Religious j\necdotes A /rKr OF V 4225 . A^ / The religious anecdotes of Scotland ;';r-; .csSX. '^'^t t^TH- THE Keligious Anecdotes Scotland. THE Religious Anecdotes 07 Scotland Edited By WILLIAM ADAMSON, D.D. Edinburgh Author of "Robert Milligan's DifflcuUUs; or, UtruggU and Triumph : A Scotcli Life Story " LIBF^ARY OF PRINCETO SECOND EDITION 2 3 2000 THEOLOGICAL SEMINAI LONDON: SIMPKIN, MAESHALL & CO GLASGOW: THOMAS D. MORISON 1893 RESPECTFULLY DEDICATED TO ^totcl)mctt autJ ^cotcl)roomen AT Home and Abroad BT A FELLOW COUNTRYMAN P R E F A C i: . There has been of late a great desire to enter upon the study, more or less minutel}', of the particulars of indi- vidual lives. This has risen, in the main, from a motive worthy of all praise. It has been said that "the proper study of maidvind is man," and in harmonj'- with this idea, the desire has been developed, to know the details of the lives of those who have really lived, and who have made an impression on the minds of their contemporaries. Hence the numerous biographies, and volumes similar to the present, which have made their appearance. It is somewhat difficult to define an Anecdote, and yet most people know it when it is placed before them. The word anecdote does not now bear its original significance, which was a secret history, something unedited and un- published. On the contrary it means the reverse of this. It is not a story, nor a description, nor yet a connected series of stories. Taken, in its manifest and more correct form, as now understood, it is a particular, separated in- cident, of an interesting nature, which is a complete unity in itself. It thus presents a complete mental picture, and like pictures generally, is of a nature to arrest attention and instruct. Those who have a cultivated mind can at once discriminate an anecdote from what is like it, and will be able to appreciate what it makes known, while others do not trouble themselves about its nature, but seek to understand what it means. But all have a liking for the detached fact, which makes them feel that they can see deeper into the working of the human soul, and understand the emotions and motives which rule there. This gives the anecdote an attractive power, which cul- ture does not destroy, but refine, and which is common to man as man. viii PREFACE. Scotch literature abounds with anecdotes of all kinds, and all degrees of excellency. This was to be expected from the strongly marked traits of Scotch character and the strength and massiveness of those who have made Scottish history. Especially, is this true of the religious side of Scottish history. That history is the record of struggle, severe contests, secessions, protests, sufferings, and progress. These gave rise to incidents of interest, which have a meaning, and these incidents have been cherished in the memory of the people. Thus the religious anecdotes of Scotland are, as it were, a minor history, which brings the noble of the past, close to those who live, that they may be inspired with their spirit and led to imitate their example. This is done in a pleasant manner by gaining a knowledge of the men of the past, their manner of life, their spirit, and the circumstances of their lot. The present volume does not profess to cover the whole field of Scottish anecdote, not even of that vrhich, in a broad sense, has to do with religion and religious matters. It contains what the title imports, " Religious Anecdotes" only, and these of a more serious character. There is an all but innumerable number of incidents of a humorous, pawky nature, about churches, ministers, elders, beadles, and others, which are purposely excluded from this collection. These can be found elsewhere, and especially in the pages of the famous Dean Ramsay. We have confined ourselves to anecdotes which are calculated to both interest and instruct. They are fitted to be read at the family table, the fireside, on Sabbaths as well as on other days, and can be used by public speakers " to point a moral or adorn a tale." They have been culled from a large number of sources, and in the most catholic spirit. Cai-e has been taken that nothing which could ofi'end the most refined taste should be inserted. All phases of religious movement and life have been reflected. In this manner the prominent traits of Scottish religious character have been exhibited. The volume is issued with the hope that it may deepen faith, inspire hope and courage, and promote Christian activity. CONTENTS. Tiord Hailes discovering Hidden Treasures ... ... ... 17 Shirra of KirlicoJdy 19 Joscphus Utilised at Peebles ... ... ... SO Carhjlc and his Mother 21 John Knox and Qaecn Mary ... ... ... ... ... 23 Samuel Eutherford's Last Words ... = 24- Hearing the Word — Ehenezer Ersliine 25 A Pedlar at Balmoral 26 The Marroiu of Modern Divinity 27 The Good Bishop Leighfon ... ... ... ... ... 28 A Swearer Reproved ... ... ... ... ... ... 30 A Prodigal's Beturn ... ... ... ... ... ... 31 Scruples of Conscience Overcome ... ... ... ... 33 The Upright Highlander ... ... ... ... ... 34- The Boyal Mail Guard 35 Bohert Macleod's Prayer ... ... ... ... ... 37 Lord Braxfield on the Sahhath Day ... ... ... ... 38 The Bihle and the Criminal ... ... ... ... ... 40 Jenny Geddes and her Stool ... ... ... ... ... 43 " I ivill he with you ahvay." — The Bev. Bohert Bnice ... 44 Shirra of Kirkcaldy on Liberty and Equality ... ... 45 The Missionary and the Infidel in Edinburgh ... ... 46 liev. Dr. William Anderson and the Extortioner ... ... 4S Anecdotes of Pcdcn the Prophet ... ... ... ... 49 The Men of St. Kilda cannot forget God 60 Patrich Hamilton at the Stake ... ... ... 51 Thomas Edwards ; or, Independence and Industry ... 52 The Bev. Ehenezer Broivn and Orderly Church Service ... 54 Dr. Guthrie's Gospel Bells ... ... ... ... ... 55 James Stirling, the Scientific Cobbler of Milngavic ... 57 The Power of Conscience ... ... ... ... ... 59 A Simpleton's Theology 61 CONTENTS. The Rev. Dr. Beatlie Teaching Natural Theology ... Covenant Tent Preaching The Rev. James Guthrie of Fenioick ... JRob Boy — " The Biding Passion strong in Death,'' In a Good Cause — Bev. Wm. Wilson, of Perth The Sea Captain at the Northern Coasts of Scotland A Christian Pilgrim Archbishop Leighton — Anecdotes of ... Sclf-Bigliieousness Exposed Providential Deliverances experienced by the Bev. Hen Erskine The Bev. Dr. Alex. Macleod and the Wrong Way ... The Conversion of the Haldanes Bev. Dr. M'Crie and the Publisher ... Bev. Dr. James Morison — " There's nae Chirtin' in Heaven A Mistahc Improved ; or, how the Evil One may be Shot Dundonald and the Minister ... A Scottish Old Time Bevival ... Dr. Eadie's Sermon to Shepherds Babbi Duncan on Angels Dr. Chalmers — A Lost Opportunity ... Sir Andrew Agnew's Loyalty to Conviction... The Bev. Hector M^Phail and his Faithful Wife An Earnest Scotch Methodist ... Professor John Wilson and the TJnhind Carter Wishart as an Evangelist The Biggar Bellman's Son Help) in Time of Need ... The Bev. John Angel James at Perth... David Hume and the Child Sorroiv and Genius — The Grave of Burns ... A Fifty Years Communicant ... Bev. George Gilfillan Preaching his oton Funeral S "A Soft Answer Turneth Aivay Wrat]i," Bishop Cowper's Death ... A Very Young Disciple ... Change in Preacher and Preaching, and its Bcsults Coupar Justice ... Just Lippen to Him — Dr. Chalmers CONTENTS. XI PAOB Duncan Matheson and the Power of Sacred Song lOS Welsh of Irongray 100 Theological Discussion in Ayrshire ... ... ... ... Ill The Cliicftain Starting Too Late ... ... ... ... Ill A Blasphemer s Prayer Answered ... ... ... ... IV? A Gos2)el Minister Declining Praise ... ... ... ... 113 Dr. John Duncan — The Logic of Salvation... ... ... 114 John Brown of Haddington ... ... ... ... ... 117 Coiuie of Huntly ... ... ... ... ... ... ... 118 M'Cheyne and an Old Woman... ... ... ... ... 119 Dr. John Brown — Play with and Pray Jor Children ... 131 Dr. Chalmers' Daughter ... ... ... ... ... 122 John Brow)i 0/ Priesthill 122 Acting Death Leading to Life... ... ... ... ... 124 The Rev. John Jamieson's Letters ... ... ... ... 126 Carlyle and the Seceder Elder... ... ... ... ... 127 liev. Ebcnezer Broivn and the Carters ... ... ... 128 Eohcrt Burns' s Reflections 129 Rev. George Gilfillan's Generosity ... ... ... ... 130 Archbishop Usher and the Eleventh Commandment ... 131 Highland Respect for the Sahhath ... ... ... ... 132 Dr. Begg on how to Treat Opponents... ... ... ... 133 John Broivn, the Exemplary Gravedigger ... ... ... 134 Rev. Dr. W. L. Alexander — A Gentle Effective Rchuhc ... 136 George Wishart, An Anecdote of ... ... ... ... 13G Sir Walter Scott's Last Days ... ... ... ... ... 137 Williajn Gilbert Carpenter Brought to Decision ... ... 130 Dr. Chalmers — Needed arid Unexpected Encouragement ... 141 Saint Colamba and his Horse ... ... ... ... ... 143 A Saintly Highland Elder's Assurance of Salvailon ... 143 Dr. Chalmers on Higper-Criticism ... ... ... ... 145 Thumbing the Promises 146 Edward Irving and the ShoemaTcer ... 148 The Rev. William Dunji of C adder ... 149 An Honest Executioner ... ... ... ... ... 151 Adam Scott, Shepherd in Upper Daljlicsh ... ... ... 151 A Novel Way of Finding out Christians ... ... ... 152 A Covenanter and his Dreams 153 The Ershines as Preachers 155 xii CONTENTS. PAGB Tlie Eev. Dr. M'Crie and Professor Dugali Stetvart ... 156 James Guthrie s Courage and Death ... ... 157 A Soldier at Fort-George 159 Walter Mill, the Last Popish Victim in Scotland 162 Dr. Balmer — A Boy Theologian 163 Bobert FlocTchart and the Bible 164 A Merry Gentleman's Advice ... ... 166 Bread upon the Waters ... ... 166 Dr. Chalmers'' Astronomical Discourses 167 Sir David Brcivster Disgusted ... ... 109 The Eev. Dr. M'Crie's Sincerity 170 The Queen's Table at Balmoral 171 Mary Cami^bell and the Gift of Tongues 171 Mary CamjybelVs Belief in Miraculous Healing Power ... 172 St. Andrew and Scotland 173 Broivnlow North's Sudden Awaliening 174 Norman Macleod and a Waif 175 Dr. Laioson and the Captious Church Member 177 Ehenezer Er shine and the Murderer ... ... 17S Dr. Jamieson and the Suggested Text 179 Scehing for God in the Scottish Highlands ISO The Bev. Bobert Bruce of Edinburgh 181 Saint Columba Beceiving a Lesson in Charity 183 The General Assembly and Foreign Missions in. 1796 ... 184 Christian Charity overcoming Unbelief 185 Irving and the Scoffer ^87 An Antique Scottish Matron 188 Dr. John Brown's Early Experiences 189 A Fruitful Sermon of the Bev. Dr. Chalmers ' 19t Life through Death 10.? Three Beniarhable Parishioners at Arbirlot 194 The P'riends, or Quahers, in, Scotland ... ... ... 195 Lord Brougham's Decision of Character in Early Life ... 193 The Humanity of Burns ... ... ... ... ... 197 Dr. Guthrie — Drinh and Death at Blairgoivric 197 Dr. Wm. Anderson and the Cameronian Elder ... ... 199 The Father of the Bev. Dr. Wardlaio ^02 Joy in Tears ... ... ... ... ... ... ••. ^03 The Sabbath Maihet ^03 CONTENTS. xui I'AOE David Hume and Principal Robertson ... ... ... 204 Lord Iladdo's Spiritual Change ... ... ... ... 205 The Old Fcrriiman on the Frith of Forth 205 A Thief Outdone 207 Sir J. Y. Simpsons Superstitious Forefathers 20S In a Cleft of the Garrich Fells 210 The Wigton Martyrs 211 King jRohert Bruce and the Spider ... ... ... ... 213 An Old Style of Preaching 213 A Muscular Christian ... ... ... ... ... ... 21i Broiunlow North and the Colonel ... ... ... ... 216 Hichard Cameron's Suffering and Death ... ... ... 217 Donald Cargill kept from Suicide ... ... ... ... 213 M'Chey 716 as a Preacher 220 Trial of the DuTie of Argyll 221 Norman Macleod's First Sermon before the Queen... ... 222 Martyrs at Perth 221 A Methodist Minister in Orlmey 225 Dr. Guthrie and " a Beautiful Field in Edinhurgli " ... 226 The Importance of Decision ... ... ... ... ... 22S Beturning Good for Evil 229 The Anniversary of a Deliverance at Haddington ... ... 231 Dr. Chalmers'' Integrity 232 Chalmers and Tholuck ... ... ... ... ... ... 233 Broiunlow North Turning a Letter to Account ... ... 23i Knox's Prayer for Scotland ... ... ... ... ... 235 FiocTiharVs Important School-Lesson 236 Livingstone's Modesty... 237 An Old-Fashioned Saint 238 Eev. William Wilson and the Soldier... ... ... ... 240 ^^ If ye Kenned Jioiu I love Him" ... ... ... ... 2-11 Good Seed Strangely Sown ... ... ... ... ... 244 A Lamb of Christ's Floch — Bev. Mr. M'Cheyne 244 His Word is at Stake ... ... ... ... ... ... 245 Thomas Campbell Closing his Life ... ... ... ... 246 A Character at West Linton ... ... ... ... ... 247 The Duke of Buccleuch and the Herd-Boy ... ... ... 243 An Explanation ... ... ... ... ... ... ... 249 The Last Martyr of the Covenant ... 250 CONTENTS. Dr. Henry and the Wearisome Minister ... ... Major-General Burn's Dream ... A MisfaJco of the Intellect Dr. William Anderson on Ministers' Stipends ... Dr. Norman Macleod's Last Hours ... The Simplicity of Faith Resignation to the Divine Will — A Highland Tale... Hugh M' Kail — His Last Hours liev. Dr. Macleod and the Poor Woman ... ... The Rev. Dr. Ritchie and the Swearer ... ... Burns in Paisley... ... ... ... ... ... The Duhe of Gordon and the Farmer Rev. Dr. Lawson giving a Wise Ansiuer Ebenezer Ershine and the Blasphemers St. Coliimba and the Robber ... ... ... ... Study and Study... Invitation to Public Worship ... Moderatism: its Fascination and Evil Influence ... George Buchanans Truthfulness and Humility Professor Wodrow Measuring his Grave Patronage and Po2)ular Preachers Preaching Seventy Years ago ... The Rev. Dr. M'' Gavin and the Deserted Climbing Boy Dr. Wardlaiu — The Outer and Inner Man ... Edward Irving' s Dying Hours Tivo Kings and two Kingdoms in Scotland ... The Disruption ... ... ... ... ... ... John Welsh and his Wife ... ... ... ... The Rev. Robert Morison and the Artist Hume's Scepticism and Grief ... The Rev. Dr. Ferguson's Hymn — " He loved Me " ... Carlyle and Emerson ... Rev. John Patison Preaching the Word The Boy ivho became a Captain Dr. Guthrie — A Special Providence at Arbirlot Benevolence and Fidelity Retvarded at Ochiltree ... Lady Glcncairn ap>pointing a Minister Montagu Stanley, the Actor ... Dickson's Hymn, ^^ Jerusalem, my Hajjpy Home" ... CONTENTS. XV Rev. John Milne s Earnestness An Old Hearer at the Cromarty Frith Seed Early Sown in the Highlands .. Dr. Muir illustrating the Injluencc of a Floatiny Chapel Torture and Conscience at Edinburgh The Religious Influence of Mountains Scotch Itinerating Preachers ... Carlyle in Sorrow Dr. Chalmers — An Edinburgh Boarding School Anecdote Firmness and Love in Ragged School Work.. A Lily among Thorns in Dundee MoffaVs First Sermon to the Heathen The Highland Widoio and her Son " Give me a Bairn's Hymn,'' ... Bad Drink for a Child ... A St. Monance Fisherman's Triu.iipJi in Death Healing by Faith and Prayer ... Rev. Dojiald Campbell and Satan Priestly Cursing ; its Effects ... The Prevailing Argument Michael Bruce and the Paraphrases The Wife of the Rev. James Eraser, of Alness Martyrdom in Glasgow... A Filial Prayer Answered in Aberdeen The Duke of Argyll and Mr. Darwin St. Kentigern arid King Morken An Aivful Providence at Kirriemuir ... Patrick Simson and King James Provost Druminond's Benevolence A Sensible Advice to a Minister Rev. Dr. Andrew Thomson's Silent Sermon... The Pious Highland Soldier in America John Mack, Soldier and Minister Simple-minded Answers The Rev. Dr. Guthrie and the Irishman The Rev. Dr. Begg and the Radicals ... The Rev. Dr. Macdoyiald and the Preaching Cure Robert PolloWs First Public Sermon... Duncan Matheson's Co7iversion PAOB 30i 30G 306 303 309 311 311 312 314 315 317 319 330 322 323 324 326 328 329 330 331 332 334 335 336 338 339 340 341 342 343 344 345 346 347 348 349 350 352 CONTEXTS. TAOB A Prayer Wonderfully Answ.cred ... ... ... ... 353 The Rev. William Lindsay of Letham, and the Aj^prentice 354 Thomas Lermont and his Prophecy ... ... ... ... 355 Scotchmen an Argument for the Bible ... ... ... 357 Lord Hailes and an Infidel ... ... ... ... ... 358 The Bev. John Martin s Trust in the Lord ... ... ... 359 Bobert Annan, the Christian Swimmer ... ... ... 360 The Repentant Publican ; or, no Terms ivith God... ... 361 Rev. Thomas Hog's Marvellous Restoration to Health ... 362 An Argyllshire Minister's Dream ... ... ... ... 364 Seeing and Believing ... ... ... ... ... ... 365 A Swearer Reproved in Hnntly ... ... ... ... 367 A Second Jenny Geddes and the Chartist 368 John Kncxs Vocation ... ... ... ... ... ... 369 Knox Closing his Life ... ... ... ... ... ... 3T0 *' Our Bairn that's Deein' " 371 Dr. William Ritchie and his Violin ... ... ... ... 373 True to Conscience 373 Benevolence Stimulated in Glasgow ... ... ... ... 375 Dr. ErsJcine Moderating a Call ... ... ... ... 377 The Gospels of St. Margaret ... ... ... ... ... 378 Peden's Prevailing Prayer ... ... ... ... ... 379 An Old Tar Siueeping Out Darhncss ... ... ... ... 380 The Mother of the Ershines 3S2 A Pretended Miracle Exposed... ... ... ... ... 383 Burns on True Manhood 384 An Honest Street Arab in Edinburgh 385 God never Dies — a Widow's Faith ... ... 387 Htt^gh Miller Publicly Catechised ... ... ... ... 387 The Covenanter's Bible... ... ... ... ... ... 389 A Conversion in Ayr Prison ... ... ... ... ... 390 An Old Sermon Re-delivered with E;ffect ... ... ... 391 M'Phail and the Judge 393 A Glasgow Infidel's Death-Bed ... ... ... ... 393 A Boy's Faith and Love ... ... ... ... ... 394 Dr. Chalmers and the Drover ... ... ... ... ... 395 No Strife in Heaven 397 Hector M'Phail and the Kitchen Maid ... 398 Guthrie the Martyr's Little Willie 399 The Eeligious Anecdotes of Scotland. LOBD IIAILES DISCOVEBING HIDDEN TliEASUEES. There is an interesting- anecdote, which was related by the late Rev. Dr. Walter Buchanan, with reference to one of the means which seems to have been provided in order to secure the New Testament, either from inter- polation or corruption. "I was dining," said Dr. Buclianan, "some time ago with a literary party, at old Mr. Abercromby's, of Tulli- body (the father of Sir Ralph Abercromb}', who was slain in Egypt), and we spent the evening together. A gentleman present put a question, which puzzled the whole companj'. It Avas this : ' Supposing all the New Testaments in the world had been destroyed at the end of the third centurj'', w^ould their contents have been recovered from the writings of the three first centuries V The question was novel to all, and no one even hazarded a guess in answer to the inquiry. " About two months after this meeting, I receiA'ed an invitation to breakfast with Lord Hailes (Sir David Dalrymple) next morning. He had been of the party. During breakfast, he asked me if I recollected the curi- ous question about the possibility of recovering the contents of the New Testament, from the writings of the three first centuries. I replied, ' I remember it well, and have often thought of it without being able to form any opinion or conjecture on the subject.' 2 1 8 BELIOIO US A NEC DO TES OF SCO TLAND. " ' Well, said Lord Hailes, ' that question quite accorded witli the taste of iny antiquarian mind. On returniiig home, as I knew I had all the -writers of those centuries, I began inunediately to collect them, that I might set to work on the arduous task as soon as possible.' Point- ing to a table covered with papers, he said, ' There have I been busy for these two months, searching for chapters, half-chapters, and sentences of the New Testament, and have marked down what I found, and where I have found it, so that any person may examine and see for himself. I have actually discovered the whole New Testament, except seven or eleven verses (I forget which), which satisfies me that I could discover them also. Now,' said he, ' here was a way in which God concealed or hid the treasures of his Word, that Julian, the apostate emperor, and other enemies of Christ, who wished to extirpate the Gospel from the world, never would have thought of ; and though they had, they never could have effected their destruction. ' " SHIBBA OF KIBKCALDY. The Rev. Robert Shirra of Kirkcaldy was a popular preacher in his day, and was marked by many pecularities of style which, however, did not mar his influence, nor prevent him from being a faithful minister of the Word. From his ministrations, the common people derived much good, and his short comments on Scripture texts were quaint and suggestive. Having had occasion to quote the saying of the Psalmist, " I said in my haste all men are liars," he remarked, " It would seem, David, that in saying this you were hasty or ill-advised, and j-ou seem to think your sajdng it calls for an apology ; had you lived in our day, you might have said it at your leisure, and made no apology about it." Quoting, on another occasion, these words from the 119th Psalm, "I will run the way of thy commandments, when thou shalt enlarge my heart," he said, " Well, David, what is your first resolution? '/ will run.' Run away, David, who liinders you ? What is your next ? ' I will run the nmj SHIRBA OF KIRKCALDY. 19 of thy commandments' Better run yet, David ; wliat is yonr next ? ' I will nm tlie way of thy commandinenis, irJien thou shalt enlaiye my heart.' No thanks to you, David ; we could run as Avell as you, with such help." At another time, Mr. Shirra, having had occasion to quote Philippians iv. 11, "1 have learned, in whatsoever state I am, therewith to be content," he said, " Aye, Paul, ye liave learned well, ye have got far on ; but let us be thankful we're at the schule." At Kinghorn, as at the other ferries on the Forth, a hundred j-ears ago, it was the practice of the boatmen whose turn it was to sail, to call the loungers and passen- gers, by bawling from one end of the town to the other, " The boat, aho ! — to Leith, aho ! " Mr. Shirra w^as preach- ing from the tent of the Associate Congregation at King- horn on a fast- day, and observing " lang Tarn Gallawa" W'ith several boatmen and passengers, in the bustle of passing down to Pettycur, he paused in his discourse, and addressed them as follows, with an energy and seri- ousness peculiar to himself — " Boatmen, aho ! " The boatmen and passengers instant! 