace with new abodes the sweet and hallowed homes which had been left. And then to second this appeal there came the hardships to which not a few of the outgoing ministers were subjected, in consequence of the difficulty of finding accommodation for themselves and their families. Not a house, not even a room could some of them obtain in their old parishes to live in : they were compelled to remove to a distance of many miles, some twenty, some more, from their flocks. In some instances they had to take up their abode in hovels, where the walls streamed with damp, and the roof was so chinky, that as they lay in bed they could see the stars as they looked down upon them from out the winter's sky. Where the victims of these oppressions did not wholly succumb, they came out of them with health vitally injured. Plain it was that the erection of manses was a matter which the Church must not delay or postpone beyond the very earliest moment when the pres- sure of other things should leave her at liberty to give herself to this new labour. We find no contributions for manse building in the first year of the HISTORICAL SKETCH. existence of the Free Church.* In the second year the sum raised for this object was the wholly inadequate one of £\^6o. While this is all that appears in the public accounts, it could hardly be but that local efforts were being made, and local contributions raised for an object the necessity of which was so urgent and so obvious. To the cause of manse building, Dr Guthrie communicated a mighty impulse, as he did to every object to which he lent the advocac)- of his marvellous eloquence. A whole year did he devote to this herculean but philanthropic labour. He travelled over almost all Scotland in prosecution of his self-imposed task, and Dr Guthrie's voice, we may say, it was that called into existence the early manses of the Free Church of Scotland. He began his tour at the close of one Assembly, and when he appeared in the next, he was able to report as the result of his year's efforts, a subscribed sum of ;^i 16,370. In 1847 the contributions to the Manse Building Fund amounted to ;£'28,959. In 1848 the contributions were £1^,216. In 1849 they were ;^i 3,198. They continue at about the same amount during the years that follow, and by the end of the first decade of the Free Church, the sum total realised for the building of manses, is ;£"98,ooo. The number of manses may now (1880) be fairlj- set down at 750. The average cost of each being calculated at /"icxxi, we have a total expenditure on the manses of the Free Church of ;^700,000. To the Church that believes, all things are possible. The same generation that witnessed the desolations of the Disruption — that saw churches and manses swept away — saw them all brought back again ! When one looked abroad over Scotland and saw the flocks of the Presbyterian Kirk, after their old estate, gathering. Sabbath by Sabbath, into their sanctuaries, and the pastor and his family again in the manse, one might well ask in wonder. Has there been a Disruption, or have men been only dreaming of it? Had not the churches and manses of * Vidimus or Progress of Schemes— Record for 1854-55. DISRUPTION WORTHIES. Scotland been cast down, and lo! do we not see them all raised up again ! The restoration was marvellous in its suddenness. Nor were the new manses, in the majority of cases, a whit behind the old ones in comfort and elegance. They were the abodes of Christian refinement, and literary culture, not to speak of the higher graces of piety. And while these virtues made them attractive within, their exterior embellish- ments were such as did honour to the taste that presided over their arrangement. Goodly trees, the planting mayhap of the ministers' own hand, rose to give them shade. A bit of lawn brightened their front. The rose and other flowers festooned their door, or bloomed in their par- terres ; while the fruits indigenous to the Scottish soil ripened in their garden. There they were, the monuments of the liberality of a people loyal to the Church's Head, with Disruption memories clustering thick about them, and imparting to them a more sacred prestige than that which had belonged to the fabrics which had been given up for conscience' sake. CHAPTER IV. Vc^t iFounlitng of EJjfoIogtral Sfalls. fHE Disruption left the Free Church in possession of a goodly band of pious and learned ministers, but time would thin — would annihilate this noble arm)-, and means must be taken to perpetuate the race. This could be looked for only through the erection of a Divinity Hall. The work of educating students for the ministry could not be suspended for even a single session. Accordingly, at the meeting of the first Assembly of the Free Church, steps were taken for the erection of a Theological College. It was resolved that meanwhile there should be only one such institution, and that its teaching staff should consist of three Professors ; namely, a Principal HISTORICAL SKETCH. and Primarius Professor of Divinity, a Professor of Divinity and Cliurch Historj-, and a Professor of Divinity and Hebrew. In years to come, it might be desirable to add to the professorial staff, and to enlarge the curriculum of stud)-. The attention of the Assembly was earnestly turned to the founding and endowment of chairs, and the creation of what was almost as necessary, a well-furnished library. No one who was present will ever forget the inimitable and characteristic persuasiveness with which Dr Welsh pleaded for both objects, and especially the latter. Not a penny of endowment had yet been got. No matter, the chairs were instituted. In the first was placed Chalmers; a name alone enough to give European fame to any institute in which he might teach. To Dr Welsh was assigned the chair of Church History. He filled it for but one session, when he was removed by death. He lived to lead out as moderator of the Church of Scotland, the Disruption host, and to see laid the foundations of the "Second House," and departed. The chair of Hebrew was offered to Dr Duncan, a man who, as Dr Guthrie quaintly observed, " could speak his way to the wall of China," and whom the Jews, never too ready to award the palm to Gentile eminence in Hebrew lore, signalised by bestowing upon him the ancient and venerated title of " Rabbi." The general voice of the Church indicated Dr Cunningham, who, to his powers as a debater, added a profound acquaintance with Theolog>', historic and dogmatic, to a fourth chair. His services not being needed till the session 1844-45, it was resolved that, meanwhile, he should proceed to America and observe the methods of theological instruction pursued in the seminaries of the New World. The conven- ience of students in the North of Scotland was consulted by the appoint- ment of Dr Black, a man of vast erudition, and gifted with a singular mastery over languages, to act as Professor in Aberdeen. The Principalship in the New College, first held by Chalmers, has since been filled by a succession of distinguished men — Cunningham, DJSRUPTJON WORTH J ES. Candlish, and now Dr Rain)-. The humble tenement in George Street, in which its first sessions were held, has been exchanged for the stately building at the head of the Mound ; and the k\v scores, or mayhap hun- dreds, of books which the appeal of Dr Welsh drew forth have grown to a magnificent librarj' of 35,000 volumes. These include not a few rare, curious, and valuable works in many languages, and in most depart- ments of literature — especially works on Patristic and Reformation theology — the gifts of learned men in other countries, or of friends at home, who have willingly parted with their treasures to enrich the spacious halls of the Nev/ College Library, and give its students access to what otherwise would have been bej'ond their reach. As regards funds, the founders of the New College v/ere chaiy of thrusting its claims in among a multitude of rival, at least contempor- aneous, objects. But the institution pleaded for itself A school for the training of pastors all could see was a first necessity, and a liberality which was descending like a copious shower on all around it did not leave unwatered the seminary over which Chalmers presided. The building fund was opened by one contributor giving £2000. Other twenty-one contributors followed, giving each ;!f 1000. The foundation- stone was laid by Dr Chalmers in presence of a vast concourse on 3rd June 1846, and opened for the reception of Professors and students on 6th November 1850. The net cost of the building was ^37.856, 8s. lOd. The institution of classes in Natural Science, Evan- gelistic Theology, and other branches, has since increased the chairs to seven. The main source of the support of the College is an annual collection, but its permanent endowment is contemplated, and a sum of over ;£'50,ooo has been collected towards this object. The College possesses, moreover, a goodly array of scholarships, fellowships, and bursaries. Theological Halls have since been planted at the two university cities of Glasgow and Aberdeen. The Theological Hall at Glasgow HISTORICAL SKETCH. was instituted in 1856. It owes its foundation to the magnificent gift of £20,000 from Dr Clark of Wester Moffat, supplemented by an equal sum from liberal donors in Glasgow. It has a faculty of four Professors, with scholarships, fellowships, and bursaries. The Free Church Hall at Aberdeen was opened in 1845 with two Professorial chairs, which have since been increased to four. It is supported by funds which have been contributed at various times by friends of the College. It is presided over by Dr David Brown, a man whose praise as a theologian is in all the churches. CHAPTER V. ^Tfjc i^cfaj Schools. ^ NOX struck the key-note on the all-important question of an ^ efficient educational provision for his native land. He proposed "that there should be a school to eveiy church, a grammar school in all our towns, and a university in three of our chief cities." The con- ception of the great Scotchman has stood three hundred years before the country. It has not to this hour been fully realised. It does not follow that the proposal has been in vain : on the contrary, it has done good service to the cause of education in Scotland. It has kept constantly before the minds of Scotchmen the goal they were bound to aim at. And while it has been a reproof to them in so far as they came short of it, it has continually stimulated their efforts to reach it, and kept alive the hope that what Knox had the patriotism to propose, his countrymen would one day have the wisdom to realise. In the thick of its battle against Napoleon for its independence, Prussia continued to prosecute vigorously that educational plan which has since made it so distinguished intellectually. Our reformers, in tlic DISRUPTION WORTHIES. very turmoil of a j-et greater battle, that with Rome even, did not cease to plan and labour in the cause of the "godly upbringing of the young." Nor was the Free Church of Scotland, amid the manifold and almost overwhelming labours which the Disruption imposed upon her, unmind- ful of this matter. She aimed at restoring the School as well as the Church, — not only so, she sought to establish in Scotland a more extensive and complete educational machinery than the parochial system, which the Disruption had left shattered and maimed. She asked, Is it not possible, now at last, by a combined effort, to reach the goal of Knox ? In the first General Assembly little could be done beyond intimating, as was done by Dr Welsh, the convener of the Education Committee, what the Church had in eye and hoped to accomplish in the future. In the second Assembly at Glasgow, the progress achieved in this matter during the summer was reported. It was announced that no fewer than 360 teachers had cast in their lot \\'ith the Free Church. The avowal of their principles in almost every case had involved the forfeiture of their office. These 360 teachers represented a body of 20,000 youths who now looked to the Free Church for instruction. The sum at the disposal of the Education Committee was ^2600, which enabled the Committee to divide about ;£'20 to each of the ejected schoolmasters. This sum was utterly inadequate as a salary for educated men, but the other claims on the Church were enormous, and the countrj' was only awakening as yet to the supreme importance of the thorough training of the young. Amid the loss of the parish schools, the Free Church had some reason to congratulate herself at having come into possession of a Normal Seminary, greatly superior in its capabilities for the training of teachers to that which had been taken from her. And further, what the Church had lost was only the bare fabric; the teachers had come over to her in a body, the scholars had followed their teachers, and now the pupils had increased a third beyond the attendance of former years. HISTORICAL SKETCH. The work of building schools and providing salaries for schoolmasters might have made but slow progress, pressed as the Church then was on cverj^ side, but for the devotion of the Rev. Mr Macdonald of Blairgowrie, now the Rev. Dr Macdonald of North Leith. Dr Macdonald devised a plan for raising ;^50,ooo to aid in the erection of 500 schools. The chief feature of the plan was a graduated scale of subscription, ranging from a shilling to a penny for each of the 500 schools, and a correspondingly graduated number of subscribers, beginning with 500 persons who, it was assumed, would be willing to give the highest sum, and ending with 6000 who would be ready to give the lowest. Dr Macdonald visited England as well as Scotland in the prosecution of his mission, and so zealously and ably did he conduct it, and so liberal was the response to his appeals, that in a short time he had successfully accomplished his task, and had placed the school-building scheme of the Free Church beyond risk of failure. From this time the work went prosperously onward. Let us glance at the schools and school system as seen in the twelfth year (1855) of the Free Church. We find Dr Candlish reporting to the Assembly on the state of the schools of the Free Church in that jear as follows : — " We have of con- gregational schools reported this year, 439 ; we have of district or side- schools reported, 142 ; and of missionary schools — that is, schools in destitute districts where an aggressive movement is made on the terri- torial plan, 17; then the number of our grammar or superior schools is 5 ; besides the two Normal Schools, — ^in all, 605 schools. In connection with these, we have industrial schools reported to the number of about 30 this year. We have not, however, been able to get a return of all schools fairly doing Free Church work. In these schools we have 642 teachers receiving salaries or gratuities, more or less, from the scheme. In connection with your Normal Schools, 2 rectors, and 13 male and 7 female teachers, — the whole teachers make 642. There are 56,840 scholars attending our salaried day-schools ; and, taking into account DISRUPTION WORTHIES. the Normal Schools, and a proportional estimate for schools not included in these returns, we have 75,904— in round numbers, say 76,000. . . . With regard to the state of the funds, I may mention that the total sum contributed for last year was £12,672; total available this year, ;^i 3,460. The increase is to be attributed to the large amount we have been able to obtain from the Government in connection with our Normal Schools, and this amount from Government is given in proportion to our merits, that is to say, to our work and the result of our work." Dr Candlish went on to explain that over and above the income of the Education Committee, which was £10,000 a-year, were to be added sums given directly by congregations and deacons' court to the amount of about £4000, which, together with Government allowances and grants, made the sum which the Free Church was instrumental in drawing out for education, irrespective of school fees, not far short of £20,000 a-year. In the following years the educational scheme continued to flourish, without greatly exceeding the bounds it had reached in 1855. In this scheme the Free Church did good service to the State. The parochial schools of Scotland were lapsing into stagnancj', and the education of the country was retrograding. The Free Church brought new life to the cause by improving the methods of teaching, and elevating its quality by more thoroughly pervading it with Christian principles. She acted, in short, as the pioneer of a national system, and her example furnished the model of what that system ought to be, both in its basis and spirit. At length, in 1872, came the Act of Parliament severing the connec- tion between the Established Church and the parochial schools of Scot- land, and providing for the election in every parish and burgh of a School Board. In these Boards the management of all public schools is vested. The Free Church enrolled nearly all her schools in the list of national ones by transferring them to the Board as the Act permitted her to do. It was no mean gift to the country. Her teachers were highly qualified, her methods of instruction were superior to those HISTORICAL SKETCH. hitherto in use, and the transference of an educational machinery, reared and perfected with so much care and skill, imported into the national s)-stem an element of health and vigour, which, so far as we can see, would otherwise have been lacking to it. The two Normal Schools or Training Colleges, to the support of which the Education Fund of the Free Church is now mainly applied, arc among the most efficient semin- aries of their class in the kingdom. We can bestow only a glance on another most important branch of tuition. The Sabbath-school system of the Free Church, under the devoted and able superintendence of Mr William Dickson, has developed into marvellous proportions. The number of schools is over three thou- sand. The total of teachers is over seventeen thousand. And the total of scholars rises to over one hundred and eighty-nine thousand. The annual gatherings from them on behalf of missions are oxtr four thousand pounds. It is not easj- estimating the value of a machinerj- like this, or the many it may send forth, by the Spirit's blessing, to adorn society and serve the Church. The Protestant Institute forms part of the educational provision of the Free Church. The idea was first mooted by Dr Welsh in the Assembly of 1843. In his report on the College, he recommended the institution of " Lectureships, " specially mentioning the subject of Popery. The Papal Aggression of 1850 led to a more definite shape being given to the project. Its execution was devolved on the Assembly's Committee on Poperj', of which Dr Tweedie was then convener. In the General Assembly of 1851, and in following Assemblies, we find Dr Candlish referring to the contemplated Institute, and recommending a collection over the Church on its behalf When Dr Begg became convener of the Assembly's Committee on Popery, the matter was vigorously taken up. To his shrewd business habits and true Scottish interest in the question was mainly owing the successful accomplishment of the Church's object. In i860, the Tercentenary of the Reformation, DISRUPTION WORTHIES. the foundation-stone of the Lecture Hall was laid. In the same year, by appointment of the Assembly, a collection was made over the Free Church in behalf of the Institute. This was supplemented by liberal donations and subscriptions from members of all the Protestant Churches in Scotland. An endowment having thus been secured, the Free Presbytery of Edinburgh, at its meeting on the 30th October 1861, appointed a minister of the Free Church to the Lectureship in the Institute, on the same tenure of office with the other ministers of the Church : and on the Sth November following, he was publicly inducted into his office by the Presbytery. The classes, which meet in Edinburgh and Glasgow, and open and close with the Theological Halls, have been in full operation ever since. They are attended by students of all Protestant denominations, to the number, winter by winter, of about eighty. The buildings which form the endowment of the Institute, are the property of the Free Church of Scotland, and include the Magdalene Chapel, one of the most ancient and interesting of the ecclesiastical edifices in Scotland, being that in which John Craig preached, and in which the first General Assembly and some subsequent Assemblies of the Reformed Church of Scotland were held. CHAPTER VI. V^z JiTC Cljurci) in \\t 5?tcj!)Iantis. tHE Highlands ranged themselves en masse, we may say, beneath ^^ the banner of the Free Protesting Church of Scotland. So uni- versal and cordial an adhesion to the principle of the spiritual independ- ence brought strength to the cause, but, at the same time, it greatly enhanced the responsibilities and labours of the Church. How were the Highlands to be supplied with the ordinances of the Gospel ? HISTORICAL SKETCH. The Highlands comprehend about a half of the superficial area of Scotland. But their extent is not the only nor the main difficult)' con- nected with their ecclesiastical arrangement and spiritual supervision. Their physical character interposes even greater obstacles. Here they are traversed by chains of lofty mountains ; there they are intersected by stormy friths ; and, as a consequence, many districts are of difficult access. The population generally is poor, and, save in certain localities, thinly scattered. And then there comes in some places the difference of tongue — the knowledge of no speech save Gaelic — which, to the Lowland preacher, forms barrier more impassable than either mountain or frith, or expanse of desolate moor. But if the field is of more than ordinary difficulty, it is of more than ordinary' interest. Nowhere are the principles of the Free Church better understood, and nowhere have they been more steadfastly maintained. All along, from the Disruption day, the Highlanders have preserved unshaken their loyalty to the Free Church, which they venerate as the Church of their fathers. This devotion on their part has much facilitated the labours of the Committee having charge of them. The Disruption changed on the instant the whole ecclesiastical aspect of the Highlands. It was as if a magician had waved his wand over them, and lo ! where a moment before was seen a flourishing scene of churches and congregations, there was now nothing to be beheld but desolations. There were pastors without flocks, and flocks without pastors. There were churches without congregations, and congregations without churches. There were communion tables without communicants, and even if communicants there had been, there were no elders to carry round the sacred symbols to them. So entire was the change produced in the Highlands by this great ecclesiastical earthquake. It was stated by Dr Mackay of Dunoon, in the General Assembly of October 1843, that "the Sacrament of the Lord's Supper has not been administered in that county (Suthcrlandshire) by the Establishment in any one parish since DISRUPTION WORTHIES. the Disruption took place." The Doctor added, "I am credibly informed, on authority, that in the county of Sutherland, consisting of seventeen parishes, and with a population of 24,666 souls, there are not fifty com- municants in the Established Church." The Highlanders, in ranks unbroken, had passed over to the Free Church. This was the case in particular in the three northern counties of Ross, Sutherland, and Caith- ness. Three hundred years before the Earls of Sutherland had stood at the head of the Reformation movement in Scotland, and ever since the principles of the Reformed Church had remained rooted in the affection of the people. Hence the marvellous unanimity with which they declared in favour of the Free Protesting Church of Scotland. The feeling that rallied them to her banner was no newly implanted one, no sentiment begotten of the hour. Their enthusiasm was an old fire not }-et burned out, which the stirring and solemn events of the Disruption era had kindled into a fresh flame. But the fidelity of the Highlanders was severely tried. The people were on one side ; the great owners of the soil on the other. The latter entirely misconceived the tendency of the Disruption ; they thought it was precipitating the country upon revolution, and they resolved that the Free Church should not, if they could prevent it, build a single manse, nor rear a single sanctuary in the domain over ^\'hich they bore sway. The ministers who had come out were warned off their former parishes ; no friend dare give them a night's lodging but at the risk of incurring the frown, or heavier infliction, it might be, of his landlord. Banished to a distance, in some instances of sixty or eighty miles from their flocks, the pastors were unable to visit them, or minister to them consolation or advice save at long and uncertain intervals. The people who had lost their old churches were denied sites on which to erect new ones. Even the right of assembling in the open air, in strath or on hill-side, for the purpose of public worship was forbidden to them. They bethought them of their churchyards. Surely amid the graves of their fathers they HISTORICAL SKETCH. would be left undisturbed to sing their psalm and offer their prayer to their fathers' God. But no; they were chased even from the churchyard. No spot was left them on which to perform their worship save the narrow strip of beach which separates the line of ebb-tide from high-water mark. Here their worshipping assemblies might often be seen, the roar of the surges mingling with their psalms and prayers, and drowning at times the voice of the preacher. But not an adherent fell away. Despite this multiform oppression, they stood unflinchingly by the cause they had espoused. As Sabbath after Sabbath they met to worship amid the tempests of their hills, and the yet fiercer tempests of persecution, they proclaimed that they were not to be driven back to the old churches. The parish edifices stood empt}-, the pathways leading to them were grass-grown ; and the parishioners, pressing onward through snow-drift, and over quaking bog or bleak moor, sought the appointed spot, on high road or sea-shore, where public worship was to be celebrated. Their patient endurance at last brought them victory. Their sufferings for conscience' sake attracted the eyes of the rest of the nation. The misconception and prejudice which had obscured both themselves and their cause began to clear away. A more tolerant policy was adopted towards them, and sites were granted. There came now a busy scene of the building of churches and manses. The people poor in gold and silver could bring no rich offerings, but help in another form they willingly and abundantly gave towards the rearing of the new fabrics. The fisherman freighted his boat with sand and gravel ; the farmer transported stones from the quarry in his cart ; the mason gave a week's free labour, and so, too, did the members of other trades; and thus, partly by help from the Building Fund, and partly by the labour of unhired hands, the work of rebuilding the ecclesiastical edifices went busily fonvard all over the Highlands and Islands. The old Establishment was forgotten in presence of the new and better DlSJiUPJION WORTHIES. Establishment which had so suddenly risen to replace it, and which was seen to possess a spiritual life and an evangelical glory which were lacking in the old. And now there is no part of Scotland where the Free Church is so strong as in the Highlands, and there is no part of Scotland which is so secure against the irruption of those evils which it was predicted by many the Disruption would bring after it. From what we have said it will be seen that there was not the same room for expansion on the part of the Free Church in the Highlands, which there was in the Lowlands. She had filled the land from the first. Enough if she kept possession — enough if she did not recede from the limits to which the impulse of the Disruption had carried her. But no, she was not content to cover simply the former area ; to enroll on her list, from year to year, the same number of congregations. Even in the Highlands there was increase — a stretching out of the curtains of her habitation. The Free Church aimed at giving to Northern Scot- land a more plentiful supply of the means of grace than even the Establishment had given it. She sought out remote, and till then, uncared-for districts, and planted stations in them. In Highland glen as in city alley, neglect in some instances had permitted ignorance to gather, till it had deepened into heathenism. The Church sent thither licentiates and catechists, who preached the Gospel in a freeness and fulness with which it had never before been proclaimed in these places. We find Dr Mackay reporting to the Glasgow Assembly in October 1843, that of the 206 Gaelic-speaking ministers in the Established Church, loi, nearly the half of the whole, had left the Establishment. In the 105 parishes where the minister remained in, the people in almost every instance, had come out, and were now looking to the Free Church for a supply of the ordinances of the Gospel. Moreover, there were parishes so large, both in extent and popula- tion, that their effectual spiritual oversight far exceeded the strength of one man. These had to be broken up into two, and in some cases, HISTORICAL SKETCH. three congregations, and placed each under a pastor, so that not fewer than 1 50 stations were at that hour craving the fostering hand of the Tree Church. That hand was wiUingly put forth in their help ; and soon, as the consequence, the Highlands and Islands had a more plentiful supply of the ministrations of the Gospel than they had ever before enjoyed. This was followed by a spiritual revival, and the field which the Disruption had at first threatened to throw out of cultivation, began to be covered with a richer spiritual verdure than it had known since the days of the early Celtic evangelisation, if even then. It only remains that we state the present condition of the Free Church in the Highlands and Islands. So far from falling back from her first limits, she has from year to year been steadily extending them. Besides the congregations on the equal dividend, she has 170 sanctioned ministerial charges in which service is conducted in Gaelic. In addition to the regular charges, there are upwards of 50 stations, some in islands, — most in outlying districts, which are served by preachers and catechists. But for this provision the people in these remote localities would be altogether without the means of grace. Over and above, there are 37 catechists, men of piety and gifts, who visit from house to house, and hold meetings for prayer, and the reading and exposition of the scriptures. They labour in localities where licentiates cannot conveniently be sent, or they assist ministers in districts too extensive for the oversight of a single pastor. The committee expend about ;^2000 a-year in the supply of stations, and ;£'iooo a-year in the support of catechists ; but were this sum doubled it could be well expended in supplying necessities never yet reached, notwithstanding the success which has attended the operations of the committee under a succession of able conveners. The Highlands of to-day may be said to be, in a sense, the creation of the Free Church. There is no part of Scotland on which the Disrup- tion has not left its mark, but nowhere is the change it has produced so perceptible as in the Highlands. The lawlessness and ignorance of DISRUPTIOX WORTHIES. which the Highlands were believed to be the abode only so recently as the middle of last century have been rooted out. Then the traveller was afraid to venture within their limits, now he passes on with a perfect sense of safety, for nowhere are life and property more secure. Their quiet Sabbaths, their crowded churches, and the solemnity of their simple worship cannot but suggest trains of not unprofitable reflection to the visitor from the South. Even their moors are giving place to fields bearing marks of a skilful husbandry and a rich cultivation. And when the stranger learns that this transformation of a once barbarous region into a highly civilised land, and this conversion of fighting and marauding clans into an obliging, industrial, and intelligent population, has, to a veiy considerable extent, been co-eval with the rise of the Free Church, he can hardly avoid admitting to himself, even though he may not confess it to others, that the Disruption must have embodied a principle of mighty moral force, seeing it has changed so deeply, and so bene- ficially, the condition of a whole people. CHAPTER VII. etc ©utftfllis ^lousljrli ani Soiun ig tJjc jFrrc (a:i)urrlj. 'X-'X.T'ITHIN the Free Church a vigorous evangelism was rapidly ^f^ renewing the face of Scotland. This was simply the old Gospel, which, recovering from the torpedo-touch of Moderatism, was stirring the activities, freshening the knowledge, and evoking the liber- ality of the people. But outside the Church was a zone of spiritual stagnancy and death. The Church felt that it was not enough to culti- vate her own domain, she must enter the outfield territorj', and sow anew its desolate and death-like fields with the seeds of life. The population of the country had been rapidly growing, but there HISTORICAL SKETCH. had been no corresponding increase of the means of grace. Wliat was the consequence ? There were large masses of the people, here crowded into cities, there gathered in country districts, which had lapsed into practical heathenism. They kept no Sabbath, they entered no church, the}- never opened a Bible, in their dwellings psalm or prayer was never heard, and their families were growing up without instruction to swell the tide of ignorance and immorality. This frightful condition of things accused, trumpet-tongucd, the negligence of a past age. The evil habits and truculent vices which so rapidly and rankly spring up in the human soil when left without Divine culture were rampant among them. Law- less, defiant, and augmenting from year to year their godless ranks, they threatened, if left alone, not only to over-master the Christianity of the nation, but to subvert the foundations of the State. In these neglected masses the Free Church found herself face to face with one of the most difficult of the problems she had to grapple with. Struggling to meet the claims of her own people, how should she be able to overtake the additional work of subjugating these revolted men to the Gospel ? A pretext for declining this arduous task lay ready to her hand had she chosen to make use of it. She might have said, " These masses, festering in ignorance, in filth, in vice and wretchedness, are the spawn of Moderatism. I shall leave it to cure the disease it has caused. This is no affair of mine : let Moderatism see to it." The Free Church did not avail herself of this excuse. She showed that she was the real mother ; the true Church of Scotland ; her heart yearned over these poor perishing outcasts ; she said, " In no ways slay them ; give them to me ; I will take care of them ; I will give these famishing ones ' bread that perisheth not.'" It was thus that she made good her title as the Church of Scotland, the Church of the people of Scotland. The Home Mission in importance is second to no one scheme of the Free Church, the support of the ministry excepted. If it flourishes, all the other schemes of the Church will flourish ; if it languish, all the DISRUPTION WORTHIES. others will decay. This is especially true of the Foreign Missions, which will be the first to feel any decline in home Christianity, just as weakness of the heart makes itself first felt at the extremities. Command is laid upon us to preach the Gospel to every creature. But in order to evan- gelise the world, we must first evangelise our own neighbourhood, our own city, our own countrj', and every advance in this is a step nearer to the conversion of the world. Every member added to the Church at home is an additional contributor to the cause of missions abroad. Wo have one more who contributes, and one more who prays. As we multi- ply contributors, we multiply Bibles, we multiply missionaries, and so we increase that agency which God has promised to bless for the saving of mankind. There can be no antagonism, no conflict of interests betwixt Home and Foreign Missions. The idea of rivalship between the two is out of the question, save the rivalship of which shall convert most souls. Britain is the centre of the evangelistic host, the citadel of the world's Christianity, and not only must Britain be thoroughly evangelised in order that Christianity may itself be impregnable, but that influences of mighty converting power may thence go forth to all nations, and the light be spread in India, in Africa, and in every dark land. The Home Mission of the Free Church began b}^ being small. It did not become at all prominent till 1850. In the autumn of that year a little band of Probationers was sent to operate in Glasgow, Dundee, Paisley, Perth, Montrose, and Airdrie. They returned with tidings of the ignorance and irreligion they had witnessed in these places, and the frightful dimensions to which these evils had grown. We give an instance. In one district, out of 176 contiguous families, comprising a population of 843, only 40 individuals attended any church. In the same district, out of 453 children, only 58 were attending school. In some of these districts the missionary encountered not indifference only but positive hostility. This was the first direct aggressive movement of the Free Church on the heathenism of the country, if we except what Chalmers — returning in the HISTORICAL SKETCH. evening of his life to the work which had occupied him in his earlier days — had accomplished in the West Port. The Territorial Church which he there erected as an example of what might be done in the most unlikely spots, was speedily followed by similar churches at Fountain- bridge and Holyrood, and other places. Henceforward, year by year, evangelistic deputies were sent to those dark places in our land to preach the Gospel to men who were almost as ignorant of it as if their homes had been placed in Africa. Ministers were pressed into the service, the number of deputies was increased, and a more s3-stematic plan of operations was adopted. The forenoon was spent by the deputies in visiting the families in their own houses ; in the evening there was open-air preaching. The population came out in large numbers to the evening sermon, the behaviour of the crowd was most respectful, the blessing of God rested on the effort, individual con- versions took place, and by-and-by there came to be a little company of regular attenders. These were formed into a Territorial Station, and placed under the care of a probationer or licentiate of the Church. Their numbers increasing, a church was built, and they were formed into a Ministerial or Church-extension Charge, with an ordained pastor. By another and final advance they reached the platform of the equal dividend, and ranked among the regular congregations of the Church. Not a few of the now flourishing congregations of the Free Church had just such beginning as this. Spots which thirty years ago were in the exclusive occupation of a world liness, which from one year's end to another, never paused to pray or to keep a Sabbath, have now their sanctuary and their Sabbath-school — in short, to them the shadow of death has been turned into the morning. In the summer of 1858 not fewer than eighty-five evangelistic deputies were employed in preaching the Gospel to thousands of their country- men, multitudes of whom had never before heard the glad tidings of salvation. Everywhere the visits of the deputies were cordially DISRUPTION WORTHIES. welcomed, and their labours gratefully appreciated. In that year the Free Church had sixteen home missions, not yet erected into regular stations ; fifty-three home mission stations proper ; six territorial charges in large towns ; five church extension charges, supported at a cost of upwards of £4000; a sum which the committee felt to be inadequate for providing the agencies required for carrying on a mission which was extending its sphere not only from year to year but from month to month. The Home Jllission Stations proper were planted mostly in rural districts, with a widely scattered population, or in mining and manufacturing districts, and populous suburbs of large mercantile towns, for whose moral and religious benefit no provision had been made, other than was supplied by the stations of the Free Church. The Territorial Charges were placed in the great cities, where the non- church-going population of a particular neighbourhood, were gathered into a church, and admitted as they became qualified, to Christian privileges ; and the success which crowned these efforts attested the perfect practicability of recovering the lapsed masses. The heathenism of Glasgow was grappled with by a special effort. Nowhere in all Scotland had the means of grace been left so far behind by the increase of the people. Glasgow had quintupled its inhabitants since the beginning of the century, while in the rest of Scotland the population had scarcely more than doubled. The noble enterprise of William Collins had mitigated, but had by no means rooted out the evils that preyed on that great and ever-growing city. These evils had grown with the growth of Glasgow, and now hideous forms of irreligion and infidelity were appearing in the lanes and streets of her who bore on her escutcheon the proud motto, " Let Glasgow flourish by the preaching of the Word." Glasgow had not, indeed, erased these words, — they were still to be read on her shield, — but she had fallen sadly out of harmony with them, and something must be done to restore the lost congruity between the city and its symbol. HISTORICAL SKETCH. But the exertions and appliances which might be sufficient to cope with the evils of a rural district or a provincial town, would, it was plain, be wholly inadequate to combat the gigantic forces that were entrenched in Glasgow. At the same time it was felt that if that great city should be raised from its spiritual decline, and made to flourish as of old by " the preaching of the Gospel," a mighty impulse would thereby be given to the work of recovering the ignorant and careless in all the large towns of the country. It was resolved, therefore, to take the western metropolis separately in hand, and to bring to bear upon it for a certain number of years the gathered energies and united action of the whole Free Church of Scotland. Accordingly in 1850, a Committee was formed to carry out that resolution. Funds were collected ; Glasgow was divided into half-a- dozen districts, large enough to afford a field for the agencies to operate among only the non-church goers ; for out of this class was it meant that the churches to be built should be filled. A minister of a missionary spirit was placed in each district, with a staff of teachers and catechists, who were to prosecute evangelistic operations and organise a congregation in the district. Provision was made for the pecuniary support of the mission till such time as it had come with its church and schools, to be fully equipped, and had been placed on the Sustentation Fund. This scheme differed from preceding ones in the same city, in that it was not merely a church-building scheme, but a church extending scheme ; it not only provided the material machinery, it provided and also supported the living agency. It reared at one and the same time, two temples, one of stone and lime, another of living stones, — renewed men, — a spiritual temple. Such was the commencement of a work, which soon developed into much larger dimensions, and began perceptibly to change the aspect, and influence the moral destinies of the great commercial capital of the west. That work, at this day, can show as its monuments many stately DISRUPTION WORTHIES. sanctuaries and flourishing congregations where, it may be, the infidel club was wont to hold its obscene discussions, or the tavern sent forth its peals of riotous merriment, or crowds of skulking, brutal, and inebriate men \\ere wont to congregate for deeds of violence. And not in Glasgow only, but in Dundee and other towns this movement has reared like monuments of its vitality, its success and its beneficence — a beneficence that rises high above the ordinary v/alks of philanthropy. In other cases the evil day was anticipated, and the cure of our home heathenism rendered unnecessary, by timely precautions against its ever coming into existence. On the shores of the Clyde, whose beauty and salubrity were attracting numerous annual visitors — new towns were rapidly springing up. Profiting by the lesson of Glasgow it was resolved to take possession of these towns, while yet in their infancy, in the name of the Gospel. Unless the field was pre-occupied the enemy was sure to come in and sow his tares. A little effort now, it was felt, would be a saving of much, and perhaps fruitless labour in the future. Let us not wait till these places have grown, and the publican, and the pawnbroker, and the Popish priest have taken up their abode in them, and have begun to ply their arts, and are spreading intemperance, and spendthrifty, and soul-destroying errors among their population. Let us now, when these towns are in the act of forming, plant a church with its school, and system of week-day visitations, and let habits of church-going be established among its inhabitants, and the morning and evening psalm be heard in its dwell- ings, and the publican and the pawnbroker will flee from it, scared by its sobriety and industry, as birds of the night are scared by the light. But let the place grow till it becomes a city, with its dark lanes and closes, its blind alleys, its dens of thievery and infamy ; its city-arabs, its drunkards, and criminals, its pawnshops and gin-palaces ; its crowds of squalid, neglected children ; its Sabbath breakers, and its scowling infidels, its raving socialists, and may it not then be too late to cleanse HISTORICAL SKETCH. it of the " unclean spirits " we have permitted to enter in and take possession of it ? A few hundred pounds expended in planting a Home Mission now, will do what thousands and tens of thousands may not be able to accomplish afterwards. If we refuse to plant a church and school at this stage, we will have to tax ourselves for poorhouses, police- offices, and prisons by-and-b)-, and all, it may be, to no purpose as regards the suppression of the evils we have permitted to spring up. This policy of " prevention better than cure " was adopted, among other places, specially in Indian. In 1852, Inellan was a small place, without a church of any denomination, but giving promise of becoming rapidly the seat of a large population. A Home Mission was set a-going in it. The Mission soon grew into a station, and the station eventually into a congregation, which continues to flourish and to dispense the ordinances of grace, not only to the inhabitants of Inellan, but to the numerous visitors which are attracted to it during the summer months, and who all the more readily resort thither, that they find the spirit of the Gospel prevailing where, but for the measures taken at the proper time, other influences of a very different kind might have been dis- astrously dominant. The light which the investigations of the Home Mission Committee threw on the religious condition of our great cities was alone a great service. The facts brought out were truly startling. Of the 400,000 inhabitants of Glasgow twenty-five years ago, 100,000, according to the most moderate calculation; according to other calculations 180,000, or nearly one-half of the whole, never entered a church. In Edinburgh, matters were not much better. In some of our missionary districts, two-thirds of the people had fallen away from church attendance. In Dundee, of a population then amounting to 70,000, it was estimated that only 15,000 were church goers. Paisley, with a population of 50,000, furnished 22,000 church goers. Dumfries, with a population of 16,000, had a church attendance of 4000, and Bo'ness with 6000 inhabitants, had DISRUPTION WORTHIES. only looo church attenders. So did the list run on. The investigations of the Home Mission Committee, and the reports which the evangelistic deputies brought back from the villages and districts where they had been sent to labour, furnished a moral diagnosis of our country. A revolution was effected by these startling revelations in the sentiments of Christian men. They saw that heathendom was not afar off, thousands and thousands of miles away, across broad oceans, but that it was here, even at their own door, with all its crime, its guilt, and its danger. The Church felt more than ever her responsibility for the masses, and she began with redoubled vigour, and on a larger scale than ever, to cleanse the land from these frightful pollutions, and by the preaching of the Gospel, raise a moral bulwark against an irreligion which had only to become con- scious of its strength, to overmaster the piety of the countr}-, and inflict terrible political and social calamities upon the nation. But for these efforts, it is hard to say what would have been the state of Scotland at this hour. It only remains that we sum up in a few sentences, what the Free Church of Scotland has accomplished in the Home Mission Field, and \\hat is the state of that mission at this hour. The Free Church in 1843 began with between 500 and 600 congregations ; she has now in round numbers iioo. This one fact exhibits the Church as having about doubled the area of Christianity in Scotland. As regards the present state of the mission, which is confined to the Lowlands, the Free Church has thirty-three Missioti Stations. These are planted in rural districts and villages. They have an aggregate membership of upwards of 2000 : an average Sabbath attendance of nearly 4000, and their influence and action embrace a population of 40,000. They are in charge of licentiates of the Church, who conduct two diets of public worship on the Sabbath, and spend three days of each week in household visitation. The Mission Station on reaching a certain stage of advance becomes a Church-exten- sion Charge. This processs is continually going on, as the Station is always HISTORICAL SKETCH. aiming at becoming a Charge, while the Charge aspires to its final landing, which is on the platform of the equal dividend. The last Assembly elevated six Jilission Stations to the platform of Chtirch- cxtcnsion Charges, destined, after another course of advance to reach the final platform of the Sustentation Fund. The Territorial Missions at present are four. They arc confined to the large cities, and operate in destitute districts which have been selected by city congregations, under the sanction of the Presbyter)-, for spiritual cultivation. As with the Mission Station so with the Territorial Mission it may, by the increase of its numbers, and its general progress, " earn for itself a good degree," and be transformed into the Territorial Charge, which is a step in its path to a fully sanctioned charge with a place on the equal dividend. The Church has at present twenty-seven Territorial Charges. The Home Mission Committee has besides a host of agencies and labourers in its service which do not come under the above categories. Besides its Evangelistic Deputies, which we have already made prominent, the committee has ninety-five Congregational Missions. They are carried on by students: the student giving ten hours a-week to household visita- tion with Scripture reading and prayer in the district mapped out to him. [Moreover it is required of him that he give a service every Sabbath evening in a house belonging to the locality for the benefit of its families. There are two probationers and catechists whose work it is to visit non- church-going families, and by religious services on the Sabbath, and prayer meetings and Bible classes on the week evenings to reclaim them to the observances of religion, and draw them into already existing congregations. There are, moreover, labouring in the cause of this Home reclamation laymen of experience, with evangelistic gifts, who work for short periods, in agricultural, mining, or manufacturing districts. And not to make our narration too tedious, there are Missions in Mining Districts. Perman- DISRUPTIOX WORTHIES. ent or temporary churches or halls are provided, with a staff of mission- aries, evangelists, and Bible-women to operate among those engaged in mining and kindred industries. These amount to about a-tenth of the whole population of the country. The income of the Mission since the Disruption in 1843 to 31st JMarch 1878 amounts in gross, to .^230,363, 2s. 4d. CHAPTER VIII. 2rf)r Jrcc (!i:|)urrlj srntis \\t ffiosjid to tfjc Scto ftrst. to an earnest Christian layman, the late Mr Robert Wodrow of Glasgow, is mainly traceable that awakened interest in behalf of " the lost sheep of the House of Israel " which has characterised the Free Church of Scotland. A man of faith and prayer, not only did Mr Wodrow labour himself, but he strove to enlist others in a work which most people in his day deemed futile, if not impossible, even that of dispelling the dark- ness, and disarming the hostility of the Jews to the Gospel, and gathering them round the cross. Mr Wodrow, while he acted in the capacity of secre- tarj' to the Jewish Society of Glasgow, which was composed of all religious denominations, was animated by the strong desire of seeing this great cause taken up by the Church of Scotland as a church. He petitioned the Presbytery of Glasgow to that effect ; and this led to the first overture that ever was- laid on the table of the General Assembly for the appointment of a committee to labour in the work of the conversion of Israel. God granted him the desire of his heart. Mr Wodrow was the father of the Church of Scotland's Mission to the Jews. Among a multitude of other services rendered in this cause, Mr Wodrow drafted the address which the General Assembly sent to the seed of Abraham, scattered over the earth. This address was translated into all the European languages, and some of the Asiatic ones, and circulated HISTORICAL SKETCH. wherever Jews were known to dwell. What a welcome message to a race which for ages had heard nothing from those among whom they dwelt but words of contempt and scorn, and experienced nothing but acts of spoliation and oppression ! The first step taken by the Church of Scotland in this cause was to send to Palestine and the East a deputation of four ministers, of which one honoured father, Dr Andrew Bonar, still sun,'ives, to seek after these "lost sheep," despised of man, but "beloved for their father's sake." The deputation was instructed to inquire into their condition, the most likely methods of approaching them, and the spots where it might be advisable to plant mission stations in the future. The God of Abraham guided the steps of the deputation. On their way back to their own land, one of their number, the late Rev. Dr Keith, fell sick at Pesth. It was told the Arch-Duchess of Austria, whose palace of Buda rose on the opposite bank of the Danube, that a Scotch minister lay dangerously ill in the hotel. The Arch-Duchess had herself been no stranger to suffering, and her distress had led her to the study of the Bible. Having found a Saviour for her own soul, the next objects of her compassion were her subjects of Hungary, whom she saw to be plunged in darkness. Often as she stood at her palace windows, the Danube rolling beneath her, the roofs of Pcsth spread out on the further bank, and the vast Hungarian plains stretching far to the east, she had thought of the moral gloom that covered this fair region, and had earnestly prayed that God would send some one to make known to the Hungarians the way of life. Here, now, is an answer to my prayer, she said to herself, when told that a Scotch clerg>'man, on his way through her capital, had been arrested by sickness. The Arch-Duchess hastened to the hotel, she tenderly nursed Dr Keith in his illness, and when his recovery was completed, she told him what was the earnest desire of her heart, even that a minister of the Gospel might be sent to proclaim the tidings of salvation to the Hungarian people. DISRUPTION WORTHIES. The hand of God thus opened the door. The Church of Scotland entered in and established missions at Pesth and Jassy. Dr Duncan, assisted by Messrs Smith, Allan, and Wingate was stationed at the former city, and Mr Edward at the latter. God did not leave without a witness the men whom he had so specially called to labour in this part of the vineyard. Their mission bore early and abundant fruit, not only in the conversion of the seed of Israel, but in the revival of religion in Hungary. Its darkness is not now so deep as when the Arch-Duchess was wont to survey the Hungarian plains from her palace window with heart lifted up to God in behalf of her land. Its Protestantism, over- whelmed by armies and executioners in the beginning of the seventeenth century was giving no signs of revival, but no sooner had the mission- aries been stationed at Pesth, than they began to make missionary tours through the land, and to institute a colportage of Hebrew Bibles and Testaments, and from that day the Protestant Church of Hungary, which so long dwelt among the dead, has continued to revive — exhibit- ing on a small scale what will yet be realised on a far greater, even that the ingathering of Israel will be as life from the dead to the Gentile churches. At this stage of the Jewish Mission the Disruption came. The re-commencement of the Jewish Mission after the Disruption, was marked by providential circumstances, scarcely less striking than those which had attended its first beginning. The first notable thing about its second starting, was the fact that all the Jewish missionaries adhered to the principles of the Free Church. The second was that the first missionary collection made by the Free Church was for the Jews. And the third notable thing was that the proceeds of this collection all but exactly replaced the sum lost by the Committee in consequence of the Disruption. The Committee found themselves in the position, after the Disruption, of having all the missionaries to support, while all the funds, ;^3SOO, had passed into the hands of others. But the collection for the Jews on the sixth Sabbath of the existence of the Free Church HISTORICAL SKETCH. (June 25th 1843), amounting as it did to £l\QO, placed tlic Committee very nearly in the same position for carrj'ing on the Mission in which they had been before the Disruption. The Free Church heard the voice of God in these events, saying, " go forward." Cease not to care for the lost sheep of the House of Israel. Not only shall you have your reward by conversions among them, but a double reward shall be given you in the richer blessing that will attend your labours among the Gentile churches. The funds for the conversion of the Jews continued steadily to increase. In 1839, when the scheme was first started, the collection amounted only to ;^382. In the year of the Disruption it had risen, as we have seen, to ,£lipo. In the following years it reached an average ranging from five to six thousand pounds. New stations were planted, and more mission- aries were sent out. The income of the committee has this year (iSSo) been ;^9702, and the ordinary expenditure £l<^2\. The income for the year is exceptionally high, and is mainly owing to an increase in the legacies. The average income of the past five years may be stated at £5000. The excess of this year has been employed to establish a Home for neglected children in Constantinople. The Committee feel that they might with profit multiply their stations did their funds permit. They have for some years been desirous of sending a missionary to Russia, where there is a large body of Jews. Palestine, too, is beginning to force itself upon their attention. The Jews are ilocking to their old land in larger numbers than ever before. The Hebrew population has doubled in the Holy Land within these twenty years : and were the sway of the Turk in Syria to come to an end, these exiles would return in tenfold greater numbers. Along with this reviving affection for the early home of their race, there is said to be a growing yearning of the heart, more universal than ever before known in their histor}', for reconciliation to Him who gave that land to Abraham and his seed for " an everlasting possession." DISRUPTION WORTHIES. It only remains that we glance at the present state of the mission. The stations are not numerous, but, as we have said, the labours of the missionaries among the Jews overflow in blessings to the surrounding populations. The stations are six — Amsterdam, Pesth, Constantinople, Breslau, Prague, and Strasburg, at each of which is an ordained mission- ary with assistants, above fifty in all. Pesth still maintains its pre-eminence among Jewish mission stations. Its schools are attended by about 400 ; and much precious seed is being sown in the minds of young Jews and Jewesses. Its colportage embraces the length and breadth of Hungary. Its agencies ramify into Transylvania, Servia, Roumania, and even Russia. Its Bethesda has always in it some Jewish patients, and is a centre of missionary work among both Jews and Gentiles. A number of earnest-minded young men have recently formed themselves into an association, with a well-assorted library, and an annual course of lectures. The station is further supplied with a printing press, which issues tracts and books in six languages. This bird's-eye view of the operations at Pesth may be accepted as a fair sample of the work done, though perhaps on a more limited scale, at the other stations of the Jewish Mission. To go farther into detail is beyond our scope ; and the reader who wishes to know particulars has easy access to them in the official sources. Some may think that our success in the conversion of the Jews has not been answerable to our expectations and our efforts. But when we reflect on the peculiar nature of the work, and the tremendous hindrances in the way of its accomplishment, we shall wonder rather that we have so long a list of converts to show. Foremost among the impediments to the conversion of the Jew is — to use the phraseology of his own prophets — " the heart of stone." This hardness of heart, with the blindness of understanding which it induces, is common to the Jew with the idolater of India and the infidel of Europe. But the Jew is " twice dead." To his original hardness of heart is to be added the influence of a perverted education. No sooner does a Jewish infant open his eyes than a veil is HISTORICAL SKETCH. spread over them. His mind is filled with traditions and fables, with prejudices and hatred of the truth. His fetters grow stronger with every succeeding year. What his education began is perfected and finished by the Talmud. Modern Judaism is a system of "carnal observances." The Jew's system of religion embraces no spiritual truth, and his worship implies no exer- cise of the soul ; it consists mainly in washings, in the observance of feasts, the lighting of lamps, and the reciting of prayers in the Hebrew tongue. Of renewal of the heart he does not even dream. Such is the whole tendency of the Talmud ; and the longer the Jew studies it, the further does he wander from the light, and goes the deeper into the dark- ness. When a text of Scripture is produced, the Jew is prepared with the comment of some Rabbi. It matters not how ridiculous it may be, the Jew clings pertinaciously to it. The sense of the Hebrew words, the connection of the passage, and even the more reasonable explication of the ancient Hebrew writers, avail nothing with him. He is held fast in the fetters of Rabbinism. He has worn them from infancy ; and by the time he attains manhood his intellect has become warped, and his under- standing hopelessly beclouded. By his birth he is an heir of heaven. So does the Jew regard him- self He is a son of Abraham, a member of a peculiar people. He accounts it foul scorn to come down to the same level with the Gentile, and to own that he is by nature as bad as others. He fortifies himself with these false hopes. He has the blood of Abraham in his veins, but he is totally regardless of having the faith of Abraham in his heart. Moreover, in the condition and character of the Jew the most anti- thetical qualities are mixed. He is at once above and below the rest of mankind. He is above them as regards the grandeur of his descent ; below them as regards the degradation into which he has fallen. The heir of a glorious land, yet without a foot-breadth in actual possession ! Carrying in his bosom the noblest aspirations, yet passing through life DISRUPTION WORTHIES. amid ignoble pursuits. Scorning the world with haughty pride, yet cowering slavishly beneath its frown. Scrupulously exact as regards the letter of the law, yet habitually neglectful of its spirit. Clinging to the promises, yet refusing to accept of their accomplishment. Pliable and accommodating in all things, yet obdurate and inflexible in one thing, the acceptance, even, of Him of whom "Moses in the law and the prophets did write." We at once venerate and pity the Jew. Even Providence seems to regard him with the same mixed feelings. To the God of his fathers he is an object at once of anger and love. For two thousand years the darkness of Divine judgments has been ever around him, yet all the while he has remained the heir of promises that fill the world's future and his own with glory. The long and bitter persecution to which he has been subjected has helped farther to rivet on the mind of the Jew his prejudices against the truth, and his suspicion and hatred of nominal Christians. Chased from land to land, denied the rights of a citizen, denied, sometimes, the rights of a man, robbed and spoiled, held as dishonourable and vile, and alway trampled upon, can we expect that, after enduring for centuries these cruel wrongs at the hands of nations calling themselves Christian, the Hebrew race should at the first call open their understandings and hearts to Christianity ? And when the Jew turns to observe the great religious systems around him, where is the proof of their superior truth or their superior virtue ? He beholds one-half of Europe groaning under a religion that planted itself by the sword, and is grossly sensual in character ; he beholds the other half occupied by a Church that is grossly idolatrous. Is it for these that he is to forsake the sublime doctrines and grand forms of the Hebrew faith ? " Will it profit me in any way," he asks, "if I shall exchange the synagogue for the church?" We know of no other nation or race in whose path, early training, social isolation, the world's hatred, Rabbinical authority, and the persecution of ages, have united to build up so numerous and so mighty obstacles to HISTORICAL SKETCH. their reception of the Gospel as those that have been reared in the path of the Jews. When we take these tremendous difficulties into account wc may well wait, while we continue to work. I But these barriers shall all one day give way before the sovereign and gracious power of the Spirit. On the Jews, there is reason to believe, will fall the first great copious shower when the heavens shall again open. What an amazing transformation will this second and greater Pentecost bring with it ! Then there will be a springing up as among the grass, as willows by the water-courses. As the bursting of the green spring in the Arctic regions, chasing the ice and snow before it, and strew- ing the earth with blossoms, or as the flood of splendour which in a few moments fills the skies of the Tropics at sunrise, so shall then be the conversion of the Jews. It will not be "one of a city and two of a family," but " all Israel " shall be saved. Oh then 1 when the veil of Moses shall have been rent, when the glory of the Cross shall beam full upon them, and their eyes, no longer holden, shall see their Messiah, in what a flood of tears shall their penitence flow forth ! Looking on Him whom they have pierced, how loud shall rise the voice of their weeping! But that voice of sorrow will soon be drowned in the yet louder voice of shoutings and hosannahs. Speedily round the earth will run the tidings of their conversion. The stupendous miracle will startle the nations amid their idolatries. They too will open their eyes to the glory of the Gospel, smitten by this new and amazing proof of its truth. Nay, the Jews themselves, anxious to redeem the centuries they have lost, will run from east to west, from continent to continent, and from island to island, to tell the world, and say, "Behold, thy King cometh." Arise 1 let your fetters be rent, and your idols cast away. Gather yourselves round the Cross, and own your submission to Him who came a first time that He might redeem you by His blood, and now comes a second time that He may govern you by His Gospel. Then will the prophecy be fulfilled.— " And strangers shall stand and feed your DISRUPTION WORTHIES. flocks, and the sons of the ahen shall be your plowmen and your vine- dressers. But ye shall be named the priests of the Lord, men shall call you the ministers of our God : ye shall eat the riches of the Gentiles, and in their glory shall ye boast yourselves." "~1 CHAPTER IX. ^fjc jFree Cljurcl) in Continental anti Colonial 2.anlis. tHE spiritual forces which were liberated by the Disruption were instantaneously and powerfully felt far beyond the shores of Great Britain. Everywhere churches were seen awakening from slumber, reconstituting themselves on a purer basis, and exchanging the inaction of past centuries for a future of activity and vigour. From all sides, far and near, came the cry to the Free Church of Scotland, " Send us help. Your example has roused us to a new sense of our responsibilities, give us your aid in fulfilling them." From the Continent of Europe : from almost every colony under the British sceptre, came importunate entrea- ties for missionaries and ministers, that the Gospel which had lent a new glory to Scotland might gladden their skies also. How was it possible for the Free Church to respond to these numerous calls, her strength tasked to the uttermost, as it then was, in the reconstruction of her own financial and ecclesiastical organisation. It seemed as if she must cut herself loose from all her foreign dependencies, — in a word, drop her Continental and Colonial schemes, and care only for herself. But no, she had faith in Him whose are the silver and the gold, and believing that she should have enough for herself, and something over to give to others, she resolved to prosecute her labours in these distant and necessitous, but most inviting fields. The Church of Scotland before the Disruption, guiding herself by HfSTORlCAf. SKETC/f. two vciiciablc precedents, had begun to show solicitude for those vast multitudes who, from necessity or choice, yearly went forth from Scotland to settle in lands beyond the sea. The Old Testament Church took care to follow her children with the ordinances of religion, by the institution of Synagogues, or Houses of Prayer, in the heathen lands and cities where her expatriated sons had fixed their abode. The Church of the Reformation, both in Geneva and Scotland, followed with the means of grace those of its sons and daughters who were compelled by the storms of persecution to seek shelter in America, in Holland, and other countries. When anew the reforming spirit descended on the Church of Scotland, her care for the spiritual welfare of her sons in foreign lands revived. The first country for whose religious necessities provision was made by the mother Church was British North America. This was mainly owing to the efforts of the Rev. Dr Burns of Paisley, afterwards of Toronto, who devoted himself with unwearied zeal to the cause of pure religion in Canada and Nova Scotia. In 1832, the sanction of the Assembly was given to the establishment of Presbyteries and Synods in these provinces; and in a few years afterv/ards (1836), "Missions to Colonial Churches" was formed into a separate scheme of the Church. In 1840, the scheme, limited hitherto to the Colonies, was enlarged so as to embrace Scottish Prcsb)-terians in foreign countries other than those subject to the British Crown. Such was its position when the Disruption took place. The Disestablished Church, without a moment's hesitation, resolved to carry on the scheme. Contributions for that object were sent in, not only from Scotland, but from the Colonies themselves. Associations were formed to aid the Church in her efforts to promote the spiritual good of Scotsmen dispersed over all the countries of the globe, in numbers exceeding, it was believed, that of the home population, and who, had they carried with them the spirit and influences of the Gospel, might have been a purifying salt in the earth— a leaven in the mass of the world. Ministers and missionaries were sent to occupy new stations, or DISRUPTION WORTHIES. to supply the destitution caused by those who had deserted their posts, and returned to occupy charges at home, left vacant by ministers who had quitted the Establishment. A special colony, with its pastor, its school- master, its families, and trades, was organised and sent out to New Zea- land. The complete machinery of Christian civilisation was set down at once in the country, and the natives had the advantage of having Christ- ianity not only preached to them in its doctrines, but exhibited to them in its family and social life. This idea has since been more fully carried out in the Livingstonia Mission, one of the magnificent results of the missionary zeal and heroism of the man whose name it bears. Follow- ing with a mother's heart her sons in far-off lands, from whose minds the hallowed memories and sacred influences of home were rapidly being obliterated, the Free Church of Scotland became a mother of churches, even as Britain has become a mother of nations. The traveller as he passed along the great highways of the world, or halted at its great capitals and centres of influence, saw there her flag unfurled, and heard the Gospel from the lips of her ministers or missionaries — in Gibraltar, in Malta, in Madeira, and the continents of the Pacific. It was a vast work, undertaken by the Church, not in the fulness of her strength, but in the weakness and comparative poverty of her beginning As year by year the field expanded, so too did the means of its cultivation. More ardent prayers went up for the success of the Colonial scheme, and richer gifts were poured into its treasur}-. It is not our intention to trace the growth of this great scheme. We mean only to glance at the position to which it has now attained, and the vast sweep over which its operations extend. If we have a Free Church on the soil of Scotland, it may also be truly affirmed that we have a Free Church outside its shores, and the latter is a greater Church than the former. The daughter has outgrown the mother. The Colonial Presbyterian Church at this hour consists of 70 presbyteries, 1225 minis- terial charges, 1 146 ministers. These are dispersed over the four con- HISTORICAL SKETCH. tinents of the globe, being most numerous in Canada, the earliest scene of the foreign operations of the Church of Scotland. The Church in Australasia comes next in point of numbers. These Churches are either in immediate or in very close relationship with the Free Church of Scot- land, and most of them look to her, though not exclusively, for labourers, which their own resources do not as yet enable them adequately to supply. The revenue of the Colonial Committee for the year at last Assembly (1880) was A574. 14s. The fostering hand of the mother Church needs now to be put forth towards the Colonial Churches only in the way of giving supplemental aid. The Australasian and Canadian Churches are able to see to their own support. It is men rather than money — labourers to cultivate the vast and ever-expanding fields — which they ask from Scotland. They are now not only self-supporting, they are aid-giving. They have a mission fund for providing Gospel ordinances to the colonists. As the tide of immigration flows in upon them, and the area of population stretches farther and farther into the wilderness, and new villages and towns spring up, they are ready to plant at these new centres a minister and school- master, and the whole apparatus of Christian civilisation, and so antici- pate the evils which would be sure to arise were these masses, continu- ally augmented by new swarms, left without the Gospel. It is hardly possible to conceive a greater service than that which the Free Church is rendering through her Colonial Committee to the future of the world. She is taking pledges of these young empires that, when they have become great, they shall array themselves on the side of the Gospel, and sub- ordinate their resources to the promotion of the kingdom of the Lord Jesus. Till the Assembly of 1868 the colonial and continental operations of the Church formed one scheme under the direction of the same Com- mittee ; but, the field continuing to expand and the labourers to multi- ply, a separation of the two became necessary, and the Continent, disjoined DISRUPTION WORTHIES. from the Colonies, was, in the above-named year, placed under the special and exclusive oversight of the " Committee for Continental IVIissions." Though inferior in extent to the Colonial field, the area of the " Contin- ental Missions" is still large. It embraces, leaving India out of view, the world of the ancients, and the world of the first preachers of the Gospel. It is, moreover, unspeakably interesting. The conversion of Europe to a pure Scriptural Christianity is of all objects the one most to be desired. It is among the nations of so called Christendom that the great predicted Apostacy has found its seat, and could these nations be rescued from its blinding influence — and every conversion on the Con- tinent is a step in thai direction — not only would the European nations themselves recover their faith and liberty, but the mightiest of all existing hindrances to the progress of the Gospel all over the globe would be taken out of the way, a new life would descend upon the Churches of the Reformation, and brighter and vaster triumphs would cheer the path of the missionary in every country' of the world. Tidings from that part of the earth have, to the Christian who is waiting for the redemption of the world, a tenfold interest ; for he knows that from thence is to be sounded forth the knell that shall announce that now at last old things have passed away, and all things have become new. The operations of the Committee have for their object — i. The support of permanent stations on the Continent. Of these five are in Italy — viz., Rome, Florence, Leghorn, Genoa, and Naples ; two in France — viz., Pau and Nice ; one in Lausanne ; one in Lisbon ; and one in Constantinople. The first pioneer of the Gospel in Italy in our day was the Rev. Dr Stewart of Leghorn. He had begun to operate while yet the old restric- tions against the Bible and the missionary were in force, and by his persevering and wisely-directed efforts he had made a few converts and introduced the Word of God into that land from which it had been so long excluded. Changes of great moment followed. The revolution of 1848 emancipated Piedmont, and brought enlargement to the ancient HISTORICAL SKETCH. Church of the Waldenses. The War of Independence in 1859 extended the area of hberty to the frontier of the Papal States. In 1870 the entrance of the ItaHans into Rome completed the emancipation of that land, and made it free from the Alps to Sicily. In many of its cities the Gospel is now preached by missionaries of the Libera Chiesa and the Waldensian Synod, and the only hindrance in the path of the evangelisa- tion of Italy is the indifference of the people, and the power of super- stition, whose moral yoke still remains although its political fetters have been rent. A second object of the Continental Missions Committee is the supply of ordinances in summer in those places which are the resort of English and American travellers, and all the year through where there are Scotch and English residents in connection with health or business. A third object is the assistance of native churches in Continental lands. This is the most important of all. These Churches have their roots in the past, and are more likely to take hold of the sympathies, and to adapt them- selves to the feelings of the native population than churches of foreign importation. Chief among these is the Waldensian Church, whose venerable name and tragic story give it claims which are unique and of most touching power, not on Italy only, but on all Christendom. There is the Evangelical Society of Geneva, which recalls the name of the greatest champion of the Reformation, and the memory of a Church which was the light of the sixteenth century. And, not to mention other Churches and Societies which are aided by the Continental Committee of the Free Church, there is France, whose religious con- dition at this hour is more full of promise than it has ever been since the period of the Reformation. It was the mob of Parrs that effected the first turning of the tide against Protestantism in the sixteenth century, and now the Gospel is beginning at the point where it was stopped three centuries ago. It is finding its most attentive listeners and its most earnest converts among the ouvriers of the great cities. We DISRUPTION WORTHIES. refer to the Belleville Mission in Paris. Prosperous from the beginning, and growing more so as it advances, that Mission is filling Paris with evangelical stations ; it is awaking the sweet voice of psalms where the Marseillaise was wont to be defiantly pealed forth, and is planting its out- stations here and there throughout the country in the provincial towns. It is a new revolution, led on by Mr M'All and Miss de Broen, in which no barricades with the Tricolour waving over them play their part, but an open banner, held peacefully aloft, with the motto "The Word of God" inscribed upon it, is seen floating over the little army which marches onward to storm the true bastile of the French people — the Papacy. If the quarter in which and the classes among whom this evangelical movement has arisen remind us by contrast of the early days of the French Reformation, the following incident suggests, not by contrast but resemblance, another passage in the same history. Our readers may recollect that in the very dawn of the Reformation in Paris, the Louvre was opened for a short while under the patronage of Margaret of Navarre for the preaching of the Gospel, and, day after day, its halls were crowded with nobles and burgesses listening with eager attention to the words of Roussell unfolding to them the message of life. We have something like a repetition of this. " While their own place of worship is being rebuilt," writes Dr Pressense of Paris, " the Minister of Public Works, with the consent of the Minister of Public Instruction, granted accommodation to the Protestants luithiii the palace of Versailles. A large audience assembled (2nd November, 1879) on the first occasion of meeting in this unwonted place. ' French Protestantism,' writes one who was present, ' made its solemn entry into the palace of the king, . . . and the Gospel proclamation resounded through the chamber of Louis XIV., not far from the room in which in 171 5 the great king breathed his last.'" The same witness of this extraordinary scene adds, " When we heard the Bible and Huguenot Liturgj- read in that building, where in an upper room Madame dc Maintcnon had made Louis XIV. sisjn the revocation of the Edict of HISTORICAL SKETCH. Nantes, nearly two hundred years ago, we were profoundly moved, and blessed God from the depth of our hearts." As a further proof that war and revolution, and the sufferings conse- quent thereon, are gaining their end in the ripening of the fields of France, I\I. Pressens(^ says of the town of St. Juste, in the Department of the Oise, " that there are 1 500 persons manifesting the keenest interest in the Gospel. It seems as if the entire town would pass over in a body, with the Mayor at its head, to the Protestant Church. Similar conditions exist in many other parts of the country." Another auspicious sign of the times is the acceptance which the evangelistic labours of Dr Somerville have met with among Frenchmen and Italians. The simple Gospel, with no adornment of rhetoric or rite, nay, told under no common disadvantages, finds crowds of impressed listeners. "The Reverend Dr Somerville," say the Committee in their report for the present year (1880), "preaching in English and translated sentence by sentence, addressed for months together during the past j-car, in the metropolis (of France), and in various leading cities and towns, crowded churches and halls, the listeners in thousands drinking in the truth, and beseeching that these words might again be spoken to them. ... At Florence, Naples, and Rome, large theatres, hired for the purpose, have been filled with calm, attentive, and earnest audiences of all ranks of people, to whom the simple Gospel, interestingly enforced and illustrated, seemed strangely good news." Still, with all these presages of coming good, the reflection must force itself on many minds that the evangelisation of Europe in the nineteenth century is slow compared with its rate of progress in the sixteenth. The greater part of Italy for now twenty years, and all of it absolutely for ten years, has been open for the preaching of the Gospel, and yet how little way has it advanced towards spiritual emancipation ! In the course of a decade, Germany, in the days of Luther, had triumphantly fought its way out of the Papacy, though menaced with the ban and DISRUPTION WORTHIES. the armies of the Empire. Italy still lingers in its prison-house, though neither stake nor dungeon bars its escape. Why is this? Why do these nations linger in darkness and seem in love with their chains ? The populations which responded so promptly to the call of the Reformation in the sixteenth century were just as blinded, as superstitious, and as immoral as those which in our day remain obdurately deaf, and are so hard to be won. For this difference there is, we may be sure, a cause. The latter class of nations, those even that are to this day in the Roman pale, entered not in when the door was open. Not only did they slight the call given them to escape, while yet it was possible, from a society on which, as they were warned, God was about to pour the vials of His wrath, but they stoned the messengers sent to them ; and they sealed their impenitency in the blood of thousands and tens of thousands of martyrs. God's Spirit ceased to strive. Nor can we hope that that Spirit will return, — drops we may have, but not the great shower — till judgment has been done on her in whose skirts this blood shall be found. While therefore we labour for the conversion of these unhappy nations, while we cease not to send Bibles and evangelists to them, let us not forget at the same time to pray that this mighty impediment to their evangelisation may be taken out of the way, so that the work may go forward, with a speed and power corresponding to our wishes and God's promise. This mighty obstruction removed, there will come times of blessedness. The morning will no longer tarry. A Divine influence descending from the skies will go forth in renovating power over all the earth ; everywhere nations will be seen coming out of their graves : and instead of sighing and tears as of men who lie bound in fetters and dwell in darkness, songs will be wafted from eveiy shore, and a great shout, as of those who have long struggled but have now gotten the victory, will proclaim the joy of the nations over the fall of their great oppressor, and their own deliverance from the darkness in which, from age to age, that oppressor kept them immured. HISTORICAL SKETCH. CHAPTER X. Z\)t Jrcr Cljurdj in Entiia ; or, JHar tottf) tl^r grrat paganisms of tJjc Morlti. ^^\ T a time when revolution and war were shaking the Continent of ■J^^ Europe, and convulsing the Popish nations, the evangelistic and missionarj- forces were beginning to stir in the Protestant Churches and countries of Christendom. Awakening, after long slumber, to a con- sciousness of her duty towards the heathen, the Church of God in Great Britain had her attention drawn, earliest of all the countries, to India. That land exerted a powerful influence on the imagination, but it exerted a yet more powerful and sacred influence on a diviner faculty, even the conscience. Its fabled riches and storied magnificence, its moulder- ing pagodas and solemn mausolea — hoar monuments of its vanished grandeur and departed power — its customs and institutions, whose beginnings are lost in the darkness of a remote antiquity, the mountains that fill its sky, the loftiest on the globe, and the rivers that water its plains, the greatest in the old world, invested India with a charm that dazzled the senses ; but its moral condition — the night that had so long brooded over it, the hideous forms of its gigantic idolatries, and the temporal and spiritual misery in which its millions were sunk, made it speak with a more affecting emphasis to the heart and soul. But that which gave to India its peculiar claim on the Churches of Great Britain, was that its people owned the sway of the same sovereign with ourselves, they were our fellow-subjects, and if bound to send the Gospel to all lands where the name of Jesus was yet unknown, surely we were bound to send it, first of all, to this land — to India. In the year 1743, the Baptist Missionary Society sent out Thomas and Carey to India. They witnessed but little fruit of their labours, though they prosecuted thocn prayerfullj', assiduously, and in faith. The DISRUPTION WORTHIES. chief missionary labour of Carey was the translation of the New Testament into the Bengali language, which was published in India in iSoi. The London Missionary Society in 1804, and the Scottish Missionary Society in 1822, sent out their first missionaries to India, and from time to time followed them with others, who planted stations, opened schools, and translated the Word of God into several of the languages of the country. Nevertheless, the evangelisation of India languished. The conversions were few, and the hold of its superstitions on the mind of the natives was not perceptibly loosened. The Christ- ianisation of India properly dates from the arrival on its shores in 1830 of Alexander Duff. Duff was sent out by the Established Church of Scotland. There were two modes by which he might operate on India. He could traverse that vast country in his character of missionary, preaching the Gospel and distributing Bibles and tracts in the villages and towns as he passed on. Of the seed he should thus sow, some little would take root and spring up. He could hardly hope in a field so vast to return and water that seed, or watch over its growth. There would come to be, in course of years, a few converts scattered over the face of India, but lacking union, they would be incapable of combined action. Duff saw that by this method of evangelising he should spend all his days, and at the end of them have made no permanent impression on the national mind, nor shaken the great system of Hinduism. He resolved, therefore, to adopt as the radical principle of his opera- tions, not diffusion, but concentration. Not all India, but a portion of it only would he aim at cultivating. Not the whole nation, but a select class would he seek in the first instance to enlighten. He would continue to operate systematically on these till he had made them fit to be teachers of others. Of the hundreds or thousands, which, year by year, he would bring under instruction, he should hope that a few, taught of the Spirit and enlightened by the Word, might, year by year. HISTORICAL SKETCH. offer themselves to carry the Gospel to their countrymen. From this centre the hght would spread over all that dark land. Every year the labourers would multiply, every year the spiritual vineyard would enlarge, and this process would go on till all the fields of India were sown with the good seed, and that magnificent country had become the Lord's. In July 1830, Dr Duff opened a school in Calcutta. The score or so of Hindu youths that took their seats on its benches on the opening day had, before a week passed, grown into hundreds. There was now, in short, a numerous and flourishing institution on the English model, in the capital of Bengal. The young Brahmins were thirsting to be taught, they were eager especially to acquire the English tongue. Not less eager was their teacher to make them proficients in that tongue, but along with the English there came to the Hindu mind the unveiling of a new world. The English language was the key that admitted them into the whole circle of the literature, the science, and the religion of Europe. This result, although not foreseen by the Hindus, was what the missionary had reckoned upon. The sacred books of the Brahmins, as is well known, contain a system of philosophy and a system of religion, inseparably conjoined and blended. The two claim the same Divine origin, plead the same infallible authority, and must, by consequence, stand or fall together. This will prepare us for the crisis that eventually ensued in the classes of the Institution of Calcutta. The astronomy of Newton and La Place had exploded the astronomy of the Brahmins. But the disaster, for so did it appear to the Hindus, did not end with the overthrow of the Brahmini- cal astronomy, the Brahminical theology, which was mixed up with and largely founded upon it, was shattered along with it, and began to totter to its fall. Of the youth in the Institution, the faith of some in the religion of Brahminism was seriously shaken, in the case of others it was wholly DISRUPTION WORTHIES. uprooted, and in the case of a few the doubts and convictions thus awakened ripened into a firm belief in the truth of Christianity and a cordial acceptance of the Gospel. But the change extended far beyond the walls of the Institution and the city of Calcutta. From this school, in a few years, came forth a body of educated natives, familiar with the English Scriptures, and this new race diffused around them, in the offices and relations they came afterwards to fill, a healthy influence, which began to leaven public opinion, and to undermine, as we shall afterwards find, the foundations of those systems which had stood for so many ages, their truth unquestioned and their power dominant, that the Brahmins believed that they would stand unshaken to all time. More labourers were required to carry on with efficiency a scheme of operations, the value of which had been well tested, and the sphere of which was continually widening. In the second year of his Indian career Dr Duff was joined by several ordained missionaries from Scot- land, who shared his labours in the Institution, among whom was Dr Thomas Smith, now his successor in the chair of Evangelistic Theology. Not only so; in 1835 an institution similar to that at Calcutta was established at Bombay, under the presidency of the Rev. Dr John Wilson, who had come out to India some years previously under the direction of the Scottish Missionary Society. And in 1837 a third insti- tution, also on the plan of that at Calcutta, was established at Madras under the direction of the Rev. John Anderson. Such was the machinery in action in India when the Disruption came upon the Church at home. Of all the Committees of the Church the Foreign Missions Committee had the largest sum in hand when the Disruption took place. That event made these funds the legal property of those who remained with the Establishment. The Free Church Committee was now the owner of but an empty treasury. Every penny had they lost. Nevertheless, they remained the heirs of three valuable possessions, any one of which was really of more value than all the money that was gone. T\\q. first was the HISTORICAL SKETCH. missionary spirit ; the second was the missionary staff, every member of which, without one exception, remained with the Free Church ; and the l/iird was the liberality of the people, which would speedily replace in the exhausted treasury an equal, and, it might be, a larger sum than that which had left it. The Free Church, therefore, at its first Assembly, though ignorant as yet at what decision, as betwixt the two Churches, the foreign missionaries might arrive, resolved to prosecute with unabated vigour her great foreign enterprise. At the Glasgow Assembly in October the Moderator was able to announce the adherence of ten out of the thirteen missionaries in India to the Free Church, viz., those in Calcutta and Bombay. The delay in obtaining the decision of the brethren at Madras was owing to no hesi- tation on their part, but solely to a disaster that befell the ship that carried their letter to Scotland. On the loth of July they had emitted j and despatched their adherence, but the Menou, which carried the mails, sunk in a storm in the Red Sea. A band of divers, some time after, descended to the wreck, brought up the mail-bags, and the document of the missionaries, in a dilapidated state, was received on the 17th of Nov- ember, after being some months at the bottom of the ocean. We need not add that it is carefully preserved. The reception of the Madras letter completed the adherence of the Indian missionaries, and, along with them, there passed over to the Free Church all the native assistants, as did also the whole body of pupils and students in the head institu- tions and in the branch schools which had been planted in the towns lying around the capitals of the three Presidencies. As in Scotland, so too in India, all the financial resources and material appliances for carrying on the Mission had been swept away, and this department had to be built up again from the foundation. The Institution buildings at Calcutta and Bombay, the valuable libraries, the costly scientific apparatus, and the scholarships were all retained by the Establishment. The money value of this property, which DISRUPTION WORTHIES. had been created chiefly by the efforts of Drs Duff and Wilson, was estimated at some ^20,000. The sacrifice was submitted to. The missionary spirit being intensified thereby, the damage inflicted on the material machinery of the mission was speedily repaired ; the empty treasury was filled afresh. New and equally commodious Institution buildings arose to replace those which had been lost. The crowd of students which occupied the benches of the Institutions was greater than ever ; and the work inside the Institution walls and outside at the preaching stations went on with continuity unbroken and vigour unabated. Let us trace briefly the steady progress of the Mission to what it has now grown to. The annual revenue of the Indian Mission at the outset was ;^I200. "Instead of twelve hundred it ought to be twelve thousand," wrote Duff to Dr Inglis, the Convener of the Foreign Missions Committee. Read in the then cold missionary atmosphere of Scotland, these seemed the words of one beside himself "Is the man mad?" wrote the Convener on the margin of the letter which contained this astounding proposition. Not many years thereafter this seeming extravagance was converted into an actual reality. Failing health compelled Duff in 1835 to seek the restorative influence of his native air. During the years he spent at home, he visited all the cities and parishes of Scotland, and thrilled his audiences by his impassioned appeals on behalf of India. It was Duff who was the first to make that great country really known to the people of Scotland. They knew that it existed, for they had seen its place on the map, but that was nearly all they knew about it. It was Duff that enabled them to realise its vast extent, the inexhaustible riches of its soil, the stupendous grandeur of its scenery, the foul and revolting superstitions with which it was darkened, and the moral and spiritual ruin in which its millions lay whelmed and perishing. These pictures, rich and glowing like the land they portrayed, never left the memories of those who had listened to the great missionary orator. HISTORICAL SKETCH. India was no longer to them a mere name, a figuration on tlie map, Ij'ing within certain degrees of latitude and longitude ; it was a real land, it was the abode of human interests and passions ; it was, alas 1 a land of darkness ; it was a vast prison-house in which millions of wretched bondmen were shut up, and, unpiticd and unhelped, lay groaning in the fetters of the strongest of all the Paganisms. The people of Scotland could now sympathise with the Hindu nations because they could now realise them. The fountains of their compassion, and by consequence of their liberality, were opened, and by the time that Duff had ended his visitation of Scotland, and was ready to sail for India, the year's income of the Foreign Missions from Scotland had been raised to the impossible sum — as it had been deemed only a few j-ears before — of £12,000. This income was cut down, was annihilated as we have seen b)- the Disruption. The Free Church started a second time in this great enterprise with ;^300 in its treasury. But the sum was soon enlarged by the liberality of her people. Notwithstanding that the Free Church had on her hands the manifold herculean labours of reorganisation, she was enabled in this the first year of her existence to give £6^0^ to the India Missions, which was more than half what the unbroken Church had contributed in its best year. Three great missionary centres, as we have seen, had been established in India ; to these a fourth was now added. The first three were planted on the coast, the fourth was set down in the centre of India, at Nagpore, and the Rev. Stephen Hislop was called to preside over it. It was resolved, over and above this extension of the field in India, to enlarge the sphere of the Foreign Missions so as to embrace all our dependencies not already included in the Colonial Scheme. South Africa was now added to the Foreign Mission field. This multiplication of stations, and by consequence of labourers, left the annual income inadequate for the inevitably increased expenditure. Dr Duff was summoned home a second time to revive the missionary' DISRUPTION WORTHIES. spirit. His appeals were not less eloquent, and his success not less great than on occasion of his earlier visit. In room of church-door collections — the method by which the fund hitherto had mainly been supported — he substituted in many cases congregational associations, with quarterly collections, and so placed the income on a less fluctuating and uncertain basis. In 1851-52 it was ;i^io,9ii,or rather more than ^4000 above the point at which it stood in 1844. In 1855-56 it had risen to ^14,219. In 1873-74 to .