3^ stopped to listen. He proceeded — "Boatmen, you cry, 'The boat aho! — to Leith, aho ! ' We cry, ' Salvation, aho ! —to heaven, aho ! ' You sail under Skipper Gallawa there ; we sail aneath Jesus Christ. We ha'e Christ for our skipper, the Holy Spirit for our pilot, and God himself at the helm. Your boat, let me tell you, is but a fir deal frae Norawa ; the keel of our boat w^as laid at Bethlehem, built in Judea, rigged in Jerusalem, launched in Calvary. We ha'e the cross o' Christ for a helm, a cedar of Lebanon for a mast, and the redemption of mankind for freight. Your voyage under an earthly skipper, short as it is, may end in ship- wreck and disaster ; but our voyage, lang as it may be, wi' Christ for our skipper, will end in everlasting joy and glory unspeakable. Slip awa' noo, for ' time and tide will nae man bide ; ' but mind what I've said t'ye — dinna swear, nor tak' the holy name o' God in vain, as ye wont to do, and I'll pray for ye." In such lowly phrase and with such persuasiveness did this earnest man commend the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ. In doing so, ho 20 RELIGIOUS ANECDOTES OF SCOTLAND. not unfrequently evoked a smile, but the state of mind produced was in many cases like the opening of the earth to receive the seed of the kino'dom. JOSEPHUS UTILISED AT PEEBLES. Dr. William Chambers, in writing the memoirs of his brother Robert, says that " among a considerable part of the population of JPeebles, who lived down closes, and in old thatched cottages, news circulated at third or fourth hand, or was merged in conversation on religious and other topics. My brother and I derived much enjoy- ment, not to say instruction, from the singing of old ballads, and the telling of legendary stories, by a kind, old female relative, the wife of a decayed tradesman, who dwelt in one of the ancient closes. At her humble fireside, under the canopy of a huge chimney, where her half-blind and superannuated husband sat dozing in a chair, the battle of Corunna and other prevailing news was strangely mingled wuth disquisitions on the Jewish wars. The source of this interesting conversation was a well-worn copy of L'Estrange's translation of Josephus, a small folio, of date 1720. "The envied possessor of the work was Tarn Fleck, 'a flichty chield,' as he was considered, who, not particu- larly steady at his legitimate employment, struck out a sort of profession by going about in the evenings with his Josephus, which he read as the current news ; the only light he had for doing so being usually that im- parted by the flickering blaze of a piece of parrot coal. It was his practice not to read more than from two to three pages at a time, interlarded with sagacious re- marks of his own, by Avay of foot-notes, and in this way he sustained an extraordinary interest in the narrative. Retailing the matter with great equability in different households. Tarn kept all at the same point of informa- tion, and wound them up with a corresponding anxiety as to the issue of some moving event in Hebrew annals. Although in this way he went through a course of CARLYLE AND HIS MOTHER. 21 Joscplms yearly, the novelty somehow never seemed to wear oil". ' Weel, Tarn, what's the news the nicht?' would old Geordie Murray say, as Tain entered with Josephus under his arm, and seated himself at the family fireside. ' Bad news, bad news,' replied Tam ; ' Titus has begun to besiege Jerusalem ! — it's gaun to be a terriljlc busi- ness ; ' and then he opened his budget of intelligence, to which all paid the most reverential attention. The pro- tracted and severe famine which was endured by the besieged Jews, was a theme which kept several families in a state of agony for a week ; and -when Tam in his readings came to the final conflict and destruction of the city by the Roman general, there was a perfect paroxysm of horror. At such seances my brother and I were de- lighted listeners. All honour to the memory of Tam Fleck." CABLYLE AND HIS MOTHEB. Carlyle stood in awe of his stern father, concerning whom, he says, " We had all to complain that we could not freely love. His heart seemed as if walled in ; " but in his relation to his mother, the love was so perfect that it cast out fear. She taught herself to write that she might have the joy of writing to him. She subscribed herself, " Your old Minnie." When he sent her a present, she called it " my son's venison." When a young man she sent him such motherly words as these, — " Oh Tom, mind the golden season of youth, and remember your ' Creator in the days of your youth.' ' Seek God while he may be found, call upon him while he is near.' We hear that the ' world by wisdom knew not God.' Pray for his presence with you, and his counsel to guide you. Have you got through 3-our bible yet ? If j'ou have, read it again. I hope you will not be weary, and may the Lord open your understanding. . . . Good-night, Tom, for it is a stormy night, and I must away to the byre to milk." Ere she laj's the pen down, she adds, — • "Now, Tom, be sure to tell me about your chapters." Very motherly and tender is all this, and of a nature 22 RELIGIOUS ANECDOTES OF SCOTLAND. which the son would understand and remember. Her love, care, and interest continued on to the end. When most needed were most given. How faithfully the son returned that love ! He was never weary of sounding the praises of the father who had been so sternly faithful ; and when he mentioned his mother's name, even when he was a grey old man of more than fourscore, his tones melted with tender emotion. One day in London, when he was within a few months of eighty, Carlyle was walking in company with an American stranger, who had that day called to see him. They approached a street-crossing. Y\^hcn half way over, Carlyle suddenly stopped, and, stooping- down, kicked something out of the mud at the risk of being run over by one of the many carriages that were rushing past. With his bare hands he brushed the mud oil", and placed the white substance in a clean spot on the curbstone. " That," said he, in a tone as sweet and in words as beautiful as his companion had ever heard, " is only a crust of bread. Yet I was taught by my mother never to waste, and, above all, bread, more precious than gold, the substance that is the same to the body that the truth is to the soul. I am sure the little sparrows, or a hungry dog, will get nourishment from that bit of bread." Thus did he bear in his heart till his last days on earth the homeliest lesson he had learnt from the lips of his mother. JOEN KNOX AND QUEEN MABY. The Reformer Knox had many interviews with Mary Queen of Scots, and these brought out the character of both parties. In a sermon in St. Giles's Church, when the Queen's marriage was talked about, he said, — "Now, my Lords, to put an end to all, I hear of the Queen's marriage. . . . Whensoever the nobility of Scotland professing the Lord Jesus consent that an infidel (and all Papists are infidels) shall be head to your sovereign, you do so far as in you lieth to banish Christ Jesus from this realm." KNOX AND QUEEN MARY. 23 J.Iary as well as Knox knew that this was the hinrrc of the whole question, and the preacher was instantly sent for to the palace. On his appearance the Queen burst into a passion of tears. Never had Prince been handled as she was — she had borne with him, had listened to him, and had sought his favour — " and yet I cannot be quit of you. I vow to God, I shall be once revenged." Knox stood unmoved, and then calmly reasoned that in the pulpit, and as preacher, he was not his own master, and was bound to instruct his hearers in their duty. " But what have you to do with my marriage ? " said Mary. Knox began to point out the importance of her marriage to the commonwealth ; but the Queen impatiently repeated the question, and added, "What are yoii in this commonwealth?" "Madam," answered Knox, "a subject born within the same. And albeit I be neither earl, lord, nor baron in it, yet God has made me (how abject that ever I be in your eyes) a pro- fitable member within the same." And thereupon he repeated to her the same very practical doctrine which he had given in the pulpit two hours before. Mary again had recourse to tears, and her indignation that the Kcformer remained unmoved under them, was not diminished by his quaint protest that he was really a tender-hearted man, and could scarcely bear to see his own children weep when corrected for their faults. Or- dired to depart from her presence, he found himself in the ante-room, shunned by the nobles, but near the " Queen's Maries," or other ladies of the Court, in their rich dresses. Knox felt lonely, and records himself how lie "procured the company of women" in this interval. " Oh, fair ladies," said he " how pleasing were this life of yours, if it should ever abide, and then in the end we might pass to heaven v^'ith all this gay gear ! But fie upon that knave Death, that will come, whether we will or not!" These grim pleasantries led to conversation which lasted till the Eoyal permission came for him to go home. " And so that storm quieted in appearance," but in December of the same year Knox again stood at the bar, and on this occasion no man stood by him. The 24 HELIOIO US A NEC DOT E8 OF SCO TLA ND. Quocn was sure of licr victory. "Tliat man," she said, lookiiif,' around, "made mo weep, and never slicd a tear liimscli"; I will sec il" I can malce liiin weep." This rash exultation was clicckcd l»y tlic constant bearing ot' the accused, who, through a long examination, maintained his right to caution his countrymen against " the pesti- lent Papists, wlio have inflamed your grace against those poor men." "You i'orgcit yoTU-self," ■'^^'id the (Jhancellor, " 3^ou are not now in the pulj)it," " I am in the place," he answered, " where I am demanded of conscience to speak tlie trutli, and therefore the truth I speak, impugn it whoso list." The Lords of the Council, who at ilrst frowned upon Knox, before the day closed, pronounced him innocent by a majority. The Queen came back into the room, and the vote was taken in her presence over again ; but with the same result. " That night was neither dancing nor fiddling in the Court;" and the firmness of Knox maintained the freedom of the Pro- testant cause. SAMUEL liUTHERFOBD'S LAST WORDS. Samuel Rutherford was born about IGOO, and lived till he was over sixty years of age. His letters, especi- ally, have been much appreciated and extensively read. " These," says Dr. Grosai't, " have long been a Christian classic in Scotland, and in Holland, and Germany, and in the United States of America and Canada, and our Colonies. One still comes across the book, well thumbed, and not unseldom tear-blurred — the white tears of joy — in lowland cottages and shepherd-huts and farm-steads of the North. Not long since, a travelling friend met with two editions among the forsaken towns of Zuyder Zee. It went to my heart to meet with a copy under the shadow of Mount Hermon. In the back- woods of the Far West, the book lies side by side with the Pilgrim's I'rogrcss. In Cumberland, Westmoreland, and Durham, and in the North of Ireland, it is in living demand. Originally published in the lowliest guise, it has passed through innumerable, or at least, unnundjered editions. Mr. Rutherford was characterised by devoutncss and IIEAUINa THE WORD. spiritujiHfcy of mind, and those elements of character nuinifL'stcd tliciusolve.s at the closing scenes of his life, as his words on his dying-bed show. Some of his words arc these : " I shall shine ; I shall see llim as he is, and all the fair company with him, and shall have my large share. It is no easy thing to be a Christian ; but as for me, I have got the victorj^, find Christ is holding foi'th his arms to ciidjraco me. I have had my fears and faintings, as another sinful man, to be carried through creditably ; but as sure as ever he spake to me in his Word, his Spirit witnessed to my heart, saying, ' Fear not ; ' he has accepted my suffering, and the out-gate should not be matter of prayer, but of praise." He said also, " Thy Word was found, and I did cat it, and it was to me the joy and rejoicing of my heart ; " and a little before liis dcatli, after some fainting, he saith, " Now I feel, I believe, I enjo}^, I rejoice;" and turning to Mr. Blair, then present, he said, " I feed on manna, I have angel's food ; my eyes shall see my Ilcdeemer ; I know that he shall stand at the latter day on the eartli, and I shall be cauglit up in the clouds to meet him in tlic air;" and afterwards he uttered these words, "I sleep in Clirist, and v;hen I awake, I shall bo satisfied with his likeness. Oh ! for arms to embrace him!" And to one speaking anent his painfulness in the ministry, he crieth out, " I disclaim all ; the port I would be in at, is redemption and forgiveness of sins through liis blood :" and thus, full of tlie Spirit, yea, as it were overcome with sensible enjoyment, he breathes out his soul, his last words being, " Glory, glory dwelleth in Immanuel's land ! " HEARING THE WOBD. An Anecdote of Ehenczer Erslcine. A LADY who was present at the dispensation of the Lord's Supper, where the E.cv. Ebenezer Erskine was assisting, was much impressed by his discourse. Having been informed who he was, she went next Sabbath to his own place of worship to hear him. But she felt 26 RELIGIOUS ANECDOTES OF SCOTLAND. none of those strong impressions she experienced on the former occasion. Wondering at this, she called on Mr. Erskine, and, stating the case, asked what might be the reason of such a difference in her feelings. He replied, " Madam, the reason is this : last Sabbath you went to hear Jesus Christ, but to-day you have come to hear Ebenezer Erskine."/ A PEDLAR AT BALMORAL. A GREAT drunkard in the Highlands of Inverness-shire was led to attend a lecture on Temperance, and was induced to become a member of a temperance society. For months the craving of his appetite for strong-drink was excessive ; but true to his resolution, he set his face like a flint against every temptation. The marsh of his heart being thus drained of one poison, he next received the seed of the Word into its soil. It was hid there until quickened by the Sun of Righteous- ness, and nourished by the rains and dews of the Spirit, when it brought forth fruit in Christian life and charac- ter. Having no settled occupation, he yet could not be idle ; and having, by the kindness of a few friends, man- aged to stock a little box with trinkets, and other cheap ware, he set out as a pedlar. In the course of his peregrinations, he found himself at Balmoral, and thinking that if he could get the patron- age of the Queen, it would help him greatl}', he resolved to make the attempt. There vras something in his look and manner which at once commended him to the favour of some of the household officials, who had it in their power to bring him under the notice of the Earl of Carlisle, then attending the Court as a Minister of State. The noble, with his usual franknc- s and goodness of hecirt, sympathiiscd with Donald, and promised to recommend his case to the Queen. When her Majesty came to know it, Donald was commanded to appear in the Royal pres- ence, and met with a most gracious reception. Not only did the Queen purchase his wares, bat gave him permis- sion to wear the royal arms as the Queen's pedlar, and THE MARROW OF MODERN DIVINITY. 27 sent Donald away with a ligliter heart and a heavier purse than he had when he entered the royal chamber. On leaving, the Earl of Carlisle took him to his room, and there Donald was presented with a glass of wine with which to drink the Queen's health. Looking at it, he felt at first a kind of trembling, but then, lifting his heart in prayer for Divine aid, he said, "Your lordship Avill excuse me ; I cannot drink the Queen's health in wine, but I will drink it in water." The noble earl asked his I'casons. " My lord," said Donald, " I was a drunkard ; I became / an abstainer, and I trust by God's grace I have become a Christian ; but I know that if I were to taste intoxi- cating drink, it would at once revive an appetite which is not dead but dying, and I should most likely go the whole length of the drunkard again. God has only pro- mised to support me in the path of duty, and that path, in my case, is plainly to abstain." * The noble earl at once commended Donald for his frankness and honesty, and, in taking leave, assured him that it would afford her Majesty the highest satisfaction to know that she had amongst her loyal and devoted subjects one who, in the midst of such strong temptations, could maintain his principles with integrity and honour. Donald left, rejoicing to think that he had been enabled to "drink" to the glory of God. ' THE MABROW OF MODEBN DIVINITY. One day, Thomas Boston, when visiting in the house of one of his people at Simprin, found a little old book above the window-head, which he took down and began to read. It was a book that has become famous in Scotland, " The ]\[arrow of Modern Divinity." It had been brought from England mr.ny years before, in the Commonwealth wars, and it had lain like a hidden seed in that quiet corner. The book had been written — or, rather, com- piled — by one Edward Fisher, the son of an English knight, and a Master of Arts of Oxford. It gave, in the form of a dialogue the opinions of the leading Heformers, 28 RELIGIOUS ANECDOTES OF SCOTLAND. Luther and Calvin, and of such English divines as Hall and Hooker, on the doctrines of grace and the oli'er of the gospel. The object of the book was to clear away the barriers which are so often raised between the sinner and Christ, in the shape of certain conditions, such as repentance, or some degree of outward or inward reformation, and to present him immediately with the words, " Whosoever will, let him come," assured that in heartily receiving- Christ, full repentance and a new life will follow. The system of Neonomianism, as it was called, which changed the gospel into a modified and easier kind of law, had grown up in Scotland, as elsewhere, and this little book became the instrument of a revival of clearer and fuller gospel-preaching. It did what the discovery of " Luther on the Galatians," in the house of a country school- master, has done for Sweden of late years, or, to use a Scripture figure, what the bones of Elisha did for the body of the man cast into his sepulchre, when " he re- vived and stood up on his feet." Such remarkable instances of the vitality of truth over the graves of pro- phets and preachers occur ever and again in the history of the Church. Boston tells us that he " rejoiced in the book as a light which the Lord had seasonaljly struck up to him in his darkness ; that he digested its doctrine, and began to preach it." Through him it found its way into the hands of James Hogg, of Carnock, who republished it with a recommendation in 1717. THE GOOD BISHOP LEIGHTON. Leighton's memory is blessed in Dunblane to this day, as it is wherever his name is known, and worth and usefulness of the highest order are appreciated. The very walk by the side of the river Allan, which he used so much for study and exercise that it was called the " Bishop's Walk," seems to have still lingering about it an atmosphere of sanctity and devotion. His writings praise him in the gates. After the lapse of nearly two THE GOOD BISHOP LEIOIITON 29 centuries they still deservcclly hold a hipjh place in the Cliri.stian literature of Britain. His " Commentary on St. Peter" is a very threat i'avouiitc; has been reprinted times without number, and one may confidently predict that it will hold its place while the English language continues to be one of the languages of the Christian world. " The good Bishop " is the honourable designation by which Leigliton used to be distinguished. He " was good " in the largest and noblest sense of the epithet. He was " good " in the sense of being benevolent. The world has not been blessed with many finer copies of Him who was Love incarnate, and who went about doing good. Good-doing was emphatically the work of Leighton's life, and the delight of his heart. On one occasion his generous kindness was rather amusingly misconstrued, which revealed in him a power of humour that his habitual gravity kept much in the shade. A poor lady — a young widow — the relict of a minister cut off in early life, received from the Bishop many tokens of his compassionate interest in her and her children. These excited her grateful surprise. By and bye she set herself to account for them ; but she could light on no satisfactory explanation of them except by supposing that the Bishop, who was a bachelor, had fallen in love with her; she did what she could to cherish the latent flame in his bosom, and waited with earnest expectation for his declaring himself. His delay in doing so she fondly ascribed to his modesty, making him shy to "pop the question," as the same cause, according to the bride, had made her bridegroom "sense- lessly civil" in their courtship. At length, when her patience was worn out, she resolved to help him over his difficulty. He was one day in his favourite resort — the Bishop's "Walk — on which the community, by common consent, shunned to intrude, for fear of disturbing him. The widow ventured to break in on his solitude, and presented herself before him. Apprehending that some new and sudden disaster had overtaken her, Leighton inquired with more than his usual earnestness for her 30 RELIGIOUS ANECDOTES OF SCOTLAND. chiUli-en. She replied that they "were all well, but she had l)ccn unable to rest till she disclosed to his Lordship a revelation which had been made to her." "A revelation made to you," answered the astonished dignitary. " Yes, my Lord," said the widow ; it was revealed to me that your Lordship and I were about to be married." " In- deed !" rejoined his Lordship, "no such revelation, how- ever, has been made to me, and if we are to be married by revelation, the marriage cannot take place, you know, until it be revealed to both parties." A SWEAREB BEPBOVED. A General who was in early life much addicted to profane oaths, dates his reformation from a memorable check he received from a Scottish clergyman. When he was a lieutenant, and stationed at Newcastle, he got in- volved in a bi'awl with some of the lowest class in the public street ; and the altercation was carried on, by both parties, with abundance of impious language. The clergyman, passing by, was shocked with the profanit}', and stepping into the crowd with his cane uplifted, thus addressed one of the leaders of the rabble, — " Oh, John, John ! what is this I hear ? you only a poor collier boy, and swearing like any lord in all the land. Oh, John ! have you no fear of what will become of you ? It may do very well for this gallant gentleman (pointing to the lieutenant) to bang and swear as he pleases; but you — but you, John ! it is not for you, or the like of you, to take in vain the name of Him in whom ye live and have your being." Then turning to the lieutenant, he con- tinued, " Ye'll excuse the poor man, sir, for swearing, he is an ignorant body, and kens no better." The 3'oung officer slunk away in confusion, unable to make any re- ply. Next day he made it his business to wait on the minister, and thanked him sincerely for his well-timed reproof, and has ever since been an example of the strictest purity of language. 