£'19,959; and in 1877-78 to ^24,006, its highest point. The year 1879 was the fiftieth of the existence of the Foreign Mission Scheme. Its Jubilee year was not financially its best, the revenue showing a recess of ^727, a circumstance doubtless attribut- able to the commercial calamities of that year. There is ground for believing, however, that the annual income of the Foreign Missions will soon and permanently rise to what it was in 1879, — and, it may be, mount higher, seeing its normal condition since 1843 has been that of progress. The income is growing richer, the labourers are becoming more numerous, and the field is widening, but what of the harvest? Do any fruits appear? After long centuries of neglect, and but one short half century of labour, are we entitled to speak of the harvest ? Is it not greatly too soon ? It is matter of profound thankfulness to God that already, though we have hardly done more than begun to sow, a few ripe ears — presage of the future harvest — have been gathered — some sheaves have been carried home. Confining our view meanwhile to the Indian portion of the vast field, let us note the general results, chiefly of a preparatory kind, which have been achieved. The India of to-day is not the India of fifty years ago. There is now motion in the heavy stagnant moveless atmosphere that then brooded over it. There is a loosening in the foundations of Hinduism : it begins to be mistrusted and doubted by multitudes of the natives. Their Shasters, or holy books, are read with less submission to their teaching. The Brahmin speaks with a dim- HISTORICAL SKETCH. inislicd authority. The festivals have been shorn of half their pomp, and their annual celebration is attended by decreasing crowds. Many of the cruel and horrible rites of their superstition have ceased to be prac- tised : Suttee has been abolished, female infanticide suppressed. The widow, instead of being compelled to immolate herself on the funeral pile of her husband, is free to re-marry ; and the Hindu mother, on the festival day in January, no longer throws her infant into the Ganges as an offering to the goddess Gunga : she throws a cocoanut into the stream in room of her child. The fetters of caste are being thrown off. The holy stream of the Ganges is beginning to lose its virtue. In short, Brahminism has been shattered, and that whole system of society which was reared on this basis has been shattered along with it, and gives signs of passing away. An ever-growing stream of educated youth is being poured into the nation through the Missionary Institutions and Government Colleges. These bring with them Western ideas, which, with steady and irresistible force, are displacing the time-honoured, but also time-worn prejudices and traditions of the Indian world, and bearing down Shaster and temple. Brahmin and Fakir, with the whole system of delusion, demoralisation, and misery of which they are the pillars, into the grave. " Not in all history," says a truly competent and trustworthy witness, Dr George Smith, in his valuable tractate, Fifty Years of Foreign Missions, "is there a record of such a spiritual and intellectual revolution as these fifty years have witnessed in India, north and south." But fruits still more precious begin to appear. It is not a new social India only that is coming into view. A Christian India is rising to reward the missionary, and to change a past of darkness and bondage to the millions of that land, into a future of light and freedom. This was the one grand ultimate result contemplated from the beginning by the founders of the India Mission. They adopted the educational method as the best for arriving at this great end, which they knew, DISRUPTION WORTHIES. working on these lines, they would reach, not immediately, but after the lapse of years, but surely in the end. Accordingly, their teaching has all along been largely impregnated with religious truth. It was not literature and science only in which they initiated the youth which enrolled themselves by thousands in their institutions and schools, they took care also to instruct them in the evidences of Christianity, and the principles of Evangelical religion. The results of this method of operating have been threefold : — First, there has issued from the halls of the institutions a class of youths whose faith in Brahminism, and in all religion along with it, has been destroyed. They are sceptics. Second, there are others who have not only cast off their belief in Hinduism, but have become convinced of the truth and divinity of Christianity. They are believers, though not converted men. Third, there is a class who have felt the saving influence of Christianity on their hearts. The Spirit working along with their instructors, has convinced them of sin, and they have come to the Saviour. They are true Christians. From this select class the Free Church has been able to gather a small but choice band of preachers, for the great work of India's evangelisation ; which it was foreseen from the first, though necessarily begun by ordained missionaries from Scotland, must be taken up and carried forward by truly converted and thoroughly qualified native preachers, who know the feelings and habits, and speak the tongue of their countrymen. It is worth all the labour which has been bestowed to know that at length the Free Church has such a body of preachers in her service in India, and that in course of time, by the means now in operation, this Evan- gelical army will be irKreased an hundredfold, and not a village or district but will be visited by them, and the Gospel preached through- out the whole of that mighty realm, and then India shall be the Lord's. Half-a-century ago India was closed by its own unbroken prejudices ; in vain would the messengers of salvation have gone forth into it. But the ground has since been prepared, inveterate and hostile beliefs have HIS TO RICA L SKE TCH. been shattered, and these bearers of "good tidings" now go forth at the right moment "to proclaim the opening of the prison to them that are bound." Since 1850-55, this method of operation — namely, by native preachers, has been in use; that is, for a quarter of a century. In 1856, the Free Church had at least nine native ministers able to proclaim in some of the Indian tongues "the unsearchable riches of Christ." Among her agents were Mohammedans, Parsees, and Hindus. In Hindustani, in Guzerati, in Mahratti, in Tamil, in Teluga, and in several other dialects of India the Gospel has been and is being preached. On Sabbaths, and throughout the week, thousands of adults are hearing the glad tidings in village after village, and bungalow after bungalow. The steps of some pagoda perhaps form a pulpit, and the shadow of the idol, it may be, serves as a canopy for the preacher. At times in the early dawn, at other times in the brilliant light of an Eastern moon, do the mission- aries go forth and gather the natives round them, and seek to guide them to Him who is " the True Light." It does not follow that because only a select few of our Indian Christian converts become preachers that the rest are lost to the public service of the Gospel. On the contrary, they are utilised as teachers, catechists, or as private members of the native congregations, with which India in now beginning to be dotted. In one capacity or another these now numerous converts serve in the great Christian army, and contribute each his modicum of influence to help forward and consum- mate that mightiest and most beneficent of all revolutions now in pro- gress in India — the substitution of Hinduism by the blessed Gospel. Since the year named above, it has been the aim of both the Church at home and the missionaries abroad to give prominence to the evangelistic over the educational in the India Mission by planting preaching stations throughout the country, and nourishing them up into congregations, which might ultimately become self-supporting. This is DISRUPTION WORTHIES. but the orderly development of the system as planned at first, even that of gradual extension outwards in all directions from a common centre. In carrying this expansion into effect, the method pursued has been to begin by planting in the district fixed upon a school for anglo-vernacular education, conducted by native converts. At these stations, the time and strength of the catechists and preachers have been nearly equally divided between instructing the young in the school and preaching to the adult population at their homes, or in the villages, or in the market-places. Whenever at any of these out-stations conversions by God's grace are multiplied so as to permit of a congregation being constituted, the native flock is placed under a native shepherd, and the evangelistic now merges into the pastoral. As soon as the evangelisa- tion of the district has been placed on that footing, the missionaries are left free to advance with their apparatus of means and labourers into the regions beyond. It has pleased Him who waters and causeth to grow what His servants plant, to bless their efforts. The seed sown at the four central institutions in India has in each case grown into a sapling, and that sapling has expanded into a tree with outspreading branches, like the banyan tree of the same land, celebrated by Milton as — " Spreading her arms. Branching so broad and long, that in the ground The bended t^vigs took root, and daughters grow About the mother tree, a pillared shade." "The Church's native congregations of baptised heathen," says Dr G. Smith, in his " Fifty Years of Foreign Missions," " now number twenty-eight, with 3500 communicants, and 4100 baptised adherents, besides 800 catechumens, all under their own 'called' or native ministers." There are thirty-one mission-stations. At and from these centres forty missionaries evangelise. Of these, twenty-one are ordained ministers from Scotland, three are medical graduates, and the remaining sixteen HISTORICAL SKETCH. arc native preachers. This mission-staff directs 20S Christian workers of all grades, English and vernacular. This evangelistic army of 248 is assisted by 234 teachers. These being not yet Christian, though under Christian influence, labour in the secular work of the Mission, making a total agency of 482. Each of the four parent institutions has a numerous retinue of branch schools distributed throughout the surrounding villages. Accord- ing to the latest returns, these, along with the Anglo-vernacular schools had an attendance of 4268 male pupils. In vernacular and Anglo- vernacular schools for girls, there were 2570 scholars, making a total of 6S38 pupils in the Indian Mission Schools. Still wider is the field over which the Free Church operates through its Foreign Missions Committee. Since the origination of the greatest of its missions, which undoubtedly is India, with its 250,000,000 of British subjects, other territories, of no mean size, have been added to its already vast domain. These are Syria, South Africa, and, more recently, Melanesia, or "New Hebrides." As regards Syria, most interesting it is to aid in carrying back the Gospel to its early home, but the American Presbyterian Church have so long and so successfully evan- gelised in Palestine as to have made the field in a sense their own, and the Free Church, feeling that its evangelisation could not be in better hands, aims at acting in concert with their American brethren, and has only two agents in Syria, the one an ordained missionary, the other a medical missionary and teacher, both acting in the Lebanon. Africa comes next ; equal to eight Indias in size, but greatly inferior to it in population. Africa was a land for which no man cared. Century after century the cloud that covered it remained unlifted. Even the missionary did not dare to cross its boundary and explore the horrors of which it was the theatre. It was approached only by the slave-dealer, who received his frightful cargo and retired. But now the hour of Africa's redemption has come. Since the beginning of the DISRUPTION WORTHIES. present century its regeneration has gone rapidly on. First, in 1806, came the acquisition of the Cape by British arms ; then followed its colonisation by British settlers, and these were succeeded by Protestant missionaries. The Kaffrarian Mission, founded by the Glasgow Mission- ary Society in 1 821, was transferred to the Free Church the year after the Disruption, and since then, despite the occasional ravages of war, the Mission has continued to increase in both ministers and congregations. Lovedale, its chief seat, is 700 miles north-east of Cape Town. Its Industrial and Educational College is the most flourishing in all South Africa. It has 400 students paying fees, and under the management of the Rev. Dr Stewart it has become a model of such institutions. There are, besides, Training schools for Kaffir girls. Its church is attended by 2000 natives, of whom 570 are communicants. There are six other churches, with their pastors, and teachers, and Scripture readers. In 1867, the territory adjoining Kaffirland on the north, namely Natal, running up to the borders of Zululand, was adopted by the Free Church as a mission-field. This Mission though only in infancy has its three stations, and small congregations of Zulus, which are sure to grow should the land have rest from war. The greatest benefactor Africa has ever seen was Dr Livingstone. He gave his life for it, and the impulse communicated by his Christian heroism has already led to marvellous results, and promises to accomplish in the end the emancipation of the whole continent from the darkness of fetichism, which has so long overshadowed it, and the crimes and woes of slavery from which it has so long bled. The consent of the Churches and Missionary Societies of Britain in combination with its science and commerce, for the Christianisation and civilisation of Africa, presents a union as rare as it is beautiful of spiritual and material forces directed towards the attainment of an object unspeakably beneficent and surpassingly sublime, and is one of the most remarkable events of our times. It is to the honour of the Free Church that it has led the van HISTORICAL SKETCH. in this great movement. Entering Africa by the most accessible of all the four or five possible routes into the interior — viz., from the Indian Ocean by the Zambezi and the Shird — she has planted in 1875, in the heart of the country, on the shores of Lake Nyassa, a mission which is at once a church and a colony — a fountain of Evangelical truth, and a school of art and industry. It is Christian Europe in miniature trans- planted into the midst of fetich Africa. It is the growth of long centuries brought to the door of the poor African, and offered to him as an immediate possession. We who have toiled to achieve it do not grudge to endow with it this son of barbarism. We shall be none the poorer, and he will be greatly the richer. In the Livingstonia settlement on the shores of Lake Nyassa, the Free Church, through her Foreign Missions Committee and the Living- stonia Sub-Committee, direct the spiritual operations. The agricultural and trading affairs of the settlement are under the direction of a distinct and independent agency. While the former evangelises the adults, teaches the young, and heals the sick, the latter instructs the natives in the arts of civilised life, and especially do they take care to make them sensible how much better it is to live by tilling their own lands than by robbing those of their neighbours, and how much more enriching are the gains of honest commerce than the blood-money of the slave merchant- Thus it is a twofold warfare which is being waged from the central station of Livingstonia for the emancipation of that long enslaved land. The one assault is directed against the idol-priest, and the other against the man-stealer, and when Africa shall be rid of the pollution and suffering which these two vampires have inflicted upon her, what a blessed consummation will be hers 1 Then may be applied to her, in a modified sense, the symbol by which the Apocalyptist sets forth the happy condition of the Millennial Church, even that now, her former darkness chased away, there is in her " no night," and her slavery rooted out, there is in her " no more curse." DISRUPTION WORTHIES. The revenue of the Foreign Missions Committee from all sources, in 1878-79, amounted to ^45,165, 6s. 3d. It had an agency of 393 labourers. Its schools and colleges were 220, through which there passes year by year a stream of 15,000 youth of both sexes. This is exclusive of the much larger array of churches, schools, and labourers in the colonies. Into this goodly army of pastors, missionaries, and teachers, of congre- gations, institutions, and schools, have grown the 474 men who consti- tuted their first Free General Assembly in Tanfield Hall on the i8th of May, 1843. Their operations have opened out into a sphere whose circuit embraces all the continents and many of the islands of the globe, and convey their blessings to the nations and kindreds, the peoples and tongues that inhabit these vast and diversified realms. Little do India and Africa know at this hour what they owe to the men who have laboured and died in the cause of their evangelisation. But the day will come when they will be fully sensible of the debt. Through all the ages of the future Africa will mention with reverence and gratitude the name of Livingstone. The father will tell the heroic story to the son, as they sit together, at eve, beneath the shade of their banana- trees, and look forth on a land redeemed by the Gospel from its manifold unspeakable woes. In India too, an eternal remembrance awaits the names of Duff and Wilson, of Anderson and Hislop. When the names of kings and proconsols who have ruled her shall have been forgotten, when the fame of her great battles shall have faded, and the glory of her heroes have waxed dim, when Brahma shall have perished for ever from the earth, and the sanctuary of the living God shall rise where the idol's obscene fane now burdens the soil and pollutes the air, shining all down the ages will be seen the names of those who first carried to the shores of India and published to her sons "the Gospel of the grace of God." " They that be wise shall shine as the brightness of the firmament, and they that turn many to righteousness as the stars for ever and ever." HISTORICAL SKETCH. CHAPTER XI. ®})c %m% at tfjE Centre. ^ROM the humble Hall of Tanfield, where the Church, driven out ^_ ^ from the State, assembled to rally and reorganise, we have seen her spreading out on all sides, covering her native land of Scotland with churches and schools, planting Highlands and Lowlands with pastors, reinstituting the order and discipline of her courts, framing the machinery of her finance — in short, bringing into vigorous operation that whole order of things which had existed before the "fatal" as it was believed to be before it came — the " aiispicmis" as it was seen to be after it had passed, i8th of May. This was much ; and they who beheld it " were as men who dream," their hearts were filled with the joy of deliverance, and their tongues with the melody of thanksgiving, while it was said on every side, " What hath God wrought ! " But this was only the beginning. Having set up the " stakes " of her habitation in her own land, she lengthened her "cords" so as to bring within the sphere of her operations countries afar off, and peoples who had long sat in darkness. Her expatriated sons in the Colonies she followed with the ordinances of the Gospel, not giving way for an hour to the unbelieving fear that by this prodigality her children at home should come to lack bread. She began to grapple with the Popery of Continental Europe, recognising in the Roman apostacy the predicted Antichrist, and the Church's greatest foe. She unfurled the banner of the Cross in India, and proclaimed war against the strongest of all the paganisms, — Hindooism. Advanc- ing into the deep night of Africa, she kindled at the centre of that vast continent a lamp of blessed light, which will not cease to burn till that whole land, from the snowy Atlas to the storm-swept Cape, is illu- minated, and the cruel crushing doom which has so long pressed upon its nations lifted off. DISRUPTION WORTHIES- But, besides these great lines along which the Free Church of Scotland has so rapidly and powerfully developed, there are a number of side lines — a multitude of miscellaneous schemes, which it is impos- sible to include under any one category, in which her reforming and evangelising energies have found vent. These, though of a subordinate character, are nevertheless most important, as auxiliaries to the great ecclesiastical and missionary operations, out of which they spring, and to which they render support in return. Some of these, in a brief sketch like the present, we cannot even name. There are the following : — The Aged and Infirm Ministers' Fund ; the Widows' and Orphans' Fund ; the Pre-Disruption Ministers' Fund. There is the Sabbath Observance Committee ; there is the Temperance Committee. There are Local Missionary Societies, for supplementing the resources of the Church's Committees, or promoting special objects, such as the evangelisation of the Karens, the Santals, &c. There is the Mission to China, till lately so closely shut in, but now in God's wonderful providence open from end to end. There are the Girls' Schools in Syria and India, and there are associations for the aiding of students from Continental Protestant Churches. There are, moreover, Scholarships, Fellowships, and Bursaries for home students ; there is the Welfare of Youth Committee ; there are Students' Missionary Asso- ciations ; there is the Church Extension Building Fund, under the ener- getic direction of the Rev. Dr Adam ; there is the Pan-Presbyterian Council, and other schemes which we cannot even name. The amount of time, skill, and care which these multifarious managements demand and receive, it would not be easy estimating. They attest the existence in the Free Church of a liberality which is not exhausted by the sums it pours year by year into the general treasury of the Church, but which, after replenishing the central fund, overflows to the support of those subsidiary schemes which we have enumerated. These form a most gratifying proof of the vitalities and energies unceasingly at work in HIS TO RICA L Sk'E TCH. the Free Church, seeking to plant yet more deeply in Scotland, and to spread wider and yet wider over the earth, the kingdom of the Lord Jesus. Having surveyed the mechanism and seen how steady its working, and how vast the sweep of its operations, let us, before closing, take our stand a moment at the centre. What do we there behold? At the centre of this spiritual organisation we behold a Divine Person,— a great monarch ! The Disruption was, so to speak, the Jtnveiling of this glorious King. It was His unveiling as the Head of the Church, and head over all — of principalities and powers in heaven, of thrones and dominions on earth — to His body the Church. The Disruption was, first of all, the unveiling of Christ in His character of Head of the Church to the Church herself. During the evil days that preceded this epoch, the Church, to a large extent, had lost sight of Christ as her King. She had fixed her eye on earthly thrones : and, dazzled by their glory, she had suffered their occupants to usurp the prerogatives of Him whom God has set as King upon His holy hill of Zion. What was the consequence? The Spirit was withdrawn, the power of her ministrations ebbed away, and her work stood still, for her members, removed from the one grand centre of life and influence, had folded their hands, and lay sunk in slumber. Suddenly, the voices of a few earnest and faithful men — Erskine, M'Crie, Moncreifif, Thomson, and others — were heard, breaking the stillness, and crying to the Church, " Behold, thy King cometh." Hastily she arose and trimmed her lamp, and went forth to meet Him. And in what fashion did He return? Even as He was seen by the apocalyptist, having on His head a crown, in His hand a bow, and on His vesture and on His thigh a name written, " King of kings, and Lord of lords." The Church laid her undivided homage at His feet ; acknowledging Him as her Divine, sole, immediate, and eternal Sovereign. And by the same act by which she acknow- ledged His Headship did she assert and recover her own liberty. For DISRUPTION WORTHIES. if Christ be a King, the Church is a kingdom. If Christ be the first and highest of all kings, the Church is the first and freest of all kingdoms. But further, the Disruption was the unveiling of Christ's Headship to the world. If that glorious truth had waxed dim in the eyes of the Church, need we wonder that it had become totally obscured to the apprehension of the world. There was a King on the earth, the greatest of all kings, but the world knew Him not. But the Disruption — we mean that whole series of secessions or disruptions from the Establish- ment, which, commencing in 1732, culminated in 1843 — revealed once more that King to the world. The Church said to the foreign powers which had intruded into her domain, and climbed up to the throne of her King, "This is not your seat. Take hence your sceptres, your edicts, your patronages, and leave me free to obey my Lord, and to walk by the rule of His Word." And when the State refused, saying, "I know not your King, neither will I let you go," the Church rose up, and, severing her connection with the State, and leaving it to dispose of her temporal possessions as might seem good to it, she went forth, and with the measuring line of the Word in her hand she traced out anew the boundary line of her habitation, and in the midst of her restored taber- nacles she set up a throne whereon her king might sit. She did all this, not with the slow toil of a century, as at the Reformation, but in a day almost. In a single decade she had spread herself abroad, and filled the land, to its remotest borders, with congregations, churches, and schools. Men saw in this the visible unloosening of a mighty influence within her. That Divine power had been withheld for many a dreary year, it had ceased to work ; but anew it revealed itself in this sudden burst of vitality and expansion. The world saw that there was a King in the Church, not a doctrine of Headship onl)^, but a living potentate, who, when He pleases, can, with a power as mighty as that which brings back the day or restores the spring, raise up the Church when she has been cast down, enlighten her after the darkness of eclipse, or, when she HISTORICAL SKETCH. lies cold and dead, send the breath of a new Hfc tliroiif,di her, to chase her winter away, and clothe her anew with beauty and fruitfulness. The Free Church having herself accepted Christ as her King, was in a condition to go forth and call upon the world to accept Him as its King also. This she did by sending missionaries abroad to call upon the heathen to submit themselves to the sceptre of Him who is King of Zion by believing the Gospel. Where does the Church find her warrant for sending her missionaries to every land on earth ? Whence has she authority to say to every king and government, Open the doors of your kingdom, and let the Gospel be preached throughout the length and breadth of your realm ? Where is her right to require of every kindred and tribe under heaven that they shall believe and obey the Gospel? Her right to do all this does not lie merely in that the Gospel is tnie. Many things are both true and important which we have no right to require others to believe and act upon. The Church's authority for requiring of every human being submission to the Gospel lies in the doctrine of the Headship. Both the message and the messenger come from Him who is " Head over all to His body the Church." " By what authority," demanded Charles IX. of Calvin, " By what authority do you send your preachers and missionaries into France ? " " By the authority of Him who made you King of France," replied the intrepid reformer. He held that he fulfilled a clear dictate of piety in sending competent men to labour in preaching the Gospel wherever it was practicable, "seeing that it is the sovereign duty of all kings and princes to do homage to Him who has given them rule." And while the Church summoned the ends of the earth "to fear Him" who is her King, she was not unmindful of her duty in this respect to governments at home. She began to preach to them the forgotten doctrine that the Father has given Christ " to be head over all to the Church which is His body;" and she called upon them to do homage to this King, by recognising the rights and respecting the DISRUPTION WORTHIES. liberties of His Church which is His kingdom, and conducting their own administration on the principles of the Gospel of Him by whom "kings reign and princes decree justice." Here, then, is the source of power. According as the Church withdraws from or again approximates this grand central influence, so will her condition be flourishing or decaying, advancing or falling back. Near her King she is near the light ; His glory will beautify her, and His power will act through her. Far away from Him, darkness will cover her, and langour will weigh upon all her movements. The doctrine of the Headship of Christ has ever been and ever will be that of the standing or the falling of the Church of Scotland. It was this doctrine which brought her out of the great prison-house of the Papacy. The banner uplifted by Knox had this blazoned upon it, even that neither Rome on the one hand, nor the State on the other, but Christ alone is Head of the Church, and that His voice, and His only, must she hear and obey. It was under this banner that Melville fought the battle of the Church's independence against the usurpations of the sixth James. It was with the same great doctrine that Henderson met the yet more audacious assault of the first Charles. With this banner floating over her, is the Church seen entering the darkness of the "twenty-eight years," — that sad yet glorious era of our history. Is it battle-field ? is it scaffold ? the watchword is still " Christ a King." Every glimpse we have of the Church amid the tempests of that cloud, it is with her banner displayed ; and when at last she comes forth again into full view, it is with her old banner broadly unfurled. " Christ a King " was the word of her testimony, and by it she overcame. Once more, in our own day, the doctrine of the "Headship" has attested its undiminished and undying force. " Christ a King," said the first Secession. " Christ a King," said the second Secession — viz., the " Relief." " Christ a King " once more, and for the third time, said the Disruption. In this "sign" has the Church of Scotland conquered in HISTORICAL SKETCH. the past, and in tliis " sign " must she continue to conquer in the future. Let us go forward, but let us remember that there can be no advance save on the former lines ; no new victories save beneath the old standard. If the day should ever come when that banner should be folded up and put away ; if the day should ever come when the " Headship " shall be, we do not say dropped from the Church's creed, but displaced from the position it has occupied, from the days of Knox downward, in the front of the Church's testimony, " Ichabod " will be written upon her, and the list of her triumphs will be numbered and finished. But not in Scotland —the land which God has chosen above all lands for the vindication of the royal prerogatives of His Son— shall this great truth ever be disowned. It is written on every page of our Church's history. It is engraven on the tombstones of all our martyrs. Behind us, and all around us, are the mementoes of it. How, then, can it ever be for- gotten ? On many a day— on dark days and on bright days— has that banner been unfurled, but there awaits it — oh, welcome and happy day —one other grand unfolding of it. Under this same banner it is that the dispersed of the Scottish Israel shall be gathered into one. And when that day shall have come, and Jerusalem is " a quiet habitation, a tabernacle that shall not be taken down," over her gates and palaces shall be seen to float the old banner, not hung out as a summons to battle, but displayed as a symbol that the Church, more eminently and visibly than ever, has now become the residence — the seat and throne, of the great King, for " the name of the city from that day shall be, The Lord is there." ^htch of tijr i3tsntpt:an lag. By //fc// a//i././;a'. HE fital die has been cast. On Thursday last the religion of Scotland was disestablished, and a principle ^ recognised in its stead, which has often served to check and - modify the religious influences, but which in no age or country ever yet existed as a religion ; ' i \ ^ > ^ "ot but that it has performed an ^La ^^j^ '' "-^ important part, even in Scotland. ._-:: — .- KA"-- - It has sen-cd hitherto to control the Christianity of the Establish- ment— to dilute it to such a degree, if we may so speak, as to render it bearable to statesmen without God. And now its appointed work seems over. It constituted at best but the drag-chain and the hook — things that have no vocation apart from the chariot. But the time has at length arrived in which the State will bear with but the hook and the drag apart from that which they checked, with but the diluting pabulum apart from that which it diluted ; and so a mere negation of Christianity, iU^. SKETCH OF THE DISRUPTION DA Y. an antagonistic force to the religious power, has been virtually recog- nised as exclusively the principle which is to be entrenched in the parish churches of Scotland. The day that witnessed a transaction so momentous, can be a day of no slight mark in modern history. It stands, between two distinct states of things, a signal to Christendom. It holds out its sign to these latter times, that God and the world have drawn oflf their forces to opposite sides, and that His sore and great battle is soon to begin. The future can alone adequately develope the more important con- sequences of the event ; — at present we shall merely attempt presenting the reader with a few brief notes of the aspect which it exhibited. The early part of Thursday had its periods of fitful cloud and sunshine, and the tall picturesque tenements of the old town now lay dim and indistinct in shadow, now stood prominently out in the light. There was an unusual throng and bustle in the streets at a comparatively early hour, which increased greatly as the morning wore on towards noon. We marked, in especial, several knots of Moderate clergy hurrying along to the levee, laughing and chatting with a vivacity that reminded one rather of the French than of the Scotch character, and evidently in that state of nervous excitement which, in a certain order of minds, the near approach of some very great event, indeterminate and unappreciable in its bearings, is sure always to occasion. As the morning wore on, the crowds thickened in the streets, and the military took their places. The principles involved in the anticipated Disruption gave to many a spectator a new association with the long double line of dragoons that stretched adown the High Street, far as the eye could reach, from the venerable Church of St Giles, famous in Scottish story, to the humbler Tron. The light flashed fitfully on their long swords and helmets, and the light scarlet of their uniforms con- trasted strongly with the dingier vestments of the masses, in which they seemed as if more than half engulphed. When the sun glanced out, the SKETCH OF THE DISRUPTION DA Y. eye caught something pecuharly picturesque in the aspect of the Calton Hill, with its imposing masses of precipices, overtopped by towers and monuments, and its intermingling bushes and trees, now green with the soft, delicate foliage of May. Between its upper and under line of rock, a dense living belt of human beings girdled it round, sweeping gradually downwards from shoulder to base, like the sash of his order on the breast of a nobleman. The Commissioner's procession passed, with sound of trumpet and drum, and marked by rather more than the usual splendour. There was much bravery and glitter, satin and embroidery, varnish and gold lace — no lack, in short, of that cheap and vulgar magnificence which can be got up to order by the tailor and upholsterer for carnivals and Lord Mayors' days. But it was felt by the assembled thousands, as the pageant swept past, that the real spectacle of the day was one of a different character. The morning levee had been marked by an incident of a somewhat ex- traordinary nature, and which history, though in these days little disposed to mark prodigies and omens, will scarcely fail to record. The crowd in the chamber of presence was very great, and there was, we believe, a considerable degree of confusion and pressure in consequence. Suddenly — whether brushed by some passer-by, jostled rudely aside, or merely affected by the tremor of the floor communicated to the partitioning — a large portrait of William the Third, that had held its place in Holyrood for nearly a century and a-half, dropped heavily from the walls. " There," exclaimed a voice from the crowd, " there goes the Revolution Settlement." For hours before the meeting of the Assembly, the galleries of St Andrew's, with the space behind, railed off for the accommodation of office-bearers not members, were crowded to suffocation, and a vast assemblage still continued to besiege the doors. The galleries from below had the " overbellying " appearance in front, described by Blair, and seemed as if filled up to the roof behind. Immediately after noon, the Moderate members began to drop in one by one, and to take their SKETCH OF THE DISRUPTION DA Y. places on the Moderator's right, while the opposite benches remained well-nigh empty. What seemed most fitted to catch the eye of a stranger was the rosy appearance of the men, and their rounded contour of face and feature. Moderatism in the present day is evidently not injuring its complexion by the composition of " Histories of Scotland," like that of Robertson, or by prosecuting such " Inquiries into the Human Mind," as those instituted by Reid. We were reminded, in glancing over the benches, of a bed of full-blown peonj^-roses glistening after a shower; and could one have but substituted among them the monk's frock for the modern dress-coat, and given to each crown the shaven tonsure, not only would they have passed admirably for a conclave of monks met to determine some weighty point of abbey income or right of forestry, but for a conclave of one determinate age — that easily-circumstanced middle age, in which the days of vigil and maceration being over, and the disturbing doctrines of the Reformation not yet aroused from out of their long sleep, the Churchman had little else to do than just amuse himself with concerns of the chase and the cellar, the larder and the dormitory. The benches on the left began slowly to fill ; and on the entrance of every more distinguished member, a burst of recognition and welcome shook the gallery. Their antagonists had been all permitted to take their places in ominous silence. The music of the pageant was heard outside ; the Moderator entered, attired in his gown ; and ere the appearance of the Lord High Commissioner, preceded by his pages and mace-bearer, and attended by the Lord Provost, the Lord Advocate, and the Solicitor-General, the Evangelical benches had filled as densely as those of their opponents ; and the cross benches, appropriated in perilous times like the present to a middle party, careful always to pitch their principles below the sufiering point, were also fully occupied. Never before was there seen so crowded a General Assembly ; the number of members had been increased beyond all precedent by the double returns, and almost every member was SKETCH OF THE nrSIHUPT/ON DAY. in his place. The Moderator opened the proceedings by a deeply impressive prayer ; but though the silence within was complete, a Babel of tumultuary sounds outside, and at the closed doors, expressive of the intense anxiety of the excluded multitude, had the effect of rendering him scarcely audible in the more distant parts of the building. . . . The Moderator, Dr Welsh, rose and addressed the House in a few impressive sentences. There had been an infringement, he said, on the constitution of the Church, an infringement so great that they could not constitute its General Assembly without a violation of the union between Church and State, as now authoritatively defined and declared. He was therefore compelled, he added, to protest against proceeding further ; and unfolding a document which he held in his hand, he read, in a slow and emphatic manner, the Protest of the Church. For the first few seconds the extreme anxiety to hear defeated its object — the universal, Hush, hush, occasioned considerably more noise than it allayed ; but the momentary confusion was succeeded by the most unbroken silence, and the reading went on till the impressive close of the document, when he laid it down on the table of the House, and solemnly departed. He was followed, at a pace's distance, by Dr Chalmers ; Dr Gordon and Dr Patrick M'Farlan immediately succeeded ; and then the numerous sitters on the thickly occupied benches behind filed after them, in a long unbroken line, which for several minutes together continued to thread the passage to the eastern door, till at length only a blank space remained. As the well-known faces and forms of some of the ablest and most eminent men that ever adorned the Church of Scotland glided along the current, to disappear from the Courts of the State institution for ever, there rose a cheer from the galleries, and an impatient cr>' of " Out, out," from the ministers and elders not members of the Assembly, now engaged in sallying forth to join with them, from the railed area behind. The cheers subsided, choked in not a few instances in tear.':. The occasion was bv far too solemn for the commoner manifestations of SKETCH OF THE DISRUPTION DA V. either censure or approval. It excited feelings that lay too deep for expression. There was a marked peculiarity in the appearance of their opponents, a blank, restless, pivot-like turning of head from the fast emptying benches to one another's faces, but they uttered no word, not even in whispers. At length, when the last of the withdrawing party had disappeared, there ran from bench to bench a hurried, broken whispering — "How many.'" "how many.?" "A hundred and fifty.'" "No"; "yes." " Four hundred .' " "No"; — and then for a moment all was still again. The scene that followed we deemed one of the most striking of the day. The empty vacated benches stretched away from the Moderator's seat, in the centre of the building, to the distant wall. There suddenly glided into the front rows a small party of blighted- looking men, that, contrasted with the well-known forms of our Chalmerses and Gordons, Candlishes and Cunninghams, M'Farlans, Brewsters, and Dunlops, reminded one of the thin and blasted corn-ears of Pharaoh's vision, and, like them, too, seemed typical of a time of famine and destitution. Who are these .-' was the general query ; but no one seemed to know. At length the significant whisper ran along the house, " The Forty." There was a grin of mingled contempt and compassion visible on many a broad Moderate face, and a too audible titter shook the gallery. There seemed a degree of incongruity in the sight, that partook highly of the ludicrous. For our own part, we were so carried away by a vagrant association, and so missed Ali Baba, the oil kettle, and the forty jars, as to forget for a time that, at the doors of these unfortunate men, lies the ruin of the Scottish Establishment. The aspect of the Assembly sank when it had in some degree recovered itself, into that expression of tame and flat commonplace, which it must be henceforth content to bear, until roused happily into short-lived activity by the sharp paroxysms of approaching destruction. W"" ^ REV, WILLIAM ARITOT, M.A =^^-?. Milliaw ^rnot S wc sit under the shadow of a lofty hill, \vc can ajjprcciate the beauty of the green turf, and of the wild flowers at our feet, but we cannot estimate '^ Ifll ''^^ grandeur aright ; it is too near us. It was thus we felt when William Arnot was taken from us. He had been known to us for many years ; we knew the warmth of his heart, the beauty and vigour of his mind ; we had rested under the shadow of his friendship ; but when death widened the distance between us and we gazed on the loved form as it receded from our view, then we felt not only how good but how great he was ! This feeling was deepened when we looked around and could not find among the foremost ranks of the Christian Church one gifted and graced as he. His personal appearance was impressive. He stood rather above the average height, with shoulders strong and massive ; his frame, supported on well-set limbs, was of corresponding strength. His head was large and deep ; till later years his hair was black. His face was tremulously full of thought and emotion, which glistened in his dark eye, and played round his full lips ; yet the expression of the eye was thoughtful and loving, it had no fierceness in it. We think we see him still, entering DISRUPTION WORTHIES. the pulpit with slow and pensive step, the manner which naturally expressed his mental state. The three outstanding features of his preaching were — first, the amount of embodied thought it contained. His sermons were thoughtful — eminently so — but the clear conception was always clothed in illustration. There is a faculty of decerning the analogy between God's Word and God's works, of tracing the Worker's name and the similarity of the handiwork in both, possessed by some men. Such a gift Mr. Arnot had. If an incident happened to him of the most ordinary description he could find in it the illustration of a wide-stretching law, and could unravel its details so that you were delighted with the discovery. Or if some abstract doctrine lay in his path, he took it up, and reversing the process, followed it down from the region of thought to the highway of daily life trodden by the feet of men. Once he enforced brotherly kindness thus :— " Crossing the Meadows, yesterday, I saw before me two ragged boys running on the pathway. One of them had shoes, the other was barefooted. Suddenly the}- came to a place where the way had been recently gravelled ; the stones cut the bare feet and the boy without the shoes limped and suddenly stopped ; his companion looked round, saw the difficulty, backed like a horse to the edge of the gravel, and bent forward his head and shoulders. With a leap and a merry shout his comrade sprang on his back, and gaily the burden-bearer trotted with him over the stones." The second feature of his pulpit work was its power. It was effectual. If he wished you to understand any truth, he calmly and deliberately, word after word, printed it on your mind. If he wished to reach the conscience he remembered how the truth reached his own heart, and he employed his knowledge and experience to send the arrow home to yours. This gave his power to his preaching. He understood the thoughts and the feelings of his fellow-men. He fully sympathised with them and thus he could effectually make them sympathise with him. WILLIAM ARXOT. But the dominant prevailing truth and spirit of his preaching was the Gospel, and the love of Christ. Even the most terrible and alarming texts were handled so as to give new and precious views of our Saviour's grace. In reading the words of our Lord, "where their worm dicth not, and the fire is not quenched," he paused and said, " These words are full of love, for they were uttered by Christ, that the poor sinner who heard them might escape, and never come to that place of torment. In mercy Christ hurls this fearful thunderbolt not at them, but on their path, to make them stop and turn. No hand but His could wield it, no heart but His would do so." Thus he spoke of his Lord, and thus he sought to win souls. Let us briefly sketch his life. It began in the village of Scone, Perthshire, in the year 1808. His father was the tenant of a small farm at Forgandenny, about four miles from Perth. William was the youngest of a family of seven, and his mother died at his birth. His parents and his ancestors seem to have been sober, intelligent, and industrious folk, with that solid basis of Scriptural earnest religion which long distinguished our Scotch peasantrj-. He never knew his mother, yet he clung to the faintest tradition regarding her with fondest affection. Surely all the dying mother's love and tenderness passed into the heart and character of her babe, and made him what he afterwards was, for such exuberant kindness was not inherited from his wise, good, but unimpulsive father. The boy grew up, carefully tended among the scenes of rural life and beauty of nature's scenery. All these influences sank deep into a retentive memory and a susceptible nature. The cottage, the trees, the stream, the boat, the green field and heathy upland were ever with him to his latest day. His school education was such as the parish schools afforded, and made him a sound good English scholar. But children in such a rank of life early begin to share in their parents' toil, and William when only entering his teens, herded the cattle and n/S/^ UP 77 ON U 'OR TH7F.S. helped his father on the farm, till when about sixteen years of age he became a gardener, and that employment for three or four )-ears left an aroma of fiowers in his mind which never passed away. In that occupa- tion he was associated with his brother Robert, and this companionship proved the turning-point of his life. His brother was his superior in everything ; specially he felt Robert's spiritual and intellectual influence. Robert fell into feeble health, and ultimately into hopeless paralysis. This drew William closer to him, he helped to move him, aided him in his studies at home, and spent his leisure and his strength in soothing and comforting him, till death, in 1828, separated the brothers. Deeply did the separation affect him who was left. The light of eternity from the gate of that world into which that loved one had entered, shone into his soul, and kindled there an earnest desire and a steady purpose to devote his life to the service of Christ and his fellow-men. William had already begun studying Latin, and now commenced that hard long struggle which so many Scotch students know ere they reach the object of their ambition in the Church, in law, or in medicine. He carried his Latin grammar to the garden with him, conned it on the way in early morning, snatched a look at it at the end of digging a furrow, or at any minute of rest, yet always careful that his work should never suffer. During this time he wrought hard, and lived so economically that in November, 1828, he had gathered twenty pounds. With this capital he commenced his student life, and after a year's private study, entered Glasgow University in October, 1829. His life there was a happy one, for he had high aims and steadily pursued them. He had dear, good friends at the College, James Hamilton, and James Halley, and earnestly, yet cheerily, they studied, talked, and lived together. He and a companion shared a single room, which was both bedroom and study. He writes home : — " I am very comfortable. If I had a bit of the pig at dinner-time, I could keep my expenses of meat, lodging, and light, within five shillings a-week." That was thirteen pounds a-ycar ! Such WILLIAM ARAOT. was the st)-lc of many a student at our Scotch colleges. Mr. Arnot was a good classical scholar, and most creditably passing all his examinations, was licensed in October, 1837. Not a month elapsed before he was appointed assistant to Rev. John Bonar, Minister of the parishes of Larbert and Dunipacc. It was a privilege to help so good a Minister, and it was esteemed such by the new assistant. Here, and in the beginning of his ministry in Glasgow, we find traces of weak health, of the mind overworking its willing, and in his case able, servant the body, and though they passed out of sight we fear they never passed away, but only hid themselves in his frame, to awake in after years with sudden, sad power. Not a year elapsed after his settlement at Larbert, when he was called to St. Peter's Church in Glasgow. He went, and there commenced his most laborious and most efficient ministiy. We cannot tell how often he was tempted away from Glasgow to other parts of the country and the world, but he never left it till, in 1863, he came to the Free High Church in Edinburgh. During these years many important events happened In 1843, the Disruption took place, and among the noble men who proved to the world that faith was still a stronger motive than money, Mr. Arnot gladly took his place, sharing the labours, the trials, with the honour. In July, 1844, he married the second daughter of Mr. Fleming of Clairmont, and found by his glad experience that undoubtedly this alliance was made by heaven. Four sons and five daughters blessed his happy home, and mourned his death. Next year he went to Montreal, to strengthen the Free Church cause in Canada, and remained some months. He did his work well, and enjoyed it. During his ministry in St. Peter's, his greatest and most efficient work as a pastor and an evangelist was done. The large congrega- tion was gathered in and nourished up into a high style of life. The young were his especial care. In Bible classes and in Sabbath schools Mr. Arnot moved a burning and a shining light, often did he travel DISRUPTION WORTHIES. to London to comply with the invitation of the Young Men's Christian Association of that city, and deliver a lecture to them in Exeter Hall. Two objects excited his earnest sympathy — the effort to gather the irreligious population to Christ, and the struggle against intemperance. A vigorous organisation was maintained to labour among the former, and against the evil of drunkenness his hand and his heart, his pen and his voice maintained an uncompromising warfare. His views of what temperance was were strictly Scriptural, and frequently the more extreme total abstainers thought him only half-hearted in the cause, while the fact was his temperance was a far wider, deeper thing than theirs. He writes to the Secretary of the Free Church Abstinence Society, " It is peculiarly necessaiy in our place, and with our difficulties, to be patient and charitable. I don't mean to counsel softness in dealing with the abominations, of drinking habits. I mean we should depend more on the sureness and sharpness of the edge than the mere boister- ousncss of the blow." After much discussion and some division in the Free High Church Congregation in 1 863, Mr. Arnot accepted the call, and came to Edinburgh, where the last twelve years of his life were spent. Most unwilling were his friends in St. Peter's to part with him, yet we never heard that Mr. Arnot regretted the change. The Edinburgh congregation was small, but steadily and surely under such a ministry, it grew till it took its place among the first in the city. All the refined experience of the past, guiding a loving heart and clear powerful mind, made Mr. Arnot's services to the Church and to society even more valued and more valuable than they had been in Glasgow. Of course the departments of labour were the same, and it is not necessary to detail them. Two events may be noted ; in 1870 he enjoyed, and so did America, a visit paid to that country. His former visits and his books made him a great favourite, and very useful there. Then 1873 saw the Revival, in which Messrs. Moody and Sankey were instrumental. n■/LIJA^r ARNOT. Mr. Aniot's daughter, Mrs. Fleming, in her Memoir of her father, says, "His assistance was given heartily and joyfully, up to and often beyond the measure of his strength. He found it impossible to refuse an invitation to help at one of those meetings where God's hand was so evidently and so mightily at work, and many a time when he went out in great bodily weakness, he would return full of joy and gratitude." While thus describing the course of Mr. Arnot's labours, we feel painfully that he was greater than his works. They give no idea of the richness and variety and depth of his mental attainments, nor of the loving, living heart which guided them in daily employment. Those nearest to him loved him most, for they knew him best. But one feature of his character was so prominent wc must bring it to the front — Mr. Arnot's keen sense of humour. It was the fruit of his childlike sympathy, he was naturally so happy and easily pleased, and he so rapidly caught any point of incongruity that his eye twinkled and the smile gleamed over his features, ere others could see the cause of laughter. This was no small gift ; it added to his influence over many a popular audience, and that influence was always used for their good. During his residence in Edinburgh, Mr. Arnot wrote much for the press, he took charge of the Faintly Treasury from the beginning of 1871. Here let us gather together the principal publications from his ready, graceful, and thoughtful pen. The first was his "Memoir of James Halley," his loved friend and fellow-student. It was published in 1842. While labouring in Glasgow, the materials of the next book were gathered and matured in 185 1, under the following title, "The Race for Riches, and some of the Pits into which Runners Fall : Six Lectures applying the Word of God to the Traffic of Men." The book was most useful ; like an arrow well-aimed, it hit " the gold." Its writer records, " One day after preaching on dishonesty, a gentleman came to tell me that he approved of it ; that his mind did not resent it ; he thought I must suffer from the apprehension of offence." This book was followed DISRUPTION WORTHIES. by an address to young men, "The Foe and the Fight ; or the Dangers and Defences of Youth." Five years after^vards the first volume on Proverbs appeared, under the title, "Laws from Heaven for Life on Earth;" and next year saw the second volume. A large volume of Sermons was published in 1859, under the name of "Roots and Fruits of Christian Life." Many were the tracts, addresses, contributions to periodicals that he sent forth from his fertile mind and glowing heart, especially during the latter half of his work-day. After the change of residence to Edinburgh, the Family Treasury was enriched with many a beautiful and useful thought. All his writings have these distinguishing excellen- ces ; they place the Lord on His rightful throne, and they have an intense opposition to sin, while they are embued with kindest, truest sympathy with human nature. They show better than any memoir what Mr. Arnot was ; the vigour, fortitude, clearness, and massive power of his mind, combined with the most delicate touch of imagination, and the whole atmosphere warmed and filled with the sunny radiance of his loving heart. His strength perceptibly declined in the winter of 1874-75. He was now always ill after preaching, and could hardly struggle through ordinarj- duties. But he did struggle earnestly and constantly up to, and beyond his strength. Weakness and weariness followed him through every effort and place, and gradually increased, till suddenly on the morning of 3rd of June, 1875, he entered into rest. In sure hope of a blessed resurrec- tion, his body lies in the Grange Cemeten'. J. G. ■C' BA¥NERMAN,I' «= =» lamrs Dannmnait, i).50. F tlic ministers who felt themselves constrained to withdraw from the Establishment in 1843, not a few were sons of the manse, and of these the subject of this sketch was one. He was born on the 9th of April 1807, in the manse of Cargill, Presbytery of Dunkcld, of which parish his father was minister. His grandfather, the minister of St Martin's, Presbytery of Perth, married Janet, daughter of Sir John Turing, Bart., minister of Drumblade.* He died in June 18 10, in the ninety-eighth year of his age, and the sixty-ninth of his ministry, and was at the time of his death the father of the Church of Scotland. This aged minister's father, ordained in 1703, was settled first in the parish of Inveravon, Presbytery of Aberlour, and translated to Forglen, where he died in 1749. In the session records of the former parish there are not a few curious entries very characteristic of the times. The district was a wild Highland one, full of feuds and fightings, and the minister and his elders, with the occasional aid of the Laird of Grant, appear to have exercised discipline after a most vigorous fashion. His son, Professor Bannerman's grandfather, afterwards removed to St Martin's, was appointed assistant and successor to his father in 1742. * The baronetcy, dating from 163S, was for some reason allowed to fall into abeyance, but was revived in 1792 by the minister of Drumblade's grandson, Sir Robert Turing of Banff Castle, who was the son of the Rev. Alexander Turing, minister of Oyne. DISRUPTION WORTHIES. Another son, Patrick, was minister of St Madoes in 1741, was translated to KinnouU in 1746, and thence to Salton, Presbytery of Haddington. His sister married his successor at St Madoes, the Rev. Archibald Steven- son, who was distinguished for his general talents, and especially for his knowledge of Church law. In the well-known debate on the subject of the repeal of the penal statutes against the Roman Catholics, in the Assembly 1779, he seconded the motion made by the Rev. Dr M'Farlan of the Canongate, which, with certain suggestions proposed by Principal Robertson, became the judgment of the house. The subject of our sketch, whose father died in 1807, received his ele- mentary education at the Perth Academy, and had as his tutor the late Dr Gordon of Edinburgh, for whom he ever cherished the warmest affec- tion. He resided in the immediate neighbourhood of Perth, and attended the ministry of Dr William Thomson, until he went to Edinburgh University in 1S22. He was a distinguished student — Professor Wilson's certificate bearing that he "was one of the most distinguished students," and Sir John Leslie's running thus, " He distinguished himself so much as to carry the highest prize." He graduated A.M. in 1826, an honour at that period rarely coveted, at least in Edinburgh. After the usual attendance at the Divinity Hall, Edinburgh, he was licensed by the Presbytery of Perth in January 1830. His gifts as a preacher were speedily perceived and appreciated. Extensive acquaintance with theo- logy even then, the capacity of taking a large view and a firm grasp of the subject-matter of which he was treating, and a masculine style of writing, characterised his discourses. His own estimate of his pulpit gifts was modest enough. The writer of this notice remembers well walking with him in Nicolson Square (in the Methodist chapel there, during the repairs of St Giles, the New North congregation worshipped) on the day when he was first to officiate for Dr Gordon, whom they had both heard in the forenoon, and his saying, "The idea of my going up to preach after him ! " JAMES BAXNERMAN, D.D. During his residence in Perth he took a deep interest in the Apocry- plial controversy, and aided in more ways than one the labours of those who were protesting against the conduct of the committee of the British and Foreign Bible Society. During this period also, and on the occasion of the death of Dr Andrew Thomson of St George's, Edinburgh, he prepared for one of the Perth papers a short but discriminating article on the life and character of that eminent man, a few sentences of which we may quote, to shew at once the style of the writer, and the estimate that he had formed of the subject of his article : — "As a public debater, he was confessedly unrivalled. His knowledge of Church law was extensive and accurate, and the power with which he brought this knowledge to bear on any particular point was truly astonishing. He seized upon the arguments of his adversary with the grasp of a giant, and tossed them about in every form, until their emptiness and insufficiency were obvious, even to the simplest comprehension. He was superior to the trickeries and claptraps of a mere public declaimer. He pro- ceeded directly and unflinchingly to the establishment of his object ; and although he frequently rose to the highest pitch of eloquence, he disdained to turn from his way in search of a figure, or to attempt to move a feeling without at the same time implanting a principle. Disingenuousness in all its forms was most alien to his nature, and never failed to arouse his keenest indignation, and the cutting sarcasm and stern reproof which he thundered forth against every exhibition of it in public men, often made the stoutest heart to quail with terror. The votes of the Assembly, and the voice of an interested few, may have often been against him ; but where is the case in which the conviction o( his auditors, and the voice of the country, were not ultimately in his favour ? No public man was ever more entirely free from the influence of interested motives. Even his most inveterate enemies have never dared to bring an accusation against him." In the month of August 1833, Mr Bannerman was settled at Ormiston, in the Presbytery of Dalkeith, and in 1839 he married the younger daughter of the Hon. Lord Reston, one of the senators of the College of Justice. Mr Bannerman 's influence and weight of character were soon felt in his own Presbytery and Synod, and on him, as convener of the com- mittee appointed to examine and report on the writings of Mr Wright of Borthwick, no small share of the responsibility and labour of conducting the case devolved. When the case came before the Assembly in 184 1 DISRUPTION WORTHIES. for final judgment, the opening speech was made by him ; and his reply to the defence offered by Mr Inglis (now the Lord Justice-General), Mr Wright's counsel, was most characteristic, shewing that as he knew when to speak, he knew also when speaking was unnecessarj'. In the conflict which preceded the Disruption Mr Bannerman was not idle, and a letter which he addressed to the Marquis of Tweeddale, and published in March 1840, in reply to the speeches made at an intrusion meeting held in Haddington in the month of February of that year, did great and good service. His knowledge of the history and constitution of the Church, his full acquaintance with the principles involved in the struggle then raging, his ability to defend his own convictions, and to meet the statements and repel the arguments of opponents, are most apparent. The commencement of this letter shews how effectively Mr Bannerman could have employed sarcasm, had he chosen to use that weapon. The concluding sentences may be quoted : — " I have already probably bestowed more attention on the speeches at Haddington than their worth or importance demanded. I doubt not that your lordship now looks back upon the meeting over which you presided with anything but emotions of pleasure. Allow me to say, my lord, that it is neither a very suitable nor a very safe position for the aristocracy of our country to occupy, when they place themselves in opposition to the people and the Church of Scotland, and league themselves with those who would deny her Christian rights, and help on her present affliction. I observe in the resolutions of the meeting, signed by you as chairman, that the advice IS tendered to the Church to yield obedience, in the first instance, to the sentence ol the Civil Court, as a means of obtaining the interposition of the Legislature in her favour afterwards. My lord, if we could submit to the sentence of the Civil Court at all, there would be no need for the interposition of the Legislature — it is because we cannot, that we decline that interposition. We cannot submit, because in doing so we would sacrifice our own consciences, we would sacrifice the rights of the Christian people, we would sacrifice our duty to our living and exalted Head. If the friendship and support of your lordship are to be purchased only by that submission, they would be purchased at too dear a price. There are, indeed, fearful odds against the Church in her present conflict, if you look merely to outward appearances. On the one side is the power of the Civil Court, armed by those civil sanctions which the bravest must feel, although he does not fear them. And on the other side, there is to be y.lMES BANNERAfAN, D.D. found only reason and scripture, and the prayers of a Christian people. Bui the eye of faith, even amid all this darkness, will behold a brighter sight. The servant of the man of God in Dothan could discern nothing but the host of the Syrian around him, and apprehended nothing but death approaching, until his eyes were opened to behold the mountain full of horses and chariots of fire round about Elisha. And even so the eye that is lifted up to God in faith, and looks beyond the darkness that covers the field of our present contendings here below, will be enabled to discern the horses and chariots of fire round about the Church of our fathers." The Assembly of 1840 appointed a Special Commission to co-operate with the Presbytery of Strathbogie in providing for the preaching of the gospel, and the administration of the ordinances of religion and the exercise of discipline in the parishes of the seven suspended ministers of that Presbytery ; and as indicating the high estimation in which by this time Mr Bannerman was held, he was named Convener of this Commission ; and nine years afterwards, when moving that he should be appointed to the vacant professorship, Dr Candlish thus spoke of the manner in which he had discharged the duties of Convener :^ " He (Dr Candlish) had taken the liberty of referring formerly, and he would refer again to the fact, that in one of the most weighty matters the Church had in considera- tion before the Disruption, during the ' ten years' conflict,' he alluded to the matter of the Strathbogie Commission, the Church committed that business to Mr Bannerman, and was thoroughly satisfied with the admirable manner in which he discharged it." From the Report of the Commission given in by him to the Assembly of 1 841, a few sentences may be quoted : — " The Commission have reason to know that the preaching of the gospel, both by the licentiates and the ministers of the Church appointed by them, has met with peculiar and very general acceptance among the people of the different parishes, and they have good reason for believing that in not a few instances the blessing of God has accompanied and given testimony to his own word. And further, your Commis- sion must be permitted to say, that considering the manifest blessing which has followed the labours of the Church in the district of Strathbogie. even in circumstances of much painfulness, they have been encouraged to entertain the assurance, that in the midst of present trials her God has not forgotten to be gracious, but that he takes pleasure in her stones, and favours the dust thereof" In September 1841 Dr M'Farlan of Greenock, along with Mr Bannerman, were in London as a deputation to prepare the way for DISRUPTION WORTHIES. the larger party who followed, and, as he wrote at the time, they had " very disagreeable work " in holding meetings with official people. They were joined by Dr Gordon, Dr Candlish, and others, and on 25th September 1841 had their interview with Sir Robert Peel. A letter of Mr Bannerman's of that date states — " He was very courteous, but very close ; . . . was not prepared to say anything decisive, but was ready to hear all we had to say." After the Disruption, Mr Bannerman continued minister of the con- gregation at Ormiston adhering to the Free Church, till he was appointed Professor of Apologetics and Pastoral Theology in the New College, Edinburgh, by the Assembly 1849. This is not the place to speak of his fitness for the office, nor of the admirable manner in which he discharged its duties, and neither is it necessary to do so. The introductory lecture, on "The Prevalent Forms of Unbelief," published in 1849; another lecture on " Apologetical Theology," published in 185 1 ; the treatise on "Inspiration: The Infallible Truth and Divine Authority of the Holy Scriptures," which was given to the Church in 1865 ; and the posthumous volumes on the " Nature, Powers, Ordinances, Discipline, and Government of the Christian Church," edited by his son, and published in 1868, affiard ample proof of his qualifications ; and they who studied under him are not slow to tell of the benefit which they derived from his lectures, and from his kind and considerate counsels. In his address as Moderator to the Assembly of 186S, Mr Ni.xon of Montrose well said : — "And we have lost Dr Bannerman, the able and accomplished Professor of Apologetical Theology, enduring proofs and memorials of whose clear, massive, energetic, logical mind, have been furnished by his teaching to not a few ministers of the Church in their student days, and by his admirable, but alas ! too scanty writings to the Church at large." Doubtless had his life been spared, his writings would have been more numerous ; but in addition to the works already mentioned — and 7A.UES nAA'.XEI^MAN, D.D. the largest of these was unpublished when Mr Nixon spoke— Dr Bannerman was the author of a number of articles in the North British Review on a variety of subjects. A posthumous volume of Sermons has also been edited by his son. And we must not forget to mention the large share he had in the responsibility of preparing for publication the posthumous works of his much loved and intimate friend, Principal Cunningham. The death of this eminent man was felt by him, not only as an irreparable loss to the Church, but as a deep personal affliction. Theirs was a long-tried friendship, endeared and strengthened by the truest fellowship in the work of the College, over whose welfare they had many an earnest and prayerful deliberation. In 1850 Mr Bannerman received the degree of D.D. from the Princeton College, New Jersey, In the movement in favour of union with the United Presbyterian, the Reformed Presbyterian, and the English Presbyterian Churches, Dr Bannerman took a warm interest and a decided and active part from the first, and soon became one of the most prominent advocates of the measure. However much some of the members of the joint-committee diflfered from him, all admitted his ability and the fairness with which he stated and defended his own convictions The substance of the speech which he made in his Presbytery in January 1867, when he moved and carried an amendment to a motion made by Dr Begg, was afterwards published, and contains, in brief compass, a most clear and distinct vindication of the motives by which he and his friends were actuated, and at the same time an admirable statement of the principles embodied in the word of God and recognised by our Church, that should regulate the duty of union between separate churches. Elected a member of the Assembly 1867, he was not able to take any part in the proceedings, and though, with his usual self-denial, he continued to meet his classes till the following spring, increasing weak- ness too plainly intimated that hi.= valuable life was near its close ; and DISRUPTION WORTHIES. the end came on 2-j\.\\ March 1868. The truth, as it is in Jesus, which he had so firmly held and so faithfully preached and taught, was the ever-abiding foundation of his hopes, and the presence of the Master whom he loved sustained him to the end. His weakened frame was resting on her who was dearest to him, when he said, " This is death ; " and to the remark, " Yes, but you have peace," he replied, " Let Thy servant now depart in peace. I have waited for Thy salvation, O God ! " Thus passed from among us one who only required to be known to be loved. A natural reserve made him appear to superficial observers cold and somewhat distant in manner, but he was, on the contrary, easy of access, with very true and tender sympathies. Early brought under the saving power of divine truth, there was a reality and a symmetry about his Christianity that commanded confidence and respect in all who knew him. Generous, high-minded, and thoroughly trustworthy, with a heart true to God and true to all around him, loveable and loving, he had a large circle of deeply attached friends, who greatly felt his departure ; and he left his widow and nine children — seven of whom still survive — to mourn his irreparable loss. J. R. O. w JAME S BE&G, D.D, DISRUPTION WORTHIES. others, the atrocities of the violent settlements, discussed in my father's manse by eminent men long since gone to their rest." After a preliminary education at the parish school, extremely well taught, he entered the Glasgow University, where he speedily gave evidence of those talents, and that energy for which he became so distinguished, passing what is called the " Black-Stone Examination " on the 9th April, 1824, when he was under sixteen years of age. After taking his degree of M.A., James Begg was licensed to preach the Gospel by the Presbytery of Hamilton, on the lOth June, 1829. He was immediately appointed Assistant to the Rev. James Buchanan, of North Leith, and before a year expired he was called as Minister of the new Chapel of Ease in Maxwelltown, Dumfries. At his ordination on the i8th May, 1830, the Church was crowded to excess. Here he immediately secured a large congregation, but was only allowed to remain for six or seven months, becoming Assistant to the venerable Dr. Jones, in Lady Glenorchy's Chapel, Edinburgh. Thereafter, inducted as Minister of the Middle Parish Church, Paisley, his popularity increased ; and, there he spent three of his most stirring years, throwing himself heart and soul into the controversies of the day, contending for the legitimacy of establish- ments or national religion, as also for the Church's freedom from civil dictation in spiritual matters. In the sixth of his recent articles on "The State and Prospects of Scotland," Dr. Begg gives copies of petitions of his session and congregation in 1834 — prior to the passing of the Veto and Chapel Acts — setting forth that the Patronage Act of Queen Anne, in violation of the Treaty of Union, and the want of power to subdivide parishes lay at the root of the Church's difficulties. After untiring labours in the West, he was translated to Liberton parish on the i8th February, 1835, remaining there till the Disruption, and effecting a decided moral reformation. At his entry, there were thirty- three public-houses in the parish, in which 9CXX) gallons of spirits were annually consumed, at an expense of ;£'4500. Publishing a statement to JAMES BEGG, D.D. the heritors and a statistical account of the parish, he revealed the cause of abounding poverty, the result being that seven dram-shops were immediately closed. Preaching a full and free Gospel, and embracing and promulgating what he felt to be the truth of God, Mr. Begg went resolutely forward on the side of the Evangelical party, and when the solemn Convocation and day of the Disruption came, he was not found wanting. He was an active worker along with Dr. Chalmers, and one of those honoured ministers of Christ interdicted from preaching at Huntly in the famous Presbytery of Strathbogie, on the 2nd April, 1840. This civil interdict in the performance of a spiritual duty he disregarded, while retaining the document. Again, on the i ith May of that year, along with Dr. Guthrie, he was once more interdicted from speaking in Gilcomston Church, Aberdeen, with a like result — the document bearing that " the said Messrs. Guthrie and Begg are travelling tlirough the country haranguing the people for the purpose of subverting the Established Church," &c. Immediately after the Disruption, as two ministers left the Establish- ment in Liberton and none at Newington, with a number of his people, Mr. Begg removed his public ministrations to Newington, Edinburgh, taking a site where the present handsome edifice stands. Soon a large and influential congregation gathered around the earnest and enthusiastic preacher, which to this day has fully maintained its ground. His method of expounding a portion of Old and New Testament alternately, with clear Scriptural preaching faithfully applied, has been greatly relished. It was in Mr. Begg's drawing-room at Liberton that The Witness newspaper was initiated by the eminent brethren assembled. The Scottish Guardian for ten years had done good service in the West ; but money had been subscribed for a paper in the East, and when Hugh Miller's "Letter to Lord Brougham" was there introduced, they felt and said, this is the man we want. Sent as a deputy to Canada to preach and to disseminate intelligence, DISR UP TION U 'OR THIES. the narrative of his visit to the American Continent in the depth of the winter of 1845, as described by himself in The Free Chiircli Magazine, is deeply interesting, and brings out the shrewd Christian energy of the man. Some suggestions he then made have since been reahsed. He then crossed over to the United States. Having preached and spoken with great acceptance in Boston, New York, Philadelphia, and having ultimately preached to the Congress of the United States at Washington, after his return, Mr. Begg received a letter from Dr. M'Elroy, an eminent minister of New York, enclosing a Degree in Divinity from Lafayette College, Pennsylvania, of which Dr. M'Elroy was one of the directors, of date 14th September, 1847. In the year 1850, the Pope, presuming on the apathy of the English people, divided England into thirteen dioceses, appointing over them as many Bishops, thus re-establishing the Papal Hierarchy in England. This called out — in a storm of indignation — the Protestant zeal and energy of Christians of every name. In none were these more conspicuous and continuous than in Dr. James Bcgg. Instead of allowing that powerful wave to float past unimproved, by a vigorous combination, the Scottish Reformation Society was called into existence, a mission to Romanists organised, and The Bulwark or Reformation Journal launched, with a circulation of 32,000. Dr. Begg ably edited this journal for twenty- one years. Out of these movements arose a general desire to celebrate the Tercentenary of the Reformation, which, mainly under Dr. Begg's guidance, was suitably accomplished. Protestants from all parts of the world met, and thoughtfully and thankfully conferred for four days in Edinburgh. That Protestant Congress, on the 17th August, i860, went in procession from the New Assembly Hall and laid the foundation stone of the Protestant Institute of Scotland as a training college for students of all denominations in Protestant principles. Dr. Begg had previously secured by purchase the Cowgate Chapel, in which the first General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church was held, and where John JAMES ni:GG, D.D. Craig, the colleague of John Knox, preached at that period. The purchase of the chapel, a site on George IV. Bridge, and the feu-duty, the plan, erection, and endowment of the Institute — the labour of years — were all, with the help of two assistants, the Rev. Drs. Badenoch, of the Protestant Educational Institute, London, and J. Moir Porteous, Wan- lockhead, the work of Dr. Begg. The whole cost about ;£'io,ooo. On the 4th February, 1864, an oil painting of its founder, by Norman Macbeth, R.S.A., giving a life-size and life-like representation of Dr. Begg in the attitude of addressing a public meeting, was, as the inscription on it bears, " Presented by a few friends to the Protestant Institute of Scotland, the establishment of which is chiefly owing to Dr. Begg's long- sustained and arduous efforts on Its behalf, and of the Protestant cause at large." Social questions, also, occupied much of Dr. Begg's attention, and by his public advocacy of remedial measures, as well as by the utilisation of Church organisation, the attention of the community and of the Government were drawn to these. The Bothy system, the want of proper cottages for ploughmen and field-labourers, the dreadful scenes and immorality consequent thereon, the growing evils of pauperism and crime through intemperance and thriftlessness, the want of proper legislation suited to the requirements and rights of Scotland, for a long series of years were enforced in Church Courts, on platforms, and through the press. Dr. Begg continuously argued that no arrangements could secure prosperity which superseded the family system, which lay at the foundation of all social morality. By these and other efforts, working men were led to organise, save, act together, and erect numbers of houses for themselves, while benevolent landlords were stimulated to improve their cottars' dwellings. These objects were not suffered to monopolise public, or stand in the way of more private ecclesiastical duties. After the Disruption, Dr. Begg had mainly to do with getting an Act of Parliament to secure the D/S/i UP TION 1 1 -OK THIES. perpetuation, without formal renewal, of the titles of Dissenting Church property, by which an immense amount of risk and expense has been saved, a similar Act being aftenvards secured by the Dissenters of England. It was also considerably through his efforts that such clauses were inserted in the Education Act as enable School Boards in Scotland to continue religious teaching according to " use and wont." More recently still. Dr. Bcgg was Convener of a Committee which secured an Act of Parliament to enable the Free Church to sell such schools as have become unnecessary, a service that was specially acknowledged by the Commission and Assembly. Into the proposals for Union amongst the disestablished Churches in Scotland Dr. Begg entered at first very cordially, an approximation, under a different form and in other circumstances, to the grand idea of Alexander Henderson. To heal divisions would be most important. " But then," said he, " the question arises, ' Can it be brought about in such a way as to conser\"e our principles, which we cannot surrender?'" On one of Dr. Begg's frequent journeys to London on public duty, he met with a severe railway accident, the carriage having been over- turned and dragged a considerable way. Laid up in a railway hotel for some time, the sympathies of his congregation, the Church, and countiy were fervently called forth. This was in the beginning of 1S65, he having been previously chosen as Moderator elect of the General Assembly, and, notwithstanding his being very lame, he was able to discharge the duties. His fitness to preside over, and guide the delibera- tions of, the Assembly were fully acknowledged, this highest honour proving the Church's appreciation of his services. By a majority, the Free Church Union Committee resolved to carry forward the union, and in the Assembly 1867, by a large majority, it was declared that the distinctive principles of the Free Church in regard to national duty and obligation might be made, as the majority thought, an open question, and that " there was no bar to union on the first head of JAMES DECG, V.D. the programme." Ur. Begg and others felt called upon to lodge a protest against this resolution as implying " an abandonment and subver- sion of an admittedly constitutional principle," and as being ultra vires of the Assembly. With six or seven members of the Committee, he resigned. An intense conflict now arose, and prevailed until the Assembly of 1873. A "Free Church Defence Association" was organised, and T/ie Watchword, " a magazine for the defence of Bible truth and the advocacy of Free Church principles," edited by Dr. Begg, was widely circulated. As in the previous " Ten Years' Conflict," the battle raged again, not only in Church Courts, but in every corner of the land ; and as the pressure increased so did the resistance. After consultation, the opinion of learned counsel having been obtained, every preparation was made for another Disruption, along with a claim on church property by the minority, as adhering to the constitutional principles of the Free Church. All through the forenoon sitting of the Assembly on Thursday, 28th May, 1873, a bitter separation alone was in prospect; while hearts were bowed in sorrow, although clear as to the path of duty. Hapi^ily, appeals to heaven were not in vain, and light arose in the darkness Dr. Candlish proposed a modification of the Mutual Eligibility Scheme, which practically conserved the principles of the Church, and time being given for consideration, that was finally accepted by Dr. Begg and the minority, the Moderator, Dr. Duff, declaring, " It is the doing of the Lord," and causing special thanksgivings to be offered up. On his return from a six months' journey to New Zealand, on a visit to his sons. Dr. Begg, receiving a public welcome, described his experience in Australasia, in the Literaiy Institute, on the 28th February, 1874. Sailing by Melbourne to New Zealand, after traversing the country. Dr. Begg returned by Melbourne, Ceylon, and Bombay. . Preaching, speak- ing, and interchanging views, he everywhere received an ovation. The estimation of Dr. Begg as a Christian patriot was thereafter evinced in various ways. A presentation of the sum of £4600, got up nJSRUPTION WORTHIES. during his absence, was made to him by a deputation of gentlemen of several denominations. Another proof of public estimation was given in his return at the head of the poll as an independent member of the School Board in 1S75, by the inhabitants of Edinburgh — strongly sup- porting the teaching of religion in the public schools, and deprecating removal of the central governing Board to London. Notwithstanding his continual and multifarious engagements, Dr.Begg has, with slight exceptions, enjoyed much good health. His " Hints on Health," as to the minister's sleep, food, throat, dress, and exercise, give the results of his own practical experience. Besides numerous speeches and tracts, Dr. Begg has issued what would make volumes of pamphlets. In addition to editing the publica- tions named, and the " Select Anti-Patronage Library," with prefaces to important works re-issued, Dr. Begg has published a " Handbook of Popery," " Happy Homes for Working Men," " Free Church Principles," and " A Treatise for the Times on Worship." Twice married, he has had a large family. Not unlike the statue of Christopher North in Princes Street — tall, strongly built, with pleasing yet settled countenance and well-modulated voice — Dr. Begg, ever full of his subject, has invariably commanded the attention even of the most hostile audiences. Principal Fairbairn not inaptly described him, as " one who is distinguished for his practical sense and business habits, whose counsel and sagacity have materially contributed to the success of what- ever scheme he favoured. His talents as a public speaker, his skill and power in debate, coolness of temper, promptitude of decision, and readiness of thought and utterance, have been conspicuous." J. M. P. (< ANDREW A. BONAR,D,D.^)(^ DISRUPTION WORTHIES. inimitable biography by Andrew Bonar ; which, by the blessing of God, has embalmed his memory, not only in Scotland, but in all lands where our English tongue is spoken, and is of itself a great work for a lifetime. But of the two together in the field, whilst the one was graciously taken, the other has been graciously left ; and, apart from his abundant and fruitful work in his own two churches, first in the retired country, and afterwards in the crowded city, it is not easy to estimate the influ- ence for good through our Church and land that has flowed from Dr. Bonar's life and ministry. The fruit of a brief work, an early death, and a holy memory in the case of his beloved friend, has in him been exchanged for a high and consistent Christian life, sustained through a long course of years, with his head anointed with fresh oil, and his vigour like the palm tree that still bears fruit in its age. The Church of Christ on earth needs all kinds of men for her varied service in an adverse world, which she is sent at once to conquer and to win ; men to lead her counsels, men to fight her battles, men to state and vindicate her truths, men to search and explain her Scriptures. But most of all she needs men to preach her Gospel and to illustrate her grace in their own character and lives. This blessing in his own place is found in every faithful minister of Christ. But it is an incalculable gain to the Church and to our human family when a man eminent for gifts is still more distinguished by grace ; like a lamp on a watch- tower seen near and far, and guiding men to Him who is "The Light of the World." Such a minister is a constant vindication of the Gospel, and a daily lesson-book of its truths ; " an epistle known and read of all men." One man, with the joy of the Lord for his strength, in truth and meekness bearing the image of his Master, humbling himself and exalting his Lord, and by his life saying to others, " Be ye followers of me as I also am of Christ ;" one man whose character all own as a work of grace, when divinely upheld through a long course of active service. ANDREW A. BONAR, D.D. is a great boon both to his brethren in the ministry, and to all the Churches in the land. Such a man is the subject of this sketch. What Dr. Candlish once remarked of M'Cheyne was equally true of his biographer. " I can't understand M'Cheyne," he said, " grace seems to be natural to him, as if it needed no effort for him to be good." Yet this is only by grace so abounding as to become a second nature; and both these brothers were in fullest sympathy with Paul in saying, "Jesus Christ came into the world to save sinners, of whom I am chief" Andrew Bonar has been enabled to unite the gentleness of Christ with great steadfastness of purpose ; love with faithfulness ; strength of personal affection with kindness to all ; retirement with the greatest openness and frankness ; great activity and perseverance in ministerial work, so as to be " in labours more abundant," with a most characteristic calmness and freedom from haste ; along with singlene-ss of eye, absence of self, and an uncommon transparency. These elements, happily mingled, have formed a character at once so consistent and so attractive, that if this one name had been lacking in the roll of our ministers, we cannot estimate the loss our Church would have suffered through an entire generation. Mr. Andrew Alexander Bonar was born in Edinburgh on the 29th of May, 1 8 10. He was the seventh son of James Bonar, Esq., Search Solicitor of Excise, of whom it has been said, that he was " a man of varied and extensive literature, and Christian excellency, author of several philological and other treatises, and a valued correspondent of the most learned men of his day." Of his honoured ancestors Dr. Bonar gave the following account from the Moderator's chair in the General Assembly at Glasgow, dividing the honour of his election with them : " I am persuaded that, in choosing me for this office, you had regard to my forefathers and relatives, so many of whom have in this Church served the Lord Jesus, and sought the good of His people. We who are of this tribe (if I may DISRUPTION WORTHIES. SO speak) like to think ourselves connected with that James Bonar, minister of Maybole, who stood by the side of the great Alexander Henderson in the struggle against Prelacy ; but especially we boast of our descent from one who in the days of the Covenant forsook Episcopacy, and forfeited ease and position, if not wealth, that he might become a minister of Christ in the Presbyterian Church of Scotland. Ordained in 1692, John Bonar was spared to labour as the humble pastor of the parish of Torphichen for more than half a century. He was one of the ' Twelve ' in the famous ' Marrow Controversy,' and in his declining years was more than ever intent on the conversion of souls. Having seen the awakening in Kilsyth, and having found something of the same blessing among his own people, he, in the last year of his life, journeyed, with great difficulty, to witness the revival scenes at Cambuslang ; and returning from that visit, stood on the threshold of his house, exclaiming in the fulness of his heart, ' Now, Lord, lettest thou thy servant depart in peace, for mine eyes have seen thy salvation.' From that manse of Torphichen have descended all of our name who have ministered in the Church." Mr. Bonar was educated at the High School, in which he distin- guished himself as Dux of the School ; he gained the Macgregor Medal in 1825, and the Gold Medal given by the Writers to the Signet in 1827. Afterwards he studied at the University of Edinburgh. In 1835 he was licensed to preach by the Presbytery of Jedburgh; and both there, in assist- ing the Rev. Dr. Purves, and afterwards in assisting Dr. Candlish in St. George's, Edinburgh, he was engaged in much earnest work in the Gospel. In 1838 he was ordained to the ministry on a presentation to the parish of Collace, in Perthshire ; and while quietly and most faithfully working in that very rural parish, there came across his secluded path a providential call, which brought him more prominently before the Christian community, and has associated his name ever since with the salvation of Israel. His early friend, Mr. M'Cheyne, was engaged in his fruitful ministr>' ANJ)KEll- A. no AAA', D./l in Dundee, and the distance from Collacc not being great, they saw much of each other, and often preached in each other's pulpits. But the labours of a congregation in a large town had told on his delicate frame, and the state of his health caused some anxiety to his relatives. A double interest in the neglected Jews and in the welfare of his young friend, suggested to Dr. Candlish's singularly fertile mind the idea of a mission of inquiry to the Jews, in which he hoped that the spiritual welfare of Israel might be combined with recovery of health to an overtasked minister. One day on the street he said to the present writer, " What would you think of sending M'Cheyne to Palestine ? it would help us with the Jews, and would give him a rest." According to his " use and wont," he quickly followed up the thought. Mr. Bonar, both as familiar with the Hebrew Bible and full of love to God's ancient people, and as M'Cheyne's special friend, was selected to form with him the younger branch of the mission ; Dr. Keith and Dr. Black as the senior members, the latter distinguished as an Oriental scholar, and the former very widely known and highly honoured as a writer on prophecy, which is so closely bound up with Israel. Mr. Bonar, assisted by Mr. M'Cheyne, drew up the " Narrative of Inquiry," which awakened in Scotland an interest in the Jews that has never quite abated, and is now increasing with the providential revival of the nation out of the dust of ages ; in preparation, doubtless, for a spiritual resurrection from the dead, when the Spirit shall breathe on the dry bones which are " coming together, bone to his bone," while as yet "there is no breath in them." This lively interest in Israel from his youth has been constant and fresh ever since ; his name is ever associated with them ; and he has done much to keep alive the hopes which seem now to be hastening toward their fulfilment. Over the door of his new church in Glasgow, Mr. Bonar has had cut in the stone the Hebrev/ words of the text, " He that winneth souls is wise ; " saying that it might attract some passing Jew. DISRUPTION IVORTHIES. On his return from Palestine, Mr. Bonar found that during his absence there had been in his own neighbourhood a remarkable work of grace under the preaching of Mr. William Burns, who was occupying Mr. M'Cheyne's pulpit. The absent pastor rejoiced in the blessing that had come on his flock, and associated it with his having sought the good of Jerusalem, and with the promise, " They shall prosper that love thee." Mr. Bonar entered with his whole heart and with labours more abundant into the work of the Lord, which extended to his own as to many other districts in the land ; and in himself throughout his future ministrj', as in many of his brethren, the hand of the Lord with his servants at that time inspired larger hopes of the kingdom of God coming with power in the preaching of the everlasting Gospel. Side by side with a reviving ministrj^, and with a quickened desire in the people for faithful preaching, there had for a number of years been a growing desire throughout the country for renewing the right of the Church to choose its own ministers — the intrusion of pastors by patrons on an unwilling people having always been a source of spiritual deadness in the community. The religious progress of a generation had given rise to ecclesiastical energy, and the quickened conscience and life of the Church of Scotland gave occasion to the conflict which ended in its Dis- ruption in I S43. About two }-ears before that great event, Mr. Bonar, along with many of his brethren, preached in the parishes of the deposed ministers in Strathbogie with much acceptance, and with the ingathering of a spiritual han-est. Although amongst the meekest of men, the interdict of the civil courts could not deter him from his Master's work ; and he might have added his own name to the words of M'Cheyne, whom we met in preaching through that forbidden district : " I can say with Paul, that 'from Jerusalem round about unto Illyricum, I have preached the Gospel of Christ ; ' and no interdict will keep me from preaching in Strathbogie." If narrowness of mind, restlessness under lawful restraint, pleasure in ANDREW A. BONAR, D.D. contention, and ecclesiastical ambition had been the moving springs of that great conflict, Mr. Andrew Bonar would have been the last man in the world to have had any sympathy with its objects, or to have taken any part in its proceedings. In the final issue in 1843, Mr. Bonar cheerfully left the Parish Church of Collace, but could not be persuaded to think of leaving the old sphere of his labours till 1856, when, most happily, he accepted a call to the Free Church of Finnieston, in Glasgow. In 1848, he married Isabella, daughter of James Dickson, Esq., Edinburgh, who died in 1864, leaving one son and three daughters. In 1874, he received the well-merited degree of D.D. from the University of Edinburgh. He was unanimously and most cordially elected Moderator of the Free Church Assembly in Glasgow in 1878; and he discharged the duties of the office with the greatest acceptance and success, and with all his own characteristic aptitude and happiness of address. In addition to his earlier works of the Mission of Inquiry to the Jews, and his Memoir of Mr. M'Cheyne, and besides a number of smaller books and tracts from time to time, Dr. Bonar has published a Commentary on Leviticus, and an Exposition of the Psalms. Dr. Bonar ministers in Glasgow to a devotedly attached people in a large and full Church ; and wherever he preaches, is listened to by crowded and deeply interested congregations. His preaching is singularly like the Bible. It abounds in the clearest enunciations of the doctrines of grace, and is pervaded by a natural order ; but never approaches the form either of a confession of faith or of a theological argument. Full of the Bible in both its Testaments, it much resembles the Bible in its simple and altogether natural cast, and partakes not a little of its richness and fulness. One of the elements of his permanent power in preaching is, that his sermons, although well prepared and remarkably equal, are never wrought up. The faculty of working for a great effort is one that DISRUPT] ON IVORTHIES. he has never cultivated, and can hardly be said to possess. But he is so thoroughly at home in all that he utters, that his words tell with the force of one who speaks from the overflowing of his own heart, " believing and therefore speaking." The heart of the preacher is perfectly open to his hearers ; as with no cloak concealing it, so with no effort to make it visible ; and they listen to words of the most unalloyed sincerity. Of his composition, M'Cheyne said that " he had no style ; " and while he has more system than most men in all his habits and all his work, his style is certainly without systematic art. But his sermons are full of poetry. Not gifted like his brother to write exquisite hymns, his sermons are nevertheless, and perhaps all the more, rich in poetic images, like the letters of Samuel Rutherford which he has edited with a perfect sympathy. The variety of his happy illustrations gives wings to his weighty truths. May God still grant him many years for preaching the unsearchable riches of Christ, with the heavenly wisdom of winning souls for the Master he has loved and served so long. A. M S. -^.:i-ri. HORATIUS BONAR,D,D It DISRUPTION WORTHIES. Under such influences, and with such companionship, Horatius Bonar began his preparation for the ministry with all the habits and characteristics of a thorough student and accomplished scholar, prepared to take advantage of the full and lengthened curriculum of study required by the Church in Scotland of all her students, before entering her Hall of Theolog)'. Dr. Chalmers in the maturity of his powers was then presiding over the Metropolitan Divinity Hall, and by his magnificent exposition of the Evangelic system, and his own intense spiritual life, had rendered it, under God, a grand Missionary Institute and centre of spiritual power, from which our students went forth to their work as preachers of the Gospel, inflamed with a zeal that shrank from no labour, and strong in a faith that knew no doubt. It was in these times that a noble band of evangelists, represented by such men as Robert M'Cheyne, William Burns, John Milne, James Hamilton, of London, and others like-minded, some of whom are still amongst us, went forth upon their fruitful labours. They were all men of studious habits and scholarly acquirements, well read in the literature of theology and at home in the languages of the Old and New Testaments ; and they were all possessed by a strong and invigorating faith ; having, before approaching the ministry, cleared themselves by prayer and study from the enfeebling spirit of doubt and uncertainty by which nothing great was ever accomplished. Amongst these men, Mr. H. Bonar occupied a very prominent and influential position, by his weight of character, his masculine thought- fulness, and great attainments as a scholar and theologian. While yet a student of divinity, he had, in common with the majority of our ablest students acquired experience in Home Mission work, by regular visitation in some of the more necessitous districts of the Old Town ; and after his license as a Probationer, this was much extended by his labours as Missionary Assistant to Mr. Lewis of South Leith, who was one of the first in that day to work his overgrown parish in the lines laid HO RATI US nOXAR, D.D. down by Dr. Chalmers in his admirable works on " Parochial and Civic Economy." It was about this time that, as the fruit of the great Evangelical Re- vival in the Church of Scotland, her Scheme of Church Extension was being prosecuted with a measure of success that bade fair, with the bless- ing of God, to transform the waste places of the land into a garden of the Lord. Among more than 200 churches which, in answer to the magnifi- cent appeals of Chalmers, had within a few years sprung into existence, the North Church, Kelso, had just been completed. The attention of its chief promoters having been called to the remarkable character and abundant labours of Mr. Bonar, a deputation of inquiry visited Leith, and having heard him preach, reported so favourably that he was at once appointed, and entered on his labours as Ordained Minister of the North Church, Kelso, on 30th November, 1838. It was a blessed time for any man to enter on his ministry. In our day it is said that doubt and uncertainty are in the very air. It was otherwise then. The very air seemed charged with hope and expectancy, based on faith in Jesus Christ, and in the Gospel as " the power of God unto salvation to every one that believeth." Earnest men will always be expecting and looking for fruit in the conversion of sinners under the faithful preaching of the Gospel. But at that time a body of men had been raised up in the Estab- lished Church of Scotland, who, more than had been common even with faithful ministers, waited and watched for conversion in prayerful reliance on the promised blessing of the Holy Spirit on every fresh announcement of Christ and Him crucified, as fitted and intended to "fill the heart with joy and peace in believing." It was in this spirit that Mr. Bonar entered on his ministry in Kelso. In his preaching, the line was clearly drawn between the converted and the unconverted, with no border land between. The prominence and persistency with which this was pressed home was felt as something new and startling. And so was the urgency with which free and immediate DISRUPTION WORTHIES. salvation, meeting ever}- want, was pressed on the acceptance of the individual sinner. " See that your preaching be really glad tidings to the sinner," he once said to a young probationer, now an earnest and honoured minister of the Free Church ; and from the beginning of his own ministry he had acted on that principle. He had faith in the Cross of Christ to guard itself, and never found it necessary to impose any conditions, or erect any fence around the grace of God. Faith in Jesus Christ was pressed home on every sinner as his first and immediate duty to God, and the only sure way of honouring the Holy Spirit, as sent to bear witness to Jesus, and to show the things freely given us of God. No one was allowed to regard it as humility to wait for deeper conviction or anything else in himself, before putting his trust for salvation in Jesus Christ. In his preaching, as in all his writings, he followed the Reformers rather than the later Puritans, and reflected Luther's frank outlook to the cross, and hearty reliance on the righteousness of Christ, rather than Baxter's tendency to introspection in search of marks and evidences in self And from the beginning of his ministry there was visible blessing on his work. Even before the wide-spread revivals of 1 839, and subsequent years immediately preceding the Disruption, for which they formed the preparation, a remarkable though quiet work of God had begun in Kelso. For in the old Established Church of Scotland, revival and faithful testimony to Christ as at once King of Nations and sole Head of the Church had always gone together. And it was so then. In that genera- tion the Church had been called on to take up her ancestral testimony under both its forms : and amidst all the perils and distractions apt to be attendant on controversy, God bore her witness by out-pourings of the Spirit on so many portions of the Church as, by His blessing, imparted fresh life and strength to the whole. In that day it was almost exclusively by the preaching of the Ministry that God was to grant revival to the Church. And it was noticed as a general HORATIUS BONAR, D.D. rule that those who were most greatly blessed were men of cultivated minds and studious habits no less than of deep spirituality and of strong faith. When it is otherwise, there ought to be no jealousy indeed, but certainly deep searchings of heart among those set apart to the Ministry of the Gospel. The writings of Mr. M'Cheync, Mr. Milne of Perth, Mr. Wm. Burns, and Dr. Mackintosh of Tain may give some idea of the revival preaching and revival preachers of those days. Such, with ver>' marked characteristics of his own, was the preaching of Mr. Bonar. He never affected what is vaguely enough called " intellectual " preaching. But none the less it was the preaching of a very strong and cogent intellect, not unfrequently profound, but always so clear and well-defined as to be perfectly simple, and ever moving in the lines of truth, straight to the mark. " Every separate sentence tells," said an intelligent mechanic in the Merse, " like strokes of a hammer, every stroke sends the nail further in and deeper down." In the truth set forth there was nothing peculiar, and nothing peculiar in the style, except the amazing simplicity and power with which he was enabled to set forth the com- pleteness of man's ruin, as utterly lost, met by the completeness of Christ's finished work for securing free and immediate salvation for the chief of sinners. It was not the mere cry " Believe," or " Come," for there was always a great body of truth presented ; and it was Christ Himself as the object of faith, rather than the act of believing, that formed the staple of his preaching and gave it all its power. No truth in the entire round of the Gospel system was omitted or overlooked, but certainly the doctrine of acceptance with God, of free and immediate justification through the blood and righteousness of Jesus Christ gave tone and character to his entire ministry, and was often deepened into overawing power by the proclamation of Christ's second coming "in flaming fire to take vengeance on those who know not God and obej- not the Gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ." One memorable sermon in which these truths were set forth in com- DISRUPTION WORTHIES. bination, rises to the writer's mcmor)' as preached in his own church, and resulting in the final decision of at least two young men, one early called away resting on Christ in perfect peace, the other still labouring as an elder in a distant land, full of faith and of good works. And this is but a specimen of the blessing that rested on his labours in those blessed days of revival. In Kelso itself it was not perhaps so much the stir and excitement of one or more revivals, as the spiritual power, the still solemnity, the continuous life and action of a revived church, that made it the centre of life and refreshing to all the district round, through many a successive year. The Spirit came less as " the rushing of a mighty wind," or " as floods upon the dry ground," than as "rain upon the mown grass, as showers that water the earth." Meetings for prayer abounded, and " they that feared the Lord spake often one to another," so that to some of us who had only begun our ministry, a visit to Kelso was felt to be a season of refreshing, whence we returned to our own work with new encourage- ment and hope. Classes for the young were greatly blessed. And none more so than his boarding-school classes drawn from all parts of the country, the fruits of which arc still to be met with in many a family throughout the land. In the midst of all his labours as pastor and evangelist, Mr. Bonar assiduously maintained the habits of a thorough student. So early as 183 1 he had been amongst the first promoters of the "Presby- terian Reviev;," which for many a year before and after the Disruption represented all that was best in the Literature, the Theology, and the Spiritual life of the Church. From its commencement he was a regular contributor, and for many years acted as editor. In later years, as editor of the "Journal of Prophecy," and more recently, of "The Christ- ian Treasur)'," he addressed different classes of readers with the same deep spirituality of tone and savour of Christ, which made them welcome to many, even of those who did not sympathise with all his views on MORA TIUS DONAR, D.D. prophecy. The " Kelso Tracts," written in his early ministiy to meet the wants and difficulties of his own flock in times of spiritual quicken- ing, were greatly blessed to many throughout the Church, in clearing their way to Christ. These have been followed by numerous writings in different departments of literature, prose and verse, which have made his name known throughout the Church of God in all its branches, and on both sides of the Atlantic. Of his numerous hymns, many are to be found in nearly all the collections of every branch of the Protestant Church. And not a few appear to have taken their place in its per- manent hymnology. " My Old Letters," Dr. Bonar's greatest essay in poetry is one of his last, — a work simple and original in its idea, rich in culture, and profound and varied in poetic feeling and thought. Of his minor pieces, less known perhaps than his hymns, the following may be accepted as a specimen, characteristic at once of his poetic style, and of the mode of thought that appears to have given tone and colour to his life : — LIVE. Make haste, O man, to live, For thou so soon must die ; Time hurries past thee like the breeze ; How swift its moments fly. Make haste, O man, to li\c ! To breathe, and wake, and sleep, To smile, to sigh, to grieve ; To move in idleness through earth, This, this is not to live ! Make haste, O man, to live ! Up then with speed, and work ; Fling ease and self away ; This is no time for thee to sleep. Up, watch and work and pray ! Make haste, O man, to live I DISRUPTION WORTHIES. The useful, not the great, The thing that never dies ; The silent toil that is not lost, — Set these before thine eyes. Make haste, O man, to live The seed, whose leaf and flower, Tho' poor in human sight, Bring forth at last the eternal fruit, Sow thou both day and night. Make haste, O man, to live Make haste, O man, to live. Thy time is almost o'er ; O sleep not, dream not, but arise, The Judge is at the door. Make haste, O man, to live In 1843, Mr. Bonar felt constrained to join the great Exodus from the Estabhshment, as being no longer free, and has laboured ever since as a minister of the Free Church. In the same year he married Jane Catherine, daughter of the Rev. Robert Lundie of Kelso ; and, of his family, his eldest daughter is now engaged along with her husband the Rev. G. Theophilus Dodds in the great Paris Mission originated by the Rev. Mr. M'All, perhaps the noblest and most hopeful mission in which the Church of Christ has engaged in our day. In 1853, Mr. Bonar received the degree of D.D. from the University of Aberdeen. In 1866, after a fruitful ministry of eight and twenty years in Kelso, he was translated to Chalmers Memorial Church, the Grange, Edinburgh, of which he was the first minister. Of his abundant labours there, as belonging to the present rather than the past, it will be for others to speak at some future time. W. C. |am£s Uonar. I HE Bonars with whom the subject of this sketch was connected are descendants of an old family belonging to Perthshire, who possessed considerable property, in- cluding part of ^ilgraston, in that county. They have been largely — indeed almost hereditarily — connected with the gospel ministry in Scotland. The son of John Bonar of Kilgraston was minister of Torphichen. His eldest son was the Rev. John Bonar of Fetlar, in Shetland ; and his son again, also John, became minister successively of Cockpen and Perth. The son and grandson of this Rev. John Bonar of Perth were respec- tively the Rev. Archibald Bonar of Cramond and the Rev. John Bonar of Larbert ; while no fewer than three brothers of James Bonar, the subject of this memoir, are well-known ministers of the Free Church of Scotland at this day, viz., the Rev. Drs Horatius and Andrew Bonar, and Jolm James Bonar of Free St Andrew's Church, Greenock. The father of the subject of this sketch was James Bonar, Depute- Solicitor of Excise in Edinburgh, — himself a man of varied and extensive literature and Christian excellency, author of several philological and other treatises, and a valued correspondent of the most learned men of his day. In his public situation under Government, he proved himself to be also a man of most self-sacrificing integrity. His virtues and strict Christian piety descended in large measure DISRUPTION WORTHIES. upon his son, James Bonar, of whose Hfe and character we present the following outline. Like his father, he too was a scholar ; and having a well-cultivated mind, based on a good foundation early laid, by dint of reading and continuous study he kept up his literary tastes and attain- ments to the last. Not only was this his own habit from student life upwards, but in his earlier correspondence, we find him earnestly pressing upon his fellows an equal course of diligence. Though never intended for a sacred or theological profession, there was scarcely a class in the University or in the Theological Hall which he had not attended. Along with a rich and varied acquaintance with general literature, he was par- ticularly partial to the writings of the Puritan divines, for whose views in theology, as well as for their personal piety, he cherished a high regard. Brought up domestically under unusual advantages, both as to literary culture and habits of strictest, yet cheerful, piety, James Bonar shewed himself an apt scholar in both departments ; and such had been his advance in early piety, that when his father was removed by death, though the son was only about nineteen, the evening of that day found him quietly taking his father's place at the family altar, the duties of which place he never afterwards relinquished, much to the joy of his godly mother and of the younger members of the family, of which, from that hour, he became the honoured and acknowledged head. In those days when young men's associations for mutual improve- ment were little known, Mr Bonar became, in December 182 1, a member of " The Homiletical Society." Being composed of a few devout young men, chiefly students, its meetings for many years were held in one or other of their rooms. In its later stages the ordinary meeting-place was the session-house of St Andrew's Church. The character of the society was eminently devotional, consisting chiefly of prayer and praise, Bible reading, and exhortation. In the conducting of its business, Mr William Brown, surgeon, now an elder in Tolbooth Free Church, and Mr James Bonar, took a leading part. JAMES DONAR. Mr Bonar was an original member of another young men's society, that which is now known as the Diagnostic, though it was then formed under another name. Besides Mr Bonar, who was secretary, we find the following among its original members : — ^John Purves, John Archibald Bonar, John Henderson, James Thomson, James Cochrane, of Harburn. This society, at its earliest stages, met in Mr John Purvcs's room, Rich- mond Place ; next in the house of Mr James Bonar's father, Paterson's Court, Broughton ; afterwards in the school-room, Grcenside, under the Tabernacle. It was afterwards joined by John James Bonar, William Cunningham, John Brown Paterson, Thomas Pitcairn — names well known and revered amongst us. Mr Bonar's calling in business life was that of a W'ritcr to the Signet. For this profession he was trained, first in the office of his uncle, Mr Tawse, and afterwards in that of the late Sir James Gibson Craig. Business in those days being often carried over into the Sabbath, and the clerks' attendance at the office required on that day, young Bonar expressed a conscientious objection, upon which, to the credit of the late head of that firm, he was at once exempted from all such duty. Closely and originally attached as his parents had been to Lady Glenorchy's Chapel (so called from the name of its noble and pious foundress), then under the pastorate of ihc late venerable Dr Jones, Mr Bonar was early admitted a member. In the summer of 1830 he was called to the eldership ; and of his modesty and humility, as well as conscientious consideration in accepting and entering upon that office, we have a record in a letter then addressed to one of his brothers : — "I have not consented to this nomination," says he, "without much hesitation, nor, I can safely say, without great reluctance; never did I feel more disinclined to engage in any duty, and never have I seen more of my disqualifications for any public responsible situation than I have seen since this resolution was taken. . . . Anything like publicity is a snare into which so many far older men than I am have fallen, that I begin to fear that it may prove too strong for me. . . . One benefit I have no doubt found from having my mind directed to the subject of the eldership, that it has led me to seek more earnestly direction in prayer, and to strive to act more circumspectly ; DISRUPTION WORTHIES. and this is one advantage which I anticipate, should I be ordained, may still con- tinue I cannot see that, with the exception of preaching and administration of ordinances, an elder stands in a different situation from a minister, and he surely must (as one who rules well) be able to rule well himself, and his own family, before he can undertake or expect to rule well the Church." Wliat ultimately decided him was, that " he could not see that he would not have been, in some measure, rejecting an invitation from Christ, made through His Church, had he given a negative to the proposal." Notwithstanding this serious reluctance to enter upon public reli- gious office, so characteristic of his humbleness of mind, yet never was there, in fact, a more diligent, devoted, or practically useful elder. He was not only for many years clerk to the session, but he devised and carried out, at his own instance, very many practical measures for raising and maintaining the spiritual standing of the congregation, such as getting up sessional meetings specially for prayer, establishing similar district meetings, instituting Bible classes for young persons and children belonging to the congregation ; and lamenting, moreover, the condition of the territorial locality in Greenside, he was in the habit of hiring a room in that locality, at his own expense, to which he might call wanderers in, and there conduct classes and prayer-meetings for that neglected population. In all such efforts Mr Bonar was ever active for good. In the congregational class which he conducted, he prescribed regular exercises on some head of religion to be written out by the pupils in private during the week ; and, considering his extensive professional business, it was marvellous what time he contrived to spend, not only in correcting the many papers given in, but in writing out at length his comments upon each in particular. Along with such self-imposed duties as these, in which he took great delight, Mr Bonar was also an active member and official in various other societies of religious and philanthropic tendency. These included, e.g., the Edinburgh City Mission, the Orphan Hospital, the Society for Propagating Christian Knowledge in the Highlands and Islands, also JAMES RONAR. the Edinburgh and Leith Seamen's Friend Society. Of this last Mr Bonar was a director almost from its commencement in 1830 and eld theofi-^ceofsecretarytiU he died. It was mainly by h.s exert.on tha the proposal to erect a church (Free St Nin.an's) was brought to a uccessful issue. In carrying out these undertakings he not only gave gTatu^Ly his valuable professional services, but also, from t.me to "^^^7:^. he was secreta. to the Senatus of the New College, which brought him much in contact with both professors and student;, who not only enjoyed his kindred sympathies, but a so va ed .reatly his counsel and assistance. He held also a Government appomt- ment in connection with the Bible Printing Board for Scotland^ While his attachment to Lady Glenorchy's Chapel, -d subsequen ly Free Church, was unbounded, he. at the same tm.e cher.shed a truly catholic spirit, his sympathies not only embracing the whole church of :. ich he was a member and omce-bearer. but leading him to take a very Lrm interest in every mission enterprise undertaken for the conversion of the heathen, and more particularly of the Jews. Throughout the " ten years' conflict " the non-mtrus.on and sp.r.tual independence party had not a more conscientious or ardent suppor er than James Bonar; and when the Disruption came he threw h.mse heart and soul, into the Free Church, and became the zealous agent m defence in the lawsuit forced on by the '^^^ J^^^^^ Edinburgh, in their too successful attempt to wrest Lady Glenorchy s Chapel and endowments out of the hands of the Free Church Trustees. Mr Bonar's personal character and attainments, along with an honest plainness and frankness of expression, were, as indicated, of a h.gh order, and in eve.y respect worthy of the family name which he bore. He had very manifestly, a most invincible love of truth, and though naturally quiet and unobtrusive in his general bearing, this d.d not prevent his thorough and outspoken repudiation of ever>-thmg that was DISRUPTION WORTHIES. mean or disingenuous, or immoral in conduct. His Christianity, waile deep and all-pervading, was yet ever of the most cheerful and attractive kind. Combined with a lofty seriousness, there was, especially when among young people and at his own fireside, often a playfulness of spirit, which never failed to win their affections, and thereby to render his instructiovis all the more acceptable and lasting. The love and veneration indeed in which he was held by the young who had been under his charge, may be gathered not only from the interesting and edifying correspondence which he kept up with some of them long years after they had parted, but no less from the following expression which passed involuntarily from the lips of one such as he approached the house in which his loved and revered instructor died — " I never pass this house without feeling as if I should take off my hat." Having removed to the country in hope of benefit from the change, he there sank rapidly, his cheerful composure and entire submission to his heavenly Father's will continuing to the last — the silence of the death-chamber broken only at intervals by such breathings as these: " The Rock is everything." ..." What shall I render unto the Lord for all His benefits towards me." Indeed, even in the most affecting moments — such as, when crossing the threshhold of his much-loved home in York Place, fully believing it to be for the last time, and stepping into the carriage which was to convey him to the country — his first care was to seek to cheer and comfort Mrs Bonar and the other dear ones who accompanied him. He died without the shadow of a cloud upon his brow, at Juniper Green, in the parish of Currie, on the i ith of July 1867, his last words being, " Peace as a river." G. R. D. (0^ ^ f be Starqtiis of lOriiatiaHiane, %M' HE Marquis of Breadalbane was born at Dundee on the 26th October 1796. At an early age he followed in the footsteps of his ancestors by embracing Liberal opinions, when the very name of Reformer was odious, and by joining himself to the Scottish Wliigs, who strenuously supported those principles which have long since been in the ascendant. Entering upon public life at a period of great excitement, when the Reform of Parliament was the absorbing question of the day, he threw all his energies into the struggle. To the memorable contest in 1832 for the representation of Pcrthsliirc, which he sustained with such spirit, and brought to so triumphant an issue, — his rank, position, prospects, as the Earl of Ormelie, gave special significance and weight. It struck a blow at the old system which re- sounded through the land ; and it produced an effect on public opinion in favour of Liberal politics which did not speedily pass away. And though in later years, and especially from the time when as Lord Cham- berlain he became connected with the Court, Lord Breadalbane took little If any part in Parliamentary discussions and public business, to the last he was a steady and consistent supporter of the Liberal party, and never for a moment swerved from his early views. * For our sketcli of the Marquis of Breadalbane we are mainly indebted to "In Memoriam," a tribute to his Lordship by the Rev. Professor Chalmers, D.D., London. DISRUPTION WORTHIES. It is hardly to be wondered at that in 1843, when the Disruption of the Church of Scotland took place — this strenuous advocate of popular right and devoted friend of civil and religious liberty should cast in his lot with the Free Presbyterian Church. His sympathies had been with the Non-Intrusion party throughout the whole of the controversy ; and, when the crisis arrived, he did not fail them. He acted, indeed, with his usual deliberation ; for it was not till some days after the Disruption had taken place that he announced his decision. Reposing a degree of con- fidence in the intentions of the Government, he waited in the hope that some satisfactory settlement would be made ; but as soon as he ascer- tained that his confidence was misplaced, he sent the following letter to Mr Dunlop, intimating the resolution he had formed :— '• London, May 23. 