1^. A PnODIGAL'S liETURN. 31 -^ A PItODIGAL'S BETUBN. A WRITER, whose name for obvious reasons is withliekl, sa5's — " Iwas standing by the side of my mother, under the spacious porch of Dr. Beattie's Cliurch, Glasgow, await- ing the hour for afternoon service, when I observed two 3'oung men turn a corner, and walk towards the church. They were dressed in their working clothes, unshaven and dirty, and slightlj'' intoxicated. As they passed the church-door, they assumed a swaggering, irreverent gait, laughed, and finally commenced singing a profane song. My mother turned to me, and said, ' Follow those two men, and invite them to a seat in our pew.' " I soon overtook them, and delivered my mother's message. One laughed scornfully, and began to swear ; the other paused and pondered ; he was evidently struck with the nature of the invitation. His companion again swore, and was about to drag him away ; but he still paused. I repeated the invitation, and in a few seconds he looked in my face and said, ' When I was a boy like you, I went to church every Sunday. I have not been inside a church for three years. / don't feel right. I believe I will go with you.' I seized his hand, and led him back to the house of God in spite of the remonstrances and oaths of his companion. An excellent sermon was preached from Eccles. xi. 1, ' Cast thy bread upon the watei's ; for thou shalt find it after many days.' The young- man was attentive, and seemed abashed and downcast. "At the conclusion of the service, my mother kindly said to him, 'Have you a Bible, young man?' 'No, ma'am ; but I can get one,' was his reply. ' You can read, of course ? ' she said. ' Yes, ma'am.' ' Well, take my son's Bible until you can procure one of your own, and come to church again next Lord's-day ; I will always be hapjiy to accommodate you with a seat.' " He put the Bible in his pocket and hurried away. At family-worship that evening, my mother prayed fer- vently for the conversion of that young man. " Next Sunday came, and the next, but the stranger did not appear. My mother frequently spoke of him, 32 RELIOIOUS ANECDOTES OF SCOTLAND. and appeared grieved at his absence. He had doubtless been the subject of her closet devotions. On the third Sabbatli nioniini;-, while the congrci^-ation were singing the ih-st psalu), the young man again entered our pew. He was now dressed genteelly, and appeared thin and pale, as if from recent sickness. Immediately after the benediction, the stranger laid my Bible on the desk, and left the church, without giving my mother an oppor- tunity she much desired of conversing with him. On one of the blank leaves of the Bible, we found some writing in pencil, signed ' W. C He asked to be remem- bered in my mother's prayers. Time rolled on ; my mother passed to her heavenly rest ; I grew up to man- hood, and the stranger was forgotten. " Many years afterwards, the ship St. George, of which I was the medical officer, anchored in Table Bay. On the next day being Sunday, after morning service, a gentleman, seated behind me, asked to look at my Bible. In a few minutes he returned it, and I walked into the street. I had arranged to dine at ' Tlie George,' and was mounting the steps in front of that hotel, when the gentleman who had examined my Bible laid his hand on my shoulder, and begged to have a few minutes' conver- sation. We were shown into a private apartment. As soon as we were seated, he examined my countenance with great attention, and then began to sob ; tears rolled down his cheeks; he was evidently labouring under some intense emotion. He asked me several questions — my name, age, occupation, birth-place, etc. He then in- quired if I had not, when a boy, many years ago, invited a drunken Sabbath-breaker to a seat in Dr. Beattie's Church. I was astonished ; the subject of my mother's anxiety and prayers was before me. Mutual explana- tions and congratulations followed, after which he gave me a short history of his life. " He was born in the town of Leeds, of highly respect- able and religious parents, who gave him a good educa- tion, and trained him up in the way of righteousness. When about liftcen years of age, his father died, and his mother's straitened circumstances obliged her to take SCRUPLES OF CONSCIENCE OVERCOME. 33 him from school, and put him to learn a trade. In his new situation he imbibed all manner of evil, became incorrigibly vicious, and broke his motlier's heart. Freed now from all parental restraint, he left his eniploj'ers, and travelled to Scotland. In the city of Glasgow ho had lived and sinned for two years, when he was arrested in his career through my mother's instrumentality. On the first Sabbath of our strange interview, he confessed that after he left the church, he was seized with pains of unutterable remorse. The sight of a mother and son worshipping God together recalled the happy days of his own boj-hood, when he went to church and Sunday- school, and when he also had a mother — a mother whose latter days he had embittered, and whose grey hairs he had brought with sorrow to the grave. His mental suf- fering threw him on a bed of sickness, from which he arose a changed man. He returned to England, and cast himself at the feet of his maternal uncle, and asked and obtained forgiveness. With his uncle's consent, he studied for the ministry ; and, on being ordained, he entered the missionary field, and had been labouring for several years in Southern Africa. " ' The moment I saw your Bible this morning,' he said, ' I recognised it. And now, do you know who was my companion on the memorable Sabbath you invited me to church ? He was the notorious Jack Hill, who was hanged about a year afterwards for highway robbery. I was dragged from the very brink of infamy and de- struction, and saved as a brand from the burning. You remember Dr. Beattie's text on the day of my salvation, " Cast thy bread upon the waters, for thou shalt find it after many days." ' " SCRUPLES OF CONSCIENCE OVERCOME . An Anecdote of the Rev. Adam Wadderstone. The Rev. Adam Wadderstone, minister of the parish of Bathgate, who died in 1780, was a most excellent man, and took a deep interest in the temporal as well as spiritual welfare of his flock. His popularity in his o 34 liELIGIOUS ANECDOTE!^ OF SCOTLAND. parish and his influence among all classes were enhanced by the fact that he was an enthusiastic curler, and almost always headed his parishioners in their encounters on the ice with the curlers of the neighbouring parishes. A like-minded member of his session, "a true son of the besom," John Chirkson by name, having very late one Saturday evening received from the people of Shotts a challenge to the curlers of Bathgate to meet them early on the following Monday, was at a loss how to com- municate the pleasing intelligence to his minister. After many qualms of conscience and some hours of sleepless anxiety, he made up his mind to tell him the news on Sunday morning before he entered the pulpit. Mr. Wadderstone no sooner entered the session-house than John said to him in a low tone, — " Sir, I've something to tell ye : thei'e's to be a parish play wi' the Shotts folk the morn at ." " Whist, man, whist ! " was the re- ioinder. "Oh, fie shame, John! fie shame! nae speaking to - day about warldly recreations." But the ruling passion proved too strong for the worthy clergyman's scruples of conscience, for just as he was about to enter the inner door of the church he suddenly wheeled round, and returning to the elder, who was now standing at the plate in the lobbj'', he whispered in his ear, " But whan's the hour, John ? I'll be sure and be there." THE UPRIGHT HIOHLANDEB. An Anecdote of Scotcli Honesty. It will be seen that trust begets trust Only by the same principle can true friendship exist. When human beings distrust and suspect each other, then good-bye to honourable friendships. There's an end to the confidence and love attached to this beautiful silken tie that binds man to man, family to family, nation to nation. Two centuries ago it was thought an insult in the Highlands to ask a note from a debtor. It was considered the same thing as saying, " I doubt your honour." If parties had business matters to transact they stepped into the open air, fixed their eyes on the heavens, and each repeated THE ROYAL MAIL GUARD. 35 his obligation with no mortal witness, A mark was carved npon yomc rock or tree near by as a remembrance of the compact. Such a thing as a breach of contract was rarely met with, so highly did the people regard their honour. When the march of improvement brought the new mode of doing business, they were often pained by those innovations. An anecdote is handed down by a farmer who had been in the Lowlands, and learnt worldly wisdom. On returning to his native parish he had need of a sum of money, and made bold to ask from a gentlem^an of means named Stewart. This was kindly granted, and Mr. Stewart counted out the moncj^ This done, the farmer wrote out a receipt and oftered it to Mr. Stewart. "What is this, man?" cried Mr. Stewart, eyeing the slip of paper. " It is a receipt, sir, binding me to give ye back yer gold at the right time," replied Sandy. "Binding ye! Well, my man, if ye canna trust yersel, I'm sure I'll no trust ye ; ye canna have my gold \" And, gathering it up, he put it back in his desk, and turned the key on it. " But," sir, "I might die," replied the canny Scotchman, bringing up an argument in favour of his new wisdom, " and perhaps my sons may refuse it ye, but the bit o' paper would compel them." " Compel them to sustain a dead father's honour ' " cried the Celt ; " they'll need com- pelling to do right; if this is the road ye're leading them ye can gang elsewhere for the money, but ye'll find nane in the parish that'll put more faith in a bit o' paper than in a neighbour's word of honour and his fear o' God." THE BOYAL MAIL GUABD. Anecdote of the Dumfries Mail. '• One guard, I remember well — M'George," writes the author of " Rab and his Friends." " He had been in the army, and was a gentleman — stern, and not given to speak ; even with his companion, the driver, he would let a whole day pass in silence — a handsome, firm, keen face. I remember well, too, when I had gone day after 36 RELIGIO US A NECDO TES OF SCO TLAND. day to meet the mail, to be taken into Edinburgh to school after my vacation among the hills, and to my rap- ture the mail was full, and we came back rejoicing at the respite. ' Is she full ? ' asked again my grave and dear old uncle, six feet and more on his soles. ' Yes,' said M'George, with a gentle grin, and looking me in the face; 'she's full o' emptiness!' whereupon the High School boy was bundled inside, and left to his medita- tions. Our guard, I must say, came and looked in upon me at each stage, comforting me greatly with some jar- gonelle pears, the smell and relish of which I can feel now. I fell asleep, of course, and when we stopped at the ' Black Bull,' found myself snug in the potentate's great-coat. All this impressed me the more, when I heard of his death many years after. " It was a snow-storm — a night of wild drift in mid- winter — nothing like it for years. The mail from Dumfries was late, and the tradespeople of Moffat had gathered at Mrs. Cranstoun's inn, waiting for it. Up it came. They crowded round M'George, entreating him not to proceed. 'At Tweedshaws it'll be awful;' but he put them aside. ' They (meaning the Post-office autho- rities) blamed me once, they'll never blame me again.' And saddling the two strongest horses, he and the driver mounted and took their way into the night, stumbling dumbly up the street. The driver returned, having at the ' Beef-Tub' — a wild hollow in the hills, five miles out of Moffat — given it up in despair, and in time; M'George plunging on, and not to be spoken to. The riderless horse came back at midnight. Next morning at day- break — the wind hushed, the whole country silent and white — a shepherd saw on the heights at Tweedshaws something bright like a flame. He made his way to it — it was the morning sun shining on the brass-plate of the post-bags, hung up on a bit of paling : we have seen the very stake — and out of the snow stretched a hand, as if pointing to the bags : M'George dead, and as the shepherd said, ' wi' a kind o' a pleesure on his face.' " ROBERT MACLEOD'S PRAYEIi. 37 BOBEBT MACLEOD'S PBAYEB. An Anecdote of Boss-Fjiirc. RonivRT MACLEOD was an honest and ardent Christian, and lived in Killearnan, lloss-shirc, and was much driven to prayer. The story of his first prayer in Donald ]\Iacp]ierson's family is worthy of repeating-. To Robert's bewilderment, his host abruptly asked him to pray at family worship, during a visit which he paid him. He dare not refuse ; so turning on his knees, and addressing his Creator, he said — " Thou knowest that thouojh I have bent my knees to pray to Thee, I am much more under the fear of Donald Macphcrson than under the fear of Thyself." Not, perhaps, a bad beginning. It was at once earnest and honest. A remarkable instance of Robert's warm love to the' brethren, and of his nearness to God in prayer, has been often repeated, and is undoubtedly true. The case of the godly John Grant was pressed closely on his spirit, along with an impression of his being in temporal want. He AA^as strongl}'- moved to plead with God for " daily bread," for His child, and so constantly was he thinking of him for three days, that at mid-day of the fourth, he resolved to set out for John's house, and he gave himself little rest till he reached it. Full of the impression that stirred him from home, he arrived at the house, and entering it, went at once to the place where the meal- chest used to be, and to his astonishment, found it nearly full. " This is a strange way, Robert, of coming into a friend's house," John said, as he advanced to salute him ; " were you afraid I had no food to give you, if you should remain with me to-night ? " " No," was Robert's answer, " but that meal-chest gave me no small trouble for the last few days ; but if I had known it was so far from being empty, as I find it is, you had not seen me here to-day." " When did you begin to think of it ? " John inquired. Robert mentioned the day and the hour when his anxiety about his friend began. " Well, Robert," John said, " the meal-chest was then as empty 38 RELIGIOUS ANECDOTES OF SCOTLAND. as it could be ; but how long were you praying that it might be filled ? " " For three days and a half I could scarcely think of anything else," Kobert answered. " what a pity," his friend said, " you did not complete the prayers of the fourth day ; for on the first I got a boll of meal, another on the second, and a third on the follow- ing ; but, on the fourth day, only half a boll arrived, but now you are come yourself, and I count you better than them all." Then, rejoicing in each other's love, and in the love of their Father in heaven, who heareth the cry of the needy, they warmly embraced each other. BEMEMBEB THE SABBATH DAY. Anecdote of Lord, Braxfield, of the Court of Session. A FEW j^ears before the death of the late Lord Braxfield, one of tlie Lords of Session, when he and another of the judges were on the autumnal circuit, the court met on a Saturday at one of the country towns, where the assizes are usuallj^ held. After going through the customary forms, and doing some business of no great importance, they adjourned till Monday. At the close of the meeting, one of the jurymen, a gentleman of large fortune, earnestly requested the judges to permit him to go home. The only answer he received was a pressing invitation to dine with them, which he promised to do, adding, that he hoped they would have the goodness to allow him to leave town in the evening. The company at dinner was very numerous. The two judges sat at tlie head of the table. Several lawyers, and many gentlemen, besides the magistrates of the burgh, were present. Not long- after dinner, the gentleman above mentioned, renewed his request, and very earnestly begged their lordships would give him leave to go home. " What is all your hurry to get home," said Lord Braxfield ; " why should not you remain here as well as the others, and do your duty to your country ?" "My Lord," replied the gentleman, '• I shall tell 3'ou " : This year I am a great farmer ; a good deal of my corn is cut down, and, owing to the bad weather which we have had HEM EMBER THE SABBATH-DAY. 39 for .some time past, I fear that mucli of it is in a sad condition. Yesterday and to-day the weather has been much better, and I daresay by to-morrow some of it will bo ready to take in." " Surely," said Lord Braxfield, " you do not mean to make your servants take in corn on Sunday ? " "I do, my Lord," answered the gentle- man ; " and I don't think they can be better employed than in saving the fruits of the earth, for the use of man and beast. I am persuaded that God Almighty will be better pleased to see them employed in that useful work, than attending any church whatever; and it is my decided opinion, that at this season, especially in such broken weather as we have had for some time past, the country people should be enjoined, instead of going to church, to improve every Sabbath, when the weather is good, in removing to the barn-yard all the corn that is fit for taking in." Before he had finished this last sentence, Lord Braxfield drew himself forward on his chair with considerable agitation ; and looking at him in a man- ner that showed he was not pleased, he said, with an elevated tone, that produced a complete silence in the company, and in that broad Scottish accent which his Lordship commonly used, and which sometimes gave a particular emphasis to what he said — " Sir ! you are surely not thinking what you are saying. Were you to do what you propose, it woukl, in the first place, be such an outrage, such a gross violation of the laws of your country, as should not be suffered to pass unpunished ; and if any of his Majesty's justices of the peace near you, did not lay your feet fast, they would not do their duty. In the second place, sir, it would be a most gross violation of the commandments of Almighty God ; and it is absurd to say, He will be better pleased to see us and our servants breaking his com- mandments than keeping them. Besides, sir, in the third place, your conduct would discover such a distrust in the Providence of God, as a man that calls himself a Christian should at least think shame to own. Sit still, sir, where you are, for you shall not get away till the business of the court is over in this place." As his Lord- 40 RELIGIO US A NEC DOTES OF SCO TLA ND. ship said this, his colleague (the late Sir Thomas Miller, afterwards President of the Court of Session), laying his hand on Lord Braxfield's shoulder, and smiling, said to him, " My Lord, I always knew that your Lordship was a great lawyer, but I did not know before that you were so great a divine." " As long as I live," resumed Lord Braxfield, in his warm, animated tone, " I shall think it my duty to set my face against all unnecessary working on the Sabbath-day. Works of real necessity must be done. If a flood come down, and your grain is in danger of being carried away and lost, certainly your people cannot be better employed than in saving it. It is their duty, then, to work, rather than go to church ; but for people to lead in corn on Sunday, when there is no urgent necessity for it, is what I hope will never be tolerated in a Christian country." THE BIBLE AND THE CRIMINAL, Or the Influence of the Gospel. A FEW years ago (says the Rev. William Gilchrist, M.A.) a wild and savage youth, who had wrought as a collier, was committed to prison for housebreaking. He was tried and sentenced to banishment for life. I (says Mi'. Gilchrist) watched to do him good, and sought to reach his mind. An opportunity occurred sooner than was expected. The first time I saw him after his return to Bridewell, which was on the day following his trial, he a])peared to be glad he was still in the land of the living. He had been astonished and horror-struck at the pre- dicament in which he found himself, when at the bar of the Justiciary Court. These feelings had not altogether subsided ; and respecting his narrow escape, he said, with considerable emotion, " They were for hanging me ! Were it not for some folk, who spoke them fair, I wad ha'e been hanged ! " Every time it was alluded to, he trem- bled at the imminent danger he had been in. A point upon which he was assailable was now at last discovered. I instantly availed myself of it, and reminded him of his THE BIBLE AND THE CRIMINAL. 41 thinking that there Wtas little or nothing wrong with his conduct. He acknoAvledgcd that he did so think ; " but," it was replied, " there must surely have been something dreadfully bad in what was within so little of costing you your life." " Surely," said he, " surely, there must." After he was convinced that he had done wrong in this material instance, I proceeded to show him that he was chargeable with many other things, which were not right, and that he was indeed under a sentence of death on account of them — that all sinners were doomed to die. This subject, with which other people are so well acquainted, was new to him ; he felt deeply interested in it and concerned. When he Avas told of the awful and everlasting destruction fi'om which we were de- livered — of the kindness and mercy of Him who descended from heaven to earth to deliver us, and of what He did and suffered on our behalf — it exceeds my power to de- scribe the pitch of interest and anxiety to which his mind was raised. He exclaimed, " Is all that in The Book ?" "Yes, and a great deal more than I have been able to tell you." With an intenseness of feeling and alacrity, which brooked no delay, he pressed the Bible into my hands. " There," said he, " read it to me." I had formerly endeavoured to inculcate the doctrines of the Bible on him in vain ; now he was no careless hearer. The passages quoted in conversation regarding the Lamb of God who taketh away the sins of the world ; regard- ing the love of God, who sent his only and well-beloved Son into our world, that whosoever believeth in him should not 'perish, but have everlasting life — were read to him. He looked like one who had received a treasure richer than of gold. Thenceforward this poor creature seemed greatly changed. Under the influence of instruction, he evinced a degree of intellect and energy of mind that appeared not in him before ; and all his thoughts were bent on learning to peruse the Scripture himself. He remained in Bridewell three or four Vv^eeks after this interview ; and so intent was he in being taught, that, not satisfied with all the attention I could pay him, 42 RELIGIOUS ANECDOTES OF SCOTLAND. the Governor, in waying his daily rounds through the house, was at different times insisted on to ivait and (jice hl'iii a lesson. His progress was astonishing ; and very little more learning would have enabled him to read the Bible. The brief story of this miserable convict is striking and melancholy. I gathered from him that he was the son of a wild and ill-behaved woman, who was of a respectable familj^, but, nevertheless, could not be kept at home, or persuaded to conduct herself in a becoming manner. She had had divers other illegitimate children. AVhen he was only a fortnight old, she was prevented from throwing him into a coal-pit by a stranger female. The kind creature who rescued, afterwards nursed him ; and though poor, gave him food and shelter till he could provide for himself. He had never received any instruc- tion. He said, he only once saw his father (a man in good business, in a thriving village), who gave him six- j)ence, and sent him about his business. As soon as he could do anything, he began to work in a coal-mine. One anecdote he told respecting himself illustrates the Avorking of his mind after it was set a-thinking. On a certain occasion, the roof of the mine fell in, and a large fragment of rock, which had been over his head, came down above him. The one end of it, hoAvever, struck the floor, and the other against the wall of the mine, and he, then being but a little boy, sat as safely under it as though nothing had happened. " Now," he added, look- ing inquisitively into my face, " I suppose it was God who preserved ')ne then ? " I was not prepared for this question ; and as soon as I recovered the power of arti- culation, he was told that there could be no doubt of it whatever — he was then and there preserved by the good providence of God from being dashed in pieces. He was in raptures at recieving this information. It was a new and joyful light to his mind. And it evidently afforded him happiness to think that, though few or none seemed to care for his welfare, there was an all-seeing ej^e which watched over him, and an almighty arm stretched forth, and ready to help and save him. JENNY OEDDES AND HER STOOL. 43 JENNY GEDDE8 AND HER STOOL. Ax order was given by the King- to introduce a new Service Book into the churches of Scotland, and this was to be done on the 2ord of July, 1G37. On that day a great concourse of people, including the Lord Chancellor and the Archbishop of St. Andrews, along with several members of the Privy Council, the Judges of the Supreme Court, the Magistrates of the City, and a great multitude of the citizens, assembled in the church of St. Giles, then called the "Great Church," to witness the ceremony. In the morning the usual prayers had been read from the old Book of Common Order. The Dean of Edinburgh, in his surplice, was to read the new service, and the Bishop of Edinburgh was to preach. As soon as the Dean took his place in the reading-desk, and opened the obnoxious volume, a murmur arose in the congregation, and on his proceeding to announce the collect for the day, an old woman, named Janet Geddes, who kept a greengrocer's stall in the High Street, is said to have exclaimed, — -"Deil colick the wame o' thee, thou fause thief! Dost thou say mass at my lug [ear]?" and to have flung at the Dean's head the stool on which she had been sitting. A scene of uproar and confusioii immediatel}' ensued. A crowd, consisting principally of women, rushed to the desk with loud menaces, and the Dean, in great alarm, threw oft" his surplice and lied. The Bishop of Edinburgh then ascended the pulpit and attempted to restore order, but without effect. A volley of sticks and other missiles was hurled at him, accom- panied with cries of "A pope! a pope! Stone him! stone him!" so that he could not be heard. "The gentleman," says a contemporary writer, "did fall a-tearing [weeping], and crying that the mass was entered amongst them, and Baal in the church. There was a gentleman who was standing behind a pew and answering ' amen ' to what the Dean was reading. A she-zealot, hearing him, starts up in choler. ' Traitor,' says she, ' does thou say mass at my car ? ' and v.ith that struck him in the face with her bible in great indignation and fury." The rioters 44 liELrOIOUS ANECDOTES OP SCOTLAND. were at length expelled from the church, and the doors having been bolted, the Dean emerged from his hiding- ]~)]acc, and resumed the service. It was rendered almost inaudible, however, by the shouts of the mob without, who battered at the door, and shouted, " A pope ! a pope ! Antichrist ! Pull him down ! "' and other exclamations of the same sort. At tho close of the service, the Dean made his escape unnoticed ; but the Bishop of Edinburgh, who was very unpopular, was threatened and assailed by the populace, and was with difficulty rescued from their hands. "I WILL BE WITH YOU ALWAYS An Anecdote of the Bev. Bohert Bruce. The Rev. Robert Bruce, an eminent minister in Scot- land, having to preach on a solemn occasion, was lato in coming to the congregation. Some of the people beginning to be weary, and others wondering at his stay, the bells having been rung long, and the time far spent, the beadle was desired to go and incpiire the reason, who, coming to his house, and finding his chamber-door shut, and hearing a sound, drew near, and listening, overheard Mr. Bruce often, and with nu^ch seriousness, say, " I pro- test I will not go except thou go with me." Whereupon the man, supposing that some person was in company with him, withdrew without knock at the door. On being asked, at his return, the cause of Mr. Bruce's delay, he answered he could not tell ; but supposed that some person was with him, who was unwilling to come to church, and he was engaged in pressing him to come peremptorily, declaring he would not go without him. Mr. Bruce soon after came, accompanied with no man, but he came in the fulness of the blessings of the Gospel of Christ; and his speech and his preaching were with such evidence and demonstration of the Spirit, that it was easy for the hearers to perceive he had been in the mount with Cod, and that he enjoyed the presence of his Divine Master. LIBERTY AND EQUALITY. 45 LIBERTY AND EQUALITY. Many years ago, when the revolutionary mania first bef,'an to afiect the heads of the operatives in our lar^e manufacturing towns, and when it was seriously pro- posed aiuougst them to overturn all existing institutions, and establish liberty and equality on the French model, the Rev. Mr. Shirra, of Kirkcaldy, was waited upon by some of the members of his congregation who wished to know his opinion on the suljjcct. Mr. Shirra told them he could not answer them oll'-hand that day, but he would take the matter into serious consideration, and on the following Sabbath would give his sentiments publicly from the pulpit. It was immediately buzzed about that Mr. Sliirra was to preach on liljerty and equality, and a great multitude accordingly Hocked to his meeting-house. On the congregation assembling, Mr. Shirra went on with the usual services, without making any allusion to the matter, until, at the close, he expressed himself some- what as follows : — " My friends, I had a call from some of you the other day, wanting to know my opinion about liberty and equality, when I told you if you came here to-day I would let you know it. Now, since that time I have travelled in the spirit all over the world, and I shall just tell you what I have seen in my travels. I have travelled over the earth, its frozen and burning zones, mountains, and valleys, moist places and dry, fertile lands and deserts ; and I have found grown men and children, big and little, strong and weak, wise and ignorant, good and bad, powerful and helpless, rich and poor — no equality there. I have travelled through the sea — its deeps and shoals, rocks and sandbanks, whirl- pools and eddies, and I have found monsters and worms, whales and herrings, sharks and shrimps, mackerels and sprats, the strong devouring the weak, and the big swallowing the little — no equality there. I have ascended to heaven, with its greater and lesser lights, its planets and comets, suns and satellites — and I have found thrones and dominions, principalities and powers, angels, cherubim and seraphim — no equality there. I 46 RELIGIOUS ANECDOTES OF SCOTLAND. have descended to hell, and there I found Beelzebub the prince of the devils, and his griin councillors, Moloch and Belial, tyrannizing over the other devils, and all of them over wicked men's souls — no equality there. This is what I have found in my travels, and I think I have travelled far enough ; but if any of you are not satisfied with what I have told you, and wish to go in search of liberty and equality yourselves, you may find them if you travel somewhere that I have not visited. You need not travel the same road that I have done, I can tell you positively you will never find them on the earth, neither in the sea, nor in heaven, nor hell. If you can think of anywhere else, you may try. Meanwhile, I have given you all the information I can. It rests with }'ou to make a proper use of it." THE MISSIONARY AND THE INFIDEL IN EDINBUBGH. Mr. Alexander Paterson, Missionary of Kilmany, as he was called, had a sphere of work in Edinburgh. The following is an account of how he dealt with those he visited : — "Your husband, I understand, is very ill," he said, as he knocked at a door in Holyrood Street, where he had heard a professed infidel was sick ; " I am anxious to see him." Shutting the door with great violence, the woman hastened to a neighbour's house. Mr. Paterson, however, went in. The man he found in bed reading the news- papers. "What do you want?" said he, in a surly and somewhat sneering tone. "You and I are strangers," replied Mr. Paterson, mildly, " but I hope we'll not be long so. I'm a missionary ; and as I was just going through the neighbours, I heard you were in distress, and I came in to see you." " I don't want you," he said, gruffly. " But I v.ant you." " And what do you want with me ?" "I want you to come to Jesus, the Saviour of sinners ; and he v/ants you to come to him. Let me tell you it's a serious thing to die." " Oh ! I've made up my mind to that, so you need say no more to me about THE MISSIONARY AND THE INFIDEL. 47 it ; " and taking up the newspapers, he resumed his read- ing. " What have 3^ou made up your mind to ? " " Oh ! to die, to bo sure, there's nothing- for me but deatli." " Well, and how is it to be with you after death ? You know that after death comes the judgment." " Oh ! I want to know no more of you. God is merciful, and I've no fear of him damning me ; He never made man to damn him." "I know that; it is man that damns himself. The Lord saj^s, ' You have destroyed yourselves ;' and he adds, ' in ]\Ie is your help.' ' Look to me,' says Jesus, ' and be ye saved.' " " Oh ! I've plenty of jow ; I want none of your talk." Finding he could make nothing of him, he said, " Will you allow me. to pray for you ? " " Oh, if you like. I don't much care about your prayer." The missionary prayed, but the moment he began, the man took up his paper, and read. " I'll come back and see you," said Mr. Paterson, when he had finished praying. " You may, if you like," rejoined the man ; " but I don't care about your coming." Two other visits proved equally ineffectual to rouse the man to any concern about the future ; but, not despairing, Paterson returned to the house a fourth time. " I'll pray for you once more," he said. And as he began, the poor man resumed his news- paper. But before he had prayed a few minutes, the paper fell from his hand. When the prayer was con- eluded, he was bathed in tears, and so also was his wife. " Oh !" he said, with a faltering voice, and grasping the missionary by the hand, " will you come back and see me ? " "I will, with all my heart." And he left them both in tears. Returning the next day, he found the man poring over his Bible. " I'm glad to see that book in your hands," said he. " What has led you to lay aside the newspaper, and turn to that?" "Oh! sir, it was your last prayer. I felt my heart melted ; and ever since I've felt myself to be in an awful state. Oh ! what a sinner I've been. All that you've said of me as a sinner was true." " Well, I've said just what that blessed bof/k says of myself, and of everyone wlio is out of Christ. Bub Christ died for the chief of sinners ; his blood was shed for you and me. Hear what he says : ' If we con- 48 BELIGIOUS ANECDOTES OF SCOTLAND. fess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.'" At parting, the man, now all humble and anxious for the pardon of his sins, earnestly entreated the missionary to return and to pray for him. On a subsequent visit Mr. Paterson found him weaker, but happier, trusting in the Saviour who had died for him, and blessing the Bible for the sweet promises which he now found to be his comfort in his affliction ; and he died in the hope and consolation of the Gospel. THE BEV. DB. WILLIAM ANDEBSON AND THE EXTOBTIONEB. The Rev. Dr. William Anderson, of Glasgow, was a bold man, and had the courage of his opinions. On one occa- sion he was expounding the words, " He that putteth not out his money to usury." " Does that mean," he said, " asking ten per cent, or more ? Not entirely. It means also the spirit in which the per cent, is taken. There was once in this church a poor widow, and she wanted twenty pounds to begin a small shop. Having no friends, she came to me, her minister ; and I happened to know a man, not of this church, who could advance the money to the poor widow. So we went to this man, the widow and I, and the man said he would be happy to help the widow ; and he drew out a bill for twenty pounds, and the widow signed it, and I signed it too. Then he put the signed paper in his desk, and took out the money and gave it to the widow ; but, counting it, she said, ' Sir, there are only fifteen pounds here.' ' It is all right,' said the man, ' that is the interest I charge.' And, as we had no redress we came away. But the widow prospered ; and she brought the twenty pounds to me, and I took it myself to the office of the man who lent it, and I said to him, ' Sir, there are the twenty pounds from the widow;' and he said, ' There is the paper you signed, and if you know any other poor widow, I will be happy to help her in the same way.' I replied, ' You help the widow, sir ! you have robbed this widow, and, if you do not repent. ANECDOTES OF PEDEN THE PROPHET. 49 you will be tlaninccl ! ' And, my friends, 1 kept my eye on that man, and before six months was over, God smote him, and he died." An acquaintance in Edinburgh adds to this story the following: — "And when his will was produced and read, it appeared that on the very day I had spoken to him, lie put to it a codicil, leaving tifty pounds to the poor. Poor deluded mortal, to think his soul's salvation could be bought for fifty pounds ! " ANECDOTES OF PEDEN THE PliOPHET. One thing wdiich strikes us in the life of Peden is the authority with which he spake. The bold and awakened tenor of his address, both to private individuals, and before a public auditory, remind us of Elijah or John the Baptist, speaking in tones of astonishment and alarm in the ears of their impenitent countrymen. When he was prisoner in the Bass Eock, one Sabbath morning, being engaged in the private worship of God, a youno- M'oman came to the chamber-door, mocking with loud laughter. He said, " Poor thing, thou mockest and laughest at the worship of God ; but, ere long, God will work such a sudden, surprising judgment on thee that shall sta}^ thy laughing, and thou shalt not escape it." Very shortly thereafter, as she w^as walking upon the rock, there came a blast of Avind that sw^ept her into the sea, and she was lost. Another day, while he was walk- ing upon the rock, some soldiers passing by him, one of them cried, " The devil take him." He said, " Fie, fie, poor man ; thou knowest not what thou art saying ; but thou W'ilt repent that." At which words the soldier stood astonished, and went to the guard distracted, cry- ing aloud for Mr. Peden, saying the devil would iunne- diately take him. Peden came and spoke to him, and prayed with him. The next morning, again visitino- him, he found him in his right mind, under deep convic- tions of great guilt. The guards being to change, they desired him to go to his arms. He refused, and said — " I will lift no arms against Jesus Christ's cause nor 4 " 50 RELIGIOUS ANECDOTES OF SCOTLAND. persecute His people ; I have clone that too long." The governor threatened him with death the next day, at ten o'clock : he confidently said three times, " Though you should tear all my body to pieces, I will never lift up arms that way." About three days after, he was put out of the garrison by the governor, who sent him ashore. Having a wife and children, he took a house in East Lothian, where he became an eminent Christian. THE MEN OF ST. KILL A CANNOT FOBGET GOD. Natuee has an unconscious influence on the mind of man. This is illustrated in the following facts which Dr. Macleod related at a meeting, held in reference to the establishment of schools in the Highlands and Islands of Scotland : — A friend of mine happened to be in a boat, by which a poor, simple-hearted man, from the island of St. Kilda was advancing, for the first time in his life, from his native rock to visit the world ; and as he advanced towards the island of Mull — a world in itself in the estimation of the poor St. Kilda man — the boatmen commenced telling him the w^onders he was so soon to see. They asked him about St. Kilda ; they questioned him regarding all the peculiarities of that wonderful place ; and rallied him not a little on his ignorance of all those great and magnificent things which were to be seen in Mull. He parried them off with great coolness and good humour. At length a person in the boat asked him if he ever heard of God in St. Kilda. Immediately he be- came grave and collected. "To what land do you belong?" said he ; " describe it to me." " I," said the other, " come from a place very difterent from your barren rock ; I come from the land of flood and field, the land of wheat and barley, where Nature spreads her beauty in abun- dance and luxuriance before us." " Is that," said the St. Kilda man, " the kind of land you come from ? Ah, then, you may forget God, but a St. Kilda man never can. Elevated on his rock, suspended over a precipice, tossed on the wild ocean, he never can forget his God — he hangs P J THICK HAMILTON AT THE STARS. 51 continually on his arm." All were silent in the boat, and not a word more was asked him regarding his re- ligion. They felt that he had a depth of religion, and a sublimer faith than they possessed. God had spoken to his soul in the tempest and the flood, and made known his love and power in the ocean-girt home where he and his people dwelt. PATRICK HAMILTON AT THE STAKE. Archbishop Beaton being afraid to proceed openly against Hamilton, advised that he should be decoyed to St. Andrews, on the pretext of a friendly conference with him about his doctrine. The open-hearted young man eagerly embraced the proposal, and fell into the snare. It is needless to dwell on the revolting conse- quences. He was easily induced by some insidious priests to declare his sentiments. At the dead hour of night he was dragged from his bed, taken to the castle, and, after confessing his faith before the Archbishop, was con-, demned to be burned at the stake as an obstinate here- tic. On the afternoon of Friday, February 28, 1528, this gentle and gracious youth was led to the place of execu- tion, where a stake was fastened, with wood, coals, pow- der, and other inflammable materials piled round it. When he cam^e to the place, he stripped himself of his gown, coat, and bonnet, and gave them to a favourite servant. " These," said he, " will not profit in the fire ; they will profit thee. After this, of me thou can'st receive no commodity except the example of death, which I pray thee to bear in mind ; for albeit it be bitter to the flesh, yet is it the entrance into eternal life, which none shall possess that deny Christ before this vricked generation." When bound to the stake, he exhibited no symptom of fear, but commended his soul to God, and kept his eyes stedfastly directed towards heaven. The executioner set fire to the train of powder, which, however, did not kindle the pile, but severely scorched the side of the martyr. In this situation he remained unmoved, till a new suDoly of powder was brought from the castle. 52 BEL1Q10U8 ANECDOTES OF SCOTLAND. Meanwhile, the friars who stood around him, cruelly mo- lested him, crying out, " Convert, heretic, call upon our Lady — say Salve rcglna." " Depart and trouble me not," he said, " ye messengers of Satan." One of them in par- cular, called Friar Campbell, rendered himself conspicu- ous for his rudeness in disturbing the last moments of the martyr. " Thou wicked man," said Hamilton, ad- dressing him, " thou knowest that I am not a heretic, and that it is the truth of God for which I now suffer ; so much didst thou confess unto me in private — and thereupon I appeal unto thee to answer before the judg- ment-seat of Christ." At length the fire was kindled, and, amidst the fire and fury of the flames, he was dis- tinctly heard pronouncing these last words — " How long, O Lord, shall darkness cover this realm ? How long wilt thou suffer this tyranny of men ? Lord Jesus, receive my spirit." THOMAS EDWABDS, THE SCOTCH NATURALIST ; Or, Independence and Industry. Thomas Edwards, the Scotch Naturalist, was of humble birth, and wrought while pursuing his studies as a country shoemaker. With his own hands he gathered a remarkable collection of natural objects, which ho brought from Banff", where he lived, to Aberdeen to exhibit. When in the granite city. Dr. Cadenhead, one of the principal physicians, and oculists of the city, visited the collection. Going directly up to Edwards, he asked, " Well, how are you getting on ?" " Very poorly," was the answer. " And no wonder," said the visitor. " How ? " " How ! " he almost shouted, " because the people here don't believe in such a thing. I am sure of it from what I know and have heard." "But," responded Edwards, "if they would only come!" " Come!" said Dr. Cadenhead," that's the very thing. It seems they'll not come ; and, although they did, what satisfactory evi- dence is there that what they see is the result of your own unaided and individual labour ? You are quite a stranger here. You should have had some persons oj ED Vi'A UDS, THE SCO TCII NA TURALIST. 