1S43. " Dear Mr Duxlop, — I received your note of the 19th instant yesterday morning, and as I have also received the Scotch papers, I am aware of all your proceedings down to Saturday. After a careful perusal of these, and having given my an.xious con- sideration to the various topics of the Queen's Letter, and the spirit which pervades it, I am most reluctantly obliged to give up that hope which I had till now fondly enter- tained, that the Government were really in earnest in their desire to bring in a measure consistent with the rights and privileges of the Presbyterian Church, and securing to the parishes of Scotland the appointment of ministers acceptable to the people. My resolve is therefore now taken, to vindicate my own principles as a Presbyterian, and to leave the Established Church ; and I beg of you to command my humble services in any way which can be most useful in the cause of the Free Presbyterian Church. I remain, dear Mr Dunlop, very faithfully yours, Breadalbane." This step was most gratifying to thousands of his countrj-men, and was of immense importance to the cause of the Free Church. His character stood so high — superior even to the rank which he held — that his adher- ence among the laity was what that of Dr Chalmers had been among the clergy — an answer to a thousand calumnies, and a very tower of strength. Who could connect anything of the fanatical or revolutionary with the name of Breadalbane, or believe that he was the patron of "rebellion against the laws of the land," or the supporter of any schemes of " priestly THE MARQUIS OF DREADALBANE. ambition or clerical domination"? And yet, standing as he did almost alone among his peers and the aristocracy of Scotland, there must have been such a sacrifice of feeling demanded of him as only a high sense of duty, sustained by rare independence of mind, and no ordinary amount of moral courage, could have enabled him to make. But the patriotism and the religion of Lord Breadalbane combined to bear him through. He saw and appreciated what many Liberal politicians failed to see or recognise — the bearing on the national life and best interests of Scotland of the questions that had been raised by the Non-Intrusion controversy, as to the supremacy of conscience and the liberties of the Christian. Church ; and, warmly attached as he was to the principles of evangelical truth, and knowing their power, he gave his influence, heart and soul, to the party and the cause which held forth the best promise of their ascendancy. His pecuniary support of the principles he had espoused was munificent. Churches, manses, and schools were built by him in the different parishes of his extensive property, and ample provision of reli- gious ordinances made for the adherents of the Free Church on his estates. The manses he built on his own estates were valued at £4000 ; he also contributed ;£'iooo to the General Manse Fund, and an equal sum for the New College in Edinburgh, while an almost unlimited draft of slates for Free Church requirements was allowed from his quarries at Ballachulish and Easdale. To the ground taken up by him in 1843, he resolutely adhered to the end of his life. No opinions he had ever entertained were held by him with greater tenacity, or asserted by him with greater emphasis to the very last, than those he had formed on the freedom of the Church. In every subsequent discussion of them he took the warmest interest ; and in reference to the Cardross case, he declared himself less than ever disposed to acknowledge the civil judges as his spiritual chiefs. But, decided in his own opinions, he was most tolerant of others ; and the freedom which he claimed for himself he cheerfully accorded to them. DISRUPTION WORTHIES. His treatment of the Established Church which he had left, and of her adherents, was uniformly fair and honourable. His patronage he exercised with a view to her advantage, and in deference to the wishes of the congregations ; while over the broad lands of Breadalbane no man ever suffered at his hands for his religious convictions ; and never was the question raised by him, in regard to tenant, servant, or dependent, to which Church he belonged. We might justly advert here to the decided part taken by Lady Breadalbane, a descendant of Baillie of Jerviswood and of John Knox himself, on the occasion of the Disruption of the Church of Scotland in 1843, and to her steadfast maintenance of the great principles on which the Free Church is founded. Devoted to her noble husband, the faithful companion for nearly forty years, the wise counsellor and active coadjutor in whatever engaged his attention or effort, the light of his home and the pride of his heart, — in her removal fourteen months before his own death, the noble Marquis met with an irreparable loss. The tomb which closed over her mortal remains on 6th of September 1861, was re-opened on Tuesday, 25 th November 1862, to receive those of her lamented husband, the noble Marquis. Lord Breadalbane's general character was that of manly strength. Like his person, square, and firmly built, it was solid, sturdy, simple, un- pretentious, but breathing unmistakably an air of conscious elevation, inborn dignity, and native greatness. His intellect, though not of that order which is marked by rapidity of movement, or needle-like acuteness and power of penetration, was never- theless uncommonly vigorous, searching, and comprehensive ; capable of grappling with any subject ; sure to examine it on every side ; fond ol entering into minute details : and almost certain, not swiftly, but after due deliberation, to arrive at the soundest conclusion. Indeed, his common sense and practical sagacity were truly remarkable ; and, although not a man of business habits, he had the greatest aptitude for business, and was THE MARQUIS OF DREADALBANE. able to get through a large amount of it : and no sooner did he direct his mind to any question than he saw all its bearings, would detect real difficulties which escaped the attention of an ordinary observer, and start sound objections, which had not previously been raised, infallibly putting his finger upon a blot, if any such existed, and so sifting the whole matter in hand, that the result reached in the end could hardly fail to be satis- factory and safe. No doubt, there was a certain amount of irresolution in his character, and a tendency to procrastinate, and delay action, which increased with his years ; but, though a weakness, it was the irresolution, not of a weak, but of a strong-minded man. He was not quick in making up his mind ; but then he had much more of mind to make up than many, and an immense variety of subjects on which to make it up. His irresolution was mainly due to his Scottish caution and his strong con- scientiousness, to his want of confidence in his first impressions, coupled with his anxiety to do what was right, and to his consequent habit of going over the ground again and again, and weighing thoroughly the issues to which it was leading him. And well for him it was so. For when once his decision was reached, he moved steadily in the path he had chosen, and could with difficulty be brought to listen to any change. His Lordship's moral qualities were of the first order : honour, bright as the or emblazoned on his shield ; truth, that could not equivocate, and was abhorrent of a lie ; a sense of justice, keen and strong, and carried out inflexibly, at any cost to his interests or his feelings ; and a heart, as warm and tender in its affisctions as ever throbbed in human breast. Never perhaps was there a man more marked by strict integrity, manly sincerity, and downright honesty, in all he did and said. He despised everything like meanness or chicanery, and was incapable of taking an unfair advantage of another. Where he had the advantage his chivalrous spirit would not permit him to press it ; and he was always most disposed to be generous then, when his opponent lay at his mercy. Even in his school-days, he was the champion of the weak or the DISRUPTION WORTHIES. oppressed. " Send for Glenorchy," was the cry at Eton, when any of his Scottish comrades was maltreated by EngHsh boys ; and his impetuous courage and stalwart arm soon swept the assailants away. Had he been a soldier, we doubt not his spirit would have lightened forth in deeds of heroism, and, in battle, his clansmen would have found in him a daring leader, from whose lips no words could have more fitly sounded than the motto of his house — " Follow me." If there was a degree of inertness in his composition, it was either the calmness and the quiet of conscious strength, or the smouldering of a fire that needed only to be stirred in order to blaze. On all questions involving principle there was a ready response. The metal, when rightly struck, instantly and in- variably rang true. If he was slow to repose confidence in others, or to admit them to his love — when once that confidence was gained and given, it was unbounded ; and where his judgment went along with his heart, there was no friend more firm or fast — no cause that could have supporter more staunch and true. His deepest sympathies were with his people. A Highlander himself, his heart was in the Highlands, and devoted to everything which concerned the honour and prosperity of that romantic country. It was his pride to be hailed, and to bear himself among his people, as a Highland chieftain ; whilst the cause dearest to him on earth was that of their mental and moral elevation. He had his reward. The day before the news of his death arrived at Taymouth, a person was expressing to some of the crofters in the neighbourhood concern for the state of their crops, still out and rotting in the rain, — " We are not caring at present about the weather," they said ; "we arc anxious about the Marquis." ^ir Oabib '^xcbJsUx. )OUR church may well be proud of her men of science — Brewster, Fleming, Miller, and Lands- borough," said Edward Forbes in 1854, in the course of a pleasant geological ramble, as we rested in sight of the thatched cottage, Kirkroads, Bath- gate, where Fleming was born. These men had won a fame wider than European, and were then drawing the attention of the foremost thinkers of their day to the principles for which the Free Church of Scotland had been honoured to witness and suffer. Ere six or seven years had passed, all, except Brewster, had gone to " A higher place, More to behold, and more in love to dwell." David Brewster was born on the nth December 17S1, at Jedburgh, Roxburghshire, where his father was rector of the grammar school. David was the third of six children — four sons and two daughters. One son became minister of Craig, another of Scoonie, and a third of the Abbey Church, Paisley. David also entered the University of Edin- burgh, with the view of qualifying himself for the ministry of the Scotti.sh Church, but other work was to be laid to his hand. The chief subjects of interest in the life of a man of science, are the records of his observations and discoveries ; his influence on scientific progress and on public culture. This outline sketch of Brewster's life is DISRUPTION WORTHIES. necessarily very general, but it may indicate what he was, and what he did, as " by the force of his own merit he made his way." The man who conquers adverse circumstances, or makes them the steps of the ladder by which he climbs to eminence, is nobler and worthier than he to whom high position is secured by birth. It is not necessary to dwell on David Brewster's boyhood. The quiet beauty of the scenery around Jedburgh, the lingering legends of the stirring strife of feudal times, and the weird stories of superstition still rife in the district, together with the genial influence of Dr Somer- ville, the parish minister, and the companionship of lads whose mental bent was towards physical studies, all helped to mould and fashion the mind and habits of " the young philosopher." He entered college when only twelve years of age, and graduated at nineteen. Self-reliant from the outset, he acted as a tutor from 1799 to 1807. He was licensed to preach by the Presbytery of Edinburgh in 1804. He early identified himself with the Evangelical party in the Church, several of whose dis- tinguished members anticipated for him a brilliant and useful career as a minister. Even before his licence, public attention had been turned to him, and he had won the high regard of many literary and scientific men. When it was known that he was to preach his first sermon in the West Church, Edinburgh, there was an unusually large muster, both of the congregation and of strangers. We are assured by one who was present that the discourse was thoughtful, earnest, full of gospel truth and good sense. "He had his discourse thoroughly committed to memory, and delivered it with great energy, increasing to the close, which was in these words : — ' Let it be our firm resolution, our earnest endeavour, our im- portunate prayer, that, so long as we have being and breath, we will serve the Lord.' " After this he preached frequently, with much accept- ance, in Edinburgh and the neighbourhood. But, from the outset, Mr Brewster suffered from a nervous infirmity, which led to most painful feelings whenever he was called in person to address others. This ulti- SIR DAVID BREWSTER. matoly determined him to leave the profession of his early choice for the service of science. The twofold curriculum lhrou!,di which he had passed served him well in after years, when, like other physicists, he reached points where observa- tion must give place to faith— points which lie on the edge of that great mystery of Being, at whose closed gates all science comes, sooner or later, to knock, and where all true workers are made to feel that, if they are to enter in, it will not be in the light of the transient fire, struck out by their own efforts like sparks from flint, but in the steady light of faith. The discipline of the arts' course ripened in him that trained common sense which finds its highest scope and satisfaction in rigidly scientific methods of observation and research, while the theological course gave a healthy tone and dcfiniteness of doctrinal view to his religion. To all his scientific work he brought a quick habit of the eye, great breadth of view, strong imagination, a vigorous mind, persistent capacity of application, and, withal, a faith which kept the heart awake to, or on the alert for, hints of the unseen world among the patent phenomena of this. At the time of Mr Brewster's birth Scottish physical science had begun to attract great attention. Black, Robison, and Playfair were in the heart of their fruitful labours. Walker had left his manse at Moffat for the Natural History Chair in Edinburgh University. Geology was just about to take a step forward, prophetic of the high place since assigned to it. Hutton's " Theory of the Earth " was laid before the Royal Society in 1789. Brewster hastened to take part in the move- ment, and to give direction to it. While yet in his teens, he began to publish his researches on the inflection of light, — a department in which he continued to gather fresh laurels till he was within six or seven of a hundred years of age. Revived science very soon began to influence the work of the Church. Unbelief turned to it for weapons against revealed truth. The battle of the Evidences came to be fought on physical rather than, as in the past, DISRUPTION WORTHIES. on metaphysical ground. And men ■were needed whose attainments commanded the respect of scientific workers, and in whose theological acquirements the Church herself had confidence. Such were Chalmers, Brewster, and Fleming. A work of vast moment fell to them. They secured for men of science the sympathy and encouragement of thought- ful churchmen, while they held back the opposition to science on the part of an imperfectly instructed Christian communit)\ In 1806 Mr Brewster projected the "Edinburgh Encyclopaedia," which he edited till its completion in 1830, and enriched by valuable contributions. An event occurred in connection with this work destined to have vitally important bearings, not on Scottish Christianity only, but on Christian thought throughout the world — an event, moreover, closely related to that religious and ecclesiastical movement within the Church which culminated in the Disruption. I refer to the remarkable spiritual change through which Chalmers passed when preparing the article, " Christianity," for Brewster's Encyclopaedia. When he began the work, he had only a name to live ; but, in the course of it, views of the God- head of Christ, the divine origin of the religion of Christ, and of his own need of a personal Saviour, filled his mind, and were used by the Holy Spirit to give him a place " among the living." In conjunction with Professor Jameson, Dr Brewster started the " Edinburgh Philosophical Journal." Indeed, from the commencement of the Encyclopaedia, he continued to take a leading part in the literature of Scottish science. In the appendix to the admirable memoir — "The Home Life of David Brewster" — by his daughter Mrs Gordon, the titles of three hundred and fifteen papers are given, contribiited by him to learned societies or to scientific journals. A searching analysis of these, in their relations to the views of other workers, has still to be made. When the scientific life of Sir David Brewster shall be written, it will be a record of untiring application, painstaking research, persistent devo- tion to scientific method, careful generalisation, and brilliant discoven-. S//i DAVID DREU'STER. His papers on Light — the phenomena of refraction, polarisation, and absorption — won for him a foremost place among physicists. Even his kaleidoscope, " the philosopher's toy," has been turned to good practical account. "Where got you that striking pattern.'" I once asked in a Birmingham warehouse. "In the kaleidoscope," was the ready reply. Sir David also published several popular works, as "The Life of Newton," " Martyrs of Science," " Letters on Natural Magic," and " More Worlds than One." His articles in the quarterlies were many and interesting. Among those contributed to the " North British Review," one deserves special notice. In 1845 Sir David reviewed the fourth edition of " The Vestiges of the Natural History of Creation," a work which, at the time, was as much talked of as Mr Darwin's "Origin of Species" was later. In this paper Sir David's great ability, varied accomplishments, and tact as a Christian apologist, stand very boldly out. His facts in disproof of the author's confident assertions were overwhelming. Indeed, the review was virtually the death of that work as a plea for materialism. It contains, moreover, the refutation of several of the strongest pleas recently urged in support of the factless theory of organic evolution. My personal acquaintance with Sir David began in 1858, when I became editor of the " North British Review." From that date till my resignation of the editorship, I had frequent communications from Sir David, both personally and by letter. At this time an article written by him gave so much offence to certain workers, that strong efforts, successful for a time, were made to keep him from a position which was his by merit. At the request of Sir James Simpson, in whose house at Trinity he was then living, and several other friends, it fell to me to inform Sir David of the cabal. I have a lively recollection of the dignified bearing of Sir David as a philosopher and as a Christian gentleman, in circumstances peculiarly tr}'ing to a man of science. The honour was later bestowed, and lustre shed on it by Sir David consenting to receive it* * We have not space for the list of his honours. Here are the chief :— M.A., Cambridge, 63 DISRUPTION WORTHIES. Sir David continued loyal to the evangelical party in the Church, whose views of doctrine and work he had deliberately chosen at the outset of his career. And when, on the iSth of May 1843, the Disrup- tion took place, he joined the procession from St Andrew's Church to Canonmills Hall, his brother, the venerable Dr Brewster of Craig, leaning on his arm — fit representatives of Scottish science and Scottish piety. Sir David had, in the heat of the conflict, been a valued adviser of those who took an active and prominent part in it. Its close brought him into even more familiar and friendly relations with them. The College arrangements of the Free Church got much of his attention. The institution of the Chair of Natural Science in the New College, and the appointment of his friend Dr Fleming as its first Professor, greatly gratified him.* Sir David was twice married — first, in 18 10, to Juliet, youngest daughter of James Macpherson, M.P., Esq. of Belleville, editor of " Ossian." Four sons and one daughter were the fruit of this marriage. Second, in 1857, to Jane, daughter of Thomas Purnell, Esq., Scarborough, by whom he had one daughter. Sir David died at his favourite country residence, AUerly, Melrose, on the loth Februaiy 1868. His last words were, " Life has been very bright to me, and now there is the brightness beyond." " I shall see Jesus, who created all things ; Jesus who made the worlds ; I shall see Him as He is." " I have had the light for many years, and oh ! how bright it is ! I feel so SAFE, SO SATISFIED." 1S07; LL.D., Aberdeen, 1S07 ; F.R.S.E., iSoS; Copley Medallist, 1815; French Institute Prize, 1816 ; Rumford Medallist, iSiS ; six other royal medals subsequently; F.R.S., i8lS; M.I.C.E., 1822; Corresponding Member of French Institute, 1825; Guelphic Order, 1S30; Knighthood by William IV., 1832; Principal of the United Colleges of St Salvador and St Leonard's, St Andrews, 1838; one of the Eight Associates of the French Institute, 1849; Principal of the University of Edinburgh, 1859. * See article on "The Vestiges," referred to above. J. D I DISRUPTION WORTHIES. versy began in 1832, he delivered very able lectures, both in Glasgow and Edinburgh. He also at that time published a small volume on the subject, the logical acuteness of whose reasoning was acknowledged even by those who differed widely from him on the points at issue. In the year 1837 the Town Council of Edinburgh presented him to the New North Church, vacant by the translation of Dr. John Bruce to St. Andrew's Church. This presentation he accepted, and began a ministry there of singular usefulness and success, giving himself wholly to his work, and making a deep impression, not only on his own con- gregation but on the whole community. When the awakening began at Kilsyth, in 1839, Dr. Brown, as might have been expected, was deeply interested in that remarkable work, and paid several visits to the place. Returning with his heart greatly stirred, he gave his own people an account of what he had seen of the grace of God. He was not only made glad like Barnabas of old, but the sight seemed to give a new edge to his ministry. The lecture by him in the Glasgow course, on Revivals of Religion, in 1840 — his subject being, " Symptoms and Fruits of a Revival of Religion " — is one of the most powerful and interesting of his publications. At this period of his ministry, and for several years afterwards, he had a weekly class for young men, for the exposition of the Confession of Faith. This was attended by a large number of divinity students, as well as others, and many have testified to the great benefit they derived from it. He always made conscience of preparing carefully for his ordinary pulpit work. The opening prayer before his forenoon lecture, will be memorable to all who waited on his ministry. We have heard said of it by more than one, that they could have gone home with the feeling that they had received spiritual strength from it for many days, so full was it of true devotional spirit and communion with God. But, indeed, in everything Dr. Brown was pre-eminently a man of prayer. The CHARLES JOHN BROWN, D.D. Lecture, at which he greatly excelled, whether on the historical or doctrinal books of Scripture, was much valued, for he made history tell plainly its doctrine, and he showed the doctrinal to be powerfully practical. In his lectures and sermons there was a rare combination of intellectual power and spiritual earnestness, proceeding from a mind and heart full of the treasures of the Word. These were not given out in mere strings of texts. The armour had become his own ; he had proved it. He was mighty in the Scriptures, and the Word prayed over and meditated on by day and night was in him as a well of water, ever springing up. Truly the Word of Christ dwelt in him richly in all wisdom, so that alike in the pulpit and at the Communion Table, at his prayer meetings, in his classes, in family visitation, and at the sick-bed, he fed his people with what had first of all enriched his own soul. Dr. Brown was from the first an anti-patronage man, and, from the beginning of the Ten Years' Conflict till its close in victory, he took the deepest interest in every movement connected with it. " The right of Christ to reign in His own house," was felt by him to be a great principle, worth living for, and worth suffering for. He often reminded his own people and others that the battle must be fought in the strength and grace of the Lord ; and for this prayer must be made by the Church to God without ceasing. His ardour throughout the struggle was not merely that of a patriot or an ecclesiastic, but of a public servant of God, jealous for the honour of his risen Lord and Saviour. He thus gave peculiar help all through the controversy, by keeping up in the minds of brethren a high spiritual tone. Although without Dr. Candlish's wonderful versatility, Dr. Cunningham's learning and invin- cible argumentative power, Dr. Buchanan's statesman-like tact and knowledge of the Church and the world, or Dr. Guthrie's great gifts of imagination and pathos. Dr. Brown gave invaluable assistance to the chief captains who bore the burden and heat of that ever-memorable 67 disruption: worthies. time. He was called to take part in many grave public meetings, he was sent to visit the Strathbogie Presbytery, and also as a deputy to Ireland along with Dr. Guthrie, a visit to which he often afterwards referred. He also rendered useful service in conferences with influential persons, which, as a Christian gentleman, he often conducted with peculiar effect. The combination of warm catholicity, with great doctrinal and denominational earnestness was a peculiar feature in his character. At the memorable Convocation in November, 1842, he took an active part, and one speech which he delivered there, showing no common logical and legal power, was known to have had great influence on the minds of the assembled ministers. On the first Sabbath after the Disruption, Dr. Brown, by appointment of the General Assembly, preached in the Tanfield Hall in the afternoon, from the text, "I have set watchmen on thy walls, O Jerusalem; which shall never hold their peace, day nor night." There seemed a deep impression produced on the 3000 worshippers. Nearly all his congregation left the Establishment along with him, and worshipped for several months in Arg>'le Square Chapel, kindly offered to them by Dr. Lindsay Alexander's congregation. They after- wards met in Brighton Street Church and Potterrow Church till they occupied their present place of worship in Forrest Road in June, 1848. During the autumn of 1843 he went with others as a deputation to England, to explain the principles of the Free Church, and obtain contri- butions for the Central Building Fund. He was much in London, and enjoyed greatly the sympathy and fellowship of the Hon. and Rev. Baptist Noel, and other evangelical ministers of the Church of England. When the Assembly of 1844 drew near, it was felt by many, and very strongly by Dr. Brown, that after a " Ten Years' Conflict " for what many would deem the mere outworks of the Church, there was great danger of the people sinking into apathy and settling down into a dry Non-Intrusion body, without spiritual life. Under this impression much CHARLES JOHN BROWN, D.D. prayer was invited for the Assembly of 1844; and, when it met, it was resolved to devote Tuesday, the 21st May, to special religious services. That was a memorable day. Dr. Brown was called to preach before the Assembly, and, short as the notice was, he preached with unusual power from Habakkuk ii. i, " I will stand upon my watch, and set me upon the tower, and will watch to see what he will say unto me, and what I shall answer when I am reproved." The solemn views there given of a minister's responsibility and aim made a deep impression. The sermon was largely circulated, not only in Scotland, but elsewhere. Having been read by an eminent dignitary of the Church of England, he sent a copy of it to all the clergymen in his diocese. Dr. Brown at this time also published a letter addressed to the excellent Edward Bickersteth, the object of which was to give information on the subject of the Free Church to evangelical Episcopalians in England, by many of whom it had been much misunderstood. It may here be added, as the issue of that day's proceedings, that a Committee was appointed, with Dr. Brown as convener, for sending through all the Presbyteries of the Church preaching deputations of two and two, to rouse the people to increased attention to the things that belonged to their peace ; a movement which gave a quickened tone to the ministrations of the pulpit, and was blessed to many souls. Dr. Brown, however, found the business details of this Committee too much for him. Naturally possessing an impulsive and mercurial temperament, which sometimes was misunderstood by those who did not know him well, he could never do work by halves. Whatever he did, he did with all his might, often indeed wasting his great nervous energy on details which could have been done more easily by less able men. This overstrain brought on a very serious illness, by which he was laid aside from all work for nearly two years. In the providence of God, this long rest may have strengthened him for the good work he was still to do, amid intervals of ill health, for nearly thirty years after. From 1846 69 DISRUPTION WORTHIES. to 1857, he was able for full duty, and his manifold labours were followed with a blessing from on high. But periods of weak health now ensued. After several temporary assistants, the Rev. Andrew Crichton was ordained as his colleague in i860; and on his translation to Dundee, the Rev. R. G. Balfour, of Rothesay, became his colleague in 1866. Dr. Brown, however, was able till 1876 to take a share of the work of the Congregation as well as more public duty. Dr. Brown was invited from time to time to address the Theological Students at the New College. His valuable book "The Divine Glory of Christ," the indirect proofs from Scripture of our Lord's Divinity, was one result of these addresses. The substance of later addresses to them may be found in a collected form in " The Ministry, being Addresses to Students of Divinity in 1872." He there discusses shortly but power- fully and practically such subjects as the connection between Godliness and the Christian ministry, Public Prayer, Preaching— its properties, place, and power, &c. At the Assembly of 1863, Dr. Buchanan moved for the appointment of a Committee to consider the subject of union with the United Presbyterian Church. In seconding this motion, Dr. Brown made a speech, distinguished by great ability, and some tender allusions, which touched the Assembly, to the too strong things which in the heat of the Voluntary controversy had fallen from the lips and the pens of both parties in that memorable controversy. This speech gave very much the keynote to the subsequent discussions on the question. In the joint meetings of the various Union Committees, his warmly devotional and brotherly spirit helped to make their intercourse most pleasant and refreshing, while his thorough knowledge of all the questions which successively arose, and his logical acuteness, were of real value. Dr. Brown was called by the voice of the Church to fill the Moderator's chair in 1S72, an office which his state of health at the time happily enabled him to accept. In his address at the opening CHARLES JOHN BROW N, D.D. of the Assembly he referred in a very striking way to the providential hand of God in circumstances preceding and preparing for the Dis- ruption. In his closing address he spoke of the duties of ministers and elders in a way fitted to elevate and impress them. Both addresses were subsequently printed. In all the work of his Congregation, Dr. Brown took the deepest interest. Their Home Mission and other work by his office-bearers and people were greatly helped by him. While he spared no personal labour, as in the matter of the Cowgate Territorial Congregation, in connection with their church and manse, yet he did even more by his hearty encouragement to all in their Christian work, wisely considering that he could thus do more good than by involving himself in details which others could do, and which would take him off from the ministry of the Word and prayer. The spiritual temperature of the members and office-bearers being kept high, there was no jarring or jealousy. Never had any minister a more attached or united congregation ; and they have been a highly favoured one. One of the latest acts by which they showed their attachment to Dr. Brown, was the presentation to him and his family, of his portrait, an admirable likeness, painted by Mr. Norman Macbeth. Ever longing for the revival of religion, he prepared several of the papers for United Prayer from time to time, and the movement in 1874, at the time of Mr. Moody's visit, warmly engaged his heart. Akin to this it may be mentioned that several of the Pastoral Addresses issued by the General Assembly were prepared by him. A wish had been often expressed that he would prepare a volume of sermons for publication. Various reasons long prevented him from complying with this desire. Besides his state of health, there was the difficulty arising from his mode of study. Gifted with an excellent memor}', he studied his subjects most laboriously, but committed little to paper, and scarcely ever wrote out a sermon or lecture till after DISRUPTION WORTHIES. delivery — even then only in few cases. He was able, however, to comply with the wishes of his friends, by the publication of a volume, in 1874, entitled "The Word of Life, being Selections from the Work of a Ministry." While this volume shows the richness of his preaching, and his power in the exposition, collocation, and application of Scripture truth, it cannot give a full idea of his liveliness and warmth in the pulpit. While retaining solidity and strength in his discourses with little illustration or imaginative sentiment, in the later years of his ministry there was a growing tenderness and sympathy, shown for example by favourite hymns being often introduced with exquisite feeling in his discourses. For the last five years he has been laid aside from his much loved work. May the Lord, whom he has served so well, comfort him with the consolation with which he has so often comforted others. D. D. ^%^^ B RO WN , D , D . y^>s;^F7^ DAVID BROWN, D.D. and Mr. Brown naturally felt a peculiarly lively interest in the whole circumstances of the struggle of which that parish was the scene. He was present on the occasion of the settlement of Mr. Edwards, or rather he was with the parishioners outside while the mockery of ordination was going on within the church. The snow was deep on the ground, and the occasion was one of great solemnity. Mr. Brown took his share in the ministrations appointed by the General Assembly in the parishes of the seven suspended ministers of Strathbogie, especially in the parish of Glass, ministrations that were much blessed in spite of the Interdicts which the Court of Session showered on all who took part in conducting them. At the " Convocation" in 1842, Mr. Brown adhered to the resolutions which bound the Convocationers to abandon their connexion with the State, in the event of no relief being given by the Legislature to the grievances of the Church. When the Disruption came in 1843, he left without hesitation, followed by the great majority of his people. A congregation of the Free Church was organised in the village of Corn- hill, three miles off, a more convenient locality than that of the old church. A few months after the Disruption, he received a unanimous call to be minister of Free St. James's, Glasgow, which he accepted. He was inducted in October, 1843, during the sitting of the General Assembly that met in Glasgow. Besides discharging the duties of that important charge, he superintended for two sessions the training of the Glasgow Divinity Students in Biblical criticism. He had his share, likewise, in the stirring work of organising and watering the churches, charac- teristic of the time, and during an evangelistic tour in the Presbyteries of Stirling and Auchtcrarder, witnessed scenes of blessing never to be forgotten. Having in 1845 contributed a series of papers to the Free Church Magazine on the question of the Premillennial Advent, then creating a "onsiderable stir among many of the most estimable ministers and VJSRUP HON WORTH 1E6. elders of the Church, he was induced by the editor, the late Rev. Dr. Hetherington, to recast them and form them into a volume. In 1846 the first edition was published ; the second, in 1S47, was virtually a new work. The book has gone through six or seven editions in all, and it has been generally accepted as the standard exposition of the anti- premillennial side of the question. When the British and Foreign Evangelical Review was started by the late Rev. Dr. Andrew Cameron, Mr. Brown was sought by him as a collaborateur. Among his papers in this journal were — "John Albert Bengel," " Sir William Hamilton on the Apocalypse," " Maurice's Theo- logical Essays," " Professor Jowctt on the Epistles of St. Paul," "Revision of English New Testament," "John of Barnevelt and the Synod of Dort," "The Miraculous Conception of our Lord Jesus Christ." It was during this period that the degree of D.D. was conferred on him by the College of Princeton, New Jersey. In 1854 he was appointed by the General Assembly Convener of the Committee for the Conversion of the Jews, and he continued to hold the office till his appointment to a theological chair. In 1856, at the urgent request of Messrs. William Collins & Co., pub- lishers, he undertook the preparation of a " Portable Commentary on the New Testament," to be published in monthly parts ; the commentary to occupy, so far as possible, no more space than the text. This work went on at intervals till the Epistle to the Romans was reached ; but as no con- densation could pack a commentary on that book into anything like the same space as the text, it was issued in a separate form, and was after- wards somewhat abridged for the "Portable Commentary." The process of extreme compression, however, was distasteful, and by and by Dr. Brown set about the preparation of a larger commentaiy on the New Testament for the use of ministers who had neither time nor inclina- tion to consult purely critical commentaries, and for cultivated private Christians. The first volume, embracing the Gospels, was issued in 76 DAVJn BROUW, D.D. ,863, and has been repeatedly reprinted. The second, embracing Acts and Romans, was issued some years thereafter, and the concludmg volume was the work of a clergyman of the Church of England. In May, 1857. the General Assembly appointed Dr. Brown to the Chair of Apologetics, Exegesis of the Gospels, and Senior Church History in Aberdeen. All these branches he continued to teach till ,875, when a separate Chair of Church History was instituted, to which the Rev. Dr. Binnie was appointed. A few years after his return to Aberdeen, his Alma Mater, the University of Aberdeen, conferred on Dr. Brown its own degree of D.D. In 1870, the Convocation of the English Church of the Province of Canterbury'having appointed a committee of Biblical scholars of their own Church, with power to associate with them scholarly men of other denominations for the revision of the Authorised Version of the Bible, Dr. Brown was chosen one of the New Testament Company, who were to sit four days a-week in each month (save August and September), until the work should be completed. Dr. Brown has taken a great interest in the work, never having been absent from the meetings except during the College session. After the labour of nearly ten years, the work is understood to be now all but completed. The lifelong intimacy of Dr. Brown with the late Professor John Duncan led to his being asked by Dr. Duncan's Trustees to prepare a Memoir of his remarkable friend, which appeared in 1872. Two large editions of that work have been exhausted, and a supplementary volume, entitled "The late Rev. Dr. John Duncan in the Pulpit and at the Communion Table," is now also out of print. In 1876, Principal Lumsden having died. Dr. Brown was appointed by the General Assembly Principal of the Free Church College of Aberdeen, which office, along with his professorship, he continues to hold. Among the more fugitive literary- pieces of Dr. Brown were several papers chiefly in Church historj-, contributed to the Sunday Magazine DISRUPTION WORTHIES. chiefly during the editorship of his friend and relation Dr. Guthrie. They were uniformly vigorous, substantial, and well toned. Mr. Strahan, the publisher, used to say that whatever Dr. Brown sent was " always good." Nor ought we to omit mention of a touching volume bearing the title, "Crushed Hopes Crowned in Death." It was the memoir of the short life of his eldest son, a young man of remarkable talents, who, after a distinguished career at Oxford, had gone to India, but was driven homeward by illness, and died during the voyage. The title delicately indicates that it was the discipline of sickness and the shadow of death that led him, after a period of darkness, to manifest that assured trust in the Saviour, which to his parents was the token of answered prayers and of the presence of Him who leadeth the blind by a way that they know not. Dr. Brown is one of the men who have helped to sustain a high tone of scholarship in the Free Church, and always in connection with orthodox views and high spirituality of mind. W. G. B. M\ f I JOIIX BRrCE, D.n. party at the manse, a meeting of Kirk-Scssion or Deacons' Court, a talk with collectors or Sabbath-school teachers ; — perhaps no such occasion of coming into close intercourse with him over passed away without leaving an abiding sense, a fragrant memory, of his many-sided Christian gcnialit)-. One who knew him in his highest moods has said to us : — You cannot account for the peculiar impression made by Dr. Bruce, even through his preaching, when it was most austerely intellectual, or almost wildly imaginative, unless you take into view, as a thing in respect of which he excelled all other Christian teachers of our time, his completeness of humanity, his all-round comprehensiveness of sympathy. Over the mantle-piece, students at his breakfast parties observed, in Dr. Bruce's own hand, this subscription to a picture of Chalmers, " The Numidian lion sleeping in the sun." He was at home with Chalmers in his loftiest moods of solitary contemplation. But he was equally at home with a kitten gambolling on the hearth. His humaneness was com- plete. His sympathy seemed to be vividly in relation to all sentient creatures. Those who have closely studied the secret sources of social success, in private intercourse or in public assemblies, and who know how much depends on a look or a tone from the heart, will understand how largely a Christian minister must have gained upon the minds and hearts of his flock through that gift or grace, of quick and true and tender sympathy, so widely comprehensive in its range. Dr. Bruce was one of those ministers who love to "dwell among their own people." It is known that he twice refused to be Moderator of Assembly. His church is to this hour, in marked measure, sensibly and almost visibly a home of Christian worshippers. His junior colleague is well qualified to sustain in the congregation the character of domcsticit)- in connection with what is loftiest in religion. But even at this hour, visitors to Free St. Andrew's, renewing their sense of domesticity as the ,q;ciiius loci, will instinctively think of Dr. Bruce as the prime DISRUPTION WORTHIES. originator, and say, " The cask has retained the flavour of that which filled it." Homekeeping and peaceful, the doctor, as he was wont to remember with much glee, on some occasions played the man of war. And on those occasions he manifested a hearty relish for sheer fun, which cannot with propriety be spoken of in connection with his pulpit services, and yet which cannot be left unmentioned by any one giving a faithful delineation of this dear old man. Is it Charles Lamb that said that our generation shows degeneracy from the Shakespearean by incapacity of relishing bad jokes? In the once famous Moderatorship Controversy (a.d. 1837), Mr. Bruce published a small pamphlet about a conversation, to which he had been witness, between Dr. Chalmers and another grandee of the Church. The peroration was to this effect : — Christian people may think that in thus doing battle I have departed from the meekness of the Gospel ; but the meekest man on earth, when he saw an Egyptian smiting an Hebrew, killed the Egyptian, and buried him in the sand. The grandee lamented bitterly his being alluded to as " an Egyptian." But Mr. Bruce, who had no more malice than a dove, must have keenly enjoyed the fun resulting from the happiness of the allusion, as well as from the ruffling of the equanimity of that ecclesi- astical grandee ; for long after, in the terrific college controversy in the Free Church, Dr. Bruce, at the end of a presbytery speech, reminded his hearers that they ought not to wonder at his taking part in this strife of tongues, seeing that in his comparative youth, when he saw an Egj'ptian smiting an Hebrew, he killed the Egyptian, and buried him in the sand. But his true battlefield was the pulpit— with its complementary pastoral care. Dr. Bruce's preaching was always evangelical. But many of his pulpit contemporaries were as earnestly evangelical as he was ; and of them some had far greater gifts of popular oratory than he had, and others had more of naked intellectual strength. Yet, in that golden age of the Edinburgh pulpit, he had a success as preacher which in some JOHN BRUCE, D.D. respects was unique. A marked characteristic of his pulpit ministration was the extent to which it proved (in the highest sense) winning and commanding to the highest type of men. Among these wc include such as, like Robert M'Cheync and William Burns, were peculiarly high in respect of spirituality and earnestness. But they, it will be observed, were men of great intellectual power. The students of greatest intellectual power were attracted to his ministrations in a proportion far beyond the proportion attracted elsewhither by the greatest pulpit oratory of the time. And it is a "public secret" that his ministry proved attractive and beneficent to a very unusually large number of highly intellectual men who otherwise stood in no friendly relation to the Christian Church. What — under God— was the secret of this peculiar power for good ? Perhaps there can be no answer to this question. Divine grace, leading him to see clearly and speak strongly in relation to the things of God, was shared by others. And perhaps beyond this the secret is undefin- able. It is largely represented by the expression, genius. It becomes more clear to us when we remember that this man of genius had wonder- ful comprehensiveness of sympathy, so that from his own heart he spoke to the heart of every man, and woman, and child. But still, as we en- deavour to grasp the precious secret, the prhnaiy condition eludes our grasp:— He so succeeded because he was John Bruce, purified and exalted by grace, but always John Bruce. We despair of defining the primary condition ; and will consent to the humbler office of indicating certain secondary aspects. From the typical Boanerges of the pulpit he was entirely different. His discourses were closely read. His reading, and speaking, at the out- set, was notably quiet, with an unaffectedly strong Forfarshire accent ; and he had no " gesture " whatever at the outset. But even from the outset, as soon as the minister came into view on his way to the pulpit, there was a certain impressiveness of aspect, as if of one under the power of things spiritual and'eternal. His prayers were sensibly in the spirit DISRUPTION WORTHIES. of prayer, sensibly representing the exercise of a sinful creature at the foot of the throne of a holy God, humbly yet hopefully wrestling for pro- mised blessings. And thereupon came the discourse, in which his peculiar power was felt though not comprehended. His published series of discourses on Samson and on Gideon might lead a true critic like Hugh Miller to say that they reveal a certain Miltonic majesty, and solemnity, and moral imagination. But one who had heard the discourses might feel impelled to say, when hearing such criticism of mere readers, what .^schines said after listening to the applause of those who had heard him recite the oration of his rival, Demosthenes, On the Crown, — " Ah 1 but what if jou had heard {the monster) himself" No printed discourse of Dr. Bruce can ever approach to his sermons ; for a sermon consists not only in the discourse, but in the discourse along with the congregation and the preacher. He never was a professed exegete according to the methods of the schools. Students believed that he was avowedly non-learned, because his only professed " reading " was in the Bible and Pascal's " Thoughts." But he deeply meditated on the few things he chose to read, as well as on the many things he saw and felt. Meditation, an almost " lost art " in our time, was a marked characteristic of his preaching. It is not unlikely that one reason why he attracted so many lofty minds is to be found in the amplitude of his elevated meditation on the great things of God. The habit of meditation, of, so to speak, solitary contemplation, in disregard of miscellaneous " book " learning, may have occasioned a certain appear- ance of strangeness in his views and utterances. Some said that his method of ascertainment was best represented by the Latin word rimare — as if his mind had been one of those birds which, peering into nooks and crannies, find jewels where no other creature would have seen anything. Some said— stupidly— that he characteristically found things where they are not. And in truth, there was in his preaching much that must have been disconcerting to the plain scholastic mind — stupid or clever. 84 JOHN BRUCE, D.D. For instance, what can tliat plain scholastic mind make of this: — Dr. Bruce, with great earnestness, preaches about the nexus. A steam- engine is a good thing, and so is a train of carriages filled with would-be passengers. But there can be no travelling, — it is all "no go" — unless there be tlie nexus, between steam-engine and carriages. The simply scholastic mind is offended, thinking that this minister is preaching about railway secular business. But Dr. Bruce's ordinary qualified hearers know that, when he so emphatically affirms the vital importance of the nexus, he is really preaching about the necessity of saving faith. Again, the scholastic man hears him prelect on "the four elementary operations of Arithmetic." Addition is necessary ; subtraction must be added ; besides, multiplication is very important ; but oh ! my brethren, be sure that you have division (pronounced devecshoii), along with addi- tion, subtraction, and multiplication. The sheer scholastic mind docs not take in the fact, well understood by ordinary hearers, that Dr. Bruce, in a way memorably impressive to them, though in somewhat fantastic form, is emphasising and illustrating great truths of religion. Strangeness there was, not oddity, in his case. Those things which in isolation, of prosaic reporting, appear grotesque, were in his case only picturesque. And under his master-hand the picturesque continued to be vividly impressive and memorable when it rose to be morally sub- liinc. Thus, preaching about the dead body of Moses, Dr. Bruce impressed our mind and heart powerfully, with the, so to speak, phj'sical circumstantials of the wilderness behind, and Canaan before. A whole tragic history was thus laid before us, and we were deeply impressed with the singular event of the disappearance of the dead body of Moses. The orator, who had no thought of being an orator, thus placed us on the spot w-here Moses died, and in the perplexed condition of contem- poraneous Israel, which did not know what to think of the mysterious disappearance of his body. This, at first sight, was a very grand historical description, of the wilderness, and the wilderness warfare and suffering. DISRUPTION WORTHIES. and of Moses, simply as the man of God, consciously looking his first and last look on Canaan. But underlying this there was a spiritual principle, which was the real theme of discourse, that those who once have got into Canaan shall never more see the dead body of Moses. For Dr. Bruce it was perhaps impossible to avoid the question, — rhnare,—\\\\?X is meant by the debate (in Jude 9) between the good angel and the bad. In ostensibly perfect good faith, he set forth two theories: — (i.) That the bad angel simply tried to reason or persuade the good angel into telling what was the site of Moses' grave ; and (2.) That what the unclean demon sought to do was, to worry and "chaff" the good spirit from heaven, so that this latter should be provoked into blurting out revelation of the secret. Even this grotesque episode served to deepen the main im- pression, and the main impression of deep spiritual truth became insepar- ably blended with a grand historical picture of the death of Moses. At the opening of Stockbridge Church, a daughter of St. Andrew's, Dr. Bruce preached on John iii. i, &c. The substratum of his discourse was solid earnest utterance of the evangelical doctrine of the work of the Spirit in regeneration and sanctification. But the special aspect of it was a new view of the figure of a Wind, as representing the Divine Spirit, not simply in respect of sovereign freeness, but in respect of desolation preparing for rehabilitation. Gradually the doctor's description placed us in a hurricane, from which we vainly strove to flee away, and which drove away into nothing every refuge. Yes : every refuge ; this Wind has for a first work the demolition of all refuges of lies, leaving the sinner houseless and naked, in order that God may house him and clothe him. On such occasions, with imaginative splendour of conception and diction, and glowing power of utterance through gesture as well as word. Dr. Bruce often wore the aspect of a prophet, or eloquent seer, sometimes almost Berserker of the pulpit. But the more we endeavour to show what he was, and how, the more we consciously fail. J. M. (^tox^t Uucban. (OF KEI.LOE.) IFE late George Buchan, Esq. of Kclloc, was born on tlic 29th of May 1775, in Adam Square, Edinburgh. E.^cccpting one who died in infancy, he was the eldest son v^ il )7x '" ^ family of seven sons and seven daughters. Of ^/ir^ the sons, only General Sir John Buchan, a distinguished ^ peninsular officer, and the subject of this Memoir, lived to years of maturity. One of the daughters afterwards became Mrs Fordyce of Ayton. Mr Buchan was of ancient and honourable lineage on both sides. His great-grandfather was a son of Mr Buchan of Auchmacoy, in Aber- deenshire, and was descended from the early Earls of Buchan. His grandfather owned the estates of Letham in East Lothian, and Kclloe and Cumledge in Berwickshire , and his father succeeded to the Ber- wickshire property. His paternal grandmother was Christian, daughter of Sir Francis Grant, Bart, of Monymusk, in the county of Aberdeen. His own mother was Anne, fourth daughter of the Right Honourable Lord President Dundas of Arniston, sister to Henry Dundas, the first Viscount Melville, and sister-in-law to Admiral Duncan of Camperdown He was thus connected with many distinguished Scotch families. When about fifteen years of age, Mr Buchan obtained an appoint- ment in the ^Lidras Civil Sen-ice. and sailed for that destination in DISRUPTION WORTHIES. May 1792, in the Wintcrton East Indiaman, commanded by Captain George Dundas. The voyage was a most disastrous one. On the 20th August, after the Indian Ocean had been reached, the vessel, with 280 souls on board, was wrecked on a coral reef north from Augustine's Bay, on the coast of Madagascar. A narrative of the loss of the Wintcrton, with an account of Madagascar, was published by Mr Buchan in 1820, which contains a vivid and heartrending account of the loss of life involved in the shipwreck, and the sufferings endured by the hapless survivors. Two days after the wreck, on the vessel breaking up, the captain and forty-seven others were drowned. Mr Buchan was thrown into the sea, the darkness of night adding to the horrors of the situation ; and after having been twice washed from a plank to which he had clung, was providentially floated alongside part of the dismembered ship, which formed a raft, whereon were about forty of his companions, who drew him up among them. This raft grounded on an inner reef, and for four days they suffered fearfully from hunger, thirst, and cold : the blood and raw flesh of a live pig which had been on the wreck forming their chief sustenance. On the si.xth day after the wreck the famished castaways were rescued by some native canoes ; only to commence a toilsome week's journey on foot to Tullear, where the king resided. Mr Buchan had lost his shoes, and, to use his own words, "had all in life depended on it, he could not have gone many miles further." Though kindly treated, it was seven months ere an opportunity occurred of leaving the island, and during that time nearly a hundred of the survivors died. Those who still remained experienced a further delay of two months at Mozambique ; and when near Ceylon they were captured by a French privateer, and detained three months more at the Mauritius, so that they did not reach Madras until January 1 794, having been over twenty months on the passage. In his appointment, Mr Buchan's talents and faithfulness soon raised him to a high position, and he became chief secretary to the government GEORGE BUCHAiX. at Madras; in which responsible oUice he served his country till 1S09. Continued ill healtii and urgent private reasons then induced him to return to Scotland, when he took up his residence chiefly at Kelloe. Disastrous as Mr Buchan's voyage to India had been, it was not the only occasion on which he was exposed to the perils of the deep. At one time the sliip in which he was a passenger grounded on a shoal, and was nearly lost ; at another, the vessel sprang a leak in rough weather, and, though suffering from the effects of a recent illness, he had I to take his turn at the pumps along with others, until the sea was wash- ing over the deck. In this case the ship went down only a few minutes after those on board had left her. They suffered several days of great privation in a small boat, and had relinquished all hope of escape, when they were providentially carried through a raging surf to the rocks. Again, an unseen Hand guided him past a ship in which it seemed likely he would take his passage for Malacca. His luggage was actually sent off, but circumstances prevented his leaving by the same vessel ; and shortly after, every European on board of her was murdered by the Malays. At yet another time his passage home had been taken in one of the vessels of a fleet about to leave Madras. To his great disappoint- ment, he was prevented from embarking. The fleet encountered a storm, and the ship in which he had engaged to sail was never again heard of A month later he was sent home on confidential busine.ss by the Madras Government, and arrived in England as soon as the remaining part of the ill-fated fleet. But notwithstanding all these deliverances, and though possessing high mental endowments, and transparent integrity and truthfulness in all his engagements, yet — as he afterwards lamented and published — Mr Buchan was still under the darkness of unbelief, and it was not until after his return from India that he was called out of this darkness into God's marvellous light. The influence of near and dear relatives, including the late Mr Robert Cathcart of Drum, W.S., was, we believe, DISRUPTION WORTHIES. greatly blessed to him in this connection ; and one work which he read at this time with absorbing interest, and to which he frequently in after life referred, was Lord Lyttleton's treatise on the conversion of Paul. As was to be expected in one of his naturally decided and energetic character, Mr Buchan now heartily joined his excellent sisters in carrying out the works of Christian benevolence in which he found them engaged, and in promoting others on a large scale. Amongst these we can only mention the multiplication of Sabbath schools, himself taking active part as a teacher ; extension of a valuable circulating library, and the wide dissemination of religious and morally wholesome periodical literature ; also, at a somewhat later period, the establishment of a day-school at Kclloc House, and the maintenance of home missionaries in various localities. Kelloe House thus became a sacred centre, and the Sabbath school was long a nursery for heaven. In 1825 Mr Buchan was ordained an elder in the parish church of Edrom, and, as such, he most worthily exercised the elder's office, spending great part of his time in visiting throughout a wide district, at the same time dispensing a munificent but discriminating charity. Among many striking instances of the blessed results of these visits, we can only briefly refer to two. One was a veteran soldier and huntsman, who had been in the royal army at Prestonpans, and had reached extreme old age in a state of great spiritual ignorance, but who before his death, which happened in 1831, in his 105th year, gave undoubted evidence of having passed from darkness to light, through Mr Buchan's agency. The other was the writer's own brother, who in his last days was brought to a clear view and blessed experience of salvation through the visits and conversation of Mr Buchan ; the thought of whose great kindness still calls up deep emotions of admiration and gratitude. At Kelloe House evangelical clergymen of all denominations were frequent and honoured guests ; and full advantage was taken of their GEORGE BUCHAN. presence to have meelings for i)r;i)-er and preaching of the gospel in a large apartment within the house, and at various points on the estate. Mr Buchan's society was also sought and prized by not a few of those whose Christian philanthropy has earned for them the lasting gratitude of their country. Among his attached friends and correspondents, we name only Hannah More, Mr Wiiberforce, Dr Chalmers, and Dr Gordon. For many years Mr Buchan was a member of the General Assembly of the Church of Scotland, and, as such, zealously supported the spread of true religion and the maintenance of spiritual independence in the Church. In 1841 he seconded Dr Candlish's conciliatory motion ; also, he was sent with Principal Dewar and Mr Dunlop for the Commissioner, who was absent, when the deposed Strathbogie ministers attempted to serve an interdict on the Assembly. Though strongly conservative, and formerly favourable to patronage, if restricted ; — yet in 1842 he seconded the motion for its abolition, decidedly holding that to preserve spiritual independence, both patronage and State connection must, if ilecessary, be given up. He had, in 1840, published "A Historical Sketch of the Church of Scotland," an able pamphlet, wherein are the following sen- tences : " The Church of Scotland possesses an inherent and indefeasible right of internal jurisdiction in all spiritual matters, derived from the supreme Head of the Church, the Lord Jesus Christ, a right which has been recognised by various statutes, especially those of 1567, 1592, and 1690." Again, "The great point in our Church should be to recognise most distinctly, and maintain most firmly, the principle of non-intrusion ; for if relinquished, the days of the Church of Scotland are certainly numbered : then would be an end of her character and stability as a national Church." He held these principles to the last with unwavering decision. Throughout the "ten years' cuntiict " Mr Buchan's services to the Church were invaluable. Hi.s hospitable mansion at Kclloe became more DISRUPTION WORTHIES. than even formerly the resort of evangehcal clergymen and laymen, especially those directly interested in the non-intrusion controversy. There they were always sure of finding sympathetic intercourse and hearty support. The prominent place which Mr Buchan held in the county, his high intelligence, gentlemanly bearing, and sterling Christian worth, made his name a tower of strength on the side of those who struggled for " the Church of Scotland free." A severe accident which he sustained in being thrown from his horse prevented him from being present at the Disruption Assembly.* In the Free Assembly of 1844, and again in 1845, he sat as a representative of the Presbytery of Dunse and Chirnside. For many years Mr Buchan had been dissatisfied with the ministra- tions in his parish church ; and, in consequence, he, along with others, carried out the erection of Boston Church at Dunse, in which from 1S40 he was an office-bearer under Mr Cousin, now of Melrose ; and, from 1848 till his death, under Mr Manson. From 1813, when he entered on the possession of Kelloe, Mr Buchan took a large share in county business, for which he had a special aptitude, and in the discharge of which he exhibited marked ability. In this public activity he continued to the last, interesting himself keenly in the wellbeing of all classes of the population. His liberality was like a flowing river, widening as it proceeds. The extent of his charities was never known ; and he was one who carefully shunned all display in such matters. While his own domestic arrangements were a perfect model for a gentleman's house, supplies of coals, food, clothing, cordials, and money were given to the deserving poor, whether on his own property or not, with a liberality that was princely in character. His minister, Mr Manson, at Dunse, had a commission to give away whatever he saw to be necessary, and send the account to him. Every good cause, indeed, * By a singular fatality, Mr Buchan sustained severe fractures on other two occasions, and as a consequence suffered, in some degree, from permanent lameness. GEORGE BUCHAN. was freely supported. To students in difficulties, and ministers suffering from illness or exhausted by work, he ever most readily gave assistance, as the writer of this sketch can personally testify. Sometime after his return to Scotland, he had invested ;^iooo for mission work in Mada- gascar, and the interest on that sum having accumulated over many years, the gift was found a most valuable one when a door of entrance to that island was opened. In addition to the large contributions made by him during his life-time, Mr Buchan, by his will, bequeathed a permanent annual supplement of ;^25 to the minister of Boston Church, ;^3000 to the Sustentation Fund, ;^i50O for Aged and Infirm Ministers, ;^500 for Bursaries, and ;^S000 for the Missionary Schemes of the Free Church. Old and valued servants in his family were also handsomely remembered. From what has been already said, some general idea will, we trust, be obtained of the varied and remarkable life experience of the subject of this sketch, as well as of the high qualities that distinguished his personal character. We have referred to his great capacity for business ; and in this relation his ready grasp of principles, his quick decision, and faculty of command, fitted him to take the lead in affairs, while it gave to his judgments something of a statesmanlike breadth. Ever keenly observant, both of general movements and of what affected himself more nearly, we find him at different times issuing three vigorously written pamphlets against the barbarous practice of duelling; and also (in 1829) putting forth his sentiments in the form of a volume, entitled, " Illustrations of a Particular Providence," wherein his own remarkable experiences were devoutly referred to. And as he grew in years, his sympathies only broadened and deepened. A noteworthy feature in one whose mental character, in harmony with his physical frame, was naturally robust and self-reliant rather than softly emotional, was his great fondness for children, and his singular kindness to the lower animals. But far above all this, was his visible growth in grace. His views of the glorious gospel DISRUPTION WORTHIES. became clearer and richer, and his humility and love more conspicuous as he approached his latter end. When an attack of bronchitis brought him to the closing days, his chamber was in deed and in truth on the verge of heaven. His peace was wonderful ; he was more than a con- queror through Christ, who had loved him ; and amidst great physical suffering, he abounded in praise and triumph. His servants were called in one by one, and lovingly exhorted to seek the Lord. Having ex- pressed much love to his niece, who had long resided with him, and to his sister and nephew, he said, " Make a bold stand for Christ !" On the 3d of Januaiy 1856, in the eighty-first year of his age, he fell asleep in Jesus. His last days on earth had been soothed by the presence of his much- loved sister, Miss Margaret Buchan, the youngest and last remaining member of the family, a woman of elevated piety, who only survived her brother six weeks. In the closing sentence of the inscription on a marble tablet to his memory in Edrom church, it is truly said of him that, " Zealous in every good work for the service of God and the benefit of mankind, his active benevolence and munificent bounty endeared him to the poor ; while his rare mental endowments, his high- toned principle, and his consistency of character, obtained universal respect and esteem, A. S. I I JAATRS BUCHANAN, D.D., I.L.D. of long continuance. The Disruption took place on the i8th of May 1843, and the following Sabbath found Dr Gordon and Mr Buchanan, with almost the entire congregation of the High Church, worshipping in the Music Hall. The colleagueship continued for two years longer, when it was dissolved by mutual consent, that Mr Buchanan might devote himself to the task of raising and organizing the congregation of Free St Stephen's, of which he was the first pastor. In 1844 Mr Buchanan received the degree of D.D. from Princeton University, well known and deservedly esteemed in this country from its own high standing, and from its connection with Princeton Theological Seminary, the scene of the labours of the Alexanders and the Hodges, and the principal school for the training of the Presbyterian ministry in the Northern States of the Union. It was greatly to the honour of that University that it had the generosity and the discrimination to confer degrees on such distinguished foreigners as Candlish, Cunningham, and Buchanan, while it reflects lasting discredit on the governing bodies in our own Universities at the time, that they left it to Americans to recog- nise and reward the merit of their most distinguished sons. At a later period, when more liberal counsels began to prevail, his own Alma Mater made some amends by conferring upon him the degree of LL.D. On the death of Dr Welsh, Dr Cunningham was, as if by acclammation, appointed his successor in the Chair of Church History. With equal unanimity Dr Buchanan was called to the Chair of Apologetics vacated by Dr Cunningham, his ripe scholarship and sound judgment, the com- pleteness of his theological survey, and his power of clear and interesting exposition, pointing him out as the most suitable man whom the Church could find to occupy the post. Another change, consequent upon the death of Dr Chalmers in 1847, placed Dr Buchanan in the Chair of Systematic Theology, which he continued to occupy till his retirement, owing to deafness and increasing infirmity, in 186S. Of the way in which he discharged the duties of both these chairs, we DISRUPTION WORTHIES. have a sample in the works which he published during his professorial life, entitled, " Faith in God and Modern Atheism," "Analogy : a Guide to Truth and an Aid to Faith," and "The Doctrine of Justification "—this last being the Cunningham Lecture for 1866. It is only necessary to add that, besides the clearness, comprehensiveness, and sound learning of which these works give evidence, Dr Buchanan's prelections were marked by a calm dignity and impressiveness ; that there breathed through them the fragrance of a deep personal piety; and that he was affable and kindly in his private intercourse with the students. There was indeed a marked contrast in some respects between him and his beloved colleague. Principal Cunningham — the one a lion-like Luther, the other a gentle and retiring Melancthon. It is not difficult to see which would be the more popular with a band of ardent and impetuous young men, having their own share of the perfervidum ingeniiim Scotormn. But let us rather rejoice in the variety of these gifts, as tending to the better edification of the Church, and rejoice in this, also, that they laboured side by side for so many years with the utmost mutual confidence and esteem. Dr Buchanan, with his fervent personal piety and strong evangelical convictions, could not but feel a deep interest in the conversion of the heathen world. Of this he gave a striking proof when, at the call of the Church, he undertook for a time the arduous and responsible work of the Convener of the Foreign Missions Committee. In this capacity he worthily followed in the footsteps of his revered predecessor Dr Gordon. During the short period in which he held this office, he published one interesting tract upon the Indian Mission ; and had he not been obliged to resign, in consequence of his many other duties, he would doubtless have succeeded in extending and deepening the interest felt in this great cause, by the eloquence and impressiveness with which he enforced it. As might have been expected from his sensitive and shrinking dis- position, Dr Buchanan did not often come forward on the arena of JAMES BUCM.LX.IN, D.D., LL.D. ecclesiastical debate. He had, however, decided views of the Church questions of the day, defended them fearlessly when he had opportunity, and acted on them faithfully when the time for action came. In 1843 he published a short treatise on the "Tracts for the Times," in the form of seven letters to an Englishman. The work is an admirable specimen of the way in which such controversies should be carried on. While the writer is thoroughly in earnest contending for the faith he loves against dangerous and deadly error, he writes as a Christian gentle- man, with fairness and candour, never reviling or misrepresenting his opponents. The treatise is at once popular and learned, and it served more than any other at the time to direct the attention of the Christian public to the true bearing and tendency of the Tractarian movement. In the Voluntary Controversy he took an important part, by writing a prefatory discourse to a series of lectures on Church Establishments, in which he ably maintained the thesis, that Church and State, though essentially different and rightly independent of each other, have yet certain ends in common, and may act harmoniously towards the attainment of these ends, without any encroachment being made by cither on the peculiar prerogatives of the other, and that if any evil results from such a connection, it is to be ascribed, not to the/rt^/, but to the fatilty terms of the alliance. It is easy to see that this line of defence was carefully adjusted with reference to another controversy then emerging as to the spiritual independence of the Church, and that consistency would require the writer to renounce the benefits of State connection if that independence could not be enjoyed in the Established Church. And, accordingly, when this became too evident to admit of doubt, he at once resigned his status and emoluments as a minister of the Establishment, believing that such an encroachment had been made upon its peculiar prerogatives as no church of Christ is at liberty to submit to. In the movement towards union with the United Presbyterian Church, begun in 1863, Dr Buchanan at first took no part either for or DISRUPTION WORTHIES. against it. When, however, a difference of opinion arose within the Free Church on the subject, some advocating the proposed union as a thing in the circumstances warrantable and expedient, and others opposing it as involving a dereliction of important principles, Dr Buchanan took the latter view ; in this differing from his beloved friend and colleague, Dr Bannerman, with whom on most subjects he cordially agreed. Dr Buchanan was twice married. His widow and family survive him. In his last illness he suffered much, but bore his suffering with exemplary patience and resignation to his Master's will. He died on the 19th of April 1870, and was buried in the Grange Cemetery, the resting-place of Chalmers, Tweedie, Guthrie, and many more who, like them, having ser\'ed their own generation by the will of God, have fallen on sleep. " They that be wise shall shine as the brightness of the firmament ; and they that turn many to righteousness as the stars for ever and ever." K. G. B. ^ M ROBERT BUCHANAN, D,D lUhnt IBucIjaitan, ID.B. OBERT BUCHANAN was born at St Ninians on 15th August 1S02. The private history of his mind, and tlic circumstances which led him to study for the Church as his profession, are topics which cannot be entered on in this brief notice. It may be enough to refer to the fact, that the spiritual revival which was making itself felt in Scotland, as elsewhere, reached and touched various minds by various means. Young Buchanan was brought early into contact with some of the most powerful representatives of evangelical influence. Before his ordination to his first charge, he was already intimately acquainted with Dr Andrew Thomson. He studied, with distinction, at Glasgow, and afterwards at Edinburgh. For some years he acted as tutor in the family of Mr Home-Drummond, at Blair-Drummond during the summer, and at Edinburgh during the winter months. His first charge was at Gargunnock, where he was settled on 6th March 1827. The day before that fixed for his settlement a tremendous snow-storm took place, which made the roads all but impassable. The writer has heard him describe how he made his way from Edinburgh to Stirling on horseback, with great fatigue and considerable risk, reaching Stirling the second day. The larger part of the journey was accomplished across country, without reference to the roads, which in many places were DISRUPTION WORTHIES. perfectly impracticable. From Gargunnock he was translated, in 1830, to Salton in East Lothian, where he exercised his ministry for three years. The manner in which his pastoral efficiency and his ministerial character had approved themselves in these fields of labour, led to his being recommended for the important vacancy of the Tron Parish, Glasgow. This was the parish made famous as the scene of Dr Chalmers' ministry, during the first portion of his stay in Glasgow. Mr Buchanan was inducted on 23d August 1833. Long before Mr Buchanan's time, the congregation had ceased, to a great extent, to be drawn from the parish. They assembled from all parts of the city. But Mr Buchanan had embraced the maxims of Chalmers too cordially to be in danger of overlooking the interests of the parochial population. The growth of the city, and the movements of its inhabitants, had the effect of bringing to the Tron parish a continually increasing proportion of poor and neglected people. Here, for the first time, Mr Buchanan became practically acquainted with the wants and dangers of the city masses, and received impressions which were practically operative in his life, down to the very end of it. Meanwhile the activities of the evangelical revival within the Church of Scotland were in full progress, under the leadership of Chalmers ; and Buchanan's extraordinary capacities for practical church work, and his sagacity as an adviser, made themselves abundantly manifest. By none were they more appreciated than by Dr Chalmers, with whom he was associated in Church Extension projects and excursions, as well as in other movements of these days. It is still remembered how, in speaking of his younger friend, the doctor would comment on the distinction between his clear insight and efficient work and the high-sounding talk which vexed him in other quarters. It need hardly be said that Mr Buchanan took a cordial interest in the steps and measures, adopted with a view to reform the administration of ROBERT BUCHANAN, D.D. the Scottisli Established Church ; and wlien the difficulties arose which involved the church in danger and perplexity, he rapidly acquired great influence in the conduct of affairs. The earliest Assembly in which he took a very conspicuous position was that of 1838. The first Auchterarder decision had then been given in the Court of Session, and the principles which it indicated, as likely to be affirmed as law, were occupying men's minds. It was manifest, that in addition to the question of the rights of the people in the settlement of ministers, the wider question of the inde- pendence of the Church in her own province was coming into debate. All that the Church could do, was to make it plain without delay, how serious the issues would prove to be, if the indications given by the civil courts were followed out. To Buchanan, accordingly, was entrusted the duty of moving the " Independence Resolutions," which struck the key- note of the struggle that followed. The manner in which he performed this duty confirmed him in his position as one of the remarkable cluster of leading minds to whom, under God, the Church looked for guidance during the years that followed. The position which he thus took up, was achic\ed wholly in virtue of his admirable strength and balance of mind, his expertness in all practical affairs, and his known and proved devotedncss to the public cause. He was a forcible and polished speaker, but he did not attract admiration by rhetorical brilliancy. Neither did he interest men by picturesque manifestations of personal character ; for he was disposed to no singularities ; and although his sympathies were wide and his affec- tions strong, he was not the man to parade them. But he proved to be one on whom even strong men found it a comfort to lean. Very soon he was recognised as the most influential minister in the west of Scotland, and as the most powerful representative of the Evangelical party in that section of the Church. But few, comparatively, were then aware, or are yet aware, how powerfully he contributed to guide the counsels and the policy of the whole party during the years that preceded the Disruption. DISRUPTION WORTHIES. A sen'ice on which he was often and long employed was to act as deputy for the Church in the wearisome and anxious, and finally fruitless, negotiations with successive Governments which arose out of the successive phases of the Disruption Controversy. His knowledge of the world, his ease in intercourse with men of all ranks, his presence of mind, and his unfailing coolness and judgment, rendered him invaluable in this department. When things were in his hands, men felt sure that what was possible would be done, and well done. If his letters to private friends written during those visits to London are still preserved, they would prove to be, we believe, even now, full of interest. During the whole conflict he himself kept, and he was anxious that the Church should keep, carefully within the line of the position originally taken up. He was not more resolute to maintain the ground of principle, than careful to guard against exaggerations, which might expose the Church's position to misconstruction. The motives of this comparative moderation were not always understood ; and those who thought that strength of principle was synonymous with extremeness of principle, might consider him at times not sufficiently loud, or not suffi- ciently advanced. When the proceedings of the Convocation (November 1842) were drawing to a close, he took an opportunity of referring to this matter. He stated that he was aware that some might have thought him timid and cautious. But he had all along foreseen how the conflict might too probably end. And his anxiety had been that when the end came, the Church might be able to say, that she had all along simply maintained principles, and that no ground might exist for imputing the grave results of the controversy to mere rashness or temper on the Church's side. After the Disruption, Dr Buchanan's share in the work which devolved upon the Free Church was too large and multifarious to admit of its being particularly described here. The remark already made as to his ROBERT BUCHANAN, D.D. influence in counsel during the period before the Disruption is, if possible, still more emphatically applicable to the period that succeeded. What- ever might be his share in the plans adopted, he was never anxious to be prominent in the public advocacy and execution of them. His cordial admiration of his distinguished fellow-labourers led him rather to desire to impel them to the front. But whatever good guidance the affairs of the Free Church experienced during many busy and anxious years, a very large share of the credit of it must be imputed to the counsels of Buchanan. It may be added, that in the department of silent and resolute subordination of all personal feelings and interests to the peace and the well-being of the Church, few names indeed can claim a rank- near to his. Of specific services, two especially must be briefly noticed. His " History of the Ten Years' Conflict " is at once a statement of the events which led to the separate position of the Free Church, and a vindication of the principles she professed, and of the steps taken in defence of them. It is singularly clear and comprehensive ; the difficult work of selection, so important with a view to unembarrassed narrative, being performed with admirable judgment. As the Free Church grows older, the work will gain in value. Dr Buchanan publicly expressed an intention of writing an account of the first ten years of the Free Church, as the record of its upbuilding. Circumstances prevented him from executing this purpose. An expository volume on Ecclesiastes, and a very useful record of a tour in the Holy Land, were later contributions to professional literature. It was in 1847 that Dr Buchanan became Convener of the Sustenta- tion Fund Committee, and entered on the long series of important services which he rendered to that great fund. In addition to anxieties with respect to the amount of the yearly income and its adequacy to the purposes for which it is intended, others still more trying had to be encountered. Differences with respect to the administration and distribu- DISRUPTION WORTHIES. tioii of the fund gave rise to controversies, which were not the less serious that, in some instances, men of high character and intellectual force were ranked on different sides. It would be difficult to say how much the fund, and the Church which benefits by it, owed to the circumstance that a man of Buchanan's weight of character, calmness, and firmness, presided over the fund during these periods. He had the strongest sense of the fatal effects, which the indulgence of a bitter and wrangling temper must produce in a matter like this. No labour, no sacrifice of personal feeling, no efforts of conciliation that seemed consistent with sound prin- ciples, were grudged by him, in order to avert such evils. The convener of the Sustentation Fund, indeed, is far from being an autocrat in this matter. He presides over a committee which is very large, representative in its constitution, independent in its temper, and thoroughly awake to the bearings of steps which may be proposed. But the oldest members of the committee will be most forward to testify to the manner in which their remarkable convener infused his own spirit into his associates, and contributed to form the temper and mode of view which prevails in that committee, and, it may be added, in the Church at large. After the first absorbing years of the upbuilding of the Free Church had passed away, Dr Buchanan's mind reverted to the case and claims of the lapsed masses in the city where he ministered. He set himself to call attention to the facts and statistics bearing on the subject, so as to awaken and impress the Christian community. But, at the same time, he set himself to practical work, in the way of rendering more efficient the agencies which his congregation maintained among the people of the Tron Church parish. In the Wynds, in that parish, the work of Mr M'CoU was commenced, the centre of which was the Wynd Church, erected by Dr Buchanan's efforts. Out of the Wynd Mission have sprung directly four large congregations. These congregations have established seven other sanctioned charges, and five charges more have sprung, more or less directly, from the Wynd Church. This mission has therefore been the ROBERT BUCHANAN, D.D means, directly or indirectly, of adding to the Presbytery of Glasgow six- teen sanctioned charges, besides assisting in the formation of others. The work has proved to be the nursery of some of the very best evangelistic labourers whom Glasgow has seen. Dr Buchanan took the lead in it, in the most direct and practical way. The writer well remembers listening to him preaching, in the open air, in a close in the Wynds ; his hearers partly crowding a comparatively open space, partly presenting themselves at every window, on both sides, from top to bottom of the houses, for a considerable distance along the close. An interesting incident took place on one of these occasions. A man, who had become desperate, was on his way to the river to drown himself, when his atten- tion was attracted by the gathered people, to whom Dr Buchanan was preaching. The subject happened to be the Philippian jailor. The suit- ableness to his own case of the statements made in illustration, struck the unfortunate man ; he became impressed, communicated after the sermon with some of those present, became apparently a changed man, and lived a consistent as well as an industrious life for years afterwards. In the year 1857 Dr Buchanan was transferred from the Free Tron to the Free College Church, built in immediate proximity to the Free Church College. The step was the result of a strong conviction, that it was necessary to take vigorous steps to supply churches timeousiy, not merely to the masses in the centre of the city, but to the new districts on the outskirts, successively occupied by inhabitants of the wealthier classes. It appeared to him, that a proposal by himself to remove, with part of his congregation, was a suitable and impressive way of turning attention to this subject. A large part of the congregation remained in their old place of worship, and soon became again a numerous and powerful con- gregation under the ministry of Dr Walter Smith. In the year i860 Dr Buchanan was appointed moderator of the Free Church Assembly. His predecessor in that office, Dr Cunningham, recommended him to the Assembly as " one whose claims to this honour, DISRUPTION WORTHIES. and to any honour the Church can confer upon him, arc of the highest order." Another great and absorbing service remained for Dr Buchanan to discharge, which he was not destined to see rewarded by success. In 1863 he was named convener of the committee, appointed to confer with committees of the United Presbyterian, Reformed Presbyterian, and English Presbyterian Churches regarding union. The history and result of the negotiations, which lasted for ten years, are known. When Dr Buchanan's life is adequately written, the importance which he attached to this step in the history of his Church, and the sorrow with which he saw the expected union postponed for a time, may appear. For the present it may be enough to quote the statement which he made, in reference to this subject in the General Assembly of 1873 : — " Its history will be written and read when we are in our graves— written and read in a calmer and clearer atmosphere than that which now surrounds it ; and for my part I am not afraid of the verdict posterity will then pronounce on the views which have been advocated on this great question by the majority of this Church. It is true that no such merely human verdict will or can be infallible. It is a light thing to be judged of men or of man's judgment. He that judgeth us is the Lord. Speaking as in His presence, and in the great Assembly of this Church, all I shall say is this, that in looking back on what it fell to me to do, as Convener of the Union Committee of the Free Church, I am conscious of much imperfection, — conscious of having come miserably short in those high qualities that were needed for the fitting advocacy of so great and sacred a cause. But I also am conscious of having done my best to carry for^vard what, in my inmost soul, I believe to have been a work of God. And in this day resigning, as I shall do, into the hands of the Assembly the office which I have been so long honoured to hold, I shall do so with the earnest prayer and in the humble hope that from the field in which so much precious seed has been patiently and prayerfully sown, — sown latterly, I might truly say, in tears— some happier husband- man shall ere long come with rejoicing, bringing his sheaves with him." It fell to the lot of Dr Buchanan to survive all the other leaders of the Disruption struggle. He did not allow the successive bereavements to abate his energy or to break his spirit ; but they touched his latter years with a visible tenderness, and brought out more evidently his regard to the things unseen and eternal. The death of Dr Candlish in 1873 ROBERT BUCHANAN, D.D. was a blow, which, tliougli not unforeseen, innictcd a deep wound on Dr Buchanan's affections. A peculiar love and confidence, equally strong on either side, existed between the two friends ; and the previous bereavements which left them alone together, had tended to associate them more absolutely with one another. Whatever his feelings, however, Dr Buchanan, as usual, continued steadfastly to perform every service it was still possible to render to the Church and to the Christian cause. In the winter of 1874-75 he accepted the proposal that he would supply for a few months the place of worship which the Free Church maintains at Rome. A tendency to bronchitic ailment, which had begun to give him some trouble, made this proposal the more welcome. He proceeded to his destination with his usual cheerfulness ; and with the special interest which a residence at Rome could not but awaken, in one who felt the liveliest interest in history, and who had special aptitudes for tracing out and storing up all manner of local relations and associations. Though the winter proved unusually severe, his health did not seem to suffer from it seriously. An apparently slight indisposition had confined him to his room ; but he was looking forward to com- pleting some intended excursions before returning home. During the night, on 31st March 1875, he unexpectedly and most peacefully passed away. Dr Buchanan was married, first, in 1827, to Miss Anne Handyside, sister of the late Hugh Handyside, Edinburgh. This lady died in 1841. He married, secondly, in 1S43, Miss Elizabeth Stoddart, daughter of Laurence Stoddart, Esq., who survives him. Children of both marriages survive. A certain refinement and sclectness, combined with strength and decision, were perhaps the qualities suggested by Dr Buchanan's countenance. Much the same impression might be derived from his whole appearance. Fond of all athletic exercises in his youth, and DISRUPTION WORTHIES. successful in them, his fine form and carriage were impressive to the last. In private, he was a charming associate ; full of knowledge, a strong and ready converser, and in the highest degree companionable. His Christian character partook of the stability and consistency which marked the whole man. It was not obtrusive or demonstrative ; but the more and the longer one knew him, the more one felt how the faith of Christ pervaded and determined his life. AH men knew how calm and self-possessed his demeanour was, in the most trying circumstances. As usual, in such cases, this was often ascribed to a placid or insensible disposition. Those who knew better, knew how suppressed feelings and undisclosed anxieties signalised themselves occasionally by sharp and sudden fits of illness. R. R. ROBERT BURNS, D.D. sequcntl}-, during the vacancy in the East Churcli, Perth, caused by the translation of Mr. Andrew Thomson to Edinburgh that same year, he supphed the vacant pulpit, and with so much acceptance, that but for his extreme youth and youthfulness of appearance, it was thought not improbable he might have been appointed successor to the celebrated man who had left it. His youth, however, though it hindered his success at Perth, rather helped it at Paisley, for very soon after he was chosen by a large majority over three formidable rivals of mature year.s, minister of the Low Church there, and was ordained to that important charge on the 19th July, 181 1, being twenty-two and a-half years old. From this time forward, during a good deal more than half-a-centurj', his life was one of such incessant activity, — an activity so irrepressible and so productive, so full of work, so full of incident, too, and, better than either, so full of fruit — that the merest summary of its principal tnemorabilia (as recorded at length in his " Life and Times," edited by his son) is all that can be attempted here. His ministry in Paisley extended over a period of nearly thirty-four years. His popularity as a preacher, great at the outset, was well sustained to the last. As a Lecturer especially he was thought to be "unrivalled in the West of Scotland," and so laboriously had he given himself to this part of his pulpit work, that before he left Paisley he had been able to overtake the whole of the New Testament, besides the leading historical and prophetical parts of the Old. Fluent, moreover, though he was beyond almost any of his contemporaries, he never trusted to his fluency, without more or less of careful written preparation. Nor less laborious was he as a pastor. His capacity for work as a visitor was something marvellous. Though his congregation was large, and his parish had in it a population of 7000, he made a point of visiting the families both of the one and of the other annually, besides his visitations of the sick, of which eighteen or twenty, even on a Saturday afternoon, was no uncommon occurrence; and this perhaps (as on one occa- Q "3 DISRUPTJON WORTHIES. sion the present writer well remembers) after having written his lecture for next day, in the forenoon, and before writing his sermon in the evening. As a citizen (with the exception, of course, of the Provost and Magistrates), there was no man in Paisley who did more, if so much, for the benefit of the working-classes, especially during the frequently- recurring seasons of distress with which Paisley was wont to be visited, in devising and carrying out plans of relief for the poor operatives. On four different occasions, within ten or twelve years, he was sent as a Delegate to London, and other leading cities of England, to plead their cause in the high places of the land ; and on one of these occasions, he had the honour of presenting to Her Majesty a specimen of Paisley manufacture, in the form of a magnificent shawl. In most of the controversies of the time he took an active part, both with his tongue and his pen. The Bible Society controversy and the Voluntary controversy were two, out of six or seven, into which he thus keenly entered. And his published writings, on these and other questions of general interest, were not only varied but voluminous. Not fewer than forty such publications, of one kind or another, came from his pen, of which the most important were the following: — " Historical Dissertations on the Law and Practice of Great Britain with regard to the Poor, 1819;" "Treatise on Pluralities," 1824 (the writing of which, a volume of 300 pages, within little more than a month, nearly cost him his life); "TheGareloch Heresy Tried," 1830; " Wodrow's History," edited, with Life, Notes, and Dissertations, 4 vols., 1830; "Life of Dr. M'Gill," 1842; "Edinburgh Christian Instructor," edited, 1838-40, besides contributing regularly to its pages, from the time of his ordination till the death of its great founder. Dr. Andrew Thomson. In the midst of all these home avocations he found time to look abroad, and interest himself in the spiritual condition of the North American Colonies. In 1825 he took the principal share of work in the formation of the "Colonial Societj'," became its Secretary, and for fifteen ROBEKJ IS UNAS, D.D. )-cars was its mainspring. In this way, having had to do personally with the finding out and the sending out of not fewer than eighty ordained ministers to Canada and Nova Scotia, before the General Assembly moved in the matter at all, he may truly be said to have been the father of the whole Colonial enterprise, and the founder of the Canada Pres- byterian Church. In the Ten Year's Conflict he had of course his share, having been a strong Anti-patronage man from the beginning, one of the forty-two who first hoisted the flag in the General Assembly, so early as 1833. His evidence on the subject before the House of Commons Committee was very valuable, and with such volubility did he pour forth his stores of information in reply to the questions addressed to him, that the short- hand reporters are said to have been fairly baffled, and to have given up their task in despair. A man who could speak "with a forty-horse power" was too many for them. When the time came for action, unlike not a few who had occupied the same high ground with himself during the Non-intrusion struggle, and who, with strange inconsistency, remained in the Establishment, he proved himself a true man, and if he did not lead the way, at least followed, and fell into the ranks of the outcomers, his whole congregation, with scarcely an exception, going heartily with him. In 1844, along with Dr. Cunningham, and other deputies from the Free Church, he visited the United States and Canada, to plead the cause of the " Building Fund ; " and among other results that followed from his visit, one was a call to return and accept a Colonial charge himself, which, after full consideration and consultation, he at length agreed to do In 1845, he became pastor of Knox Church, Toronto, a position of great usefulness and influence, which he continued to occupy for eleven years, till 1856. From that time, till 1868, he held the professorship of Church History and Apologetics in Knox College, and during the whole of these twenty-three years, especially the latter twelve, he acted as a DISRUPTION WORTHIES. sort of Superintendent, or Missionary Bishop, to the entire Canadian Church. His " Episcopal visitations " were so frequent and so extensive, that there was scarcely a settlement or a congregation within "the Dominion" which he did not know everything about; and there was not a minister or elder with whom on these occasions he made acquaintance whom he did not remember, and whom he could not easily recognise, ever after. He was Moderator of the Canadian Synod the first year after his arrival, and was asked to accept that dignity a second time, after its union with the "United Presbyterian Synod" in 1861. Two visits he paid to the mother-country, in i860 and 1868-69, o" both which occasions he addressed the General Assembly, receiving quite an ovation, — in the latter case, his snow-white locks and his tardily feeble step (though these were the only marks of feebleness about him) making it all too certain that (as he was then just about to return to the land of his adoption) the " fathers and brethren " whom he addressed " would see his face no more." And so it was, sooner than any one thought. He had scarcely been a week in Toronto when the summons came. Arriving on the 6th August, and preaching with much of his old fire on Sabbath the 7th, he began to complain on the Thursday after ; and that day week, the 19th of August, 1869, he "fell asleep," at the "good old age " of eighty years and six months. Dr. Burns was twice married. First, to Janet, daughter of John Orr, Esq., Provost of Paisley, who died on the 14th December, 1841, — having for twenty-eight years been his counsellor and comforter, — a lady of rare worth and usefulness; and second, on the 12th December, 1844, to Elizabeth Bell Bonar, daughter of Thomson Bonar, Esq., Edinburgh, and niece of his early friend and counsellor at Cramond, who — with two sons by his first marriage — survives him. J. C. B. ^Um €m\x%, ^M. DAM CAIRNS was born at tlie Manse of Longforgan, on the 30th Januaiy, 1802. Of that parish his father, the Rev. Adam Cairns, was minister for many years. Ecclesiastically within the bounds of the Presbytery of Dundee, the parish is in Perthshire, and its eastern extremity is coincident with the bounds of the county in that direction, the Burn of Grey forming the dividing line from the county of Forfar. About midway in the long and straggling village, and a little over five miles from Dundee, the church and manse of Longforgan occupy a most beautiful and commanding position. To the westward lies the rich and lovely Carse of Cowrie, sheltered on the north by the fertile Braes of the Carse, whose southward trend at both extremities embraces in their gentle sweep a district perhaps the fairest and the richest in Scotland. The view to the south takes in a long reach of the Tay, with the opposite coast of Fife, from Newport to Newburgh, a dis- tance of ten or twelve miles, while the eastern border of the parish, being near Dundee, embraces the growing population of Invergowrie and its vicinity. In close proximity to this latter village are to be seen the ruins of Dargie Church, with its burying-ground — a favourite resort of the late Rev. R. Murray M'Cheyne in his private walks into the countiy. Its walls, almost entirely covered with ivy, are still in a good state of pre- DISRUPTION WORTHIES. servation for its age, if the legend of the place be true, that it was the first Christian church north of the Tay. At this spot the river expands into a bay of shallow water, whose dimensions must have greatly diminished in course of years. Two rocks, known as the Gows of Gowrie, and said to have at one time stood out visible in the water, are now more on land than in the water, almost concealed by a luxuriance of sedge, fulfilling a saying attributed to Thomas the Rhymer: — " \Mien the Gows of Go^vrie come to land The day of judgment 's near at hand." Dr. Cairns's father appears to have belonged to the parish of Temple. His mother's father was minister of the parish of Kinnaird, in the Carse of Gowrie. He is descended from a long line of ministers. Having received the rudimentaiy part of his education in his native parish, he very soon gave promise of future success in his studies, and entered the University of St. Andrews before he was fourteen years of age — too young, as he himself has often confessed. Yet as a student he did more than hold his own among his class-fellows, many of them b}' far his senior in years. Throughout his whole course of study, both in the University and in the Theological Hall, he occupied a distinguished place. With more than average natural gifts he combined more than average application. He was a hard student ; and the habit formed in early youth has stuck to him throughout a lengthened and successful ministry. Of himself he has been heard to say, " I have no great natural ability ; and any measure of success to which I have attained has been won through hard labour and close application to present duty." He was licensed as a preacher on the 5th October, 1824. Soon after this, he passed through a severe ordeal, which lasted for several years. Tall and handsome, of commanding appearance, yet never robust, his ADAM CAIRNS, P.P. health at this stage siifVcred greatly, and threatened lor a time entirely to give way. Cast on his own resources, he was obliged to support himself by private teaching. In various ways his strength was ovei taxed ; he was in a state of physical exhaustion, nervous and irritable But no one knew the conflict of spirit through which at that time he was passing, save the Great Searcher of hearts. It was this that was telling upon him. Pangs and sorrows within were drying up his strength like a potsherd. It was the crisis in his life, the turning-point in his spiritual and eternal destiny. The struggle was long, the wrestling was great, the darkness terrible, almost bordering on despair. He had none to counsel and direct him. His only resort was the Bible, and secret wrestling with God in prayer. In his own words — " I can never forget the ministers whose words were sweet to my taste, and acted as a healing ointment on my truly stricken spirit. They were the Lord's messengers to me ; but they were neither famous for their pulpit oratory, nor burning and shining lights in popular estimation. Preachers they were of humble standing, and of no intellectual pre- tensions, but full of the Holy Ghost, rich in the knowledge of the will of God, and in all wisdom and spiritual understanding." God took him from the fearful pit, and from the miry clay. The darkness passed away ; the shadow of death was turned into the morning. After serving for a time as assistant to the late Rev. Sir Hcnrj- Moncreiff, minister of the parish of St. Cuthbcrt's, Edinburgh, Dr. (then Mr.) Cairns was presented to the parish of Manor, in the county of Peebles, where he was ordained on the 2ist of August, 1828. He was weak in body and in mind, but at peace with God, and walking in the light of life. The parish is a quiet pastoral valley. The inhabitants were few, but of an excellent spirit, and full of kindness to their young pastor ; and for four years and a-half he went in and out among them. He had many tokens for good, and many seals of his ministry. But now his work in this his first charge was drawing to a close. DISRUPTION WORTHIES. His health was again seriously affected. His old complaint returned upon him. It was brought on, or at all events accelerated, by the illness of a brother, who had returned from America in quest of health, Having come to reside at the manse at Manor, Mr. Cairns was unremitting in his attention to him, both as regarded his spiritual and his temporal welfare. The complaint in his brother's case got worse. He died. It was a triumphant death. His departure was with joy unspeakable and full of glory. But the care and anxiety of waiting at that death-bed left serious effects on Mr. Cairns's own health. And just at the time when a change was desirable, he received a presentation to the parish of Dunbog, in the north-west of Fife. Feeling it to be his duty to accept the offer, he was inducted into that charge, on the 7th of April, 1833. Being strictly a rural parish, the work was easy. While it presented no scope for the powerful but dormant energies of its new pastor, it gave the opportunity, much required, for recruiting his shattered health. It was here, and on the nth February, 1834, that Mr. Cairns was united in marriage to Miss Jessie Ballingall, a lady of very superior parts, and gifted in no ordinary degree with Christian prudence and kindness. She is still spared to be the companion of his advancing years. Of their six children, three have been taken, an only son of great promise, cut off in the flower of his opening youth, and two married daughters, one of them having been left in early widowhood. Three married daughters still survive. After a successful ministry in his second charge of about equal dura- tion with that of his first, Mr. Cairns was translated to Cupar-Fife. It was a collegiate charge. He was inducted on the ist September, 1837. Forgetful of his former ailment, he entered on the work of his new sphere with all his strength. Much required to be done. Religion had suffered from the blight of Moderatism for upwards of half-a-century. He felt that a great work was given him to do ; and, fired with zeal in his Master's cause, he was instant in season and out of season, not sparing himself, that ADAM CAIRNS, D.D. he m\g\\\. fulfil the ministry which lie had received, " to testify the gospel of the grace of God." But in the midst of such exciting labour his strength again gave way. For months his life hung quivering in the balance. He was an invalid for years. But the work which he had begun was not re- tarded. He was cheered, as he himself has stated, "by abundant evidence that the cause of salvation was actually promoted by my sore affliction." The Disruption was approaching ; and though in shattered health, he threw himself into the very thick of the controversy, at once identifying himself with the Evangelical part)-. An esteemed minister, then of another denomination, now of the Free Church, says of Mr. Cairns :— " He soon awakened a strong and extensive sympathy in the congregation and neighbourhood. Yet I believe his main attraction lay in the earnest and effective way in which he expounded and applied the truths of the glorious Gospel. His expectations of Cupar (as regards the Disruption) were ver>' low. But he could not but be amazed at the numbers and weight of his following. He left about the largest and most prosperous congregation in Fife, and it continues to be so to the present day." But again there is another break, and it seemed at the time that his ministry was at end. In November, 1S47, during the afternoon service, with the speed of a lightning flash, he was struck down in the pulpit. He was carried to the vestry, and there laid down as a dying man. Contrary to expectation, he soon recovered. Having gone to Gibraltar, in the hope that the climate there would renovate his shattered system, and feeling greatly benefited by the change, he hired a hall in the principal street, where he preached forenoon and evening, the morning attendance being always crowded. His services on the Rock made a good impression ; and there is reason to believe that numbers were won to Christ. The work then begun at Gibraltar has been continued by the Free Church ever since ; and as a regular station of the Colonial Mission, it has the services of a stated ministrj'. It DISRUPTION WORTHIES. should be noted at this stage that, notwithstanding his hard work and feeble strength, the Free Church minister of Cupar was able to contribute, as he has often done since then, to the current literature of the day. In view of this, and in particular, in recognition of an able and interesting volume produced by him, entitled " The Second Woe," the Senatus of St. Andrews University conferred on him the degree of D.D. It was a well-earned distinction. We now come to what may well be regarded as the most interesting, as well as the most important era of Dr. Cairns's ministry. The gold discovery in Australia was attracting universal interest. Crowds were leaving for the shores of that distant country. They were landing daily there in thousands. The Free Church was impressed with the urgent necessity of providing them with the means of grace. It was therefore determined to strengthen the hands of the ministers already in Australia, by sending immediately other ten or twelve at least. By the active exertions of the late Rev. Dr. John Bonar, ten young men, of whom the writer had the honour to be one, gave their consent to go. They were but newly licensed, and though now to be ordained, they had no ex- perience. It was needful, therefore, to secure along with them one or two ministers of standing and experience. Two such men were fixed upon. They declared their readiness to go. The one was the Rev. Dr. Mack- intosh Mackay, of Dunoon, and the other the Rev. Dr. Cairns, of Cupar. It was an occasion of intense anxiety to all concerned. On the 1 3th of April, 1853, a meeting was held in Free St. Luke's Church, Edinburgh, to implore the blessing of God on the mission. The church was crowded. All the ministers were present with the exception of Dr. Mackay. The proceedings were conducted by the Rev. Dr. M'Kellar, Rev. Dr. John Bonar, Rev. Dr. Cunningham, and Rev. Dr. Gordon. The General Assembly was at hand ; and before sailing. Dr. Cairns had an opportunity of speaking. In the address which he delivered, the following words occur : — " Painful it is to bid farewell to ADAM CAIRNS, D.D. relations and friends. It is exquisitely painful to break asunder the many ties of affection which bind me to my people ; and it is witli peculiar pain that I take leave, as I must do, of the Free Church, the Church of my heart, my affections, and my hopes — the Church of my country and my God. I go, sir, trusting in the promise, ' I shall give thee the heathen for thine inheritance, and the uttermost parts of the earth for thy possession.' I shall work in the distant vineyard depending on the presence and support of the great Head of the Church, waiting and listening for the crj', sweeter from the lips of redeemed men than when uttered by the highest seraphim around the throne, 'Glory to God in the highest ; on earth, peace and good-will to men.' " The twelve ministers, sailing some together, and others singly, in different vessels, all arrived safely in Australia. The sphere assigned to Dr. Cairns was Melbourne. It was then in a state of strange transition ; passing from a small town into the dimensions of a great and populous city. It arose to greatness as in a day. There were two congregations of the Free Church in Melbourne at the time, but only one church, the second congregation worshipping in a rented hall. The arrival of Dr. Cairns was an event which cheered immensely the hearts of all Presby- terians, especially those who belonged to the Free Church. He at once commenced his labours, preaching in the Temperance Hall in the fore- noon, and in Knox's Church in the evening. A large congregation sprang into existence at once. It was one of the largest in the southern hemisphere. From his first public appearance it was felt by all classes that he was to wield an immense power in the colony. With pulpit qualifications of a high order, a graceful personal appearance, an attract- ive manner, and a fluent and impressive utterance, he commanded the attention of his audience. On a valuable piece of ground on the Eastern Hill, granted by the Government, a large wooden erection was hastily run up, which served as a church for two or three years, till the present substantial building was erected. An iron cottage was also put up on DISRUPTION nORTHJES. the same ground, which was ultunately vacated for a comfortable manse. Here Dr. Cairns ministered to a large and attached congregation for more than twenty years. In 1876 he demitted his charge, constrained to do so on account of advancing years and failing strength. Anything like an adequate view of Dr. Cairns's work in Australia would swell the publication for which this sketch is intended far beyond the limits assigned by the Publishers. Of necessity, therefore, but with great reluctance, the narration must be cut short. Suffice it to say, that the name of Dr. Cairns is written on the very foundations of the Victorian Church, and of the colony itself In the Union of the Presbyterian Churches, effected in April, 1859, his services were invaluable. In all great questions affecting the religious and moral welfare of the colony Dr. Cairns was the ready champion, never daunted at the frown of impiety, never moved from his purpose by the abuse of an irreligious press. The unswerving defender of the Sabbath, the advocate of religious education, the generous host of the stranger, the friend of the poor, and the helper of the fallen, his work as an ambassador for Christ and as a large-hearted philanthropist will leave lasting impressions on his adopted country. A fit and becoming tribute was paid to him in the public celebration of his Jubilee in Melbourne in September, 1878, when, at a crowded meeting, a handsome testimonial was presented to him. Though now out of harness as a minister, he continues still to labour in the cause of his Lord and Master. May the day be yet distant when another and fuller account shall be called for of the life and ministry of this honoured servant of God. G. D. ^UjEantifr CampbrlL iHE Monzic branch of the Clan Campbell springs from Sir Duncan of Glcnorchy, well known to genealogists as " Black Duncan of Lochow," the patriarch of the noble house of Breadalbane. Archibald, a younger son of this old knight, inherited from his father various estates in "'■"^ several of the Highland counties, and transmitted them to his lineal descendants, the Campbells of Monzie.* The original designation was " of Fonab," a property in Perthshire, near Killie- crankie, where Viscoimt Dundee was slain ; and the tradition is, that Claverhousc fell by a shot fired by Fonab himself, or by one of his dependants who followed his chief to the field. The Fonab of 1702 commanded the British troops sent to protect the interests of the colonists of Darien against the attacks of the Spaniards, and obtained a signal and decisive victory over a vastly more numerous force of the enemy at Toubocantc. For this gallant action a gold medal, bearing on one side a yAaw of the battle, was voted to him by the Directors of the Indian and African Company of Scotland ; while the British Crown rewarded him with a grant of a special coat of arms, with supporters, bearing the motto, * Among the matrons of the Monzie family are found ladies of the noble houses of Lennox, Mar, Athole, Ruthven, Sinclair, &c., and one of the gentlemen became a Lord of Session, taking the name of Lord Monzie. DISRUPTION WORTHIES. Quid lion pro patria ; and as this latter honour was bestowed on him as " Campbell of Monzie," that designation has been retained ever since. The subject of this sketch, born on the 30th December 181 1, was the eldest son of Lieutenant-General Alexander Campbell of Monzie, M.P., and his wife Christina Menzies. After his education, partly at home and partly at Sandhurst College, he entered the army in 1828 as ensign in the 32d Foot, of which regiment his father had been colonel. Semng some time in Canada with that regiment, he changed into the isth Hussars under the Earl of Cardigan; but in 1835 he left the army, and betook himself to the management of his landed property, his father having died in 1832. When he thus assumed the position of a country gentleman, the non-intrusion controversy was agitating all Scotland ; and Mr Campbell having carefully studied the question, at once cordially adopted the views of the evangelical party in the Church. About this time he was asked by the Conservative electors in Argyllshire to oppose the Liberal candidate ; but though he was unsuccessful in the election of 1S37, he so effectively advocated the Church's claims during his canvass, as to draw the attention and win the confidence of the non-intrusion leaders. Having been ordained an elder in 1838, he began still more prominently to plead the Church's cause; for instance, when in 1840 he proposed Mr Home Drummond on the hustings at Perth, he embodied in his speech a proposal for Parliamentary interference to obviate the dead-lock between the ecclesiastical and civil courts, which Dr Chalmers characterized as "presenting a most felicitous solution of the whole difficulty." In 1841 he was returned M.P. for the county of Argyll without a contest. He entered Parliament as a Liberal Conservative, and so attracted the notice of Sir Robert Peel as to be oiTered by him a subordinate place under Government ; but Mr Campbell felt it better to be free from party control, and declined the appointment. At this period, in addition to his strong ecclesiastical convictions, he held Free Trade principles, and was a supporter of Vote by Ballot, both of which he insisted would ALEXANDER CAMPBELL. prove truly Conservative measures. His first speech in the House of Commons on Scotch Church matters was deHvercd in March 1842, in the debate on Sir A. L. Hay's motion as to the exercise of Crown Patronage in the case of Elgin, — a speech which again drew forth the encomiums of Dr Chalmers, who, at the same time, urged him to push his proposed motion that the House should appoint a committee of its members to inquire into the Church's claims. This motion he did bring forward soon thereafter, and pled the expediency of such a step with great force of argument; but the motion was lost by 139 to 62. These Par- liamentary appearances so commended him to the Church Defence Committee in Scotland, that, after the Duke of Argyll's Bill was coldly received in the House of Lords, Mr Campbell was requested to introduce a similar bill into the House of Commons. Acceding heartily to this request, he, on the 14th April 1842, brought in a "Bill to regulate the exercise of Church Patronage in Scotland." Though not granting the anti-patronage claims which the Church regarded as the best settlement, it would have saved both the rights of the people and the Church's spiritual independence, and thus have prevented the secession of next year. When the order of the day for its second reading was moved in the beginning of May, Sir James Graham, on the part ot Government, requested Mr Campbell to postpone the second reading for six weeks, as Government intended to propose a course which would put an end to the collision between the Church and the civil courts. Mr Campbell consented to this, with the distinct proviso, that, should the Government measure prove unsatisfactory, he would that day six weeks proceed with the second reading of his own Bill ; but Mr Fox Maule, intimating his hopelessness of any proper measure from Government, moved "That the Bill be now read a second time," and, after some debate, Mr Maulc's amendment was lost by 131 to 48. Thus ended what was called " Monzie's Bill." Sir James Graham's pledge was never fulfilled, for Government did nothing. Most people now saw — and none DISRUPTION WORTHIES. more plainly than Mr Campbell— that a Disruption was imminent. In the prospect of this, the memorable Convocation of ministers was held in Edinburgh, followed by active arrangements throughout many congregations in Scotland in preparation for the event. The rejection ol Mr Fox Maule's motion by the House of Commons in the spring of 1843 rendered the Disruption so certain, that Mr Campbell left London for a time, and at once set about the building of a wooden church for his residential parish of Monzie. This was quickly finished at his own expense, while he purchased a church which was for sale in Crieff, and presented it to the Free Church congregation there. After delivering several earnest speeches in Scotland on the impending crisis, he resumed for a time his place in Parliament, and wrote what has been called " a solemn letter to Sir Robert Peel, imploring him even at the eleventh hour to avert the breaking up of the Church, by instantaneous and satisfactory legislative interposition." All in vain. The General Assembly met. Mr Campbell, as a representative elder, was present; and after Dr Welsh had read the Protest, bowed to the Lord High Commissioner, and stepped down from the chair, Dr Chalmers took Mr Campbell's arm, saying, " Come away now, Monzie," and the two walked together down to the Canonmills Hall, where the first Free Church General Assembly was constituted. Before the sessions of that Assembly were concluded, Mr Campbell returned to London, to make final arrangements for retiring from Parliament ; but the Assembly, on the 30th of May, passed a cordial vote of thanks to him for his eminent services, which was communicated to him by a much-prized letter under Dr Chalmers' own hand. On the very day of the Disruption, Mr Campbell wrote a circular to the Argyllshire constituency, intimating his resolution to resign his position as their representative, having felt constrained in conscience to differ widely from many of those who had originally elected him. Being thus, as it were, set free from other influences, he devoted himself to ALEXANDER CAMPDEU.. promote the interests of the Free Church, the object ' nearest and dearest to liis heart." Hence he was much occupied for several years in labours connected with the Sustentation Fund, the General Assembly, the formation of the Evangelical Alliance, the Christian education of the people, the endowment of Popery, the sanctity of the Sabbath in reference to railway traffic, the destitution in the Highlands, and many other Christian and patriotic undertakings. His open hand also con- tributed liberally to every scheme of usefulness, specially those of his own Church, giving ;^iooo to the building of the Free Church College in Edinburgh, ;^300 to the manse fund, ;£'250 towards extinguishing debt on Free Church buildings, along with notable yearly subscriptions to the Sustentation Fund in the various districts where his property was situated. As a public testimony of how much he was esteemed for his many labours of love, the ladies of the West of Scotland presented him with a carpet, sewed by their own hands, and valued at ;^200. The pre- sentation was made in Glasgow, on the 14th April 1846, by Dr Thomas Brown, in presence of an enthusiastic audience ; while, on the iSth of May following, the East of Scotland shewed their appreciation of his services by choosing him to lay the foundation of the John Knox Memorial Church, hard by the house of the Reformer in the city of Edinburgh. Mr Campbell was a man of great natural ability, captivating address, and geniality of manner, besides possessing in a peculiar degree the gift of ready, racy, pointed, telling speech, carrying his audience with him in his public appearances, and proving the life and soul of private society. His bearing was ever frank and fearless. Constitutionally impulsive, he was often impetuous, and sometimes rash ; but none could ever doubt the generosity of his spirit and the warmth of his heart. His uniform bene- volence to the poor, and acts of kindness in aiding struggling merit, were very marked ; but he ever resiled from ostentation, considering himself as a brother indebted to every man who needed a helping hand. A favourite with all who knew him, his general popularity was undoubtedly increased DISRUPTION WORTHIES. by the fact that he was a singularly accomplished sportsman. In this character he was selected to initiate the late Prince Consort into the mysteries of deer-stalking in the romantic wilds celebrated in the opening of "The Lady of the Lake ;" and when, shortly afterwards, he presented to the prince a Scotch deer-hound, his Royal Highness replied, through his secretary, that "while he returned his best thanks for the hound, it was not necessary for him to see it to remind him of the time spent with him in Glenartney forest." During the last ten years of his life, Mr Campbell laboured under insidious disease, which gradually unhinged his whole nervous system, and rendered him increasingly and painfully unlike his former self This state of things was much aggravated by several accidents, by which his head was severely injured. His robust and active frame partially recovered strength ; but after much suffering, he died at Leamington on the Sth of January 1869, having just completed the fifty-seventh year of his age. In May 1844 Mr Campbell married Christina, only child of the late Sir Duncan Cameron of Fassfern, Bart, who survives him, with three daughters, the eldest of whom is the wife of Henry Spencer Lucy, Esq., of Charlecote Park, Warwickshire ; and the second has been lately married to Colonel J. P. W. Campbell of the Bengal Staff Corps. Mr Campbell's remains were buried in the vault within St Mary's Ciiurch, Warwick, where his father and liis only son are also interred. S. M. ^^ EXilltam Campbell. '(SrWlLLIAM CAMPBELL f the fifth child of a family of nine, and was born in 1793, near the Port of Monteith, in Perthshire, where his father was tenant of a farm on the Gartmore estate. All the schooling, strictly so called, which he ever got, he received at the parish school. But the most valuable part of his education — the education of principle — was imparted at home, under the careful culture of a godly mother, who was supremely concerned that her children should be taught to fear God, and keep his commandments. She was a woman of capacity as well as piety, and her influence pervaded the whole family. To the pains and prayers of this excellent parent, and to the influence of her character, the subject of this sketch was wont, under God, to ascribe whatever "good thing was found in him toward the Lord God of Israel." In the year 1805, when he was yet a boy about eleven or twelve years of age, his father removed with his family to Glasgow, with the view of finding in that centre of industry suitable employments for his children. Being intended for a mercantile life, William began at the beginning. In order to give him a thorough practical knowledge of goods, he was taught weaving ; and in due time, after having thus far qualified himself, he entered the employment of Mr John Craig, who at that time carried on a respectable Scotch cloth business in the High Street, near DISRUPTION WORTHIES. the Cross. Here he remahied for some years, in the course of which his attention to business, his mercantile abihty, and his upright and amiable character, secured for him the good-will and patronage of several influential friends, and earned for him a good name wherever he was known. Offers of assistance were made him ; and thus aided and encouraged, he (having now attained the age of twenty-two) resolved to start in business on his own account. His first place of business was situated in the Saltmarket, and consisted of a flat, one stair up, of an old tenement in that, even then, somewhat unfashionable locality. The build- ing has since been demolished, in order to make way for London Street. Here his success was unprecedented. The warehouse was crowded from morning till night. The tide of prosperity flowing on and increasing, until the business had outgrown the ability of any single individual personally to superintend it, his brother, the present Sir James Campbell of Stracathro, and sometime Lord Provost of the city, brought his talents and business habits to his help. A partnership was formed between the two brothers, and the firm was, and continues to be, conducted under the name of "J. & W. Campbell & Co., General Warehousemen." Under their joint management the same extraordinary success as before continued to attend them, until every flat and attic of the old tenement being turned to use, they were compelled to contem- plate the necessity of leaving the too contracted premises, and seeking more commodious accommodation elsewhere. In this needful step their pace was quickened in consequence of the condemnation by the public authorities of several old houses, among which was " Campbell's ware- house in the Saltmarket." They got notice to quit it in fifteen months. This of course subjected them to great inconvenience and anxiety. But, cheered by the wise counsels of their mother, who " was sure an open door would be found somewhere," they in due time secured a property in Candleriggs, on which they undertook to erect a suitable warehouse. And so concerned were they to lose no time, that the builder, after the WILLIAM CAMPBELL. first floor was built, gave them a floor a week, and the firm speedily moved into their new and spacious premises. But in process of time even these became too narrow for them, and they were obliged ultimately to take refuge in the palatial warehouse now occupied by them in Ingram Street, which not only continues to be the seat of their original home trade, but has become the centre of an extensive commerce with all parts of the world. Such is a brief sketch of a prosperous career which has been rarely equalled in the mercantile world. It is worthy of consideration whether there were any special circumstances to account for it. Doubtless it was greatly owing to Mr Campbell's intense energy, his strict attention to the duties of his calling, with which no temptation to ease or pleasure was sufifered to interfere, and to his upright character and popular manners. But besides these qualities, which were common to him with other merchants of his day, his success is, without doubt, to be mainly attributed to the introduction of a .system which was a novelty when he began business. Of this system the leading features were — (i) small profits, (2) quick returns, (3) no abatement of the price asked. The last rule was rigorously enforced, and aimed at the overthrow of the corrupt and discreditable practice of " prigging," then commonly followed. The principles of the Campbells were so sound and reasonable as to com- mand the favour of the public. In point of fact, they revolutionized the system of buying and selling then in vogue ; and in founding on them the conduct of his business, Mr Campbell was greatly fortified by the influence of Dr Chalmers, on whose ministry he was a regular attendant, and whose " Commercial Discourses " were of immense service in arousing the public conscience to a sense of evils and dishonesties, to the immorality of which custom had reconciled society at large. But in seeking to account for Mr Campbell's great and rapid success, can we warrantably leave out of view the manifest blessing of God on one who sought habitually to realize that he was not a proprietor, but DISRUPTION WORTHIES. merely an administrator and steward, of God's manifold mercies ? In his case the promise was strictly fulfilled, " Honour the Lord with thy substance, and with the first fruits of all thine increase : so shall thy barns be filled with plenty, and thy presses shall burst with new wine." As his riches increased, his benefactions multiplied ; and as these multi- plied, God supplied him with the means of still further extending his usefulness. He took an active part in promoting the scheme of Mr William Collins for the building of twenty new churches in Glasgow, and that of Dr Chalmers for the erection of two hundred additional churches in Scotland. These, and similar efforts, seem to have been a preparation, in the providence of God, for the still grander and more comprehensive schemes that were soon after to be demanded by the Disruption of the Church. When that event took place in 1843, he was among the fore- most and most munificent of the contributors to the various funds of the Free Church, and to every movement by which her efficiency and usefulness could be advanced. Indeed, it has been affirmed by those who had the best opportunities of knowing the extent of his private and public liberalities, that he laid out a handsome income year by year in charity ; and that during his lifetime he expended in this way a fortune of not less than from ^^80,000 to ^90,000. The larger proportion of this wealth being consecrated directly or indirectly to the service of the Free Church, afforded unmistakable evidence of the strength and constancy of his loyal and devoted attachment to her cause and principles. Indeed, her interests were ever as dear to his heart as his own ; and with her prosperity and progress he identified the progress of the country in vital spiritual religion and social happiness. Thus did he honour God with his substance. And how has God honoured him .' He has assigned him a distinguished place in the noble company of Disruption Worthies ; and this, not because of any eminent services on the field of debate or diplomacy — for these he had personally neither taste nor talent, though ever a generous admirer of them in WILLIAM CAMPBELL. otliers— but because of the heartfelt, practical, self-sacrificing interest he ever cherished in the social and religious wellbcing of his fellovv-mcn. And God has further honoured him by making him largely instrumental to the introduction of a new era and standard of Christian liberality in the days in which we live. The narrow, selfish, grudging views which were previously entertained on this subject, were wholly unadaptcd to the circumstances and wants of a new age. The Disruption was approaching, and an impressive example was needed of that unbounded liberality which should replace the surrendered endowments of the State by the voluntary endowments of the people. Mr Campbell was one of those who supplied this want. And it is pleasing to think that he had the satisfaction of knowing before he died that his large-hearted benevolence had a double value : it not only directly helped many a good cause, but it exercised a wide-spread and permanent influence in enlarging the views of others on the duty of giving, and in stimulating them to "go and do likewise." Mr Campbell's public spirit discovered itself, as occasion offered, with regard to other things than public charities and Free Church objects. He was for some years in the Town Council, having been carried by the Catholics for the Saltmarket and Bridgegate wards. When asked to support him, an Irish voter exclaimed, in a fit of enthusiastic gratitude, " \Vliat ! not vote for William Campbell, who sends the half of our people to the infirmary !" As a councillor, he took an active interest in a scheme for buying up old house property in the wynds, as it came into the market, with a view to the sanitary good of the city. Also, through his exertions in a large measure, and in the face of much opposition, the market-day was changed from Monday to Thursday, by which means much unnecessary work on the Sabbath was stopped, and the rest of the sacred day better secured. On no subject did he kindle into greater earnest ness than the importance of the Sabbath, in every view— physical, social, and religious— especially to the working-classes. His sentiments on this DISRUPTION WORTHIES. subject entirely accorded with those of his friend, Sir Andrew Agnew, by whom he was much esteemed, and who frequently consulted him on his measures with reference to Sabbath desecration. His generous interest in the working-classes was farther notably evinced by his contribution of ;^500 to the funds of the Botanic Garden, on the condition that those classes should have free admission to the gardens during the Fair week. His sympathy with the friendless and homeless poor was shewn in the active part which he took in instituting and maintaining the " Glasgow Night Asylum for the Houseless," to which he bequeathed a legacy of £ 1 500. And many are the " indigent gentlewomen" who, when enjoying the benefits of the fund specially provided for their relief, will remember with gratitude the kindness and consideration of Mr Campbell, who was one of its founders and most zealous promoters. Indeed every enterprise, religious or benevolent, had in him a warm and generous friend. He was a living illustration of the words, " A cheerful giver, rich in good works, ready to distribute, willing to communicate." Mr Campbell's successive family residences, like the successive ware- houses in which his business was carried on, indicated the progressive improvement of his temporal circumstances, until ultimately he became the proprietor of that charming mansion, Tillichewan Castle, with its splendid surroundings. To its attractions he was by no means insensible ; for he possessed an intense love of nature, and had a quick eye for the perception of the beautiful and sublime in scenery. Here he spent his days of well-earned rest and relaxation from the cares and toils of business surrounded by fields and woods, yet ever planning or executing some improvement — the opening of some new vista, giving a new direction to some gurgling stream, or clearing his trees and shrubs of their superfluous branches. Nor did he confine his enjoyments to himself and family. His grounds were open to all who desired to visit them, a liberty which was never abused. He was, moreover, fond of society, and delighted to be surrounded by his friends. Tillichewan was accordingly the resort of WILLIAM CAMPBELL. many wlio, singly or in company, paid it at least their annual visit, and its hospitable gates were ever open to welcome any who came on an errand of religion or benevolence. Every stranger of distinction who visited the west of Scotland, or whose love of Scottish scenery attracted him to the neighbouring shores of Loch Lomond, was sure of a hospitable reception at the castle, which seemed often to partake more of the cliaracter of a hotel than of a private residence. Here the genial nature of the host, and his mental peculiarities, while they made every one feel at home, diffused through the whole company a happy and improving influence. For Mr Campbell thought for himself on every matter of public and private concernment, and was distinguished by an originality of mind, a raciness of expression, and sometimes a touch of drollery, which imparted a singular zest to his conversation. Among those who visited occasionally at Tillichewan, there was no one whose arrival was hailed throughout the family with more joyful anticipation than Dr Chalmers, between whom and Mr Campbell there existed a cordial feeling of mutual esteem and affection. They thoroughly sympathised in their views on the great questions of their time, eminently so on all that concerned the extension and spiritual independence of the Church. And Mr Campbell's mercantile experience enabled him sometimes to throw out practical suggestions which the other knew how to turn to useful account. Mr Campbell was likewise a warm friend and advocate of the union of the Presbyterian Churches of this country. He was impatient of the delay which has taken place in conducting the measure to a pros- perous issue. But he lived and died in the happy assurance that another generation would see it consummated, and all the sound Presbyterianism of Scotland comprehended and united in one Church, founded on a disestablished basis. The following description from the graphic pen of a lady friend of Mr Campbell will fitly close this part of the narrative : — " One must not forget Mr Campbell's Sundays. They were not gloomy days to DISRUPTION WORTHIES. him, but days of rest and enjoyment in serious things. He liked a sedateness throughout his household, and he never absented himself from church. Good preaching was to him an intellectual and spiritual feast. His sympathetic nature was responsive to everything the minister said, the tear was ever ready to start, and his whispered 'hear, hear,' shewed where a sympathetic chord was struck. Do you remember his delight in the Old Testament ? and what a picture he was of the old Scottish Presbyterian, with his glengarry bonnet laid reverently aside, whilst he conducted family worship? If the subject was Job, or Joseph, or David, tears invariably choked his utterance, and he became so absorbed in the story as to be wholly insensible to what was passing around." But the time came when this good man had to die, and be carried to "tlie liouse appointed for all living." His death was gradual, and its advances were borne with that calmness and serenity which are the fruit of a believing dependence on Christ and His finished work, and with the resignation and preparedness of one whose mind was familiar with the contemplation of his latter end. When told he was dying, he clung with increased earnestness to the great truth of reconciliation through the blood of atonement, a gleam of the coming glory seemed to light up his face, and shaking hands with two friends who stood by his bedside, he said " he was perfectly happy : he had lived his threescore and ten years, but his life looked like yesterday." After about a month's serious illness, his spirit quitted its earthly tenement on the forenoon of 2d April 1864, in the seventy-first year of his age. And it may be said with truth, that rarely has any one descended to the grave more beloved and lamented by survivors, and to whom the words more appropriately apply, " The memory of the just is blessed." In June 1822, Mr Campbell married Margaret, second daughter of Archibald Roxburgh, merchant. Their married life was eminently happy. Mrs Campbell still survives, surrounded by a numerous circle of children and grandchildren, endowed with not a few of the excellent qualities of their progenitor, and all of them inspired with a profound respect for his memory. J. R. ROBERT S. CANDLISH,D,d!^ / 'v^' ROBERT SMITH CASDLISH, D.D. Disruption Protest on the table of the Assembly in 1843. That distin- guished and consistent man was a member of the congregation of St George's at the time of Mr Martin's illness. Through him Lord Moncreiff and others heard of Mr Candlish, and thus came his nomination to occupy a pulpit which he afterwards illustriously adorned. At the very outset of his course in it, he exhibited so much greater minuteness and subtlety of discussion than the hearers of Dr Thomson had been accustomed to, that there was some division of opinion about him. But the present writer remembers well that, in the view of Dr Thomson's experienced admirers, such as Lord Moncreiff, Mr Donaldson, Mr John Thomson, Mr John Tod, Mr Shank More, and others, members of session, the differences between his style and that of the young preacher whom they now welcomed, were as nothing in comparison with the manifest signs in the latter of uncommon mental power and special capacity for effective speaking, both to the understanding and the heart, along with independ- ence and earnestness of spirit. Their judgment was thoroughly justified by the result. He speedily commanded the attention and regard of all classes in the congregation, and, as a preacher, gradually acquired the reputation which has become so great and well known. Having been occupied only as an assistant during five years previously to the full appreciation of his ministerial gifts and his ordination for the charge of St George's, an equal number of years elapsed before his eminence in the pastoral office was accompanied by the discovery and exercise of his unrivalled ability for the management of affairs and the leadership of the General Assembly. He took no prominent part even in the Presbytery of Edinburgh till 1839. In the spring of that year the adverse judgment of the House of Lords in the first Auchterarder Case was pronounced. Great anxiety was felt by the Evangelical party on the question of having adequately qualified persons to take the lead in the ensuing Assembly. Though the name of Mr Candlish was in the order of rotation for the representation of his Presbytery, no such opinion DISRUPTION WORTHIES. had as yet been formed of him as to relieve that anxiety. The character and superiority of his eloquence appeared for the first time when he spoke in answer to Dr Muir, and supported the motion of Dr Chalmers for maintaining the principle of Non-intrusion in the continued exercise of spiritual independence. But the brilliant displays which elevated him to the undisputed leadership of the Non-intrusion party and of the Church, were made at the meetings of the Assembly's Commission in the latter portion of 1839 and the beginning of 1840, when that body was called to deal with the rebellion of the majority of the Presbytery of Strathbogie against the authority of the Assembly. The position thus acquired by him was maintained till 1873, the year in which he died. In the Free Church Assembly of that year he was specially blessed as an instrument of peace ; and though enfeebled much in bodily strength, shewed a large measure of his former mental power. From 1840, the enumeration of the services rendered by Dr Candlish, first to the majority of the Established Church before the Disruption, and subsequently to the Disruption Church herself, not only in the prime of his life, but for the advantage of her action in his more advanced age, would be to recount the history of Scottish ecclesiastical events for more than thirty years. From the suspension of the seven ministers in the Presbytery of Strathbogie to the final passing of the Act in 1873, by which, in connection with a fresh Overture then agreed to, the object of Mutual Eligibility between the Free Church and the United Presby- terian Church was attained, so as to prevent disruption in the Free Church, this remarkable man made his influence predominantly lelt in the prospering, the safety, and the vigorous working of his church. The confidence of an overwhelming majority never ceased to follow him. The high qualities of an eminently Christian and, at the same time, of a singularly master mind, were luminously evident in him along a particularly chequered course of trial and success. It was said at the commencement of tliis sketch that he was a chief ROBERT SMITH CANDLISH, D.D. instrument for expounding the principles, directing the spirit, and organizing the government and system of the Free Church of Scotland. His exposition of her principles was given in its clearest and most impressive manner, at dates previous to the actual escape of himself and his associates from the harassment of the Erastian chains which in 1843 were threatening to encompass them. The principles specially concerned in that memorable escape were at the time represented as two in number — the principle of non-intrusion, and the principle of spiritual independence. His exposition of the principle of non-intrusion began with the striking outburst of eloquence already referred to, by which, replying to Dr Muir in 1839, he proclaimed the necessity of giving to the members of congregations an absolute right to prevent the settlement over them as pastors of persons whom they could not conscientiously receive as such. Throughout the various negotiations, consultations, and discussions which followed during the next four years, Dr Candlish took a leading part in maintaining and guarding the ground thus taken up by him at the outset. The integrity of her adherence to it was an essential element in the liberty which his energy, more than that of any other man, enabled the Church, by God's blessing, to achieve when she carried away her standard to the hall at Canonmills. The benefit of his acute, perspicacious, and thoroughly comprehensive intellect, was still more felt and enjoyed in his dealing with the great principle of spiritual independence. Not to speak of his splendid asser- tion of ecclesiastical liberty, in his treatment of the grave case in which the ministers of the Strathbogie Presbytery were concerned, nor of the instances in which, from time to time after the Disruption, he defended and enforced the Free Church view, it is well that attention should be fixed on the lucid declarations which appear in his speeches between the date of the judgment of the Court of Session in the Stewarton case and the date of the meeting of Assembly thereafter. The masterly manner in which he met the conceptions of the majority of the court as tending DISRUPTION WORTHIES. to the destruction of all religious liberty, produced a lasting effect upon the convictions of multitudes of earnest people. Adverting to the imputation brought against the Church, of claiming to be the sole judges of what is spiritual and what is civil, he electrified his audience by the three following declarations. He said, first of all, "Whoever may put forth this monstrous claim to be sole judge of what is spiritual and civil, tramples under foot the rights, spiritual and civil, of all mankind, and establishes a despotism altogether intolerable." He said, secondly, " If this claim be put forth by a Church, it necessarily follows that that Church is dragging under her superintendence, to the exclusion of civil courts, all ecclesiastical persons, and assuming an authority in all causes, civil as well as in those ecclesiastical." He said, thirdly, " But if this amounts to a violation of civil liberty when the claim is put forth by a court of Christ, is it less a violation when put forth by a Court of Session ? If such a claim be admitted on the part of civil authorities, they may crush under their foot every vestige of religious liberty ; they may put an end to the free holding of Assemblies; they may put an end to the free preaching of the gospel." These and other statements of Dr Candlish were welcomed with great applause and sympathy. They had a chief part in carrying to a largely prevailing extent the mind of the Scottish religious population into a clear persuasion, that a principle which lawyers and statesmen rejected as extravagant and dangerous, was nevertheless a sacred principle not to be abandoned, and the only principle on which the scriptural freedom of a Church could safely rest. The idea became fixed among multitudes of carefully considering men, that no adjustment of ecclesiastical relations could satisfy conscience which did not fix "that," to use the words of Dr Candlish, "the Church should be fully entitled to determine for herself, and for the regulation of her own con- duct in spiritual matters, what falls under her spiritual jurisdiction ; leaving the Court of Session to determine for itself, and ior its own guidance, in deciding civil questions, what falls within its civil jurisdiction." ROnr.RT S.\fITH CANDLISH, D.D. Dr Candlish not only expounded Free Church principles in a felicitous manner ; he also had much to do with directing the spirit of Free Church action. Besides the force of his inspiriting addresses, imbued as they were with the influence of the gospel in its highest tone, he gave a peculiar impulse at once by example, by exhortation, and by his proposals, to a habit of personal disinterestedness and self-sacrificing zeal in the various ecclesiastical movements of the emancipated Church. The success of the new organization, and its continually growing strength, even in the face of outward assaults and inward conflicts, are due in an incalculable measure to the strength of the spiritual fire which was thus cherished, by God's grace, in response to the endeavours of Dr Candlish, and those who went along with him or followed him. Dr Candlish was the chief instrument in organising the government and system of the Free Church of Scotland. He possessed a marvellous combination of high-reaching thought so as to be always applying the most commanding principles, with a capacity for sifting and arranging the most minute details. This combination, accompanied as it was by a most unselfish disposition, produced in him one very rare quality, the absence of which is often manifest in very excellent and intelligent persons. He had so great a habit of putting himself in thought into the place of other men, that he almost always saw things not only from his own point of view, but also from theirs. Whether he were dealing with the minister of a small country congregation, or with the office-bearers of a large one in the Highlands, or with any party in a large town, or with the clerk of a Presbytery, or with the clerk of the General Assembly, or with the convener of a committee, he scarcely ever failed to shew that he appreciated the other person's difficulties, and made every allowance for the necessities and obligations of his position. Hence arose the great and general confidence placed in him. Thus, whatever faults he had were regarded by those who knew him, and by great numbers of persons who had experience of his consideration and tenderness, as well as of his DISRUPTION WORTHIES. ability and his painstaking and disinterested labour, as nothing in com- parison with his surpassing merits. It is astonishing how he was enabled, amid his incessant work for the Church during more than thirty years, to maintain the character of a pastor and preacher of a very high order, and to keep gathered round him an overflowing congregation of intelligent and devoted men and women. His success, both in the pulpit and among those to whom he ministered othenvise, went on increasing in place of abating, while he gave so much of his vigour to the general and public cause. At the same time he contributed various publications to theological literature, which of themselves are sufficient to establish a high place for him among the gifted servants of Christ. He was not a mere advocate of Free Church opinions. His mind took a large grasp of Christian interests and objects throughout the world, and he heartily sympathised with all sincere efforts for their promotion by churches and denominations differing from his own. Great as the loss of him was to his congregation and the Free Church at large, those who had the privilege of his personal friendship are, next to his own family, the greatest mourners in thinking of the bereavement occasioned by his removal. That friendship was indeed a treasure. He was very true and faithful. He was full of loving-kindness and sympathy. He thought, in any contingency, of the interests and prospects of others in the view of their comfort and usefulness, even before they had begun to look at that contingency themselves. He entered readily into their anxieties, and did his best to guide them. He cordially reciprocated all confidence placed in him. He quickly forgot all unpleasant occurrences, and dealt with the persons concerned as if those occurrences had never been. To any one now called upon to take any measure of responsibility with respect to Free Church affairs, the feeling is strongly brought home that a channel of strength and goodness has been withdrawn, to which he formeriy had recourse with lively expectation and with continual satisfaction. H. W. M. rxtij. ©a&ib Carmtnt ftl^. ^i^5s. R GARMENT was born on 28th September 1772, at Kciss, near Wick, where his father, James Gar- ment, kept a school. His ancestors belonged to the south of Scotland, his father being a native of the parish of Irongray. His grandfather, John Garment, was born in 1672, and was baptised in the hills, under cloud of night, by John Welsh, the outed minister of Irongray. Mr Garment received his early education from his father. When thirteen years of age, he went to the parish school of Ganisbay, where he was taught Latin and Greek. He made rapid progress ; and when he had just completed his seventeenth year, was appointed parochial school- master of Kincardine, in Ross-shire. He remained there only one year, and being desirous to pursue his studies at college, he entered King's Gollege, Aberdeen, in November, 1791. His father was not in circumstances to afford him pecuniary aid, and he had a hard struggle to get through his college course. At the close of the first session, he obtained the situation of tutor in the family of the Rev. George Munro, minister of South Uist. This enabled him to complete his attendance at the arts classes. He passed through the curriculum with much credit ; and at the close of the session in the spring of 1795, obtained the degree of Master of Arts. He was then DISRUPTION WORTHIES. appointed parish schoolmaster of Strath, in the Isle of Skye, where he remained for four years. Having completed during this period his attendance at the Divinity Hall in Aberdeen, he was licensed to preach by the Presbytery of Skye, on 4th April 1799. After being licensed, he gave up the parish school, and became tutor in the family of Mr Macdonald, tacksman of Scalpa, a small island adjoining Skye. Mr Garment always referred to this as one of the happiest periods of his life, and it is believed that it was while here he underwent a saving change. In March 1803, he was appointed assistant to the Rev. Hugh Calder, minister of the parish of Croy, near Inverness, where the principal minis- terial duties had to be performed in the Gaelic language." Mr Garment, not being a Highlander, knew nothing of Gaelic till he went to Uist in 1792, and the preparation of his Gaelic discourses taxed him severely. His preaching soon proved attractive, and many from neighbouring parishes came to hear him. He preached with power and energy those truths which, not long before, had become realities in his own experience. Not a few had cause to bless the Lord for sending them such a ministry. In January 18 10, he was chosen minister of the new Gaelic chapel in Duke Street, Glasgow, and having been ordained by the Presbytery of Nairn, he removed to Glasgow in April following. He continued to labour there for twelve years, and these were, perhaps, the busiest years of his life. Besides two Gaelic services, he had an English sermon on the Sabbath evening, which was largely attended by many who were not Highlanders. He took an active part in the management of the various religious and charitable institutions of the city ; and formed the friend- ship of Dr Love, Dr Balfour, Dr Hamilton of Strathblane, and Dr Chalmers. His labours in Glasgow were much countenanced and blessed. In i8i5,he married Margaret Stormonth, daughter of the Rev. James Stormonth, minister of Airlie, in Forfarshire. She was a woman of very REV. DAVID GARMENT, M.A. superior mind and eminent piety. She survived her husband for many years, and died in her son's house in Edinburgh, in October, 1874. In December 1821, Mr Garment was presented to the parish of Rosskcen, in the Presbytery of Tain, as assistant and successor to the Rev. John Ross. He was inducted shortly after, and entered upon his ministerial duties in the spring of 1822. Mr Ross was an old man, dis- abled from duty, and died soon after Mr Garment's induction. The charge was an arduous one. There were three villages in the parish, besides a large rural population, the total population being about 2600. The parish was at that time in a very rude state. Its educational requirements were inadequately provided for, and many of the people had no copy of the Word of God. He set himself vigorously to remedy this state of things, and ere long there were four schools in the parish, besides the parochial school in the village of Invergordon. He also made an arrangement with the British and Foreign Bible Society, by which he obtained from them large supplies of Bibles and Testaments, both in Gaelic and English. Hundreds of copies were distributed in this way, the price being regulated according to the means of the parties, and none being given without payment, except to parties in very poor circumstances. Every one in the parish able to read had soon a copy of the Word of God. Mr Garment's preaching made a great impression in the parish from the outset, and he soon acquired an influence over the people such as is rarely attained. This may be thought the more remarkable, as he had no Geltic blood in his veins, and his character was thoroughly Saxon. His preaching was eminently practical, and there was a directness and terseness in his style to which Highlanders, at that period at least, were not much accustomed. He was a man of large bodily presence, and of almost herculean strength. His utterance was clear and distinct, and his voice had a compass which enabled him, without straining or apparent effort, to be heard by the largest assemblages in the open air. DISRUPTION WORTHIES. In 1822, the system of "The Men" was dominant in Easter Ross. Mr Garment's straightforwardness and independence of spirit did not suit them, and he and they soon came to an open rupture. Such an event, in ordinary circumstances, was fatal to a minister's influence. The people left him, and followed "The Men." In Mr Garment's case, however, this result was, for the first time, reversed. The people left " The Men," and followed the minister. The limits within which this sketch must be confined do not admit of any detailed account of Mr Garment's unwearied labours in the parish during the remainder of his life. His own impression was, that a considerable portion of his ministry in Rosskeen was less fruitful of spiritual results than his ministry in Glasgow and Croy ; but in the year 1840 there was a remarkable revival of religion in Rosskeen, in common with many other places, and he had reason to believe that many were brought to the saving knowledge of the truth. Mr Garment was seldom absent from his own parish, though he occasionally visited other districts, where his services were much prized. He enjoyed being returned to the General Assembly, where he made not a few highly effective appearances. He took an active part in the pre-Disruption controversy, and in preparing his people for the result. And when the day of trial came, the people, almost to a man, followed their minister. Out of a population of upwards of 3000, it is believed, not fifty remained behind. Mr Garment did not go out till the middle of June. He preached for the last time in the parish church on iSth June, taking his text from 2 Samuel xv. 25, 26. It was a day long to be remembered. At the close of the sermon he read a solemn protest, which he recorded in the minute-book of the kirk- session, where it still remains. It breathes much of the spirit of his covenanting ancestors. The manse had been built for Mr Garment some years after his induction. It was situated in a lovely spot, with a lawn in front, fringed RF.V. DAVID GARMENT, M.A. by a small stream, which in those early days contained wondrous trout. There was a sweet garden, which had all been laid out under his own superintendence. The churchyard was within a few hundred yards of the manse. Six of Mr Garment's children lay buried there. They were the flower of the flock. Often, as the twilight drew on, the old man stole out to the churchyard to visit the graves of his loved ones. Their very dust was dear to him. The pecuniary sacrifice which the Disruption involved, though large in itself, was as nothing compared with the disruption of those tender and hallowed ties, which linked father and mother and the surviving children to the manse and garden and glebe and the solemn churchyard. Mr Garment was one of those who doubted whether the Ghurch, before resorting to disruption, should not have longer continued the fight with the civil courts ; but the pecuniary results never for a moment influenced his judgment in the matter. The emoluments told for very little ; but to leave to strangers the manse, hallowed by so many death- beds ; the garden, and its quiet walks ; the green lawn, with the little babbling brook — places sanctified by communion and fellowship with his God — and the churchyard and its sacred memories; this was a sore trial. It was in the true spirit of martyrdom that Mr Garment and his saintly spouse turned their backs on the commodious manse, and took up their abode in a small house in the village of Invergordon. It was a noble thing for a man with a family to sacrifice an income of between £yx) and ;£'400 a-year for conscience' sake. But to tear asunder all those tender ties and associations, w hich bound their hearts to the manse and its surroundings, was worse than death. Still, they bore it bravely ;^ Martyrs, not by mistake — but martyrs for conscience' sake. After the Disruption, Mr Garment had two Sabbath services— one in a small chapel in Invergordon, for the east part of the parish ; another on a moor, some four miles from Invergordon, where the inhabitants of the upper part of the parish met to worship. There was a good deal of DISRUPTION WORTHIES. excitement in the district when a new minister came to take possession of the manse and parish church ; but, though there was some rioting, nothing serious occurred. Mr' Garment's influence was sufficient to prevent that. Within two years, a commodious church, seated for eleven hundred, was built in a central situation, and was filled to overflowing. He continued to discharge the whole parochial duty till July 1852, when he was within a few months of eighty years of age. His strength at last began to give way, and the Rev. John H. Fraser was appointed assistant and successor. Mr. Garment continued to preach once every Sabbath until March 1S55. He died on 26th May 1S56. The following quotation from an article, written at the time of Mr Garment's decease by the late Rev. Andrew Gray, of Perth, one of his most intimate and valued friends, may fitly conclude this sketch : — " In 1S25, Mr Garment was a member of the Assembly. He spoke in the great debate upon PluraHties. In his own homely and earnest way, he drew a Bible from his pocket, and read to the house a passage or two respecting pastoral duties and respon- sibilities. The Assembly gave signs of impatience, and derisive murmurs assailed him. Mr Garment's spirit was kindled within him. ' Moderator,' he cried, ' are there men in this house that will not hear the Word of God? For my part, I was sent up to this Assembly,' added he, producing his commission, and reading from it, 'to consult, vote, and determine in all matters to the glory of God and the good of His Ghurch, according to the Word of God.' ' Read on,' said some of the doctors near the table ; ' read on.' Mr Garment obeyed : ' According to the Word of God, the Gonfession of Faith, and agreeably to the constitution of this Ghurch.' No sooner had he read the clause, ' and agreeably to the constitution of this Ghurch,' than the great phalanx of Moderatism before which he stood broke into explosions of merriment and shouts of laughter. ' Wait a little,' whispered Dr Andrew Thomson, who was present as a spectator, and was looking gravely on, 'wait a little, and you will see that Garment is a match for them.' Mr Garment drew himself up, and glancing round the hall with an expression of face, in which indignation and glee were strangely mingled, exclaimed, in a \oice that put down the storm instantly — ' Moderator, I was not aware that the learned doctors and la\v)'ers on the other side would have been so ready to confess that their views of the constitution of this Ghurch are not according to the Word of God.' They never laughed at him again." J. G. fbnmas Cljalmm, B.B., II.B, (§?^p?© N tlic roll of Disruption Worthies, the first place belongs, by hii universal consent, to the name of THOMAS CHALMERS. He was born of respectable and pious parentage, at Anstruther, Fifeshire, on 17th March 1780. During his early years he was much more remarkable for glee and frolic than for steady application : yet even then he gave proof of his mental vigour, for when he chose to exert himself, he could easily out- strip all his schoolfellows. Before he had passed the stage of boyhood, he was enrolled as a student in the University of St Andrews. During his first two sessions he made little progress in his studies, and his great faculties were not yet roused into activity ; but in his third session his aptitude for mathematical science was strikingly developed, and he never afterwards relapsed into anything like mental indolence.* In July 1799, when considerably below the statutory age, he was licensed as a preacher of the gospel. At this period he was ignorant of the way of salvation, both theoretically and experimentally. He is known to have prayed publicly in such terms as these : " Deliver us from * An early instance of his vehemence and concentration of mind may be worth preserving. He spent the college recess in his father's house, where he was in the habit of retiring to an upper room, that he might prosecute his studies undisturbed. On one occasion when he was intensely occupied, the sudden announcement that dinner was ready, broke up his equanimity, and drew forth a burst of indignation. "Oh," cried the rapt votary of science, " I wish I were alone in the world." DISRUPTION WORTHIES. the fanaticism of faith," and to have quoted in one of his discourses a portion of the Sermon on the Mount, and then asked with an air of triumph, "Is there anything about faith here?" In May 1803, after having officiated for some time as assistant in the parish of Cavers, and subsequently as assistant in the Mathematical Classes at St Andrews, he was ordained minister of Kilmany, in the north of Fife. His con- ceptions of pastoral duty were meagre in the extreme. In a letter publicly addressed to Professor Playfair, when he became a candidate for the Mathematical Chair in the University of Edinburgh, he proclaimed his conviction that, after giving two days in the week to the duties of his parish, a clergyman might warrantably devote the rest of his time to extra-professional pursuits. And his practice was in accordance with his theory ; for, after his settlement at Kilmany, he devoted much of his time and energy to the teaching of chemistry at St Andrews. His pulpit ministrations were characterised by intellectual power, but as yet evan- gelical fervour was entirely wanting. He preached on moral subjects with great energy and earnestness, and, as he afterwards acknowledged, without any practical results. A great change, however, was at hand. Laid aside by illness for some months, during which various good influ- ences were brought to bear upon him, especially that of Wilberforce's Practical View of Christianity, he came forth from his sick-chamber an altered man — " renewed in the spirit of his mind." He now preached the pure doctrine of the gospel with amazing fervour, and, from that time till he was taken to his rest, he shone forth over Scotland, and ultimately over a large portion of the civilised world, as a star of the first magnitude. Translated in 181 5 to the Tron Church, Glasgow, and thereafter to St John's in the same city, Dr Chalmers attracted vast multitudes by the fame of his extraordinary eloquence, and contributed mightily to the triumph of Evangelical truth over the cold and withering Moderatism that had been long in the ascendant. In addition to his ordinary pulpit work, he gave to the world his Astronomical Discourses, which, both from Tf/OMAS CHALMERS, D.U., LL.D. the pulpit and througli the press, obtained a larger measure of accept- ance than any series of discourses in the English language. In the best sense of the expression, his was a prosperous ministry, many having been won, by means of it, to the faith and obedience of the gospel ; and, in another respect, it was eminently fruitful. Endowed beyond most men with the power of influencing the minds of others, Dr Chalmers gathered round him in Glasgow a band of devoted laymen, by whom his plans for the social and spiritual elevation of the common people were zealously worked out. The parochial organisation of St John's became a powerful instrument for grappling with the ignorance, the vice, and the pauperism of a crowded population ; and had this example been duly followed, society would have felt much more lightly at this day the pressure of enormous evils with which it is burdened and distracted. While he urged the importance of turning the existing parochial machinery to the best account, Dr Chalmers saw clearly, and announced most emphatically, that it was far from being adequate to the necessities of the time. In an appendix to his sermon on the death of Princess Charlotte, published in 1 8 17, he unfolded his plan for providing twenty additional churches for the city of Glasgow ; and this may be regarded as the first of a series of efforts which resulted in a vast extension of the means of grace, not in Glasgow only, but over a great part of Scotland. In 1823 Dr Chalmers was transferred to the Chair of Moral Philo- sophy in his native University. Here he wielded a commanding and most healthful influence, — rousing young minds into active exercise, in- spiring many of his students with something of his own lofty enthusiasm, and kindling in others the flame of missionary zeal, which burned in after years with no common ardour. There still survive a few who can look back, with thankfulness and unabated interest, to the plain old class- room in which, day by day, they listened to such strains of eloquence and wisdom as could nowhere else be heard. Frequently, as the Pro- fessor was rising to the height of some great argument, a deep and DISRUPTION WORTHIES. almost breathless hush prevailed throughout the class ; and then fol- lowed a burst of enthusiastic applause, which, however unacadcmic, was absolutely irrepressible.* Dr Chalmers did not confine his labours within the walls of the University ; and though there is little room for details in a sketch like this, it would be wrong to leave unnoticed his monthly missionary meet- ings in the Town Hall. These were largely attended, and were very helpful to the great cause of missions. But a wider field was soon opened for his gigantic energies. In 1828 he entered on his labours as Professor of Systematic Theology in the Metropolitan University. In this new and more appropriate sphere, his influence was at once intensified and expanded : it operated more directly than before on the rising ministry of the Church, and was soon felt, and that most advantageously, in many of her pulpits. The Divinity Class- room was crowded from day to day, not only with regular students, but also with amateurs, among whom were men of high intellectual and social eminence. Examinations, introduced for the first time into the theological course, alternated with lectures, and were conducted in the most kindly and instructive manner. The substance of the lectures was ultimately published in the Institutes of Tlicology and the Notes on Butler's A nalogy, — works which testify to the profound wisdom and the intense earnestness with which the Professor sought to train his students for the work of the holy ministry. Dr Chalmers took little part in the ordinary procedure of the Church Courts. He reserved his strength for great vital questions, and some of the brightest triumphs of his eloquence were won on the floor of the * He stated in one of his opening addresses tliat, on comparing notes with the Professor of Mathematics regarding the students by whom their classes were attended, he found that those who were distinguished in the one class were, for the most part, distinguished also in the other ; and he added, with great emphasis, that his brother Professor and himself were thoroughly agreed on one point — that they would rather have a response from the heads than from the heels of the rising generation. 156 THOMAS CHALMERS, D D., LL.D. General Assembly — as, for example, on the question of I'luralitics. It was in a debate on this question, and in reply to one who had brought up against him the letter to Professor Playfair previously referred to, that Dr Chalmers gave utterance to the memorable words, "What, sir, is the object of mathematical science ? Magnitude and the proportions of magnitude. But then, sir, I had forgotten two magnitudes. I thought not of the little- ness of time — I recklessly thought not of the greatness of eternity." The Church Extension enterprise, which was committed to his hands, brought him more frequently before the Assembly ; and the Reports which he submitted from year to year were looked for^vard to with the deepest interest, and listened to with admiration and delight. In prosecuting that enterprise, he failed in obtaining additional endowments from the State, but succeeded beyond expectation in drawing forth the liberality of the people. Churches were erected in many localities where they were urgently required ; parochial districts were attached to them ; and, in a very few years, the Church was enlarged to a vastly greater extent than it had been for a whole century before. From an early period, Dr Chalmers had been a strenuous supporter of Church Establishments, but always with the proviso, that the State should not trench on the Church's freedom. State support he regarded as a matter of Christian expediency; the freedom of the Church he regarded as a matter of scriptural principle, not to be surrendered on any consideration. He would have retained both, if he could ; but when it became evident that both could not be retained, he was clear and decided as to the course that should be taken. The famous Veto Act, though not precisely what he wished, received his acquiescence, because it pro- tected congregations from the intrusion of unacceptable ministers ; and when it was disallowed by the Court of Session, and the civil and ecclesiastical authorities were thus brought into collision, he took up his position at once in the veiy forefront of the battle. It is impossible here to enter into the details of the great controversy that issued in the DISRUPTION WORTHIES. Disruption. Enough to say, that Dr Chalmers was the Church's trusted leader — the powerful and unflinching champion of its independence. And when, in consequence of the encroachments of the Court of Session, and the refusal of Parliament to afford protection or redress, it became necessary either to break with the State or to violate the Church's scrip- tural constitution, he not only held that the former course was imperative, but formed his plan for the support of the ministry when the Disruption should take place. That plan he unfolded at the Convocation with a noble confidence and ardour. By many it was regarded with great mis- givings ; but experience soon proved its adaptation to the Church's altered circumstances, and now, after the lapse of a generation, the Sustentation Fund stands forth before the world as a monument of the genius and wisdom of its founder, — proclaiming, as it does, that he who was foremost in eloquence among the Church's sons, was also foremost in practical sagacity. The Convocation alluded to above, adopted resolutions embodying the conditions on which alone the Church could remain in connection with the State ; and when these were finally disallowed by Parliament, there was no alternative but to surrender emoluments which could not be innocently or honourably retained. This was the issue involved in the proceedings of i8th May 1843. Dr Chalmers was the first to follow the Moderator, Dr Welsh, in walking out of St Andrew's Church, where the Assembly had convened ; and on him, by universal acclamation, was conferred the honour of being appointed Moderator of the Free General Assembly. The scene in Canonmills Hall on that memorable day was such as Scotland had never witnessed ; and assuredly not a little of its grandeur and impressiveness was due to the presence, the counsels, and the prayers, of the illustrious man by whom the chair was occupied. During the remainder of his life, he watched with unremitting care over the interests of the Free Church, while his chief attention was given to the duties ot the Divinity Chair in the New Colle?e of which he was THOMAS CHALMERS, D.D., LI..D. appointed Principal. One of his latest labours is entitled to prominence, even in so brief a sketch as this. In the West Port, one of the worst districts of Edinburgh, he founded a Territorial Mission, which, in its infancy, he fostered with loving assiduity, and which, in the able hands of the Rev. W. Tasker, soon attained to remarkable prosperity. The example thus set was followed zealously and successfully in other districts of Edinburgh, in Glasgow, Dundee, and other large towns ; and from the seed sown by Dr Chalmers in the West Port, there has sprung a rich and a still increasing harvest. A careful economist of time, and very systematic in his habits, he accomplished with his pen an amount of work which, taken in connection with his other labours, may be regarded as immense. But it was easier for him to write than to sit in dreamy idleness : his pen kept pace with the operations of his mind.* Not to speak of his multifarious correspondence, his authorship ranged over wide and varied fields — the Evidences and Doctrines of Christianity, Natural Theology, Mental and Moral Philo- sophy, Political and Social Economy, Church organisation, and kindred topics — besides many pamphlets on pressing questions of the day. His works are characterised by a majestic eloquence, often vehement and somewhat rugged in its style ; they evince a most unusual combination of power, comprehensiveness, and penetration ; and they are charged with great principles and lessons of practical wisdom, which the Church and society at large have, to their detriment, been all too slow to learn. About the end of March 1847, Dr Chalmers was summoned to London to give evidence before a Committee of the House of Commons with reference to the refusal of church sites. His evidence was worthy of his character and fame, not only as exposing the paltriness and * A few days before his death, he was asked by his brother, the late Charles Chalmers, Esq., wliile the two were together in the Doctor's study, " Now could you not sit down quietly and muse for half an hour in that chair?" "No," was the reply, "I must either have a pen or a book in my hand." '59 DISRUPTION WORTHIES. injustice of site-refusers and their abettors, but as involving a most noble testimony to the principles and policy of the Church which he so fitly represented. This was his last public service. After spending some time with friends in England, he returned to his home on Friday, the 25th of May. On the evening of the Sabbath thereafter, he retired to rest as usual, intending to be at work early in the morning, as he had the College Report to submit on Monday to the General Assembly. In the morning, when his chamber door was opened, he was found in bed in a half-reclining posture, with a calm and majestic expression on his countenance, but without a trace of life. His spirit had passed away, apparently without a struggle, to its joyful rest. He was interred in Grange Cemetery. Hugh Miller says of the funeral :— " There was a moral sublimity in the spectacle. It spoke more emphatically than by words of the dignity of intrinsic excellence, and of the height to which a true man may attain. It was the dust of a Presby- terian minister v/hich the coffin contained ; and yet they were burying him amid the tears of a nation, and with more than kingly honours." Those who wish to have a finished portraiture of the man, of his humility and gentleness, of his child-like simplicity, of his bland and radiant humour, of his "leonine nobleness and potency," of his geniality in private, and his grandeur in public life, must be referred to the invaluable biography by Dr Hanna. And those who would look still more closely into the inner life of the man, and form a just estimate of the depth of his piety, of his struggles on the field of spiritual conflict, of his aspirations after holiness, of his prayerfulness of spirit, and of his love to God and man, must consult the Horce Bib/icce Quotidians, and the HorcB Biblicce Sabbatica, a series of daily and Sabbath scripture studies which Dr Chalmers indited for his private use during the last years of his life, which he kept secret from his most familiar friends, and which of course did not see the light until after his decease. D. C. x'-y-^ ■^^zM:k_ PATRICK GLASON, D,D ^^ PATRICK CJ.ASON, D.D. ncction with the clciksliip were, we believe, congenial to his taste, and he continued to the last to take an intelligent interest in all the great movements of the Church. In 1846 Dr Clason was deputed to visit some of the Mediterranean stations, and spent a considerable time at Malta, afterwards visiting Italy, and bringing home much interesting information. It was at his instance that steps were taken towards opening a Protestant church at Rome. Soon after his return he was called to the chair, as Moderator of the General Assembly, Dr Wood taking his place as interim-clerk. His stately appearance, arrayed in the old court dress and hat, is still remembered. In the year 1854 his health was seriously impaired by an affection of the throat, and he was accordingly advised to go for the winter season to Egypt. The visit was not only favourable for the recovery of his health, but was peculiarly attractive to his antiquarian tastes. The account of his interviews w'ith the priests of the old Coptish Church, and of his sojourn within an ancient tomb at the Pyramids, was very graphic. From Egypt he went up to Jerusalem, and formed one of a select party who were permitted, through favour of the Pasha, to visit the Mosque of Omar, accounted the holiest of Mahommedan shrines. The succeeding winter was spent by Dr Clason in Madeira, where he enjoyed pleasant Christian fellowship, and returned home greatly recruited in health. The appointment about this time of a colleague in the oversight of the congregation relieved him in some measure from his pastoral labours, but he still continued to retain his wonted chair in the General Assembly, and to take a warm and intelligent interest in all the enterprises of the Church. He had much pleasure in social intercourse with his friends, opening up the rich stores of his mind, and his knowledge of men and of books — abounding in anecdote and in memories of former days. His last journey was into South Wales, to visit the son of an elder DISRUPTION WORTHIES. sister, wliom for many years he had not seen. He was taken seriously ill on the journey home, and when at length he reached his own house, he felt that his end was near. He said to his faithful servant, as he sat down on the sofa, " B , this is the end of the journey." He had great peace in his soul. He had an impression for a long time previous that he was soon to be taken home, and when the hour of his departure came, he was at rest. " Now, Lord, lettest Thou Thy servant depart in peace." He died on the 30th July 1S67, and his remains were laid in the Grange Cemetery, beside many dear and honoured friends with whom he had been associated in the Lord's work. " Thus blessed is the man that feareth the Lord." J. M. miUiam Collins. fSlLLIAM COLLINS, the well-known publisher, and for many years the zealous fellow-labourer of Dr Chalmers, was born at Eastwood, Renfrewshire, on the 1 2th of October 1789. His memoir places us beside the infant springs of the Free Church of Scotland. Of independent, penetrating, and courageous intellect, Mr Collins was ever on the quest for new channels through which to develop his energies, but he was happily guarded from that tendency to theorise, which is the besetting sin of such minds, by the forethought and practical wisdom which he added to all his other qualities. His chief end and aim was the good of others. His philan- thropy, early manifested, strengthened with his years, and opened out into a life which unfolded itself in a succession of great labours, wisely conceived and resolutely carried out, for the welfare of his fellow-men. Feeling that all that was really good in himself had its source in the gospel, Mr Collins' efforts for the welfare of others were put forth along the line of that divinely restorative and elevating force which is found in the Cross, and nowhere else. At the age of twenty-five Mr Collins was ordained an elder in the congregation of the Tron Church, Glasgow, then under the pastoral care of Dr M'Gill. In the course of his reading he happened to peruse the article on the Evidences of Christianity in tlic Encydopcedia Brittaiiica. DISRUPTION WORTHIES. The freshness of its intellectual power, and the glow of its moral and evangelical enthusiasm, impressed and delighted him. Accordingly, when Dr M'Gill died, Mr Collins turned his eyes to the author of the article which had so fascinated him, the Rev. Thomas Chalmers, as a suitable successor to Dr M'Gill, and greatly aided in the movement which resulted in the appointment by the Town Council of the young minister of Kilmany to the church and parish of the Tron. From no one did Dr Chalmers receive a heartier welcome on his induction in 1815 than from the youngest member of his session, Mr Collins. The subject of our memoir now took his place by the side of Dr Chalmers, and continued to co-operate with him in his manifold labours all the time the latter remained in Glasgow. The two men resembled each other in spirit and aim, in genuine piety and large benevolence. It was not the minister alone, nor the elder alone, but minister and elder together, that wrought out that marvellous social and moral change that now began to transform the wide district that was the field of their joint labours. When Dr Chalmers originated the idea of local Sabbath Schools, Mr Collins opened the first school, and thus gave the religious community a proof of the practicability and efficiency of the idea of his great leader. Dr Chalmers was next transferred to the new parish of St John's. Mr Collins accompanied his minister to his new charge, and still kept his place by his side as his valued adviser and zealous and efficient fellow-labourer. To Dr Chalmers, with his keen political and social insight, it belonged to originate methods of civic and Christian economy, more varied and novel, perhaps, than any age had yet known, and to expound and recommend them by an eloquence of unrivalled brilliance and power. But his elder, quiet and unobtrusive, with keen untiring activity, and soul on fire, came after him, testing the ideas of his chief, and giving them practical realization in the hovels of the poor, in the haunts of the godless, and in the dens of the proHigate, thus convincing a some- WILLIAM COLLINS. what incredulous world that the schemes of Dr Chalmers did not belong merely to the region of philosophy and rhetoric, but were thoroughly practical — indeed, the only agencies that ever would recover the lapsed masses, replacing thriftlessness with frugality, and ignorance and vice with that fear of the Lord which is the beginning of wisdom. The movement then begun was the first turning in that dangerous tide, whose volume had been growing larger and its waters darker with each succeed- ing decade, and which, had it been suffered to flow unchecked till our day, would have burst its embankments, in defiance alike of the moral power of the pulpit and the legal authority of the state. Mr Collins' philanthropy moved within no narrow circle. Every good object evoked the sympathy of his earnest nature. He advocated with characteristic warmth and courage the abolition of African slavery, at a time when that cause was not so popular as it came to be at a later date. This brought him into contact and co-operation with Wilberforce, Macaulay, and other champions of the emancipation of the slave. The fact that he took openly the side of the negro, and that petitions for eman- cipation lay in his book shop, alienated some of his business customers, many of whom were largely interested in the West India trade. Mr Collins, moreover, rendered no small service to the cause of religious literature by his reprints, in a more accessible form than here- tofore, of many of the writings of the divines of the sixteenth and seventeenth century. To these volumes suitable introductions were prefixed, written by the more eminent clergymen and laymen of the day, of all denominations. This was a wide sowing of the seeds of evan- gelical truth throughout the land. Besides impregnating the general soil, it planted, doubtless, in many a home and heart the knowledge and the love of genuine piety, where before the gospel had neither been known nor prized. In this .scheme, moreover, Mr Collins furnished an example which soon began to be imitated in the numerous societies that by and by arose, and which had as their object the reprinting of the historical, DISK UP TION 1 1 -OR THIES. literary, and religious works of former days. Since that time, popular knowledge has been advancing with rapid strides. When the temperance cause found its way to this country from the United States in 1829, Mr Collins hailed it, as "throwing a ray of light," to use his own words, upon a dark problem. He was the earliest member of the Glasgow and West of Scotland Temperance Society, and he laboured in season and out of season to promote its object. He visited, on this errand, many of the towns of Scotland, and even extended his tours to Manchester, Liverpool, and London, in all which places he delivered addresses to large audiences. He visited the metropolis three times, and succeeded, on his third visit, in forming the British and Foreign Temperance Society. At one of its early meetings in Exeter Hall he delivered his famous lecture on the " Harmony of the Gospel and Tem- perance Societies," — a lecture which contains the germs of the ablest arguments employed in behalf of the movement, even under its later phases. From 1829 to 1834 a large portion of his time and means were devoted to the maintenance of a cause which he regarded as one of the handmaids of the gospel, and which commanded his sympathy and support to his dying day. Dr Chalmers, some time before, had left Glasgow to fill the Chair of Moral Philosophy in the University of St Andrews. The departure of the master, however, did not cause the disciple to relax in the prosecution of those labours of Christian benevolence in which the two had been so enthusiastic and so successful fellow-workers. It was now, 1834, that Mr Collins projected the greatest of all his enterprises. This scheme, with which his name came afterwards to be mainly associated, had birth in an incident of a domestic kind. He had an only daughter, who was confined to her chamber by a lingering illness. To beguile the hours and mitigate the sufferings of the invalid, Mr Collins would sit down by her bedside, and relate the sad history of individuals and families whom it had been his lot, as an elder of a very poor district, to visit in the course WILLIAM COLLIXS. of the day. As she listened, she could not help contrasting her own happy condition, refreshed by the Divine promises and upheld by the Everlasting arms, with the utter misery of those who were living without God and dying without hope. Can nothing be done, she one day asked her father, as he sat beside her recounting the tale of the day's experiences, can nothing be done to bring the glorious truths on which I am reposing within the reach of these God-forsaking and God-forsaken ones.' The question struck him. "Can nothing be done.'" beseemed to hear his daughter say again and again, as he continued to ponder over the matter. Yes, surely, he made answer to himself, something can be done. These men are not far oflf — they are living in a Christian city — and surely there is wealth enough in Glasgow to bring the cheapest of all commodities, but the greatest of all blessings, to their door. As he pondered, a gracious impulse led him to devise and propound his grand enterprise of aiming to provide twenty additional parish churches for Glasgow. Many pronounced his scheme a "devout imagination ;" but the very greatness of the enterprise contributed largely to its success. Christian philanthropy in those days found vent in contributions of one guinea, five guineas, and, on very extraordinary occasions, ten guineas. Here was an appeal to Christian men to unite in achieving a great object of an evangelical kind by contributions of ;^200 each, pay- able in five instalments ! This was a novelty ; but a novelty that first astounded and next attracted men. The originator, they saw, was in earnest. He had given proof of this by subscribing at once his own quota, from, as was known, very slender means. His example stimulated the liberality of those whose incomes were five, ten, twenty fold that of the propounder of the scheme, and the result was that in a few months Mr Collins had obtained, mainly by his own exertions, the sum of;^22,ooo; and only eight years after he had first mooted his proposal before an incredulous public, he had the happiness of consummating his noble enterprise by laying the foundation stone of the twentieth church erected DISRUPTION WORTHIES. under the auspices of the Glasgow Church Building Society. Of these churches, not fewer than thirteen or fourteen had most appropriatel}- the name of William Collins graven on their foundation stone. The key-note thus struck, the work was taken up by Dr Chalmers, who resolved on doing for Scotland what Collins had so nobly done for Glasgow. When this illustrious divine put his giant shoulder to the wheel, and went through the length and breadth of the land, arousing the country to the need of additional church accommodation, his former elder, far from restricting his sympathies and efforts to Glasgow, once more took his place by his side, and accompanied his chief in prosecution of this enterprise of Christian philanthropy, along with other distinguished men who were raised up at this crisis of Scottish history to aid in the movement. A Government Commission was appointed to inquire into the matter. Elaborate statistics of the spiritual destitution of Glasgow were given in by Mr Collins to that Commission. These were not without important results. Copies were sent to all the dignitaries of the Church of England, and the result of their circulation among the English bishops and clergy, was the formation of church building societies in at least two of the dioceses of the sister kingdom. The metropolis of England did not deem it beneath it to follow in the wake of Presbyterian Glasgow, nor its metropolitan pastor to copy the example of the humble elder of the Tron. But it concerns us more to trace the effect of this church extension movement upon the future fortunes of the Scottish Church. In the first place, it established a much higher scale of Christian liberality than had been in use aforetime. This, in the providence of God, was a prepara- tion for a time of greater necessities and still more urgent claims, then near at hand, though as yet altogether unforeseen. In the second place, the number of churches and zealous and faithful pastors were, within a few years, greatly multiplied. While in 1833 there were only twenty-four churches in Glasgow in connection with the Church of Scotland, in ten years the number had increased to forty-four, and within the same IVIUJAM COLLINS. decade over the whole countr>- not less than one hundred and eighty- seven new churches had been erected. But these were the least important of the results flowing from the Church extension movement in which Mr Collins had taken the initiative. Its fully ripened fruits were not gathered till the Disruption, which, as every one knows, was followed by years of church building on a scale never before witnessed. It is true that the material fabrics erected by the efforts of Chalmers and Collins were in almost every case lost to the Free Church. But let us reflect how little was lost, when the stones and timber were adjudged to belong to those who remained in the Establish- ment and how much was gained, when the numerous and zealous con- crregations which had been nursed in these fabrics, with the faithful pastors who ministered to them, cast in their lot in almost every instance with the disestablished Church of Scotland. Let us reflect also how important an item these ministers and members formed in the noble army that gathered round the standard uplifted on the i8th of May 1843 for the crmvn rights of Christ, and the liberties of the Christian people. In all these labours we see Mr Collins working for an issue he did not foresee, at least till it was close at hand. The experiments he had made were afterwards to be repeated on a much larger scale, and the success that attended them in the first instance emboldened himself and others when similar operations had to be undertaken in every city and parish of Scotland. Without the enlarged scale of contribution established by Mr Collins, it would have been all but impossible to have reared the five hundred new churches imperatively demanded by the Disruption ; and without the living congregations, which his Church extension scheme had called into being, how very much smaller would have been that host of ministers, elders, and adherents that, marching out of the Establish- ment in 1843, constituted themselves into the Free Protesting Church of Scotland. His interest in all that appertained to the highest good of his native DISRUPTION WORTHIES. land continued unabated after the Disruption. In the labours of the subsequent busy years to provide churches, manses, and schools for the congregations of the Free Church, he took part, according to the measure of his strength. He laid the foundation stone of the new and elegant Church erected for the congregation of Free St John's, then under the pastoral care of Dr Thomas Brown. He also laid the foundation stone of the Free Tron, of which Dr Robert Buchanan was minister ; and now he connected himself once more with the session of that congregation. He had left it twenty-one years before ; he now returned and acted as an elder in it till called to the General Assembly and Church of the first- born on high. In 1848, failing health compelled him to seek the more genial air of Rothesay. Even there the noble passion of his soul could not help dis- playing itself Despite his bodily weakness, he took an active part in the establishing of a missionary station in the most destitute part of that town. The accomplished biographer of Dr Chalmers, writing of Mr Collins as one of Chalmers' chosen and beloved friends, speaks of him as one who, after a life of honourable service in the cause of Christ — as few busy men among us have ever lived— in that retirement into which feeble health has forced him, still cherishes with unabated zeal those interests which in bygone years he loved so much to promote. The writer of this short memoir had the privilege of spending part of a day with him in his retreat only a little while before his decease, and he never can forget the sweet serenity of spirit which breathed forth in every word and look ; the glow into which his conversation kindled when it turned on the progress of Christ's kingdom throughout the earth, and the deep repose and joy of his heart resting, as it evidently did, on his Saviour. On Sabbath, the 2d of January 1853, as the church bells were summoning the worshippers to the sanctuary, Mr Collins ceasing to breathe, entered into rest. J. A. W. lamijs Cralnfortr. AMES CRAWFORD was born in North Fjerwick, in December 1808. Part of his education he received in that town, and part in Edinburgh. In his native town he always took the deepest interest to the last, and was con- nected with the burgh by legal ties throughout his life, as well as by relationships and old friendships. With the whole surrounding region he was intimately acquainted ; each spot was an old friend to him. He delighted to shew his friends the beauties of North Berwick Law, Tantallon Castle, and Dirleton, and to point out the small islands that lie out in the bay ; but especially did his eye turn to the Bass Rock, the prison-house of the martyrs, which he visited and re-visited, and of which he at last secured a permanent memorial in a handsome volume, embodying all that can be told historically and geologically of that well-known and picturesque island. In Edinburgh he betook himself to the law, and entered the office of Walter Dickson, Esq., W.S. There he was known for his diligence and conscientiousness, and especially for his benevolence and good nature ; so that to try to " provoke Crawford " was one of the feats which his fellow apprentices sometimes attempted but had to give up as hopeless. In 1831 he was one of a small band who planned the Presbyterian Reviezv — a periodical, literary, ecclesiastical, and theological in its character, which in after years exercised no small influence upon the DISRUPTION WORTHIES. affairs of the Church of Scotland. Though not, in the strict sense of the word, a " literary man," he shewed by his unwearied energetic support of that Quarterly, how thoroughly he appreciated literary work, and how intelligently he sympathized with the literary labours of others. In the religious poetry of the olden time Mr Crawford was much interested, and had a large and accurate acquaintanceship with the names and works of the old poets, from the Reformation downwards. More than one of his favourite hymns he printed in neat leaflets for letters, and for general distribution. Perhaps we might say that his favourite book was " Rutherford's Letters," with which he was thoroughly versant, and from which he delighted to quote to friends when sitting by the fireside or walking by the way. It is in great measure to him that the public are indebted for that splendid edition of the " Letters," in two handsome octavo volumes, which was published in Edinburgh in the year 1863. It was one of the last things to which he set his hands, and he was greatly gladdened at being helpful in raising this monument to the memory of his beloved divine before he himself was taken away. Having all along taken an interest in ecclesiastical affairs, and being well versed in Church law, he assisted in editing the " Book of Styles," published under the superintendence of the Church Law Society, of which he was a lay member. He was one of a small committee of that society to whom were entrusted in 1842 the editing of the Acts of the General Assembly of the Church of Scotland. The volume was published in the following year, with a brief preface by the Rev. Thomas Pitcairn, dated just three days before the Disruption, 15th May 1843. At the Disruption he was appointed Depute Clerk of the Free Church General Assembly, which office he continued to discharge till he was taken from us with singular exactness, urbanity, and painstaking toil. He grudged no labour in the discharge of his duties, and no one JAMES CRAWFORD. ever saw him ruffled in temper by the pressure of business, or the inconsiderateness of those who had to deal with him as clerk. He was firm and decided, not only in principle, but in his actings. With all his gentleness, he would not allow himself to be moved away from what he believed to be the path of duty. He was not only the Christian friend in private, but he was the Christian man of business in public. He did not obtrude his religion upon others, but he made them feel at all times " whose he was, and whom he served." A thorough Presbyterian, and an intelligent Free Churchman, he was yet a Christian all over, and knew how to recognise Christ in his members everywhere. Not confounding distinctive testimony with sectarianism, he was not ashamed of his creed or his church ; yet he always held his own without censorious depreciation of others. Full of the charity which thinketh no evil, he yet possessed a far greater amount of shrewdness and accurate discernment of character than he was credited with. With- out artifice or subterfuge, without affectation or show, he went about his daily duties, whether sacred or secular, shewing how to resist as well as how to yield. With a punctuality and attendance to business rarely equalled, he found time in the midst of common duties for reading, for prayer, for visiting the poor, for assisting the many religious institutions of the city. Business did not blunt the edge of his spirit, nor unfit him for the study of the Word, which was to him not a book of theology, or poetry, or sentiment, but a book of life, a well of living water for his thirsty soul. While studying the whole Scriptures, he dwelt specially on those passages which revealed the person of his Lord, either in the grace of his first coming, or the glory of his second. The prophetic Word he pondered much, and delighted to meditate on the predictions of the coming glory of the Church and of Israel. He " loved the appearing" of Christ ; he " watched " for it ; he longed to see the King in his beauty. He not only read, but studied his Bible. It was his companion wherever he went. He treasured up and noted down cven,^ illustration niSRUPTTOX WORTHIES. of it that he could lay hold of, from friends, from books, from sermons. One could not be with him five minutes without having the attention called to some passage on which he had been meditating, or on which he had obtained fresh light. The Bible that he was in the habit of using daily is all written over with references and remarks, sometimes original and sometimes borrowed. The interlinings and the marginal annotations frequently cover the page, and almost hide the print. It may be worth while to gather up a few of these, not so much for the importance or originality of the remarks, as for the exhibition of the writer's mind. On Rev. iii. 14, he remarks, " Laodicea is sunk in lukewarm apathy, dreaming of peace when on the edge of an undone eternity ; but not conclusively abandoned." On the margin of ist John v. 11, there is written : " Boston says, Sweet and comfortable prop of my soul." On the words, " Sin, when it is finished, bringeth forth death" (Jas. i. 15), we have, "Perhaps 'finished' has allusion to the sin of our first parents not being finished till the forbidden fruit was eaten, although both Eve and Adam had sinned before — the former by believing the devil, and the latter in also believing a lie." On Heb. xiii. 15, we read, "Nothing shews the degeneracy of the heart more than the not praising God. David did it continually." At the title of the Epistle to the Hebrews is written, "The royal and eternal priesthood of the Messiah." On Phil. iv. 13, " I can do all things through Christ, which strengtheneth me," his brief remark is, " Every one should be able to say this." Above 2d Cor. iii. 6 is written in red ink, " Quoted by Dr Cunningham on his death- bed, as a message to the students, December 1S61"; and over ist Cor. XV. is written, "This chapter was read to John Knox by his desire on the afternoon of the day of his death." On ist Cor. ii. 14, he writes, " A man who is in the Spirit discerns things ; does not judge, but has perception or discernment of which the world is totally ignorant." At the top of the eighth of Romans is written, " The secret of living in the faith of an ever-present Saviour ; lo\-ing, tender, watchful, faithful." At JAMES CRAWFORD. Prov. xi. 24, " He that watereth shall be watered also himself," he has written these four words, as if expressi\e of his own experience as a teacher and elder: "What encouragement to teachers." On the Song of Solomon iv. 6, " Until the day break," &c., there is this note, "This verse was wished to be put upon a tombstone in Rome by a Protestant father for a daughter. It was forbidden, as the Bible; for, if permitted, it would admit the possibility of Protestants being saved." At the close of the fifty-third of Isaiah he writes, "The Church (believers) is in Christ, complete in Him, holy in Him, powerful in Him, hopeful in Him, glorious in Him." At Lsaiah Ivii. i, this note is made: " Dr Duncan, St Luke's, Kdin, 25th October 1853, after Dr Gordon's death:" "Salt" {Matt. V. 12), " light" (Matt. v. 14). Psa. cxix. 20, "My soul breaketh," &c., he marks b\- a quotation from Dr Chalmers, which was evidently j meant to be a declaration of his own feeling as in coincidence with that I of Dr Chalmers, " Most descriptive of my own state and experience of j any in the Bible." And on the same Psalm, ver. 130, he quotes the saying I of another, " You cannot handle any saying of God in a true frame of I spirit without finding yourself, in so doing, at a door which may lead you far in into the palace, — to the innermost thoughts of God's heart toward us." On Amos v. 18, he writes briefly, "Woe to those who are I not prepared, as wise virgins, for the coming of the Lord." On Obadiah ' and the brevity of his prophecy, he makes or quotes the remark, " If I angels were to write books, we should have few folios." On the side of the first verse of the 13th of Zechariah, about the fountain opened, there is this entry, "Tent at Ballachulish, September 1846." On Matt. xi. 28, " I will give you rest," he writes, "Unrest is the great characteristic of J the world." On Matt, xxviii. 