53 high-standing in the city to take you under their patron- age — say, the Professors of both Colleges, or the Provost and Town Council. Oh ! you needn't stroke your head and look on the floor. It would have been much better." " I never considered myself in a position," said Edwards, " to seek such a favour." " Then you'll not succeed here unless you do something of the sort." " In that case, then," said Edward, "I'll be plain enough to tell you that I never will succeed." " You are too stiff, too unbend- ing," said the Doctor. " Then you know very well that you have nobody in Aberdeen to confirm your extraor- dinary statement. You say the whole collection is en- tirely the work of j^our own hands, and that it is your own exclusive property ? " " Yes ; I bought the game birds ; and, as regards the others, I procured the whole of them myself — preserved them, and cased them, just as you see them." " And had you to work for your liv- ing all that time ? " " Yes ; and for the living of my family, too." " Then you have a wife and a family ? " " Yes, I have five children." " But do you mean to say that you have maintained your wife and family, by work- ing at your trade, all the while that you have been making this collection ? " " Yes." " Oh, nonsense ! How is it possible that you could have done that?" "By never losing a single minute, nor any part of a minute, that I could by any means improve." " Did you ever hear of any one else who had ever done the like before ?" " No ; but thousands might have done it, and much more too. I never thought that I was doing anything meritorious ; but if I have, as a journeyman shoemaker, done any- thing worthy of praise, then I must say that there is not a working man on the face of the earth that could not have done much more than I have done ; for of all the occupations known, that of shocmaking is surely the worst. Too often, however, working-men do not go into the fields to drink the sweets of Nature, but rush un- thinkingly into the portals of hell, and drown their sorrows in whisky. In this v/ay they beggar themselves, and pauperise their families." In concluding the conversation, Edwards said, " My 54 RELIGIOUS ANECDOTES OF SCOTLAND. chief school was the Earth ; and my principal teacher was Nature. What I have been able to do, has been done by economising every farthing of money, and every moment of time." The secret of his life is found in the words he delivered to boys, " In searching for the living things, ray desire was not to destroy for destruction's sake, but simply that I might learn all I could concern- ing the beautiful and wonderful works of God." Con- cerning Edwards it may be said, "Seest thou a man diligent in his business ? he shall stand before Kings." He has been recognised by the Queen, and by the learned and great of the earth, and, in the evening of his life, there has been light. THE BEV. EBENEZEB BBOWN AND OBDEBLY CHUBCH SEBVICE. The Rev. Ebenezer Brown, of Inverkeithing, was a godly man, was very refined in his feelings, and elevated in his tastes. He went on one occasion to London in order to be present at a large missionary meeting ; and being- there on the Sabbath, he had an opportunity of preaching in the metropolis, and of witnessing London manners. A journey from Scotland to the great city at that pc-riod was of a much rarer occurrence than it is now, and v.-ould have been regarded as an important event in one's life- time. Mr. Brown felt it so, and as he had an opportunity of seeing many things not commonly known at home, he resolved to give his people the benefit of his ex- perience. On the first Sunday after his return, he took occasion to state, in the course of his forenoon sermon : " My friends, I have three wonders to tell you of to-day v.diich I saw when in London," and then went on with his discourse without further reference to the matter, finished the sermon, and concluded the service by prayer and praise and the benediction in the usual way. On leaving the church, many locks were cast at the worthy minister, a? much as to sa}^ " you have forgotten to tell us the three wonderful things." The news got wind in the village in the interval, and there v>'as a large turn- DR OUTHEIE'S GOSPEL BELLS. 55 out in the afternoon, the church being completely filled by the time Mr. Brown made his appearance. AH was expectation, and the people were not doomed to dis- appointment a second time. After concluding the public worship, Mr. Brown said, — " Well, my friends, I have now to tell you the three wonders I saw in London." With that all the people sat down in breathless attention and silence. " The first wonder I have to toll I saw in London is, when I came into the pulpit in the morning the folks were \vaiting on me; I didna need to wait for them ; and I never saw the like o' that in Inverkeithiug. The second wonder I have to tell you I saw in London is, that when I was drawing the prayer to a conclusion, there was no jostling and making a noise, and sitting down; they a' stood till I said Amen; and I never saw the like o' that in Inverkeithiug. And the third wonder I have to tell you I saw in London is, that there was nae reaching for hats, and a bundling up o' bibles when the last psalm was a-singing, and no a' coming down the stairs when the blessing was being pronounced ; but they a' waited till the Amen, and then they sat down a wee ; and I never saw the like o' that in Inverkeithiug till this afternoon." This practical discourse had its effect, and is bearing fruit still. It is needed in the nineteenth as well as it was required at the end of the eighteenth century. DR. GUTHRIE'S GOSPEL BELLS. A Scotch lady, when in Edinburgh, noticed a very lofty attic in the High Street, in the neighbourhood of Dr. Guthrie's Church. The thought struck her that there might be some poor lonely creature living in one of those upper storeys, whom no one visited or cared for; so, lift- ing up her heart to God for guidance and blessing, she began her investigation. After ascending the almost innumerable stairs in the building, she reached the top storey, where the poorest people lived. Knocking at one of the doors, she was answered by an old Avoman, who, opening it cautiously, asked the stranger what 56 RELIOIOUS ANECDOTES OF SCOTLAND. she wanted. " I want to see you ? " replied the lady. " No one ever comes here, or Avants to see me," said the old woman, in no inviting tones. " Well," rejoined the kind visitor, " that is just the reason why I wish to see you." Then the cautious old woman opened the door, and let the lady into her little room, which only con- tained enough furniture for the bare necessities of its aged inmate. The only seats were a rocking-chair and a stool, and the visitor, taking the stool, made the old woman seat herself near the fire in her rocking-chair. After a few kind words, which opened the poor woman's heart, the lady visitor said, " I am not going to ask you, my friend, if you know the Lord ; but I should like to hear if you can tell me anything to show me that the Lord knows you, and has found you out in your little lonely room ? " The old woman's face brightened up at once. " Yes, I can," she answered ; " and I will tell you all about it, though I have never told any one before. If He had not known me and sought me, I should never have known Him ; for I lived like a heathen in this room. I have had many troubles, and lost my all ; and not having a friend, or any one to love, I shut myself up in my own misery, and did not want to know my neighbours. Week-days and Sundays were all alike and dark to me. I never went anywhere. I lived just as if I had no soul ; and thus I should have lived and died had not the Lord had mercy upon me." " And how did He awaken you from your state of spiritual death ? " " By Dr. Guthrie's bells," replied the old woman ; " when they rang on Sundays, I use to wish they would leave off. They troubled me ; they seemed calling to me — till at last I could bear it no longer ; so one day I put on my shawl, and went to church just to get peace, as it were, from the bells." " Well, and how did you like what you heard ? " " Not at all. I came home very angry with Dr. Guthrie ; for as I stood in the crowded aisle, he preached all his sermon about me, and I determined never to go and hear him again. But when the next Sunday came, the bells tormented me more than ever. I was forced to go ; and again I came home feeling what THE SCIENTIFIC COBBLEn OF MILNGA VIE. 57 a sinner I was. Thus I continued from week to week ; and then I had a dream which cut down all my hopes. I seemed to be in a square place, where a number of flowers in pots were standing, and in the middle of them I saw Dr. Guthrie with a watering-pot. He went round and watered every pot and plant until he came to one which I thought meant me ; and then he stood still and said, in a solemn voice, ' It is no good watering this, for it has no roots,' and he passed me by. And when I awoke, I felt what a dreadful state I was in." And thus the arrow of conviction entered this poor sinner's heart, till the Lord who had wounded her in love was pleased to heal her wounds with the atonimx blood of Jesus Christ. THE SCIENTIFIC COBBLER OF MILNGAVIE. James Stirling of Milngavie, sometimes called the " scientific cobbler," was in his early days, and till advanced in life, a victim to strong drink. After having suffered severely, he was brought seriously to reflect on the course he was pursuing, by the following touch- ing incident : — One night on his retui-n home, after having spent a whole day in the public-house, he found his wife engaged, as usual, in reading a chapter of the New Testament to the children. The portion of Scrip- ture read was the twenty-fifth of Matthew's Gospel, in which these words occur — " When the Son of Man shall come in his glory, and all the holy angels with him, then shall he sit on the throne of his glory ; and before him shall be gathered all nations ; and he shall separate them one from another, as a shepherd divideth his sheep from the goats; and he shall set the sheep on his right hand, but the goats on the left." His yoiingest boy, then about four years of age, was lying Avith his head on his mother's lap, and just when she had read those strilving words, he looked up earnestlv in her face and asked — • " Will father be a goat, then, mother ? " " This," says Stirling himself, "was too strong to be resisted. The earnest, innocent look of the child, the bewilderment 58 BELIGIOUS ANECDOTES OF SCOTLAND. of the poor mother, and, above all, the question itself, smote me to the heart's core. I spent a sleepless, awfully miserable night, wishing rather to die than live such a life. I was ashamed to go to church on the following Sabbath. I stopped at home, and read the " Six Sermons on Intemperance," by Beecher, which had found their way into the house ; but how, I never knew. But so it was, that when looking about the house for some suitable book to read on Sabbath, I laid my hands on them, and they seemed as if written and printed, and sent there for me alone. I was now decided. My resolution was taken, as it had never been before. All the men on earth could not tempt me to drink ale or beer, thick or thin." Shortly after this a temperance meeting was held, at which Stirling attended, and put his name to the pledge. As soon as he had publicly enrolled his name, one of his sons, then a boy, who was present, ran home as fast as a pair of the nimblest feet in the village could carry him, to tell his mother, who was lying unwell, the glad news. " Mother ! mother ! " he cried out in eager haste, as the door flew open, and he rushed to the bedside, " father has just put down his name, and the minister has put down his, and they're all putting down their names." " Thank God ! " ejaculated the broken-hearted wife, who had passed through a long night of weeping, and on wdiom light was now breaking at last. " Thank God ! " But she could say no more till she found relief in tears. And such tears ! It w^as the first time in her married life that tears had started from the long-sealed fount of joy, " Thank God ! " she said, after a pause ; " if he has signed he'll keep it. Yes, he'll keep it. Yes, he'll keep it," she added, Avith still greater emphasis, and her pale face flushed, as it had not been for many years, with the pride of early love. " Thank God ! he has signed it, and I'll sign it too, and ye must all sign it, for oh ! surely the time, the set time, to favour us, and many poor families, has come at last." From that evening till the day of his death, Stirling devoted himself to promote the cause of temperance and religion, and thousands were blessed by his works and words. THE POWER OF CONSCIENCE. 69 THE POWER OF CONSCIENCE. Illustrated hy an Incident in Glasgow. Farquiiar Mack ay was born in the north of Scotland, and at an early period was deprived of both his parents. When his sixteenth summer closed, he was apprenticed to a saddler at some distance from his birthplace, and left his relatives with other feelings than those of regret. Beyond the reach of his aunt's solemn entreaties, and the gentle reproofs of a sister, who by this time had em- braced the Saviour, he now desecrated the Sabbath, contracted intemperate habits, and vv^rought all manner of evil with greediness. During his stay from home a solemn providence befel him, and one well fitted, if im- proved, to give his thoughts a new direction. One fine Sabbath moi'ning, he and four other 3'oung lads resolved on a sailing excursion. Having departed in all safety, they spent the greater part of the day over their cups in a house of refreshment. Two hours before sunset they w^ere on their way back, when a sudden tempest arose, and their frail bark, under management far from good, upset. Ere succour came, his four companions had disappeared, and he alone was rescued from a watery grave. Impending death in his own case, actual death in the case of his companions, made but a momentary im- pression — his fears fled with the tempest that gave them birth; and for all this, "he sinned yet more, and hardened his heart." At length, impatient of restraint, and smart- ing under the rebukes of a master whose confidence he had lost, he abandoned his trade, and proceeded to Glasgow. Here he remained for some time in the most destitute condition. Every spare article of clothing was sold to meet the cravings of hunger, and often, in the depth of his distress, was he tempted to cast himself into the river. Friendless and penniless, this poor pro- digal wandered the streets from morn to eve, courting the meanest drudgery to keep soul and body together. and cursing the day of his birth. After a time, burglars became his com.panions. He took their oath, learned their tactics, and in robbery soon equalled the most 60 RELIG 10 US ANECDO TES OF SCO TLAND. daring among them. Two years had been spent in this dangerous and disgraceful course, when a circumstance occurred which made his slumbering conscience ill at ease, and led him to alter his plans. He and his com- panions, after surveying the ground in the guise of pedlars, had arranged to enter and plunder the house of a widow lady resident in the suburbs. Midnight found this ruffian band silently surrounding the house, and endeavouring, for some time to no purpose, to effect an entrance. By dint of ingenuity and labour, a back window was thrown open, and in they rushed to steal, and mayhap to destroy. It fell to our youth's lot to enter the lady's bed-chamber. Startled by the lantern- glare and the sound of footsteps, the sleeping invalid awoke, and screamed aloud for aid. Presently a mur- derous weapon was raised, a horrid threat uttered, and the keys demanded by the robber. These were at once given up. The owner saw her desk opened, and a con- siderable sum of money extracted. The keys were coolly returned, and the masked thief was preparing to withdraw, when the terror-stricken witness of the theft, summoning up all her courage, and heedless of conse- quences, exclaimed, " Knowest thou that for all this God will bring thee into judgment!" He smiled, and hurried away. Arrived at his den in the city he speedily found he had brought with him something else than spoil. An accusing conscience sat enthroned within, marshalling all its terrors, and giving birth to " Pangs that rack the anxious mind." " Judgment " (the widow's closing word) rose up before the eye of his mind, and covered him with confusion. This " fire shut up in his bones " — this scorching thought, he strove earnestly to get rid of, but still it glowed. For two whole weeks it was unquenchable. Wretched man ! what would he not have given for some spiritual drug; for a cup of Lethe's waters — for a balm-application to his open wounds ! Oh ! to erase " Judgment " from the tablet of memory. In the midst of such mental torture as this, he addressed to the widow a penitential letter, A SIMPLETON'S THEOLOGY. 61 enclosing the money he had taken from her desk ; and then, having abandoned for ever his hnrglar associates, set sail for America. At the end of his days he was an honoured and respected man, and left behind him many tokens of his o-ood-doinsf. A SIMPLETON'S THEOLOGY. An Incident in the Parish of Crawfordjohn. The following fact occurred at the farm of Abingdon, in the parish of Crawfordjohn, at the distance of well nigh a century from the present day. It was then, as it is in greater or less degree still, the practice among the farmers to lodge the wayfaring poor ; and as the farmer's room is often but small, and the character of such ran- dom guests sometimes doubtful, they are furnished with blankets and straw in some of the out-houses, where, however, they are comfortably sheltered. It was in the practice of this generous hospitality, that the character of the humble subject of it was revealed to view. Says the narrator to his brother — " I remember an anecdote of my mother, which Sir Walter Scott would have valued. A poor wandering simpleton, or idiot, came to her father's house one winter evening, and sat by the fire. It was soon noticed that he was very unwell, and being asked what ailed him, his reply was, ' I'm unco cauld.' After giving him warm gruel, he was put to a warm bed in the kilm. At a late hour one of the maid- servants came in, saying, ' that the poor thing in the kilm was aye muttering and speaking to himself.' My mother and others went to listen, when they distinctly overheard him speaking over and over again the follow- ing bit of rhyme — " ' Three o' ane, and ane o' three, Aud ane o' three will save me.' The next morning dawned, but the soul of the poor wan- derer had gone to the bosom of that ' Ane o' Three,' on whose mei-cy he relied. My mother," the narrator adds, " could not relate the anecdote with dry eyes. Is there 62 RELIGIO US AN EC DO TES OF SCO TLA ND. not, in the simple language of this poor wanderer, the distinct recognition of the doctrine of the Trinity, and of the mediatorial work of the Saviour, together with his Divinity, as that ' Ane o' Three,' to whom the simple soul committed itself, in full confidence that, in his own appropriating language, ' He will save me ' ? It reminds us of the Saviour's striking language, ' I thank thee, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, because thou hast hid these things from the wise and prudent, and hast revealed them unto babes, even so, Father, for so it seems good in thy sight.' " BEV. DB. BEATTIE TEACHING NATUBAL THEOLOGY The late Dr. Beattie, of Aberdeen, wishing to impress or the mind of his son, a little boy about six years of age the important truth that God made him, used the follow ing method : — " In the corner of a little garden," says the Doctor, " without informing any person of the circum- stance, I wrote in the mould, with my finger, the three initial letters of his name, and sowing garden cresses in the furrows, covered up the seed and smoothed the ground. Ten days after this, he came running to mc, and, with astonishment in his countenance, told me that his name was growing in the garden. I laughed at the report, and seemed inclined to disregard it, but he insisted on my going to see what had happened. ' Yes,' said I, carelessly, on coming to the place, ' I see it is so ; but what is there in this worth notice ? is it not mere chance ? ' and I went away. He followed me, and tak- ing hold of my coat, said with some earnestness, 'It cannot have happened by chance, — somebody must have contrived matters so as to produce it.' ' So you think,' said I, that what appears as the letters of your name, cannot be by chance ? ' ' Yes,' said he, with firmness, ' I think so.' ' Look at yourself,' I replied, ' and consider your hands and fingers, your legs and feet, and other limbs ; are they not regular in their appearance, and use- ful to you ?' He said they were. 'Came you then hither,' said I, ' by chance ? ' * No/ he answered, ' that cannot be ; COVENANT TENT PREACH INO. 63 something must have made me.' ' And who is that some- thing?' I asked. He said, 'I do not know.' I had now gained the point I aimed at, and saw that his reason taught him (though he couki not express it) that what begins to be must have a cause ; and that what is formed with regularity must have an intelligent cause. I there- fore told him the name of the Great Being who made him, and all the world ; concerning whose adorable nature, I gave him such information as I thought he could in some measure comprehend. The lesson atiected him greatly, and he never forgot either it or the circumstance that introduced it." COVENANT TENT PBEACHING. It is a Sabbath-day among the mountains, and a com pany of the Persecuted have assembled. Around, is a mighty chasm of clifEs, called the Cartland Crags, where Wallace used to take refuge, through which a river is flowing, at present so low, owing to the heat of summer, that men could walk all but dry-shod up its channel. A hundred Covenanters — men, women, and children included — assembled to hear a minister, Vv'ho stands up in a pulpit stone, and having a birch tree waving over his head. Between him and the congregation is a clear, deep pool, formed by the diminished stream, and there, after the sermon is over, a row of young- maidens come gliding over the stream, to give away a number of infants who are to be baptized. The bap- tismal water is lying in the hollow of a large stone beside the brink of the pool. How beautiful to look down, as you see the boys doing, into the clear water and see the whole scene, from the maidens, the parents and the minister, up to the topmost peaks of the sky- striking summits, reflected there over the purest of mirrors. The minister baptizes seven infants in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost, and gives out a psalm, with the words, — " Lo, cliiklren are God's heritage, The womb's fruit his reward, The sons of youth, like arrows, are For strong men's hands prepared." 64 RETAOIOUS ANECDOTES OF SCOTLAND. The psalm is reverberated like musical thunder from the surrounding- crags, and all again is silent. Suddenly, a large stone falls from the rock above their heads into the pool ; a voice is heard from the summit, and when they look up, there is a shepherd's plaid waving in the air in the hand of the watchman stationed above. It is the signal of instant danger, and immediately the whole congregation vanish into caves and hidden recesses, known only to themselves. They vanish almost in a moment ; but they have been seen by a party of soldiers who have reached the top of the rock, and who exclaim when they see them, " They are delivered into our hands — they are caught in this nook as in a net ; let us down, and they are our own. Halloo, boys ! halloo ! Remember Drumclog, and let the blasted whigs perish!" They leave their horses, and rush down a cleft in the crags, and arrive at the spot. But, to their utter astonish- ment, nothing is to be seen ; nothing but a bonnet that had fallen from one of the Covenanters' heads, and the Bible the minister had been using, and which they spurn into the pool. They are utterly unable to discover where their enemies have fled, and awful are the curses and the threats which they utter. But, louder than these curses and threats, hark ! a sound like a distant muttering thunder far up the stream. It comes rolling, and warring, and deepening, as it descends. " What can it be ? " The crags shake as if to the sound and stamp of earthquake. "Lord! have mercy on us!" cried the soldiers, falling- down on their knees and looking a hundred ways in their consternation, with pale faces and white lips. Meanwhile, the minister comes out of the cave where Wallace had long ago found refuge, and exclaims, " The Lord God Omnipotent reigneth. It is a powerful voice that comes from the Lord Most High." What is it ? — what can it be ? It is a water-spout which has burst among the hills, and there the river raging in flood is coming down in its irresistible power. The whole hollow of the cliffs is filled with the waters. An army must have been swept away by that raging torrent. The soldiers perish in a few minutes, swept down by the flood ; OUTHRIE OP FEN WICK. 65 but far up in the cliflfs are the Covenanters, now cmevged from their liidiiiL;' - places, and, witli clasped hands and streaming eyes, uttering prayers to the Ahnighty, and some of them exclaiming, — "We will sing unto the Lord, for He hath triumphed gloriously; the horse and his rider He hath cast in the depth of the waters." GUTHRIE OF FEN WICK. This most worthy minister of the gospel, cousin of James Guthrie the mai'tyr, took a great interest in his flock and all others M'ho would receive him. He took all the means he could think of, to win men's hearts and lead their thoughts to eternal things. One man whom he urged to have family worship pled as an excuse that he could not pray. " Try it," insisted the minister. At last the man, in pei-plexity exclaimed, — "Oh, Lord! thou knowest that this man will have me to pray, but I cannot." " Stop," interrupted Guthrie, "You have done enough," and then prayed himself so fervently, that, when he had finished, the woman said to her husband, "Surely this must be the minister." He was one even- ing travelling home very late. Having lost his way in a moor, he laid the reins on the neck of his horse, and committed himself to the direction of Providence. After long travelling over fields and ditches, the horse brought him to a farmer's house, into which he went, and re- quested permission to sit by the fire till morning, which was granted. A Popish priest was administering ex- treme unction to the mistress of the house, who was dying. Mr. Guthrie said nothing till the priest had retii'L'd ; then he went forward to the dj'ing woman, and asked her if she enjoj'ed peace in the prospect of death in consequence of what the priest had said and done to her. She answered that she did not; on which he spoke to her of salvation through the atoning blood of the Redeemer. She understood and believed the message of mercy, as it fell from his lips, and she died actually triumphing in Jesus Christ her Saviour. After wit- nessing this astonishing scene, Mr. Guthrie mounted his 5 C6 RELIGIOUS ANECDOTES OF SCOTLAND, horse, and rodo home to Fenwick. On his arrival, he told Mrs. Guthrie that he had seen a great wonder during the night. "I came," said he, "to a ftirra-house, where I found a woman in a state of nature ; I saw her in a state of grace, and left her in a state of glory." EOB ROY MACGBEGOB. " The Biding Passion Strong in Death." Rob Roy was born a Protestant and a Presbyterian ; but he latterly became a Papist. He did so, more in compli- ment to the pervert Earl of Perth, than for any other reason that could be assigned. He had never been a very decided or fervent religionist ; neither did he Joe- come so. After he had lapsed into Popery, he did not disguise that he was not by any means enamoured with all its principles and practices. On this head Sir Walter Scott has said, in one brief paragraph, all that can be said — " In his latter years, he embraced the Roman Ca- tholic faith, perhaps on Mrs. Cole's principle, that it was a comfortable religion for one of his calling. He is said to have alleged as the cause of his conversion, a desire to gratify the noble family of Perth, who were then strict Catholics. Having, as he observed, assumed the name of the Duke of Argyle, his first protector, he could pay no compliment worth the Earl of Perth's acceptance, save complying with his mode of religion. Rob did not pre- tend, when pressed closely on the subject, to justify all the tenets of Catholicism, and acknowledged that ex- treme unction always appeared to him a great waste ot ulzie, or oil." Notwithstanding his predatory and perilous " call- ing " — notwithstanding the many and powerful enemies who hunted for his life — notwithstanding his outlawry by the Government, and the prize of £1000 set upon his head, Rob Roy, after many hairbreadth escapes, died, as is known, in his own house at the head of Loch Voil, in a good old age ; and he sustained to the last the character which he had borne all his life long. Learning on his death-bed that one of his enemies wished to visit 7.Y A GOOD CA USE. 67 him, " Raise me from inj'' Led," said he ; " throw my plaid around me, and bring me my claymore, dirk, and pistols — ib shall never be said that a foeman saw Rob Roy Maco;re2:or defenceless and unarmed." Durincj the brief interview, Rob " maintained a cold, haughty civilit}'," and when the foen;an left, "Now," said he, "all is over, let the piper play, ' Ha til mi tulidh ' (' We Return no more')," and he is said to have expired before the dirge was finished. Thus did Rob Roy die as he had lived — a brave, and self-willed, and godless man. IN A GOOD CAUSE. An Anecdote of the Rev. William TViZson, of Perth. The Rev. William Wilson, of the West Church, Perth, one of the founders of the Secession Church, was put out of the Kirk of Scotland because of his sympathy with the Erskines, and on the following Sabbath he was refused admittance into his own church. He thereafter went and preached in the Glover's Yard to a vast concourse of people. Mr, Wilson's father had lain hid for a season in the Mearns' I-Joor, in the days of former persecutions, and a young girl carried his food to his place of retreat. She seems to have become an inmate of the family, and she was treated \nVa peculiar and ten- der deference, in Mr. Wilson's household at Perth. On the morning of this trying Scibbath, this aged domestic was somewhat apprehensive and uneasy. Her busy memory brought back the scenes of her youth, when she glided away stealthil}', morning and evening, to the wild and gloomy morass where her master was concealed. The privations of the father made her anxious for the welfare of the son. And as the tide of these sad recol- lections filled her heart, she could not help looking wist- fully in her master's face, as he was leaving his home on his way to the church, and sajdng to him, " Tak' tent, ISIr. William, tak' tent what ye're doing, for I fear, if things gang on in this way, I'll get ycr meat to carry to the moor, as I did yer guid faither afore ye." When ]\Ir. Wilson returned from the service of the day, he retired 68 BELIOIO US A NE CDO TES OF SCO TLA ND. at once to his chamber. Many thoughts must have pressed upon him, and he sought quiet, uninterrupted meditation. His eldest daughter, a girl oi about twelve years of age, had witnessed with natural curiosity the sti'ange proceedings, had seen her father seek admission to his own church, and had heard the gruff refusal which the mao'istrates ffave him. She had also been in the Glover's Yard, and had beheld thousands of faces looking up to her sire with intense excitement. But she was sorely puzzled to understand these novelties. Her natural wish was to hear them explained by her father. The matter appeared to her young mind so solemn, that she was afraid to ask what she coveted. But with restless anxiety .she hung about the door of the study, anxious to obtain at least a glimpse of his countenance. Her father at last observed her, and reading her wishes in her features, called her to him, and, patting her kindly on the head, said to her, " Bell, this has indeed been a day of trial ; but we have reason — great reason to be thankful that it has not been a day of shame. If anybody asks you, Bell, why your papa lost his kirk, yon may just say, as good Mr. Guthrie, before his execution bade my mother say of him, if any one asked her why he lost his head — ' It was in a good cause.' " THE SEA CAPTAIN AT THE NOBTHEBN COASTS OF SCOTLAND. " Oil for a sight of the sun ! " the skipper of a Scotch vessel cried as he scanned with anxious eye the fog- around. The ship was bound for home, but Cape Wrath, on the north-west extremity of Scotland, must be passed first, and the Pentland Skerries and the Pentland Frith were dangers to be dreaded in such a fog as then en- veloped the vessel. They had not seen the sun for several days, and without his aid the captain dare not proceed at full speed, consequently many hours were lost. "There he is!" shouted the mate, as a sudden break in the clouds revealed the welcome orb ; and the captain raising to his eye a triangular instrument called A chuistian pilgrim at HUNTLY. 69 a sextant, looked through its glasses towards the sun and took a slight. A minute or two passed, and then the skipper, with brow cleared oi" anxiety, and with a cli eery- look, went below into his cabin to work out a problem and consult the charts. He knew now exactly the position of the vessel, and " full speed " was the glad- dening command. It was that sight of the sun which sent the ship onward on its course. Men are on a troubled sea, and the mists of sin, ignorance, and error, hide the face of the moral Sun of the universe. Like the Scotch captain, they should look to the Sun of Righteousness by the eye of faith, and the clouds would depart, and the darkness would pass away. A CnRISTIAN PILGRIM AT EUNTLY. A REAL Christian pilgrim was Isobel Chrystie, of Huntly, who was upwards of ninety years of age. " Come awa, my son David," said Isobel to the missionary one day as he entered her humble cot. " Perhaps," was his reply, "the hands are the hands of Esau, but the voice is Jacob's. How do you know that I am not a hypocrite ? " "Ah," said she, " d'ye think I dinna ken the breath o' a true Christian ? " The Rose of Sharon may lie hid in the believer's bosom, but its fragrance cannot be concealed from others. " We ocht to lay down our lives for the brithren, an' hoo' could we dee for them if we dinna ken them ? " So thought Isobel Chrystie. When in the course of conversation allusion was made to the salvation of the dying thief, she rattled her little stafF on the floor and said, — " That was a gey trophy to gang throu' the gowden gates o' heaven. I'm thinkin' there Avas a gey steer amo' the angels, but nane o' them would try to pit him oot. Na, na; Christ brocht him ben." When Isobel lay dying, she was unable to recognise minister, mis- sionary, friend, or neighbour. To each inquiry she still replied, — " I dinna ken you." At last the question was put to her, " Isobel, d'3'e ken Christ ?" The countenance of the dying saint brightened at the sound of her Saviour's name. Looking up with a smile, she promptly replied, — • 70 RELIGIOUS ANECDOTES OF SCOTLAND. " That I do, but nac sae muckle as I would like, and will do by an' bye." That night the aged believer went to be with Him whom she remembered and knew when all others were foro'otten and unknown. ANECDOTES OE ABCHBISHOP LEIGHTON. Archbishop Leighton has been called the Fenelon of Scotland, and was one of those pious men who commend their religion by their spirit, walk, and conversation. He entered the ministry in 1641, and was ordained minis- ter of Newbottle. Contentions about different modes of church government, and similar matters, were then at their height ; but it was Leighton's great aim to win souls to Christ, and not to m.ake them proselj^tes of a party. He seldom mixed with those who attended Presby- teries, and condemned their practice of introducing those topics so prominently in the pulpit. They, on the other hand, were ill-pleased with his silence on these mat- ters ; and in a Synod he was publicly reprimanded for not "preaching up to the times." "Who," he asked, "does preach up to the times?" It T\"as answered that " all the brethren did." " Then," said Leighton, " if all of you preach up to the times, you may surely allow one poor brother to preach up Christ Jesus and eternity." " I M^ould rather," said he on another occasion, " convince a man that he has a soul to save, and induce him to live up to that belief, than bring him over to my opinion in whatever else beside." He seemed to live continually as if he realised the presence and protecting hand of God. During the civil wars, he was anxious to visit his brother, v/ho was engaged in the Eoyalist arm5^ before an expected engagement should take place. Whii.^t pro- ceeding to the camp, h.e lost his way in a vast tliicket, and night came on before he could find an outlet in any direction. Almost spent with liungcr and fatigue, ho began to think his situation desperate, and, dismounting, spread Ins cloak upon the ground, and knelt down to pray. With implicit devotion he resigned his soul to God, entreating, however, that if it were not the Divine SELP.RIGHTEOVSNESS EXPOSED. 71 pleasure for him to conclude his clays, some Avay of deliver- ance might be opened up for his safety. Then inounting- his horse, he threw the reins upon its neck, and tlie animal, left to itself — or, rather, conducted by Almighty Providence — made straight into the high road, threading all the mazes of the wood with reasoning certainty. In this manner the good man lived, and all parties were constrained to say regarding him, " Behold a man who serves the ^Master in love and in truth." SELF-EIGETEOUSNESS EXPOSED. Anecdote of Mr. Uay Macdoiuall Grant. Mr. Hay ]\Iacdowall Grant was an adept in dealing with those who had religious difficulties, or who tru;^to(l to tlieir own goodness. He once came into contact with a particularly self-righteous man, who remarked, " Well, sir, I have got my own way of getting to heaven." " What is it ? " " Well, I expect to get to heaven by keeping- God's commandments." " Certainly," said Mr. Grant ; "that is an excellent way, provided you keep them." " Well," replied the man, " that is just Mdiat I am doing." "Do you keep all God's commandments?" "Certainly I do." There was a pause in the conversation, when Mr. Grant suddenly asked him what time it was ? " Two o'clock," replied the man, " When did you get up this morning ? " inquired Mr. Grant. " At six o'clock, sir." " Six to two ; that means eight hours. You don't remem- ber how long you spent in prayer this morning ? " The man coloured up to the roots of his hair, and then stam- mered out, " Well, perhaps ten minutes" — and then, know- ing that he had grossly exaggerated — "or perhaps five minutes ; or somewhere thereabouts." " Well," said Mr. Grant, " we will set it down at five minutes. Eight hours of to-day have passed av.'ay, and you have spent live minutes with your God. Do you remember what comes first in the great commandment, ' Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, find with all thy strength, and will; ail thy mind ' ? Is that the way you treat a God whoiu you love ? " The 72 HELIGIO US A NECDO TES OF SCO TLAND. man's head hung down, and he said no more about keep ing God's commandments. An old woman whom he visited had a name all ovei the country side for being one of the most pious old bodies that could be met with, but he found her per- fectly built up in her own seli'-rightcousncss, and trust- ing to that for salvation. He went into the subject fully, pointing out to her that she was just making the same mistake that the Jews did of old ; and as the force of the Scriptural statements which he adduced began to make itself felt, he said it was most touching to witness the conflict. With tears rolling down her cheeks, and a piteous look upon her face, she exclaimed, 'Eh, sir, do you mean to tell me that it maun a' gang for naething ? " " Well," said Mr. Grant, " you have to choose between your OM^n righteousness and Christ's ; you cannot rest on both," There w^as a silence for a time, during which Mr. Grant was engaged in prayer for her, as he saw the terrible struggle that was passing within her. At last she lifted up her face, with a look of resolution upon it, and cried aloud, " God, it shall a' gang for naething ! " and there and then she accepted Christ as her all. PROVIDENTIAL DELIVERANCES EXPERIENCED BY THE REV. HENRY ER SEINE. The Rev. Henry Erskine was often in great straits and difficulties. Once when he and his family had supped at night, there remained neither bread, meal, flesh, nor money in the house. In the morning, the young children cried for their breakfast, and their father endeavoured to divert them, and did what he could at the same time to encour- age himself and wife, to depend upon that Providence that hears the young ravens when they cry. While thus engaged, a countryman knocked hard at the door, and called for some one to help him oif with his load. Being asked whence he came, and what he would have, he told them he came from Lad}^ Racburn with some provi- sions for Mr. Erskine. They told him he must bo mis- taken, and that it was more liki'ly to be for another Mr. THE CONVERSION OF THE HALDANES. 73 Erskine in the same town. He replied, " No ; " he knew what he said ; he was sent to Mr. Henry Erskine ; and cried, " Come, help me off with my load, or else I will throw it down at the door." Whereupon they took the sack from him, and, on opening it, found it well stored with iisli and meat. At another time, being in Edin- Imi-gh, he was so reduced that he had hut three-halfpence in his pocket. When he was walking about the streets, not knowing what course to steer, one came to him in a countryman's habit, presented him with a letter, in which were enclosed several Scotch " ducatoons," with these words written, " Sir, receive this from a sympathising friend. Farewell." Mr. Erskine never could find out whence the money came. At another time, being on a journey on foot, his money failed, and he was in danger of being reduced to distress. Having occasion to fix his walking-stick in some marshy ground among the rushes, he heard something tinkle at the end of it. It proved to be two half-crowns, which greatly assisted in bearing his charges home. In days of persecution and poverty, God wonderfully interposes for his people. TBE W R ONG WA Y, I AVAS sitting — Kev. Dr. Alex. Macleod tells us — one day in a railway carriage, which I expected to take me to the town of Newburgh on the banks of the Tay. We came to a parting of the ways called the Ladybank Junction. At this point, as I learned afterwards, the train divided, and one portion went on to Dundee, the other to New- burgh and Perth. I heard the guard cry out quite plainly, " Change here for Dundee ;" but I did not hear, " Change for Newburgh and Perth." I said to a gentleman beside me, "Are we right ?" " All right, sir ; I am going your way, too ; " and the train moved on. The next station on the right road should have been Collessie. The station we actually stopped at was called Springfield. " This is Collessie," I said to my fellow-passenger, the man who was going my wa}' too. " Oh, it's all right, Springfield and Collessie are two names for the same place," said he. 74 HELIGIO us A NEC DO TES OF SCO TLAND. After Collessie we should have come to Ncwburgh, the little town at which I was due. Instead of that, I saw a great, spreading town, vrith towers and church-spires rising above the roofs. The man beside me was now fairly roused, and he cried, in a very loud voice, " We're wrong, sir — v/e're in the wrong train !