10, he writes, '"My birt/iirii.' No change j in Christ's feelings after His resurrection — ' My Father and your Father, my God and your God.' How lovely!" On Mark xiv. 8, "She hath done what she could," he says, " Sweet foretaste of things yet to come ! Jesus will plead our cause, as he pleads this woman's." DISRUPTION WORTHIES. It is interesting to notice the different places and ministers recorded in the margin of this well-used Bible. We have Dr Cunningham, Dr Chalmers, Dr Duncan, Dr Candlish, Dr Bruce, Dr Hamilton, Mr Hewit- son, with others. We have many of the Edinburgh churches, such as St Andrew's, St Luke's, Lady Glenorchy's, as well as North Berwick, Dirleton, and Regent Square, London. He delighted to go where he might hear the words of grace. Sabbath or week-day ; and he was above many " a lover of good men." The image of Christ in any one had an irresistible attraction for him. Loving the Master, he loved the disciple. The prayer meeting, the Bible reading, or the gathering of the " two or three " he delighted in. No one who observed him at these gatherings will forget his attitude of earnest looking and listening, as if drinking in every word. He was sensitive as to the soundness of the doctrine taught, and turned away from novelties that please the ear, but do not feed the soul. One of the last conversations which the writer of this memoir had with him was when he lay upon his death-bed. The subject was " Christ our life," on which his mind had evidently been dwelling. Once and again did he repeat the words, " The promise of life which is in Christ Jesus" (2 Tim. i. 2). Having in his days of early manhood found his way to the Cross, and learned there the forgiving love of God, he had walked this life as one who had tasted that the Lord was gracious, and who sought to lay everything that he possessed at the foot of the Cross. Surrounded with friends, burdened oftentimes with business, called to do much secular work, he yet maintained his conversation in heaven. "Blessed are the meek," might be his epitaph; for with an uncommon meekness, gentleness, and tranquillity, did he pass through earth, leaving most blessed fragrance behind him. He died in November 1863; and he lies buried in the Grange Cemetery, not far from Chalmers and Cunningham and the other wor- thies of his generation, to whom he was so fondly attached. H. B. IliUiam lotobson CraufurtJ. CRAUFURDLAND ) FINER specimen of a country gentleman could not anywhere be found than William Howieson Craufurd. He was the representative of one of the oldest families in Scotland. His mother was the only surviving child of John Howieson of Braehead, in the county of Mid- lothian, and Elizabeth Craufurd of Craufurdland, in the county of Ayr. By this marriage the two families of Howieson and Craufurd were united, and eventually the two properties passed into the possession of Mr Craufurd. Each of these has a history of its own— a romantic interest attaches to the one, a legal interest attaches to the other. The possession of Braehead dates as far back as the time of James V. The king had sallied forth unattended on one of his adven- turous expeditions, and, according to the tradition, he was attacked by four or five gipsies, who were proving more than a match for him, when John Howieson, a bondsman on Braehead farm, came to his rescue, and delivered him out of their hands. The king invited him to call next day at Holyrood, and inquire for the goodman of Ballengiech, and he would at least shew him the king's apartments. On doing so, he found to his surprise that it was the king he had befriended. In token of his gratitude he conferred upon him the lands of Braehead ; and from that day to this they have continued in the family in an unbroken line. This DISRUPTION WORTHIES. gift was coupled with the condition, that whenever the king came to Holyrood or passed over Cramond Bridge, tlie Laird should bring forth a basin to him in which to wash his hands. When George IV. visited Scotland in 1822, Mr Craufurd had the honour of performing that service to his majesty at the banquet given to him by the city of Edinburgh on the 24th of August. The ceremony is thus described by authority : — "As soon as the king had dined, a silver basin containing rose water was brought to his majesty by William Howieson Craufurd, younger of Braehead, who, in the right of his mother as proprietrix of Braehead, in the county of Midlothian, claims this privilege, the service performed being the ancient tenure by which the estate of Braehead is held." The succession to Craufurdland was the subject of protracted litigation. In the year 1793 Colonel Craufurd of Craufurdland died in Edinburgh unmarried. By a deed made on his deathbed he settled his estate on Thomas Coutts, Esq., banker, London. The validity of this deed was disputed by his aunt and heir, who had married the Laird of Braehead, and an action of reduction was instituted. Dying before it was finished, it was carried on by her daughter who succeeded her, and after many long delays, it was eventually reduced by a decree of the House of Lords. This decision is frequently appealed to as determining the question of law in all such cases. Born on the 29th of November 17S1, Mr Craufurd was educated at the High School of Edinburgh, from which he passed to the University, where he prosecuted those studies that enlarged his mind and fitted him for filling worthily and well the position he was afterwards to occupy. At a comparatively early period he was brought under the power of divine grace. This was in answer to the prayers of an invalid sister, to whom he was greatly attached. Before she passed away, she had the unspeakable joy of finding that he had passed from death to life. The change was decided, and its genuineness was attested by a long life of sustained consistent Christianity. While nature gifted him with all the IVILLIAM HOWIESON CRAUFURD. amiabilities of a gentle and loving disposition, grace clothed him with those higher attributes that assimilate the soul to the Saviour. His religion, like himself, was lovely ; it knew no gloom, and put on no austerity. He adorned the doctrine he professed, and commended it to other men. In 1808 he was married to Janet Esther, only daughter of James \Vh)'tc, Esq. of Newmains, a lady of great intelligence, who took a deep interest in all that concerned the welfare of the people, and in the neigh- bouring town of Kilmarnock lent her influence in promoting every good work. Domestic in their habits, they dwelt among their own people. The situation of the castle is very beautiful. "It stands on the summit ot a steep bank overlooking Craufurdland water, which bounds the estate upon one side, while Fenwick water limits it on the other. The castle is surrounded with wood, and there are shady avenues in the vicinity, as v/ell as a beautiful lake." In all public matters Mr Craufurd took a great and active interest. As a Deputy-Lieutenant of the County of Ayr, Justice of the Peace, and Commissioner of Supply, he filled many impor- tant positions. All through life he was a keen politician, thoroughly Con- servative ; no one canvassed with greater eagerness or greater success than he : while the progress of events somewhat modified his views, he retained his political opinions to the end. But while these things received a share of his attention, it was the cause of Christ that awakened his deepest interest, and his sympathies were all on the right side. At a time when the friends of evangelical religion were few, and those who espoused it were exposed to reproach, Mr Craufurd stood forward, and made an open and fearless avowal of his convictions ; occupying the chair at Bible Society and missionary meetings in Edinburgh, and joining with Dr Andrew Thomson in the defence of pure Bible circulation, he enrolled himself in the ranks of Anti-patronage, a cause which in those days was treated with ridicule and scorn, and made any one who maintained it become a marked man. As an elder of the church, he sat for nearly sixty years in the DISRUPTION WORTHIES. General Assembly, and if his voice was seldom heard in the discussions, his influence and vote were always given for the removal of abuses, and in defence of the liberties of the people, and the purity of the Church. One example may be given. Once and again what was known as the « Bracadale Case " came up before the General Assembly. It involved the question whether a minister could be compelled to administer sealing ordinances to persons whom he considered, from their ignorance and character, unsuitable — a rampant Moderatism having issued orders which, pressing upon the conscience of the minister, involved him in jeopardy of deposition for contumacy. The case became complicated, but the friends of evangelical religion rallied round him; and from the moderator's chair, after the lapse of well-nigh half a century, the minister in question, Mr Roderick M'Leod of Skye, made graceful reference to Mr Craufurd as one of the few survivors who had stood by him in an evil day. It was but in keeping with his whole character and antecedents, that when "the ten years' conflict" arose, he should be found on the evan- gelical side, and that when the day of decision came, he should march forth under the leadership of those noble men who surrendered position for principle, worldly interest and honour for Christ's cause and crown. During those eventful years, when we were denounced as rebels and revolu- tionists, disloyal to the throne, and turning the world upside down, it was a matter of no small moment to have a man of the social position and high character of Mr Craufurd lending to our cause the weight of his honoured name. In politics a warm supporter of Sir Robert Peel's government, and in himself the very impersonation of law and loyalty — a man who would have died for his queen and country — the idea of Mr Craufurd being revolutionary was felt to be an impossibility : the accusa- tion died away upon the tongue. But while his political connections must have made it a greater trial and sacrifice to him, it only served to bring out into brighter exhibition the strength of his Christian principle. The well-known incident of the falling of the picture of King William WILLIAM HOWIESON CRAUFURD. in the ancient Palace of Holyrood, when the crowds attended the levee of the Lord High Commissioner on the Disruption morning, is associated with his name : it was he that exclaimed from a distant part of the throng, "There goes the Revolution Settlement !" At the Disruption, along with several other valued elders and a considerable following of the people, he left the Low Church of Kil- marnock, and attached himself to the Free High Church, in which for twenty-eight years, till the day of his death, he continued to bear office. In ever>'thing connected with the congregation he took the deepest interest, and by his character and influence he contributed largely to its strength. The Sustentation Fund especially shared his liberality, and he made the Deacons' Courts of the various congregations in which his properties were situated the channel of communication. It was no half- hearted adhesion which he gave to the cause ; he was a most enthusiastic and thorough-going Free Churchman. But while he was firm and un- bending in his adherence to principle, he passed through those exciting scenes, when sharp words were spoken and ungracious deeds were done, with perfect calmness and serenity, preserving his friendships unbroken. Few men ever gathered around them so large a share of general estimation as Mr Craufurd. As an expression of their admiration of his hi"-h character, he was requested by his numerous friends to sit for his portrait, which now hangs in the fine old castle. The Presbytery of Irvine, whose representative in the General Assembly he had been for fifty years, invited him to a public entertainment to celebrate his official jubilee. Spared beyond the ordinary term of human life, he moved among his fellows like a venerable patriarch, and wherever he went the eyes of a new generation were turned towards him with respectful regard. Time laid her hand very gently upon him, and till very near the close he had few of the infirmities of old age. He had a long twilight, and his sun went down without a cloud. His place in the sanctuary which he loved so well bcran to be frequently empty. At several communion seasons he DISRUPTION WORTHIES. was able to be present only at the table service. On the last occasion he took the minister and his fellow-elders by the hand with an affectionate grasp, and on retiring, he looked round and said, " The Lord be with you all ; my heart is with you, but I am not able to remain." For a period of nine months he was confined to his room. He suffered no pain, but there was great feebleness. The last time I saw him he received me with the same pleasant smile ; his countenance was lighted up with the old genuine geniality ; time had written no wrinkles on his brow, and age had brought along with it no gloom,— even his memory, sadly failed though it was, seemed singularly fresh. Pointing to a portrait on the wall, he asked if I remembered that lady. It was that of his deceased wife— the old affec- tion unabated — but above all there was the calm repose in his Saviour, and the bright hope of a speedy entrance. During all those months no repining word escaped him. He enjoyed being read to, but by-and-bye all other books were laid aside ; he could listen to nothing but the Bible and a few hymns, his chief favourites being, " I heard the voice of Jesus say," and " Just as I am," adding at the close of it, " These were my father's last words." As the end drew near, the happier he grew. His con- finement to his bed was short, but his exhaustion was extreme. His con- sciousness continued almost to the close. On the morning of the 17th of September 1871, he passed away without a struggle, in the ninetieth year of his age, leaving behind him a memory which will long survive as that of a man of stainless honour, of winning gentleness, and of genuine, but unobtrusive piety. His wife and two daughters predeceased him, and he is succeeded in his estates by his only son. T. M. ^L M.MAKGILL CRICHTON '-Q-' labift itaitlantr Jltakgill Cmljtmt. AVID MAITLAND MAKGILL CRICHTON took rank in the Disruption days as one of "the Lords of the Congregation." His birth, his bearing, his shrewdness in discerning what ought to be done, at once assigned to him this honoured place. In addition to this, he was one of the foremost and lealest in the promulgation and defence of tlie Church's principles and rights, when church court and platform were distinguished by the noblest band of eloquent men that Scotland had ever listened to. And all was heightened by the generous self-devotion with which all was done. Time, labour, health, horses, hospitality, means, were all unstintedly surrendered by him in the great struggle. The spirit of Christian chivalry was in the man. Makgill Crichton was bom at Rankeilour in 1801. His ancestry connected him with the Maitiands of Lauderdale ; with James Makgill, the friend of John Knox, and the founder of the Rankeilour family ; with Viscount Frendraught, Lord Crichton, to whose title he ser\'ed himself as heir ; and with the Johnstons of Lathrisk. Being the second son, he studied law, and passed as advocate in 1822. By the death of his brother he succeeded to the heritage of Rankeilour. But his highest distinction, and as Baron Bunsen said of himself on his death-bed, " his richest experience, was the having known Jesus Christ." To this he was "won" by the Christian conversation of his first wife, a ^ H 135 DISRUPTION WORTHIES. daughter of Mr Hog of Newliston. He saw in her during a lengthened illness the sustaining power of the gospel of Christ. And what he saw in her he sought and got for himself — a saving interest in the same Redeemer. From the very first to the very last of his religious life, the inner character of his religion never altered. It was that of an individual soul dealing with a personal God. It was a transacting with God on the provisions and pro- mises of the gospel for all that, as a fallen creature, he felt that he needed. If then, as Carlyle says, " belief is the whole basis, essence, and practical outcome of human souls," it is to the faith of Makgill Crichton j that we are to look for the purpose and the energy which he put forth in the struggles of the Church, and " by this he obtained a good report." This only can adequately explain the man's entire consecration to the work. It was faith that worked, it was love that laboured. In 1834 it was that Makgill Crichton enlisted as a willing worker, under the leadership of Dr Chalmers, in the cause of Church Extension. The commencement of his labours consisted in hard, patient, obscure local efforts to call forth thought and interest and liberality to the subject. Chalmers acknowledged, " with the deepest feelings of gratitude, his exertions," and was accustomed to express it as his wish that there was a " Makgill Crichton in every parish." By-and-bye he was moved forward to the front as a platform speaker. There he culminated at once as the most efficient of orators. Everything was in his favour. He was in his thirty-fourth year. An air of distinction sat upon the man. His figure was tall. An expression of firmness gave character to his sharp-cut features. His voice rung clear and trumpet-toned through the largest meeting. The cause which he advocated was of the very noblest. The motive which inspired him was of the very highest. " If under the Church," he said, " we have ourselves tasted of the word of life, we have in ourselves the true and only spring of pure philanthropy, and of love to God." The high-souled look which lighted him up when he pled his cause, convinced every observer of his sincerity and earnestness. DAVID MAITLAND MAKGILL CRICHTON. His success was very great, but sometimes he was trysted with disappointments and downcasting. After a church extension tour, in wliich he met with discouragement, he returned to Rankeilour. His mind was weighted with its own depressions. It chanced to be the night of the prayer-meeting, which was held in the house of old Saunders Honeyman in Springfield, and being one of the members, David Makgill Crichton went to it. Before the service commenced, he unburdened his heart by telling his humble friends how much discouraged he was. All they of the meeting gave him their attention and sympathy. It was old Saunders' turn to conduct the services. Saunders selected tlic 1 32d Psalm, and with solemn Scotch accent read out — ' ' David and his afflictions all, Lord, do Thou think upon." After singing the usual four verses, they knelt on the earthen flojr, Saunders led in the prayer, asking for the kneeling company all promised and purchased blessings, and not forgetting " David and his afflictions." The laird returned home, and his countenance was no longer sad. Those clay-floor cottage prayers were the presage of success. With the view of aiding the cause of Church Reform and Church Extension, Mr Makgill Crichton complied with a call which was given him, to offer himself for the representation of the St Andrews district of Burghs in Parliament. He entered the field as a moderate Conservative. He left the field, "declaring his mistrust both of Whig and Tory, and assuming the independent position of a Bible politician," words which Merle D'Aubigne adopted as a motto to one of his own pamphlets. Mr EUice was his opponent in the contest ; and out of 551 votes given, it was only by the narrow majority of 29 votes that Mr Ellice was returned. It was because the Christian men and women of Scotland believed that the Church of Scotland, " like Jerusalem which is above," was free, and protected in her freedom by the constitutional law of the country, DISRUPTION WORTHIES. that they wished to promote the extension of that Church. But as the Church went for\vard, reforming her practice according to the word of God and her own standards, the law courts, by a strange fatuity, obstructed her path at every stage by a series of decisions which have deprived her of every shred of jurisdiction. " He that is spiritual discerneth all things." As these law court decisions succeeded each other, the Evangelical leaders felt, that such a church as the law courts leave to us, is a church not worth extending. It would be a moral and spiritual nullity in the land. And the men and women in Scotland who knew their Bibles and the Church history of Scotland, responded, the true Church of Scotland, which is the mother of us all, is and has been a free church, and, God helping us, she shall be free. And so the great question of spiritual independence came up and stirred the countrj-. No one was more impressed than was Makgill Crichton, of the far- reaching importance of this subject. As a Christian who read his Bible, he saw that this spiritual independence was " a thing touching the King," and the spiritual life of the Church. As a Scotchman, he knew Scottish Church history, and that in the words of Froude, " the political freedom of the country had been hitherto wrapped up in the kirk," or in the words of Professor Blackie, " the centre of Scottish nationality lay in the Scotch Presbyterian religion." As a lawyer, he was well convinced that the constitution of the country and special statutes had secured, as far as it was possible for legislation to do it, protection to the Church in all spiritual matters. He was quite equipped for the conflict, and most heroically did he enter on its self-denying labours. In church, in school- house, in hall, in barn, all throughout Scotland, and in many parts of England and of Ireland, did he advocate that Scottish doctrine of the co-ordinate jurisdiction of church and state, which Minghetti has in this year of 1875 been commending to his constituents at Boulogne, and to the Italian Parliament, as that which can alone secure a free church in a free state. If it is in the masses that the feelings of a community reside, DA VID MAITLAND MAKGILL CRICHTON. no man, cither clerical or lay, did more to implant those great church principles in the mind of the masses, than did Makgill Crichton. It is not easy to convey to the reader an idea of the multitudinous subjects which were constantly pressing upon the attention of Makgill Crichton, and of the stern working to which he subjected himself, during these eventful years. Here is a bundle of his letters, about the year 1843. By opening them, we may see the multiplicity of questions which dis- tracted his thoughts and time. The first is from Dr Ferrie, refusing an offer to address the people of Kilconquhar on the Church question. The second is a letter dated " St Andrews," and signed " A Working Man," saying, " a new era is about to commence in the history of our Church and country. The Lord in his goodness grant that it may be found worthy to be called the third Reformation.'" The third is from a zealous layman, beseeching Mr Crichton " to let the dead bury their dead, and to allow the Quarter Sessions for that day to take care of themselves, and not fail to be present as corresponding member at the Synod meeting at Brechin." The fourth is from Sir David Brewster, telling " that the St Andrews University have, by a scandalous and illegal decision, expelled, without even the form of a trial, three of the most distinguished students, all these being members of the Church Defence Association, which is their crime," and asking his presence in St Andrews. The fifth is from Charles Leckie, acknowledging with gratitude a cheque for ^8, and continuing, " I have little hope for betterness. I am endeavouring to contemplate the Cross of Christ in its variety of associations, as my sure ground of hope, and I have reason to bless God that although my light and experience are not of the first magnitude, yet they leave me not without comfort and peace of mind. Dear friend, pray for me, that God would enable me to glorify Him m the day of His visitation." A sixth is dated, " The Reform Club," London. It says : " Twice since I was under your hospitable roof, I have been on the verge of eternity, and t/ioi: nothing seems worth standing up for except eternal truth and right. In the valley of the shadow of death one cannot see the greatness of cabinet ministers." The seventh is from Hugh Miller. It has this sentence : " I sadly miss your companionship, and my thoughts get mouldy for want of airing." Hugh, whose words were well con- sidered, usually closed bis letters to Makgill Crichton with " Very affectionately yours." These letters shew the range of his sympathies. His activities were represented by his being week after week away from his home, in all parts of the country, and night after night addressing meetings, yet taking care to be at Rankeilour every Saturday, that he might spend the Sabbath with his family, and be in his own pew in Collessie church. It DISRUPTION WORTHIES. was in tlic face of the most vituperative opposition, both public and private, that all this was done. The editor of Tlic Witness newspaper tells us, that for a few days he had clipped out of the newspapers all that he had seen written against Mr Crichton, and by fastening it together, he found that it had extended to eleven feet six inches and three-eighth parts of undiluted abuse, in one brief fortnight. In 1 844, under the strain of this excessive work and excitement, health gave way. Paralysis shewed itself unmistakeably, shattering for a time both body and mind. As Mr Percival Bunting of Manchester, wrote — " Many, very many, friends, both known and unknown, sympathised with him in his afflictions, and prayed, not coldly or unfrequently, for his re- covery." Among such, it is deeply affecting to see the venerable Chalmers bending over his fellow-labourer and fellow-soldier when he was stricken down, relating to him his own somewhat similar experience, and comfort- ing him with the comfort wherewith he himself had been comforted of God. " My very dear sir," writes Chalmers, iSth August 1844, " I was forcibly reminded of my own situation in 1834, when an arrest was laid upon me in going along the North Bridge, after a three hours' speech in the Presbytery, and I was conveyed home in a coach. The treatment which my physician laid upon me reduced me in the course of the summer by thirty-five pounds weight, so that, when 1 picked up again, it was more like a reconstruction than a recovery. . . . " A very remarkable experience of mine during that summer was, that I often in speaking stuck in the middle of a sentence, and it seemed as much due to a failure in thought as a failure in articulation. I mention this because I have been recently visited by the same symptoms. . . . " It is a great comfort, amid the uncertainties of this ever-shifting pilgrimage, to think that we are in good hands, and under the vigilant eye of Him who likes to be trusted, and bids us cast all our care upon Himself. May you, my dear sir, have great peace and joy in believing, and may you realise in your own person that most beautiful of Scripture verses, ' in quietness and confidence ye shall have strength.' I ever am, my dear sir, yours most cordially and with great affection, Thos. Chalmers." Another evidence of the wide-spread sympathy with which he was regarded, was the presentation of a silver centre piece, combining the properties of an epergne and candelabrium, bearing this inscription— "To David Maitland Makgill Crichton, Esq. of Rankeilour, from ten DA VID MAITLAND MAKGILL CRICHTON. tliousand members of the Free Church." Dr Candlish, in making tl.e presentation, said, "The principles in support of which you have sub- mitted to so much labour and to so many sacrifices, are worthy of an apostle's zeal and a martyr's faith, connected as they are with the kingly crown of our blessed Saviour, and the freedom of his people." Wc have not space to particularize further. The years of life which >-ct remained were actively spent in the midst of the practical questions which were always turning up, and the course which he followed was the same "slapdash, straightforward, earnest course" it had ever been. But it was marked by more irritability, and impatience of contradiction, and severity of censure. And what were these but the symptoms of what the post-mortem inspection afterwards revealed, that structural disease had so pervaded the system as to make life a continual struggle and disturbance ! His last efforts were called forth on behalf of Dr Thomson of Coldstream, who had spent many years of his life, and " all he had left in the world," in contending for a cheap Bible against Bible monopoly. Again did Mr Crichton traverse Scotland, raising the needed funds, and relieving a good man's heart " from a heavy load of anxiety." Of all who still remain and knew Makgill Crichton intimately, there is not one but will regard his memory with fond affection. His likeness hangs in the "ben room" of their heart. One who was much with him, and knew him well, penned this statement the other day, and many will endorse it : " The general impression of the grandness and nobility of his character has been only deepened in my mind with the lapse of years, and with my increased knowledge of the littleness and selfishness of the mass of mankind." Who that knew him will forget his zeal and gene- rosity ; his ready humour, and the twist of the mouth and the twinkle of the eye that accompanied it ; the hospitality of his home, lighted up by the presence and the varied converse of Brewster and Hugh Miller, of Guthrie, Candlish, Patrick Clason, Begg, and James Mackenzie, whose fiftccnpcncc History reflects more truthfully the spirit of Scottish history DISRUPTION WORTHIES. than all the volumes which have been written ? Who will not remember his readiness humbly to acknowledge wherein he had erred, when dealt with in the spirit of meekness, — his gentleness in the midst of his family, — and the feeling of lowly reverence with which at family worship he pros- trated himself before God ? It is his religion, and the nature of it, which after all is the great fact to him now, and ever was, for it gave complexion to his character and life. His religion was strong in its scriptural sim- plicity. It was to him a matter of certainty, not so much logical or inferen- tial as experimental, for he felt that it righted his relation with God through Christ, and maintained daily fellowship with God through Christ. His religion was definite and doctrinal, for he knew it as a system of divine truth wherein one doctrine harmoniously combined with and sus- tained another. His religion was a simple, childlike devoutness, healthily fed by the varied elements which the Spirit of God has infused into Bible narrative and Bible statement, and gathered by him daily, as the manna was gathered by the Israelites, with the dew of heaven fresh upon it. On this religion he lived the life he led, and by it he died in the quietness of faith. There was a soldier-like simplicity in the manner of his death. He had sat up to evening family worship. He had requested to be allowed to ascend the stair to his bed-room unattended. He had his portion of Scripture read to him after he had gone to bed. In the early morning a fit of breathlessness aroused him. His son was immediately at his side. " Thank God," he said, " my boy, I am better." Scarcely were the words uttered, when the spirit fled. " We bless Thee for the quiet rest thy servant taketh now. And for the good fight Ibughten well, and closed light peacefully." Makgill Crichton was one of the row of hard-wood trees which stood on the outskirts of the forest, and sheltered it from the tempest. These have now been mostly removed one by one. The stormy blasts noW get entrance into the depths of the wood, and many a green spruce is seen lying on its side, with its surface-spread roots high up in the air. J. W. T. /^ILLIAM CUNNINGHAM, D.I n- ILL] AM CUNNINGHAM, D.D. and in 1825, a sermon from that wonderful preacher on Regeneration was the means, in the hand of the Holy Ghost, of subduing the enmity of his carnal heart, and making him a new creature by faith in Jesus Christ. Old things are passed away with William Cunningham, but not less are all things made new ; and whilst ardent as ever in the accumulation of learning, he took part, with all his intense enthusiasm, in every scheme or society within the university which had the progress of the gospel and the glory of Christ for their object. Previous to this date, the Spirit had been poured out on the students of the Edinburgh Divinity Hall, and during the decade, extending from 1823 to 1833, in the much prayer and holy joy and zealous activity which were conspicuous, it seemed as if the days of RoUock and Leighton were come back. The Theological students formed their Association for the Diffusion of Christian Knowledge towards the end of 1825 ; the Church Law Society was instituted in 1827; a committee was organised that same year to place the Library of the Hall upon a more liberal basis, after an age of resolute and inexplicable mismanagement : and in each of these efforts William Cunningham always bore a leading part. He finished his curriculum as a student of divinity in the spring of 1828, and being licensed, a few months later, as a probationer by the Presbytery of Dunse, he preached his first sermon on the 14th of December at Larbert, in the pulpit of the late Dr John Bonar. Dr Cunningham was desirous of visiting the Continent, and his w ish seemed to be on the point of being realised at this time, when the arrangement he was counting on unexpectedly failed : — "While at Dunse," he writes in a letter dated 25th August 1828, "I received a letter from an acquaintance of mine, wishing to know if I would accept the situation of tutor to the Marquis of Twceddale's son, to reside on the Continent, and talking of it as if he had the disposal of it. I would not have liked to have gone to the Con- tinent with every family, but as the Marquis and Marchioness are truly Christian people, I wrote that I had no general objection to the situation, and requested to have DISRUPTION WORTHIES. some particular information about it. Now, I have been expecting to receive an answer to this letter every day literally for a fortnight, and I wished, of course, to be able to tell you of the result. I am a good deal surprised at not having heard, and don't know very well how to account for it. However, I have ceased to think of it, and give myself no concern about the matter." Dr Cunningham was now on tei'ms of most affectionate intimacy both with Dr Thomson and Dr Chalmers, and it is difficult to say which of these great men had the highest place in his esteem. "I spent," he writes in a letter dated 17th November 1829, "Saturday and Sunday se'nnight with Dr Chalmers at Penicuik very delightfully. But nothing pleased me so much in his conversation as the way in which he spoke of Dr Thomson — the kindliness and admiration he expressed towards him. ' A most valuable man, he said. ' One of the blithest and most delightful men you can meet with ; just a tower of strength. I cannot express the thankfulness I feel for his great talents as a public speaker, and his importance in the General Assembly. I never felt myself so impregnable as in the Assembly 1825, when Thomson was a member.' Chalmers also thinks that 'the second statement' for the Bible Society by Thomson, was one of the ablest and most conclusive pieces of argument he ever read." What has long gone by the name of " the Row Heresy," broke out first in 1828, and as one who was very suspicious of its tendencies, Dr Cunningham thus expresses himself in a letter of 1S29 : — "The Row doctrines continue to spread. Thomson has been preaching against them for two Sabbaths past. It is a most injurious perversion of the gospel. Some of the Campbellites, I understand, have the boldness to allege that Paul mis-stated the gospel to the jailor, when he said, ' Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shall be saved,' in place of saying, ' Believe that thou art pardoned, and be saved.' They seem to be under no apprehension of the consequences that must inevitably attend the preaching of another gospel than Paul preached. Like other heretics, they seem waxing worse and worse. Readiness, high-mindedness, and itching ears, are the epidemic diseases of the theological world in the present day, against which young theologians are especially called to watch and pray." In 1830 Dr Cunningham became assistant and colleague to Dr Scott, of the Middle Church, Greenock, and greatly was he blessed here, both in the pulpit and in the parish. At the same time he keenly watched the evolutions of Rowism, and not only warned his flock against that WILLIAM CUNNINGHAM, D.D. insidious licrcsy, but deposed one of his elders who was bold enough to avow it at a meeting of Session. Dr Cunningham visited London for the first time in 1833, and preached in Regent Square Church, from which Irving had been recently ejected. During the week he heard some of the ministers best known for their talents and usefulness, and greatly admired them. "I have been now," he writes in March 1833, "nearly a fortnight at Bcrners Street, and have been very busy and very happy. I have been in both Houses of Parliament, and it was most interesting to behold the men on whom, under God, depends, in a great measure, not only the destinies of Britain, but of the World. I have heard some of the most popular preachers in the Established Church — M'Ncile of Albury, who has got quite clear of Irvingism ; Melvill, who took an active part, and made a powerful and eloquent speech, at the formation of the Trinitarian Bible Society ; and Baptist Noel, whose character as an efficient pastor stands very high, although he has been weak enough to go back to Earl Street. Melvill and M'Ncilc are both decidedly superior men to Noel, and men who preach faithfully and powerfully to the times, although they are neither of them men who commend them- selves to your understanding as authorities— persons to whose sleeve you would be at all inclined to pin your faith. I have preached two Sabbaths in the Scotch National Church, and I attended a meeting of the Presbytery of London, who are really a very respectable body. They are desirous that our Assembly should do something to encourage them, and they send a deputation to ne.\t Assembly. That Assembly will probably be the most important in its consequences of any that has sat for many years. May the great Head of the Church send up to it men full of faith and of the Holy Spirit, and guide them in all their deliberations." So far back as 1826, Dr Cunninghain, while only at the Hall, used to declare that were he a member of Presbytery, and a presentation against which the people reclaimed laid on the table, he would move that it be rejected. This early announcement of non-intrusion principles was mentioned by a fellow-student to Dr George Cook, and the quick remark of the astute politician of Laurencekirk, even at that date, was, " Let the attempt be made, and there is an immediate conflict between the civil and ecclesiastical courts." The view which Dr Cunningham had formed in 1S26, he expounded with matchless clearness and force in the Assembly of 1833, when DISRUPTION WORTHIES. supporting Dr Chalmers' proposal of the Veto ; and the impression then left by his speech was, that though defeated on that occasion, defeat was only the prelude of a coming and conclusive victorJ^ A battle, however, must be fought ere this issue is achieved ; and that he might be at the centre of Scottish influence when the crisis was advancing, Dr Cunningham was translated to Edinburgh in 1834, and became minister of Trinity College Church. In this sphere, though the disadvantages were manifold, he wrought with energy, and acceptance, and encouragement. But possessed of an aptitude for ecclesiastical business, and a capacity for ecclesiastical discussion, such as rendered George Gillespie so famous, Dr Cunningham soon exchanged pastoral duty for political conflict ; and from this point his life was bound up in the history of that Church which he strove so manfully to reform, if haply it might be preserved, and not overthrown. There were public questions lying outside the Cluirch of Scotland, such as Popery, Voluntaryism, Education, Tests ; and each of these Dr Cunningham took up and set in their true light. But it was rather Domestic measures and controversies he reserved himself for, and it was seldom that his wise and temperate judgment on such matters was disputed, or even modified. In 1838 Dr Cunningham was brought to the verge of life by fever; but graciously spared, he girt himself for more strenuous labour than ever from that time, and in 1839 prepared his "Reply to the Dean of Faculty " on the Auchterarder case ; following up this masterly exposure with his " Defence of the Rights of the People," in answer to Robertson of Ellon, in 1840. It was in 1841 that Dr Chalmers moved the deposi- tion of the Strathbogie ministers who refused to obey the authority of the General Assembly, and the speech of Dr Cunningham in seconding <-he motion was eminently distinguished as much for a lofty tone as by luminous argument. The Convocation met in 1842, and the Disruption took place in WILLIAM CUNNINGHAM, D.D. 1S43- Without OSS of time 'the New College" was constituted, and Dr Cunningham appointed J jnior Professor of Theology, with Ap olo- getics as his department. Though this was a department of theological literature in which he never felt peculiar interest, yet he at once addressed himself to it with thorough earnestness, as the following extract from a letter, dated 8th August 1844, will shew : — " It is my earnest wish that I may be enabled to do something for promoting the cause of sound theological education, and to contribute to make our future pastors able ministers of the New Testament. I hope I may be able to carry out some of the leading views upon the subject which have been put forth in the Prcshytcrian Review, and which I know to be approved by many of the best ministers in our church. As I will have only the first year's students under my charge next winter, I must be mainly occupied with the origin, authority, character, objects, and uses of the Word, and the way and manner in which it is to be interpreted and applied as the sword of the Spirit— that is, very much in illustrating the first chapter of the Confession, and bringing out the information which the Word of God gives us concerning itself, and the means by which the knowledge of it is to be acquired. I propose to give some promi- nence to the subject of the Bible as the rule of faith — not merely negatively, by expos- ing the Apocrypha and Tradition, but positively, by opening up the sufficiency and perfection of the Scriptures, as these topics used to be discussed between the Papists and the Reformers. " All these subjects may be handled in such a way as to bring the students a good deal into contact with the Bible itself ; and when taken together, they should, I think, lay a good foundation for their theological studies." At the request of the Church, and just at the time when he was in much sorrow for the loss of a beloved child, Dr Cunningham crossed the Atlantic in mid-winter of 1844, to inquire into the constitution and working of the Presbyterian theological seminaries in the States ; as also to explain the principles of the Free Church. Soon after he had arrived (in 1845) from America, owing to the lamented death of Dr Welsh Dr Cunningham was placed in the Chair of Church History ; and two years afterAvards (in 1847) he became Principal of the New College, as suc- cessor to Dr Chalmers, of whom the Church had been suddenly bereaved. Earnestly alive to his responsibility, as Principal, for the develup- DISKUPTION WORTHIES. ment of theological education, and the advancement of theological science, Dr Cunningham now directed all his energies to the equipment of the New College as a Model institute for training students of divinity ; and his hope was, that he might be allowed to carry out his ideas in all their extent before other Halls were contemplated. But what he pleaded for was not granted. Aberdeen and Glasgow insisted on being dealt with, from the outset, as Edinburgh, and their claims were looked upon with favour by those who guided the affairs of the Church. The College controversy then broke out, and after an arduous struggle, Dr Cunningham, to his chagrin and sorrow, was foiled. A wide chasm after this severed Dr Cunningham from those with whom he had hitherto acted in the Free Church, and the alienation, as obvious as it was unhappy, continued from 1852 to 1858, when the wound was closed, whether it were healed or not. Old friends were induced to come together once more, and in 1859 Dr Cunningham was chosen Moderator of the General Assembly, amid the acclamation of the whole Church. Perhaps it would have been well had this honour been postponed ; for there can be no doubt that his official duty in the chair told against the failing health of Dr Cunningham, and ripened the seeds of lurking disease. During the summer, however, Dr Cunningham seemed to rally ; and in 1 860 he opened the Assembly, as retiring Moderator, with a masterly discourse upon the Atonement. This was the last sermon he ever preached, and it was his greatest. The greatest speech he ever delivered was on the Australian Union, in 1861, and it was his last. Throughout the summer and autumn of 1861, Dr Cunningham had apparently gained strength, and he was cheerful as of old. But all at once the tall cedar shook : and now it was the root, not the branch, that was smitten. On the 15th of December he died, and on the i8th he was buried — his sorrows ended, and his labours crowned, in the saints' everlasting rest. J. J. B. ^THE EARL OF DALHOUSIE EARL OF DALHOUSIE. of mere pleasure. But those were the stirring days of the Reform Bill when Scotland was excited to an unusual degree. Fox Maulc caught the enthusiasm of the times, and issuing from his Highland home, plunged with his whole heart into the midst of the first election for Perthshire, canvassing in favour of his friend, the Marquis of Breadalbane, then Lord Ormelie. It was greatly owing to his indefatigable and persuasive efforts that tlie contest was won. The die was then cast. His aptitude for a political life was manifest at once. As he after%vards said, "I was politically born then." At the next election, in 1834, he was'returned as member for Perthshire. Having lost his seat at the next election, he was returned for the Elgin Burghs. Having resigned his seat for the Elgin Burghs, he was elected by the city of Perth, which he continued to represent for ten years, until he was called to the House of Lords after his father's death. But Fox Maule was more than an ordinary member of Parliament. During his Parliamentary career he filled several important offices of State. He was successively Under-Secretary for the Home Department, Vice-President of the Board of Trade, President of the Board of Control, and twice Secretary at War. He was also a Privy Councillor. On the overthrow of the Aberdeen Ministry in 1855, on account of the alleged mismanagement of the Crimean war, Viscount Palmerston was called to the helm of affairs, and Lord Dalhousie, then Lord Panmure, was selected by him to extricate the War Department from the difficulties in which it had become involved. His Lordship fully justified the confidence reposed in him, and by his good management and persevering labours, the British army was at the close of the war in a more effective state than at its commencement. His administration at the War Office was eminently successful. One of his first achievements was so to minimise and regulate the use of the lash as speedily to lead to its entire abolition. He introduced the system of competitive examination for commissions, which has tended so much to raise the standard of military education. DISRUPTION WORTHIES. He also reduced the period of enlistment ; and in many ways promoted the comfort of soldiers. The position which he had earned for himself as a public man was manifested when in 1842 he was elected as Lord Rector of Glasgow University, though his opponents were the Marquis of Bute and the Duke of Wellington. In token of his sovereign's favour, he was appointed Lord-Lieutenant of Forfarshire, and made Knight of the Thistle and Knight Commander of the Bath. Midway in his political career, when after twenty years' service in the House of Commons he took his place in the House of Lords, a farewell banquet was given to him by his constituents at Perth. Lord John Russell said of him : " During the whole time I was at the Home Office, and since which I had to conduct in a higher sphere the affairs of the nation, I have derived the greatest advantage from the sentiments, the intelligence, the perseverance, and the ability of my noble friend. But all this would not have so recom- mended him had I not been satisfied that he is thoroughly impressed with the great maxim of the great statesman (Mr Fox), from whom he has derived his name, that what is morally wrong cannot be politically right." Educated in England, for ten years actively occupied in military duties chiefly in Canada, surrounded by social enjoyments, and then plunging into political life, it seemed unlikely that Fox Maule would interest himself in the ecclesiastical questions that then agitated the Church of Scotland. Perhaps till he entered public life they had never engaged his attention. And probably at that time he might have thought it most unhkely that he would ever take any prominent part in religious questions. Various influences, however, prepared his mind and led him on. Among the earliest and most powerful of these was the teaching and example of a pious and much-loved mother. As the excitement of the first election after the Reform Bill led him into the arena of political life, so there were external circumstances which forcibly EARL OF DALHOUSIE. drew his attention to ecclesiastical affairs. Dr Chalmers was urging his scheme for church extension on the notice of the legislature when Fox Maule entered public life. As Under Secretary for the Home Department, Scottish affairs were largely submitted to his consideration. Being thus brought into contact with such men as Drs Chalmers and Guthrie, he could not but feel their influence. Again, at the election for Perthshire, in 1834, when he secured his .seat in the House of Commons for the first time, the question of non-intrusion occupied so prominent a place, that both parties found themselves constrained to profess themselves to be friendly to the popular side of that question. This may have been his first introduction to the subject. But from the professions then made he never swerved nor drew back. In addition to this, the disputed settle- ments of Lethendy and Auchterarder, both in Perthshire, must have led him more thoroughly to consider the principles which were involved. But however this may have been, from that date Fox Maule was the zealous friend of all philanthropic and missionary enterprises, and the staunch supporter of the rights and principles for which the Church was then contending, the refusal of which led to the Disruption. When the conflict thickened, and the Church refused to obey the orders of the civil courts in regard to spiritual things. Sir Robert Peel, in 1842, in his place in the House of Commons, accused the Church of Scotland as " defying and opposing the law." " This attack," writes the author of the " Ten Years' Conflict," " was not unanswered. It called up one whose enlightened and unflinching advocacy of the great scriptural principles, and constitutional privileges for which the Church was con- tending, had earned for him the gratitude and esteem of all who venerate the work of the Scottish Reformers, and who know how to appreciate that integrity and manly firmness of character, which fears not to avow honest convictions, and to defend 'diem wherever they may be assailed. It is told in Scripture, to the honour of Onesiphorus, that even at Rome he was not ashamed of Paul's chain. It will be told, in the ecclesiastical DISRUPTION WORTHIES. liistory of his country, to the honour of Mr Fox Maule, that lie was not ashamed to identify himself, even in the House of Commons, with the calumniated Church of Scotland." " If," said he, in replying to Sir Robert Peel, " that Church had set itself up against the law of the land in matters of civil right, he would be the last man to stand up in its defence. But the General Assembly of the Church of Scotland had over and over again declared, that as far as civil rights were concerned, it would bow implicity to the decisions of the land. All that the Church and the General Assembly had done was to say that, while on the one hand they obeyed the law as to benefices — still, they owed a duty to a higher authority than man when they inducted to any portion of their Church an individual who had a cure of souls." No better estimate can be formed of the position which Fox Maule had earned for himself in Parliament, and of the confidence which the Church reposed in him, than is manifested in the fact, that when, after ten years' conflict, the Church resolved to make a last appeal to the Legislature to inquire into and to redress its grievances, by special appointment of the Commission he was requested to bring the matter before the House of Commons. On 7th March 1843, little more than two months before the Disruption, he did so in a speech of singular power and lucidity. " No Free Churchman can read without unfeigned gratitude the clear, intelligent defence of her position and privileges made by Mr Fox Maule in the House of Commons. His statement of the independent spiritual jurisdiction of the Church on the occasion referred to may be read at the present day with interest and instruction, and shew what a just and true grasp his mind had taken of the controversy which terminated in the Disruption." * His motion for inquiry in the House of Commons was rejected by a majority of 135. " It is not undeserving of notice," writes the author of the " Ten Years' Conflict," " that of the thirty-seven Scottish members * Minute of the General Assembly of llie Free Church on the death of Lord Dalhou.sie. EARL OF DALHOUSIE. who were present, twenty-five voted with Mr Maulc. It was not there- fore simply the voice of Scotland's Church, but the voice also of her national representatives that was that night overborne in the British Parliament. The fact is one which an impartial posterity will mark and remember." It is not a little remarkable that on the 6th of July 1874, the very day of Lord Dalhousie's death thirty-one years later, the debate on the Patronage Bill took place in the House of Commons. On which occasion it was fully acknowledged by all parties that the statesmen of 1843 had grievously erred in refusing to make such concessions as might then have satisfied the just demands of the Church. The same evening on which Fox Maule brought this subject before the House of Commons, a great public meeting was held in the City Hall, Glasgow. Dr Thomas Guthrie then said : — " The last battle is now at this moment fighting on the floor of Parliament. The voices of Maule, Rutherford, and Stewart — and I can hardly mention, in that House of five hundred men, more than these three that will stand up for our rights — they are now pleading our cause ; and did I not know that God rules on earth as well as in heaven, you might write ' Ichabod ' already on the brow of Scotland. I confess I have no hope. My motion says it is our duty to use every lawful eiTort to avert this calamity. Now we have used every lawful effort. We have petitioned, we have remonstrated, we have negotiated. . . . We have resolved never to give up our principles. We shall give them their stipends, their manses, their glebes, and their churches. They are theirs, and let them make ' a kirk or a mill of them.' But we cannot give up the crown rights of Christ ; and we cannot give up our people's privileges. ... If this night they say, ' You must sell your birthright for a mess of pottage,' then I say I am done for my lifetime with the Establishment." "And so," wrote Dr Guthrie at a later period, "we went forth under the old banner to enjoy that freedom without the Establishment which we were denied within its pale." Fo.x Maule was not awanting in the day of trial. He entered at once into all the preparations for the new state of the Church, and with an unflagging interest and most loyal enthusiasm continued his services to the last. No doubt his rank and public position lent value to his DISRUPTION WORTHIES. adherence and services ; " but, apart from this, the warmth, the intelli- gence, the sagacity, the inherent weight of his counsels, the effective character of his advocacy, and the munificent liberality he displayed, gave him a prominent place among the leading and most trusted advisers of the Free Church." For thirty years he was returned by the Free Presbytery of Dunkeld as their representative elder to the General Assembly, and took an active part in its proceedings. After the Disrup- tion, when so many proprietors refused sites for the building of churches and manses, it was mainly through his firm, but calm, speeches in Parliament that the difficulty was surmounted. At the time of his lamented death it was well said, " It is no secret — the fact was made so public in many ways that there need be no delicacy in recalling it — that during the latter years of his father's lifetime, the relations of Mr Fox Maule .towards him were exceedingly constrained and uncomfortable. It is proper to mention, however, that the cause of disagreement was well known to be highly honourable to the son. Its existence was the cause of bringing out, in a variety of ways, the firmness, the chivalry, and the good sense that were embodied in his character. In one way, this disagreement was connected with family and private arrangements. In another, it was of a more public nature. His property was left in a condition that, in the case of a person endowed with less of manliness, generosity, and clear-headedness, would have led to much embarassment and unpleasantness. He avoided this by taking his tenantry into his confidence at once, and laying down rules as to the re-letting of his farms, which they cordially acquiesced in. His rental was enormously increased during the period of his administration, and yet there was, by common consent, no better, fairer, or more liberal land- lord. The social qualities of his lordship were of the rarest order. He was the life of every circle in which he appeared. There was about him an irresistible charm of manner ; high and low alike owned the spell." By Her Majesty he was esteemed as a friend. In London society he was EARL OF DALHOUSIE. always welcome ; in his own county everybody was proud of him, and he knew almost everybody, and could make himself at home with them, whatever their rank or station. This picture, however, is not complete unless it be added that none could be more stern or repellant in his manner to mere tuft-hunters, or to those of whose character or conduct he disapproved. Firm in his opinions, and determined in action, he had many opponents. Yet transparently honest in his convictions, and genial in his manner of expressing them, he had few, if any, lasting enemies. During the last seven years of his life. Lord Dalhousie spent the winter at his charming villa at Cannes, on the shores of the Mediterranean. There he made arrangements, without expense to the Church, for the maintenance of Presbyterian worship, which he loved so well. During the last two winters of his life the writer of this memoir officiated there, and bears most loving and willing testimony that, on Sabbaths and week days, he had no hearer more regular or appreciative, nor any who took a more lively interest, not only in the temporal prosperity of the congrega- tion, but also in the spiritual welfare of its members. Though with characteristic modesty he sensitively shrunk from a loud profession of high personal religion, the depth, the earnestness, and the solemnity of his piety were manifest to all those to whom, in confidence of private conversation, he felt himself at liberty to open his heart. After the death of his wife, in 1854, the honours 01 his house were done by his sister the Lady Christian Maule. Brother and sister never loved each other more truly or tenderly. His latest energies were spent in the service of the Free Church. Hastening home from Cannes, at that season in its richest beauty, he attended, and took his wonted part in the meetings of the General Assembly at the end of May. In June he was in his place in the House of Lords, and took part in the debate on the Patronage Bill. Towards the close of the same month he laid the foundation stone of the new Free Church at Dunkeld. Full of vigour DISRUPTION WORTHIES. and of cheerful, thougli chastened hope, apparently in better health tha.i for many years, it seemed unlikely that the end of his earthly career was so close at hand. On 24th June, accompanied by the Lady Christian Maule, he went to pay his respects to his sovereign at the Bridge of Dun station as she passed on her way south from Balmoral. The same even- ing he was taken ill, and on the 6th of July, in the seventy-fourth year of his age, he died in Brechin Castle in the same room in which he had been born. Though hopes were entertained of his recovery by his medical attendants, he anticipated the issue from the first, and trusting to the merits of Christ, he calmly waited to know the will of God. At the commencement of his illness, to one of whose love he \\as well assured, he sent the message, " Pray for me — but whatever the issue may be, all is well." Among his last words, in reply to a question as to the grounds of his hope, he said to his pastor. " Rock of Ages, cleft for me, Let me hide myself in thee. " Many touching incidents might be given illustrative of the warmth and tenderness and humility of his heart, did not delicacy towards the living and the dead, in the meantime, forbid it. " It will be many a day ere the Free Church find a man to ser\e her with such devotion and capacity." Dying without issue, he has been succeeded in his Scottish titles by his cousin, Vice-Admiral George Ramsay, second son of the late Hon. Licut.-Gen. John Ramsay, fourth son of George Eighth Earl of Dalhousie. W. G. HE Memorial Tablet which stands in the Free West Church, Aberdeen, bears the following inscription, which sets forth in few words the leading outlines of a devoted but uneventful life : — IN MEMORY OF ALEXANDER DYCE DAVIDSON, D.D, MINISTER OF THIS CHURCH BORN IN ABERDEEN 8 MAY 1807 ORDAINED MINISTER OF THE SOUTH CHURCH 3 AUGUSf 1832. TRANSLATED TO THE WEST CHURCH S MAY 1 836. SEPARATED FROM THE ESTABLISHMENT AT THE DISRUPTION ALONG WITH A LARGE CONGREGATION, 23 MAY 1 843 OPENED THEIR CHURCH IN BELMONT STREET 28 JANUARY 1844 REMOVED TO THIS CHURCH I4 FEBRUARY 1869 AND AFTER LABOURING SUCCESSFULLY FOR NEARLY FORTY YEARS AS A PREACHER OF CHRIST'S RIGHTEOUSNESS TO WARMI.Y-A ITACHED FLOCKS HE FELL ASLEEP 27 APRIL 1872 DECLARING " HIS TRUST TO BE IN THE GREAT SALVATION AND THE GLORIOUS REDEEMER." These lines sufficiently sum up the life of Dr Davidson. For his long, DISRUPTION WORTHIES. laborious, and successful career was spent among his own people. He was a pillar of the Free Church ; and he was one of the best preachers of a day that saw many famous preachers. But he was not a man of affairs. He took no part in public life : if ever minister spent his whole time and strength on a congregation, Dr Davidson did. These memorial lines, therefore, with the addition of his marriage, but long loneliness, caused by the early death of wife and child, contain all that can be called biography of this able and excellent minister. A volume of lectures on " The Book of Esther," which the writer of these lines heard in the old Free West Church, in the winter of 1858, and which made an exceptionally deep impression when delivered, was the only work Dr Davidson published. Indeed that volume, along with a volume of sermons edited by one of his executors, and published in 1872, is all of the rich treasures of Dr Davidson's study that has seen the light. To the latter work a preface was drawn up by the loving and dutiful hand of Mr Francis Edmond ; and it is simply a perfect model of what such things should be. But it is referred to here, not for its own sake, but because it supplies us with material whereby to estimate somewhat the noble and unflagging life of this honoured minister in the sphere he had chosen for himself — the pulpit. It is an inspiring thing to read and ponder the pages of this preface, where the editor has done all ministers the service of letting them see how his minister wrought for his pulpit. A table is here given of 1800 lectures and ser- mons, carefully prepared and fully written out, ready for the West Church pulpit, and therefore ready for the press. To those who know what a lecture or sermon cost Dr Davidson, the reading and considera- tion of pages 6 and 7 of Mr Edmond 's preface will administer a hum- bling reproof, or a fresh impulse to faithful work, according to their own fulfilment of their pulpit duties. Of course Dr Davidson could not have done such work, and so much of it, had he not resolved to give up his whole time, and thought, and ALEXANDER DYCE DAVIDSON, D.D. strength to it. He might have been the most influential man in tlie affairs of the city in which he was so much loved and revered, but he retired from all public and social life, that he might discharge fully the office to which he was ordained. Dr Davidson was never so happy as when he was at work in his study. Perhaps he denied himself needful relaxation in his unceasing care for each Sabbath's work. Considering his power and popularity as a preacher, it was often remarked how little he was from home ; and we have heard it told by ministers whom he assisted at communion seasons, how resolute he was in getting home by the first opportunity after his work was done. He would on no account lose a day from the work he loved so well, and consequently fulfilled with such signal success. Dr Davidson's facility in composition was very great, and it was no doubt largely the result and reward of the honest, regular, daily work he performed through a long and happy ministry. His methods of composition were such as we might have expected from the mental characteristics and scholarly habits of the man. He wrote only after the greatest industry in preparing his matter, but when he once sat down to write, his work immediately took on its peculiar neatness and accuracy. It passed in the first draft from under his hand in a state of correctness and finish to which he could add nothing. Happy workman! He never needed to recast and correct, to destroy and restore ! Indeed, he has been heard to say that he never drafted a discourse in his life. With such gifts and habits, natural and acquired, we come to see how it was possible that every Sabbath he went up to the pulpit with his work so thoroughly prepared, and carried to, and sustained at, such a high level of theological and homiletical excellence. There was one part of his daily pulpit work which alwaj-s was particularly, and indeed unapproachably, well done. It was his regular practice to give a running commentary on the passage of Scripture read each Sabbath morning. In few, sagacious, clear, and suggestive words DISRUPTWy WORTHIES. he laid open the sense and bearinfj of the passage read, and that in a space of time that did not seem to add materially to the mere reading of the verses. But this, too, was only another result of those habits of mind which ruled and shaped all his life. Careful preparation, method, and a fine sense of fitness and proportion, were all characteristically displayed in this incidental looking exposition. It could not but be that offers of promotion to offices of wider theological influence, and other preferments and promotions, should be set before such a man ; but his quiet and retiring manner of dealing with all personal and public matters made these offers to be little heard of Thus it was that Dr Davidson lived and laboured, and died in the city which had given him birth, and which is so justly proud of and grateful for, his memory. A. W. ALEXANDER DUFF.DD, > ^Icpnbcr IDuff, Q.D. .^ MONG the men who in 1843 '^'^ the foundation of the Free Church, there was not one who occupied a more prominent position in the ej'cs of the Church and of the world than Dr Duff The course which he and his brother missionaries might adopt on hearing of the Disruption of the Church was awaited with considerable anxiet)' on both sides, because it was felt that the adhesion to one party or the other of such a body of men would be, to a certain extent, a testimony in favour of the party to which they might adhere. There was not only anxiety but uncertainty as to the course which the missionaries might consider it their duty to pursue. Separated by distance, and by their views regarding the relation in which they stood to the Church as a whole, they had avoided any public declaration of their sentiments concerning questions which were still matters of "conflict" within the Church whose representatives they were. It so happened also that the two Conveners of the Foreign Missions who held office before the Dis- ruption— Dr Inglis and Dr Brunton — belonged to the Moderate party ; and between them on the one hand, and Dr Duff and his colleagues on the other, the most amicable relations had uniformly subsisted. In fact, Dr Gordon was the only man who held an important official position in the Home Administration of the Foreign Missions that cast in his lot with the Free Church. I have understood that it was witli vcrv real DISRUPTION WORTHIES. satisfaction that the Glasgow Assembly received the announcement that all the missionaries of the Church of Scotland, to Jews and to Gentiles, unhesitatingly adhered to its Free section. It were impossible, and happily it is unnecessary, to give here any full biographical notice of Dr Duff. His public life is universally known, while his private life was that of the loving and beloved husband and father, the genial friend, the wise counsellor, the beneficent helper. At home alike in the lordly hall, in the gatherings of the learned, and in the dwellings of the humblest, he maintained in all his intercourse with his fellow-men, in a very unusual degree, the distinctive character of the Christian man, the Christian minister, and the Christian missionary. Naturally somewhat impatient of contradiction, and with his whole soul possessed with convictions on the only subjects on which he cared to speak, the first impression that he made on strangers was apt to be that he was a man of overbearing dogmatism. But gradually the impression wore off, and those who came to know him well beheld in him the simplicity of the child, united with the fire of the zealot, and an ardour of love which called forth their earnest love in return. His public life was nearly equally divided into two parts — in India and at home. It is impossible to over-estimate the importance of the former. His style of eloquence was precisely fitted to captivate the Oriental ear, and influence the Oriental mind. With a large range of knowledge, and immense power of acquisition, and unequalled faculty of retention, he knew how to turn this to account in convincing the under- standing and gaining the affections of all with whom he came into contact. He was essentially the orator. Even his ordinary letters were orations. The consequence of this is, that those who never heard him speak must deem his writings somewhat turgid, overlaid, as regards their matter, with imagery, and in respect of style, with superabundant adjectives and epithets. But those who can remember him, as he poured forth a stream of eloquence, now dashing impetuously and almost ALEXANDER DUEE, D.D. furiously over all obstacles, now gliding in glittering beauty between its banks, will not fail to recognise in his writings masterpieces of eloquent oratory. He was, of course, as a missionary, more occupied with the defence than with the exposition of the Christian system. But he was a powerful preacher. Ever handling the Word of God with profoundest reverence, and deeply penetrated with a sense of the unspeakable preciousness of revealed truth, he brought all his great powers into requisition in order to commend that truth to others. His work at home was a continued effort to arouse a slumbering Church to a sense of its duty and its privilege, as put in trust of the sacred deposit of the Gospel for the benefit of the world. This was his one theme, and in handling it he was instant in season and out of season. Whether in his professorial chair, in church courts, in the pulpit, in private intercourse with all classes of men, or in doing from day to day the work that lay to his hand as Convener of the Foreign Missions Committee of the Free Church, he lived for this end, and cared not to live if he could not promote it ; and for the furtherance of this end he had both the will and the power to cultivate habits which might seem almost contrary to his nature. But, indeed, his nature was many-sided. With all the exuberance of his fancy, and the apparently uncontrollable flight of his imagination, he had a singular power of mastering details, and forming conclusions as to their bearings upon matters of business. It will perhaps surprise some to be told that he was a man of remark- ably accurate and painstaking business habits. Endowed with unlimited power of work, sustained by over-mastering zeal, even during the later years of his life, which were years of great physical pain and suffering, he spent long sleepless nights in meditating on his work, and reverentially dealing with his God and Saviour respecting the establishment of His kingdom in his heart and in the world ; while day after day he resumed his patient toil, ever glad to spend and to be spent in doing the work of the Master whom he scr\-ed with the service of ardent love. DISRUPTION WORTHIES. Of the men of our age regarding whom our children will be proud to tell their children and their grandchildren how they walked in our streets, and how they pleaded from pulpit or from platform for God with men, and for men with God, there is no one who will be held in fresher or holier remembrance than Dr Duff. He rests from his labours, and his works do follow him. And over most of his compeers and associates he had this advantage: their work, all-important as it was, could not but be to a considerable extent of a denominational, or, at the most, of a national character. But the work of Dr Duff was catholic in the widest sense. His heart was set upon the evangelisation of all the world ; his influence was felt over all the Churches. We shall now append a mere chronicle, consisting of little more than the dates of the principal events of Dr Duff's life. He was born at the farm-house of Auchnachyle, in the parish of Moulin, Perthshire, on the 25th of April 1806. His parents were not only sincere Christians, but were earnestly interested in the cause of God, and the spread of the Gospel all over the world. To their influence and their prayers he ever acknowledged himself a debtor for all that he was enabled by the grace of God to become and to do. When eight years old he was sent to school, and after that early age he was but seldom, and for short times, in his father's house. After receiving the ordinary primary education in the parish school of Kirkmichael, and the usual secondary instruction in the Grammar School of Perth, at the age of fif- teen he became a student in the University of St Andrews. From many testimonies it is manifest that here he made the most of his golden oppor- tunities. In all his classes he held a high place, in some, the highest. He attended as a student the first course of lectures which Dr Chalmers delivered as Professor of Moral Philosophy in St Andrews, and the genius of the student caught an enlivening spark from the genius of the teacher. Under the genial auspices of this teacher and friend, he entered upon a course of study and of missionary effort, which closed only with his life. ALEXANDER DUFF, D.D. Immediately after the close of his University course, he was licensed as a preacher, and was straightway appointed by the Foreign Missions Committee of the Church of Scotland as the first Missionary of the Church to India. His appointment was sanctioned by the General Assembly of 1829, and he was ordained to the office of the ministry on the 12th of August. After a disastrous voyage, and two shipwrecks, in one of which the Lady Holland was totally destroyed, he landed in Calcutta on the 27th of May 1830, and immediately began the great work with which his name will ever be associated. This is not the place either for the exposition of, or the apology for, that work. In the day of India's regeneration, when its converted millions shall stretch out their hands to God, the arrival of Duff on her shore will be acknow- ledged to have marked an important epoch in the national and spiritual history of that great land. The hand of God was in it. Never before or since was there a time so opportune for the great experiment which Duff" instituted ; never before or since was there a man so qualified to conduct that experiment to a successful issue. In the doing with his might what his hand found to do, the young missionary "lighted the candle at both ends," and after little more than four years of bright burning, it was all but burnt out. By the middle of 1834 he was prostrated with illness, and was carried on board a homeward-bound ship. Immediately on his arrival at home, though still in an extremely feeble state of health, he began the work of pleading the cause of missions all over Scotland, and inaugurated a movement which has already accomplished much, and is destined to accomplish far more, towards placing the Church of Christ in the position which her Divine Head designed her to occupy towards the world which He came to save. He returned to India in 1840, and at once resumed his labours in the Mission which he had been honoured to found. These labours we cannot describe in detail. They were abun- dant, and very various. The event which gives its special character to the present publication. DISRUPTION WORTHIES. the " Disruption " of the Church of Scotland, was met by Dr Duff as all who knew him might have expected that he would meet it. He and his colleagues might have misgivings as to the ability of a portion of the Church to bear the cost of those operations which had been regarded by some as too heavy a tax to be paid by the undivided Church ; but they had no hesitation as to the course of duty ; and hence the name of Dr Duff stands in the roll of " Disruption Worthies." The work of the Mission went on without interruption ; and neither missionaries, nor converts, nor students, had more to suffer than the painful breach which divided them from many friends with whom they had hitherto been united. The death of Dr Chalmers, in 1847, led to great anxiety. The position which he had occupied in the Free Church, all felt, could never be filled by another. Men when they met were engrossed with the momentous question as to a successor to him in his office as Principal and Professor in the Edinburgh College. The response was gradually given more and more distinctly, that if Duff would accept it, he was the man. A proposal was accordingly made to him by the Commission of the General Assembly that he should return home and be appointed to this office. This proposal he felt himself constrained to decline. But, believing that one object that the Church had in view in making it was, that he might carry forward the work which he had begun as an advocate of the Mission cause, he consented to visit this country, and prosecute that work for a time. In order to prepare himself for it, he made an extensive tour over India, of which he had not till then seen much, and made himself acquainted, by personal observation, with all the work carried on in all its length and breadth. When this survey was completed, he left India, and reached home in May 1850. He now entered upon that course of exposition and advocacy of the cause of Missions, of which he had before given a foretaste, which may be said without exaggeration to have revolutionised the sentiment of the Church of Christ, not in ALEXANDER DUFF, D.D. Scotland only, nor in the British Islands, but also on the European and American continents. It was in the beginning of 1854 that he visited the latter continent. No pen of ours can describe the enthusiastic character of his reception, or the blessing that accompanied his visit. Before this, in 185 1, he had enjoyed the highest honour that is open to the ambition of a Presbyterian minister, the Moderatorship of the General Assembly of his Church. His superabundant labours in this country and in America were again a lighting of the candle at both ends. For a time he was laid aside from all work, and had to learn that God requires of his servants patience as well as action. He returned to India at the close of 1855, and resumed his work in his 50th year with as much energy as he had expended on it in his 24th. But this could not continue always. Repeated illnesses con- vinced him that his work in India must cease, and prepared him to accept an invitation which was addressed to him to return home and work/^r India, and for the world, as Convener of the Foreign Missions Committee of the Free Church. This was to him a great disappointment. He had often spoken to the writer of his desire to " die in harness," and to lay his bones to mingle with the clods of his beloved Gangetic valley. Reaching Scotland in August 1864, he entered with characteristic energ>' on the work of his new office. How faithfully and how laboriously he discharged his duties is known in the general to all the Church, but the writer may be excused the egotism of saying that he alone knew it to the full extent, from the circumstance that he was for several years associated with him as Vice-Convener. By the generous liberality of a few friends he was enabled to present to the Church a sum of ;£'io,ooo for the endow- ment of a Chair of " Evangelistic Theology ;" and, says his biographer, "When the General Assembly of 1867, with whom the appointment of the first Professor rested, could not agree as to which of two experienced Missionaries, from Calcutta and Bombay, should be appointed to it, Dr Duff was most unwillingly compelled to accept the appointment b>' the DISRUPTION WORTHIES. unanimous call of his Church." Thus he became at last a Professor in that College, of which he had fifteen years before declined to be a Professor and Principal. In 1873 he had the unique honour conferred on him of a second election to the Moderator's Chair of the General Assembly, and that at a trying time in the Church's history. When the Assembly of 1874 had to appoint a Principal of the New College in suc- cession to Dr Candlish, many of the friends of Dr Duff deemed that he was the fittest man to be appointed to the office. He did not desire the appointment, but when he had consented to be nominated, he was certainly disappointed, and perhaps for the moment somewhat em- bittered, when he found that his appointment, if it took place at all, would not be unanimous. He therefore declined to be proposed. It were alto- gether out of place to revive the controversy here, and out of time to revive it anywhere. I have no doubt that Dr Duff received this disap- pointment as a gift of his Heavenly Father, and that it contributed to that which had long been the strongest desire of his heart, his growth in holiness, and in submission to his Father's will. During the sitting of the Assembly of 1876 Dr Duff met with a severe accident, from the effects of which I do not think that he ever fully rallied. From that time his friends anticipated that the day of his departure would not be distant. For many months he suffered from one affection after another, and, when the College session opened in Novem- ber 1877, he was obliged to acknowledge to himself that he could not discharge the duties of his Chair. On the 12th of February 1878 came the end of a career marked by unflinching faithfulness to the cause of God and of man, a career whose track will not soon be obliterated from the sands of time, and which will be remembered, to the praise of God's grace, in the anthems of eternity. His remains were reverently laid beside those of his loving and beloved wife, who had predeceased him by twenty-three years. T. S. I I Mi R V HENRY DUNCAN, D.D. the pastoral office grew deeper and more spiritual, he ceased to regard with much satisfaction this part of his career; but his loyalty and patriotism did not suffer from his progress in personal religion. In 1808 he commenced with a few literary friends the publication of the " Scottish Cheap Repository Tracts," which were intended to furnish sound instruction to the common people. The best of the scries were written by himself, and by far the best of all, "The Cottage Fireside," was soon published separately, and attained great popularity. In point of spirit, pathos, and humour, it has never been surpassed by any composi- tion of its class. Soon after this period he started the Dumfries and Galloway Courier, of which for seven years he was editor. Under his management, and the more professional control of his successor, Mr John MacDiarmid, this paper reached a very high position among Scottish journals. As the advocate of the Bible Society, when it was a new and struggling institution, as an enlightened educational reformer, and the champion of every cause that appeared to bear upon the real welfare of the country, the minister of Ruthwell gradually became highly distin- guished among his brethren; and at length, in 1810, his practical philanthropy took a form which made his name known over the whole country'. In that year the first SAVINGS Bank was instituted at Ruthwell, and by the indefatigable exertions of its founder, the merits of banks of the kind for popular use were speedily acknowledged by states- men and philanthropists of all classes. The first Act of Parliament to encourage and facilitate the institution of such banks was passed mainly through Mr Duncan's personal efforts in London among members of both branches of the Legislature. By pamphlets, lectures, and other appliances, he rapidly made known the claims of Savings Banks over the whole island. Before long, he had the satisfaction of seeing such banks instituted in many places, and carried on with high success. For his great exertions and large personal outlay in connection with this new DISRUPTION WORTHIES. to leave Liverpool, and study for the ministry of the Scottish Church. Yet the experience he gained in the Liverpool banking house was of great use to him in his after life. In 1793 he resumed his studies at the University of Edinburgh, and there he enjoyed the friendship of the Professor of Moral Philosophy, Dugald Stewart His talents and general character commended him highly to the kind offices of that eminent philosopher. He also spent two college sessions at Glasgow, and specially profited by the profound and interesting lectures of Mr John Millar, Professor of Law. His last two sessions were spent in Edinburgh. At this period of his academic career he was elected a member of the celebrated Speculative Society, and became acquainted with many young men of high promise, among others with Henry Brougham, afterwards so famous in law and politics. He continued on habits of friendship and correspondence with this distinguished states- man during the greater part of his life. In the year 1798 he was licensed to preach the gospel, and imme- diately received from the Earl of Mansfield the choice of two livings in his gift, both vacant at the time, Lochmaben and Ruthwell. He chose the latter, inferior though it was in value, because it appeared to be a more suitable field for his peculiar pastoral work and philanthropic experiments. And soon, as the minister of Ruthwell, he displayed that intellectual activity, fertility of resource, and fine benevolent spirit, which enabled him to do so much, both for the temporal and spiritual welfare of his people. He imported Indian corn from Liverpool for the supply of their wants during a time of great scarcity. He also effected, amidst not a little opposition, important social reforms, and in many ways sought to improve the habits and manners of his flock. During the time of the dreaded French invasion, he raised in his parish a company of Volunteers, of which he was appointed captain. On several occasions he put off his military uniform, to assume the clerical dress, and enter on the duties of the pulpit. As his views of divine truth and the nature of ' HENRY DUNCAN, D.D. the pastoral office grew deeper and more spiritual, he ceased to regard with much satisfaction this part of his career; but his loyalty and patriotism did not suffer from his progress in personal religion. In 1808 he commenced with a few literary friends the publication of the " Scottish Cheap Repository Tracts," which were intended to furnish sound instruction to the common people. The best of the series were written by himself, and by far the best of all, " The Cottage Fireside," was soon published separately, and attained great popularity. In point of spirit, pathos, and humour, it has never been surpassed by any composi- tion of its class. Soon after this period he started the Dumfries and Galloway Courier, of which for seven years he was editor. Under his management, and the more professional control of his successor, Mr John MacDiarmid, this paper reached a very high position among Scottish journals. As the advocate of the Bible Society, when it was a new and struggling institution, as an enlightened educational reformer, and the champion of every cause that appeared to bear upon the real welfare of the country, the minister of Ruthwell gradually became highly distin- guished among his brethren; and at length, in 1810, his practical philanthropy took a form which made his name known over the whole countr)'. In that year the first Savings Bank was instituted at Ruthwell, and by the indefatigable exertions of its founder, the merits of banks of the kind for popular use were speedily acknowledged by states- men and philanthropists of all classes. The first Act of Parliament to encourage and facilitate the institution of such banks was passed mainly through Mr Duncan's personal efforts in London among members of both branches of the Legislature. By pamphlets, lectures, and other appliances, he rapidly made known the claims of Savings Banks over the whole island. Before long, he had the satisfaction of seeing such banks instituted in many places, and carried on with high success. For his great exertions and large personal outlay in connection with this new DISRUPTION WORTHIES. services to the Church, of which he was an ornament, and by his eminent achievements as a patriotic philanthropist. When the great conflict between the Church and the Civil Power ended in the Disruption of 1843, Dr Duncan unhesitatingly joined the Free Church, of which he became one of the fathers and founders. He was accompanied in his retirement from the Establishment by his two sons, George John Duncan, minister of Kirkpatrick-Durham, and W. Wallace Duncan, minister of Cleish ; also by his two sons-in-law, Dr Horatius Bonar, minister of the North Church, Kelso, and the Rev. James Dodds, minister of Humbie. Few of his brethren made such sacrifices at the Disruption as Dr Henry Duncan. His manse, surrounded with gardens and grounds which he had laid out with exquisite taste, was one of the finest residences of the kind in Scotland. Everything around it had a history, or was endeared to him and his family by many hallowed associations. But he cheerfully left the charming spot, and took up his abode in a humble cottage by the highway side. He also met with much unworthy hostility from various classes of people in the parish and district, many of whom should have been specially forward to do him honour. He could procure no site for a church in the parish of Ruthwell, and was forced to accept of a site in the neighbouring parish of Mousewald, kindly offered by the late Dr James Buchanan and Mrs Buchanan. By his energetic efforts a new church, manse, and school were erected free of debt ; and at this day, along with an obelisk reared to his memory, they form a worthy monument of noble devotedness to high principle. Built on what has been called by the people, " Mount Kedar," they are conspicuous from various points of the railway between Dumfries and Annan. This amiable and admirable man, on the appointment of the Rev. Alexander Brown as his colleague, removed, in 1845, with his family to Edinburgh ; but, returning early in the following year to visit his much- loved people of Ruthwell, he was struck down by a deadly paralytic HENRY DUNCAN, D.D. attack while holdin.^ an evening prayer-meeting in the house of one of his old elders who still adhered to the Establishment. He was imme- diately conveyed to Comlongon Castle, the residence of his brother-in-law, Mr Walter Philips, factor of the Earl of Mansfield ; but consciousness only slightly returned at intervals, and in two days he calmly expired. The grief of his old parishioners knew no bounds at his death, and all classes of the people in the whole district lamented him as an eminent servant of the Lord, suddenly taken away from the scene of his lengthened and devoted ministry. He died on Thursday, the 1 2th February 1846, and was interred on the Tuesday following in RuthweU Churchyard. Dr Duncan thus died among his people, in the place he loved so well, and which will long be associated with his name. The cause of Evangelical religion, the principles of the Scottish Reformation, and the privileges of the Scottish Church, always found in him a faithful advocate ; and when the time of trial came in his old age, he gloried in the name and position of a Free Church minister. He was, in lifting up his testimony for precious principles, more severely tried than most of the brethren who left the Established Church along with him ; but, with characteristic cheerfulness and serenity, he bore hardship in the service of his Divine Master. Dr Duncan was twice married, first to Miss Agnes Craig, daughter of the Rev. John Craig, his predecessor in the parish of Ruthwell, by whom he had two sons and one daughter ; and, secondly, to Mrs Lundie, widow of his early friend, the Rev. Robert Lundie, minister of Kelso. His son, the Rev. Wallace Duncan, died in 1864, as minister of the Free Church, Peebles ; his elder son, Dr George Duncan, who, on leaving Kirkpatrick- Durham, had been successively minister of the English Presbyterian Church at North Shields and Greenwich, and was for many years clerk of the Synod of that Church, died at Dumfries towards the close of 1868. His widow, the mother and biographer of Mary Lundie Duncan, and the DISRUPTION WORTHIES. author of many excellent works, a woman distinguished for her high talent and her consistent Christian usefulness, still survives in her honoured retirement. She belongs to a noble band of Christian workers who rendered great service to Evangelical religion during the past generation, all of whom but herself have been summoned to their blessed rest. Dr Duncan was remarkable for the variety of his accomplishments. There was scarcely a literary or scientific subject that was strange to him, and he had an excellent knowledge of art in its various forms. His manual dexterity was something quite extraordinary, and was far above what is often connected with "a mechanical turn." He excelled in drawing and modelling, was a first-rate landscape gardener, and on different occasions proved himself an excellent architect. He had a great genius for sculpture, and delighted at times in producing specimens of that noble art. But in domestic life, and in all the refinements of a cultivated social circle, he eminently shone. His piety, his benevolence, his literary culture, and manifold social accomplishments, never failed to impress all who visited Ruthwell Manse in those days when, under his sway, it was a model of a refined and happy Christian home. J.D. JOHN DUNCAN, LL.D. r il^l JOHN DUNCAN, LL.D. The next great event, after eight years intellectually fruitful but spiritually barren, was meeting with Dr Malan of Geneva, who visited Aberdeen in 1826, and pressed him closely with salvation freely given and to be instantly accepted. Towards the close of their conversation, Mr Duncan quoted a text of Scripture which Dr Malan instantly seized, and said, " Man, you have got the word of God in your mouth ;" to which he replied, " And may He not take it utterly out of my mouth." He frequently spoke with deep impression of the electric power which in that moment accompanied the word that was at once in the heart of God and in his own heart, and he regarded it as the great beginning of all communion between God and himself in time and in eternity. This turning event in his life was followed by liberty and light and joy in his own spirit, and holy boldness in testifying of free grace both in preaching and in conversation. His third great inward event was the recovery of his soul out of declension after a year or two had passed, and he had lost the fervour of his first love. Through an exclusive adherence to promise and privilege and peace, apart from repentance, self-scrutiny, and watchfulness, his love and joy had lost their freshness, and all the fruits of the Spirit had withered. His words were the same as before, the doctrinal assurance remained, and the profession was as high as ever ; but the reality and power were gone, the lips and the heart were not one. He could not endure this hollowness. " I'm not a hypocrite," he said, " and I won't be one." He let go the " name to live," that he might recover the life itself ; and he fell into darkness, doubt, fear, all but absolute despair. Through a conflict very protracted and at length severe, with a deep submission to the sovereign will of God, he was restored to a good measure of light and liberty. After his conversion he was never troubled with doubts about the word of God ; but he said that " he was naturally of a sceptical turn of mind, but his scepticism now took the forni of doubt about his own salvation." His conversion and his recovery embraced the two extremes of spiritual exercise ; and they formed the man in his long DISRUPTION WORTHIES. subsequent life. Each was the complement of the other ; and if for a time the last became first, the fervour and simplicity of the first recovered and retained its place. The two combined introduced him into a marvellous fulness of the word of God, which he cordially received in its length and in its breadth as few men have ever done. Through life his anger burned against a surface gospel that did not grapple with the conscience, but it kindled as keenly against the gospel withheld or robbed of its simplicity. "The best preaching," he said, "is, Believe on Jesus Christ, and keep the Ten Commandments." In the earlier part of his course, and indeed throughout his life, his own preaching at its best was of a very high order. At its worst it was scarcely possible for him to speak without uttering weighty truths in an original and memorable form ; his reading of the Bible was singularly instructive and impressive, and his prayers were the words of one standing in the immediate presence of the great Jehovah. But his preaching was too abstract, and was sometimes the slow utterance of thoughts that seemed to be gathering themselves in drops while he was in the pulpit — big drops, but with great intervals between them, and the whole occupying an excessive time before he could be satisfied that there was enough in the cup to offer to a thirsting soul. But at other times his whole discourse was a continuous flow of heavenly eloquence, in which both the intellect and the spirit soared in so lofty a region that the body itself seemed to partake of the elevation. On such occasions his language was concise, oracular, and singularly beautiful ; every word was a thought sought out as a jewel, and artistically fitted in its place. His discourse was not one idea presented in many forms, nor many ideas fitted up with loosci materials, nor a chain of successive arguments ; but a unity made up o) parts, each fine in itself, and each helpful to the whole, fitted together aj in a beautiful mosaic, and lighted up with the frequent flashes of sanctified genius. In beauty it was a picture ; but in power it was the rushing of sparkling wine that had burst its bottles. JOHN DUNCAN, LL.D. In 1830 Mr Duncan was appointed, but without ordination, to the very rural charge of Persie Chapel, in the eastern borders of Perthshire. On the brief period of his pastoral duty there he always looked back with peculiar interest ; and a deep mutual attachment was formed between himself and the people of the district, who highly appreciated his ministry. His tenderness and the strength of his affection tempered his faithfulness, which at that time was occasionally characterised by a severity which would otherwise have given offence. In 183 1 he was called to a Sabbath lectureship in Glasgow, where he was afterwards ordained as minister of Milton Church, and where, in 1837, he married Miss Gaven, of Aberdeen, who died after two years, to his great grief While there he received from Aberdeen the degree of LL.D. in acknow- ledgment of his Hebrew and Oriental learning, in which he had few equals ; but by a strange omission none of the Universities enrolled him among their Doctors in Divinity, although beside him most other men seemed scarcely to be theologians. In 1841 Dr Duncan was appointed as a missionary to the Jews in the beautiful city of Buda-Pesth, on the Danube, where the Archduchess of Hungary had been long praying for the help of a man of God. Before leaving Scotland, he had been married again to a widow lady, Mrs Torrance, who entered with great energy and wisdom into all his missionary work. His work in Hungary was in all respects one of the happiest and most fruitful portions of his life. His intimate acquaintance with their sacred language and their literature excited an interest in the Jews, and rendered them unusually accessible ; the spiritual power that rested on himself was divinely used for their religious awakening ; and there was abiding fruit in some remarkable conversions. At the same time he was greatly honoured and beloved by the leading Protestant ministers ; and his memory is cherished with a singular affection by pastors of the Reformed Hungarian Church. At a later period he took a similar interest in the Protestant Churches of Bohemia ; and nothing DISRUPTION WORTHIES. could exceed the gratitude and attachment of the Bohemian pastors toward him. In the ever memorable era of 1843, Dr Duncan, with all his mind and heart, cast in his lot with the Free Church of Scotland ; and not alone, but along with all the missionaries to the Jews from the Church of Scotland, for the character of the grand event of that time was not mainly ecclesiastical, but deeply religious. He was then recalled to fill the Hebrew Chair in the New College, Edinburgh ; and this position he occupied till his death in 1870. In genius, in learning, and in devotion, Dr Duncan was one of the most remarkable men of the Disruption. His knowledge of languages was so great, that Dr Guthrie spoke of him in the General Assembly as "the man who could talk his way to the wall of China ;" but he knew languages better than he could use them, and he said himself that English and Latin were the only tongues in which he could speak with fluency. His irregularity of habit, his mental abstraction, and his weak- ness of will in ordinary life, made him in many things of less service than inferior men. But his wonderful insight into divine things ; his fruitful thoughts clothed with light and beauty ; his acute, brilliant, sententious sayings ; his deep devoutness, his tenderness of conscience, his transpar- ency, his humility, his continual repentance toward God, and his ardent love to the Lord Jesus Christ, have left priceless impressions that can never be erased from the hearts of his hearers, his students, and his friends. His own words form the best memorial of his character : — " Methought I heard the song of one to whom much had been forgiven, and who therefore loved much ; but it was the song of the chief of sinners, of one to whom most had been forgiven, and who therefore loved most. I would know, O God, what soul that is ; O God, let that soul be mine ! " A. M. S. •I ill 4i b= ^ ALEXANDER MURRA Y DUNLOP. the busy years that followed, Mr Duulop's activity was enormous. The Church then entered on a double struggle ; self-defence was added to self-reform, and double labour fell to the lot of the leaders of the movement. Among Church reforms Mr Dunlop took special interest in the restora- tion of the eldership to its old place in the Church of Scotland. He wrote two valuable articles upon this subject in the " Presbyterian Review," and prepared an elaborate report for the General A.ssembly. He also left some valuable historical notes upon the place of the eldership in the ancient Church of Scotland, which have not been published. Church extension, too, interested him greatly ; but, as was natural from his pre- vious studies, the relation of the Church to education and to the poor occupied most of his attention. The information furnished by the Church to the Government about the number of paupers in Scotland, and the elaborate Report on the same subject presented to the Assembly of 1 841, were both the result of Mr Dunlop's almost unaided labour. He took an active part in the Voluntary controversy, and so thoroughly matured were his opinions upon the real connection which ought to subsist between State and Church— opinions framed not on a sentiment of what things ought to be, but on an historical study of the old Scottish Church— that, in later days, none of his speeches on the Irish Church or the Union questions in any way contradicted his earlier statements or ideas. Mr Dunlop's services, however, in the struggle between the Church and the majority of the Court of Session, are those which will ever be held in kindliest remembrance. He had already made himself obnoxious to most of the heads of the Parliament House by his anti- patronage views, and by his support of the Veto Act; but when he followed his church in her quarrel with the Court of Session, he deliber- ately surrendered all hopes of professional advancement. The services he rendered the Church in this unhappy strife, by pamphlet and by speech. DISRUPTION WORTHIES. in the court and at public meeting, can scarcely be over-estimated. The ground which he took up at first he never abandoned. He did not indulge in promiscuous declamation ; he always appealed to the history of the Church. His argument, the same in speech and pamphlet, and at last set forth in detail in the Claim of Rights, was substantially this : There is no need in Scotland to dispute about the precise meaning and efifects of the abstract doctrine of spiritual independence. In virtue of a concordat between Church and State, the Church of Scotland has had certain rights and liberties which can be enumerated, guaranteed her, and recognised as hers. These she claims to possess, not merely by inherent right, but also by legal recognition, and these are now being illegally wrested from her. This was the position he took up, and he maintained it to the last. It would be impossible to give a list of all the pamphlets and speeches which he published during the struggle. The most important was his answer to the letter of the Dean of Faculty Hope; but the short tract, "Which Party breaks the Law.'" was equally telling; and the pre- face and appendix to his edition of Wedderspoon's " Maxims for the Moderates," were full of very effective sarcasm. When a compromise was found to be impossible, and when the Church felt that either State connection or liberty must be surrendered, the task of preparing documents befitting the occasion was entrusted to Mr Dunlop. He prepared that memorable overture setting forth the ancient relation between Church and State, and the guaranteed rights of the Church, which was afterwards published as the Church's Claim of Right. I have before me now the various proof-sheets, which shew the gradual growth of the document, and the changes which were made upon it ere it saw light in the form in which we now have it. On the margins are corrections, mostly in Mr Dunlop's handwriting ; but here and there occur suggestions made by others to whom the sheets were submitted. On one, Dr Candlish has nervously pencilled two important additional ALEXANDER MURRA V DUN LOP. clauses ; on another, John Hamilton has suggested additions and altera- tions ; but perhaps the most interesting is the one on which Dr Gordon was set to work, where he begins by suggesting alterations which tend to soften the sternness of the document, and ends, for divine wrath has kindled in him, with emendations which make the draft sterner and more severe. Those old proof-sheets, yellowish with age, stained with printer's ink, and scored over with hasty pens and hastier pencils, bring back in a strange vivid way the mingled anxiety and resolution of the times. The MS. draft of the Protest which Dr Welsh left upon the table of the Assembly on the day of the Disruption, is also an interesting document Its corrections are all in Mr Dunlop's handwriting, except one clause, which seems to have been added by Mr Hamilton. Among Mr Dunlop's papers there are two drafts of the programme of procedure on the day of the Disruption ; the first proposes to have a discussion before leaving the hall. This difference is probably explained by the following MS. note appended to the MS. draft of the Protest, which is the only reference Mr Dunlop makes to the obloquy thrown upon him by many of the Scotch and English newspapers for the part he was taking in Church affairs : — " The Tivies gave Dr Chalmers great credit for the quiet and orderly way in which the Disruption was effected — contrast- ing it with what it might have been supposed would have taken place had Candlish or the author of the Protest had had their way. How little did they know of the matter! Till Chalmers read this draft, he was fierce for a discussion before leaving the hall, and that in opposition to the arguments of all his intimate friends. The ' arch agitator,' in the Times' estimation, was the person really entitled to credit for the course followed." After the Disruption, Mr Dunlop was made legal adviser of the Church, an office which he held till his death, and in which he continued to render eminent service to the cause which he had made his own. But want of space compels me to refrain from even mentioning the DISRUPTION WORTHIES. numerous evidences of his labours which are to be found among his papers. In 1S44 Mr Dunlop married Eliza Esther, only child of John Murray, Esq., of Ainslie Place, Edinburgh. On the death of his father-in-law in 1849, he assumed the name of Murray, to which he added the additional surname of Colquhoun-Stirling, on succeeding, in 1866, to the estate of his cousin, William Colquhoun-Stirling of Law and Edinbarnet. It was Mrs Murray Dunlop's rare good fortune to be able to make amends to her husband for the sacrifices which his devotion to the Church had cost him. His marriage rendered him independent of the hostile influences of the Parliament House, and enabled him at last to yield to the wishes ot his friends, who had long been urging him to enter Parliament. Mr Dunlop's first efforts were unsuccessful. In 1845 and 1847 ^e failed ; but in 1852 he was returned by the electors of Greenock, his native town, and he kept the seat until failing health compelled him to resign. Mr Dunlop's Parliamentary career was very successful. Few Scotch members have had as much influence in the House, and none were able to pass so many useful measures. His position was due almost entirely to his weight of character, and to the wisdom and diligence he shewed on committees and in the House ; and although hindered by a weak voice and a somewhat hesitating manner, he was always respectfully listened to when he rose to speak. As was to be expected from his pre- vious training and character, Mr Dunlop assiduously devoted himself during his Pariiamentary career to the cause of legal and social reform. The Parliamentary work which he himself looked back upon with most satisfaction was that done in connection with the marriage law of Scot- land, the series of measures regarding reformatories and industrial schools which culminated in Dunlop's Act, and the Act to facilitate the erection of dwelling-houses for the working classes. His Pariiamentary career was marked by the same lofty moral courage and disdain of all that was tyrannical and selfish which had characterised his cariier public life. ALEXANDER MURRA V DUNLOP. In the "Arrow" affair, he testified his abhorrence of the conduct of tlic Liberal Government in the war with China in 1857. The defeat of the Ministry involved a general election, and it was felt that many of the Liberals who had voted against the Government would lose their scats. Mr Dunlop at once placed his resignation in the hands of his constituency, and declared, with his usual high sense of honour, that he would not even stand as a candidate if they disapproved of his conduct. The people of Greenock, however, were not unworthy of their member, and re-elected him in such a way as to shew their admiration for his honourable and high-minded course of action. Perhaps Mr Dunlop's conduct in his vindication of Sir Alexander Burnes was still more courageous. The Government sought to justify the Afghan war in which they had engaged, by extracts from the despatches of the late envoy at the Afghan court. The papers thus published were so different from the documents sent home by Sir Alexander to his relatives in this country, that they were led to seek an explanation. The result shewed that " mutilated, false, forged opinions of a public servant, who had lost his life in the public service," had been offered to the House, to support a policy which Sir Alexander had always opposed. Members of the House of Commons have described the appearance of Mr Dunlop on the occasion when he led the attack upon Lord Palmerston. His quiet and almost timid manner disappeared, and in a firm, almost loud tone, he said that he had read the papers with amazement, indignation, and shame ; he declared that these papers had been laid on the table of the House by her Majesty's command ; that her name was appealed to as the stamp of their truthfulness, and that her servants had not shrunk from using that name as the voucher and the cover of a lie. Although, with the help of the leader of the opposition, the Government were not defeated on the vote, yet the character and reputation of Sir Alexander Burnes were vindicated ; it was felt that such a mutilation of Parliamentary documents could not again take place, and a great victory was gained in the interests of public morality. DISRUPTION WORTHIES. In 1868, at the general election, Mr Dunlop resigned his seat in Parliament. His health, never robust, had begun to give way, and he wished to spend the rest of his life out of the din of public service, and in calm preparation for the rest that remaineth to the people of God. That rest came soon after. He died the ist of September 1870, and was buried in the beautiful little grave-yard of the Free Church at Corsock. He left to mourn him his widow, four sons — three of whom were not long separated from their father — and four daughters. Mr Dunlop never received any of the honours which the Scottish Bar has to bestow upon her distinguished sons, but this was from his own unwillingness to accept them. Even in his early days, when he experienced considerable persecution, Cockburn, when Solicitor-General, offered him a sheriffship, which Mr Dunlop declined, because he thought it would interfere with his work for the Church ; and later he was offered a judgeship, and the office of Lord Advocate. I cannot close this sketch in a better way than by quoting Lord Cockburn's description of Mr Dunlop's character, lately published in his journals. He ranks him in everything, except impressive public exhibition, superior to both Dr Chalmers and Dr Candlish. " Dunlop," he says, " is the purest of enthusiasts. The generous devotion with which he has given himself to this cause [that of the Church], has retarded and will probably arrest the success of his very considerable talent and learning ; but a crust of bread and a cup of cold water would satisfy all the worldly desires of this most dis- interested person. His luxury would be in his obtaining justice for his favourite and oppressed Church, which he espouses from no love of power, or any other ecclesiastical object, but solely from piety, and love of the people." 