— we should have changed carriages at Ladybank. This is Cupar, on the road to Dundee." And here I was within an hour or so of the time I should have been at Newburgh a good twelve miles away from it, and no train back for three hours to come. "While I lounged about the station, and sat in the waiting-room, I began to think of mistakes on journeys, of wrong roads, of the hardships and losses of taking wrong roads, and of the need there is of looking well after the right road. I remembered the Bible pro- verb which 8ajs, " There is a way which seemeth right unto a man ; but the end thereof are the ways of death." I thought of the great journey of life, and of the roads on that journey which seem to be right, but are wrong. These are many, and should all be avoided. THE CONVERSION OF THE HALDANES. James Haldane, Esq., pastor of one of the Baptist churches in Edinburgh, was a junior member of a highly respectable famil}^ In his youth he joined the British navy, and rose to the post of captain in one of his Majesty's war ships. On one occasion, being engaged in a Avarmly-contested battle, he saw the whole of his men on deck swept off by a tremendous broadside from the enemy. He ordered another company to be " piped up" from below, to take the place of their lost com- panions. On coming up, they saw the mangled remains strewn upon the deck, and were seized with a sudden and irresistible panic. On seeing this, the captain jumped up, and swore a horrid oath, impi-ecating the vengeance of Almighty God upon the whole of them, and wishing that they might all sink to licll. An old marine, who was a pious man, stepped up to him, and respectfully touching his h.it. said — "Cciptain, I believe God hears DR. M'CIUE AND THE PUBLISHER. 75 prayer; and if God had heard your prayer just now, what would have become of us ? " Having spoken this, he niadc a respectful bow, and retired to his place. After the engagement, the captain calmly reflected upon the words of the old marine, and was so deepl}' afiectcd by them, that he devoted his attention to the claims of religion, and v/as subsequent!}'' converted to God. Of course he infoi'mcd his brother Itobert of what had taken place ; but instead of being gratified by it, his brother was greatly offended, and re- quested him never to enter his house till ho had changed his views. " Very well, Robert," said James, " but I have one comfort in the case, and that is, you cannot prevent my prajnng for you ; " and holding out his hand, he bade him good bye. His brother Kobert was much aflected by this ; he could not get rid of the idea that his brother was constant!}'' praying for him. He saw the error of his ways, and after much investigation and reflection, became a decided Christian. The brothers Haldano united in good work at home and abroad. By their sacrifices and labours the}' gave an impetus to evangelical religion in Scotland. They became the fathers of churches, and preachers of the gospel to the poor and those who stood in need of hearing the glad tidings of great joy. THE BEV. DB. M'CniE AND THE PUBLISHER. The Rev. Dr. M'Cpje was a man of great ability and of nobility of character. He was a writer of eminence and spirit, and vras far above all selfish and merccnarj^ motives into his literary engagements. On this ground lie refused many an application made to him by book- sellers who were anxious to emplo}'' his pen. Nothing was more sure to defeat their object, than to com- mence their solicitations by an offer of money. On one occasion in particular, Mr. Constable, the publisher, who was eager to engage him in writing some short and popular lives of the Reformers for his Miscellany, waited upon him, and enlarging his offer to a thousand guineas for three volumes of no great size, he said — "I am going 76 RELIGIOUS ANECDOTES OF SCOTLAND. to Abbotsford to-morrow, and wish to have to say to Sir Walter Scott that you liave consented." " Mr. Constable," Avas the reply, '' I should be sorry if you had it to say to Sir Walter, that a descendant of the old Covenanters could be bribed with money to do a thing he was not inclined to do." And so they parted. '' THERE'S NAE CHIBTIN IN HEAVEN." An Anecdote of the Bev. James Morison, D.D. The Eev. A. M. Wilson, preaching at Bathgate (the birth- place of the R.ev. Dr. Morison) on the words, " Yet there is room," related the following incident : One day, about sixty years ago, there was considerable commotion in one of the junior classes of the parish school in Bathgate, arising from a struggle among the boys to find room on the form which they occupied. The master called up one of the boys, and asked what all the noise was about. " Please, sir," replied the urchin, " it's Jamie Morison, and he's swearing." Young Morison was then called up and examined as to this grave accusation, to which he at once gave a most emphatic denial. Upon the question being put to the accuser, " What did Morison say ? " the answer was, " He said there's nae chirtin in heaven." Coming events cast their shadows before them. The whole after-life of Principal James Morison has been devoted to the proclamation and enforcement of that declaration of his childhood. A MISTAKE IMPROVED; Or, Jtoiu the Evil One may be Shot. In times gone by, a worthy elder of the Kirk, who had spent the day on the hills in shooting, was belated ; and on his way home, considerably after elders' hours, as he passed Carlie Crag, Logic, Perthshire, he espied on it an object which arrested his attention. So far as he could judge in the dark, it seemed a dog of the mastiff' species. But was it not very like the Evil One, in the appearances A MISTAKE IMPBOVED. 77 he had been represented by the minister, and as the elder had often heard thciii described? A luoment's reflection satislied Idin that the suspicion was well founded. What was he to do ? What did it become one of his standing in the kirk to do ? He knew that the enemy was invulner- able by common shot. But fortunately, he had a silver coin in his pocket. This coin he quietly slipped into his gun, a trusty musket, which had been found on Sheriff- muir. I faving thus charged, hu kneeled, breathed a praj'er, levelled his piece and lired, and down tundjled his victim to the foot of the crag. He could not wait to inspect it ; he was at once too overjoj'ed and too eerie to do that. He betook himself to the manse as fast as his feet would carry him, and reported to the minister the matchless feat he had done. Early next moi'ning they went together to the Crag to examine the carcase of the fallen foe, and to consider how it was to be disposed of, when lo ! instead of his remains, there lay the lifeless body of Nannie, the bonnie pet goat of a poor old woman who resided in the neighbourhood. The disappointment and grief of the elder knew no bounds. Even the minister shared his mortification, and could not refrain from shedding tears with him. The innocent cfoat was shot, and lay dead there as a stone, and the bad dog was still alive ! But there was one consolation — the elder had meant well, and had displayed most heroic valour. The minister, too, who had the faculty of " finding good in everything," improved the event of the week in his pulpit work on the following Sabbath. Choosing for his theme the duty of resisting the devil, he discoursed, to the manifest relief and comfort of the elder, and to the edification of the whole congregation, on the various .shapes and forms which that personage may assume. ]f he went about as a roaring lion, why might he not appear also, wlien it better suited his purpose to do so, as a collie, or a mastiff", and as sleek or shaggy ? After dilating in this strain at great length, ho concluded very sagely, pertinently, and practically, in this wise : — " But whatever form he may assume, he cannot be overcome or destroyed by powder and shot. There is a gun, how- 78 RELIGIOUS ANECDOTES OF SCOTLAND. ever, that will shoot him, and it is this, — the Bible. Shoot him, then, every one of you. with this Bible, and he shall be shot." DUNDONALE AND THE MINISTER; Or, Trusting to Chance, and leaving all to the Last. On the occasion of a bonspeil between two rival parish clubs in Ayrshire, the one side was headed by the Earl of Dundonald, the other by the minister of the parish. The players were well matched, the ice was in excellent condition, and the play first-rate. The match was be- tween seven rinks a-side. The result of the contest rested with the seventh rink, the skips of which were Lord Dundonald and the minister. The players had counted shot about all day, and at last stood thirty. There remained only the Earl and the minister to play their last shots. The stone at the tee belong-ed to the rink of the latter, and seemed impregnably guarded. The Earl however, threw his stone on chance with such force that it rolled over the mass of guards huddled together in front, and lighted on the tee a "pat-lid," apparently placed beyond the possibility of ejection, protected as it was by the guard of his adversary's stones. Such a shot had never been seen before by the oldest curler present, and it was hailed with deafening cheers as decisive of the contest. The minister had still to play, but he was told it was no use trying. "Let him try my shot," said the Earl, ironically. " Dinna halloo till ye're oot o' the wud," ex claimed the minister's skip. " I'll no allow him to throw awa' his stane on sic a chance shot as your Lordship took. But I'll see what he can do, an' if he jist plays his auld ordinar', I think the odd shot an' the game will be oor ain yet. Ye see this stane, sir, afF the ice ? " address- ing the minister, " it's twa yards on this side o' the tee ; ye used tae like an inwick weel, an' I've seen ye tak' mony sic an ane — mind it's oor ain stane, sae I carena whether yc inwick or ootwick it. Clear the ice, my lads ; soop clean, and gie us fair play for the last shot. Tak' A SCOTTISH OLD TIME REVIVAL. 79 time and jist play, sir, as ye've June a' day, an' I'm sine ye'll come toddling in here," pointing to the tee. The minister did as he was directed, his stone took the inwick, removed the winner from the tec, and lay game shot. The Earl, mortitied and crestfallen at such an unexpected result, exclaimed with a round oath, " What the world brought the bod}- here to-day ? I wish he had been in his stud}', for he has played the very mischief with us all day." " What's that, my Lord, ye're sayin' o' me ? " inquired the minister, who had overheard the profane exclamation. " I was just saying," replied the Earl, " that it vrould have been better for us if ye had been at your books preparing for the morn." " I didna come here to-day, my Lord, unprepared for the morn," rty'oined the sturdy clergyman, " for I hope I'm no like mony o' the great folks o' this world, that trust to chance, and leave a to the last day" A SCOTTISH OLD TIME BEVIVAL; Or, Camhuslang in WhitefidcVs Time. More than a hundred years ago — in the year 1742— there was an extraordinary religious awakening in the West of Scotland. It began in Cambuslang, a parish on the Clyde, near Glasgow, There were not over nine hundred souls in the parish, yet out of that number about five hundred were, it was believed, converted. The awakening in Cambuslang was preceded by a year's faithful preaching of regeneration and the atonement by the pastor, Rev. John M'Culloch. Then for twelve weeks came daily preaching — generally out-door or in tents. Whitefield ( then in the zenith of his power and popularity) came to Cambuslang, and delivered a dozen iliscourses. Boanerges never stayed long in one spot; he used to say, " More than two weeks in one place kills me as dead as a door-nail." But his two visits to the rural parish near Glasgow were inundations of blessings to the thirsting multitudes. Mighty audiences from Glasgow and Western Scotland thronged to hear him. He frequently addressed 20,000 souls in a day I 80 RELIGIO US A NEC DO TES OF SCO TLAND. At the first communion season after his visit, no less than seventeen hundred persons sat down to the tables, which were spread under tents. A few weeks after, the Lord's Supper was dispensed again ; and probably it was the most extraordinary communion service ever witnessed on earth. No less than forty thousand people gathered to witness the solemnities. Preaching went on for several da3^s previous under Whitolield and others ; but on the second Sabbath in August, the Pentecostal scene culminated. The day was mild and genial, the air fragrant with the breath of new-mown hay, and the fields yellow with the wheat-harvest. At half-past eight on that memorable Sabbath morning, the " action sermon " was preached. Then came the " fencing the tables ; " then, immediately after this, the table was spread, and the first company passed into the Lord's Supper. During the whole day the sacred service went forward ; no less than twenty-four companies of over one hundred, each sitting down in rotation ! The whole number who partook of the sacred emblems was about three thousand. The soft twilight was stealing over the "braes" when the last group left the communion tent, and there was only light enough left to read four lines of a psalm as a doxology. A grey-haired pastor turning homeward from the hallowed place, exclaimed, in the fulness of his grateful heart, " Lord ! now lettesb Thou, Thy servant, depart in peace ; for mine eyes have seen Thy salvation." Such a revival could not be with- out abiding fruits. Accordingly, we are told that after the close of the extraordinary meetings, the morals of the whole neighbourhood were changed. Profanity became almost unknown. God's day was honoured in every dwelling. Nearly every house became a house of prayer. Evil speaking ceased. Old enmities and family feuds were forgotten. Every father was a kinder parent ; every child more dutiful. Religion went into men's daily business as a controlling principle ; sceptics owned its power, and scofiers were silenced before the beauty and majesty of daily godliness. May He who huldeth the seven stars in His right hand renew such a period! DR. E A DIE'S SERMON TO SHEPHERDS. 81 DIt. EADIE'S SEBMON TO SHEPHERDS. The late Professor Eadie was in the summer of ISGO, along with some other ministers, on a visit to St. Mar3^'s Loch, and the famous hostelry of the famous Tibby Shiels. Under her management, tlic neighboni-ing shep- herds were summoned to hear a sermon from the Pro- fessor on Sunday afternoon. The sermon was a great event in the district. How it got so well advertised in so short a space of time could not be quite understood ; but, certainly, when the hour came, the hills and dells seemed to have sent their last man to the little chapel, all aware of the name and fame of the expected preacher. There they were, shaggily but decently homespun in aspect and attire, " maud " on shoulder, and crook in hand, with weather-beaten but sagacious faces — a con- gregation of shepherds; and the "dowgs" seemed as numerous as their masters, and were equally well-* behaved. When Dr. Eadie lounged in through the little side-door, and heaved himself into the pulpit, and brusl^- ing the elf-locks from his brow, looked round him, with his peering, half-humorous glance, as he proceeded to give out the psalm, the impression produced upon his audience was evidently mingled, half-expectant, half- doubtful. He w'as not exactly clerical-looking, and his manner was anything but conventional ; but there was a homely dignity about him, and indisputable weight, and soon both gravity and unction began to show them- selves. When he announced his text — " How much, then, is a man better than a sheep ? " — perplexity struggled with a wondering interest in the upturned faces w'hich dared not smile. Was the speaker quizzing them, or needlessly coming down to them ? or would he justify after all his singular choice of a subject, and give them a sober, but fresh original discourse ? They were not held long in suspense. As Eadie went on, following a line of thought familiar to him, but lighting it up with numerous illus- trations drawn from the surrounding scenery, and the occupation of his hearers, attention grew deeply fixed. 6 82 r.ELiaiOUS ANECDOTES OF SCOTLAND. The dignity and worth of man was his theme — as made in the image of God ; as endowed with reason, with con- science, with iminortaHty ; as redeemed by the great Son of Man from the sin into whicli he had fallen ; as des- tined to everlasting glory. And as he pressed their human responsibilities on the men before him, and urged them to seek through Christ the true end of their being, every eye was bent on him, and every countenance glowed with intelligent admiration. The closing psalm was sung v/ith Scottish solemnity and fervour ; and when the con- gregation was dismissed, the hearty comments heard on every side from groups which lingered for a little to- gether, before they broke up to scatter among the hills attested how thoroughly the service had been enjoyed BABBI DUNCAN ON ANGELS. " On a Sabbath," says the Eev. James Eobertson, of Newington U. P. Church, " when I had been preaching one of a series of discourses on ' Angels in their revealed connexion v/ith the work of Christ,' Dr. Duncan came into the vestry and said, ' Will you be so kind as to let me know when you are going to take up the case of my favourite angel ? ' ' But who is he, Doctor ? ' ' Ah, guess that.' ' Well, it would not be diilicult to enumerate all those Vvdiosc names are given us.' ' But I can't tell you his name ; he is an anonymous angel, mine — guess iiini — eh ? ' ' Well, I think I must give it up, Doctor.' ' Then I'll have to tell you. It's the one who came do\vn in Gethsemane, and " strengthened " my Lord to go through His agony for me, that He might get forward to the cross and finish my redemption there. I have an extraordinary love for that one, and I often wonder what I would sa}^ to him when I meet him first.' This was a thought Dr. Duncan never wearied of repeating, in varied forms, whenever the subject of angels turned up in conversation. "A day or two after this the follov/ing conversation took place between him and Miss R : April 21, 1864. Dr. Duncan — 'I went last Sabbath and heard nABBI DUNCAN ON ANGELS. 83 Mr. Hobcrfcson preach one of a course of sermons on the angels.' Misfi R. — ' I think one sermon might have ex- hausted them.' J)i'. Duncan — ' Oh no, it is a very wide subject — do you think about the angels?' Miss R. — 'Not much.' Dr. Duncan — 'Do j'ou hope you are an h.eir of salvation, and so have your own special minister- ing angels? Do you think you have "come unto Mount Zion" ? Well, what have you come to ? To " an innumer- able company of angels," and yet you don't think much about the angels ! The angels sang " Glory to God in the highest, on earth peace, good-will to men" — God, earth, men ; the angels care for 'laen — and you don't think much about the angels! The angels of heaven sang, " Glory in the highest, peace in heaven." Have you and I some hope that God has granted to us repentance unto life ? Tlien there Avas joy over us in the presence of the angels of God. And do we need daily repentance ? Then doubt- less the ]oy of the angels over us continues — and you don't tiiink nuicli about the angels ! The Lord Jesus shall come "in the glory of his Father and of the holy angels;" and you will be taken quite by surprise that day, because you have never thought much about the angels ! ' Miss R. — ' I may be ofi the earth before that.' Dr. Duncan — ' Oh, and you will h.ave time between death and the resurrection to get acquainted Vv'ith the angels, so as you will not be surprised.' Miss R. — ' But there is a great deal of sentimentality in much tliat is said about angels.' Dr. Duncan — ' Oh, because th.ere is a great deal of nonsense in other books about them, you will not attend to what the Word of God saj's about them ! just as some persons, because the Papists worsliip the Virgin Mary, v;ill not call her "the blessed Virgin," although it vras said, "All genera- tions shall call me blessed." I don't say that fancTj will make anything of it. Fancy draws a bonny inan with a pair of wings ! but can faith not make something of it ? and " faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the Word of God." ' Miss R.—' But I think the angels cannot do good to our .souls, only outward good, Ps. xci. 11, 12.' JJr. Duncan — 'I don't see why holy angels mry not 84 RELIGIOUS ANECDOTES OF SCOTLAND. have as much power to do our souls good as the devil has power to do them ill. I take that passage to mean, tliou shalt not even dash thy foot against a stone — tliey shall take charge of thee even do\\ii to that ; it was more than that to the Head — and so also, I take it, it is to the members. I have my favourite angel, though I do not know his name. It is Jiot Gabriel, who announced the birth of my Lord. It is that angel who, when our hope was staggering, and when twice He fell, appeared from heaven, and strengthened Him. If I get to heaven, and meet that one, 1 will say to him, " Art thou the angel who strengthened my Lord in His agony ? " Did that angel do you no good ? and though it is a less thing than strengthening the Head, did the angel who let Peter out of prison do you no good? • — did Peter do you no good after he came out of jail?'" A LOST OPPORTUNITY. An Anecdote of the Eev. Dr. Chalmers. Dr. Chalmers on his return from England, lodged in the house of a nobleman near Peebles. The Doctor was known to excel in conversation as well as in the pulpit. He was the life and soul of the conversation at the noble- man's fireside. The subject was pauperism, its causes and cure. Among the gentlemen present there was a venerable old Highland chieftain, who kept his eyes fastened on Dr. Chalmers, and listened with intense interest to his couununicaiion. The conversation was kept up to a late hour. When the company broke up, they were shown into their apartments. The apartment of the Doctor was directly opposite to that of the old chieftain, who had already retired with his attendant. As the talented divine was undressing himself, he heard an unusual noise in the chieftain's room ; the noise was succeeded by a heavy groan ! He hastened into the apartment, which was in a few moments filled with the company, who all rushed in to the relief of the old gentleman. It was a melancholy sight which met their eyes. The venerable white-headed chieftain had fallen into the hands of his attendant. It was evidently sin A. AONEirS LOYALTY TO CONVICTION. 