1". M, L. PATRICK FAIRBAIRN.D.D > — 4 Ill ii PATRICK FAIRBAIRN, D.D. Burnet, Bishop of Salisbury, who left an endowment for the education of a number of poor children, and for the foundation of a ministerial librar>^ This library, which had long been neglected, Mr Fairbairn put into excellent order, and turned to much better account than had been done by any of his predecessors. When he went to Salton in 1840, the conflict which led to the Disruption was approaching its climax, and he thoroughly identified himself with the Evangelical or Non-Intrusion party. In 1843 he cast in his lot with the Free Church of Scotland, and was the first in the Presbytery of Haddington who left a pleasant manse to brave all the hardships of a trying period. He took an active part in organizing the Free Church Presbytery of the district, and in supporting every movement that bore upon the diffusion of scriptural principles and practical religion. With some difficulty he procured a site for a church and manse in the parish of Salton ; and in the course of a few years he was enabled to reside once more among his people. In 184s Mr Fairbairn published, in one thick duodecimo volume, his " Typology of Scripture," a work which had occupied much of his leisure for several years. It was afterwards published in two octavo volumes, and in its greatly enlarged form it reached a fifth edition. It was instantly recognised both in this country and America as a work of extraordinary merit. Not so much from any elegance or splendour of style, 9f from the sterling weight and value of its matter, it was hailed by the best judges as a real contribution to modern theology. The Old Testament types had never previously been expounded in a truly philosophical manner, and it was reserved for the Free Church minister of Salton to produce a work on the subject which, for grasp of principle, soundness of judg- ment, and solid, though unostentatious learning, has not been surpassed, if ever equalled, by any similar performance. The publication of the "Typology" naturally fixed the eyes of his brethren on its author as a man qualified to fill with distinction a theological chair. Mr Fairbairn had translated, when at North Ronaldshay, two German DISRUPTION WORTHIES. works — "Stieger on ist Peter," and "Lisco on the Parables," both of which were published by Messrs Clark of Edinburgh as parts of their " Biblical Cabinet." Soon after the appearance of the " Typology," the same emi- nent firm published, in three volumes, Hengstenberg's " Commentary on the Psalms," translated by Mr Fairbairn and the Rev. John Thomson, now minister of St Ninian's Free Church, Leith. His knowledge of German introduced Mr Fairbairn into the vast region of German theology, and no Scottish minister ever explored that region to better purpose. It has been justly observed, that his works present an excellent combination of some of the best fruits of German erudition with the solid attainments of Scottish orthodoxy. In 1851 Mr Fairbairn published, in one volume, " Ezekiel and the Book of his Prophecy," which was well received by the public, and added to its author's reputation. He next published a translation, in two volumes, of Hengstenberg's "Commentary on the Revelation of St John," a performance which, whatever may be said of the general views of its learned author, is certainly an important contri- bution to Apocalyptic literature. In the autumn of 1852 Mr Fairbairn was appointed assistant to Dr Maclagan, Professor of Divinity in the Free Church College, Aberdeen. He had scarcely entered on his duties when he met with a most painful bereavement in the death of his second wife, Mary Playfair, who died soon after giving birth to her fourth child. In spite of this terrible trial, he, through grace given him, performed his work at Aberdeen with signal energy and success. Dr Maclagan having died before the winter session began, Mr Fairbairn was appointed his successor by the following General Assembly. The new professor gave fresh life and vigour to the Aberdeen College, which in the course of a few years became a well-equipped Theo- logical Institution. While Professor Fairbairn was at its head, he received the well-merited distinction of D.D. from the University of Glasgow. In 1856, when the Free Church College of Glasgow was instituted, Dr Fairbairn was appointed its first professor, and in the year following PATRICK FAIRBAIRN, D.D. he was elected to the office of Principal. In this new and important situation he taught his classes with distinguished ability, and managed with consummate prudence the general affairs of the college. Everything connected with the buildings, the endowments, the library, and the business of the different classes, were directed by him with great zeal and judgment. He also endeared himself to the students, not only by his ability in the chair, but by the genuine and kindly interest he took in their welfare. They came to look upon him as a father and a friend as well as a learned and judicious theological instructor. When he had presided over the college about fifteen years, his "present and former students," with enthusiastic eagerness, subscribed a sum of ;£'200, in order to present the Principal with a portrait of himself by an eminent artist. This was but a demonstration of that feeling of affectionate reverence with which, from first to last, he was regarded by the young men who studied under his care. The portrait, painted by Mr Norman Macbeth, A.R.S.A., was publicly presented to the Principal, and by his directions hung up in the College library. There it still remains, having been bequeathed by him to that Institution. Between 1856 and 1858 Dr Fairbairn published a volume on "Prophecy," as a sequel to the "Typology," and a Hermaneutical Manual intended chiefly for the use of theological students. Both of these works bear the impress of the author's learning and intellectual power, and are characterised by good sense and sound judgment. But neither of them has attained any degree of popularity, though they well deserve to be studied by professional theologians. During many years of his residence at Glasgow, Dr Fairbairn acted as editor of the " Imperial Bible Dic- tionary," published by Messrs Blackie & Son. His labours in conducting this great work were exceedingly onerous. Many of the best articles proceeded from his own pen, and the necessary correspondence with his contributors severely taxed his energies. The work has taken a high place in Biblical literature. Soon after he had finished his editorial DISRUPTION WORTHIES. labours, he was appointed to deliver the third series of " Cunningham Lectures." He chose for his subject the " Revelation of Law in Scrip- ture," which he treated in nine separate lectures, the first six of which he delivered in Edinburgh early in March 1868. The whole of them were published soon after their delivery. The work is very profound and able, but is too abstract in subject and style to be popular. Principal Fairbairn was chosen Moderator of the General Assembly of the Free Church in 1864, and by his excellent bearing in the chair, he amply justified the confidence of his brethren. None ever better deserved the honour of the chair, or bore it with more dignity. Though eminently a scholar, versed in books and devoted to theological studies, Dr Fairbairn was an admirable man of business, well acquainted with ecclesiastical forms, and not shrinking from his fair share of the burden of Church government. When he spoke in the Presbytery or General Assembly, he was always listened to with marked respect. The gravity of his character added force to the weight of his arguments, and commanded the attention, if they did not change the convictions, of his keenest opponents in debate. He warmly advocated the Union side in the great controversy that agitated the Free Church from 1863 to 1873 ; but he always spoke with studied moderation, and strove to mitigate the fierce contentions that for some time estranged so many of his brethren from one another. In 1867 Principal Fairbairn, along with the Rev. James Wells of the Barony Free Church, Glasgow, visited America, to represent the Free Church of Scotland in various Presbyterian General Assemblies held in the United States and in Canada. Dr Fairbairn's name had travelled before him across the Atlantic, and American scholars vied with one another in doing him honour. He visited President M'Cosh at Princeton, and had an interesting interview with Dr Hodge at Washington. Principal Fairbairn was chosen one of the Committee appointed to revise the Authorised Version of the Old Testament Scriptures. He was PATRICK FAIRBAIRN, D.D. one of four Free Church professors selected to represent Scottish scholar- ship in this great matter of national concern. He attended to the close of his life the meetings of the Committee with remarkable regularity, and was held in great respect by his learned colleagues. He took a deep interest in the work of revision, and contributed not a little to its real progress. Early in 1874 Principal Fairbairn published a volume on the " Pastoral Epistles." It contains a learned introduction vindicating the authenticity of the epistles, a new translation of the Greek text, and a valuable commentary on each verse. This is one of the best of his works, and ought to be in the hands of every minister of the gospel. For judicious criticism, sound theology, and a practical spirit, it is not surpassed by any modern work of the kind. An excellent sequel to it, " Pastoral Theology," which he had prepared for the press, was pub- lished shortly after his death, under the superintendence of the writer of this sketch. These two volumes are legacies to the Church of Christ, which would of themselves have been sufficient to give their author a good place in theological literature. While this distinguished man was spending his best energies in the service of that religious denomination which he adorned, and in the cultivation of that sacred learning which belongs to the Church of Christ at large, he never forgot what was due to his own spiritual life ; and to the very last he grew in that spirituality of mind which best becomes intellectual accomplishments. Holding fast the great doctrines of evan- gelical religion, he took a deep interest in all evangelistic work. He gave his hearty support to the remarkable evangelistic labours asso- ciated with the names of Messrs Moody and Sankey. He presided over several meetings at Glasgow at which Mr Moody was the chief speaker, and on the i6th April 1874 he attended the Evangelistic Convention held in the Glasgow Crystal Palace. After delivering a very earnest address, he suddenly felt unwell, and was obliged to go home, where he was confined several days by what was his first serious illness. DISRUPTION WORTHIES. A hitherto unsuspected affection of the heart was discovered by his physician, and he was advised to take some quiet relaxation in the country. Accordingly he went with Mrs Fairbairn and a few relatives to Arrochar, where he gradually recovered strength, and soon was fit to resume with caution his ordinary duties. On the 30th June he went up to London to attend a meeting of the Revision Committee : and after paying several visits in Berwickshire on his way home from England, he returned to Glasgow, and resumed his ordinary work ; but on the evening of Thursday, the 7th August, after he had retired to rest, he was suddenly seized with a fatal illness, and before Mrs Fairbairn could summon any medical aid, he calmly expired. Thus, while his usefulness was undiminished, and his mental faculties were as strong as ever, this honoured servant of the Lord was called to his eternal rest and reward. Deeply was his departure lamented by good men in all the churches. His eminence as a learned theologian was universally acknowledged, and every one felt that his death had made a blank in the ranks of sacred scholarship which could not be easily filled up. But while he was an undoubted ornament of Scottish theology, he was a true-hearted Free Churchman, whose character and talents raised him to a high place among the heroes of the Disruption. In manners and bearing he was mild, yet dignified. To great force of will and soundness of judgment he united meekness of temper and a conciliatory disposition. His tall, well- formed figure and majestic presence were admired wherever he went, and appropriately set off the solidity and strength of his intellectual powers. Principal Fairbairn was married in 1861 to Miss Frances Turnbull, sister of a worthy Disruption minister, the late Rev. John Turnbull of Eyemouth. This lady survives him, as well as three children, two sons and a daughter, all by his second wife. He was buried in the Grange Cemetery, Edinburgh, where Chalmers, Cunningham, Guthrie, and other mighty men of the Free Church are laid, in the hope of a blessed resurrection. J. D. J0bn foxhts, ^M.. 113. '(^^FWHILE the Presbyterian Churches in Scotland have always maintained an honourable place in respect of the general intelligence and culture of their clergy, they have never at any time had a large number of men who occupied foremost places in the fields of literature or science. Probably the third part of a century immediately preceding the beginning of the " ten years' conflict," on account of the revived activity of ministerial work, was less productive of literary or scientific attainments of a high order among the clergy than the days of Moderatism, when pulpit preparation and pastoral duties claimed a smaller share of men's thoughts and energies, or had not their claims allowed. In point of fact, we believe that we do no injustice to any, when we say that the Church of Scotland on the morning of the Disruption day contained three men who occupied places in the first rank of scientific men, and that on the evening of that day the Established Church contained not one. It so happened that this trio consisted of a minister, a probationer, and a layman, though the probationer had for a long time ceased to be more than nominally such. Their special depart- ments of science were respectively the demonstrative, the experimental, and the observational — mathematics, physics, and geology. The men were John Forbes, David Brewster, and Hugh Miller. We do not mean to say that Dr Forbes was as eminent as a mathematician as Sir David DISRUPTION WORTHIES. Brewster was as a physicist, or Hugh Miller as a geologist. But he had long before given evidence that he had the power to do anything in mathematics, and had left it beyond doubt that if he had abandoned the work of the ministry at an early age, as Brewster had done, and had made mathematical study the business of his life, as Brewster had made physical research the business of his, he would not merely have been, as he actually was, in the foremost rank of mathematicians, but he would have occupied one of the foremost places in that rank. It will be through our incompetency if it be not made to appear that, while of the heroes of the Disruption, none but Dr Chalmers and Dr Gordon came near him in the faculty of mathematical investigation, he did not fall behind either of them in simplicity and godly sincerity, in zeal for the glory of God, and for the salvation of men ; while it is freely admitted that in the power of leading a great movement and stirring up men to enthusiasm in a great cause, he was not for a moment to be compared to one, and in pulpit eloquence and power he was much inferior to both. Those who have read much of Scottish ecclesiastical biography have become familiar with the sentence which might be stereotyped as an almost universally applicable introduction, that "the subject of this memoir was the son of poor but pious parents." From the way in which we have frequently heard our friend allude to his early days, we presume that the statement is strictly applicable to him. A native of Perthshire, and shewing even at an early age a liking for the ministry, he was placed as a pupil at the Perth Academy, — a seminary which has sent forth many who have done it honour. In Forbes's days one of the teachers of mathematics in the Perth Academy was Mr Gordon ; and the relation of close friendship, cemented by congenial tastes and similar sentiments, which led to so close an association of Robert Gordon and John Forbes in the thoughts of those who enjoyed their friend- ship, began while the one was the earnest teacher and the other the earnest pupil. Often have wc heard Dr Forbes speak of all that he JOHN FORBES, D.D., LL.D. owed to Ur Gordon, both as the first cultivator of his mathematical powers, and as his ideal model of a Christian man and a Christian minister. At an early age Forbes became a student in the University of St Andrews ; and, as a matter of course, when his natural abilities, his habits of application, and his previous advantages are taken into account, he passed through his university course with distinction and high credit. At the close of it he was licensed as a preacher ; but whether because in those days of patronage there was no place open to him, or whether because he desired to have time to consolidate his knowledge and prepare himself more fully for the great work of the ministry, he docs not seem to have been much occupied in preaching for a time. He became instead an assistant-teacher in his old Perth Academy ; and on the appointment of Mr Gordon as minister of the parish of Kinfauns, Mr Forbes succeeded him in the mathematical mastership of the Academy. From Kinfauns Mr Gordon was translated to Buccleuch Chapel, Edinburgh, thence to Hope Park Chapel (now Newington Church), thence to the New North, and ultimately to the High Church of Edinburgh. On his removal from Hope Park to New North, Mr Forbes became his successor there, and was ordained to the ministry in 1826. From this time onward, for very nearly half-a-century, his life was that of a faithful, laborious, earnest city minister. In Edinburgh he remained only about two years, and was removed to Glasgow, to what was then called the Outer High Church. In consequence of the incon- venience of having two congregations meeting in the old Cathedral, the church of St Paul's was built for him and his congregation. Thither he and they removed, and there he continued to minister to a large and intelligent congregation, who regarded him with a singular union of affection and reverence. The cares inseparable from the life of a city minister did not press so heavily on him as they do on some, not because he discharged his duties more perfunctorily, but because his well-balanced mind and his methodical habits enabled him to go through more work DISRUPTION WORTHIES. with less appearance of efifort, and probably less consciousness of effort, than a less amount of work would have cost almost any other man. At no time did he take a prominent place in the discussion of public questions, social or ecclesiastical. The pulpit was more appropriate to his powers than the platform ; and of this he was perfectly aware. He took indeed such a share in the public work of the Church through her courts as every Presbyterian minister ought to feel himself conscientiously bound to take ; and when the Voluntary controversy, and the Church Extension controversy, and the unhappy Moderatorship controversy, arose one after another, he did not withhold the sagacity of his counsel and the influence of his character, but heartily threw them into the scale. And his brethren always knew that when any matter arose which required sustained thought and clear logical exposition, they could count upon Dr Forbes as ready to render the aid which they needed. Speaking now of the time when our own interest in such matters began, the decade from 1830 to 1840, we recall with pleasure the interest which students in Edinburgh took in the then comparatively young and chivalrous champions of the truth and of the Church in the western metropolis — Lorimer and Buchanan, Gibson and Forbes — now, alas ! all passed away. It was on such occasions that he produced almost the only professional publications that he ever gave to the world, with the exception, probably, of a few occasional sermons, and one or two pamphlets on subjects of comparatively temporary interest. In 1838, a course of lectures was delivered by ministers in Glasgow, on the Evidences of Revealed Religion, which were afterwards published in a volume ; and in the following year another course was delivered on Infidelity. Each of the volumes contains a lecture by Dr Forbes. We have just read these lectures, and cannot state in too strong terms our admiration of the clearness of the arguments, and of the felicity of the illustrations. The former, especially, on the " Harmony of Scripture and true Philosophy or Science," is one of the most comprehensive treatises that we have ever seen on this most JOHN FORBES, D.D., LI..D. important subject. It contains passages of real eloquence ; and the wlu.lc bespeaks the earnestness which was characteristic of the man. In the "ten years' conflict" he sustained exactly the part that his friends would have expected him to take. While he never occupied a very prominent place in the discussions, no one who knew him ever doubted for a moment on which side he would be when the crisis should come. Cautious and somewhat slow in coming to a conclusion, balancing the arguments for and against a particular course of action, rather than coming to a conclusion by intuitive or instinctive perceptions, strongly conservative in all his mental leanings, and knowing that a Disruption would break many ties which to him were very binding, when once he had made up his mind as to the right, few men could be more confidently counted upon to pursue unhesitatingly and unflinchingly the path of duty. If a solution of the difficulty had been offered which should have con- served the great principle for which the Church contended, he would have been one of the first to hail it with joy. His extreme simplicity of character might even have rendered him liable to be imposed upon by the plausible schemes which were propounded ; and the fact that none of these schemes ever made him hesitate, is to us one of the strongest proofs that their glitter was not of gold. We are persuaded that amongst out- siders, intellectual scientific Englishmen, who never could understand what the controversy was about, there were not a few who began to think that there must be something in it after all, when they came to learn that John Forbes was one of those who unhesitatingly signed the deed of demission. For by this time Forbes was well known to the mathematicians of Europe. It must have been very scanty leisure that the minister of St Paul's could give to the study of mathematics; but it was the only relaxation for which he cared, and to him it was really a relaxation. Some years before the Disruption he had published a most remark- able book on the Differential and Integral Calculus ; not remarkable merely on the ground that it was composed in tlie snatches of leisure DISRUPTION WORTHIES. in a busy life, but remarkable in itself, by whomsoever composed. We have made a careful examination of this book with a view to the preparation of this sketch, and have no hesitation in saying, that it is as original a work on a purely mathematical subject as has appeared in this country in our time. Almost all our books on this subject are largely borrowed from the French ; they have been written by mathematical teachers, with a view to their being used as text-books, and in most of them rigidity of investigation has been occasionally sacrificed to simplification. We do not know whether Dr Forbes expected that his book should be used as a text-book. It is certainly not suited to that use. But it is suited to a higher use, even to point out to the mathematician hundreds of unsuspected connections betwixt the truths which he has learned apart, and so to contribute to the unification of mathematical science. We are afraid that we may expose ourselves to some measure of good-natured ridicule on the part of some who may peruse these pages, when we say that Dr Forbes's book suggests to our thought the singing of a lark on a summer's morning ; and that because of the recklessness with which he throws out his formulae, and the abandon with which he revels in the profusion of his harmonies. Be it noted that there is not a sentence in the book in which he tells us his delight — indeed there is scarcely anything in it that can be called a sentence at all, only formulae, — but neither does the lark tell us that he delights in his own song. We only infer it from the way in which he sings. It may be as well to say here that Dr Forbes never abandoned his mathematical pursuits. About a dozen years ago he told the present writer that he would take it as a great favour if he would look over a manuscript, containing an investigation of some questions relating to " elliptic functions," as the results that he had brought out were so strange that he thought he must have introduced some erroneous assumption, which a stranger's eye might perhaps detect. Having very willingly JOHN FORBES, D.D., LL.D. undertaken tlic task, we were not a little taken aback when, after a few days, we received some three hundred closely-written folio pages ! W'e were obliged to break the promise which we had rashly made, and we do not know what has become of the MS. When the Disruption occurred in 1843, Dr Forbes became minister of Free St Paul's. A great portion of his congregation quitted the Establishment along with him, and the affection betwixt him and his congregation grew with length of years. They were to him as wife and children, and he was to them as a father whom they revered, a friend in whom they confided, and of whose character and reputation they were far prouder than he ever was himself. His preaching, without being eloquent, as eloquence is commonly understood, was earnest, impressive, solemn, in no ordinary degree. Few men have given sound instruction to so many, or given it so acceptably, as Dr Forbes did during his long ministry. Up to the last his preaching lost none of its freshness, while of course it gained in those qualities which depend upon experience, and continued converse with God and with divine things ; and his pastoral dealings with his people were in accord with his strong common sense, and with the tenderness of a peculiarly sensitive nature, sanctified by a large measure of divine grace. There are two points on which we must touch before we close, and, upon the whole, we are not sorry that our exhausted space compels us to touch upon them with extreme brevity. A vacancy having occurred in one of the Chairs in the Glasgow Free Church College, it fell to the Assembly of 1864 to appoint a professor. Dr Forbes was proposed, but was not elected. Those who opposed his election grounded their opposition mainly on his age, and strongly expressed their respect and affection for his character, their admiration of his gifts, and their gratitude for the services which he had rendered to the Church and to the cause of truth. It fell to the lot of the present writer to take a somewhat prominent part in advocating the claims of Dr DISRUPTION WORTHIES. Forbes ; and while thankfully acknowledging that the appointment actually made was a good one, he still regrets that Dr Forbes was not then put into a position for which he had very singular qualifications. The other point on which we must touch was the part that Dr Forbes took in the Union negotiations. He was a member of the Assembly of 1863, made a long speech on the Union question, and accepted a place in the Committee. Afterwards, when he and some of his brethren came to believe that union with the United Presbyterians could not be achieved but by the relinquishment of one of the fundamental principles of the Free Church, he felt that he had no alternative but to withdraw from the Committee. This is not the place to argue the question of the accuracy or erroneousness of his belief. No one could doubt the sincerity of it. Very keenly he felt the painfulness of the position which he had henceforth to occupy, of antagonism to those with whom he had so long and so lovingly dwelt together in unity ; and his somewhat recluse habits made him more sensitive than those who are more habituated to the rubbings and knockings of public life. Although time seemed to sit but lightly on his stately frame, and it seemed to his friends that he might yet do good work for his Master on earth ; yet with his characteristic conscientiousness, he would not under- take responsibilities which he felt himself not able fully to discharge ; he therefore applied to the Assembly of 1874 for a colleague and successor, spontaneously abandoning his right to a retiring allowance either from the general funds of the Church or the particular funds of the congregation. While steps were being taken to obtain a colleague, he continued to discharge his full duties. On the 20th of December he conducted the services as usual in his own pulpit ; on the Wednesday following he was seized with an inflammatory affection in the chest, and on Christmas day he closed a seventy-three years' service of his genera- tion according to the will of God, and fell on sleep. T. S. JAMES GIBSON, D.D. opened up. Returning from the continent, Dr Gibson became assistant to Dr Lockhart of the College Church, Glasgow. It was during the heat of the Voluntary Controversy, and having been led from circumstances to take part in that controversy, he so ably defended the cause of Establishments by his writing, that certain influential members of the church put it in his power either to accept a sum of money, which, it is believed, amounted to ;^2000, or that a church should be built in a destitute locality of Glasgow, of which he should be the minister. He adopted the latter alternative, and in 1839 he was inducted into Kingston Church. In 1843 came the Disruption, and having joined his brethren who formed the Free Church, he was obliged to leave his place of worship ; but soon after another was erected for him and those of his congregation who adhered to the principles of the Free Church. The Clerkship of the Glasgow Presbytery having become vacant, Dr Gibson was unanimously requested to accept the office ; and such was his knowledge of Church law and practice, that he rendered important scr\'ice to the Presbytery in that office. On resigning it, the Presbytery recorded their sense of the painstaking zeal and careful efficiency with which, for twelve years, he had discharged its duties. In 1855 the Assembly resolved to proceed with the erection of a Theological College in Glasgow, Dr Clark of Wester Moffat having promised a grant of ;^30,cxx) for its erection and endowment, and it is well known that he frequently communicated with Dr Gibson on the subject, whose influence with Dr Clark contributed materially to his liberal proposal. In 1856 Dr Gibson was elected by the Assembly Professor of Systematic Theology and Church History. Dr Gibson had a vigorous mind, and was quick of apprehension. When he once formed his opinion, no one was better able to hold and defend it. Tenax propositi (firm of resolve) was a characteristic feature of him. He was of a noble and generous disposition. He could not brook anything that was mean and grovelling. He shrank from it as DISRUPTION WORTHIES. from the touch of a loathsome reptile. We remember with what con- tempt he spoke of a fellow-student who had stooped to a low artifice to secure a prize. " It was," he said, " the essence of meanness." It was the noble in conduct which fired his soul. He looked up to it with the admiration with which we gaze on a lofty mountain. In debate there was no want of the fortiter in re. He would have liked a little more of the suaviter in vwdo, but then we must make some allowance for the warmth of his feelings; and however he might treat the argument of his opponent, there was no ill-feeling towards the opponent himself. On the contrary, we have known him burst into tears when the hand of reconciliation was stretched out, and the hope expressed that no difference of opinion should henceforth mar their social intercourse. Nor was this generous regard for the manliness of his honesty confined to his brethren of the Presbytery ; the same justice was done him by the world outside. But under the stern countenance of the polemic, there was a genial loving heart. It shone forth in his family, rendering it a happy home, and in private life ; and those who experienced his friendship can best speak of its warmth. As a minister, he admitted that he was not " popular in his manner," and thus did not attract crowds ; but his discourses were rich in gospel truth. His writings on the Voluntary Controversy, on the Claims and Protection of the Sabbath, on the Marriage Affinity Question, on the Errors of the Church of Rome, and on the Distinctive Principles of the Free Church, shew the good he was the means of doing by the press as well as the pulpit. And no doubt the students Avho listened to his instructions from the chair can bear testimony to the advantages they received from his teaching. [In the foregoing Sketch, which is substantially the Minute adopted by the Free Presbytery of Glasgow expressive of its appreciation of the life and work of Dr Gibson, no reference is made to his views on the Union question. Throughout these negotiations he ably and consistently main- tained that Union was inadmissible on the footing of the proposals of the majority of the Church.] 3^^ WILLIAM H. OOOLD.D.D, IVILUAAf HENRY GOOLD, D.D. accordingly, that the subject of this sketch first saw the light. The date of his birth was the 15th of December, 181 5. He was a bright boy, and as he was the only son in the family, special care was bestowed on his education. Entering the Edinburgh High School at an early age, he ran a brilliant course, and in 1831 attained the much- coveted position of Dux of the Rector's Class. Thereafter he prose- cuted the usual course of classics and philosophy at the University of Edinburgh. Divinity he studied under Dr. Andrew Symington, of Paisley, in the Divinity Hall of the Reformed Presbyterian Church ; but he attended also the lectures of Dr. Chalmers and Dr. Welsh in Edinburgh. It is known that Dr. Symington conceived for him a singular affection and admiration. Of all the students — Scotch or Irish— who passed through the Hall at Paisley, he undoubtedly stood highest in the esteem of the venerable Professor. From the first, there was something about William Goold which left on the minds of those about him a deep impression of unfeigned piety. He belongs to the class of men — never very numerous — who are exceptions to the proverb, that " a prophet is not without honour save in his own country and in his own house." The members of his father's congregation watched with loving eyes his brilliant academic course ; and rejoicing, above all, to see the grace of God in him, they spon- taneously and unanimously called him to be his father's colleague, immediately after he was licensed to preach the Gospel. Dr. Goold " has never changed— nor wished to change — his place." The congregation to which he now ministers, in the Martyrs' Church on George the IV. Bridge, is the same over which he was ordained in 1840, in Lady Lawson's Wynd. Soon after his ordination, he married the eldest daughter of the elder Dr. William Symington, of Glasgow, who, like his brother Andrew, of Paisley, was long one of the most distinguished preachers in the West of Scotland. In addition to the ordinary duties of the pastorate. Dr. Goold soon came to have more =6; DISRUPTION WORTHIES. than an ordinarj' share of pubhc service allotted to him. In 1850, an enterprising Edinburgh firm having undertaken an extensive republi- cation of the works of the Puritan divines, it was resolved to begin with the voluminous writings of Dr. Owen ; and Dr. Goold was appointed editor. This entailed on him much labour during six years — labour so well bestowed that the new edition has finally superseded all previous ones. The vacancy in the Divinity Hall, caused by the death of Dr. Andrew Symington in 1853, was supplied in the following year by a double appointment, Dr. Goold being appointed Professor of Biblical Literature and Church History, his father-in-law. Dr. William Symington, receiving the Chair of Systematic Theology. As the session extended to no more than eight weeks each year, the appoint- ment did not, in either case, involve separation from pastoral work. New labour it certainly did involve ; but the labour was congenial in the highest degree. And among the students who passed through the Hall during the twenty-two years of Dr. Goold's Professorship, there is, we believe, but one opinion regarding the ability and efficiency of his teaching. A variety of circumstances led Dr. Goold, at an early age, to take an uncommon interest in the work of the Bible Societies. Accordingly, when the Scottish National Bible Society was constituted by the union of the Edinburgh and Glasgow Societies, and a Secretary was required, on whose judgment reliance could be placed, in relation to the business connected both with the translation and the circulation of the Holy Scriptures, the Directors turned their eyes towards him. After some hesitation on the score of the paramount claims of pastoral and pro- fessorial work, he saw his way to accept the Secretaryship, and a reference to the Records of the Society will show that the work has prospered greatly under his care. Dr. Goold's aptitude for the management of affairs is such that his help has always been much sought in conducting the schemes of the IVILLIAM HENRY GOOLD, D.D. Church. For this, as well as other reasons, when negotiations for union were entered upon by the Free and United Presbyterian Churches in 1863, and the Reformed Presbyterians agreed, on invitation, to take part in these, the Synod unanimously appointed him Convener of its Union Committee. This position he did not accept without hesitation ; for although, even at that time, an ardent friend of the projected Union, he had a stronger sense than most of his brethren of the difficulties likely to be encountered. But, after having accepted, he never once turned aside. His time and strength were ungrudgingly expended on the cause; and it certainly was not through any fault of his that the negotiations, after having been prosecuted for ten long years, had at length to be broken off In the progress of the negotiations, the leading men of the two larger bodies expressed a great and growing appreciation of his sound judg- ment, his wisdom, and his high Christian integrity. The indefinite postponement of the general Union is known to have caused him poignant sorrow. This was somewhat alleviated by the success with which it pleased the Head of the Church to crown the endeavours afterwards made to effect a separate union between the Reformed Presbyterian Church and the Free Church. The great speech delivered by him in the General Assembly of the United Church on the day of the consummation of the Union (Thursday, the 2Sth of May, 1876), was the most thrilling feature in the proceedings of a memorable day. Dr. Goold was appointed Moderator of the General Assembly of 1877, a graceful recognition of the Reformed Presbyterian section of the Church, and at the same time a token of the regard and confidence in which he was himself held. He had rejoiced in the Union of 1876, and he was not insensible of the honour done him in the Moderatorship of 1877, but these had been immediately preceded by domestic afflictions, which chastened the gratification he felt. During the winter of 1875-76, the Lord took from him first one son, and then another, both dearly beloved, and both on the threshold of active life. In the short interval »69 DISRUPTION WORTHIES. between these trj-ing bereavements, Mrs. Goold, who had till that time enjoyed fair health, and whose cheerful godliness and winning ways had imparted an uncommon charm to the house, was suddenly called away. In all the three instances there was solid ground for a good and assured hope regarding the departed, nevertheless the blow was heavy. But grace has sustained under it, and the tree so much chastened has not ceased to bring forth fruit. W. B. .-' and confr'ere of such men as Graham Speirs, Alexander Earle Monteith, and Mungo P. Brown, who were ordained to the eldership along with him. In 1834, when, at the call of the General Assembly, Dr Chalmers placed himself at the head of the " Church Extension Movement," Mr Hog was his chosen ally ; and, having his time largely at his own com- mand, he did more, perhaps, than any other man in the way of personal service to promote its success. He accompanied the great doctor on most of his tours throughout Scotland, and took charge of the general subscrip- tion, which (having his own name next to the doctor's at the top of it) swelled up to what was then thought the munificent amount of ;^ 200,000. in the course of the ensuing twelve months. DISRUPTION WORTHIES. During the ten years of the "conflict," until within a year and a half or so of its close, Mr Hog was a trusty and much esteemed member of the " Non-intrusion Committee." About that time, however, being con- stitutionally "conservative" and cautious, and having taken alarm at what appeared to him to be rash, or prematurely exacting, in the demands of the Committee, he was one of a small minority who retired, and thus kept themselves uncommitted by any of the subsequent negotiations. For so doing, he lost his seat in the Assembly of 1842 ; the Presbytery of Linlithgow, which for several years he had represented, withdrawing from him for the time their confidence, and returning a more decided non- intrusionist in his stead. It is amusing as well as instructive now to remem- ber, that when the day of trial came, it was not he that proved faithless, but they, so little did they know either him or themselves. Of the sixteen members of Presbytery who should have come out, only five came. Mr Hog was among the very last to be convinced that the case of the Church was hopeless. He clung to the persuasion that Lord Aberdeen meant bona fide to acknowledge the Church's jurisdiction, and that Sir George Sinclair's clause might have done. He could not bring himself to believe that the Conservative Government was capable of so destructive a deed as the breaking up of the Establishment. He refused to admit that a Disruption was inevitable, until it had actually taken place. And even then he tried to persuade himself that it was premature, or that the breach was not irreparable. It was not till a week or more had elapsed, till the two General Assemblies had got through the greater part of their business, till the Deed of Demission had been signed, and the separation was complete, that he finally made up his mind. And it was not, after all, what the State had done, or rather refused to do ; it was not even the Queen's letter that decided him ; but what the Church herself (the " remanent " part of it) did, in formally homologating and adopting as her own the policy of the civil courts. The point on which he had all along felt most strongly, which alone touched his conscience as JAMES MAITLAXn HOG. a Christian man, wliicli lie regarded as absolutely vital (vital no less to " the body," than it is to each member in particular), was Christ's headship of the Church,— //J absolute dependence upon Him, its inherent indepen- dence and freedom under Him : and so it was, when he came to see that not only had that independence been trampled on by the civil courts, and repudiated by the State, but surrendered and sacrificed at the State's bidding by the Church herself, — and not till then, that he saw the path of duty made plain before him. He did not hesitate a moment after that. The reponing of the seven deposed ministers of Strathbogie, or rather the finding that they had never been deposed, because the Court of Session said so, was what at length convinced him, that though the Establishment still remained, the dear old " Church of his fathers " was no longer to be found within its walls. It was on Friday, the 26th May, that tlic " Seven " were thus re- habilitated; a minority of thirty-three protesting against the deed, on the same ground substantially as that on which Mr Hog condemned it, — and one of the number (Mr Story of Roseneath) denouncing it as being equivalent to a declaration that "what had been had not been, and that a sentence pronounced by the Assembly was not a sentence." These thirty-three protested, and remained. Next day Mr Hog wrote the following letter to Dr Gordon : — "Newliston, 27/// May 1843. " My De.\R Dr Gordon, — Having been confined to the house since the i6th by an attack of influenza, I have been unable personally to witness the events of the last ten days ; but this solitude has been favourable to that calm review of all the circum- stances affecting the Church, which I had always resolved to take before committing myself to any particular step. I can no longer hesitate to which communion I shall attach myself. " Believing that the constitution of the Church has been violated by the decisions of the civil courts exceeding their province in suspending ecclesiastical sentences, declaring them null and void, and interdicting the preaching of the gospel ; seeing no disposition on the part of the Government to admit any grievance, or to secure what is essential to the existence of a Christian community ; and, finally, having observed the ' remaining ' Assembly bowing in the dust, and echoing the very words of the DISRUPTION WORTHIES. civil courts, declaring the solemn sentences of the Church to be ' null and void,' I feel that I have no choice but to turn from her with the most melancholy aversion. " If I have been tardy in declaring myself, it is because I felt it my duty to watch the last struggles of the Church as I would the death-bed of an expiring parent, not feeling at liberty to depart till the spirit was fled, and the work of corruption begun. My duty to myself, to my children, and, I believe, to my country, requires me, therefore, to join the communion of those who have sacrificed their all to maintain their principles. " I make this communication through you, because it was from you that I received my ordination as an elder ; and it was my difference of opinion with yourself in the Non-intrusion Committee that gave me the greatest pain. — Believe me to be, my dear Dr Gordon, with the greatest respect and regard, yours faithfully, "J. M. Hog. " To the Rev. Dr GORDON." Such was the enthusiasm awakened by the reading of this letter, when the Assembly met on Monday, the 29th, in the Brick Church, Lothian Road, that a demand was made for its being read a second time, and that Dr Gordon should re-read it, in Tanfield Hall (which, as always, was crowded to the roof), in the evening. The rev. doctor in coming forward " was received with loud and long continued cheering from the immense assemblage." When the applause had subsided, he said, " I appear before you this night as a proxy, and therefore I thank you for the way in which you have received me. I take your approbation as offered to my dear and much esteemed friend Mr Hog, who is worthy of it all." Dr Guthrie used to say, " that letter of Mr Hog's was a stroke of genius." One of Mr Hog's oldest and most intimate friends (his brother-in-law) was Mr Patrick Fraser Tytler, the historian, and it is interesting to know what he thought of this " weighty and powerful " letter. Writing from London a few days after, he says : — " I liked your letter to Dr Gordon much, and do not see how, consistently with your principles and belief in what constitutes a true Presbyterian Kirk, you could have acted otherwise. Had I been a Presbyterian, I must have done the same. Popular election of their ministers and complete spiritual independence, were, from the first, the two great principles laid down by Knox as the foundation on which their whole superstructure rested. And, indeed, without the last, no Church could stand." * From that day for^vard Mr Hog threw himself, heart and soul, into • This important document is deposited in the Library of the New College, Edinburgh. yA.\fEs .^rAiTLAsn hog. the movement — indeed he devoted to it the rest of his hfe, feehng liim- self called (as he said) to do double senice, to work "double tides," as " one born out of due time. " His first care was to "shew piety at home," by looking after the supply of ordinances for " those of his own house," and by associating himself with those of his fellow-elders and fellow-parishioners of Kirkliston who had already been moving, or who might afterwards adhere to the Free Church ; and, having learned that steps had been taken, in view of the event, both for the erection of a church and the providing of a house for its future minister, he at once offered to relieve his brethren of all further anxiety about either by providing both himself, on the single condition that the whole sum which had been or might be contributed for local purposes should be transmitted to the Central Church Building Fund. How fully and handsomely he implemented this engagement need not here be told. Dr Chalmers laid the foundation-stone of the new church in August, and Dr Guthrie opened it (introducing at the same time its first minister) in December following. Of his public services to the Church, its records supply ample informa- tion—and, indeed, they speak lor themselves. Of the three great move- ments with which he specially identified himself, it may be truly said that he completed them all, leaving little or nothing for any one else to do. The Bursary Scheme for the New College was his scheme alone,— he, in accordance with the advice of Dr Chalmers and his colleagues, having taken it up in the first instance, rather than another which he had con- templated, for the endowment of the Professors' Chairs. He went about quietly among his friends, informing and interesting them in the subject, getting one and another to do as he had done — to found a bursary, and name it ; and only ceased from his assiduities when he had secured what he thought enough — an annual income of somewhere about ;^6oo. In 1848, after the lamented death of Sheriff Speirs, Mr Hog was selected a.s next to him, the fittest man in the Church to preside over DISRUPTION WORTHIES. the Committee on " Refusal of Sites," and manage the difficult business entrusted to it. How wellhe acquitted himself in this position is proved by the fact that the battle was successfully fought, and sites ultimately obtained, — "owing mainly," said Dr Candlish, "to the tact, judgment, patience, and perseverance of Mr Hog." The Debt Extinction Scheme was mainly his scheme also, having associated with him in it a "true yoke-fellow," Mr William Campbell_of Tillichewan. The multitude of letters he wrote, of meetings, public and private, he attended, and of journeys he undertook in this cause, would seem almost incredible, were it named ; but he grudged neither time nor labour, any more than he grudged money, for any good cause which he embarked in ; and it is interesting to remember, that at the last meeting of his Committee which he was able to attend, when he had to be carried into the room in his chair, he had the satisfaction of intimating that the whole contemplated sum of ;^ 50,000 had been subscribed, with several hundreds over, — that his work in connection with it was done. The " Sabbath Question " was one in which, it may be added, he took a lively interest, especially in connection with the running of pas- senger trains on the Edinburgh and Glasgow railway ; and it was to him, in conjunction with his much esteemed co-director, Mr Henderson of Park, more than to any one else — to his combined firmness of purpose and suavity of bearing — that the satisfactory settlement of the contro- versy then arrived at was due. The "Elders' Association " of the Free Church was formed in 1858 ; and had he been able, he would have been its first president. As it was, he could only write (and with great difficulty), within a month or two of his death— in the form of a letter to Mr Robert Paul — some of his thoughts on the subject of the eldership, which formed, I believe, the basis of Mr Paul's ov.-n address at the next general meeting, and which are as judicious and wise as in the circumstances they were felt to be impressive— like a message to his brethren from the other world. JAMES AfAITLAND HOC. During the last two years of his hfe Mr Hog was an invaUd, confined, not to his bed nor his room, but to his chair or his pony-carriage, by a stealthy paralytic affection, which deprived him of all power of loco- motion. Beginning at his lower extremities, the disease "crept" up gradually over his body, reducing him to great physical prostration ; and in the end— some months before his death— producing a painfully depressing effect on his mind. From being the sunniest, the most cheerful, he became one of the saddest of men. His countenance lost the smile, which no one had ever missed before. But never did his character shine out more impressively, or the genuineness of his piety make itself more evident (to all but himself), than under that severely trying discipline. Even when cheerfulness was no longer possible, his patience never gave way. No murmur ever crossed his lips, nor, sad though his countenance looked, did it ever betray a symptom of peevish- ness or of unwillingness to bear. He seemed to grow, even in the absence of sensible comfort from his religion. His graces ripened in the shade. I may have read or heard of, but certainly I never witnessed, either a humility, a sense of sin so deep, or a faith so simple, so exclusive, as his. He could see nothing in himself from which to derive comfort, even in the way of evidence. "Assurance" he had none. But all the more did he cling, did he adhere, to Christ, who was truly " all in all " to him. And at the very worst, he could not help admitting, with as sweet a smile as of old, that Christ was " precious " to him, though refusing to admit the inference that he was one of " them that believe." In his recently published Autobiography (written within a month or two of his own death), Dr Guthrie makes the following reference to Mr Hog, and to these his last days :— " Mr Hog, with whom I have spent many a happy day at Newliston, was one of the most generous and amiable of men. He was attacked by paralysis, and died of that disease after a long and most painful illness : an event which occurred some fifteen years after the Disruption. It began with a pain and weakness in one of his limbs, and at length extended itself over the whole body, making him, so far as l>/SJi UP TION IVOR THIES. moving; life or limb was concerned, perfectly helpless. The only way, latterly, that he could communicate with his family, was by pointing with a little reed in his mouth to letters of a printed alphabet. On one occasion he made signs of wishing to indicate something. The reed was fixed between his teeth, and the alphabet held before his face. The words he spelt were, 'last day'— 'up,' casting at the same time a sweet glance heavenwards." It was not the last day of his life when the above incident occurred, but it was the last day he was able to be dressed, or to leave his room. There were other two days remaining, which, though they were days of severe suffering (from fever, oppression in breathing, and otherwise), were yet days of perfect calmness, and apparently undisturbed peace. The cloud was being dispersed ; the sun was gleaming, shining, through. It was " evening time," and it was " light." An hour or two before the close, calling once more for the little tube, he spelled out his dying testimony thus : " I am looking to the Saviour : my only hope is in Jesus." Then he asked that a psalm might be read to him, the 143d; after that, Charles Wesley's hymn, "Jesus, lover of my soul" ; also that other sweet hymn (long a favourite with him), "Just as I am, without one plea." Then, declining to hear anything further, and knowing that he had nothing more to do but to die, he expressed a wish to be removed to his bed from the chair, where he had been sitting all night (taking his farewell look, from the window, of the sweet landscape which he knew so well) ; and this had scarcely been done, when the loud breathing ceased, the oppressed bosom gave its last heave, and all was over. " It was somewhat singular," a dear friend of his and mine, Mr Robert Paul, afterwards remarked, "he died at twelve o'clock on the night of Saturday, the 31st day of July ; and the glorified spirit opened his eyes then, on a new day, a new week, a new month, a new Sabbath, a new life, a new heaven — an eternity, at once ! " Had Mr Hog been spared till that day week he would have entered on a new year also — the fifty-ninth year of his age — having been born on the 7th August 1799. J. C. B. -<3^ JAMES INGRAM.D.D JAMES INGRAM, D.D. In 1 82 1, he obtained some relief from this incessant toil and exposure. The church of Unst became vacant, and the godly of the people cast their eyes upon the devoted minister of Fetlar, as the man best known to them as a faithful steward in things pertaining to the kingdom. Lord Dundas was pleased to have the opportunity of again doing a kindness to Mr Ingram ; and to the great joy of the people of Unst, the object of their choice was settled amongst them in 1 82 1, to remain, as Providence had ordained, till almost every individual of his new charge had preceded him to the grave or left the island. The new pastor did not enter upon another man's line of things made ready to his hand. Previous to the time of the Haldanes and others, who in the beginning of this centuiy, preached the Gospel in these far-off islands of the North Sea, this Ultima Thule of the Romans was as dreary in its spiritual as in its physical condition. The island of Unst in particular, so far as the ministry was concerned, had known nothing of religion except in the form of Moderatism, and the virtuous life which was the theme of the pulpit ministrations was rarely exemplified in the habits of the people. Mr Ingram may almost be said to have re-christianised Unst. He found the people grossly ignorant, and he established schools. He found them addicted to intemperance, through the facilities offered for smuggling by foreign vessels, as well as through the entire want of intellectual resources, and he founded a temperance society which entirely changed the habits of the greater part of the people. There is probably no part of the British Isles where intoxicating liquors are now less used than in Shetland. The hardy Zetlanders who prosecute the haaf-fishing make tea their beverage when engaged in their arduous calling, and the visitor to the Shetland Isles cannot fail to be struck with the appearance of the tea-kettle, not only at every fireside, but in every peat-field and scene of out-door labour. Much of this reformation is owing to the early and long-continued inculcation of temperance principles by DISRUPTION WORTHIES. Dr Ingram among his parishioners in the northmost island of the group. As an illustration of the character of the people, and the good effects of temperate habits, we may note that we found in 1870, two constables responsible for the peace of the whole group of islands ; and we were amused to find the one who had charge of Lerwick (with a population of over 4000) enjoying a day's fishing on the opposite side of the main- land, because he had nothing else to do. But the Gospel was after all the great lever power employed bj' the minister of Unst for raising the moral standard of the people. He was an instructive, earnest, and faithful preacher of the Word, and from his first entrance among his flock, he instituted the practice of regular visitation and catechising. The ordinance of Church discipline was also revived, and became a subordinate but real means of grace. His labours were not in vain in the Lord. The outward reformation of manners was not the only outcome of his fidelity as a preacher and a pastor. There are still those in Unst who can speak of him as their spiritual father, and many more who could give the same testimony, have gone before him to heaven. In 1838, Mr Ingram's son was associated with his father in the pastorate by his steady friend. Lord Zetland, moved, as in the case of the senior minister, by the free voice of the people as well as by his own inclination. In number of years, Mr Ingram, senior, was an old man at the date of the Disruption. He was then sixty-seven. But his eye was not dim, nor his natural force abated. He was as forward and decided as his son in taking his side in the conflict which came to a climax in 1843. And this, although he held strong views in favour of church establishments founded on a Scriptural basis, and, although the difficulties of erecting new church buildings and organising a new congregation were peculiarly formidable in a place where poverty is extreme, most of the people being in a chronic state of debt to the landowners and merchants, seldom JAMES INGRAM, D.D. fingering money, but bartering their labour for articles of necessity, and sometimes — against their will — for articles of superfluity. A large majority of the natives of Unst, however, encouraged their ministers by their adherence, and by their material support as far as their slender resources permitted. The peculiarity of their position, so remote from the stimulus and fellowship of brethren like-minded, came at last under the notice of the great leader of the Disruption. For several months the ministers, father and son, had to conduct Divine worship in the open air, and, afterwards, the congregation and Sabbath school had to content themselves with the precarious shelter of a tent. Dr Chalmers, on hear- ing of the circumstances, used his influence with the Countess of Effing- ham to such good purpose that her ladyship provided funds for the erection of two churches, one on the east and the other at the south end of the island. In 1864 the University of Glasgow conferred upon Mr Ingram the Degree of D.D., while he was still in the exercise of his ministry. The last time he ascended the pulpit was in 1875. It was the failure of memory and of sight that prevented him preaching after\vards. His voice was as strong as ever, and he was as much at home as ever in prayer ; it was only in his pulpit address that he was not his former self. There were others besides the Scnatus Academicus of Glasgow who felt it an honour to themselves to honour the face of the old man. Dr Guthrie and his son, the minister of Liberton Free Church, paid a visit to Dr Ingram in 1 871, and greatly cheered the heart of their venerable friend by their genial company and conversation. On his return to Edinburgh, Dr Guthrie set about the raising of a subscription for a por- trait of Dr Ingram, and Mr Otto Leyde went to the Free Church Manse of Unst to execute the commission assigned to him. He succeeded in producing a characteristic likeness, life size, and the portrait having been presented to the Free Church, now adorns the walls of the Common DISRUPTION WORTHIES. Hall of the New College, Edinburgh. A replica of this canvas was taken by the artist, and, along with a silver tea service, was presented to Dr Ingram, to be preserved as an heir-loom in the family. Extreme old age, as a rule, is not desirable. It is pitiful when the grasshopper becomes a burden, and the once strong active man falls into second childhood. With Dr Ingram there was less to suggest this pain- ful feeling than in the case of many others who had not nearly attained his years. When wisdom was shut out at both ear-gate and eye-gate, he had still the resource of a memory retentive of early lessons. With all his active labours as a pastor, he had found time to keep up his early studies in theology and classics, and to store his mind with general information. To his hundredth year he could repeat long passages from favourite Latin authors, and regale himself with texts from the Hebrew as well as the Greek Scriptures. As Hebrew, strange to say, was no part of the curriculum of the Aberdeen College when he was a student, he became a self-taught Hebrew scholar, after the age of sixty, and acquired even a critical acquaintance with the language. He mastered German also, later in life. The mens sana was lodged in corpore satio, and it is worthy of note that his green old age was not indebted to the stimulus of wine or strong drink, for he maintained his total abstinence principles to the last. Two years before his death, he remarked to a friend, in the vernacular of his early days, " It's a very guid warld to leeve in, efter a', for though I'm a hundred noo, an' gey stupid tae, yet I'm neither sick nor sair." His sunset of life was without a cloud. During the winter of 1878-79, the cold compelled him to keep his room, but not till within twelve hours of his last breath was there any symptom of serious illness. Like a shock of corn fully ripe he was gathered into the heavenly garner on the 3rd of March 1879. J. B. G. .n. ^%' ALEXANDE R KEITH, D.D. )> IP ■■i i ALEXANDER KEITH, D.D. ini-ht be eminently useful. Newton's "Dissertations on the Prophecies," though coming nearest to his idea, had two defects— it mixed up literal and symbolical prophecies, clear predictions and obscure ; and it wanted the testimony of recent travellers. And having tried in vain to induce one or two clerical friends to prepare such a work, he determined, rather than abandon the idea, to try it himself ; and thus originated the work by which Dr Keith has been and will be known as long as works of this nature in our language retain their interest. It was in 1823 that it first appeared in modest form, with the following title as afterwards enlarged :— "Evidence of the Truth of the Christian Religion derived from the Literal Fulfilment of Prophecy, particularly as illustrated by the History of the Jews, and by the discoveries of recent travellers." In the second and following editions, the new matter regarding Palestine and the surrounding countries— drawn from the newest works of travel, with a number of engravings representing the ruins of Babylon and Petra— made the book virtually a new work, and one peculiarly suited to the time. Such was the popularity which it attracted that edition after edition was called for ; it was translated into most of the European languages ; and the Tract Society's abridged and stereotyped edition of it has had a steady sale to this day. " One chief feature of the book," as is well observed by the Society's edition, "was to make unbelievers the leading witnesses, their testimony being unexceptionable and conclusive. Volney did not visit Palestine as a devout pilgrim, nor was he even a believer in inspira- tion or the fulfilment of prophecy. Neither was Burckhardt, who never alludes to the prophecies, and was himself a sceptic. The testimony of .such men has more force than that of many who visit and describe the scenes of sacred history expressly for the purpose of finding confirmation of Scripture." Perhaps the most remarkable example of the effect pro- duced by this book was that of Dr Meshakah of Damascus, a man of some authority in the Greek Catholic Church. An Arabic translation of Dr Keith's work having fallen into his hands, he read and studied it with DISRUPTION WORTHIES. intense interest. Tlie issue was his conversion from nominal religion, or no real faith at all, to the faith of Evangelical Christianity. The change became immediately known, and made a great stir in the Church to which he had belonged. For many years after this he held the office of Consul at Damascus to the United States of America, and since 1848 his writings have done more perhaps for Protestant Evangelical Christianity in Syria and other Arabic-speaking countries than any others. The excellent man is still alive, and in the controversy between the Oriental and Evangelical Churches his books are regarded as standard works. In the introduction to one of the best of them his obligations to Dr Keith for all that is most precious to him in the faith and hope of the Gospel are particularly recorded, and Dr Keith had the gratification of hearing this from his own lips and in his own house at Damascus. On the 28th August, 1833, on the motion of the Rev. Dr Black, Professor of Oriental Languages, the Senatus of his Alma Mater unanimously conferred "the honorary degree of D.D. on the Rev. Alexander Keith, minister of St. Cyrus, and author of the well-known work on the ' Fulfilment of Prophecy ; ' in testimony of their high estimation of his character as a clergj'man, and respect for his attain- ments in Theology and General Literature." In the year 1839, the General Assembly, having resolved to seek the conversion of the children of Israel, appointed a deputation to visit the Continent of Europe and the sacred lands, for the purpose of collect- ing information respecting them ; and Dr Keith was naturally selected as one of four for the discharge of that interesting duty. On their way home, having arrived at Pesth, Dr Keith was prostrated with fever, and brought to the gates of death. To the astonishment of the medical professor who attended him, he survived, and on his strength slowly returning, he found at his bedside that noble Christian lady, Maria Dorothea, wife of the Prince Palatine and Viceroy of Hungary. The effect of her frequent visits, first on herself, in the enlargement of her { ALEXANDER KEITH, D.D. views of Divine trutii and the strengthening of her Christian character — and next, on the great object of Dr Keith's visit, in the establishment of a mission to the Jews in Pesth, and its singular success from its outset to the present day — this was a subject to which, in after years, Dr Keith was wont to recur with unceasing wonder and devout acknowledgment of the Hand that had so marvellously led the blind in a way that thcj- knew not. The details of it, however, must be read elsewhere.* In the year 1840, his health being then indifferent, and his eldest son, as already stated, being associated with him in the duties of his parish, he retired from pastoral work and henceforth devoted himself to his peculiar studies. When the memorable "Disruption" took place, Dr Keith, as might have been expected, was found among those who at the cost of their all in life, refused to surrender to the Civil power the spiritual independence of the Church of Christ, and became one of the members of the Free Church of Scotland. Having been Convener of the Committee for the Conversion of the Jews since its first formation, he for many years continued in that office in connection with the Free Church. But though in this capacity, he had to read to the General Assembly his annual report, he took no active part in ecclesiastical affairs. In fact, once only does the present writer remember him coming openly forvvard. At one of the early post-Disruption Assemblies, an effort was made, in a somewhat veiled form, to pledge the Church to what was called "The Descending Obligation of the Covenants" (meaning the National Covenant of the i6th and the Solemn League and Covenant of the 17th centuries). When the true nature of this proposal came to be seen, and some .strong speeches by eminent members had been made against it, Dr Keith rose, and in a speech of but a sentence or two, put an end to the whole thing. It was about midnight, and his tall figure wrapt in a long cloak, and his dark visage reminded the present writer of the ♦ .See Life of the late John Duncan, LL.I)., by David Brown, D.D., Chap. .\ii. Second Edition, 1872. DISRUPTION WORTHIES. prophet Elijah ; while the rarity with which he opened his mouth, and the solemnity with which he spoke spread a stillness over the crowded house, as he uttered words to the following effect : — " Moderator, God never made, and never will make, a National Covenant with any people but one — the children of Abraham ; and the day that sees this Church recognising any other National Covenant than that, will see me for the last time a member of it." In the year 1844, Dr Keith revisited the East, examining all the sacred spots, and this time he was accompanied by his son, Dr George Skene Keith, who then first applied the daguerreotype process to the illustration of the scenery they witnessed. These illustrations, being trans- ferred to Dr Keith's pages in subsequent editions, greatly enhanced their interest and value. In fact Dr Keith kept ever availing himself of the most recent works of travel in those parts for the illustration of his subject. Of none did he make more use than that of M. Leon de Laborde on Idumaea, a region then almost unknown ; transferring to his book, at considerable expense, his magnificent engravings of the rock-tombs and temples of Edom, and the ruins of Petra. The popularity of his first work on Prophecy, and the length of time during which it was his chief study, naturally led Dr Keith to think that the same subject might be turned to account in the direction of symboli- cal prophecy. By some, indeed, even his first work was thought to go too far, in pressing literal fulfilment where the evidence seemed more fanciful than real. But when he undertook to interpret symbolical pro- phecy he was on more precarious ground ; and his next work, " The Signs of the Times, illustrated by the Fulfilment of Historical Predic- tions, from the Days of Nebuchadnezzar to the Present Time," encountered opposition from other expositors of the same predictions, who viewed them differently. Another work, " Demonstration of the Truth of the Christian Religion from existing Facts and collateral Proof," was more in the line of his first work ; and not a few found the same fault with ALEXANDER KEITH, D.D. it as with the former— of building too mucli on slender data. It had, nevertheless, a considerable sale ; Dr Keith's glowing style and forcible way of putting things kindling general interest. A subsequent work, " The Land of Israel according to the Covenant with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob,"— the object of which was to show that the land originally granted extended much further northward and eastward than was usually supposed— made a considerable sensation. The only other works we are aware that he issued were in the same line as his second one — " The Harmony of Prophecy concerning the Time of the Restitution of All Things, in a Comparison of the Book of Revelation with other Prophecies of Scripture," and " History and Destiny of the World and the Church according to Scripture." " The great service rendered by Dr Keith to the Christian Church," says his nephew, the Rev. Dr Blaikie, " we believe to have been three- fold—7^/rj^, Establishing on the clearest footing the reality of specific predictions uttered before they came to pass ; Second, Directing earnest attention to the Jews and their place in the purposes of God ; and Third, Bringing out clearly and minutely the character of the Papal Church, as delineated in prophecy and fulfilled in histor>', and making Rome a witness against herself— a witness to the fulfilment of the prophecies in regard to her." Latterly, Dr Keith resided chiefly at Buxton— so well known as a place of resort for invalids. From this time to the day of his death, having little or no communication with Scotland, his name gradually passed out of notice ; indeed owing to the great age which he reached, it was the impression of not a few of his Scottish friends that he had ceased to live, and the announcement of his death alone disabused them of that impression. But his Buxton days, prolonged as they were, were far from dull. Until shortly before his death, he retained much of that lively and genial manner which made his society so valued by those who enjo>ed it ; with congenial visitors, delighting to recall his jX 3-7 DISRUPTION WORTHIES. first literary efforts, the progress of his studies and researches, and, above all, the marvels of his illness and recovery at Pesth. " A distinguished minister," said the present Free Church minister of St. Cyrus, in the funeral sermon which he preached after Dr Keith's death, "was surprised when I told him I had never seen him. He remarked, with some emotion, ' You should go and see the old man before he dies, and get his blessing. I should count it a rich possession.' He was confined to his bed during his last months, and the writings which gave him most pleasure were Spurgeon's Sermons. He was very gentle, very contented, and very happy." He died at the ripe age of eight)--nine, and was buried in a country church)-ard near Bu.xton. D. B. mmr^A.. '^il^ %ohtvt totimn, II.B. OBERT LORIMER, LL.D., was bom at Kirkconnel, in Dumfriesshire, on nth May 1765. He received his university education at Glasgow, and after passing through the usual literary and theological curriculum, he was licensed to preach the Gospel by the Presbytery of Abernethy in September 1792. On ist March, in tlic following year, he was appointed to the Chaplaincy of the Southern Regiment of Fencibles, commanded at that time by James, Earl of Hopetoun, and a few months later he was ordained by the Presbytery of Penpont. In 1795 he had his degree from the University of Glasgow, and, in February 1796, he received simultaneously the presentation to the First Charge of the parish of Haddington from the Earl of Hopetoun, and to the parish of Smailholm, in the Presbytery of Lauder, from George Baillie, Esq. of Jerviswoode. After due consideration he decided to accept the former, and, on the i6th June, he was inducted as successor to Dr George Barclay. During forty-seven years he faithfully discharged all the duties pertaining to the oversight of so important a parish, and when at the Disruption he was required to choose whether to remain in the benefice he had held so long, or to go out into the wilderness, he did not hesitate to remain true to his convictions, and chose the latter course. He then became colleague in the pastorate of St John's Church, Haddington, the duties of which he fulfilled to the day of his death. DISRUPTION WORTHIES. When Dr Lorimer went to Haddington, there were only two ministers within the bounds of that large Presbytery who were decidedly Evan- gelical, but he lived to see the cause to which he was attached predomi- nate as much in East Lothian as in other parts of the country, and to both local and national changes he contributed his own part by his able, evan- gelical, and acceptable ministry. When the contest between the Church and the State reached its critical point, and the Convocation of ministers adhering to the Evangelical cause in the Church of Scotland, met in November 1842, Dr Lorimer was chosen to preside over the deliberations. The Convocation continued its sittings for nearly a week. Two series of Resolutions were adopted. In the second series, after stating " That the assumption by the Civil Courts of authority in matters spiritual, and especially in the ordination, admission, or deposition of ministers, and the other proceedings there set forth, is in violation of the law establishing the Church, which was made unalterable by the Act of Security and Treaty of Union," and recognising " that it is not the duty of the Church, as a kingdom not of this world, which has not, and cannot have, any power of the sword, or any secular dominion whatever, to plead her title, thus acquired and secured, to the temporal benefits of the Establishment, in opposition to the supreme power of the State, except in the way of remonstrance, protest, and serious warning," it is declared, " that it is the duty of the ministers now assembled, and of all who adhere to their views, to make a solemn representation to Her Majesty's Government, and to both Houses of Pariiament, setting forth the imminent and extreme peril of the Establishment, the inestimable benefits it confers upon the country, and the pain and reluctance with which they are forced to contemplate the possibility of the Church's separation, for conscience sake, from the State— respectfully calling upon the rulers of this nation to maintain the Constitution of the kingdom inviolate, and to uphold a pure establishment of religion in the land ; and, finally, intimating that, as the endowments of the Church are undoubtedly at the disposal of the supreme power of the State, with whom it rests either to continue to the Church her possession of them, free from any limitation of her spiritual jurisdiction and freedom, or withdraw them altogether, so it must be the duty of the Church, and, consequently, in dependence on the grace of God, it is the determination of the brethren now assembled— if no measure such as they have declared to be indispensable be granted —to tender the resignation of those civil advantages which they can no longer hold in consistency with the free and full exercise of their spiritual functions, and to cast them- selves on such provision as God in His providence may afford ; maintaining still uncom- promised the principle of a right scriptural connection between the Church and State, and solemnly entering their protest against the judgments of which they complain." ROBERT LORIMER, LL.D. On completing the fiftieth year of his ministry in Haddington, all classes of men united in shewing their high esteem for him by inviting him to a public dinner, which was presided over by his valued friend and co-presbyter, Dr Makellar. After a very short illness, Dr Lorimer died on 9th November 1848, in the eighty-fourth year of his age. He had preached on the preceding Lord's day from the text, " Enoch walked with God ;" and was engaged in preparing for the following Lord's day a discourse on that passage in Job, "All the days of my appointed time will I wait till my change come," shewing that his mind was fully occupied with the contemplation of that heavenly rest for which he longed. He was buried in the Parish Churchyard, in the presence of a large concourse of persons, who had assembled out of respect to his memory. His valuable library, on the collection of which he bestowed much time and thought, he bequeathed to the Free Church College, Edinburgh. As his old friend Archibald Constable said, there was "less trash" in it than in any library he had ever examined. In his home life, Dr Lorimer was singularly happy, the influence of the manse for good being felt throughout the parish. In 1801 he was married to Elizabeth, eldest daughter of John Gordon, Esq. of Balmoor. Writer to the Signet, by whom he had two daughters and four sons. The second son was the Rev. John Gordon Lorimer, D.D , who, finst in Torryburn, and then in the parish of St David's, Glasgow, contended for the same Evangelical principles upheld by his father. At the Disruption he became minister of Free St David's Church, and, along with Dr Robert Buchanan and Dr James Gibson, did no mean service by his writings and by his preaching in upholding and strengthening the cause of the Free Church in the West. By his constant correspondence with the Churches abroad, he did what lay in his power to awaken their sympathy with tlie Free Church movement. He died suddenly on 9th October 1868. DISRUPTION WORTHIES. In estimating the services of Dr Lorimer to the cause of religion, it must be borne in mind that the greater portion of his ministry preceded the Disruption, and it would be an error to measure the labours of him, and others like him, by the same standard that is applied to the great leaders of the movement. The Church cannot but admire and honour the able band of men whom God raised up during the "Ten Years' Conflict"; at the same time, she must not forget what is due to their predecessors, the Evangelical minority of the Church of Scotland. They were the pioneers of the Free Church, the harbingers of a better state of things. In many great movements it has seemed as if the heroic element was first developed, to be followed by a time of comparative calmness and tranquillity ; but at the Disruption the evangelistic element had first leavened the whole lump, and the heroism was manifested at a later stage. From 1784 there was half-a-century of Evangelical preach- ing, which silently and gradually prepared the materials out of which the Free Church was to arise. Whilst, therefore, all due praise is to be given to the leaders who achieved the triumph, it is for the honour of the Church to remember that the whole movement sprang from the pious and fruitful ministry of the Evangelical minority. Among the honourable band who formed it, — such as Innes, Balfour, Davidson, Campbell, Colquhoun, Moncreiff, and Thomson,— Dr Lorimer held a high place fifty years before the Disruption. A. P. L. r I I RF.V. JAMES iWCOSH, P.D., LL.D. " The glory of this latter house shall be greater than of the former," and referred to the sorrow they felt in leaving the Established Church, and the confidence they felt that God would bless the Free Church. At the opening of their new church in November following, he gave his reflec- tions on the crisis through which he and others had passed. He said that if they had given up their principles, the wicked would have triumphed on seeing the cause of God betrayed by the so-called Church of God. " In this contest," continued he, " we have lost much. Some of us have lost that means of support of which at one time we never expected to be deprived but by death ; we have lost, it may be, some of our status in the society of this world ; we have been exposed, as our Master was, to reproaches and scorn ; wc have all of us lost those churches in which we worshipped, and the very stones of which were dear unto us ; some of you may have lost friends and favours." Yet he added that they had not been defeated, nor had they cause to be ashamed ; they would bless God that they had been permitted and enabled to give a testi- mony for Christ's kingdom and crown. The year following the Disruption was one of hard and trying work to Mr M'Cosh, in which he displayed the energ)', tact, and courage which are characteristic of him. He was appointed by the General Assembly " Convener of Supply " for the district of the county of Mearns, and the North-East of Forfarshire ; and he now set himself to organise congrega- tions, to provide them with ordinances, to advise and aid in getting sites, in raising funds, and having churches erected. The ministers who remained in the Established Church did their utmost to obstruct the members of their churches who desired to join the Free Church. Lords, lairds, and their factors scowled on the movement, and threatened their tenants and dependants. Mr M'Cosh had many adventures in confront- ing their hostility and in gathering the people into churches. In a number of places no sites could be obtained for churches from the proprietors of the soil. In Fettercairn the people could get no place to worship in till DISRUPTION WORTHIES. a. widow offered a field which she rented, and there on the green grass Mr M'Cosh dispensed the ordinance of the Lord's Supper a few Sabbaths after the Disruption, to 213 communicants, and this under the immediate view of Sir John Gladstone who in the first instance did all he could to crush the movement. In Menmuir Mr M'Cosh after officiating twice to his own congregation preached on the Sabbath evening on the roadside, and gathered a congregation who after keen persecution got a site for a church. In Lochlee the Free Church members met with determined opposition from a very powerful man, Lord Panmure, who possessed the whole district ; and for a long time they had to worship in a shepherd's house provided for them by a courageous farmer, David Inglis. Mr M'Cosh also aided in forming congregations and building churches in Fordoun, Laurencekirk, Stonehaven, and Bervie. In carrj'ing on this work he rode around the country on horse-back, preaching in barns and ballrooms, sometimes riding thirty miles, and preaching thrice on a Sabbath. It is believed that now for the first time was the Gospel of the grace of God preached in parishes from which it had in all previous ages been excluded by Moderatism and Prelacy. In the winter of 1843-44 he went as a member of a deputation to the parts of England in and around the city of York, in Northamptonshire, and about Olney, addressing meetings on the cause of the Free Church, and soliciting the sympathy and help of the English Nonconformists. In the year 1844 he removed from the West to the East Free Church of Brechin, where he ministered until the end of 1S51. Disruption struggles began to subside in 1846, and Mr M'Cosh was thus able to apply himself to the preparation of his first great work, " The Method of the Divine Government." The appearance of this work in 1850 at once placed its author amongst the foremost thinkers and apologists of the age, and led soon afterwards to his being offered the Chair of Logic and Metaphysics in Queen's College, Belfast. He entered on the duties of this chair in 1852, where he soon proved himself as able a REV. JAMES M'COSH, D.D., LED. teacher as he liad been a successful writer. During the sixteen years of his Belfast Professorship, he created a taste for the study of Philosophy in the North of Ireland, and sent out a number of students who have already made their mark in this department. At this time he was usually an E.xaminer in the Queen's University, he was one of the distinguished Board of Examiners who organised the first Competitive Examination for the Civil Service of India, and he was twice Examiner for the Ferguson Scholarships open to graduates of the Scottish Universities. He also published whilst in Belfast "An Examination of John Stuart Mill's Philosophy," and "The Intuitions of the Mind Inductively Investigated," and several other philosophical works. He advocated the cause of Intermediate Education in Ireland, and did much to promote the circulation of Sound Literature through the Bible and Colportage Society, of which he was one of the secretaries. He took a leading part in organising the Ministerial Support Fund of the Presbyterian Church, and was for some years Joint Convener of that scheme. His last publication before leaving Ireland was a vigorous protest against a project for endowing Poper>', which was then seriously proposed by the leaders of both political parties. In 1868 Dr M'Cosh was called to the Presidency of the College of New Jersey, at Princeton in the United States, a post formerly occupied by Aaron Burr, and Jonathan Edwards, and (another Scotchman) John Witherspoon. Under his supervision the College has had remarkable success, having doubled the numbers of its buildings, professors, and students, within the eleven years of hi? administration, and having been enriched by large benefactions, and having greatly improved its methods of teaching. Notwithstanding the multifarious work incident to the office of President of a large American College, and the duties of the Chair of Psychology which he ably fills, Dr M'Cosh has found leisure for a good deal of outside work. He favoured from the first the Union of the Old DISRUPTION WORTHIES. and New School Branches of the American Presbyterians, and he is entitled to the credit of having planned and in some measure carried out the Catholic Alliance of all Presbyterian Churches in the Pan-Presbyterian Council. He has also issued in America, his books on " The Discursive Laws of Thought," on " Christianity and Positivism," and on " The Scot- tish Philosophy from Hutcheson to Hamilton ; " besides a large number of smaller works, public addresses, sermons, and contributions on Philoso- phical and Apologetic subjects to TJie Princeton Reviezv, The North American Review, and other Revieivs, and to Tlie Popular Science Monthly. All his writings are characterised by penetration and boldness of thought, by giving full force to ever>' newly discovered truth, and by uniform allegiance to the supreme authority of the Word of God. G. ML. THOMAS M'CRIE, D.D., LL.D. known in the literary circles of Edinburgh, and thereafter familiar to the reading public of Scotland. It speedily became evident that he had in no ordinary degree the pen of a ready, graceful, and popular writer, and several works with which his name has ever since been associated, belong to the period of his life with which we are now dealing. Thus, in 1840 he wrote the " Life of Thomas M'Crie, D.D.," which is replete with valuable information bearing upon the church controversies and conflicts of that ecclesiastic's times : from a very early pcj-iod of its history he was connected with the Wodrovv Society, rendering valued services in the selection of its publications, and personally editing three volumes; and in 1850 he wrote the "Memoirs of Sir Andrew Agncw," which reached a second edition in the following year. By the time this work was pub- lished, the author of it had received two University honours — the Degree of D.D. from the University of Aberdeen, and that of LL.D. from the University of Glasgow. There was one department of literary work in which Dr M'Crie's help was often sought, and much thought of when rendered, that, namely, of periodical and journal literature. He had great skill and ease in the composition of leading articles, reviews, and magazine papers. Hugh Miller, in the height of his career as editor of The Witness, discovered the ability of the Davie Street minister, gladly secured his services as an occasional contributor to the columns of his paper, and continued to be ever after a warm friend of his coUabora- teur. The Witness editor is known to have said that among all the liter- ary men and famous ecclesiastics in Edinburgh at that time, there was not one who could throw off a leader or a literary criticism so effectively and gracefully as the Secession minister; and it was no uncommon thing for some brilliant leading article or dashing review to be attributed to the author of "The Testimony of the Rocks," which in reality came from the pen of his contributor and friend. This was the case as regards an article upon a " New Edition of the Holy Bible, edited by the Rev. Dr Robert Lee," in which the writer professed, like Cowpcr's cottager, to "just know. DISRUPTION WORTHIES. and know no more, our Bible true," but in which he severely handled the Moderatism in Theology and Bible interpretation of the Greyfriars' Pro- fessor of Biblical Criticism ; and it was notably so as regards several articles upon Lord Macaulay's " History of England," which attracted great notice at the time they appeared, were widely regarded and spoken of in this country and America as Hugh Miller's, and were afterwards published in a pamphlet form. The second leading period in Dr M'Crie's life may be dated from 1852, in which year a union was effected between a majority of the Secession body to which he belonged and the Free Church of Scotland. In the negotiations that preceded he took his own share, although not figuring in the deliberations and debates of Church Courts, for which, indeed, he had no aptitude ; and when the union was consummated, Dr M'Crie appeared at Tanfield Hall along with Dr Shaw of Whitburn, Dr Laing of Colmonell, and Mr White of Haddington, these having been selected by their brethren as representatives of the smaller uniting Church. Four years later, the Free Church conferred upon him her highest honour, by placing him in the Moderator's Chair of her General Assembly. His predecessor in the office was the Rev. Dr James Hender- son of Glasgow, whose loving spirit, fine taste, and ripe scholarship found congenial employment in introducing not only his own personal friend, but also the son of one whom he, when a student, had known and revered as the friend of Andrew Thomson who had been the guide of his youth. The meetings of Assembly over which Dr M'Crie presided were held in the Music Hall, Edinburgh, the Free Church having by that time left Canonmills with its memories of post-Disruption Assemblies, and the present Assembly Hall at the head of the Mound not being then built ; and the likeness which accompanies this sketch is associated with his Moderatorship, the photograph of which it is an engraving having been taken by Tunny of Edinburgh after the May meetings, and so represent- ing the subject of it as he was in the fifty-ninth }-car of his age. Before THOMAS M'CRIE, D.D., LL.D. another Assembly met Dr M'Crie had ceased to be a minister of the Free Church and a citizen of Edinburgh, having accepted an invitation addressed to him by the English Presbyterian Church to fill the Chair of Church History and Systematic Theology in her College, and having accordingly removed to London in October of 1856. In addition to hereditary and acquired qualifications for such work as now lay before him, the Professor-elect possessed the great advantage of having pre- viously discharged the duties of a Divinity Professor. At the death of Dr Paxton he had been appointed Theological Professor by the Synod of United Original Seceders, and acted as such till the union above referred to ; in the Free Church also he had, at the request of the College Com- mittee, acted for a session as Professor in Aberdeen, after the death of Dr Maclagan, and before the Hall in that city was finally placed among the theological institutions of the Free Church. With Dr Lorimer as colleague professor, and Dr James Hamilton as lecturer— men to whom he felt strongly drawn, not only because of kindred pursuits, but also through perfect congeniality of temperament— Dr M'Crie gave ten years of arduous labour to the enlarging and upbuilding of the Presbyterian Church in England in what may be regarded as the period of that Church's renaissance. The high esteem and warm affection in which he was held by the successive bands of ministers who studied under him, and also by the ministers and members of the Church at large, were strikingly evinced in 1866, when the Professor found it needful, owing to increasing infirmities, and more especially to cataract, which rendered writing and reading painful and unsafe, to place the resignation of his professorship in the hands of the Synod. On that occasion a handsome presentation was made to him by all who were or had been his students, and the Synod marked its sense of the services he had rendered the Church at large by according to him a retiring allowance and the rank of emeritus Professor. On his part, the disabled Professor testified his unabated interest in the revived Presbyterian Church of England, and DISRUPTIOX WORTHIES. his undiminished attachment to those with whom he had been asso- ciated, by publishing, as soon as partial restoration of sight enabled him, a volume entitled " Annals of English Presbytery," inscribed, " To the Reverend the Moderator and Ministers, with the Elders, Deacons, and Members of the Presbyterian Church in England, with sincere grati- tude and respect." The closing years of Dr M'Crie's life were spent partly at Gullane, in East Lothian, on the Links of which he had, in younger days, spent many a happy hour in the bracing recreation of golf, and partly in his native city, living during the winter months in a Newington house, dis- tant only about a stone's cast from that in which his illustrious father died. The most important work accomplished in his retirement was in connection with his "Sketches." Originally a course of week night lectures on the His- tor>' of the Church of Scotland, delivered to overflowing audiences, first in the Old, and then in the New Town, a still wider popularity had been given to them by their publication in a cheap form by the Free Church Publication Committee, when they circulated widely in Great Britain and America, and were translated on the Continent. As now extended and brought " down to a time which is within the memory of men still living," the two thin volumes have given place to one thick octavo, and the " Sketches" bear the name of " The Story of the Scottish Church from the Reformation to the Disruption," published by Messrs Blackie of Glasgow. This book was published in December 1874 — it being the privilege of his nephew, the writer of this notice, to correct the proofs and construct the index ; and, when that took place, the author remarked, " My work in this world is now done." So it proved to be ; for, shortly after, he was prostrated with the infirmities under which he finally sunk, and, in the evening of the 9th May 1875, the evening of a peaceful Sabbath on earth, he entered without a struggle into " the Sabbaths of eternity, one Sabbath deep and wide." Of his beloved wife, who predeceased him by an interval only of weeks ; of his brother, John, who, after graduating with marked honour THOMAS M'CRIE, IIP., LL.D. at the Edinburgh Univcrsit)-, and further quaUfying himself for the scholastic profession by Continental travel and study, was appointed first Rector of the Normal Seminary of Glasgow, but was cut off in the twenty-ninth year of his age, when opening powers gave fine promise of distinction ; of his father, whom Christopher North described in the Chaldee Manuscript as " a Griffin with a roll of the names of those whose blood had been shed between his teeth, and who stood over the body of one that had been buried long in the grave, defending it from all men, and behold 1 there were none who durst come near him " — of these and other relatives the remains rested in the family burying-ground of Old Greyfriars Churchyard, Edinburgh ; and, towards the end of the week in which he died, we laid his body within the same hallowed enclosure — fit resting-place for a leal-hearted son of the Reformation and the Covenants. In addition to the works of Dr M'Crie already specified, it fell to his lot to edit a volume of his father's Sermons in 1836; a volume of the Miscellaneous Writings of the same in 1841 ; and a uniform edition of the principal works of the historian, in four volumes, published by Messrs Blackwood, Edinburgh, in 1856. When it is added that during his Edinburgh ministry he delivered and published a course of " Lectures on Baptism," that he was a frequent con- tributor to and for several years editor of the British and Foreign Evangel- ical Revieiv, and that he edited for Messrs Johnstone & Hunter an edition of Barrow on the " Supremacy," notice has been taken of the outstanding literaiy labours of one whose pen was that of a ready writer, and to whom it was a necessity of nature to be always engaged upon some work, historical, theological, or literary. From what was said at an early stage regarding his preaching, it may be inferred that in general bearing and manner Dr M'Crie was somewhat formal and stiff. And, doubtless, he was so to some extent. On coming into his company, a stranger might feel that a considerable amount of constraint pervaded the inter- course, and that there were a formality and a frigidity which would be sad DISRUPTION WORTHIES. hindrances in the way of free and pleasant conversation ; but the impres- sion would probably soon give way to the persuasion that all this was on the surface, and that he was in the company of a kindly, simple, and genial nature, of one who loved sport and humour, as he enjoyed and culti- vated the music of the voice and the violin. What he was to those who lived alongside of him in the privacy of the domestic circle we may not venture to express, except by stating that, with no children of his own to brighten his dwelling, he has left a pleasant and tender memory in the affections of brothers' and sisters' children, and that he was never for any length of time without some young relative who found under his roof a home. What he was to those who knew him as a college chum, or brother minister, or colleague professor, or literary confrere, may be gathered from the testimony of Dr Wylie, one of his oldest and most valued friends, who, preaching, in the church that now bears his name, on the Sabbath after the funeral, concluded with these touching words, which may fitly close this sketch : — " My friendship with the deceased was the longest, the sweetest, and the most profitable of my life. I watched by the bedside of the elder M'Crie, the historian of Knox, during the twenty hours he lay dying. It was also my privilege to be present during the last hours of the younger M'Crie. I recited to him at intervals promises from the Word of God. The eye which had already closed opened once more, and filled with a tender intelligence, a serene peace. The words of Holy Writ evidently were to him draughts of the water of life. He expired so peacefully that his hand, which he had placed in mine an hour before, was never withdrawn. Thus he slept." C. G. M'C. 1 ■_:-( JOHN MACDONALD.D.D >\— ,~>j:^ II JOIfX MACDOXALD, IIP. His incumbency here was a very short one, and in January 1807 he was translated to what was then the Gaelic Chapel of Edinburgh, as successor to the Rev. James Maclauchlan, after%vards of Moy. When he came first to Edinburgh, he had little of the power in preaching to which he afterwards attained. He was sound, clear, and accurate ; but somewhat stiff in his manner and delivery. This might have arisen from various causes, but mainly, no doubt, was the result of youth and inexperience. Gradually this sense of constraint wore away, and he came to speak in public with wonderful eloquence and power. It was once said to the writer by an old Edinburgh hearer of his, " It was here that he got his wings." During his Edinburgh ministry an attempt was made to intro- duce English preaching in the afternoon into the Gaelic congregation, to meet the wishes of hundreds who wished to benefit by Mr Macdonald's ministiy ; but the more ardent Celts among the people resisted the change strenuously and successfully. To meet the desire, however, Mr Macdonald resolved to preach English at night,— thus undertaking three regular ser\-ices each Lord's da>-. \Mth week-day meetings and visita- tions, this made his life a busy one. It was also a useful one, for during his Edinburgh ministry he had many souls for his hire. His ministry in Edinburgh extended over a period of six years; and in 1813 he was presented to the Parish of Ferintosh in Ross-shire, vacant by the death of the excellent and much-esteemed Mr. Charles Calder. The scene when he parted with his Edinburgh flock was a somewhat remarkable one. He had preached in Gaelic as usual during the day, taking farewell of the people ; and at night the English congregation met in the usual place of worship in North College Street. Ere the service began, the crowd collecting was such that there was no prospect of their finding accommodation in the church, although it could accommodate eleven hundred worshippers. Mr Macdonald was just going to the pulpit, when it was proposed that a request should be made for the use of the West Church for the occasion. A messenger was sent for the keys, which DISRUPTION WORTHIES. were readily given. The West Church was opened, and Mr Macdonald putting himself at the head of his congregation, they marched westward through the Grassmarket, and soon filled the church to the roof. Here amidst the tears and sobs of many, he took farewell of his English-speaking hearers, who had for years enjoyed and profited by his earnest ministry. In due time he was settled in Ferintosh, where he continued to minister with great success till the year 1 849, a period of forty-two years. Much of his time was spent in assisting brother ministers at their com- munions. In such services he was acceptable to both ministers and people, many of the ministers who differed widely from him on eccle- siastical questions making him heartily welcome. This he owed much to his kind, genial, and brotherly disposition, which displayed itself so pleasantly in the family circle, his interesting conversation, and especially his fund of anecdote, all making him a favourite with old and young. Many ministers' sons and daughters, who were young at the time, remember well how welcome he was at their fathers' fireside. By the people his appearance was hailed with enthusiasm, thousands collected to hear the Word at his mouth, and many of these gatherings were followed by rich and abounding spiritual blessings. He took a deep interest in the distant island of St. Kilda. At the instance of the Society in Scotland for Propagating Christian Knowledge, he visited the island four times in as many different years, and preached to the people, at the time without a minister, the gospel of salvation. Besides these visits, so much valued by the people, he made strenuous efforts to secure the erection of a church and manse in the island, and on his last visit, in 1827, accompanied by the minister appointed by the Society which he represented, he found the buildings completed, and provision made for the regular maintenance of gospel ordinances. For many years the Free Church has maintained a minister on the island. In 1827, he paid a visit to Ireland, at the request of Mr Daly, after- wards Bishop of Cashcl, with a view to preaching the Gospel to the Irish JOHN MACDONALD, D.D. in their native tongue. He studied the Irish dialect of the Gaelic language, and preached frequently in that dialect to the people along the south-west coast. Dr Macdonald's zeal for preaching the Gospel led him sometimes into difTiculties. In the year 1817, he preached in a Dissenting chapel in Strathbogie, without the consent of the parish minister. For this he was brought before the General Assembly, where, although no special censure was passed upon him, such proceedings were severely censured. His ministry was richly blessed of God. Perhaps no minister of modern times was more owned as the means of converting souls. While in Edinburgh, he took a deep and active interest in the great revival at Muthil, under the ministry of the Rev. Mr Russell. Soon after his removal to Fcrintosh, a deeply interesting movement took place among his own people. After that the Word was much blessed on both sides of Loch Tay, and in Glenlyon ; and he frequently visited the district and preached with great power and success. The fruits of the revival of religion there are visible to this day. There were great spiritual movements in Ross-shire, the revivals in Kilsyth and Dundee took place, and in all these Dr Macdonald took his share of the work with warm interest. Wherever he heard of the Lord's cause prospering, he made a point of being present to help it forward. Though not disposed to take much part in ecclesiastical controversy, he found no difficulty in taking his side when the great questions of Non- Intrusion and Spiritual Independence arose for discussion in the Church. lie became a firm supporter of the policy of the Evangelical party ; and his weight of character and influence over the popular mind aided much the cause which they maintained in the north. At the Disruption he took a foremost place, and was selected to preach the first sermon in Tanfieid Hall. His text was John xv. 16. He showed the power of the principle which actuated him by the extent of the sacrifice which he made, for the living of the parish of Ferintosh was one of the largest in that part of DISRUPTION WORTHIES. the country. He was not in the habit of referring often to ecclesiastical subjects in the pulpit; but, preaching at Edinburgh, in the Gaelic Church, soon after the Disruption, he said of the Established Church as it then existed, that it v/as "a Christ- denying, God-dishonouring, and soul- destroying Church." These were strong words — too strong, perhaps, for courtesy or for charity, but he spoke under a deep sense of wrong done to the cause of Christ. He was much censured for using them, but it does not appear that he ever withdrew, or even modified them afterwards. At the Inverness Assembly he was associated, as Gaelic Moderator, with Dr M'Farlan of Greenock, the Moderator for the year. In this capacity he preached a Gaelic sermon at the opening of the Assembly, and many who were then present still remember the mingled feeling of amusement and admiration which pervaded the house as he announced his text, and proceeded to expound it. The words were, " These, who have turned the world upside down, are come hither also." The sermon was one in every way worthy of his fame, and a complete vindication of the Disruption. On the 1 8th of April 1849, he was called to his rest, leaving behind him a name fragrant and precious among thousands, and which shall not be forgotten, especially in the Highlands, so long as Gospel truth is prized by the people. Dr Buchanan, in his Ten Years' Conflict, says : — "The devotional services at the Convocation were conducted by Dr Macdonald of Ferintosh, — that eminent servant of God, of whom it is enough to say that he was the Wliitefield of the Highlands of Scotland. The proudest and most powerful chieftains of the Celtic race never possessed such a masteiy over the clans, which the fieiy cross or the wild pibroch summoned into the field in the fierce days of feudal strife, as belonged, in these more peaceful modern times, to this humble minister of Christ. From Tarbatness to the outer Hebrides,— from the Spey to the Pentland Firth, — the fact needed but to be known that John Macdonald had come, and was about to preach the Word, in order that the country for twenty miles around should gather at his car- Ten thousand people have often been swayed as one man, — stirred into enthusiasm, or melted into sadness, by this mighty and faithful preacher's voice." T. M'L. -<-^-cars after exerted such a powerful influence on Dr Chalmers. In 1806, Mr M'Farlan was ordained minister of the parish of Kippen, in the Pres- bytery of Dunblane ; here he remained till 18 10, when he was translated to the parish of Polmont, near Linlithgow. He continued there for fourteen years, during which he devoted himself to pastoral duties with great earnestness and fidelity, and with no common measure of success ; proving himself a good minister of Jesus Christ, both in the pulpit and in private visitation. It wa.s at this time, too, that ho acquired DISRUPTION WORTHIES. that experience in ecclesiastical affairs, and that knowledge of the forms of Church Courts, which afterwards proved of so much service. The high position he now occupied in the estimation of the Church, was shewn by his appointment in 1824 as successor to Dr Chalmers in St John's parish, Glasgow. It was an arduous undertaking indeed, to carry on the work of his illustrious predecessor both in the congregation and the parish ; but he applied himself to it with his usual earnestness and energy. After two years, however, finding it too heavy a burden, he removed to St Enoch's parish, where he ministered for several years to a large and influential congregation. In 1832, he was translated to the west parish of Greenock, and in that town he continued his ministerial labours for seventeen years, till his death. Dr M'Farlan had always taken an active part in Church affairs, and in such questions as interested the Christian community. For public debate and controversial discussion, he had special qualifications. In the Assembly of 1825 he distinguished himself, in connection with the debate on Pluralities ; and in the Apocrypha controversy, his pen was employed with characteristic clearness and decision. The influence he had attained and the confidence reposed in him by his brethren, were evidenced in the most unequivocal manner, when he was made Moderator of the General Assembly of 1834. At that Assembly the Veto Act was passed, and the conflict was begun, which ended in the Disruption. In that great struggle no man took a more decided and honourable part than Dr M'Farlan. He was indeed, in the strictest sense, a non-intrusionist ; always refusing to take up anti-patronage ground ; believing that the operation of the Veto Law, would effectually protect the Church, from those abuses which had done it such injury in time past. But he was quick to perceive the vital nature of the question, raised by the judgment of the civil courts in the Auchterarder case ; as regarded the Church's spiritual independence he would admit of no compromise ; he took up a decided position from the outset, and maintained it with unwavering consistency to the end. PATRICK M'FARLAN, D.D. At a public meeting in Greenock, in December 1839, having set forth with great clearness the position in which the Church was placed, he concluded as follows : — "'Oh!' say some well-intentioned people, 'just submit to the deliverance of the civil courts. It is really painful to think of this contention ; you will tear the country and the church in pieces ; just submit.' Now I do not understand this whining. To me it seems sheer nonsense. It is just saying, ' We conjure you to sacrifice your con- sciences, and all your views of duty, and all your sense of obligation to the authority of Christ, as the great Head of the Church. Do sacrifice these on the altar of ex- pediency, and make a low bow of submission to the Court of Session.' For myself I answer, I will not yield : If you ask why, I reply, Because I cannot. " It has pleased God in His providence to fill me, as far as stipend is concerned, a fuller cup than has fallen to many of my brethren ; but this I say, and say it advisedly, so help me God— holding the views I entertain of this subject, and regarding it as impossible, without a sacrifice of conscience, to submit to and acquiesce in that decree to which I have referred, I would rather cast that cup to the ground than I would taste it again, embittered, as it would be if I were to yield, by the consciousness of having deserted what I believe to be my duty to God, and my duty to the Church." In the Assemblies of 1840 and 1841 Dr M'Farlan took a leading part, especially in the discussion on Lord Aberdeen's Bill, and in the various proceedings connected with the case of the Strathbogie ministers. At the August Commission of 1841, when the leaders of the Moderate party had openly taken part with the deposed ministers, and were mani- festly bent on bringing matters to a crisis, he made a most impressive speech, at the close of which he called on his brethren to stand fast to their principles, in the following terms : — " If we shrink, we are undone. If we depart from principle, there is no hope for us : we shall neither propitiate men in power nor gain the respect of the country. Let us trust in God, who has been the protection of the Church in ages past— in that divine Saviour to whom we profess allegiance as the great King and Head of His Church, that the struggle in which we are now to be engaged shall issue in triumph. But if, in the mysterious providence of God, it should prove otherwise, we shall have the satisfaction, in looking back, to think that we stood forth in defence of sound scriptural principles ; and we shall never have cause to regret, though left houseless and homeless, and without the means of support, that we preferred peace of conscience to all that is valuable to us in this world." That he should have exerted much influence in the counsels of the DISRUPTION WORTHIES. Church at such a crisis, was not surprising, considering his great ex- perience in ecclesiastical affairs, his soundness of judgment, and skill in debate. But besides this, when the issue of the struggle began to be foreseen, and the sacrifices it would entail on those who adhered to their principles, Dr M'Farlan's position and the attitude he maintained attracted special attention, on the part both of friends and opponents, for the simple reason, that the west parish of Greenock was, at that time, the richest living in the Church of Scotland. Would a minister deliberately give up such emoluments for the sake of principle .' Amongst worldly men there were few that believed it. Dr M'Farlan indeed had declared, in the most explicit manner, that he was prepared to do so. But by too many this was regarded as no better than an empty threat ; and the expectation that he would draw back found frequent expression. Those who thought so little knew the man — the integrity of his character, the depth of his convictions, and the steadfastness of his purpose. It is scarcely necessary to add, that when the time came he nobly redeemed his pledge. Nothing became him better — the strength and dignity of his Christian character — than the way in which he accepted the change of circumstances which the Disruption involved. In his case the change was a very material one, such as a man of his tastes and habits, of his liberal disposition and large hospitality, could not possibly be insensible to. But no one ever heard a complaint from him ; he had the same cheerful, happy demeanour as before : his was the unbroken serenity of a good conscience. After the Disruption, Dr M'Farlan continued for more than six years to minister to a numerous and attached congregation. In the Free Church at large, he held a prominent place, and exerted very great influence. His noble testimony, his long experience and mature wisdom, secured for him no ordinary measure of respect and attention. He was called to the Moderator's chair in the Assembly of 1845, presiding both at its ordinary meeting in May, and its special meeting at Inverness in PATRICK AfFARLAN, D.D. August. His sympathies were by no means confined to the limits of his own communion : he was one of the original promoters of the Evangelical Alliance, and he took a special interest in the Continental Churches, and the revival amongst them of evangelical religion. His death took place at Greenock, after a short but severe illness, in November 1S49, in the sixty-ninth year of his age. He retained his mental faculties to the last, giving frequent e.xpression to his faith and hope as a Christian, with singular distinctness and solemnity. It deserves to be noticed that he was the fourth in a succession of ministers, continued from father to son, since the time of the Revolution. In the ministry of the Free Church, he has been worthily succeeded by his son, the Rev. John M'Farlan of the Free Middle Church, Greenock, and his grandson, the Rev. Andrew Melville of Free St Enoch's, Glasgow. Dr M'Farlan's personal appearance was very prepossessing. His head and face would have attracted observation in any assembly — suggesting the idea of culture and refinement, of mental acuteness and moral elevation. His voice was clear and ringing, rather than strong. His speaking, both from the pulpit and in debate, was characterised above everything by clearness and precision. He was wanting in the power of illustration ; but there was an admirable distinctness which went far to make up for the defect; he always knew what he meant to say and made it perfectly plain to his hearers. He was distinguished, too, in a remarkable degree, by business talents; in this respect his acquaintance with forms, his tact, his readiness of word and pen, were of invaluable service to his brethren. Indeed, one of his most characteristic features was facility of execution : what he had to do, he could do at once, without hesitation or delay, an important quality for one so much engaged in public aftairs. In the pulpit, that defect in the illustrative faculty just referred to, was, no doubt, a serious drawback. The want of imagination necessarily interfered with any widespread popularity, beyond the sphere of his own congregation. But, on the other liand, DISRUPTION WORTHIES. his clear exhibition of gospel truth, set forth with simplicity and earnestness, made his preaching most weighty and acceptable among the people of his charge. It was the old gospel, known and realised in his own experience, which he preached to others with fulness and fidelity. In the more private duties of the pastoral office he was unwearied ; having a strong hold on the affections of his people by his sympathy with them in times of difficulty and trial ; while the cheerful affability of his manner was attractive alike to young and old. Indeed, in him the Christian minister and the Christian gentleman were most happily blended : he was a gentleman of the old school, always courteous, with that ease and self-possession, which tended to relieve others from any feehng of restraint or embarassment. He shone in company by his conversational powers ; but however lively and entertaining, he never forgot what was due to his office, nor allowed others to forget it. There was an unfailing dignity and propriety in his demeanour, which added greatly to his weight and influence. He was a man with much warmth of heart and feeling : in his family, overflowing with affection, and the object of affection in a corresponding degree ; while to others on intimate terms with him, he was the most steadfast of friends and the most delightful of companions. Those who remember how, in early life, they were admitted to his society and enjoyed his confidence, and the encouragement thereby aff^orded them at the outset of their ministry, can never cease to cherish his memory, as of one of their best and dearest friends. By the Free Church at large, the name of Dr Patrick M'Farlan is to be remembered, as occupying a prominent place in the list of Disruption Worthies, on account of the noble part he acted at that memorable crisis. As one of the fathers and founders of the Free Church of Scotland, his name will ever be associated with her history. W. L. Patrirh IB05U glnu M^txzhu, OF PEKCETON.) |T was not possible for one to know Patrick Boyle Mure Macredie without receiving a very deep impression of the soundness of his judgment, the extent of his information, the warmth of his heart, and the depth of his piety ; and though from constitutional diffidence he was not fitted for debate, and never entered the arena in the " ten years' con- flict," yet from his great moral worth, and his high tone of Christian consistency, he was of great service to the Disruption cause, and his name must ever rank high among Disruption Worthies. He was born at Warriston, near Edinburgh, on the 28th of September iSoo. His father was Thomas Mure, Esq. of Warriston. His mother was the eldest daughter of the Honourable Patrick Boyle of Shewalton. He had the misfortune to lose both his parents in very early life ; but he came under the care of his maternal grandmother and uncle at Shewalton, as well as of his mother's sister, Mrs Smollet of Bonhill, at Cameron House ; and it was one of the enjoyments of his later life to recall the happy days he spent there. He was one of a large family. George, his elder brother, was in the Grenadier Guards, and carried the colours at Waterloo. Thomas, his younger brother, entered the navy, and died of fever in the fatal Irrawady. Patrick, destined for the Bar, entered the University of Edinburgh in 3C 377 DISRUPTION WORTHIES. i8i2, and passed with credit and approbation through the usual curri- culum of the Arts Classes, as well as those of the Law. In 1822 he was one of nineteen who passed Advocate — seven of them on the same daj-, among whom were Sir Charles Ferguson of Kilkerran, Mr Hog of Newliston, and Lord Neaves, who alone survives. Eager in the pursuit of knowledge, and honourable in his whole bearing and deportment, Mr Mure was still a stranger to the saving grace of the gospel. In those days Moderatism prevailed in the pulpit. In many parts of the country the proclamation of a free salvation, through the atoning blood of the Lamb, was the exception and not the rule. Towards the close of 1822 he begins to take note in his diary of the sermons he heard. The preaching of Dr Andrew Thomson pro- duced a powerful impression on his mind ; but it was chiefly through the ministry of Dr Henry Grey that he was brought to a knowledge of the truth. Under date 21st December of that year, he writes: "Heard two sermons from Mr Grey ; like his preaching very much ; first time." March 2. 1823 — " Heard an excellent sermon from Mr Grey, from Exodus xii. 42. It is a night much to be remembered," &c. To this he has appended, at a later date, "This sermon, if I remer .^r right, caused me to consider if ever I could speak of such a day." March 21 — "Fell in with a tract on the work of the Holy Spirit, which taught me some things of which I was ignorant." May 18 — "Received at church deeper alarm — driven almost to despair. How much I have been changed this last week ! — despair, little sleeps I am wretched ; everything appears a dream." May 21 — " I called to-day on Mr Grey; received by him very kindly. I go home with much joy and peace, but my joy like the crack- ling of thorns — the joy of nature at seeing a hope." Pages might be filled with most interesting extracts, which reveal the struggle that was going on within — his eager thirst for the word, and the delight he had in the ministry of Mr Grey. His eldest sister was of great service to him at this eventful period of his life ; and though for a season he was dis- PATRICK BOYLE MURE M ACRE DIE tressed with doubts and fears, yet these eventually passed away, and he settled down into that child-like repose in the Saviour that continued unbroken to the end. From this time forward he became a daily and systematic student of the Bible, availing himself of all the helps he could obtain. He soon afterwards became a Sabbath-school teacher, and his diaries reveal how deep was the interest he took in his class, and how diligently he prepared himself for it. When Dr Chalmers was appointed to the Divinity Chair, like many others who were non-theological, he attended his lectures, and caught the enthusiasm for theological inquiry. Church history became a favourite study ; and he set himself to acquire a knowledge of Hebrew, that he might be able to read the Old Testa- ment Scriptures in the original tongue. For ten years of his Edinburgh life, he and his life-long friend, Alexander Dunlop, occupied the same apartments, and there can be no doubt that his intimacy with one so versed in ecclesiastical law could not fail to awaken his interest in ecclesiastical affairs, and this must have been deepened by the part he took in connection with the two settlements at Dreghorn. Twice over within the space of two short years that unfortunate parish was subjected to protracted litigation before the ecclesiastical courts, and in both Mr Mure was employed as counsel on behalf of the heritors and people. In the spring of 1830 a licentiate was presented, who was suspected of holding unsound views in regard to the sinless humanity of Christ. A libel was prepared, and evidence led. The General Assembly of 1831 found the libel proven, and the presentation was set aside. An acceptable appointment fol- lowed ; but as the health of their new minister was extremely delicate, llie people of Dreghorn trembled lest he should pass away before some other vacancy had occurred in the patron's gift, for it was known what name stood next on the patron's list. Their fears were realised — in the spring of 1834 their pastor died, the obnoxious presentation was issued, and the parish was plunged anew into conflict. This was the memorable DISRUPTION WORTHIES,. year of the Veto Act, and the pecuHarity in the case of Dreghorn was that the Act was passed betwixt the time of the issuing of the presenta- tion and the moderation of the call. On all hands it was admitted that the special provisions of that Act could not apply ; but forasmuch as that Act declared " that it is a fundamental law of this church that no minister should be intruded on a congregation against the will of the people," the parishioners very naturally held that respect should be had to this fundamental principle in the settlement of the minister of Dreg- horn. On the day of the moderation, the call was signed by very few, while the great majority objected to his settlement. The Presbytery decided in favour of the people, and the case was brought up by appeal to the next General Assembly ; after a keen discussion, by a majority of one, the presentee was rejected. The people went home rejoicing in the victory they had won, but it was short-lived. It turned out that, in answer to the name of a gentleman who was not present, some one had voted in their favour. How it occurred, and by whom it was done, was never discovered. It was believed to have been accidental. It was most unfortunate for the people ; but for this, the votes being equal, they would have obtained the benefit of the casting vote of the Moderator, but from this, in the peculiar circumstances, they were precluded, and it was held that no decision had been given. This involved the delay of another year. The whole question was re-argued in the General Assembly of 1836, when it carried by a majority of thirty-one in favour of the pre- sentee, who was intruded on the parish with the usual results. Having married the heiress of Perceton in 1835, he assumed the name of Macredie, and gave himself heartily to the discharge of the duties that now devolved upon him. In all the affairs of the county he took an active interest. An adept in figures, he was made Chairman of Finance, and from the intelligence and impartiality he brought to bear upon every question, his opinion was felt to be of value. A Conservative in politics, he threw himself with characteristic energy into every electioneering PATRICK BOYLE MURE M ACRE DIE. contest, and in the winter of 1854-5 he nominated Sir James Ferguson for the county of Ayr, who carried the election. Nor were his scientific studies laid aside. He became a member of the Royal Society, and other kindred institutions. He joined the British Association at its commence- ment, and was seldom absent from any of its annual gatherings. But while he kept himself abreast of the progress of science, he took the deepest interest in all the religious questions of the day. Having been ordained an elder in 1832, he sat in the General Assembly during nearly the whole of the ten years preceding the Disruption, and, as might have been expected, alike from his religious convictions and his Dreghorn experience, he was always found on the side of loyalty to Christ, and liberty to the people. When, in his own immediate neighbourhood, the Stewarton case arose, involving the right of the quoad sacra ministers to a scat in the church courts, he stood nobly forward in the defence, and rendered essential service to the Presbytery in the conduct of the case. True to his convictions, never wavering for a moment — neither before nor after — he left St Andrew's Church on the memorable Disruption day ; and though it brought along with it an experience which, from his sensitive nature, he keenly felt — he bore it, he outlived it, quieter times came, and it passed away. In addition to his other duties, Mr Macrcdie devoted a large share ot time and attention to the mines and the fire-clay works which he carried on. This involved him in much hard work, but success attended his efforts, and supplied him with the means of giving to the cause of Christ on a scale of liberality that is very rare : his private account-book is before me, from which I find that sometimes a fourth and sometimes a fifth of his income was consecrated to the Lord. The welfare of those immediately under his charge lay very near his heart. At a time when the question of improved accommodation for the labouring classes had not come to the front, he built fifteen miners' cottages, of three apartments each, for which he received a medal from DISRUPTION WORTHIES. year of the Veto Act, and the peculiarity in the case of Dreghorn was that the Act was passed betwixt the time of the issuing of the presenta- tion and the moderation of the call. On all hands it was admitted that the special provisions of that Act could not apply ; but forasmuch as that Act declared " that it is a fundamental law of this church that no minister should be intruded on a congregation against the will of the people," the parishioners very naturally held that respect should be had to this fundamental principle in the settlement of the minister of Dreg- horn. On the day of the moderation, the call was signed by very few, while the great majority objected to his settlement. The Presbytery decided in favour of the people, and the case was brought up by appeal to the next General Assembly ; after a keen discussion, by a majority of one, the presentee was rejected. The people went home rejoicing in the victory they had won, but it was short-lived. It turned out that, in answer to the name of a gentleman who was not present, some one had voted in their favour. How it occurred, and by whom it was done, was never discovered. It was believed to have been accidental. It was most unfortunate for the people ; but for this, the votes being equal, they would have obtained the benefit of the casting vote of the Moderator, but from this, in the peculiar circumstances, they were precluded, and it was held that no decision had been given. This involved the delay of another year. The whole question was re-argued in the General Assembly of 1836, when it carried by a majority of thirty-one in favour of the pre- sentee, who was intruded on the parish with the usual results. Having married the heiress of Perceton in 1835, he assumed the name of Macredie, and gave himself heartily to the discharge of the duties that now devolved upon him. In all the affairs of the county he took an active interest. An adept in figures, he was made Chairman of Finance, and from the intelligence and impartiality he brought to bear upon every question, his opinion was felt to be of value. A Conservative in politics, he threw himself with characteristic energy into every electioneering PATRICK BOYLE MURE MACREDIE. contest, and in the winter of 1S54-5 he nominated Sir James Ferguson for the county of Ayr, who carried the election. Nor were his scientific studies laid aside. He became a member of the Royal Society, and other kindred institutions. He joined the British Association at its commence- ment, and was seldom absent from any of its annual gatherings. But while he kept himself abreast of the progress of science, he took the deepest interest in all the religious questions of the day. Having been ordained an elder in 1832, he sat in the General Assembly during nearly the whole of the ten years preceding the Disruption, and, as might have been expected, alike from his religious convictions and his Dreghorn experience, he was always found on the side of loyalty to Christ, and liberty to the people. When, in his own immediate neighbourhood, the Stewarton case arose, involving the right of the quoad sacra ministers to a scat in the church courts, he stood nobly forward in the defence, and rendered essential service to the Presbytery in the conduct of the case. True to his convictions, never wavering for a moment — neither before nor after — he left St Andrew's Church on the memorable Disruption day ; and though it brought along with it an experience which, from his sensitive nature, he keenly felt— he bore it, he outlived it, quieter times came, and it passed away. In addition to his other duties, Mr Macredie devoted a large share ol time and attention to the mines and the fire-clay works which he carried on. This involved him in much hard work, but success attended his efforts, and supplied him with the means of giving to the cause of Christ on a scale of liberality that is very rare : his private account-book is before me, from which I find that sometimes a fourth and sometimes a fifth of his income was consecrated to the Lord. The welfare of those immediately under his charge lay very near his heart. At a time when the question of improved accommodation for the labouring classes had not come to the front, he built fifteen miners' cottages, of three apartments each, for which he received a medal from DISRUPTION WORTHIES. lan Religion Delineated," he was awakened to a sense of his spiritual state, and when he was thus exercised it happened in providence that Dr Chalmers' " Lectures on the Romans " fell into his hands. He studied these lectures prayerfully; and to the light and comfort he obtained by means of them he made a touching allusion in his address at the close of the General Assembly in 1863. At the time of this crisis in Mr M'Leod's history, there lived in his neighbourhood a remarkable man in humble circumstances whose enlightened views and ripe Christian experience were the means of keeping and strengthening him in the way of the Lord. This man was blind Donald Munro, a name revered in Skye only second to that of Mr M'Leod himself. When the history of living religion in Skye shall be written, one of its most interesting chapters will be the life and labours of this man of God. He was converted through hearing a sermon preached by Mr Farquharson, an itinerant preacher sent to Skye by the Messrs Haldane ; and soon it became evident that God had raised him up to be a faithful and much-acknowledged labourer in His vineyard. He had rare mental gifts, and was mighty in the Scriptures. His meetings for prayer and exhortation were abundant, and the power of the Lord was present in those humble gatherings at the river side in Snizort. Along with the great spiritual change in the minister, there was seen a very striking change in the Mission House of Lynedale. The preaching was new. The services were multiplied. Meetings were held on week days as well as Sabbaths. Soon these meetings became crowded, for the people flocked to them from the surrounding districts, and many who afterwards became eminent Christians dated their first deep impressions from the earnest services of that time. When the parish of Bracadale became vacant by the death of Mr Shaw, a minister of eminent piety, Mr M'Leod was presented to the living, and inducted into that charge in 1823. He used to remark that it was with his sword and his bow that he gained this preferment. REV. RODERICK APLEOD. referring to the manner in which he formerly commended himself to his patron, by excelling in the use of the gun and in other amusements. His ministry in Bracadale extended over fifteen years. Here he had trials, but he had also great encouragement in his work. His church was crowded from Sabbath to Sabbath with eager hearers. Not only his own parishioners, but many from the surrounding parishes resorted to his ministry. Bracadale became famous as the birthplace of souls, and the memories still floating in the island of the success that attended Mr M'Leod's labours there would fill a volume. His views of the sacraments caused him to delay in some cases the administration of baptism, and this unusual strictness gave rise to com- plaints and appeals to the Presbytery of Skye. His Presbytery had no sympathy with him or his views, and endeavoured to force him into compliance with their own laxcr notions. But standing, as he believed he did, on the firm foundation of God's truth, Mr M'Leod was not the man to be moved from his strong convictions. And so his refusing baptism to a parishioner came up before the General Assembly of 1824 by reference from the Presbyterj'. At three different Assemblies Mr M'Leod's case was under discussion in one form or another. His Presbytery treated him with the utmost harshness, and gave him no rest. They harassed him, at first with threats, then by suspending him from the functions of the ministry for a year, and finally they proceeded against him by libel with the view of deposing him from the ministry. It was to this treatment that Mr (afterwards Lord) Cockburn, who was Mr M'Leod's counsel, referred, when, in an eloquent speech before the Assembly, he lashed the Presbytery of Skye with his powers of ridicule, describing them as a troop of foxhunters, who had not much to occupy them, and who agreed to keep a bagged fox, at which they might have a run when they wanted a hunt. The case was ultimately disposed of in 1827, when the Assembly appointed a committee of its most respected members to make full investigation, and D/SR f T TION won THIES. to report to the House. This committee vindicated Mr M'Leod, and recommended that the suspension be removed, and the Hbel be rejected. The Assembly unanimously adopted their committee's report, and Mr M'Leod was set free, and returned to his home and his flock a happy man. Mr M'Leod continued his ministry in Bracadale till the year 1838, when, on a vacancy occurring in the parish of Snizort, the people peti- tioned the Home Office, praying that Mr M'Leod should be presented to the charge. The application was successful, and he was accordingly translated to Snizort. It was now the period of the " Ten Years' Con- flict," and into that movement Mr M'Leod threw himself with all the ardour of his heart. His sympathies were entirely on the side of the spiritual independence of the Church, and the spiritual rights and privi- leges of the Christian people. The circumstances of the time called for a large amount of extra-parochial duties, and perhaps no man passed through more bodily toil and privation in the service of the Church than Mr M'Leod did on to 1S43. But however excessive his labours may have been before, it was the Disruption in that year that laid on him a burden which demanded all the mental vigour and elasticity, and all the physical strength, with which the Lord had endowed him. The Island of Skye, containing eight ministerial charges, with a population of 20,000 souls, was the field he was called to occupy, and he held it for years single- handed. Of his brethren in the island, none stood by him when the day of trial came, except one who was called to another charge a few months after the Disruption. But it was not only Skye which he had to hold for the Free Church. That portion of the Long Island which extends from Harris to Barra Head, with its population of 16,000 or more, and with only one minister who joined the Free Church, was added to the Presbytery of Skye, and demanded a large share of Mr M'Leod's thoughts and labours. He did not, however, shrink from the work, but courageously and cheerfully set his face to the duties before him. His labours for some years after the Disruption were not exceeded by those REV. RODE HICK M'LEOD. of any minister in the Free Church. It was no uncommon thing with him in those years to preach to congregations on the hillside in the midst of a snow-storm ; and although he felt no injurious effects at the time, privations and continuous exertions, which were far beyond what any ordinary human strength could bear, left their mark upon him. But in the midst of it all no one ever found him desponding. He was always cheerful, and often even playful. By degrees relief came to him, and his labours were lightened. One after another of the island charges was filled up ; and before his removal he saw the whole island supplied with ministers, from Rhu Hunish to the Point of Sleat. Mr M'Leod was married to Miss Anne M'Donald, of Skeabost, in whom he found a partner who sympathised with him in all his labours, and who strengthened him in his various trials. They had a family of thirteen children ; and before it pleased the Lord to visit them with bereavements, the well-ordered and happy household greatly impressed many a visitor to the manse. But one after another they were taken away, until at the time of his own removal, only four remained. His bearing in connection with those family sorrows was very remarkable. He meekly and quietly took all from a Father's hand. Mr M'Leod continued in robust health till he neared the threescore years and ten. But at length the iron frame began to yield. In the year 1864 he had an illness which confined him to the house for several weeks ; but he rallied again, and continued to labour with unabated zeal for some >-cars longer. It may be said of him that he fell in the field ; for it was on returning from South Uist, after several days of preaching, that his last illness came on. He performed this long journey in an open boat, where there was neither shelter nor comfort. Exposure to storm and wet, for a night and a day, left evil effects behind, and his strength I rapidly forsook him. The end was like a summer sunset, calm and I tranquil. There was no ecstacy, and there was no fear ; and without a struggle he passed away. 387 DISRUPTION WORTHIES. It is difficult now to credit the " gross darkness " that covered the population of Skye at the commencement of this century. But a refor- mation period arrived. A tide of religious feeling set in through the island, and the trusted leader of the movement was Roderick M'Leod. No one acquainted with the religious history of Skye can doubt that he was an instrument specially raised up by God to guide and mould the revived spiritual life of the people at that time. But Mr M'Leod was no mere revivalist. He was a man of wide sympathies, who took a deep and intelligent interest in all matters civil and ecclesiastical. In eccle- siastical questions he was always in harmony with the great leaders of the Church. This was true, not only previous to the Disruption, but since that event. When there was an agitation on the subject of Church Unions in the colonies, he strongly advocated the side of union. And when the question of union among the unestablished churches of our own country came on, he entered into it most cordially. It was charac- teristic of him that, when once he took up a position, he was not to be moved from it. And so, on the subject of union, having made up his mind, he never wavered to his dying day in giving it his earnest support. Those who had the privilege of intimate acquaintance with him found him a man of very warm affections, a most congenial companion, and a confiding and steadfast friend, who could be relied on in any emergency. Among his younger brethren, instead of seeking to lord it over them, he often made them feel ashamed by refusing to take the place that they thought belonged to him of right. In their manses none was a greater favourite with the little children. Such a man could not fail to be beloved by the people of his native island, and his sufferings for right- eousness' sake gave him a place in their hearts that no other man has ever had. It will be indeed a degenerate race of Skyemen that will cease to cherish with reverence and love the memory of Mr Roderick M'Leod. J. S. M. lolm ffaitlantr. iT is difficult to convey to a younger generation an adequate idea of the remarkable manner in which Scottish minds, hearts, and consciences were possessed and moved during the Disruption period. Most of those who, at the time, were old enough to understand what was going on, and had already given themselves to the Lord, felt, as by a religious instinct, that the question at issue was a vital one — was in reality and essentially the same question which has been contested on divers fields in all ages of the Church : " Shall the Lord Jesus Christ, or shall He not, rule in and over His own house ?" or, in other words, " Shall any earthly or temporal authority be suffered to interpose between Him and His true church, His body, His bride, His believing people ? " If the religious instincts of one party were clear and unhesitating, there was a corresponding unanimity on the side of their opponents, who, not appreciating the religious aspects of the question, allowed themselves to be swayed by political sentiments, by a constitutional dread of change, and perhaps, too, by an overweening estimate of the importance of State support. In trying to recall that momentous period, we must remember that it had been preceded by, and was in fact the natural outcome of, a remark- able season of religious awakening and revival. Many young persons, just entering on the serious responsibilities of life, had shortly before re- 339 DISRUPTION WORTHIES. ceived a baptism from above ; a constellation of men, so to speak, all bom about the same time in the early years of the century, had risen, specially prepared and fitted to take up and carry forward the ancestral testimony handed down by Knox, Melville, and Henderson, and latterly maintained by Sir Henry Moncreifif, by the elder M'Crie, by Thomson and Chalmers ; and it seemed as if a glorious work was in store for the Church of Scot- land, under the fostering care of a recently reformed, a liberal and paternal government. The cause of Establishments had virtually triumphed, in spite of a formidable assault, conducted with great ability and earnestness for several years by the nonconformists of both England and Scotland, while a scheme of church extension, conceived on the most enlightened principles by Dr Chalmers, was pressed upon the mind of his countrymen with that burning eloquence and enthusiasm which already made him the acknowledged leader of a third Reformation. But this splendid prospect was not to be realised in the manner which man ignorantly anticipated. It was to be learned once more, as events thickened during the " ten years' conflict," that the great Head of the Church had higher and more comprehensive lessons to teach than His servants had imagined. He shewed them that the politicians and legislators of this world will not tolerate that spiritual independence which He claims for His bride, and that State support can be obtained only by her submitting to unwarrant- able limitations of that blood-bought inheritance. The controversy which commenced, as is well known, with the comparatively small question of how the scriptural choice and call of ministers might be reconciled with the law of Patronage, unjustly restored to the statute book by the Act of Queen Anne, raised, in rapid succession, a series of questions still more vital to a church of Christ, until it became too obvious to be doubted, that unless a legislative enactment could be obtained, recognising the claims of the Church in a full and satisfactory manner, no alternative was left to her but to abandon her connection with the State, and trust to the providence of her divine Head, who, having the hearts of men in His JOHN MAITLAND. liand, can incline them to give what is needed of their worldly substance for the maintenance and extension of His own cause and kingdom. The sacrifice was made on the i8th of May 1843, and the greatness of it we can hardly realise. A few considerations may help us to do so in some degree. Chalmers himself, backed by many of those whom he had inspired with his enthusiasm for State endowments and an Estab- lished Church, felt the sacrifice in giving up the splendid purpose so long and ardently cherished, when it could no longer be carried out, without a still greater sacrifice of principle, and without disloyalty to the Lord Jesus Christ ; hundreds of ministers resigned for the same reason their charges, and with their families abandoned, at the call of duty, the pleasant homes in which they had reasonably hoped to spend their lives ; professors had to leave their posts of time-honoured influence in the universities, and to undertake, amid new surroundings, the theological training of students, who in great numbers flocked to them with youthful ardour and confidence ; all the missionaries of the Church cast in their lot with the faithful minority, and, of course, they and their work in foreign parts had to be maintained by contributions from a willing people, already burthened with many anxieties at home ; while parish school- masters— and these the best — whose sympathies were on the same side, justly claimed similar support. In short, the whole machinery of the Church of Scotland needed to be set up afresh, so great was the Disrup- tion in its results, so real and deep-seated were the religious convictions which called for the sacrifice. History can now tell that the demands which all these changes made on the liberality of the faithful people of Scotland, were responded to in a manner so remarkable as to prove emphatically that they too considered the question at issue to be one of vital and religious moment. So indeed it was ; and no lower considera- tions could have sustained the nascent Free Church in the crisis through which she had to pass. The hand of God was visible in the Disruption ; and on looking back, after thirty-three years, the worthies of that eventful DISRUPTION WORTHIES. period are now seen, when most of them are gone to their reward, to have been specially chosen, endowed, and equipped for the work which each had to accomplish. Who that witnessed these men and their arduous labours with a sympathetic interest in the struggling church of his fathers, can ever forget the glad sense of relief, the hopeful enlargement of heart, the gratitude to God which prevailed on every hand, recalling vividly those early pentecostal days which we read of in the second chapter of the Acts. In making these preliminary remarks, we have not lost sight of John Maitland, but have been trying to explain those deep convictions which underlay his quiet energy and zeal, rendering him in great measure the useful man he was in his generation. The fourth son of the late Sir Alexander Gibson Maitland, Baronet, of Clifton Hall, county of Edinburgh, he was born on the 17th of January 1803. We do not possess many particulars of his boyhood and youth, but old surviving friends speak of him as being then the same sensible, well-conducted, and reliable person that he continued to be during his subsequent career. At what period he came under serious and saving impressions is not known ; but he shewed in early manhood what side he had taken, by devoting himself to Sabbath-school teaching and other occupations and duties of like significance. When the time came for choosing a profession, following his own natural bias, he became an accountant in Edinburgh, a calling which he followed on his own account for many years with reputation and success. Latterly he was associated in business with his future brother-in-law, Mr William Wood, C.A., a gentleman of like mind and kindred tastes. Mr Maitland's professional aptitude and benevolence led him at an early period to take a deep interest and a very influential part in the organiza- tion and development of the National Security Savings Bank. We are informed on good authority, that by devising a method whereby all the numerous small accounts of such useful institutions could be brought JOHN MAITLAND. annually to an exact balance, he solved a difficulty which had previously stood in the way of their success, and made the Edinburgh Savings Bank a model for others throughout the country. The institution has now grown to such large dimensions, and its admirable management has been so prolific of good elsewhere, that it would be difficult to over- estimate these early services of Mr Maitland. During the years of public earnestness and anxiety of which we have already spoken, our friend was no idle onlooker ; but like his contemporary and brother-in-law, the late Mr James Hog of Newliston, stood by the Church of Scotland with unwavering firmness in the time of her trials, and when the Disruption came, like him, " turned from the remaining Establishment with the most melancholy aversion." Is it conceivable that either of these earnest calm-thinking men, had they lived to the present day, could possibly have entertained a thought of retracing their steps — even with Patronage abolished — until the General Assembly of the Established Church, which then "bowed in the dust, and echoed the very words of the Civil Courts, declaring the solemn sentences of the Church to be 'null and void,'" had, as a preliminary, acknowledged its unfaithfulness, and endorsed the Claim of Rights presented by the Free Church of Scotland ? From the very first Mr Maitland threw himself with heart and soul into that round of active labour which an event so momentous demanded from all who would help the Free Church in her emergency ; and his business capacity, his soundness of judgment, his social position, made him a most valuable and a trusted coadjutor. He became a deacon in 1843, and in 1846 an elder, in Free St George's, Edinburgh, and being thus in the centre of affairs, was enabled to render much effective service. His professional talents were at all times available ; and no man probably bestowed more earnest and successful thought than he did upon the general Sustentation Fund and other financial departments of the Church. Several able pamphlets, remarkable for clearness, terseness, and pith, did 3E 393 DISRUPTION WORTHIES. a great deal towards enlightening the minds of those who were mainly responsible, and inaugurating those principles of distribution which have rendered the Sustentation Scheme so eminently successful, and made it a model, probably, to other self-supporting churches in the future.* These exertions of Mr Maitland were veiy disinterested in the eyes of those who could duly appreciate them, inasmuch as they partially estranged towards him not a few friends in the upper classes of society, with whom he had been associated by family relationship. In the year 1850, when the public office of accountant to the Court of Session was created, he was nominated by the Crown to fill it ; and the appointment was all the more honourable and gratifying, that it was conferred without solicitation made or influence exerted on his behalf. He filled the position for fifteen years, until the day of his death, and the admirable manner in which the duties were discharged fully justified the confidence reposed in him. His public responsibilities did not preclude the performance, and that very efficiently, of those duties which devolved upon him as a private Christian and an office-bearer in the Church. Although frequently a member of the General Assembly, he was not in the habit of addressing the house, because his inclination, perhaps his talent, did not lead him in that direction ; but a more intelligent, a more shrewd and trustworthy adviser, was not to be easily found, and there was something too in his appearance, in his handsome countenance and aristocratic bearing, which made him a conspicuous member of the court. He was a director of the Commercial Bank and of the North British Insurance Company, both positions indicating unmistakeably the value attached, by competent judges, to his good sense, his knowledge of affairs, * Mr Maitland wrote an admirable tractate, entitled, " A help to Adherents of the Free Church, to decide on principle and for themselves the question, What contribution is equitably due by me to the Sustentation Fund?" It was very useful at the time, and is well worthy of republication. "The Political Economy of the Sabbath" also eng.iged his pen; and a very able anonymous pamphlet, with a clear statement of principles, true for all time, on " Spiritual Independence in its lower or Civil and Ecclesiastical Bearings." JOHN MAITLAND. and his business habits. It would be no easy task to enumerate tiie many other fields of usefulness in which any spare time at his disposal found occupation. One or two may be specially noted — the Home Mission operations of the Free Church, and everything connected with the reparation of those breaches which the shock of the Disruption had occasioned. In the building of churches, of manses, of schools, he took a very warm interest ; and the extent of his contributions in such cases was remarkable, considering his means, and only to be accounted for by the strength of religious principle which animated him, and by the good .scriptural habit, early formed, of setting apart a fixed portion of his income for philanthropic and Christian objects. In this matter he was, so to speak, a reformer before the reformation, — his sagacity shewing him how greatly the pecuniary means needed for the promotion of these great causes would be multiplied, wcvq systematic giving the rule, and not the exception. A few years before his death, Mr Maitland eclipsed all his previous benefactions, by building on a most eligible site, which he had secured in close proximity to the New College, very commodious and handsome premises for the various offices of the Church, including a spacious hall of elegant proportions, worthy of the metropolitan Presbytery. Although the Church handed over to him the former less suitable offices in Frederick Street in part exchange, this munificent gift, erected primarily at his own expense, must have cost him betwixt five and six thousand pounds. The whole Church was thus placed under great obligations to him, and will always associate his memory with that substantial and noble structure. An excellent portrait of the donor, by Mr Norman Macbeth, graces the Presbytery Hall ; and we may here mention that another portrait, in full length, by Sir John Watson Gordon, has been placed in the principal room of the adjoining National Security Savings Bank, as an expression of the value attached to his long services there by the directors of that institution. DISRUPTION WORTHIES. Mr Maitland's last illness was a rapid one, and, as he usually enjoyed good health, and seemed to possess a robust constitution, his death came with sudden and stunning surprise on his numerous friends and the public at large. On Tuesday, 29th August 1865, he attended to his official duties in apparent health. Returning in the afternoon to his residence — that summer at Swinton Bank, near Peebles — he complained of what, for the three following days, appeared to be an influenza cold. On Satur- day, however, this illness assumed a more serious aspect ; and, with occasional interruptions of his consciousness, he sank beneath the attack, and on Wednesday, 6th September, breathed his last. He was buried in the Grange Cemetery, near the grave of Chalmers, by the north wall, where Graham Speirs, Andrew Agnew, Hugh Miller, James Miller, and other good and true men have also found a resting-place. Instead of attempting any summary of our own, it seems fitting to incorporate with this short notice the following tribute to his memory which Principal Candlish, who knew him well, delivered from the pulpit of St George's on the forenoon of ist October 1865 : — " Within the last few weeks death has been very busy among men of mark in our church, and in the Christian community. In quick succession General Anderson, John Maitland, John George Wood, have been taken away from us ; all the three men not to be easily replaced. But chiefly in this congregation we shall long miss our noble brother and friend, Maitland. I cannot trust myself here and now to give expression to my feelings. The news of his decease burst terribly upon me, like a sudden clap of thunder ; and even yet I can scarcely realise the fact that he is gone. To me person- ally it is like a very sore personal bereavement, so highly did I esteem him and so warmly love him. And when I think of his services in every good cause— services unceasing, unselfish, ungrudging; free, generous, simple, and unostentatious, in a manner well-nigh unprecedented ; exemplifying more than ever anywhere else I have witnessed the love and liberality of apostolic times and the pentecostal Christianity, I cannot but lament, though I dare not complain, that. so high a specimen of the character which the gospel is designed to form, should no longer be exhibited before our eyes. But though dead, he yet speaks. His memory will be cherished for many days. And the Lord can raise up others to catch his mantle, to imbibe his spirit, and to follow in his steps." B. B. ^ ip- ---^ ( ANGUS MAKELLAR.D.D ■■^ AXGLS MAKELLAR, D.D. was a revival of the life and power of vital godliness among the people. To this revival Dr Makellar's able and effective preaching, as well as his holy life and his high-toned spirituality of mind, contributed in no ordinary degree. Previous to the passing of the Veto Act in 1834, patrons had come to see that it was their interest, as well as their duty, to give presentations to those who would preach the gospel faithfull)-, and would care more for the spiritual welfare of the flock than for the fleece ; and the people, having begun to taste of the old wine of Reformation theology, refused to receive any longer the new wine of Modcratism. Hence arose, in a great measure, the moral and spiritual change to which we have referred, and which was mainly promoted by the ministers already named, as well as by Dr Makellar, and his much- esteemed friend the Rev. Daniel Wilkie of Yester, whose earnest and happy Christianity told with great power upon all who knew and heard him. It was in the year 1831 that the writer first became acquainted witn Dr Makellar ; and he looks back, with much interest, to the friendship with him which he had ever after the privilege of enjoying, and the many happy days he spent under his hospitable roof Of him it might be truly said, that he " walked within his house with a perfect heart ;" and that what he was, as seen by the outside world, that he was also in his own house at home. When any new phase of the "ten years' conflict" appeared, his like-minded brethren were summoned to Pencaitland ; and most readily did they obey the call, and consult and pray together as to the measures to be adopted for maintaining the Church's independ- ence against the encroachments of the civil courts. To him they all looked up as their leader and counsellor, and they often had cause to admire his remarkable wisdom, his steadfast adherence to principle, and his entire freedom from everything like bitterness, or evil-speaking against those of opposite views. His influence with all classes, and especially with the higher classes, was as great as it was well deserved ; and it was no small trial to him to be compelled to adopt a course which DISRUPTION WORTHIES. they disapproved. But none of these things could move him from his path of duty, or cause him to hesitate or falter in his attachment to the vital principle of Christ's sole Headship over the Church, and her spiritual independence under Him alone, and her right to he free from the coercion and control of civil courts, in conducting her own spiritual affairs. While he and his brethren were resolutely opposed to the abuses of patronage in the Church, yet it was not the mere existence of patronage, but the Church's right to her blood-bought freedom, that, in their opinion, formed the real essence and ground of the controversy. In 1840, the universal esteem and confidence with which Dr Makellar was regarded led to his appointment as moderator of the General Assembly. It was a critical period of the Church's conflict with the civil courts, but he was fully equal to the occasion, and gained the respect of all by his Christian courtesy and gentlemanly deportment, as well as by his indomitable firmness and his steadfast adherence to his cherished principles. As to his conduct on that occasion, and his eminent qualifications for such an important office, we may quote the following passage from a speech of Dr Duff, on proposing him a second time for the moderatorship of the General Assembly. He said : — " His very antagonists eulogised our friend as ' an excellent man, pious and fervent as a Christian, and an honour to the Church to which he belonged.' His election to the chair being carried by a majority, it was unanimously agreed on all hands, alike by friends and foes, that amid scenes, at times the most perplexing, he discharged his official duties throughout with an uncommon mixture of ' firmness, kindness, dignity, impartiality, ability, and fidelity.' To his wise and saintly suggestion in the Assembly of 1842, we are indebted for the very great improvement in conduct- ing our daily devotional services, namely by the introduction of the reading of a portion of Scripture, and the singing of a Psalm. 'Instead,' said he, 'of this being a waste of time, it will, by the blessing of God, save much, and dispose our hearts to the exercise of those feelings of brotherly kindness and mutual forbearance which we might otherwise overlook." To those who enjoyed Dr Makellar's intimate friendship, and partook of his hospitality, this last-mentioned circumstance will seem very charac- teristic of him, and in full harmony with his own invariable custom in the ANGUS MAKELLAR, D.D. Manse. It was his practice, after dinner, to have the Bible produced at liis own table, and to read a portion of it in the hearing of his guests. Nothing could be better fitted to give a right tone to the subsequent conversation, and to maintain the character of a Christian household, which should ever be " sanctified by the Word of God and by prayer." As the day of the Disruption drew near, the writer (who then acted as Clerk of the Presbytery of Haddington) was necessarily much in the society of Dr Makellar, in making arrangements rendered necessary by the immediate prospect of that memorable event ; and in all these it was impossible not to admire his clear and calm judgment, the practical wisdom of his suggestions, and the intelligent and intense interest he manifested in the work of up-building the Free Church in East Lothian. The sacrifice of pecuniary emoluments was the smallest part of the trial to the out-going ministers ; but the quitting of the manse, with its tender associations and memories, the renunciation of worldly position and status, the alienation of some, and the bitter opposition of others, few though they were in most cases — these were extremely painful to a sensitive and honourable mind. But no hesitation was felt by Dr Makellar in making the sacrifice ; and when the day of trial came, he was not found wanting, and he cheerfully obeyed the dictates of his conscience and the demands of Christian principle. At the first meeting of the Free Presbytery of Haddington, held on the 4th June 1843, Dr Makellar was chosen moderator, and "constituted the Presbytery in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ, the only King and Head of His Church." He stated, as the minute bears, that " he had pro cured a large granary, and also a site for a new church at Fountainhall ;' to the mansion-house of which he, in due time, removed his family. He presided also at seven subsequent meetings of Presbytery in July, August, September, October, and November, when his counsels were invaluable in rebuilding the ruined walls of our Jerusalem, and in pro- viding for the due celebration of Christian ordinances throughout the 3F 40. DISRUPTION WORTHIES. county, while he himself " preached in various places by appointment of Presbji:ery." Although those, who resigned their office in large towns and wealthy congregations, rendered most signal services to the Church at this eventful period, yet their labours, and difficulties, and privations, supported as they were by numerous flocks and influential laymen, can scarcely be compared with those of their brethren in country districts, where the chief labour often devolved upon the minister himself, and where the difficulty of obtaining suitable dwellings was often very great. At the meeting of the General Assembly at Glasgow, in October 1843, Dr Makellar was unanimously appointed chairman of the Board of Missions, in room of Mr Alexander Dunlop, who resigned the office, after having for some time ably discharged its important duties. As these duties were "sufficient to occupy his whole time," and rendered it necessary that Dr Makellar should reside in Edinburgh, he was released from his pastoral charge ; and his son, the Rev. William Makellar, was elected and ordained as his successor. Soon afterwards Dr Makellar removed to Edinburgh, and devoted his whole heart and energies to the cause of Missions. At such a time, when all the foreign missionaries of the Establishment declared their adherence to the Free Church, and when so many as between 200 and 300 congregations at home were unsupplied with ministers, it was most important that one possessed of his sagacity, and zeal, and aptitude for business, should be placed at the head of the Mission Board ; and it is well known that his services were of the greatest value in supplying the means of grace at home and abroad, in promoting and fostering a spirit of large-hearted liberality among the people, and in consolidating the extensive operations of the Free Church in so wide a mission field. As to this Dr Duff truly said : — " The addresses which, in this new capacity, Dr Makellar was wont annually to deliver at the opening of subsequent Assemblies can never be forgotten,— addresses abounding with large and comprehensive views of the gospel, as the sole panacea for fallen humanity, in all its endlessly varied developments of corruption, — addresses ANGUS MAKELLAR, D.D. pervaded throughout with the unction of sanctified experience, and redolent with the bahny fragrance of devoted piety." In the year 1852, the General Assembly unanimously called Dr Makellar a second time to preside over their deliberations as Moderator. All who were present at that Assembly cannot but remember the remark- able ability and tact, as well as the urbanity and self-command, which he displayed in difficult circumstances. Painful cases were brought before the Assembly, and there were keen discussions, and considerable differences of opinion, on various subjects, such as the right ordering of the Sustenta- tion Fund ; and great fears were entertained of unpleasant collisions. But, owing in no small degree to the Moderator's wisdom, impartiality, and unfailing courtesy, these fears were happily disappointed. There was, however, one memorable event which occurred at that Assembly, and which greatly rejoiced the heart of the Moderator, viz., the consummation of the Union between the Synod of United Original Seceders and the Free Church of Scotland, warranting as it did the hope that ere long all the dispersed of our Israel would be gathered into one. In reference to this, the words of Dr Makellar, in welcoming Dr M'Crie and his much-esteemed brethren, will be read with interest. He said : — " It is with emotions of gratitude and joy, which no language can adequately express, that you and we are met together on this occasion. It necessarily presses upon our minds the recollection of that period of misrule and oppression when your fathers withdrew from the communion of the Church of Scotland, and entered into a state of separation that has now continued for more than a hundred years. In the recollection of that sad event, it is consoling to know that, though lost to the Estab- lishment, they were not lost to their country, or to the Church of their fathers. On the contrary, they carried with them, into their new position, the love of the truth, as it is in Jesus, that was rooted and grounded in their hearts ; the deep conviction of the independence and spirituality of the Church, without which it is but the contrivance of man, instead of the ordinance of God ; and that faithful ministration of the gospel on which He has promised His effectual blessing. May our union be hallowed with the divine blessing, and may you and we receive grace so to act as that the world shall be constrained to say, ' Behold, how good and how pleasant it is for brethren to dwell together in unity !' and may ours be the earnest of a still more comprehensive union among the Churches of Christ, — the dawn of that blessed day when there shall be nothing to hurt or destroy in all God's holy mountam." DISRUPTION WORTHIES. During the ^oxv remaining years of his life, Dr Makellar did not often appear in public ; but he continued to give his earnest attention to all that pertained to the welfare of Zion, and to manifest a growing interest in the extension of pure and undefiled religion, while his example of faith and love and hope, rendered him still more a living epistle of Christ, known and read of all. By his wise counsels, by his meekness and gentleness, by his humility and charity, by his heavenly temper and conversation, by his large-hearted generosity and numerous benefactions to the worthiest objects, he continued still to flourish like the palm tree, and " brought forth fruit in old age." His latter end was peace and good hope. The Rev. James Dodds, of Dunbar, who frequently visited him on his death-bed, and who was among the last of his brethren that saw him and prayed with him, informs us, that he died as he had lived, in the firm faith of the gospel which he had so earnestly preached, and in the sure hope of the eternal reward. He says, that Dr Makellar was "a really good and kind man ; and as long as I live I can never forget the kindness he shewed to me when I was at Humbie." His kindness to young ministers, as many can testify, was very characteristic of him, and the benefits which he thus conferred cannot be told. But the day will declare it. Dr Makellar died at Edinburgh on the loth of May 1859, having reached the seventy-ninth year of his age ; thus passing away, as a shock of corn fully ripe, to the heavenly garner — "Blessed are the dead who die in the Lord." His devoted partner, who was spared so long to him, died about a month after her husband. " They were lovely and pleasant in their lives ; and in their death they were not divided." It is a cause of regret that no permanent record has been left of his pulpit addresses. Those who heard his able expositions of Scripture, and his full and earnest proclamation of the gospel, cannot but desire that one or more volumes had been published from his manuscripts. J. T. =:^: HUGH MILLER. HUGH MILLER. understand that, as soon as it saw the light, tlie battle between the Church and the State had entered on a new phase. A demand for four editions in as many weeks proved that an ally had joined the Church, which statesmen have often reckoned of small worth for fighting power, till they have discovered by experience the grievousness of their mistake —the public opinion of the most earnest, and not the least enlightened, among the Commons. So long as ministers and lawyers carried on the war, the fight was little more than a distant cannonade from one hill-top to another ; the people in the plains below were not greatly stirred by the noise. But the " Letter to Lord Brougham " was followed by an awaken- ing among the slumbering host ; there was a putting of themselves in array— there was a growing belief that their most cherished rights were at stake. For the letter touched on matters that lay very near to the hearts of all true lovers of Scotland. Never, since the days of John Knox, had there sprung from the ranks of the people a man whose words struck home so thoroughly and so well, with a power of wit and raillery more chastened, but not less biting, than the great Reformer's; with the same command of strong Saxon speech as his ; and with a knowledge of the historical development of his country, creditable to any one, but most honourable in this self-taught stone-mason. The manliness with which he makes his bow to the great la\vyer in the first few lines of the " Letter," displays a writer thoroughly acquainted with his subject, and feeling him- self on the same level as Lord Brougham in the commonwealth of letters. Then, acknowledging that the statesman's high estimate of the political wisdom of Scotchmen is well deserved, he passes at one bound to the unavoidable conclusion that, since their politics are known to have been but an offset from their faith, much greater must be their wisdom in the latter than in the former. Why should they be reckoned unfit to choose their own ministers, if they are entitled to the highest praise for their choice of members of Parliament >. " I am a plain, untaught man," he says, "but the opinions which T hold re-arding the law of patronage are DISRUPTION WORTHIES. those entertained by the great bulk of my countrymen, and entitled, on that account, to some little respect." But plain and untaught though Hugh Miller was, he knew better than a Lord Chancellor that the ground on which had been fought the battles of civil liberty, not in Scotland only, but through it in all Britain, was the right of the Scottish people to choose their own ministers. Tyrants and their slaves had reft that right from them in their times of weakness ; but as soon as they regained lost strength, it was always demanded back. " Liberty of rejection without statement of reasons," in choosing ministers of the gospel, was the small fraction of the greater right put in peril by Lord Brougham's utterances. But the lawyer had gone farther. He " ungenerously insinuated " that the object might be " to reject men too strict in morals, and too diligent in duty, to please our vitiated tastes." Again had the great law Lord laid himself open to a thrust from his antagonist's weapon ; for all history testifies to the fact that this right of the people required of ministers " that they should be no longer immoral or illiterate ;" while " the law, which re-established patronage in Scotland, formed, in its first enactment, no unessential portion of a deep and dangerous conspiracy against the liberties of our country." And with an insight into the future, fully justified by the past, he seems to foresee what was sure to happen. " In all her after conflicts, it was not the Church that yielded to the law, but the law that yielded to the Church ;" while, with the manly freedom of a man whom promises could not bribe, nor threats silence, he winds up the argument with : " We do not think the worse of our Church, my Lord, for her many contests with the law— not a whit the better of her opposers for their having had the law on their side." Hugh Miller has himself described the growth of his mind, from the glimmering dawn of boyhood to the full light of maturity. Here and there he has wrought into the history as much as is worth knowing of the surroundings, which helped to mould his thoughts at each step of their progress, while he climbed the steep path that led him upward HUGH MILLER. from the mason's shed to the editor's room, from the chisel to the pen. More there should scarcely be a wish to know, unless it were given to any one to record the gradual oncoming of that terrible darkness which, for years before his untimely end, haunted his great heart with ever- gathering gloom, till at last, overwhelmed by the blackness, reason in an unhappy moment forgot her right to command. No one can read what he has written of the progress of his mind in strength and knowledge, without feeling that during these sorrowful years, and especially during his last few sorrowful days, he was as busy watching the ebb and flow of thought within him as in earlier times. But it was not ordered that he should narrate, as others have done, his wanderings to the brink of the precipice, and a gracious escape from hurling himself over — trials common to him, with many of the best and brightest of our race. Where others fought and lived, he yielded and died, under the crushing weight of years of sorrow. But though Hugh Miller's own pen has recorded his mental history from boyhood to manhood, it is left to others to assign him his place and to estimate his services in the greatest strife between the spiritual and temporal powers, that has raged within the bounds of the British Empire for almost two hundred years. It was not as a man of science that he figured in the fight ; nor is it as a man of science that he fills a prince's niche in the Free Church temple of fame. Unquestionably the fact, that he was a geologist of the first rank, endeared him the more to his countrymen, and made his contendings known in quarters to which the din of the strife might never have reached ; while it also revealed to the world that the combatants were not impracticable church leaders, or, as it pleased even a peer to assert, a vulgar throng, but men disciplined by science and the business of life. Still, Hugh Miller's place and work in the great battle were unusual. He was not a minister ; he was not even an elder in the Church. " I never signed the Confession of Faith," he wrote in 1839, "but I do more, I believe it." He was the outstanding DISRUPTION WORTHIES. representative of a vast host, who felt that their liberties were invadea and their rights refused by the ruHng classes of the day. By common consent, by an unwritten agreement, Hugh Miller stood before the world as the champion of the people's rights. What he wrote, they read with more eagerness than any speeches delivered in the great battle. What he maintained, they backed him out in, as a fair expression of their wishes. When the oratory of the pulpit or the church court would have failed to awaken an echo in their hearts, his words of fire stirred them to joyous action. He asked what his countrymen felt they needed, and in a way that commended itself for outspoken manliness. " I am one of the people," he wrote, "full of the popular sympathies — it may be of the popular prejudices." What Chalmers was among the ministers of the Church, Hugh Miller was among the laymen, at once an expounder of their rights and a standard-bearer to rally round. That he was neither bigot nor fool, but a man of sterling common sense, was proved in 1874, when the least intelligent on the opposite side of church politics were glad to accept, as their only plank of safety from destruction, what he claimed as the heritage of the whole people, in his " Letter to Lord Brougham," in 1839. Of the fearlessness with which he wrote when truth and right were at stake, both friends and foes were thoroughly aware. What the Regent Morton said of John Knox may with all truth be said of Hugh Miller, " He never feared the face of man." Compared with his country's welfare, everything else was in his eyes lighter than vanity. Whether fighting the great battle of the Church against the State, or demanding for the people, a few years afterwards, the heritage of a truly national system of education, as it was bequeathed to them from their fathers, or with indig- nant scorn branding the depopulators of a great county, in his papers on " Sutherland as it Was and Is," love to his native land breathed from every word he wrote. But it was sometimes expressed in fiercer language than men of a different way of thinking relished. Witness the manly HUGH MILLER. freedom with whicli he handles a Lord Chancellor in his famous " Letter to Lord Brougham," not to mention later outbursts of this inner fire. High-soulcd men respected the striker, even while they sought to moderate his language or to appease his wrath, for they felt that the battles of such a life as the present are not fought with blunted foils. All that was loving and kindly in his heart was stirred to its deepest depths by these good and generous friends. All the soldier-fire of his warrior nature was blown into a fiercer glow by opposition from hirelings, like "the creatures of the proprietor," in "Sutherland as it Was and Is;" so true it is, and so sad withal, that a host of little men have often more power to vex great hearts by petty slights, than noble minds have to soothe them by respectful sympathy. Of the freedom and power with which he hit his adversaries, not a few of them carried through life scars that nothing could efface or heal. His was neither gloved hand nor honeyed tongue. Regret for rashness, into which he was unfairly hurried by wrong reports received from smaller men, it was natural a man of his warmth of heart would not fail to feel and express. But for men who betrayed their trust, or found it convenient to call truth one thing to-day and another thing to-morrow, he had neither regard nor pity. Adherence to principle in his opponents Hugh Miller could and did respect; but "the t\vo Mr Clarks " offered an irresistible chance to a naturalist like him of pinning to his album a specimen of transformation such as even the insect world could barely equal. Even when the dust of battle has long been laid, and slayer with slain are together sleeping in the narrow house, it is difficult for an impartial historian to deny the justice of Hugh Miller's onslaughts and the fairness of his fighting. Others could not wield the weapons he carried, or put on the armour he wore. He struck with a might that seldom needed a second blow to complete the work ; the fallen were crushed beneath a giant's stroke, not half-slain by repeated thrusts from a pigmy's arm. A strong love of truth, combined with an equally strong DISRUPTION WORTHIES. power of expression, makes a man as dangerous a foe to all dalliers with falsehood as Hector found Achilles: Him as the gates of hell my soul abhors, Whose outward speech his secret thought belies. Hugh Miller was not a public speaker. However quick thought may have been with him, language was slow, well weighed, and accurate. The fire, that fiercely blazed in his writings, would have been a feeble flame at the best, or an extinguished spark, on the platform. Even in private his words were few, but they were well ordered. One day he was at dinner with several friends, some of them leading men in the Free Church. Most of the conversation was absorbed for a time by a guest, whose fancy had been excited by a small hand-book on popular science, then recently published. His descriptions were entertaining enough, but they were so full that it was difficult to do more than listen. Hugh Miller had nothing to say. At last the conversation swung into a different channel. Some one told of a yachting voyage in which a young lady and a young gentleman found themselves the only two of nearly the same age in the cabin. What could be expected to result, was asked, but marriage .' "As well think of Adam refusing Eve," was Hugh Miller's comment in reply. When Dr Whewell and Sir David Brewster were waging war with each other on the subject of " More Worlds than One," a friend happened to express to Hugh Miller his feeling of the absurdity of supposing that, because several fixed stars may be immeasurably bigger than our earth, or even than our sun, their bulk should lead us to regard them as the seats of nobler races of beings. "Ay," he said, "it may be comparing Newton with a whale." J.S. ^hiantujr (&avh iHontntl). R ALEXANDER EARLE MONTEITII became a member of the Faculty of Advocates at the period when Moncreifif, Jeffrey, Cockburn, Rutherfurd, and others, shed more than usual lustre on the Scottish Bar. While intimate with these eminent men, he was more closely allied with Shaw-Stewart, Cowan, Speirs, Dunlop, Hamilton, and Mungo Brown. The friendship of this little band manifested the power of Christian companionship for good, — it greatly strengthened the influence they exercised on the Church of which they were members, as well as on general public questions ; — and they maintained to the end of life mutual affection for, and mutual confidence in, one another. Mr Monteith was born in 1793. His father was Mr Robert Monteith of Rochsoles, and his mother a daughter of Captain Earle, an officer in the army. His uncle, Mr Monteith, of Carstairs, was for some time Member of Parliament for Glasgow. He was thirteen years old when his father died, and his mother and family, not long after, came to reside in Edinburgh. In 1814 he was called to the Bar, and pursued his profession with early success. He was a fluent speaker, a man of much information and good judgment, fond of reading and of general literature; and having naturally an amiable disposition and engaging manners, he soon made his way, and his society was vcrj- generally culti- DISRUPTION WORTHIES. vatcd. In 1S3S he was appointed Sheriff of Fife. He had abilities and attainments to qualify him for any position to which, as a member of the Bar, he might have aspired ; but, from whatever cause, he never took the position and practice of a successful leading senior counsel. This would have necessarily led to higher promotion ; and even without it, the Liberal party to which he belonged might, as far as his merits were concerned, have most justly elevated him to a seat on the judicial bench. Mr Monteith faithfully and zealously discharged the duties he owed to the county over which he had been appointed Sheriff. He presided regularly in all his courts, and especially at jury trials, with marked success. He attended the county meetings, where his legal experience was of great value, and where his ability and invariable courtesy secured for his views on public and on local questions the deference to which they were so justly entitled. His courage and firmness in times of excitement and difficulty were conspicuous — they were often referred to by his friends on one special occasion of riot at Dunfermline ; and the instinct with which he took and pursued the right course preserved the peace of his county in times of disturbance and disquiet, from which, during his sheriffship, it as well as other parts of Scotland was not exempt. In several questions of general interest, Mr Monteith gave to the community gratuitously the benefit of his ability and attention. He was a member of the Royal Commission on the Scottish Universities ; and it is understood he wrote the reports on those of Aberdeen and Glasgow. He served also on two other Royal Commissions, the results of whose inquiries were of great value — one on the Forbes Mackenzie Act, for restraining the evils of intemperance, and the need of a remedy, with which he was much impressed ; the other, on Lunacy, and the harsh treatment then too often prevailing in private asylums. He was a member also of the General Prison Board, and took an active share in the management of the General Prison at Perth. The state of ALEXANDER EARLE MOSTEITII. this establishment must have presented to his mind a very gratifying contrast to the condition of matters in 1836, when he and others insti- tuted a society for remedying the evils existing in our county prisons, which were then too truly described as in many respects nurseries for crime. There was a lamentable lack of cleanliness, employment, and moral and religious instruction among the inmates ; and the baneful influences of the older on the less hardened prisoners, between whom there was not much separation, is referred to in one of Miss Graham's " Mystifications" at Tulliallan, when she says of her pretended son, " He was a gude weel-living lad afore ye sent him to bridewell." Mr Mon- teith's able and eloquent speech at the first annual meeting of the Prison Discipline Society in Edinburgh, greatly helped to draw public attention to this subject, and the society did not cease its efforts until these resulted in the present improved condition of all our prisons. Most justly in reference to all these matters did the Fife Commissioners of Supply, at their first meeting after his death, unanimously adopt a minute in very suitable terms expressive of the loss which the county had sustained. The interest which Mr Monteith felt in the Church of Scotland, and his share in its struggles against Moderatism and Erastianism, originated with him, as with many others, in the interest which he was led to take in vital personal religion. In his younger days, with other mem- bers of his family, he was an Episcopalian. He attended Dr Alison's church, and afterwards Bishop Sandford's. The first of his family who adopted evangelical views was his sister, Mrs Stothert of Cargen, who was next to him in age, and he often argued with her about her new opinions. He considered himself abler than she was, yet he felt she had often the best of the argument, for " the secret of the Lord is with them that fear Him," and "through His precepts they get understanding." At this time he went to hear Dr Chalmers. In the sermon now well known, a character was described of great moral excellence, and as he listened, he wished his sister could be present to hear how differently DISRUPTION WORTHIES. Dr Chalmers judged of human nature from the way in which she did. Presently the preacher proceeded to shew, that as rebels might be just and fair in their dealings one with another, while they were traitors to their lawful sovereign, so all he had described might consist with entire alienation of the heart from God, and entire disregard of His authority. This Mr Monteith used to refer to as his first lesson in the doctrine of the depravity of human nature. But Dr Chalmers' sermon seems to have had a wider and a deeper influence — at least it was after it that he began the regular reading of his Bible, writing down as he read what each book or passage seemed to teach, and summing up its doctrines and lessons. In this way he went through the whole of the Scriptures, and came substantially to the views which he ever afterwards held. His practice of studying the word of God is worthy of notice and of imitation. Whenever he was in doubt about anything in doctrine or practice — and the metaphysical character of his mind exposed him not a little to such doubts on religious questions — his habit was to mark down every passage of Scripture which he thought could bear in any way on the subject, and when he had the whole collected together, he read it all over, and saw to what conclusion it appeared to lead. In his religious life, of which this proved the beginning, he used to say he as well as others was greatly helped by Mr Mungo Brown, who married his favourite sister. He left the English Church, attaching himself to the ministry of the Rev. Dr Gordon ; and in process of time he became an elder in the High Church. He visited his district, and dis- charged the other spiritual duties of his eldership, and was year by year returned to the General Assembly, and so came to take an active interest in all the affairs of the Church. On the important questions which then agitated the public mind and occupied the attention of the Church, Mr Monteith formed and main- tained a very clear opinion. He objected to Patronage, not as anti- .scriptural, but as opposed to the principles of the Presbyterian Church ; ALEXANDER EARLE MONTEITH. and among these he very clearly stated, in his speech during a debate in 1842, " Spiritual independence and non-intrusion." With these views, he entertained no doubt as to the right of Chapel ministers to be admitted to the courts of the Church, and as to the right of the Church to inde- pendent jurisdiction in the purely spiritual province. When these rights were assailed by the decisions of the Civil Courts, he disregarded these decisions ; and when, on the other hand, the somewhat insidious com- promise was proposed of giving to Presbyteries the power of judging of the objections of congregations, he foresaw the danger arising in this direction, and denounced it as inconsistent with the rights and liberties of the Christian people. He accordingly, without any hesitation, joined the Free Church in its course in 1843 ; ^"d he took an active and constant interest in all its proceedings. In consultation and in debate, both before and after the Disruption, his legal knowledge, his judgment, and his eloquence, proved of the greatest service. In some of the subjects which occupied the attention of the Church he naturally took a more active part than in others. He supported the proposal of modifying the distribution of the Sustentation Fund, so as to rescue it from the too evident perils of the simple Equal Dividend. He joined in the endeavour which, after a vain but prolonged resistance, was at last successful, for the abolition of tests in the non-theological university professorships, maintaining that the mere subscription of a formula gave no adequate security for religious character, and that a Christian legislature ought not to extend its aim beyond the provision, that nothing contrary to certain truths should be taught from the professorial chairs. On the question of a plurality of colleges, he sided with the late Principal Cunningham and others in favour of one central institution in Edinburgh. The New College, with all its arrangements — first, in the erection of the building so much ad- mired, and then, in the selection of its professors — was a very special object of his interest and care. It was he who, on his own responsibility, DISRUPTION IVORTHIES. and with many an anxious thought, acquired the admirable site on which it and the Free High Church now stand, and for which he knew a sum of ^10,000 must be provided. The marble bust placed in the New College Library is a suitable memorial of his deeply cherished regard for this important Free Church institution. He annually sat in the General Assembly as one of the representatives of the Presbytery of Edinburgh, his last appearance being in 1859, when he opposed the continuance of the Chair of Natural Science. The Assembly in 1861 passed a minute embodying a sincere and universally felt tribute of respect for his memory. In his later years Mr Monteith's health began to give way, under the result of disease of the heart, with which he knew he was aftected. In a journal which he kept he more than once referred to this, and those who were nearest to him and most intimate with him, observed the maturing and ripening for the Master's presence, which is so often noticed in the people of God as they draw towards their end. In his case the end came sooner than his friends expected. He died on 12th January 1861. In a sermon which he preached with reference to the event, the Rev. Dr Rainy, Dr Gordon's successor, alluded to his last visit to him but a few days before. He spoke of Mr Monteith's calmness and humility, and the simplicity of his faith — the secret of which is probably to be found in an extract from his diary, with which this record of his worth may be suitably closed. " O God, give me grace to follow fearlessly wheresoever Thy Spirit leads me, and to listen to the softest whisper of the still small voice, and to carry about with me continually as the oil to feed the divine lamp of my soul, the self-sacrificing love of my dying and risen Saviour." Mr Monteith was twice married, first in 1829 to Miss Emma Clay, and afterwards in 1838 to Frances, daughter of the late General Dunlop of Dunlop, who for many years represented the Stewartry of Kirkcudbright in the House of Commons. He had two daughters, of whom only one now survives. F. B. D. r^s}7.^^'^. vmnvBifwe^- \' ^ I |i Ill fff L REV. S/R HENRY IVELLIVOOD MONCREIFF, BART., D.D. ihc house taking fire, Henry declared that he would carry off the big " Ainsworth " as his special treasure. After leaving the High School, he matriculated as a student of the University of Edinburgh, in 1823. A college friend who was intimately associated with him says that he was distinguished by his close applica- tion to study, and by a steadfast friendliness of character which never gave pain or caused disappointment, and that he was even then conspicuous for his clear intellectual perceptions and his acute reasoning powers. In the year 1826 he left the University and went to Hartley Rectory, Worcestershire, where he was associated with several other pupils under the care of the Rev. Henry James Hastings, for about two years. Mr Hastings was a sterling evangelical clergyman of the school of Venn and Simeon ; and a distinguished scholar of Trinity College, Cambridge. Private tuition was at that time preferred by many to the teaching of the public schools, and the tide of general opinion did not turn into the opposite direction till Dr Arnold had achieved eminence as Head-master of Rugby. Lord Moncreiff accordingly followed the example of other members of the upper classes, and sent his son to Martley Rectory at the critical period of his education. In April, 1827, Mr Moncreiff was matriculated in Oxford as a Gentleman Commoner of New College, and kept the usual residence until 1 83 1, in which year, in Easter term, he took his degree. One of his fellow-students, who has since risen to eminence in Oxford, recalling these old days, says that he was " a quiet, regular student of unblamc- able life, at a time and under circumstances not over-favourable to study, and that he won the regard and respect of his contemporaries in the University as well as within the College." Many of these contem- poraries have passed away, but the chief among those who survive is Mr Gladstone, the present Prime Minister of Great Britain, whose friend- ship with his former fellow-student still continues. Writing to a friend, Mr Gladstone says of Sir Henry : — " When I was an undergraduate at DISRUPTION WORTHIES. Oxford, I had the privilege of his friendship, and we had also many common friends. I therefore knew in what estimation he was held, and I do not think that any young man of his day enjoyed either a warmer or a more unmixed regard. There was not a drawback of any kind to the sentiment. Nor, indeed, could there be. He was more liberal in his political ideas than most of us at that date, but this circumstance cer- tainly offered no impediment to the free course of friendship, warmed by all the qualities of his heart and mind." It was in connection with the Union Debating Society at Oxford, of which Mr Moncreiff was at one time president, and in which he gained a high reputation as a debater, that Mr Gladstone delivered the famous speech against the Grey Government, which brought him under the notice of the Duke of Newcastle, through whose influence he entered Parliament. Mr Mon- creiff was one of those who spoke in opposition, and upheld the tradi- tional politics of his family — politics which Mr Gladstone was aftenvards to maintain and to develop with all the force of his genius. Before Mr Moncreiff left Scotland for Martley, a deep love for the Scottish Church was already rooted in his mind ; and, although his future career was not finally decided on, he was disposed to follow in the foot- steps of his clerical ancestors. The opinions of contemporaries, however, pointed in the direction of the Bar, and for a time this was regarded by them and by himself as his probable destination. But before he left Oxford, circumstances made his path clear in the line of his original inclination, and he decided to qualify himself for the ministry in the Church of his fathers. His after-attachment to its traditions, doctrine, and polity was not weakened by his long residence in a community where the dominant ecclesiastical ideas were different, and though living at Oxford at a time when those forces which developed the Tractarian Movement were already at work, he resisted their seductive influence and continued loyal to the Presbyterianism and Calvinism of the Church of Scotland. Possibilities of advancement, such as he could not find else- REV. SIR HENRY WELLWOOD MONCREIFF, BART., D.D. where, were within his reach in the Church of England through his own talents, and the influence of his maternal relative, the Archbishop of Canterbury, and the fact that he turned aside from them for the sake of the modest prospects of a Scotch minister, was a strong testimony to the depth and intensity of his convictions. After leaving Oxford in 1831, he returned to Edinburgh, and re- entered the University. At the close of the usual course of theological study, he was duly licensed to preach the Gospel, and in 1835 he received and accepted a call to the parish of Baldernock, where he was ordained in January of the following j-ear. His ministry there lasted less than two years, as he was translated to East Kilbride in November 1837. The Church soon afterwards came into the midst of the controversies which led to the Disruption, and though the minister of Kilbride abstained from taking a prominent part in them, he watched their progress with keen interest. His sympathies, however, were expressed on many occasions, and in particular in a letter to Lord Melbourne, published in 1 84 1, in which he defended his grandfather from a charge of having been unfriendly, or at least indifferent, to some of the great principles involved in the controversy between the two parties in the Church, and conclusively proved that the imputation was founded on a mis- understanding of Sir Henry's real position, and a misinterpretation of what he had written in the Appendix to his Life of Dr Erskine. In 1843 men's sympathies were tested by acts, and Mr Moncreiff at the call of duty abandoned the Establishment and allied himself with the fortunes of Evangelicalism. A congregation rallied round him, and was organised ; and in due time a suitable place of worship and a manse were erected in connection with the Free Church. A co-presbyter, who was well acquainted with the events of that period, gives an interesting account of the Kilbride ministr)-, which he characterises as " earnest, laborious, and successful." " After Sir Henry had left the Establishment," says the same authority, " he continued to DISR UP TION 1 1 -OR THIES. retain the respect of all classes in the parish." Sir William Maxwell, of Calderwood Castle, was his near neighbour, and Sir Henry and his lady often visited him. On one occasion he dined at the Castle, along with the Established Presbytery, after the examination of Sir William's school. The co-presbyter above referred to tells the following amus- ing anecdote : — " The examination having been protracted beyond the time fixed for its termination, the Presbytery were late in arriv- ing at the castle, where Lady Maxwell and two friends — a military officer and an English rector — were awaiting them. Very soon after they had entered the drawing-room, and before the strangers could be intro- duced to the ministers, the bell summoned the party to dinner. At the table Sir Henry was seated beside the clergyman. He, genial and affable, in the course of conversation, remarked, ' I find from my letters this morning that Bishop Stanley is dead,' adding, ' But likely you do not feel interested in our bishops.' ' Oh,' replied his neighbour, ' I am concerned to hear of Bishop Stanley's death. He was at Alderly when I was in that quarter, just before going to Oxford.' The Englishman re- joined, ' Did you study at Oxford ? Then you will feel an interest in the affairs of our Church.' ' Oh yes,' was the reply ; ' and I learn what is going on with you from my brother, who is rector at Tattenhall in Cheshire.' " By-and-by, the conversation somehow turned to Bishop Turner, of Calcutta ; and the two friends differed in their opinion about the matter under discussion. The rector, appealing to the Presbyterian, said, 'You will allow, I am sure, that I, as a clergyman of the Church of England, am likely to be better informed than yourself on this subject' ' I can hardly allow that,' was the answer ; ' for Bishop Turner was my uncle.' ' Bishop Turner your uncle ! ' exclaimed the rector ; ' then the Archbishop of Canterbury is your uncle ! ' ' Yes, he is,' was the Free Church minister's reply. " When the gentlemen returned to the drawing-room, the evening was far advanced, and very soon afterwards Sir Henry said to his stranger REV. SIR HENRY IVELLIVOOD MONCREIFF, BART., D.D. friend, ' I shall bid you Good night, as I have to go home.' The rector replied, ' I am sorry you have to go ; I suppose you live in the neigh- bourhood ? ' ' Oh yes ; my house is at hand,' was the reply. ' Well,' said the clergyman, ' I am sorry you must go, as I v/as wishing to have had some conversation with you about the Free Church. I suppose you are not much bothered with it here.' Sir Henrj', somewhat taken aback, slowly replied, ' Oh— well— I am the Free Church minister.' But the Episcopalian, proving equal to the occasion, rejoined, ' Oh, you are not troubled about the incotne ; you have a Sustentation Fund which answers its purpose well.' ' Yes,' he replied, smiling ; ' but I was going to observe that I was formerly the parish minister here, and that gentleman over there was my missionary, or, as you would say, curate; and when I gave up the living he was appointed to it. Good evening.' " Lord Moncreiff having died in 1851, his son succeeded to the baronetcy. In the following year he accepted a call to St Cuthbert's, Edinburgh, and thus became, in a Free Church sense, the successor of his grandfather, the minister of St Cuthbert's parish. While throw- ing himself heartily into all the work of his new charge, he mani- fested a special interest in its mission operations and in the intellectual welfare of its young men. The Literaiy Association connected with the church being composed of the older as well as the younger members of the congregation, happily combined the vivacity of the one with the gravity of the other. In the period with which the writer is acquainted. Sir Henry was the most active member of the Society, and his presence at its meetings gave them a peculiar charm. One did not know whether to admire more, his kind but discriminating criticisms of youthful essayists, or the amiability with which he accepted juvenile criticism of his own wise and thoughtful papers. After labouring in St Cuthbert's for about twenty years, Sir Henry obtained the help of a colleague in 1872. The necessity for this assistance, however, did not arise from failing health or strength, but from DISRUPTION WORTHIES. the fact that his public ecclesiastical work demanded a large amount of his time. It was impossible that one who felt so deep an interest in his Church, and who was so richly endowed with spiritual and intellectual gifts, could escape the responsibilities and burdens of ecclesiastical leadership. This office gradually devolved on Sir Henry, not as an honour which he coveted, but rather as a duty which he could not decline. His hereditary and acquired talents marked him out as the Jurist of the Church, and when one of the principal Clerkships became vacant by the death of Mr Pitcairn, he was chosen as his successor. All who have been in the habit of attending the meetings of the Supreme Court know how much he has contributed to their dignity and order. His unfailing courtesy, his avoidance of dogmatism, his remarkable fairness, his skill in extricating a question and showing its real state, account for the fact that his decisions are received with the utmost deference, and arc rarely disputed. Sir Henry excels as a debater. Scrupulously just to opponents, he treats their arguments with respect, neither dismissing them scornfully nor criticising them with undue severity. He calmly reasons out his own views without appealing to passion or prejudice, and as he never employs sophism, it is difficult to evade his conclusions if his premisses be admitted. If his reasonings should fail to convince opponents, they do not irritate them, and if he has sometimes lost a cause, it is almost certain that his conduct of an argument has never been the occasion of his losing a friend or creating an enemy. Although so skilful as a controversialist. Sir Henry is not eager to rush into debate. Being by nature more of a judge than an advocate, he is slow to range himself on one side of a disputed question, and keeps his mind long in an inquiring attitude. On this account his utterances in the earlier stages of a controversy are sometimes of a tentative character, but the process of crystallisation soon sets in, and the opinions which were held in solution in his mind become definite in their form. REr. SIR HENRy WELLIVOOD MONCREIFF, DART., D.D. The position which he has taken up in the ecclesiastical debates of recent years has allied him now with the more Liberal, and now with the more Conservative side of Church politics. He was a warm advocate of the proposed Union between the Free and United Presbyterian Churches, and took a leading part in the negotiations which resulted in the union of the Free Church with the Reformed Presbyterian Church in 1876- Being Convener of the Assembly's Committee at the time the union was effected, it devolved on him to make all the necessary arrange- ments for carrying it out, and it was largely owing to his tact and skill that the ceremonies were conducted in a manner so orderly, dignified, and impressive, that they can never be forgotten by those who witnessed them. Sir Henry's attitude in late doctrinal discussions in the Church has been conservative, and on the Disestablishment question he occupies a middle position. For many years Sir Hcnrj- has made a diligent use of his pen. Most of his writings have been designed to serve an immediate end by enlightening public opinion in regard to the Church, or by directing and moulding opinion within the Church itself. Some of them, however, have permanent value, as his " Vindication of the Free Church Claim of Right ; " the " Manual of Procedure," which is usually quoted as his, though nominally drawn up by a Committee under his superintendence ; and his masterly letter to the Duke of Argyll on " The Identity of the Free Church Claim from 1838 till 1875," in which he proved with consummate ability that the Free Church had not departed from the position of the leaders of 1842, and that the Patronage Act of 1874 had not conceded to the Establishment all that was asked for in 1843. It is expected that Sir Henry's forthcoming " Chalmers Lectures on Free Church Principles " will form a standard work on the subject. Many years have passed since the University of Edinburgh testified its appreciation of his theological learning by conferring on him the DISRUPTION WORTHIES. degree of Doctor of Divinity. The Free Church has few honours to give, else it would gladly bestow them. The one dignity it has in its gift it conferred on Sir Henry in 187 1 by appointing him Moderator of the General Assembly. There are no bishops in a Presbyterian Church, but there are men whose experience and wisdom, as well as their known interest in all that concerns the welfare of their Church, place them in an almost Episcopal position. Individual ministers from all parts of the country consult them on matters affecting their congregations and presbyteries ; the Church expects them to take the lead in her Superior Courts, and to stand by the helm in times of crisis, and when they speak on public questions they are regarded as representatives. Episcopal functions of this character Sir Henry has long discharged. He has been a " great part " of the history of the Free Church of Scotland for many years. Intimately associated with the great ecclesiastical leaders of the past, and inheriting their responsibilities and influence, one cannot but pray that he may be long spared to his Church, to guide her in times of difficulty, and to be the Nestor of her Council Chamber. T. C. Kobrt ^anl OBERT PAUL was born at Edinburgh on 15th May 1788. His father, the Rev. WiUiam Paul, was Colleague of Sir Henry Moncreiff in the pastorate of the West Kirk, and in 17S0 married Miss Susan Moncreiff, Sir Henry's sister. His ministry was brief, but in a marked degree useful ; his views of Divine truth being evangelical, and his preaching, in these dark times, attractive to a very large and earnest con- gregation. At the time of his father's death, Robert was only fourteen years of age ; and although he dated the commencement of his religious life somewhat later than this, he was even then singularly thoughtful and mature, taking his part in the direction of household affairs, guiding the studies of the younger children, conducting family worship, and engaging at his spare moments in works of benevolence. Having completed his High School and University curriculum, he commenced business life, and entered the Commercial Bank in one of its subordinate appointments, from which, by rapid strides, he rose to be its Manager, which office he held until 1853, when he retired from the arduous position, but became one of the Bank Directors. He married, in 1814, Miss Charlotte Erskine of Aberdona — a union which endured, and was characterised by a very tender affection, until 1847, when he was left a widower. In a letter addressed to a friend in 1862, Mr Paul said : "It is the DISRUPTION WORTHIES. vcr)- busy men who find time for everything, not your leisurely men who sit with their feet on the fender and read newspapers." This remark found a striking illustration in himself. Placed at the head of a great public Company whose interests required constant thought and watch- fulness, and whose demands upon his time were incessant, he found, or made, leisure for added work of the most multifarious kinds. His experience, sagacity, and readiness to help, led to his being appealed to for counsel and for aid in connection with matters political, benevolent, and religious. Never a keen party man in State politics, he threw himself into such movements as those connected with Slavery and the Test and Corporation Acts, his sympathies with everything that advanced the cause of freedom leading him to associate himself in these and other questions with the Liberal party. But his available leisure and strength were reserved for Church matters. Hereditarily attached to evangelical opinion as regarded both doctrine and discipline, he had carefully formed his own judgments regarding these matters ; and then with characteristic energy he threw himself into the current of affairs which deepened in interest and im- portance until the Church threw off its State connection in 1S43. Along with the wonderful roll of men who clung to her in her day of trouble, he became one of the Disruption Worthies. He had a striking and memorable way of expressing himself in connection with matters in which his affections were deeply engaged. It was in the view of the Disruption that, in speaking at a congregational meeting of the necessary breaking up of a Missionary Association which had done good service, he said, " I consent to its dissolution vcr}' much as I consent to my own — in the hope of a better resurrection." His mental and physical activities were at their best in these memor- able times. He had no misgivings as to the course pursued by the Church, or as to her future. He was emphatically a man of faith and prayer, and, as those who knew him best will remember, used to accept ROBERT PAUL. the promises of Scripture with a singularly natural and childlike trust. On 3d June 1843, writing to a distance of the great events of the past weeks, he says, " God will overrule all for His own glory in the advance- ment of His spiritual church and kingdom." Mr Paul was ordained an Elder of the West Kirk by Sir Henry Moncreifif in 1816; and it was not until after the Disruption that he became an Elder of St George's. His admiration of the unrivalled preaching of Dr Candlish, between whom and himself a very true and tender friendship existed, was great. To a friend he wrote in 1864, when Dr Candlish preached the last of his sermons on the First Epistle of John, " A magnificent sermon as he closed his long series of discourses on First John, the text being, 'This is the true God, and (the) eternal life.' I wish I could give you a notion of its aim and scope, and some of its noble passages." His discharge of all his congregational duties in the midst of his burdened life throughout the week, are examples and encouragements to the hardest worked men of business to give some of their time and strength to the service of the Lord. While interesting himself in all the needful administrative arrange- ments consequent on the Church's new condition, he specially identified himself with matters affecting the Theological College and Library and the Educational Schemes of the Free Church generally, associated in these great questions with his much-loved friend Dr David Welsh. The General Assembly of each year brought round a time which he much enjoyed. His wide acquaintance with Ministers and Elders in all parts of Scotland led him to open his house, with even more than its wonted hospitality, to the members who came up to this great annual gathering. In Assembly business he was constantly consulted, his judgment being felt to be of the highest value in delicate and difficult questions. His bright cheerfulness of spirit, his ready sympathy with those in doubt, and his plca.sant jest as things seemed to be taking a warm or excited DISRUPTION WORTHIES. turn, were of the utmost service in the Church's Business Committee. And in the Assembly itself, although — owing to a somewhat feeble voice — not a powerful speaker, his presence on the platform elicited an imme- diate call for silence ; and his words, always delivered with clearness of expression and earnestness of purpose, were listened to with marked respect. In his latest days the work in which he was most deeply interested was the formation of a Society for aiding the education and business training of the sons and daughters of Ministers and Missionaries of the Free Church ; in the originating of which the writer of this notice had the happiness of being associated with him. It was a movement much after his own heart, and he worked at it with marvellous energy. Among the many benevolent institutions in whose welfare he was interested, and in the management of which he took part, was the Orphan Hospital. From a very early period of life he was one of its Managers, and contributed by his wise and practical help to lay the foundations of the admirable system under which it has become a model institution. Mr Paul was a man of quite unique character. Having received a liberal education, he followed it up by varied reading and careful reflection. His constant use of his Bible made him one of the most completely furnished of Scripture students. It was an exercise at once intellectually and spiritually refreshing to hear him expound the Word, and illustrate it by comparisons of passages and texts. He was singularly thoughtful, with perhaps an over-fastidious taste, and with a tendency — sometimes too pronounced — to dwell upon fine distinction.s. These features of mind revealed themselves not only in conversation, but in his writings, which were the product of an original and cultivated mind, and were marked by great elegance and grace of diction. His Memoir of the Rev. James Martin, who succeeded Dr Andrew Thomson as Minister of St George's, and his many contributions to the periodical publications of ROBERT PA UL. tlie day, abundantly illustrate his literary power. As a letter writer he was quite remarkable, having a singular gift of selecting topics congenial to his correspondent, and communicating them with the most graphic description and with exquisite touches of humour or pathos, as the subject demanded. In social intercourse he was a charming companion. Full of anecdote of the best kind, told in the best way, he at once instructed and amused. From the seniors of the party with whom he was holding grave discussions of Church questions and principles, he turned with perfect naturalness to the more youthful, and with some kindly jest drew them into conversa- tion ; they in their turn easily attracting him to join in their games, or to tell them once again some familiar story associated in their minds with former visits from their old friend. His villa of Kirkland Lodge, near Edinburgh, was the rendezvous of the choicest men, clerical and lay, of his acquaintance ; and there on the bowling-green, with its grand view of the Pentlands and the intervening valley, he presided over hard-contested games ; and with alternating con- versation on high themes, or ready quotation applicable to some passing incident, or boy-like rush after the ball that threatened to dispute his own or his partner's claim to be victor, he kept the scene full of the purest and most joyous life. The happy party around his table afterwards, and the closing " worship " ere the guests dispersed, are memories that refuse to leave us. But the outward man began to perish Marly in 1865 he wrote to a friend : " The springs of life are gradually weakening, I am verj- conscious ; ... yet the remembering and thinking powers are in great, I had almost said in terrible, force, concentrated on fewer subjects, but on these intensely." In April 1866 the process of physical decline was accelerated, but the mind and heart were as fresh as ever. ' Though grave and more silent than formerly, I am not downhearted, and very far from joyless. Indeed I have sometimes wonderful gleams. Conflicts, DISRUPTION WORTHIES. no doubt often betwixt flesh and spirit, yet I do feel that the blessed hope is burning brighter every day." And yet again on 22d May, within two months of his death : ''This day the General Assembly meets, and it does seem a strange thing, that instead of being there in the thick of it, I should be here reposing in quiet and comparative solitude." Still he carried on his reading and writing, received his friends, and continued to hold his Sabbath evening meetings in the carpenter's shop at the gate, or under his own roof, at Kirkland, and with rare taste and spiritual fervour "opened the Scriptures" to the gathered cottars and servants. To his greatly loved friend Lord Cowan, who saw him a few days before his death as he sat on the lawn in the bright sunshine, and who asked him as to his feelings in view of his approaching departure, he replied, looking up into the blue sky, " I feel, my dear friend, as if my true life were just about to begin." On the night before he passed away — a calm and quiet Sabbath evening — he was carried in his chair to be present at the meeting, which was that night held under Kirkland roof, and the services of which were conducted by his friend the Rev. J. H. Wilson of the Barclay Church. When Mr Wilson reminded him of the Saviour's legacy, he replied, "Yes! I have no terror, but a solid, substantial, abiding peace." The service was closed by singing the twenty-third Psalm. "And so, nith soothed, confiding heart, And cheering smiles of peace, He hasted through the shadow dark Unto the bright release ! " Within a few hours — in the early morning of i6th July 1866 — he had " departed out of this world unto the Father," — which he was wont to call " the grandest definition of the death of a believer." D. M. ■^^ REV, THOMAS PITCAIRN.^ I i F REV. THOMAS PITCAIRN. brctliren. In 1837, he was chosen to he Clerk to the Synod of Lothian and Tweeddale. Then came on the days of trial to the Church of Scotland, when the Government refused to acknowledge her right to spiritual independence. When matters had come to a point, the memorable Convocation was held at Edinburgh, 17th November 1842, at which were present, from all quarters of Scotland, those ministers who saw that now they must look forward to a Disruption, since their liberties were invaded. Above four hundred and fifty were present ; they met in Roxburgh Church. Dr Chalmers was called to preside, and after the proceedings had been opened by prayer, the first step was to choose a clerk. Unanimously, Mr Pitcairn was fixed upon. When, next year, the Disruption did take place, with the same unanimity Mr Pitcairn was chosen, along with Dr Clason of Edinburgh, to the Clerkship of the Free Church General Assembly. And all the brethren who remember him will testify to the fidelity, sagacity, and skill, which characterised his discharge of duty. Unobtrusive, yet ready to act, with a remarkable command of temper, always courteous and obliging, he evidently had special qualities for that office. Methodical and correct, possessed of firmness, with great equanimity of spirit, he was able to go through perplexing business unruffled ; and often did his brethren remark to each other the masterly manner in which he was able to minute the pro- ceedings of the Assembly. He was thus able to render invaluable service to the Church at that important juncture. In the year of the Disruption, those of the people of Cockpen who left the Established Church with him built for him a church at Bonnyrig, in the same parish. There he ministered to the day of his death. He was conscientiously regular in his visits to his flock ; took much interest in the young ; and was ever ready to attend a call of sickness or distress. At the same time, he gave his labours cheerfully to several stations in the neighbourhood, then in their infancy, and held most brotherly intercourse with his co-presbyters. They used to speak of his coming DISRUPTION WORTHIES. in among them at a meeting as bringing sunshine, there was so much of radiant benevolence in his broad countenance. In 1854, near the beginning of the year, he was suddenly seized with what proved a fatal illness. It lasted many months. He had been a man of robust health, accustomed to the activities of life ; yet when laid on his sickbed, and called to endure a long and painful illness, was upheld in patience and cheerfulness. Even then he undertook a public duty ; for the General Assembly having agreed to send a Pastoral Letter to their people in regard to the calamities of pestilence and war, at that time visiting the nations of Europe, he drew up the letter on his sickbed. " From week to week," says his brother, " I found him enjoying that true rest that can come only from the Blood of the Cross." One day his friend, Mr James Crawford, had come to see him. Mr Crawford in conversing with him had said that there was a grace of the Spirit which he would be enabled to manifest now in a new manner, viz., that of being "patient in tribulation" (Rom. xii. 12.) Mr Pitcairn very pleasantly replied, " But see, Crawford, what is on each side of the ' patience.' On the one side is, ' rejoicing in hope,' and on the other, ' continuing instant in prayer.' I must have these also, for ' patience' is between them." He fell asleep on 21st December 1854. When the Commission of the Free Church Assembly met in March following, in referring to the great loss they had sustained by his death, they record "the affectionate respect entertained for their departed brother;" and they add their conviction, " that, in no small measure, the Free Church has been indebted to him for much of what is good in the tone and character of the proceedings of her supreme court, and in the general conduct of her ecclesiastical affairs." In 1836, he was married to Miss Trotter of Broomhouse, Berwick- shire. She died in 1862. He left an only son, Alexander Young Pitcairn, VV.S., Edinburgh. He is buried in the Grange Cemetery, Edinburgh, in hope of the Resurrection of the Just and the Crown of Life. A. A. B. 7 ROBERT RAINY, D.D. survived almost all his contemporaries, and saw the boy whose career he had long affectionately watched established in a succession of the highest usefulness. During the interval between Dr Candlish's death in 1873, and his own, Dr Buchanan, one of the wisest administrators that Scotland has ever seen, was also the most trusted guide whom the Free Church possessed. But those who watched him narrowly knew that his physical strength was failing, and it was touching to see how now, even more than in previous years, he took every opportunity ot devolving upon the Edinburgh Professor of Church History the harder questions with regard to which the General Assembly looked to himself for counsel. The man, however, whose influence has been most visibly traceable in Dr Rainy's work hitherto is Dr William Cunningham. Rainy is said to have been declared by him his favourite pupil ; and on the death of Dr Robert Gordon, while the three New College professors who sat in that session, Dr Cunningham, Dr James Buchanan, and Dr Banncrman, united in ardently recommending the minister of Huntly as the best successor, Dr Cunningham took the leading part in the transaction. Hence a renewal of the old connection between them, confirmed by association in public matters, for it was in support of Mr Rainy's motion on the Victoria Union that Dr Cunningham made his last, and as Dr Candlish used always to declare, his greatest speech. The relation lasted until the young minister was called to warn the out-wearied master of theology that he had but a few hours to live, and to receive and record his latest expressions of personal trust in Christ. Nor was even this the close of the connection between them. Dr Rainy was at once elected Dr Cunningham's successor in the Chair of Church History, and in the year 1 871 he completed and published the life of his illustrious predecessor. This work, from the eighteenth chapter on " The Church and Public Questions " onwards, is an analysis and record of the new . problems into which the Disestablished Church necessarily drifted, and a DISRUPTION WORTHIES. powerful vindication of Dr Cunningham's application of the old principles to the new facts. It will be invaluable in future as a piece of philosophi- cal history, written almost contemporaneously, and although the exposi- tion of the line taken by the Free Church under Dr Cunningham's guidance is strictly confined to the questions which emerged before his death, it is evident that, in the view of his biographer, its history, since that date, amid still newer facts, has been a prolongation of the same course under the same principles. But Dr Cunningham's principles are not the only things which Dr Rainy is alleged to have inherited. A good deal in his mental habit and manner, especially as these come out in debate, are plainly derived from the same source. There are in his speak- ing a curtness and drjmess, a love of abstract statement, and an abstinence from popular illustration, all of which seem to be the fruit of admiring imitation. And there are some results more advantageous. An English Quarterly traces, in part at least, to the same source, "the somewhat scornful candour with which Dr Rainy declines to snatch a cheap or premature victory, and among a nation of ' dogmatical word-warriors,' tosses aside even legitimate advantages in debate. You are pretty sure to hear him state the case for the men on the opposite side more power- fully and persuasively than they themselves will do it ; and if he chooses to attempt an answer he is quite certain to give one, not barely conclusive, but with a broad margin of reason over what is technically necessary." This is Dr Cunningham all over ; but the same paper goes on to state a contrast in rme point between the mental tendencies of the two men. " Cunningham's mind was logical and doctrinal, and loved to deal simply with the status qii(Bstio7iis. Rainy's is historical and formative, and moves in the region of dynamics. The latter is of course the proper temperament for a statesman. Hence, however, a mental circumspection and roundaboutness, as of one instinctively providing for future develop- ments and possibilities, which spread a haze and film over his speeches. But hence, also, a most instructive originality, partly impressing you in Roni-RT RAjyy. d.d. the uncommon use ol common words, which so used become loaded with meaning, and partly in the careless rough-hewing of the whole idea as the speech goes on. And beneath both there is a certain moral thoughtfulness and conscientiousness even of the intellect, which makes each exposition rich and strengthening, even to those who care nothing for the subject. All this, under a youthful appearance and a statuesque coolness and self-repression, against which the Celtic fire within heaves in vain." * But the Disruption Father whose connection with Principal Rainy became most intimate and affectionate was unquestionably Dr Candlish. On two most important occasions in the later history of the Church, Dr Candlish, after giving notice to the Assembly of the motion he was to propose, devolved it at the shortest notice upon his young brother. The first of these was the Glasgow Students' case in 1859, when a maiden Assembly speech of extraordinary power from Mr Rainy practically settled that grave and difficult question. The second was in 1867, when, after the Union question had gone on for five years, Dr Rainy, "speaking for the first time in any Church Court on this subject," accepted and enforced the view which Dr Candlish had from 1863 expounded and urged. Henceforth the two men, the older and younger, were associated on this subject as on others till its close. It was Dr Robert Buchanan and Dr Robert Rainy (as the former of the two told the writer), who, on the afternoon of 28th May, 1873, went down from the Assembly to Dr Robert Candlish's house, and finding that the latter had gone to bed, after having that forenoon tabled what he intended as an ultimatum on the Mutual Eligibility question, wakened him, and suggested to him yet another modification. Dr. Candlish, not without difficulty, consented to propose this in the evening, and the instantaneous acceptance of it is understood to have prevented a •The British Quarterly Review. July, 1872. P. 134. On the "Ecclesiastical Tournament" between Dean Stanley and Dr Rainy. DISRUPTION WORTHIES. secession which would otherwise that night have taken place. Next day Dr CandHsh took leave of this great question by placing on the records of the Assembly his view of the duty of the Free Church to it ; and henceforth he took no more to do with general Church matters. But from this till his death, the relation of Dr Rainy to him and his congregation, as " a son with him in the Gospel," was closer than before — a relation only closed by his receiving from Dr Candlish on his death-bed a last legacy of counsel and confidence. But Principal Rainy has already had great tasks laid upon him other than those which he wrought out in the General Assembly and in conjunction with older men. We cannot pass over his pulpit work. He never was a popular preacher, so as to attract Edinburgh men generally to his High Church congregation ; yet some who were members of it, looking back, hold that all his subsequent public and Assembly work has not as yet fulfilled the promise of a preaching in which great masses of truth were made one by being viewed from the centre of things. For them at least his future holds more than his past, while even of his past public work, that part appears to them highest which appeals most directly to conscience and faith, dealing with great principles of Church life rather than with its details. Three important publications may be mentioned as falling under this description. The first and most massive was the Cunningham Lectures for 1873, which, under the indistinct title of the " Delivery and Development of Doctrine," treat, with extraordinary power, of the two great subjects of Divine Revelation (the " delivery " of doctrine to men in Scripture), and human Theology or creed (the "development" of doctrine by men from Scripture). The volume has been described as a magazine of important principles to which churchmen in Scotland will have occasion to recur every six months for a generation. This gift of opportune wisdom shown by Principal Rainy in laying down in the present the general principles which have to be applied to the most difficult questions in ROBERI RAJNY, D.D. the immediate future, even while he postpones applying them as long as possible, came out still more clearly in another publication. In the spring of 1878, he was engaged to deliver four lectures in London, on a subject not yet fixed, while at the same time his individual course at the approaching General Assembly, on the case of Professor Robertson Smith, was looked forward to with great interest and doubt. He at once chose as his subject what is expressed in the title, " The Bible and Criticism," and before the meeting of Assembly he had published a small volume, in which he faced the whole general question of the necessity and legitimacy of criticism in reference to Scripture and the books of Scripture. But perhaps his most public and conspicuous service hitherto was his answer to Dean Stanley. In January, 1872, the Dean of Westminster came down to Scotland, and in four charming lectures, ostensibly devoted to the history and defence of our Established Church, attacked most skilfully the deeper doctrinal and historical principles of Presbyterian ism. Scarcely had his challenging voice died away when the trumpet of an opponent sounded in the lists. In three lectures in the same Music Hall, Dr Rainy passed over the same ground, and by the time the last was delivered, the immediate influence of Dean Stanley's bold move was far more than neutralised. But Principal Rainy's three lectures will be often re-read and republished in Scotland ; occasional as they were, they are already recognised as the best defence of the Presbyterian and Scottish system which this century has produced. "Yes," he exclaims, " Presbyterianism is a .system for a free people that love a regulated, a self-regulating freedom ; a people independent, yet patient, considerate, trusting much to the processes of discussion and consultation, and more to the promised aid of a much-forgiving and a watchful Lord. It is a system for strong Churches— Churches that are not afraid to let their matters see the light of day— to let their weakest parts and their worst defects be canvassed before all men that they may be mended. It is a system DISRUPTION WORTHIES. foi believing Churches, that are not ashamed or afraid to cherish a high ideal, and to speak of lofty aims, and to work for long and far results, amid all the discouragements arising from sin and folly in their own ranks and around them. It is a system for catholic Christians, who wish not merely to cherish private idiosyncrasies, but to feel them- selves identified with the common cause, while they cleave directly to Him whose cause it is." And in a concluding and very characteristic passage he indicates that the same principles which strove and conquered in the past must work among us still. "We have to deal with the present, not according to past convictions, but according to present convictions ; not according to the beliefs of our fathers, but according to our own ; we have to convey, in so far as we represent the Church, the message and the influence which Christ's Church ought to convey to the men of our time, who inherit the past and are looking forward to the future. For that we would be free of every bond except the regard we owe to Christ's word, and the regard which He has appointed us to have to one another's convictions in shaping our message and our action. That has never been an easy task at any time. It is not likely to be an easy task in our time." A. T. I. ^raljam ^pcirs. I HE subject of this memoir died in December 1847. Few are now left who enjoyed his friendsliip, and knew his many admirable qualities and lofty character, or were personally cognisant of the great services which he rendered to the Free Church. A fitting opportunity is presented, by this publication, to preserve a record of those services, and to recall the memor)- of one who pre-eminently deserves to be kept in grateful remembrance. Graham Speirs was born in June 1797, and was thus cut off in the prime of his manhood. He was the second son of Mr Peter Speirs of Culcrcuch, brother to Mr Speirs of Elderslie ; and his mother was of the family of Gartmore. His early edvication was conducted partly at the High School of Edinburgh, and partly at a school in Warwickshire, where he remained till December 181 1. He then entered the Royal Navy, and continued in the Naval Service for five years, when, directing his attention to the study of law, he was called to the Bar of Scotland in 1820. His professional career was distinguished by steady but not rapid progress ; no one, how- ever, brought into contact with him in professional matters, even at an early period, could doubt that he must ultimately attain the highest eminence. He was throughout of liberal politics, and on the occasion of the party attaining to power in 1830, Lord Advocate Jeffrey— who fully estimated his talent'? and character — appointed him one uf his Advocates- DISRUPTION WORTHIES. Depute, and soon afterwards he was appointed Sheriff of Elgin and Nairn. Subsequently, in 1840, on a vacancy occurring in the Metropolitan Sheriffdom, he was offered and accepted the office of Sheriff of Edinburgh, which he held until his death. He was thus, for a time at least, removed from practice at the bar, to the regret of his more intimate friends, who looked to him as, in certain probabilities, sure to be called to fill a still more distinguished position of public usefulness. At the time of his decease, there appeared in the Witness newspaper, from the pen of its distinguished editor, Hugh Miller, a notice, from which we cannot do better than make one or two quotations :— " Seldom has a more melancholy Christmas dawned upon this town than that of 1847. The death of Mr Speirs, which happened late on the evening of the 24th, spread a gloom and sorrow through the city that we have seldom known equalled. . . . He was a remarkable man, not from brilliancy either of parts or attainments, though in both he was eminent, but from the singular combination of his qualities, and the commanding tenor of his daily life. He was a man who united deep knowledge of the world with the most active and earnest religious impression, one whose manners and demeanour, as well as his birth and education, commanded respect in the highest circles, and placed him on terms of equality with all stations, and yet exhibited so bright and burning a Christian example, that even scoffers respected the light which shone in him with so much dignity and constancy. Consistent, imperturbable, of great discretion, conscientious, and yet tolerant, he held a course of uncompromising courage and honesty, and yet seldom lost a friend or made an enemy." To this truthful portrait of the man, there is little to add, but we cannot refrain from adverting to similar testimony to be found in the recently published (1874) Journal of Lord Cockburn. Amid the graphic and racy descriptions of events and delineations of character with which these volumes, like their predecessor (" Memorials of his Times "), abound, there is none so life-like as the following, written in 1843 : — " The apostolic Speirs, whose calm wisdom, and quiet resolution, and high-minded purity, made his opinion conclusive with his friends and dreaded by his opponents. He had no ambition to be the flaming sword of his party, but in its keenest hours he was the pillar of light. Amidst all the keenness, and imputations, and extravagances of party, it never occurred to any one to impeach the motives, or the objects, or the sincerity of Graham Speirs." GRAHAM SPEIRS. Afterwards, at the time of his death, Lord Cockburn says : — " Graham Speirs, Sheriff of Midlothian, died, to the great regret of everybody, but especially of the thoughtful. He was a most excellent and valuable man, and of a sort of which we have few." ..." A strong Whig, he was too gentle to avert any honest Tory, and too candid to encourage any folly on his own side ; and, deeply religious, those who are not so, instead of being repelled by any severity, were attracted by his reasonableness and toleration." His early career in the Navy is adverted to, and it is added—" From the moment that he began his civil course, he put on a new nature, and, aided by his friends Mungo Brown and John Shaw Stewart, both of whom pre- ceded him, by several years, to the grave, matured that character of calm and resolute, but gentle honour, and of pious thoughtfulness, that distinguished all the three." Just as this observation is, we would rather say that the Rev. Dr Gordon, of whose kirk-session, when translated to the High Church, Speirs was for many years a member, had fully more influence in moulding his character and views, as he certainly had with others of the same class and standing. Between them, indeed, there was a remarkable similarity — the same gravity of manner ; the same wisdom and sagacity in counsel ; and the same reticent demeanour, — but not the less prompt and decided in action in matters of conscience and of duty. No one who knew that truly excel- lent and admirable divine, can wonder at the power and influence which he exercised for good in this city, from the time when he first came, com- paratively a young man, but in the full vigour of his powerful intellect and impressive eloquence, to fill the pulpit of Buccleuch Chapel. But however this might be in Speirs' case, it is certain that the di\-ine and the layman acted in entire concert in the eventful struggles for the independence of the Church and the rights of the people in the election of their ministers, which occurred in the ten years which preceded 1843. And that Speirs did so from deep religious conviction of the truth of the principles contended for, is undeniable. His was not a character to be swayed by any other motives in such a matter. To be convinced of the rectitude of any particular course of conduct, was for him to be followed as its sure sequence by active co-operation. DISRUPTION WORTHIES. Sheriff Spcirs was no mere Churchman ; he interested himself in svhatever tended to the wellbeing of society. In connection, for instance, with Prison reformation and discipHne, he was an active member of the society formed in 1835 on that subject, which by its efforts so materially contributed to the enactment of 1839, by which the jails of Scotland, once described as " nurseries of vice and crime," have been placed in their present satisfactoiy condition. In this work his associates were men of all classes and denominations — the accomplished Dr Kaye Greville, the benevolent John Wigham junior, Dr David Maclagan, Mr George Forbes, and other like-minded citizens. Afterwards under the Statute as chairman of the Edinburgh Prison Board, and as member of the General Board of Prisons in Scotland, Speirs was in a position to give his valuable aid in carrying through this national reform. In defence of the observ- ance of the Sabbath, the establishment of Ragged Schools, and in the cause generally of education, he was no less zealous and useful. Our purpose, however, is to record his connection with the struggles which preceded and followed the formation of the Free Church. His support, based as it was on conscientious principle, ^\•as felt to be all- important, and his advice of the greatest moment in the organisation of the Church. Nevertheless it is true, but quite consistent with what we have said of him, that his name does not occur as taking a leading part in the discussions, whether in or out of the Assembly, until about the time of the Disruption. We shall refer, however, to two occasions, as illustrative of the leading position which he then assumed, and energeti- cally maintained. The one was at the time of the Convocation of ministers which preceded the Assembly of 1843, when it was thought right that the laymen attached to the principles then upheld by the majority of the Assembly, and especially the eldership, should come forward and at once strengthen the hands of the ministers, and provide means for their sus- tentation on the Disruption taking place. The meeting of the eldership GRA^A^r speirs. occurred on the 1st February 1843. ^t was mentioned at the time in the Witness newspaper. Speirs proposed the first resolution, and in doing so he is reported to have represented the Church of Scotland "as she has existed since the Reformation, as by far, he would venture to say, without any comparison whatever, the cheapest institution for good government that ever any nation had to boast of ; " and to have been affected even to tears when he uttered the words, " I cannot look forward without dismay to the prospect of the Disruption of the Church of Scotland," which he so characterised and loved. The Committee formed at this meeting was united to another appointed by the Convocation, under the auspices of Dr Chalmers. This most effective body, organised under the title of the " Provisional Committee," held its first meeting the following day ; and to its labours the Free Church mainly owes that state of orderly preparation, and absence of all division and confusion, by which the days of the Disruption were so signally characterised. This is fully explained in Dr Chalmers' Life and Correspondence by Dr Hanna. The other occasion when Speirs was of the utmost service to the Church, was in relation to sites for Churches and Manses, in those districts where hostile proprietors had refused the applications made to them in that matter. It is known that, for some years after the Dis- ruption, great inconvenience and much discomfort and suffering was experienced by ministers and their congregations who adhered to the Free Church in those districts. For a time the Assembly were unwilling to take any steps, in the expectation that the first feelings excited by the Disruption might pass away. But this expectation not being realised, a special Committee was appointed in May 1845 by the General Assembl>- ; and that Committee having reported to the Assembly, which met at Inverness in August thereafter, the appointment of the Committee was renewed, with special instructions ; and of this Committee Air Speirs was appointed Convener. It was in a verbal Report to the Commission, held in Edinburgh DISRUPTION WORTHIES. 19th November 1S45, that, as Convener, Speirs made one of the most effective and practical speeches ever delivered in the General Assembly. In this he developed the principles on which the Committee had acted, and detailed the proceedings in such a way as to command the " profound admiration," and "the warmest and most unqualified approbation," of all who listened to his stirring statement. Can anything, indeed, be better expressed than the following reference to the abortiveness of the first application to Parliament by the Assembly of 1845 : — " It is our duty to persevere in this struggle. I regard it not only as a religious, but as a constitutional, question. The brunt of the battle has fallen on us, but it is not our own cause alone for which we are contending — it is the great, the sacred question of liberty of conscience ; and I am persuaded that the Church will only lay down the weapons of her warfare when the victory is won." And, when meeting the argument by the individual site-refusing proprietors, based on the ground of their absolute right of property, he said : — " There is no person has more respect for the rights of private property than I have, but I cannot help thinking that these rights are peculiarly insecure when the owners have merely the law to look to for their support. I believe that property is best secured in that country where the corresponding duties are best performed ; and I am not aware of any duties so incumbent upon them as that of refraining from interfering with the rights of conscience." For, as he justly reasoned — "There is a kind of oppression which maketh a man— aye, a wise man — mad. I would just ask, what must be the feelings of any intelligent man who finds himself in this country, on account and in respect of opinions which, as a Christian, he entertains, subjected to a system of treatment for obeying the dictates of his conscience, which I declare would be severe, — if that man, instead of being a Christian, were a heathen idolater ; and yet such is the position in which many of our people are placed." A renewed application to Parliament was made in the spring of 1847, and a select Committee was then appointed to inquire in what parts of Scotland, and under what circumstances, sites had been refused. A great deal of evidence was laid before the Committee, and, amongst others, Dr Chalmers, and Mr Speirs, as Convener of the Sites Com- mittee, were especially under examination. The evidence of the former, as regards the cross-exainination by Sir James Graham and others, is GRAHAM SPEIRS. very happily explained by himself in letters written by him at the time, minutely referred to by Dr Hanna. The evidence of the Convener of the Sites Committee cannot be read without exciting the utmost admi- ration, for the calm, full, and satisfactory way in which he explains the course taken by the Committee, and meets the objections with which their proceedings were met. It is impossible here to go into the details of that evidence. One great object of the hostile examiners was to make out that there was so little difference between the two Churches, as to justify the site-refusing proprietors in their refusal. We shall con- fine ourselves to his answers on this point, as illustrating the principles on which he had throughout acted, and the fearless avowal of them he was ever prepared to make : — " The moving cause of the Disruption," he says, " was the religious fcchng of that part of the community who now constitute the Free Church. They beheved con- scientiously that the principles involved in the question were the true principles of the Established Church of Scotland." And afterwards, " that, according to my appre- hension, the great and cardinal difference between the two churches is this— that the Free Church, in consistence with what has always been maintained by a large part of the Establishment, and in consistence with the doctrines of all the old divines of the Church of Scotland — holds that she has a right of legislating for herself in matters spiritual— that, in fact, she is entitled to exercise spiritual independence within her o»vn jurisdiction, without the interference of the civil power." In the same pamphlet w hich contains his speech before the General Assembly in 1845, to which we have referred, is given the correspondence which, as Convener of the Sites Committee, he maintained with the proprietors and their agents. The calm and dispassionate, but decided terms in which, throughout that correspondence, he contended for the constitutional principle of toleration, and stated the hardships to which its refusal had subjected the people, had much practical effect in obviating the objections in some quarters, even before the result of the Parliamentary inquiry and publication of the evidence. That result, as reported to the House of Commons, was that the Committee held it to be proved that there were a number of Christian congregations in DISRUPTION WORTHIES. Scotland who have no place of worship within a reasonable distance of their home, where they can unite in the public service of Almighty God, according to their conscientious convictions of religious duty, under convenient shelter from the severity of a northern climate. And the Committee farther reported to the House that they had heard with pleasure, in course of the evidence, that concessions had been made and sites granted ; and they expressed an earnest hope that those which have hitherto been refused may no longer be withheld. Such has hap- pily been the case, and no farther proceedings were taken. We cannot doubt that for this the Church was mainly indebted to Graham Speirs. Our space will not permit of the insertion of some interesting details connected with his death, which occurred so soon afterwards. During his illness, and when he was suffering much, on the name of Dr Candlish being mentioned by his medical attendant. Professor Miller, he said with anima- tion, " Give him my love, and tell him that I am quite happ)-. I know in whom I have believed, and if He lias more work for me to do. He can raise me up for a year or two." On seeing his brother-in-law, Mr Grant (of Kilgraston), who came up to him from the country on hearing of his danger, he said with deep emotion, " I have suffered much — very much — but all is right." In his anticipation of death he was singularly resigned and peaceful. Surely of such a man it may be truly said, " Blessed are the dead which die in the Lord." On the 30th December his remains were laid in the Grange cemetcr\% near the grave of Dr Chalmer.'^, in accordance, it is understood, with his own request. At the meeting of the General Assembly held in May 1848, a resolution was engrossed in the minutes, expressing in very strong terms their sense of the loss which the Church had sustained in Mr Speirs' death, and the high and affectionate regard which they entertained for his memory. J.C. lUh. ^Inmhtt ^Uiaaxt LKXANDllR STEWART was bom in the Manse of Moulin, Perthshire, of which parish his father, the late Dr Alexander SteAvart, was then minister, as he after- wards was of the parish of DingAvall, Ross-shire, and ultimately of the parish of Canongate, Edinburgh. His family were from Argyleshire — of the Stewarts of Appin — one of the oldest houses of that county. Dr Stewart was eminent in his day as a minister whom God greatly honoured, after he had himself become a living witness to the power of divine truth, by making him the instrument of an extensive awakening in the district of country in which his lot was then cast. He was distinguished, also, in the world of literature— his grammar of the Gaelic language giving evidence of his scholarly attainments, and indicating the eminence to which he might have risen had he given himself to literary pursuits. The subject of our memoir was, in the first instance, educated in the Moulin Parish School, and thereafter at the Tain Academy. Subsequently he became a student of King's College, Old Aberdeen, where he continued for two sessions. Then, being considered sufficiently educated for enter- ing on the business of life in the line chosen for him, he first became a clerk in a house at Perth, and thereafter in a house in London. Whilst resident in the metropolis, he attended the ministry of Mr George Clayton, the word preaclied li)- whoni God was pleased to make effectual DISRUPTION WORTHIES. for his spiritual illumination and saving conversion. When it pleased God thus to call him by His grace— the way for the change in his prospects for life which he desired having been wondrously opened to him — he resolved, with the consent of his father and other relations, to resume his university studies, now with a \iew to the ministry. His paternal aunt being resident in Glasgow, he came there, and was enrolled a student of the college of that city. During his course there, he sought no distinction, but shrank instinctively, with provoking sensitiveness, from any notice of a public kind which at any time was taken of him. Yet he did not escape observation, as the suffrages of his fellow-students on more than one occasion, in awarding him prizes, gave evidence. In the Divinity Hall, as a student with Dr M'Gill, he was more especially noticed, where he raised expectations in the minds of those who knew him well, which were more than realized in after life. From the date of his first appearance in the pulpit, he became eminent as a preacher. The attention of the first ministers of his time was attracted to him. It is well kno\\n by his contemporaries that Dr Chalmers, after hearing him, was so impressed with his pulpit powers, that he used every influence with him to gain his consent to be nomi- nated as his successor in the great church and parish of St John's, Glasgow, from which he was about, himself, to be removed to the Moral Philosophy Chair, St Andrews. In this Dr Chalmers was unquestionably right, though it may seem to be a bold thing to say so, considering only Mr Stewart's high talents and attainments, whilst not taking into account his bodily constitution and mental temperament. These made the proposal one not to be entertained. That the proposal should have been made was, perhaps, the most marked testimony, in evidence of the appreciation of Mr Stewart's qualifications as a young minister of the gospel, which he could have received. His natural diffidence and self- distrust made him shrink from contemplating the proposal, or allowing it to become \\\\X\ him a matter of serious consideration at all ; the friends REV. ALEXANDER STEWART. who knew him best, whilst they regretted the occasion, approved of the course which he adopted in so acting. Mr Stewart was h'censed to preacli the gospel early in 1823 by the Presbytery of Lorn, Argyleshire. His preliminary trials, with a view to license, were taken by the Presbytery of Glasgow. He passed the Synod of Glasgow and Ayr, in accordance with the law of the Church in such cases, and thereafter obtained a transference of the remaining portion of his trials to the Presbytery of Lorn. He was a Gaelic-speaking student, and desired to devote himself to the Highlands, as well became the son of a father eminent alike for piety and for critical knowledge of the mountain tongue. Buried in the seclusion of a remote Highland glen, selected by him as a district where the sound of no English word was ever heard, he devoted himself, with his usual ardent student habits, to acquire a knowledge of the idioms of the Gaelic, and the power of familiar, ready expression therein. His success was what might be expected ; and at the end of his year of hermit life, he came forth from his seclusion thoroughly versed in all that he had sought to acquire. He was soon summoned to stated occupation in his holy calling. In November 1823 he was chosen to be the minister of the Chapel of Ease, Rothesay, where the Sabbath services were half in Gaelic and half in English. His period here was, however, short, as was also the use of his acquired tongue. A presentation to the parish of Cromarty, in course of the year in which he was ordained at Rothesay, which he saw it his duty to accept, changed, after a short but highly valued ministry in the West Highlands, the sphere of his labours. At Cromarty he was not required to preach in Gaelic, but as the town is situated in a Highland district, and as he was there in charge of a large Highland population, his knowledge of the language was of much value. From Cromarty he never removed. The seclusion which he enjoyed, or which he fancied he enjoyed, in that ancient burgh, was to his mind very congenial. He used to hug himself in the thought tliat he had got hid from the great world. DISRUPTION WORTHIES. It was a vain fancy. " I have got into the toe of the hose," he used to say with much glee, referring to the Black Isle, from its shape, as the hose, — and to Cromarty, lying at the extreme point of that bleak wilder- ness track of cheerless moorland, as the toe. Abundant testimony has been borne, though the half may not have been told, to his course there ; to his " work of faith and labour of love ;" his most painstaking study of the word of God ; his success, numbering such men as Hugh Miller among his converts ; his attractiveness in drawing many warm hearts to him, and in making himself to be beloved by all to whom he ministered, all the days of his life, till the end came. Of him Miller has written : — "One of the most striking characteristics of INIr Stewart's originality was the solidity of the truths which it always evolved. His was not the ability of opening up new vistas in which all was unfamiliar, simply because the direction in which they led was one in which men's thoughts had no occasion to travel, and no business to perform. It was, on the contrary, the greatly higher ability of enlarging, widening, and lengthen- ing the avenues long before opened up on important truths, and, in consequence, enabling men to see new and unwonted objects in old familiar directions. That in which he excelled all men we ever knew, was the analogical faculty— the power of detecting and demonstrating occult resemblances. He could read off as if by intuition — not by snatches and fragments, but as a consecutive whole — that old revela- tion of type and symbol which God first gave to man ; and when privileged to listen to him, we have been constrained to recognise, in the evident integrity of the reading and the profound and consistent theological system which the pictorial record con- veyed, a demonstration of the divinity of its origin not less powerful and convincing than the demonstration of the other and more familiar departments of the Christian evidences. Compared with other theologians in this department, we have felt under his ministry as if— when admitted to the company of some party of modern savaus employed in deciphering a hieroglyphic-covered obelisk of the desert, and here suc- cessful in discovering the meaning of an insulated sign and there of a detached symbol — we had been suddenly joined by some sage of the olden time, to whom the mysterious inscription was but a piece of common language written in a familiar alphabet, and who could read off fluently and as a whole what the others could but darkly and painfully guess at in detached and broken parts." Of this magnificent preacher's manner in his public appearances, another friend, for quoting at large from whom we make no apology, writes : — «8 REK ALEXANDER STEWART. " I sec him enter the pulpit with a solemnity of nspect \vhich is the fruit of real feelmg. He is a tall, clumsily-made man— fivc-feet-elcven, at least. The outline of his figure is more that of the female than the male. His limbs are full and round. There is a little tendency to stoop ; a little tendency, too, to corpulence, but very little. His chest is well thrown out, his shoulders are somewhat raised, and his neck is short. The head is a curiosity. It is nearly round, with a sort of wrench to one side. It rises high, being well developed in a circular arch above his cars, which arc small and beautifully formed. It is covered with thick-set hair of a lightish sandy colour, which invades the brow, covers the temples, and reaches to within an inch-and-half of the eyebrows on all sides. Instead of being brushed down in the direction of its natural set. It is brushed up, to clear it off the short brow, and so stands like a peak at right angles with the brow. The noble dimensions of that portion of the head are wholly concealed, and the effect, at first sight, on the beholder is not, certainly, to make him e-xpect any depth of intellectual power, but the reverse. The eyebrows are not large nor expanded, but they rise a little at the extremities towards the temples. The nose IS beautifully formed ; large, but not too large, aquiline and symmetrical, as if cut with the chisel. The eyes are small, grey, rather deep set, sparkling, and expressive. The mouth is large, the line of the lips, which are thin, being beautifully curved. The lips shut easily, and look as if they had a superabundance of longitude. The chin is rather long, and is in a slight degree peaked, but is neither retiring nor protruding. The skin is smooth, as that of early youth. The cheeks are not large. Taking it all in all, it is a handsome, though most uncommon, head and face. I have never seen anything to compare with it. " Well, he enters the pulpit, and after a moment's pause rises to read the psalm. It is not a female voice, and yet it is not the rough voice of a man of his size and form. It is deep, clear, solemn, sweet, fiexiblc, and of great compass. Every word is uttered as if the speaker felt himself standing in the presence of God, and in sight of the throne, and as if he desired all should feel the same. The emphasis is so laid in reading the psalm, as to bring out a meaning I had never discovered. His prayer is simplicity itself ; a child can comprehend every word, yet his thoughts are of the richest ; whilst Scripture phraseology, employed and applied as I never heard it in another, clothes them all. By the time the prayer is ended, I have been instructed and edified. I have received views of truth I had not possessed before, and have had awakened feelings which have set me on edge for the sermon, and which I desire to cherish for ever. The sermon comes. It seems to be a most deeply interesting and animated conversation on a common topic. ' We ought to think like great men, and speak like the common people,' appears to be the maxim which regulates the style. The manner is that of one who converses with a friend, and who has chosen a subject by the discussion of which he desires, from his inmost soul, to do him good. Illustration follows illustration in rapid succession, shedding light on his doctrine, and confirming it. Sometimes the illustrations seem puerile, scarcely dignified enough for the pulpit, but that impression lasts only for a moment. Some Scripture allusion, or Scripture ([uotation, reveals the source from which they have been drawn ; and I am filled with DISRUPTION WORTHIES. admiration of the genius which has discovered what I never discovered, and has made a use of the discovery, which I think I and every man should have made, but which I never did. Scarcely any gesture is employed. One hand rests usually on the open Bible. The other is sometimes quietly raised, and its impressive, short motion gives emphasis to the earnest words which are being spoken. The earnestness seems under severe control. It looks as if the speaker desired to conceal the emotion of his heart in speaking for Christ to sinners— as if he thought noise and gesticulation un- becoming. The eyelids grow red, the tears apparently struggle to escape, but no tear comes. A pink spot, almost a hectic flush— but it is not so— appears like the reflec- tion of an evening sunbeam on the cheek. Some burning words clothe some fine thought, which seems to come fresh from heaven ; and the speaker, as I think, half ashamed of the emotion which he has manifested, and which he has sensibly com- municated to his hearers, returns to the calm manner from which he had for an instant departed, only, however, to be enticed from it again and again, yielding as if by com- pulsion to the inspiration which ever revisits him. So he proceeds, until, to my deep regret, he closes his wonderful discourse, which has extended long beyond the hour." Mr Stewart continued minister of Cromarty till his death. At the Disruption he, of course, joined his brethren and abandoned his con- nection with the State, abjuring the new ecclesiastical Establishment. He never made himself prominent in the discussions which, in his time^ filled the land. His local influence was great. Speeches by him in his Presbytery and Synod were described by those who heard them as some- thing unlike any that other men had ever spoken. But on no occasion during his ministry did he open his mouth in the General Assembly of the Church. He did not feel it to be required. He did not think it would have been useful. All that he could say he heard spoken by others, and, as he thought, better spoken than it could have been by him, and there- fore he did not speak. This is not to be justified. Could he have over- come, as he might have done, his native timidity and want of self- possession ; could he have roused himself to the effort, or had conscience impelled him to put himself forward as a public speaker, he would not have stood second to any in the ranks of those wonderful men whom God raised up for His work in Scotland in his time. He believed that he could be useful in the provinces ; he believed that he was required to take part in the discussions there — that the great cause might suffer if REV. ALEXANDER STEWART. he declined to do so ; and, therefore, on wisely selected occasions, he delivered speeches that were admitted to be of the very highest order of oratory, for wisdom, beauty, and power. It would have been in vain, eveiy one knew, to propose to Mr Stewart a change in his field of labour, at any time during his life at Cromarty, in anything like ordinary circumstances. But when, in 1847, the lamented death of Dr Chalmers, and the advancement, consequent on that event, of Dr Candlish to a chair in the New College, created a vacancy in St George's, the minds of all friends of the Church turned to the distin- guished subject of this memoir, as the man who should succeed the great preacher of the day in that pulpit. It need hardly be narrated that this proposal was not welcome to Mr Stewart. It created an excitement calculated to affect injuriously a mind sensitive and shrinking to a fault, inhabiting a body Avhich took its character but too much from his natural temperament. Earnest representations and urgent solicitations at length appeared to prevail with him. The late Dr Robert Buchanan, of Glasgow, was one ot the Commissioners sent to the north to prosecute the call by the congregation of St George's. When the business in the Presbytery of Chanonry in this matter was ended, as the two friends walked along the street, perceiving the downcast appearance of his companion, and ex- pressing regret, Dr Buchanan said, " You look as if you were carrying a millstone on your back." " No, Dr Buchanan," was the reply, " I am not carrying a millstone, but I am carrj'ing my gravestone on my back." His words proved but too true. An attack of fever came, and ran its course. His time had come, and he knew it. To his physician inquiring as to his feelings, he said, "I am going to die. It is a solemn thing, doctor, to die, and to meet God in judgment!" To Christian friends he declared his abiding confidence in the everlasting God, his Saviour ; and in this state he quietly fell asleep in Jesus, on the 5th November 1847, in the fifty-third year of his age. " He got faith," said a friend who was with him at the close, referring to the case of the St George's call, " to lay his Isaac bound DISRUPTION WORTHIES. upon the altar ; his hand, in humble submission, took the knife ; he was prepared to do his Lord's will ; he did it ; and the Lord then relieved him for ever from all his cares, all his anxieties, and all his pains." Mr Stewart was never married. A maternal aunt, the widow of a minister, became, after the death of her husband, an inmate, put in charge of the domestic affairs of the manse of Cromarty. She formed a precious gift from his heavenly Father, for a great part of the closing portion of her nephew's ministry — the cause of much solicitude, too, in anticipation of the effect which her removal might have upon him and his usefulness — a solicitude quite as great on her side. He was spared the trial, to meet which he ever sought to fortify himself. His aunt survived him for a little ; but his death was never revealed to her, the infirm condition of her body and mind both making it at once advisable and kind that the departure ot her "dear boy" should be concealed. So they were exempted from sorrow to which they had each, respectively, looked forward with solemn thought, — sorrow which came not. " So He giveth His beloved sleep." Mr Stewart never indulged in authorship. Nothing from his pen passed through the press at any time. The volume of posthumous lectures on Leviticus, entitled, "The Tree of Promise," compiled from the skeleton outlines from which he had discoursed, give but a faint impression of what he was as a preacher. The work, nevertheless, is of great value, especially to the student — original, suggestive, and unique. No minister, who deals with Scripture typology can want it without loss or employ it without profit A. Vi, A. MOODY STUART, D.D. minister to the plague-stricken and the bereaved, and in the incessant and trying labours of that time, he was not only sustained in health, but also mercifully exempted from even a passing shadow of solicitude as to the preservation of his own life in the midst of danger. It may well be believed that " the Word of the Lord was precious in those days;" many listened anxiously to the demands of the Divine law and the consolations of the Gospel, when these were daily proclaimed, both publicly and from house to house, under the solemnising shadow of the wing of the angel of death. A few of the more remarkable incidents of these eventful weeks were afterwards communicated to the Scottish Christian Herald, and appeared under the title of " Death-bed Scenes " in the first volume of that magazine. Within a short time after the induction of Dr Candlish into the pastoral charge of St George's, Edinburgh, an invitation was given to Mr Moody to become his territorial assistant, and in compliance with this call he came from Holy Island to Edinburgh early in 1835. The text of his first sermon in Edinburgh was Luke xx. 17, 18 ; and in the words of one who was present on the occasion — the late devout and accomplished Rev. John Mackenzie of Ratho — the discourse was remarkable for " the unction and evangelical fervour and high mental culture which have ever since so eminently characterised Dr Moody Stuart's ministrations." After officiating for a few months on the Sabbath evenings in St. George's Church for Dr Candlish, Mr Moody was appointed by the Session of St George's to labour in the district which was afterwards, under the name of St. Luke's, disjoined quoad sacra from St George's parish. In a short time the power of an earnest and faithful ministry was felt throughout the district, and the congregation became almost immediately too numerous to be accom- modated in the original chapel (purchased from the Unitarian body), in Young Street. Upon the site of this chapel the large church now in Young Street was built, and was opened for public worship in M.iy DISRUPTION WORTHIES. 1837.* In the following month, Mr Moody was ordained by the Pres- bytery of Edinburgh, as the minister of St Luke's quoad sacra parish. In 1839 he married Miss Stuart, daughter of Kenneth Bruce Stuart, Esq. of Annat, Perthshire, and thenceforward added to his own the name of the family with which he had become allied.f After seven years of abundant and successful labour in St Luke's parish, Mr Moody's health broke down, and at a time when his counsel and service were apparently most required, both by his congregation and by the Church at large, he was called by the Lord to " come apart and rest awhile." In the autumn of 1841, he complied with the urgent recommendation of his medical advisers and left this country for Madeira. After spending two winters in that island, he took a voyage to Brazil, and sailing thence in early summer, arrived in this country in the end of July, and was enabled to begin his work again with restored health and hope. During the months of his absence from St Luke's, Mr William C. Burns, the apostolic evangelist and missionary, and afterwards his brother Mr Islay Burns, had occupied his pulpit, and the Lord had given to them many seals of their ministry. The Session also had maintained their practice, as the minute-book testifies, of meeting every week for prayer and for the transaction of all business relating to the spiritual interests * The original trustees of St Luke's in Young Street, were :— Mr Archibald Bonar, banker, Mr Archibald Gibson, W.S., Dr James Russell, F.R.C.S.E., Mr Adam M'Cheyne, W.S. (the father of the Rev. R. M. M'Cheyne), Dr John Home Peebles, Mr Thomas Gardner, and the Rev. Robert Cunningham (who had five years before founded the Edinburgh Institution). Of these seven, the last (the father of the writer of this notice) alone sur\'ives. t Of Dr Moody Stuart's children, numbering seven sons and three daughters, the second son, Andrew, died in 1866, after completing his theological studies, in the course of which he had given evidence that he was by grace as well as by superior gifts, peculiarly fitted for the work of the ministiy ; and the eldest daughter Margaret died in "the peace of believing" in March 18S0. Of those who survive, the eldest, Kenneth, is a Free Church minister (at Moffat), and the author of a Memoir of the public life of the late Brownlow North. A. MOODY STUART, D.D. of the flock, " over which the Holy Ghost had made them overseers." It was accordingly, in the fulness of the blessing of the Gospel of Christ, that Mr Moody Stuart was brought back to those from whom he had been separated unwillingly for a season. We have been told by one of those who worshipped in St Luke's on the first Sabbath after his return, of the profound impression made on the congregation which crowded the church, and of the emotion, never forgotten, which thrilled the whole assemblage when the preacher opened the services with the appropriate lines : — " I shall not die, but live, and shaU The works of God discover. The Lord hath me chastised sore. But not to death given over." — Ps. cxviii. 17, iS. Meanwhile the Disruption of the Church of Scotland had taken place. There had never been any uncertainty in Mr Moody Stuart's own mind as to the necessity of maintaining at all hazards the principles of Non-intrusion and Spiritual Independence, and the Church at large had received full proof of the thoroughness of his sympathy with the party by which these principles were maintained, for St Luke's was conspicuously honoured in some of the most momentous events of these stirring times.* As to the congregation, there was, so far as we have been able to learn, little difference of opinion amongst the members * On nth August 1840, the Solemn Engagement by which many members of the Church of Scotland pledged themselves to be faithful to the liberties of the Church and the crown-rights of the Redeemer was signed in St Luke's. On iSth November 1840, the Commission of the General Assembly met in St Luke's when no other Established church in the city was opened to receive it. On 25th August 1841, an extraordinary meeting of the Commission of the General Assembly was held in St Luke's, at w^hich the same resolution as had been declared in the Solemn Engagement a year before was adopted by the Commission. On 24th May 1842, the overture which was on 30th May adopted by the General Assembly of that year as the Claim of Right, was subscribed in St Luke's by members of the Assembly. DISRUPTION WORTHIES. regarding the duty of the church ; as to the Session, all the twelve elders* signed the Act of Separation and Deed of Demission at a meeting of which the Minute-book preserves a touching record, on 19th June 1843, and Mr Moody Stuart took an early opportunity of adhibiting his signature to the same testimony after he returned.f That the congregation which so unanimously left the Establishment was morally bound at the same time to quit the building in which they had hitherto worshipped, no one ever presumed to affirm. The Estab- lished Church for which the quoad sacra chapel in Young Street was built, was the Church by which, on 31st May 1834, the " Declaratory- Enactment as to Chapels of ease " was passed, and by which the promises encouraging the erection of such chapels had been faithfully implemented. Those who built St Luke's, including all the trustees, were for the most part still living, and had given, by their adherence to the Free Church, the clearest proof that they never intended it to be connected with an Establishment which repudiated the Chapel Enactment, or else confessed that the fulfilment of its provisions lay beyond the constitutional functions of the Church : for of the Kirk-Session of St George's, who bought the original site for ;^655, the smaller propor- tion had remained in the Established Church ; and of the sum of ;^444S * ;\Iessrs Stotheit, Russell, Macdonald (the General Treasurer of the Free Church), Gardner, Howden, Hogg, Smith, M'Cheyne, Pringle, Boyack, Henderson, and Robertson. t The first intimation which Mr Moody Stuart received of the actual consimimation of the Disruption was somewhat singular. Arriving in Plymouth after the two months' voyage from Brazil, he searched earnestly the columns of the English newspapers for information as to what had taken place, but found nothing beyond occasional allusions to the troubles of the Church in Scotland, until his eye fell upon a short paragraph mentioning the induction of the Rev. as minister of the parish of Kilsyth. It was in reading of the transference of the emoluments and the manse of the pastor of Kilsyth to another, that he first learned that the ministers who esteemed the principles of the Church of Scotland more highly than the privileges of connection with the State, had made the sacrifice which conscience required of them. A. MOODY STUART, D.D. spent in the erection of the Church, less than £-/0 was contributed by parties who remained in the Establishment after the Disruption. For nearly six years no attempt was made to disturb the congregation's possession and use of the building, — but at length after the decision of other cases had established precedents enough to show that the question of ownership would be decided by an appeal to the terms of the trust- deed, without equitable and honourable consideration of the intention of the parties who prepared it, the Kirk-Session of St. George's (Estab- lished Church), sent notice to the Session of Free St. Luke's on 1st March 1849, requiring the congregation to quit the church in order that " the chapel might be applied strictly to the purposes of tlie trust" (!), but offering respite until Martinmas, so that time might be given for necessary arrangements as to another place for worship. The Session of Free St Luke's declined "to accept a small kindness in palliation of a great wrong," and the congregation held the last meetings for public worship within the walls of the church in Young Street on the following Sabbath, 4th March 1849. For more than three years they met in the Hall, 5 Queen Street, until 27th June 1852, when their large new church in 43 Queen Street was ready for occupation. For a season, doubtless, many looked back with lingering regret to the place in which their altar had been at the first, but the blessing of God was given very abundantly in the new church. Mr Moody Stuart's own ministry continued to be honoured as before with the success which attends clear, full, and experimental preaching of the Gospel of Christ, and this, together with the labours of Brownlow North and others, whose help was heartily welcomed, made St Luke's, for many years, widely known as a centre of evangelistic life and effort. In 1874, Mr Moody Stuart, with the concurrence of the office-bearers and congregation of St Luke's, requested the General Assembly to sanction the appointment of a colleague and successor, as the burden of the undivided pastorate had been for some time felt by him to be beyond his strength. The request DISRUPTION WORTHIES. was granted, and the congregation having addressed a unanimous call to the writer of this notice, he left Lochwinnoch, after a ministry of sixteen and a-half years in that place, and was inducted in Free St Luke's on 22nd June 1876. In 187s, Mr Moody Stuart had received from the University of Glasgow the degree of D.D., and had been invited by the Free Church to be Moderator of the General Assembly held at Edinburgh in that year. His claim to both of these honours was universally and cordially conceded. In acknowledging the merit of the contributions by which he had added to the literary wealth of the countrj', his Alma Mater endorsed what had been already certified by a large measure of popular acceptance. These writings claimed esteem, not only by their intrinsic value, but also by the charm of a unique and attractive style.* And in promoting him to the Moderator's Chair, the Free Church willingly acknowledged, not merely forty years of faithful effective service in one of her most conspicuous congregations, '^but also the prompt and influential counsel with which he had always aided the discussion of subjects engrossing public attention, and above all, his unwearied fidelity in the office of convener of her Mission to the Jews, a cause which has for a whole generation owed a great measure of its success to the unshaken confidence in the promises of God, and the burning enthusiasm for Israel's welfare, which have given eloquence and power to the appeals made from year to year by Dr Moody Stuart on its behalf Dr Moody Stuart continues to preach, as an ordinary rule, alternately * Besides numerous occasional discourses and pamphlets on topics of public interest, Dr Moody Stuart had then published "The Life of Elizabeth the last Duchess of Gordon," "Recollections of John Duncan, D.D.," "The Land of Huss," "Commentary on the Song of Solomon," "Capernaum," and "The Three Marj-s." To these he has added within the last few years several brief treatises on subjects connected with the tendencies of modern Biblical Criticism, which are the fruits of mature thinking and scholarly research, " ISIoses on the Plains of Moab," "The Prophecy of Isaiah," "The Fifty-First Psalm," "The Fall of Babylon : Its Prediction not Anonymous." A. MOODY STUART, D.D. with his colleague. His voice was never strong, and by reason of years the limits within which he can be distinctly heard by his audience are now more circumscribed, but he has retained in a rare degree freshness of style and warmth of interest in proclaiming the glorious Gospel. With a brief sketch of our impressions of his ordinary pulpit work we shall close this notice. In his public prayers, the confession of sin is not a mere repetition of formal phrases of self-humiliation, but a reverent and careful acknow- ledgment of felt transgression ; the mercies of redemption are spoken of with unfeigned thanksgiving, according to the measure of recent personal experience ; the various ranks, conditions, and circumstances of men are remembered with considerable variety of detail ; any outstanding public calamity or deliverance is made the subject of allusion maturely considered and felicitously expressed ; the salvation of the heathen, the gathering in of the lost sheep of the house of Israel, the interests of the kingdom of Christ at home, and the peace of all nations are remembered in definite and urgent intercession, while, perhaps above everj-thing else, the hearts of the worshippers are drawn out in fervent supplication for the present gracious working of the Holy Spirit, without whom prayer obtains no blessing, and preaching has no power. The sermon is not read, but spoken from notes on the pages of an interleaved Bible. The gestures, including occasional transitions from one side of the pulpit to the other, suggest rather the unconscious action of a thinker absorbed in the excogitation of his theme, than of an orator bespeaking the attention of his hearers. The text (or texts, for the disccurse is often based upon several cognate or contrasted passages), having been announced, a brief introduction presents, in short, almost epigrammatic sentences, some striking thought, after which the leading divisions of the sermon are intimated, so as to indicate at a glance the region to be traversed. The discussion of these topics in succession seldom occupies less than three-quarters of an hour. The preacher has DISRUPTION WORTHIES. not proceeded far before the interest of the devout listener is enchained by the luminous fulness with which some verse hitherto almost unnoticed flashes out from its neglected place in Scripture; or two texts, both familiar but seldom considered before as bearing upon each other, are suddenly brought together, so as to yield a spark which kindles thought and feeling with strange power. Often the imagination is quickened to vigorous and delighted exercise by some bold stroke of fancy or unexpected poetical conception. Presently there is an appeal to the conscience ; sin is not spared, while a vivid presentation of the actions and feelings of yesterday in the searching light of God's law, or a description of some phase of religious experience lays bare the heart's inmost thoughts. In every discourse a place is found for the Cross of Christ and for a loving declaration of the glorious largeness of that Divine mercy, which is high as heaven and greater far than the cloud of sin which hangs portentous between any sinner and God ; and the word of reconciliation is pressed home by the direct question and personal entreaty, well fitted to win the ear and subdue the heart. That this kind of preaching has been highly appreciated by earnest Christians is not strange, and we have reason to know that it has been largely honoured with the blessing of God — how largely shall be known in the day when " they that have turned many to righteousness shall shine as the stars for ever and ever." J. G. C. ^li^iatttt^r f^boittson. NOTE appended to Dr M'Crie's " Life of John Knox " contains the following pedigree of Mr Thomson : — " John Knox, the celebrated Reformer, left three daughters, one of whom was married to a Mr Baillie of the Jer\'iswoodc family, and by him had a daughter, who was married to a Mr Kirkton of Edinburgh. By this marriage Mr Kirkton had a daughter, who was married to Dr Andrew Skene of Aberdeen. Dr Skene had several children, the eldest of whom had by his wife. Miss Lumsden of Cushnie, several sons and daughters. One of these, Mary, was married to Andrew Thomson of Banchory, who had issue by her, IMargarct, Andrew, and Alexander. Andrew married Miss Hamilton, daughter of Dr Hamilton of Marischal College, Aberdeen, and by her had issue, Alexander, born 21st June 179S, present proprietor of Banchory." By the death of his father, Mr Thomson was left at the early age of eight under the care of his mother, a superior and pious woman. Young Thomson studied at the Grammar School and at Marischal College, Aberdeen, and early shewed that fondness for study, and those habits of application, which remained with him through life. As a youth he was cheerful, playful, and kind ; and, at the same time, methodical and conscientious in the disposal of his time. Having completed the arts curriculum, he graduated in 18 16. Besides acquiring an intimate acquaintance with the Latin and Greek classics, and attaining consider- able proficiency in mathematics, he obtained an introduction to several of those branches of Natural Science, the prosecution of which in DISRUPTION WORTHIES. after life afforded him much pleasure. His intercourse with his learned grandfather and his friends fostered those academic tastes and that love of general culture which afterwards marked out Alexander Thomson as the most accomplished country gentleman in the north of Scotland. In order to study law he went to Edinburgh at the beginning of session 1 8 16-17. He joined the Speculative Society, and took a share in the debates. He passed Advocate in 1820, but never practised at the bar. Besides assiduously prosecuting his legal and cognate studies, Mr Thomson, whilst in Edinburgh, began the study of Italian. To the close of his life he retained a fondness for that language and for Italian literature. He also formed friendships which were lasting, with, among others of note, Alexander Dunlop, Sir William Hamilton, and John Hamilton. On attaining majority, Mr Thomson was appointed a Deputy-Lieutenant for Aberdeenshire and Kincardineshire ; he was elected Dean of Marischal College ; and he began to devote attention to the improvement of his estates, and to county business. His private life was exemplary. In 1825 Mr Thomson was married to Jessy, daughter of Alexander Eraser, Esq., an ex-Lord Provost of Aberdeen. The following year Mr and Mrs Thomson visited Holland, Germany, Switzerland, and Italy. During the journey, Mr Thomson made copious notes of his observations on the state of education in these countries, and their social and moral condition. They spent about three years in Florence, Rome, and Naples, Antiquities, the geology and vegetation of the country, and more parti- cularly its social and religious state, engaged his attention ; and he carefully studied the doctrines and practices of popery at its headquarters. He had much pleasant intercourse with Christian men then resident in Italy ; among others, General Macaulay, Chevalier Bunsen, Professor Tholuck, and the Rev. Mr Burgess; and that visit to Italy gave Mr Thomson an abiding interest in the fate and fortunes of that classic land. Mr and Mrs Thomson returned to Banchory in 1829. Besides models of ancient temples, Mr Thomson brought six copies of the medal struck ALEXANDER THOMSON. to commemorate tlie massacre of St Bartholomew's Day. Papists some- times deny that such a medal was struck, and Mr Thomson was careful to distribute his specimens. One of these, and the models, are now in the museum of the Free Church College at Aberdeen. Resuming his public duties and literary and scientific pursuits, Mr Thomson shewed a deepened seriousness and increased interest in religious objects. He withdrew from attendance on the ministrations of the parish clergyman, a Moderate, and availed himself of the Evangelical preaching of ministers in Aberdeen. In 1833 Mr Thomson spent a few months in Edinburgh, and having heard the discussions about patronage, as a Conservative, his fears were aroused "lest anything rash should be done." He came within the influence of the Church Extension movement, became an enthusiastic supporter, and on his return home, got an auxiliary society formed in Aberdeen, and secured the erection of a church in a destitute part of his own district. In 1834 he published "Facts from Rome ; " and contributed a sketch of Dr Hamilton to the EncyclopcEdia Britannica. In 1835 he visited Belgium ; and brought before the Highland Society the plan followed in that country for reclaiming waste land, and for cultivating flax and chicory. He originated schemes for organising a county police force, and for improving prison discipline ; and his labours for these two objects were crowned with success. During the first half of the ten years' conflict Mr Thomson took no share in the discussions and deliberations which engrossed some of the leading minds of the Church of Scotland. In December 1839 his friend, John Hamilton, advocate, sent to him his pamphlet, " Our Present Position ; " and from the time he perused that pamphlet Mr Thomson became deeply interested in the question. The great spiritual issues involved had awakened that interest ; for with many of his friend's views he did not concur, nor was the course of action to be taken at all clear to him. It was after much earnest thought and many discussions that he became thoroughly satisfied that the Church had taken up a right position. As a leading Aberdeen- DISRUPTION WORTHIES. shiro Conservative, and an intimate friend of Lord Aberdeen, Mr Thomson was the medium of conveying to his lordship a copy of that publication, and of others issued by the Evangelical party in the Church. He also corresponded frankly with his lordship on the vexed question. The most valuable part of Professor Smeaton's admirable memoir of Mr Thomson is probably the ninety pages of correspondence between Mr Thomson and John Hamilton, Lord Aberdeen, Sir Robert Peel, and other statesmen and persons of influence. There is no better confutation of the insidious attempts now made in certain quarters to falsify the history of the struggle which preceded the Disruption, than what is contained in those pages. They are also interesting as exhibiting the progress of a candid mind alive to spiritual things, grappling with the great question at issue between the Church and the State, and arriving at a settled con- viction that the Church was right. In his earliest letter to Mr Hamilton (6th January 1840) Mr Thomson writes : — " My own view of the question is, that it is far above and beyond all party and political consideration, and one of the most solemn and important subjects which is only to be thought of and spoken of with the deepest seriousness." . ..." I have refused to join the requisitions for meetings as yet, thinking they go too far on both sides." In striking contrast is his letter to Sir Robert Peel, of 27th May 1842 : — " In this controversy the Church of Scotland asks no more than is granted to the smallest Dissenting body— the power of arranging her own discipline, doctrine, and office-bearers, without interference on the part of the civil courts, and without possessing the power it docs not appear possible for a church to fulfil aright its high functions, by pursuing that purity of doctrine among its teachers for which it is responsible alike to its heavenly Master and Head and to the people among whom and for whose benefit it is established by the State." At county meetings and on the public platform, Mr Thomson main- tained and vindicated the views of the Church ; and in December 1842 he suggested that a meeting of Scottish Lairds should be held, " as the Baroncs Minorcs of Scotland had much to do with the former Rcfor- ALEXANDER THOMSON. matioii." He issued a circular calling a meeting, to hold at Edinburgh on 24th January 1843, " to express concurrence in the resolutions of the Convention, and to consult as to the course which we, as lay members of the Church, ought to pursue in order to enforce upon the Legislature the necessity of giving practical effect to the principle of the independence of the Church in all spiritual matters." Forty-nine lairds attended, and nearly as many sent apologies for being unavoidably absent. The resolutions of the meeting were transmitted to Sir Robert Peel. The third was — " That under these circumstances we are firmly persuaded that unless the exclusive jurisdiction of the Church in things spiritual be fully acknowledged by the State, the inevitable consequence must be the separation of this large portion of the Church from the State, with all the evils which will thence ensue ; and therefore it is our imperative duty, as landed proprietors of Scotland, to take c^'ery means in our power to avert so great a national calamity." Thursday the 18th May 1843 arrived, and Mr Thomson was relieved of negotiations with politicians and prelates. His diary and letters vividly bring before readers the Disruption day. He was present at the levee in the morning, and saw the portrait of William HI. fall, and heard the remark made by a spectator, "There goes the Revolution Settlement ! " He joined the solemn procession to Canonmills Hall. He was incessantly occupied during the next ten days with General Assembly and Committee duties ; and reached hoine, " after a most delightful, and exciting, and I hope profitable fortnight." On the ist of June, Mr Thomson laid the foundation of a Free Church at New Machar, on his estate of Rainineshill. In his own parish he assisted in forming a congregation and procuring a minister (the Rev. D. F. Arthur, highly esteemed by Mr Thomson); he gave sites for church and manse, and largely contributed to the erection of both. In September 1843 Dr Chalmers spent a week at Banchory House, and Mr Thomson often referred to that visit, and always looked back to it with pleasure. On Sabbath the loth, Dr Chalmers preached to an immense congregation assembled on the lawn. DISRUPTION WORTHIES. The refusal of sites by certain landowners occasioned much suffering to members of the Church. Mr Thomson took an active share in the endeavour to have this cowardly form of persecution removed. In con- cert with the Marquis of Breadalbane, Mr Thomson arranged that a meeting of landowners should hold at Glasgow at the close of the General Assembly in October 1843 to consider the subject. The meet- ing agreed to address the noblemen and gentlemen who had refused sites ; and an able, respectful, and earnest address was agreed on. Mr Thomson proposed to the General Assembly in 1844 a plan for providing manses, and when, in a subsequent year, the manse scheme was sanctioned, it met with Mr Thomson's warmest support. Nor was he unmindful of the wants of the Church in foreign lands. Having learned that " Dr Duff mourned the loss of his fine library and apparatus, locked up in the unused buildings now belonging to the Established Church," he assisted in procuring subscriptions to provide library and apparatus ; and in a short time the required sum was raised and remitted to Calcutta, and the great missionary's heart was glad. Mr Thomson regarded the institution of a theological hall in Aber- deen as of great importance to the Church. It was opposed, and a controversy arose, painful at the time, now uninteresting, and hardly intelligible to those who were not engaged in it. In conjunction with Mr F. Edmond of Kingswells, Mr Thomson persevered in urging his views upon the Church ; and the Aberdeen Theological Hall was established. In its extension and permanence Mr Thomson took a lasting interest. Concurrently with his efforts, general and local, on behalf of the Free Church of Scotland, Mr Thomson laboured to promote Sabbath observance by Railways. He had co-operated with Sheriff Watson in planting in Aberdeen the first " Ragged School " attempted in Scotland ; and he continued to aid the learned Sheriff in extending the experiment. It was not till 1854 that he had the satisfaction of finding his views embodied in statute. ALEXAXDER THOMSOX. In consequence of impaired health, he spent half of 1847 and the following year in England. He occupied himself with antiquarian and geological investigations, and still more with inquiry into the social condition of the people. Stimulated by his observations during this visit, he published in 1852, "Social Evils: their Cause and their Cure." In 1857 appeared "Punishment and Prevention ;"* and in papers read before the Social Science Association or published, he advocated stop- ping juvenile offenders on the road to crime ; treated the game laws as fertile sources of crime and misery ; sought to have vagrancy repressed ; opposed the bothy system and feeing markets ; and urged the abolition of tolls. In 1857 Mr Thomson was chosen Convener of the County of Aberdeen. In the following year he saw carried out, though in a mutilated form, a scheme which he had tried to promote during thirt}- years, viz., the amalgamation of King's and Marischal Colleges. In 1859 the British Association met in Aberdeen. H. R. H. Prince Albert, the President of the year, did Mr Thomson the honour to be his guest ; and Mr Thomson took an active part in all arrangements for the promotion of the objects of the association as well as in the discussions. In consequence of attempts by the Scottish Episcopal Church to obtain some recognition by Parliament, such as would identify it with the Church of England, Mr Thomson engaged in a vigorous correspond- ence on the subject ; and published an able pamphlet — " Scottish Epis- copacy : Past and Present " — in order to disseminate correct views as to the aggressive practices and dangerous tenets of that sect. Symptoms of failing health appeared in 1859, and weakness of the eyes compelled Mr Thomson to discontinue these investigations by the microscope in which he delighted. Succeeding years found Mr Thom.son with diminished vigour, pursuing literary and scientific studies, publishing on various subjects, and interested in all that concerned the social, moral, * London: Nisbet & Co. 1S57. DISRUPTION WORTHIES. and religious wellbeing of those around him. He had for two or three years contemplated the great change as approaching, and early in 1 868 increasing weakness warned the relatives that it was near. On i8th May 1868 Mr Thomson sent a message to Dr Candlish, expressing a hope that God would be with the General Assembly. His dying utterances were, " Bought with a price," " Swallowed up in victory ; " on Wednesday night, the 20th May 1868, his spirit departed. Mr Thomson bequeathed his valuable museum and extensive library, and about ;f 16,000 in money to the Free Church College in Aberdeen. The money was apportioned for bursaries, maintenance of museum and library, a lecturer on natural science and theology, and " to increase the too small salaries of the Professors." The large collection of journals, letters, and other MSS. was placed in the hands of the Rev. Professor Smeaton, who had kindly agreed to prepare a memoir of his departed friend. The work was faithfully per- formed ; and a most interesting volume was published in 1869. Of the Professor's labours the writer of this notice has freely availed himself. At the close of the " Funeral Sermon," the late Principal Lumsden said : — • " He enrolled himself from the outset among the adherents to the cause of the Church's independence, and was one of the most eminent of that noble band of elders whom God in His signal grace gave us at the time of the Disruption, composed of men so conspicuous by social station, and professional renown, and Christian character, that I know not that the annals of any church, at any period, can supply the like." . . . . " Called by his social status to mingle much with men of all classes and opinions, he was amongst them all, and at all times, the consistent disciple, never ashamed to confess Christ, always adorning the doctrine by his varied intelligence and his gentlemanly urbanity, by his meekness, wisdom, finnness, and self-possession." R. L. =^ 'ILLIAM K.TWEEDIE.D.D ^ =a vr LI- IP WILLIAM KING TWEEDIE, D.D. tcrian Church at River Terrace. This friendship did not terminate after both had left London, but continued unbroken till the death of the missionary minister of Calcutta. In 1849 he published an interesting memoir of his beloved friend. The reputation for intellectual power and ministerial faithfulness which he had now acquired, led to his appointment as minister of the South Parish of Aberdeen. His induction took place on ist September 1837, and on the following Sabbath Dr Duff introduced the young minister to the congregation. Dr Duff had been the first choice of the congregation, but he refused the call, because he considered India as still his mission field. The sermon was printed, and in it Dr Duff refers to Mr Tweedie's "gifts and graces, whether in the pulpit or in the closet, at the family altar or at the weary pilgrim's death-bed, his walk and conversation, his outgoings and incomings." In this charge he occupied a position of great influence ; his labours were very abundant, and his high powers were appreciated by all who knew him. In September 1841 the congregation of the Tolbooth Parish, Edin- burgh, sustained a heavy affliction by the secession, into the Episcopal communion, of their beloved minister. They desired to have as his successor one who should combine pulpit talent with vigorous intellect and parochial activity. When Mr Tweedie's name was suggested to them, scarcely any of them had heard him preach ; but there was so unvarying a report of his character from all quarters, that they applied in his favour to the Town Council, then patrons of the city churches. Their application was successful ; he accepted the call, and was inducted on loth March 1842, leaving in Aberdeen a much attached congregation. From this date till his death in 1863, he was the loved and honoured minister of the Tolbooth Church. On i8th May 1843 he ceased to be minister of the parish, as he, with the entire kirk-session, and nearly all the congregation, withdrew from the Establishment, and joined the Free Church ; but they retained the name, and with it the DISRUPTION WORTHIES. religious and ecclesiastical principles which had characterised the Tol- booth Church for a long series of years. They continued their schools and their other parochial labours. During the brief period that Mr Tweedie occupied the place of a parochial minister in Edinburgh, he pursued with much zeal his parochial duties. Among other things, he printed a tract addressed to the parishioners, which was intended to be the first of a series. Mr Tweedie took an active part in the proceedings which led to the Disruption, and for many years subsequent to this, his high business talents enabled him to promote the success of the Church in every one of its departments. For a short time he was convener of the Sustentation Committee. He was also Convener of the Committee on Popery, and for fifteen years he was Convener of the Committee on Foreign Missions. This last office he would not have resigned, had he not felt that, with his impaired health, he could not fulfil, to his own satisfaction, the duties of it and of his pastoral office at the same time. His close relations with Duff", Anderson, Wilson, Mackay, Ewart, Johnston, Maccallum, Smith, Mitchell, besides Macdonald and other honoured names, gave him a weight and influence which no one else could have. His letters to the missionaries during the long period of his convenership were greatly valued. Indeed, wherever there was need for work in the service of the Master, there he was a willing, untiring, disinterested worker. To his own congregation, and the varied interests connected with it, he gave his heart and all his powers. There was much difficulty in obtaining a suitable place of worship. On the first Sabbaths after the Disruption he conducted public worship in Freemasons' Hall, Niddry Street, but the accommodation was quite inadequate for the hearers. An ineffectual attempt was made to induce an existing congregation to alter somewhat their hours of worship ; and at length the church in Infirmary Street, where Mr Paxton had been minister, was purchased, WILLIAM KING TWEED IE, D.D. and tlierc the congregation assembled till 1853, when the Music Hall in George Street was obtained. This was in many respects a comfort- able place of meeting ; but it was not suitable as a " Sabbath Home," and efforts were made to obtain a site for a permanent structure. Of course, nearness to the former parish was felt to be the first requisite ; but at least five or six situations on the High Street, or on the northern slope of the Old Town, were successively selected, examined by an archi- tect, and abandoned. With great reluctance, one in St Andrew Square was finally adopted, and it was occupied by the congregation on i6th May 1858. Considering the difficulties of the site, Mr Bryce, the architect, might be said to be successful ; but many of the congregation were much inconvenienced. The style of Dr Twccdie's discourses could not be called flowing oratory, but he stated the truths which he himself believed with clearness and force. Every hearer knew that the preacher was in earnest, and that it behoved him to be in earnest as well. He rarely addressed the con- gregation without having written what he said. He never preached a sermon to his people a second time ; although the sermon may have been the same, he invariably re-wrote it, assigning as his reason for this, that his people ought to have his freshest thoughts, and that in writing again he thus gave any new views, or even new expressions, which had occurred to him. His sermons were clear expositions of Scripture, searching delinea- tions of character, and telling addresses to the consciences of his hearers. The illustrations drawn from natural objects and from books gave force to his doctrinal statements. He had classes for the instruction of the young, and his conversations with intending communicants, while tender and skilful, were unusually faithful and searching, and were specially owned of God in preparing for the solemn step in life which they contemplated. For several years he held a meeting in his house for students every Saturday evening, which was largely attended, and was greatly valued by many who now occupy DISRUPTION WORTHIES. important positions in the ministry, both at home and abroad. In the Kirk-session and Deacons' Court, his clear and large views of the business transacted at the meetings promoted the success of every under- taking and the solution of every difficulty. His frank address and his friendly consideration of those with whom he came into contact, tempered the differences of opinion which are so ready to occur in the intercourse of life. Dr Tweedie's writings form an important part of his life-work. He had the love of writing, and the power of writing. His works were numerous, and, if not profound or exhaustive, led on the reader from one step to another in the path of truth and righteousness. Many were especially written for the young, and not a few young men and young women were guided upward in the Christian life by the perusal of these varied volumes. His aim in all his writings was to promote the cause of Christ and the good of souls, and in doing so, he never shrunk from declaring the truth, even although it might be unpalatable. His correspondence was very extensive. Indeed he delighted to address his friends in this way, and the letters were of a valuable character. They were representative of himself as a Christian friend and instructor, and they supplied the counsel, or comfort, or expostulation that might be respectively suitable. Some people resented this, but many more relished it, and felt grateful. One replied to him, " Write a common- sense letter. When I wish a sermon, I can get one on the other side of the street." But the same individual, at a later period said, " He was right, and I was wrong." Dr Twcedie used conversation for the same purpose for which he made such large and effective use of correspondence. He often spoke a word in the ordinary intercourse of life which arrested the attention of the careless, or gave a spark of light to the downcast. His pastoral visitation was .systematic and faithful. He addressed himself at once to the important business about which he had come. Even in casually WILLIAM KING TWEE DIE, D.D. meeting with his people on the street, it was his habit to leave a good word as he passed on. He illustrated well the remark, " A word spoken in season, how good is it ! " He was never a robust man. He often suffered from cough, and this sometimes interfered with his pulpit duties. Other ailments were superadded, and he became infirm. In the summer of 1861 he went with his family to the Continent, and passed several months in Switzer- land and Germany, enjoying very much the salubrious climate, and delighting in the varied scenery spread around him. His health was considerably benefited by this sojourn, and he returned home strengthened for his important duties. But he became more easily influenced by atmospheric changes, and his loved work was performed with greater difficulty. He at length became convinced that the services of an assistant or colleague were necessary. He was less sanguine than others as to the issue. He thought the disease had now taken a deeper hold of his body, and that his active working life would probably not be very long ; yet he spoke calmly and cheerfully, and in his graceful, dignified manner, acquiesced in the arrangements made and intended for his comfort. It pleased God to withhold His blessing from the means used for his recovery. His death-bed was a bed of suffering — of very great suffering, with few interruptions. In the early part of it, there were intervals when he was comparatively free from pain, and then his conversation was cheerful as was his wont; but latterly pain and exhaustion gave a sombre hue to all that he said. More than once he declared that he knew whom he had believed, and felt thankful that he had not left till that hour of weakness the grand work of life. He addressed striking admonitions to some of those who were beside him, which they are not likely ever to forget ; he gave utterance to his affectionate feelings ; he expressed his thankfulness for services rendered to him. To one friend he said, " Be sure that you have Christ." On one occasion he exclaimed, without refer- DISRUPTION WORTHIES. encc to anything that had been said either by himself or others, " There is licrht before the throne." We cannot tell certainly, but we may imagine what he meant by these words. He was in a dark valley : all was dark except one spot, and that spot was the throne of God and the Lamb. There was light there, and when the valley had been passed through, all was light. It can be tnily said that he bore a life-testimony to the Saviour whom he loved and served. Having dedicated himself to the ministry — first, perhaps, merely as a profession, but afterwards as a heart-work — he gave all his energies of mind and heart to its prosecution. He derived his views of doctrine and of duty from the holy Scriptures ; and the written word, as he often said, " led to the Incarnate Word." He preached the freeness of the gospel invitation to all sinners without exception ; but he never lost sight of the grand cardinal truth, that God is supreme, all in all ; that man's salvation originated in the mind of God, and that in the case of each individual soul, it is the grace of God which draws the sinner to Himself He was not only a bold, uncompromising herald of the heavenly message, but a skilful, painstaking, loving pastor ; and in both capacities his ministry was blessed with peculiar success, alike in the awakening and conversion of sinners and in the edification of believers. He never belied his character as a Christian minister, or as a Christian gentleman. Need it be added that he was emphatically a lover of good men ? He cherished such wherever he found them, and co-operated with them in works of faith and labours of love. He was Secretary of the Society for Relief of the Destitute Sick from 1843 to his death, and did what he could to promote the success of that admirable association. Dr Tweedie died on the 24th March 1863 (being survived by Mrs Tweedie, two sons, and three daughters), and on the Saturday following his remains were laid in the Grange Cemetery, not far from the resting- place of his revered and beloved friend Dr Chalmers. W. E. L_ DAVID ^AELSH.D.D --^ J^'^- DAVID WELSH, D.D. success, to tlic work of the ministry. In prosecuting that work, he laboured under very considerable disadvantages. He had a weak chest, and preaching was always to him an oppressive labour. He had little facility of utterance, and his bodily frame was but ill fitted to endure the laborious fatigue of his pastoral duties. Notwithstanding, he soon came to be beloved by his congregation, and to be known over all the district as a preacher of singular power. The publication by him in 1825, moreover, of a life of Dr Brown, made him known in all literary and scientific circles as a man of extensive reading, of cultivated taste, of sound and acute judgment, and of searching and discriminating analytical power. At this period of his history, the following quotation from his diary will let us see in what frame of mind his work was carried on, and wherein lay the secret of his power : — " Oh, 1 am backward in spiritual things. O Lord, shed abroad Thy love in my heart, by Thy Holy Spirit, for Christ's sake. Amen and Amen. Enable me to cultivate simplicity and godly sincerity. I feel much attachment to my people, but little, little anxiety for their eternal souls. Enable me to be more zealous in this respect. I read and think a good deal, but consult too much the inclination of the hour. Give me strength to do what my hand fmdcth to do. Enable me, O Lord, to make this my constant feeling. Lord, what would'st Thou have me to do ?" It was not to be expected that a minister of Mr Welsh's accomplish- ments and power, especially at such a time in the history of the Church of Scotland, should be permitted to remain in the seclusion of Cross- michael; and accordingly, in 1827, the congregation of St David's, Glasgow, which was then vacant, recommended him to the Town Council of the city for presentation to that parish. This they were induced to do mainly on the recommendation of Dr Brown, of St John's Parish, who, as former minister at Tongland, had been a co-presbyter of Mr Welsh. The Town Council acted on the recommendation, and Mr Welsh, having accepted the presentation, was translated to Glasgow, to the deep regret of all his congregation, and with a sore wrench to his own tender nature. " The tic that connected us together," he said, " was DISRUPTION WORTHIES. of the closest and most endearing nature, though I never knew with what strength it mutually bound us till it came to be broken." Mr Welsh engaged in the work of his city charge with all the faithful diligence and ardour which had characterised his previous ministry, although now the field of his operations was greatly enlarged. Besides tlie duties of his parish and congregation, he could not fail to encourage every philanthropic scheme for the good of his fellow-citizens. His interest in the cause of education was peculiarly active and intelligent, and, in conjunction with David Stow, and others like-minded, he con- tributed greatly to extend the means of education in the city, particularly in setting up infant schools for the training of the young. He was in labours most abundant, too much so, indeed, for his weak bodily frame ; and although he was daily growing in the affectionate esteem of his congregation, and in his influence for good in the community at large, it became evident that he could not long endure the strain upon his physical strength. This formed at least one powerful inducement to him to accept the offer made to him by the Government of the day, to accept the Chair of Church History in the University of Edinburgh, to which he was appointed in October 1831, and he entered upon his work as professor in November following. The year before leaving Glasgow, he was united in marriage to the sister of Mr William Hamilton, Provost of Glasgow at the time of his translation from Crossmichael, and on the occasion of his removal to Edinburgh he received the degree of D.D. from the Glasgow University. By the students of the Theological Hall in the University of Edin- burgh his appointment was hailed with universal delight, and short as was his time for preparation, he got through the labour of his first session with great credit and acceptance. His work as professor was very con- genial to his tastes, and he grew more and more in successive years in the esteem of his students and of all who knew him. His tenderly affectionate nature, notwithstanding his peculiar shyness and reserve, drew their hearts DA VID WELSH, D.D. towards him, and the high tone and abiUty of his prelections commanded their respect. The spirit that animated him in the duties of his class, will appear from the following record of his aims : " To set apart one hour every Saturday for prayer for my students. To make a study, as oppor- tunity presents, of the passages of Scripture that relate to my duties as a teacher, and to the duties of the young. To add to my resolutions, from time to time, as new light shines. In looking at a student, ask. How can I do him good .' or. Have I ever done him good .''" So long as he could resist the pressure of higher obligations, Dr Welsh devoted himself exclusively to the business of his class, refusing all solici- tations to engage in other work, and refusing even to preach except on rare occasions. The time, however, was hastening on which constrained him to depart from this rigid rule. He had never been an ecclesiastic ; but ecclesiastical questions of high moment were pressing to the front, and his sense of duty was such that he could not avoid taking part in them. From the time when he became a professor till his death, he was a member of the General Assembly. He was one of the comparatively few at that time who regarded the total abolition of Patronage as necessary for the wellbeing of the Church, and in the Assembly 1833 made his first speech on that subject. Notwithstanding some slight hesitation in manner, he spoke with admirable effect, although at the close of the debate only thirty-two voted along with him. Dr Welsh was not present at the Assembly 1834, which passed the Veto Act, having gone with his family to reside at Bonn, but he heartily approved of what was done. In that year also he published a volume of sermons on practical subjects, which amply sustained the reputation he had acquired as a preacher of the gospel. From this time forward he felt himself under obligation to take a larger share than hitherto in the general business of the Church. He never, indeed, became a prominent leader in public discussions, whether in the General Assembly or in public meetings. His physical infirmities were a barrier to his efforts in DISRUPTION WORTHIES. that direction. " But he joined," Rlr Dunlop tells ns, "in the consulta- tions and exertions of the time, contributing much, by his judgment and prudence, to the wisdom of the counsels adopted, and cheering all by his confident spirit of reliance on the righteousness of the cause, what- ever the immediate issue might be." The Ten Years' Conflict had begun. It is not our part here to speak of its successive stages, but during its progress, Dr Welsh, in several departments of Christian work, was busily and profitably engaged. In 1838 he was appointed Vice-Convener of the Colonial Committee, and in 1 84 1 became Convener. From the time of his appointment, he infused a new and vigorous spirit into the work of the Committee, and not a few of our expatriated countrymen owe to him the blessing of a faithful ministry among them. His eye was upon every emigrant seaport, and he made it his business to infuse students, probationers, and ministers, with a desire to devote themselves to the service of God in the colonies. About the same time, on the abolition of the monopoly for printing the Bible, Dr Welsh was made Secretary of the Bible Board in Scotland, and upon him chiefly devolved the responsibility of securing that the editions of the Bible issued by several publishers were in conformity with the authorized version. His aptitude, intelligence, and zeal were also conspicuously manifested in the duties of this office, of which the Government of 1843 had the discredit of depriving him, because of his having cast in his lot with the Free Church. In 1842 he was Moderator of the General Assembly, perhaps the most momentous Assembly ever held by the Church of Scotland in connection with the State, and on him it devolved to preside at the opening of the Assembly 1843. Never, perhaps, was a man of such humility and modesty as Dr Welsh placed in a position of such con- spicuous eminence. But he proved himself fit for the occasion. The crisis seemed to inspire him with new life and vigour, and nerved him to powerful and eloquent speech. I lis sermon in the High Church— DAVID U-RLSH, D.D. from the text, Rom. xiv. 5, " Let every man be fully persuaded in his own mind "—thrilled through every heart, and when he took the chair in St Andrew's Church, in which the Assembly met, the crowded audience gazed upon him in breathless silence. Mr Dunlop says :— "Nothing but the highest mental energy, aided by strength from above, could have sustained him now— feeble in body through previous illness and anxiety, and e.\hausted by the labour already gone through. But he was firm and collected ; very pale, but full of dignity, as one about to do a great deed ; and of elevation from the consciousness that he was doing it for the cause of Christ. His opening prayer ended, the Assembly became still as death. In a voice not strong, but clear and distinct, and heard in every corner of the building, he said, 'According to the usual form of procedure, this is the time for making up the roll; but in consequence of certain proceedings affecting our rights and privileges— proceedings which have been sanctioned by Her Majesty's Government, and by the Legislature of the country, and more especially, that there has been an infringement on the liberties of our consti- tution, so that we could not now constitute this Court without a violation of the terms of the Union between Church and State in this land, as now authoritatively declared, I must protest against our proceeding farther. The reasons that have led to this conclusion are fully set forth in the document which I hold in my hand, and which, with the permission of the house, I will now proceed to read.' " The Protest being read, Dr Welsh left the Chair, followed by a proces- sion of ministers and elders who constituted a majority of the Assembly, to the amazement of many incredulous statesmen and others, and in conformity with the glad expectation of the great body of the religious people of Scotland. Dr Welsh constituted the Free Church Assembly in Tanfield Hall, after which Dr Chalmers was called to the Chair, and presided over its deliberations. Dr Welsh, however, was enabled to take part in its proceedings, and amazed those who knew him best, by the freedom and fluency with which he spoke, and by the gladsome spirit with which he was animated. The branch of the Church's business, which was specially committed to him, was Education in all its departments. As Convener of the Com- mittee appointed on this subject, the Free Church owes to him, in great measure, the noble library of the New College, as well as the stately building which contains it ; and to him also the Church is to a consider- DISRUPTION WORTHIES. able extent indebted for the normal and elementary scliools which have been conducted with so much success. But his manifold and distinguished labours were now drawing to a close. He was able at the Assembly 1 844 to attend only a few of the sederunts, and in the November following, when he had commenced the labours of his class, he was able to continue in them only for a few weeks. He retired to Drumfork House, near Helensburgh, on the estate of his brother-in-law, so soon as the weather permitted, but his health did not improve. He was subject to violent spasms of pain, which he bore with great fortitude and resignation. On the last day of his life, the 24th April 1845, he was able to take a drive, and was more cheerful than usual. " After dinner he slept for a little, leaning his head on the table. On his waking up, Mrs Welsh began, as usual, to read occasionally a verse or two from the Bible. She read Isaiah Ixi. 10, ' I will greatly rejoice in the Lord, my soul shall be joyful in my God ; for-He hath clothed me with the garments of salvation, He hath covered me with the robe of righteousness, as a bridegroom decketh himself with ornaments, and as a bride adorneth herself with jewels.' He turned the passage, as was his wont, into a fervent prayer; and, in a few moments afterwards, stretching out his arms, he passed into the presence of his God and Saviour." VV. W^ ^«= JOHN WILSON, D.D. IMoIiammadans and Parsis. Mr and Mrs Wilson were heartily aided, in their efforts to arouse the people, by a band of Christian friends, among whom, without disparaging other excellent men, we may single out the late Dr Smyttan, and Messrs R. C. Money, J. Farish, and R. T. Webb, of the Bombay Civil Service, as specially remarkable. Mr Wilson was incessantly engaged in lecturing, preaching, writing, publishing. In 1830, along with two other friends, he established a monthly periodical called the Oriental Christian Spectator ; a valuable repository of infor- mation on Indian literature and missions. He also took extensive missionary tours. Having acquired the Marathi language, he next learned Gujarat! and Hindustani ; and, following the example of his learned colleague, Stevenson — who early studied Sanskrit, and published a portion of the Rig Veda with a translation, before Rosen's celebrated " Specimen " had come out — he made progress in the far-famed holy tongue of the Brahmans. He then attacked the enigmatical Zend, which the distinguished savant Burnouf had just begun to elucidate ; and he was able to discuss, at least on equal terms, with the Parsi priests, the meaning of the Zendavesta. Mrs Wilson died in 1835 — a most grievous blow to her husband and the whole mission. Her Memoir, compiled by her husband, is one of the best of missionary biographies. About Mrs Wilson's letters, which make up a great part of the book, there is an indescribable charm. Two of Mrs Wilson's sisters — Anna and Hay Bayne — soon after her death proceeded to Bombay at Dr Wilson's earnest request, and were a great comfort to him in his solitude. Both of them were highly gifted and devoted women. The younger sister became the wife of the saintly Robert Nesbit. The same year, in the month of August, the three Scottish missionaries then labouring in West India — Messrs James Mitchell, Nesbit. and Wilson — were received as agents of the Established Church of Scotland. Mr Wilson had been the moving spirit in making the application, which was most heartily agreed to. DISRUPTION WORTHIES. In the year 1S36 Mr Wilson received the degree of D.D. from the University of Edinburgh. Mr Alexander Duff, the General Assembly's first missionary, had reached Calcutta in May 1830 ; and the marvellous success of his educa- tional efforts had stimulated the desire that a seminary on the model of his should be set up in Western India. Mr Wilson did all that he could attempt single-handed to conduct such a school ; and by the end of 1838, when the Mission was reinforced by Mr Nesbit's return from the Cape, and Mr Murray Mitchell's arrival from Scotland, the General Assembly's Institution was fully organized. It was numerously attended by Parsis ; but the baptism of two Parsi pupils (now the Rev. Messrs Hormazdji Pestonji and Dhanjibhai Nauroji) speedily shook the school to its founda- tions. The attendance, from being nearly three hundred, fell at once to forty-five ; and these were nearly all Portuguese. Of the very few Hindus who remained, one was Narayan Sheshadri ; who said he could safely do so, as he was determined the missionaries should never catch /mn in their net ! Dr Wilson now commenced a series of lectures, which, in the end of 1 842, he published in a volume of fully six hundred pages, entitled, " The Parsi Religion." This was the most elaborate work on the Zoroastrian system that had appeared since Hyde had given to the world his cele- brated treatise, De Veteri Religione Persarum. Dr Wilson sailed for Europe early in January 1843, accompanied by Mr Dhanjibhai Nauroji; travelled through the Holy Land ; and reached Scotland soon after the great Disruption. No one had watched with deeper anxiety the sore struggle which the Church had been called to pass through. No one more firmly held the great principle of spiritual inde- pendence. He lost no time in signifying his hearty adherence to the Church of the Disruption ; he rejoiced and gave thanks to God that, on this deeply important question, all the missionaries of the Church, whether to Gentiles or Jews, were of the same mind ; and he took part at home in JOHN WILSON, D.D. explaining and vindicating the position assumed by the Free Churcli. He accompanied Dr Candlish into England ; and at Oxford, in particular, in presence of a somewhat critical audience, he preached on the spiritual glor>- of the Church of Christ and its inalienable freedom. Dr Wilson often mentioned with great gusto his delight at the answer given by one of the boatmen when he landed at Dover. He had asked the man, "Any news about the Church of Scotland .? " " They're all out, sir," was the reply ; and to Dr Wilson they were thrilling words. " My mind," he used to say, " was made up ; I would have gone out although I had only had half a dozen associates." It is right to add that, while strongly attached to the Pres- byterian form of Church government, and to the Free Church, Dr Wilson was a man of truly catholic sympathies, and ever ready to co-operate in all good works with men of evangelical sentiments. He heartily favoured the Evangelical Alliance, and he took his share in preparing the way for a great confederation or alliance— the doctor himself called it a consociation— of Presbyterian Churches in India. On the question of the union of the Free Church with the Reformed Presbyterian and United Presbyterian bodies, Dr Wilson sided with the majority of his own Church. Passing rapidly over the time he remained in Scotland, during which he was mainly occupied with the composition of an elaborate work on the " Lands of the Bible," we find Dr Wilson back at his post in Bombay by November 1847. In 1846, he had married as his second wife Miss Isabella Dennistoun— an admirable woman, simply and earnestly devoted to the work of God. He had been elected a Fellow of the Royal Society during his residence at home, as he had been made Pre- sident of the Bombay Branch of the Royal Asiatic Society during the latter part of his residence in India. The next ten years of Dr Wilson's life passed over without anything very remarkable taking place. He was as active in mind and body as before, assisting in the revision of the translations of Scripture, gathering acquaintance with the aboriginal tribes, and promoting every religious DISRUPTION WORTHIES. and philanthropic effort in the western capital. The great Mutiny oc- curred in 1857 ; and since then the main literary occupation of Dr Wilson has been the preparation of a very full, elaborate work on Caste, which he was led to take up by his conviction that caste-prejudices were closely connected with the outbreak. But his pen was never idle. He published a careful resume of the efforts of the Bombay Government to suppress infanticide, and several Memoirs on the remarkable cave-temples of Western India. In the new and exceedingly important step taken for the advancement of education, in the establishment of three great Universities in India, Dr Wilson took a deep interest ; and by-and-by he received the honour of being appointed Vice-Chancellor of the University of Bombay. Years passed on, and Dr Wilson had attained quite a patriarchal position in Bombay. He connected a present and past that were in many respects strangely contrasted. No man had more acquaintance with India as it was ; and no man had so much with India as it is. His knowledge of Western India, in particular, with its endless complexity of tribes and dialects and customs, was perfectly marvellous. He became an authority superior to all others on any question connected with the native races. In his judgment as well as in his knowledge, both Govern- ment and the public could repose the most entire confidence. He was by no means a mere scholar ; he was a man of great practical sagacity. In the dark and trying times of the Mutiny — darker and more trying than any one who was not then in India can possibly understand — Dr Wilson was an invaluable counsellor to Government. Lord Elphinstone, who proved, under God, a ruler equal to the terrible emergency, often sought his sym- pathy and advice ; and never did so in vain. The applications made to him for information, for advice, were endless, and would have worn out any ordinary man's patience ; but he hardly seemed to look upon the tax as unreasonable. To every one who came to him, whether European or Asiatic, he was uniformly kind, accessible JOHN WILSON, n.n. obliging. The feeling of regard entertained for him was beautifully witnessed in 1868, when a sum of 2i,cxx) rupees was contributed by the Bombay community to form the Wilson Memorial, the interest being drawn by Dr Wilson during his life, and the capital being devoted, according to his own suggestion, to the endowment of a chair of Com- parative Philology in the Bombay University. The death of his excellent wife in 1867 had been a very sore affliction, though his niece, Miss Taylor, did all she could to minister to his comfort. In 1870 he was called home by the Church to fill the Moderator's chair. We do not require to tell our readers how well he did his part. Courteous, conciliatory, dignified, with a ready tact that seldom failed in doing and saying the right thing, he was one of the best of Moderators. During the months that followed the Assembly, he did much to advance the cause of missions. If not an eloquent, he was a winning advocate. His powers of persuasion were great ; and he seemed to draw to himself the hearts of all. Since his return to India, with the infirmities of age becoming too serious to be any longer doubted even by himself, his error was that he con- tinued to attempt too much. Doubtless by so doing he wore himself out too soon. We often thought of a remark which Dr Candlish once made regarding the venerable Dr Gordon : " It is far more important that he should live ten years than that he should do any work." But the veteran would work on in spite of entreaties, till he has fallen at his post. One of his letters, dated i8th April 1875, thus refers to the death of his sister-in-law. Miss Bayne : " How few of my early friends now remain on earth ! and how many of them have gone to heaven before me ! May ' upwards and onwards ' be more and more my watchword !" On June i8th he wrote : — " I have just got the Assembly papers, and am greatly pleased with the glance I have been able to take of them. None of the great men removed from us will be reproduced in their individualities and combinations. Yet the Lord will not overlook the exigencies of His Church and people." DISRUPTION WORTHIES. The last letter we received from him is dated November i. 1875 : — " You have no doubt heard of my severe illness. In the goodness of my heavenly Father I think I am a little better ; but if you saw my difficulty of breathing, &c., &c., you would much pity me. Let that pity pass into petitions addressed to the throne of all grace." After this, " he fell by leaps," as Mr Beaumont expresses it. The day before his death he said to a friend, " I have perfect peace, and am content that the Lord should do what may seem good to Him." He died without much suffering on ist December. He has passed away ; but neither the Church nor India ever can forget him. Dr Wilson has left two sons. The elder is the accomplished author ot " The Abode of Snow," and other works. The younger, who studied medicine, has long been in shattered hea;lth. The following resolution of the Senate will shew the estimate in which Dr Wilson's services are held by the University of Bombay : — " That this University place on record its deep and unfeigned regret at the death of the Rev. John Wilson, D.D., F.R.S., one of the Fellows mentioned in the Act of Incorporation, late Vice-Chancellor, and for several years and at his death Dean and Syndic in Arts. In its foundation on a sound and permanent basis, in the preparation of those rules and regulations which were necessary for carrying out the objects for which it was established, in the prominent part he took in the examinations for its prizes and honours, and in the constant attendance he gave to the meetings of its various governing bodies, Dr Wilson shewed the great and never-failing interest he took in this Institution, the success of which is in no small degree due to the able advice and fostering care of this great and good man ; and while lamenting his removal, the University would point to the bright example of his life and conversation as a pattern to be followed by all engaged in the work of education, as well as by those who profit thereby. That although Dr Wilson's memory will be preserved in the University by the ' Wilson Philological Lectureship,' which was founded in his honour in the year 1870, yet as that testimonial was provided by friends and admirers of Dr Wilson outside of the University, it would, in the opinion of this meeting, be specially appropriate that the Senate as such should, in some manner to be hereafter determined, commemorate the distinguished services rendered by Dr Wilson to this University." j. M. M. m^ I i I ii WILLIAM iriLSOy, D.D. Wilson entered Carmjlie as its minister in a more excellent way. Under the Jus devoliitu/n, the Presbytery of Arbroath, in compliance with a petition from the parishioners presented him, and he was ordained in 1837. The movement that preceded and prepared the way for the Disruption was, beyond dispute, a great spiritual awakening. The grace that settled in a man's soul the question of his entire subordination in heart and conscience to his Lord and Saviour, of necessity also settled in the mind of the same intelligent inquirer the question of the Church's independence, and Christ's sovereignty, absolute and undivided, in His Church and over her. The minister of Carmylie threw himself with energy and ardour into the twofold work of seeking the emancipation of the souls of men from sin and of the Church from the fetters that were being riveted upon her. The Disruption came and Mr Wilson found himself without church or manse. Refused a site, denied the liberty of public worship on a single square yard of ground in the parish, the only place of meeting left the minister and his people was the highway. The time had come when, in many a parish, the people, loyal to their Divine Head, were content to worship with the heavens for a canopy, and surrounding nature for a cloud of witnesses. In Carmylie, the conflict was peculiarly severe. The minister was compelled to seek a lodging in East Haven, some seven miles distant from the sphere of his labours. Week after week, in sunshine and in storm, in the pelting rain, in the piercing east " haar," in season and out of season, he trudged those weary miles, prosecuting his ministry with indomitable courage and undoubted success. Nor were the faithful adherents of the Free Church cause found wanting. The farmer of Mains of Carmylie, boldly defying the powers that were, heroically risked his lease by permitting the congregation to erect its tent on one of his fields. In the same spirit of fearless independence, this noble-hearted elder gave up his dwelling-house to the homeless DISRUPTION IVOKTHIES. minister, contented himself with his own household to lodge in the barn. For a period the minister and his people were driven from post to pillar, now worshipping in a tent here, anon in a barn yonder, and again in a wooden shed, often on one Sabbath not knowing where they should assemble the next. At length, to Christian endurance fell the victory. Sites were granted ; a church and a manse were built, and the heroic struggle reached a happy close. Those who remember Mr Wilson's preaching at that period, speak of it with enthusiasm. Such as have only seen him in the cool discharge of official routine, or heard him calmly reading one of his clear, terse, weighty discourses, could not easily imagine the outbursting energy, the vehemence, the fire, with which he preached in those days. In regard to his church warfare, it will be sufficient to quote the words of a parishioner. "Oor minister," said he, "can haud the gully o'er the dyke tae ony o' them." This witness was true. Translated to Dundee in 1848, he became minister of the Mariners' church, afterwards named St Paul's. Under his ministry the congrega- tion flourished remarkably, its membership increasing well-nigh threefold. A handsome new church was erected, and a congregation embracing not a little of the intelligence and influence of the town gathered and consolidated. Of the many services rendered by the minister of St Paul's to the Free Church and the cause of the Gospel in Scotland, not the least important were his labours as Convener of the Home Mission Committee. To this office he was appointed in 1863, and for ten years discharged its onerous duties, with admirable tact, untiring energy, and much success. In 1870, the Church conferred upon him her highest honour by raising him to the Moderator's Chair; and in 1870, he received the degree of D.D. from the University of Edinburgh. It is hardly necessary to remark in passing, that Dr Wilson discharged the duties of Moderator with perfect dignity and efficiency. Those who attended the opening WILLIAM WIL.SOX, D.D. services of the Assembly in 1867, will readily recall an incident, too impressive to be ever forgotten. The retiring Moderator, Dr Wilson, was in the midst of a sermon characterised by wonted lucidity and weight of statement, and a more than ordinary freshness and point, when suddenly a shrill crj- was heard, and Dr Clason, the venerable Clcrk of Asscmbl)', was seen to throw up his hand and fall backwards on his seat, as if dead. A thrill of deepest solemnity passed through the audience, while the preacher paused, and several members of the court hastened to raise the prostrated form of the aged minister upon their shoulders and carry liim out. It was the beginning of the end, the work of a faithful servant of the Church had reached its close. The Master found him at his post, and called him up higher, from tiie assembly on earth, to the general assembly and church of the first-born in heaven. In the intense excitement produced by this incident the man who seemed most calm and self-possessed was the preacher. Resuming his discourse, he proceeded to fulfil the solemn duties of the ofifice and the hour in a manner befitting the occasion and the scene. In 1868, Dr Wilson was elected by the General Assembly to the ofifice of Junior Clerk, and in 1877, he was with entire unanimity and cordiality appointed Secretaiy to the Sustentation Fund Com- mittee, of which he is also Joint-Convener. This rendered necessary his retiring from the pastorate of St Paul's, Dundee ; but he is still minister eineritus of that congregation. His removal to Edinburgh was the occasion of deep regret to his numerous friends in Dundee, and indeed to the entire community, by whom he was held in high respect. As natural and appropriate tokens of grateful appreciation of his many invaluable services, two presentations were made to him at this time, one in Edinburgh by friends of the Church generally, the other by his friends in Dundee, where he had exercised his ministiy and served the Church and cause of Christ with so much ability and success for well- nigh a whole generation. DISRUPTION WORTHIES. Among his literary efforts, his last and most important work is the Memoir of Dr Candlish, his long and close intimacy with that great and good man giving him a peculiar title and fitness to discharge the office of biographer. Possessing gifts of an order solid rather than brilliant, an intellect strong and clear, robust common sense, far-seeing sagacity, a judicial faculty of rare soundness, immense capacity for work, uncommon firmness of purpose and power of endurance, Dr Wilson, as a loyal sen'ant of the Church, a judicious counsellor in her times of trouble, a man of affairs proficient in the silence that is golden, as well as the speech that is silvern, an indefatigable worker in the vineyard, a valiant soldier of the truth, and a hearty lover of his country, has spent a long and laborious life in the service of the Gospel. J. M. P. 2365TC,. lUJ 1 1012 01152 6789