85 npoplexy. He brcatliod for a few seconds and expired. Dr. Chalinevs stood in silence, with both bands stretched out, and, bending over the deceased, he was tlie very picture of distress. Ife was the first to break siK'nce. "Never in my Hfe," said he in a tremuhms voice, " did I see, or did I feel, till this moment, the meaning- of that text, ' Preach the word ; be instant in season, and out of season ; reprove, rebuke, exhort, with all long-sufi'cring and doctrine.' Had I known that my venerable old friend was Avith.in a few moments of eternity, I would not have dwelt upon that subject Avhich formed the topic of this evening's conversation. I would have ad- dressed myself earnestly to liim. I would have preached nnto him and you Jesus Christ and him crucified. I wouM have urged him and you, with all earnestness befitting the subject, to prepare for eternitj'. You would have thought it, and you would have pronounced it, out of season. But ah ! it would have been in season, both as it respects him and as it respects you." SIR ANDREW AGNEWS LOYALTY TO CONVLCTLON. Sir Andrew Agxew, M.P., was an earnest Christian who, for long, took an active part in the movement on behalf of the due observance of the Sabbath. Sir Andrew, and an intimate friend, were speaking one day of the difii- culty of confessing Christ before the woi'ld. It was affecting to hear him acknowledge this difiiculty, who had borne Christ's reproach so manfully and so meekly in all places. He observed that, when he first began to talce up the cause of the Sabbath, there M'ere many worldly men who disliked him so much, that they seemed anxious to stare him out of their company, and that he had felt this particularly at the new club. One hon. baronet, not satisfied with this species of annoyance, when ho saw that Sir Andrew h;\d courage enough to despise it, and to frequent the club regularly every day notwithstanding, began speaking to him, and acting as rudely as he well could towards him. One mornin"- Sir Andrew was waiting for his breakfast at the club, when 86 RELIGIOUS ANECDOTES OF SCOTLAND. the baronet, to whom I allude, came in, apparently in great agitation. Sir Andrew, perceiving this, asked liiiu if anything was v/rong ; to which he replied that his lady had last night had an attack of paralj^sis, and that she was dangerously ill. Sir Andrew said he felt for him sincerely, and expressed his sympathy warmly. Next evening he met him again with his two sons, who had come to sec their mother, and he asked for the baronet's lady with much interest. The answer was that he had been sitting up with her all night, and that she was no bcttei*. Ultimately, hov/ever, she did recover; and on one occasion afterwards, the hon. baronet referred to came up to Sir Andrew, and, with feeling that did him great liononr, said, " Sir Andrew, there are many people who like to laugh at you and abuse you, because of your Sabbath principles, and I confess that I have been among the number : but I trust I shall never so far forget myself again. A man gets a very different view of these sub- jects Vvdien standing beside what he thinks the dying-bed of his wife." Sir Andrew was much affected by this frank acknovvdedgment, and replied, "I understand you perfectly, for I have experienced all the same feelings myself. I, too, was once opposed to religion. \Yhen I first proposed to bring my Sabbath Bill into Parliament, I felt the difficulty I had to encounter; and, after having given notice of the Bill, I thought I should never have - courage to proceed with it. The day v\'as drawing near on wliich my motion was to come on. Every day I felt my courage growing less and less when, jusfc a day or t^vo before, a messenger arrived f I'om the country with intelligence that my mother had had a stroke of apo- plexy, and I must hurry down to see her, I went accordingl}^, and it was when watching beside the bed of my dying motlicr that I got grace and strength to bring in my Sabbath Bill." The conversation touched the feelings of both parties, and they ever afterwards entertained much respect for each other. Christian feeling and action had their appropriate etiect, and love once more was the conqueror. THE REV. HECTOR M'PHAIL. 87 THE HEW HECTOR irPHAlL AND HIS FAITHFUL WIFE. The Rev. Hector M'Phail, of Rcsolis, was a minister for several years before his conversion. He had manied a daugliter of the godly Mr. Balfour, minister of Nigg. She had been one of Mr. Porteons's hearers, and had profited greatly by his preaching. Feeling painfully the diilcrence between her husband's doctrine and that to which she had been accustomed, she told him, on a Sabbath morning soon after their marriage, that her soul was starving, and that, as all must give place to her care for its welfare, she had resolved to go on that day across to Kilmuir. He offered no opposition ; he even accompanied her to the ferry. It was a sad journey the pious wife took that day to Kilmuir. Arriving at the manse before the hour for beginning the service in church, Mr. Porteous was not a little surprised to see her, and, on meeting her, asked very anxiously why she had come. She told him that as her soul was famished at Hesolis, she was compelled to come for the bread of life to the place where she had been wont to receive it. Mr. Porteous retired to his study, and on rejoining her, said, — " H" I am not greatly deceived you will not long have the same reason for leaving Eesolis, for I expect that the Lord will soon give you, by the hand of your husband, the very lincst of the wheat," His expectation v.-as not disappointed. After parting with his wife on that morning, the fact of her desertion of his ministry made a deep impression on Mr. M'Phail's mind. Con- science testified that she was right ; a deep sense of his unfitness for the work of the ministry was produced, and a process of conviction then began that extended over several years. At last he resolved to demit his charge, and to declare his resolution of doing so publicly liefore his congregation. With this view he sent for Mr. Fraser, of Alness, to preach on a week-day in his cliurch, and to intimate, after sermon, his resignation of liis charge. Mr. Fraser came and preached, but with no intention of giving the required intimation. During 88 liELIGIOUS ANECDOTES OF SCOTLAND. the sermon delivered on that day Mr. MThail's bonds were loosed, and, before the service was over, he was in no mood to turn his back on the work of preachini^ Christ to sinners. Full of hope and gladness he escorted Mr. Fraser next day to the Alness Ferry, and, on his way back, he called at the house of one of his elders, who had spent many an hour wrestling with the Lord for his minister. " What news, to-day, Mr. M'Phail ? " the elder asked. " Good news, Hector M'Phail is not to preach any more," his minister replied, "but the Spirit of the Lord is to preach to you through him.' " Oh ! that is good news, indeed," cried the elder in an ecstacy of joy. From that day till his death, Mr. M'Phail was one of the most faithful, fervent, prayerful, and successful of ministers. AN EARNEST SCOTCH METHODIST. Mil. Alexander Patrick, called the "Wallacetown E-efornier," became an earnest Methodist, and was much blessed in his work. The following anecdote will illus- trate his way of dealing with souls. Being one night at a private tea - party in Glasgow, where the guests were principally Weslej^ans, Mr. Patrick, whose habits of prayer were to him the chief source of enjoyment, contrived to turn the party into a social prayer meet- ing. One of the company, a backslider from God, arose between the exercises and confessed his condition to be one of darkness and danger; that he was, in fact, at pres- ent an alien from God. The whole party immediately united in strong prayer to the Lord to restore his soul, and, in a very short time, they found an answer. The man was enabled to resume his former faith in a crucified Saviour ; his joys were renewed, and his rejoicing diffused over the company the gladness of angels, who are re- presented as rejoicing over returning sinners. " My Jesus to kuow, and feel his blood flow, 'Tis life everlasting, 'tis heaven below ! " This exciting scene was made instrumental by the good Spirit in awakening another person then present, who AN EARNEST SCOTCH METHODIST. 89 had attcnJcd the ministry of the Methodists fourteen years, and had, till this period, remained a stranger to the renewing- grace ot" God. Unable to conceal the dis- tress he felt, from a deep conviction of his unsafe state, he arose, and earnest]}^ invited the company to meet at his house the following evening. This was readily agreed to, in hope that God would answer prayer in this case also. At the hour fixed the friends assembled, and found that Mr. Patrick had not awaited the appointed time, but had spent the whole forenoon labouring with him for his deliverance. God had already shed on the seek- ing sinner the light of his countenance, and made him glad in the enjoj'ment of salvation. This person had long rested in mere dogmas and theory, which had left his lieart unchanged, and the act of personal faith had been to him unintelligible. To point out this duty, and encourage him to perform it, was the task of Mr. Alex. Patrick. Putting his hand into his pocket, and drawing out a shilling, he said, — " Weel, noo, brother, were I to say, I'll give ye this shilling, wad ye believe me ? " " Yes, I would, for ye're no tritler. Sanely." "And what, then, wad ye dae, if ye thocht me in earnest ? " " Why, Pd reach out my hand and take it." " Yery weel, God has in like manner gien his Son Jesus Christ for you and to you, and if ye wad believe, ye maun jist tak' him, and trust in him." "Oh! but I have been such a sinner." "Ah, weel, but God disna reject sinners because they hae sinned, but because they winna believe on and lijipen tao his Son." " \Vell," replied his friend, with animation, " Do you say so, Sandy ? If God will not send me to hell for my sin only, he shall not for unbelief. I will believe, I do believe, I believe just now; O, Jesus, thou art my Lord and my God ! " At the moment he was ac- cepting and trusting in the Saviour, the token of divine acceptance was instantly afforded : " His chains foil off, His heart was free." The Spirit witnessed to his spirit that he was a child of God. The assembled friends who came to pray remained 90 RELIGIOUS ANECDOTES OF SCOTLAND. only to rejoice, because God had made known so fully and clearly his readiness to pardon. This person, after proving for some years the genuineness of his con- version, has lately been called home to God, dying in the faith. PBOFESSGB JOHN WILSON AND THE UNKIND CABTER. Professor John Wilson, "Christopher North," had a great love for animals, which he often exhibited in a practical way. For example : — One summer afternoon, as a lady who staj^ed in Moray Place, Edinburgh, was about to sit down to dinner, her servant requested her to look out of the window to see a man cruelly beating his horse. The sight not being a very gratifying one, she declined, and proceeded to take her seat at table. It vras quite evident that the servant had discovered some- thing more than tlie ill-usage of the horse to divert his attention, for he kept his ej'es fixed on the window ; again suggesting to his mistress tliat she ought to look out. Her interest "svas at last excited, and she rose to see what was going on. In front of her house stood a cart of coals, which the poor victim of the carter was unable to drag along. Pie had been beating the beast most un- mercifully, when at that moment Professor Wilson, walking past, saw the outrage, and immediately inter- fered. The lady said, that from the expression of his face, and vehemence of his manner, the man was evidently " getting it," though she was unable to hear what was said. The carter, exasperated at this interference, took up his whip in a threatening manner, as if with intent to strike the Professor. In an instant, that well-nerved hand twisted it from the coarse fist of the man, as if it had been a straw, and, walking quietly up to the cart, he unfastened its trams, and hurled the whole weight of coals into the street. The rapidity with which tliis v/as done left the driver of the cart speechless. Meanwhile, poor Rosinantc, freed from its burden, crept slowly away, and the Professor, still clutching the whip in one hand, WISHART AS AN iLVANGELIST. 91 and leading the horse by the other, proceeded throngli rdoray Place, to deposit the wretched animal in Letter keeping than tliat of its driver. WISlIAliT AS AN EVANGELIST. In 1543, George Wishart, brother of the Laird of Pitarrow, in the Mearns, devoted himself to the work of an evan- gelist; he had for some time kept a school in Montrose, and tanglit his scholars to read the New Testament in the original language. To escape the persecution to which this ofleiice exposed him, he fled abroad ; but, returning to Scotland in 1543, he began his ministry in Dundee, lecturing on the Epistle to the Romans. Crowds of all ranks and classes attended his earnest ministrations, and many through his instrumentality were brought to the knowledge of Christ. The clergy were alarmed, and one of the chief men of Dundee, a friend of Cardinal Beaton, commanded him to leave the town, to wdiom AVishart made answer, and his words proved prophetic, " God is my witness that I never minded your trouble, but 5'our comfort, yea, your trouble is more grievous to me than it is to yourselves ; but I am sure, that to reject the AVord of God, and to drive away his messenger, is not the v\'ay to save you from trouble, but to bring you into it. If it be long well with you, then j-ou may be- lieve that I am not led by the Spirit of Truth ; and if unexpected trouble befall you, remember this is the cause, and turn to God by repentance, for He is merciful." Wisliart then left the town, but by and hje. tidings reached him that the plague had broken out in Dundee. Though driven from it, his heart yearned over its miser- able inhabitants, and he hastened back there to speak to the people the words of eternal life, as well as to minister temporal relief to the afflicted and dying. Reckless of the danger to wdiich he exposed himself by labours so exhausting, he counted not his life dear to him. On one occasion he preached at the East Gate of the Cowgate. AVithout the gate were the booths which had been erected for the reception of the plague-smitten, at the 92 BELIGIOUS ANECDOTES OF SCOTLAND. spot which has since borne the name of the Sicknian's Yards. The cjatc being shut, made a separation be- tween the healthy and the infected. Wishart took his stand on the top of it, and preached such a sermon as only such a man could have preached in the circumstances. His text was, " He sent His word and healed them, and delivered them from destruction." THE BIGGAIi BELLMAN'S SON. Robert Forsyth, Advocate, was a strong-brained man, whose huge frame and head were well-known many years ago in the Parliament House, Edinburgh. His father was Robert Forsyth, bellman and gravedigger, and his mother's name was Marion Pairman. This worthy couple were united in marriage in l7G-i, and their only child, Robert, was born on the 18th January, 17GG. Their condition in life was verj- humble, and they had to struggle with all the disadvantages and sorrows of extreme poverty ; but they resolved to give their son, who early showed an aptitude for learning, a good education, in order to qualify him for the work of the ministry. He was sent early to the parish school but being the son of a poor man, he was treated with marked neglect, and made small progress. He soon, however, became extremely fond of reading. He bor- rowed such books as his neighbours could supply, and read them in the winter nights to his parents, to Robert Ronnie, shoemaker, and others, who commended him hiL;idy for his industry and ability, and thus encouraged him to renewed exertions. It is remembered at Biggar, that one evening he was busily engaged in reading aloud the poems of Sir David Lindsay, by the blaze of a piece of Auchenhcath coal, after his mother had gone to bed, wdien that worthy matron saith " O, Robie man, steek the boords o' Davie Lindsay, and gie's a blad o' the chapter bulk (the Bible), or I'll no fa' asleep the nic;ht." As he made slow pro- gress in his classical studies at the parish school of Biggar, he was sent in his twelfth or thirteenth year to THE BiaOAR BELLMANS' SON. 93 the burgh school of Lanark, then taught by Mr. Koberfc Thomson, a brotlier-in-la\v of the autlior of the Seasons. Forsyth then studied four years at the U)iiversity of Glasgow, and manfully struggled with all the obstruc- tions arising from the res aiKjiida domi. During one of these years, a severe and protracted storm of frost ami snow occurred, and prevented all coiinnunicatiori fiom place to place by means of carts. The Biggar carrier was consequently unable to pay his usual visits to Glasgow for several weeks. Old Forsyth was thrown into great distress regarding the state in which he knew his son would be placed from want of his ordinary supply of provisions. He therefore procured a quantity of oatmeal, and carried it on his back along the rough tracks on the top of the snow all the way to Glasgow, a distance of thirty-five miles, and just arrived when young Forsyth had been reduced to his last meal. He studied for the Church ; but having no influence, though an eloquent preacher, he failed to get a pastoral charge to his mind, and so gave up the ministry, and took to the bar. At that time the men of the Parliament House were more exclusive than they are at present. They cared little for a new adherent to their ranks unless he came recom- mended by his connection with some aristocratic family. The idea of a sticket minister, and the son of a grave- digger, obtaining admission into their dignified order, was intolerable to the Dundascs, the Forbeses, the Wed- derburns, the Erskines, and otlicrs who, in those days, stood highest in the Parliament House. One of their number connected with the Biggar district, but never distinguished for obtaining any great amount of practice or ability, was specially opposed to Forsyth, and one day had the audacity to say, '" Who are you, sir, that would thrust yourself into the Faculty ? Are ye not the poor bellman's son of Biggar?" "I am so," said Forsyth coolly but sarcastically, '■ and I have a strong suspicion that, had you been a bellman's son, you would have been your father's successor." A retort well deserved, and mo.st likely true. 94 RELIOIOUS ANECDOTES OF SCOTLAND. HELP IN TIME OF NEED. J An Anecdote of the North of Scotland. A FEW years after the victory of the Duke of Cumberland over Prince Charles Stuart at Culloden, in iT-rC, a poor but pious peasant dwelt in an out-of-the-way part of Scotland, bordering on the Highlands. He and his God- fearing wife had a numerous family ; and there being fevv^ inhabitants in the district, work vras often scarce, and income scanty. To get the two ends to meet v.-as at times a very hard task ; but prayer and pains had hitherto carried them through every difficulty, A season more trying than any, since their married life began, came at length npon them. There v/as no demand, at the end of autumn, for labour such as the peasant could do. Provisions were very dear, and speedily the little savings of the pious couple were entirely spent. No food remained in the poor cottage where they lived. Dinner- less and supperless the children had to be put to bed, and there they cried themselves to sleep. The parents bowed together before the throne of grace, asking for food for their offspring and themselves ; and then the husband, worn out with fruitless search for work, and utterly cast dov-'n, retired to bed. His Avife, however, resolved to spend the night in secret prayer and meditation on the promises of her Father in heaven. Just when she v."as about to open her Bible, and was lifting up her heart with a desire for guidance and blessing, there darted into her mind these words of the fiftieth Psalm — " Every beast of the forest is uiine, and the cattle upon a thousand hills." She did not think tlicm suitable for meditation at the moment, and tried to forget them ; but read where she might, and pray as she did with all the earnestness which her family's sad circumstances gave her, the words still came uppermost which had been first suggested to her. Five o'clock nest mornin^- found her wrestling; v/ith God for 1 • • . help in their time of need, v/hen suddenly a loud knock- ing at the door of her cottage led her to inquire, " Wlio'.s there?" "A friend," was the reply. On her again JiL:V. JOHN ANGEL JAMES AT PERTH. 95 asking who ifc was, the person outside said, " I'm a cattle dealer, and need help. Come quick, mistress." Opening the door, she saw to her surprise a large drove of cattle from the Highlands, on the road a little way above her dwelling. One of the cattle had fallen over a precipice at an unprotected part of the path, and broken one of its legs. The drover had assisted it up as best he could, and got it along to the peasant's cottage ; but there it had fallen, and could not rise again even with help. The drover was sadly puzzled. It would detain him too long in that poor country district to try and find a purchaser. He must needs push on with the rest of his herd ; and this he did after telling the peasant's wife that he had to beg her acceptance of the beast which lay at her door. The husband speedily appeared on the scene, and could not but rejoice with the mother of his children over the abundant supply of flesh thus bestowed upon them. Their need of bread was also quickly met. Within an hour from the time when the drover's knock was heard, a man on horseback appeared, bearing a large sack of oatmeal. His mistress was a lady of title, resid- ing some miles away, in vv'hose household the peasant's wife had acted as a servant for years, to the great satis- faction of her employer. Knowing the trials of the poor at that season, the lady's thoughts had been turned during the previous evening to the possibility that her former maid and her family might be in want. Without delaying, the lady had ordered the sack of meal to be conveyed to the cottagers, and thus a bountiful supply of bread, as well as beef, relieved them from all anxieties regarding the future. "Truly God is good to Israel;" and well, therefore, might the poet-king declare, " I have been young, and now am old, yet have I not seen the rigliteous forsaken, nor his seed begging bread." ^ THE BEV. JOHN ANGEL JAMES AT PEHTH. " Having occasion," says the Rev. John Angel James, " to visit some friends at Perth, I was asked to call on a good woman in the humbler walks of life, ^Yho was represented 96 BELIQIOUS ANECDOTES OF SCOTLAND. to me as a very lively Christian ; she was known by the familiar name of ' Kitty Lowrie.' On being- introduced to her, I found that she had been for a considerable time confined to bed, and, from the nature of her complaint, was not likely to be long an inhabitant of this world. I found her speaking of death, not only without alarm, but with a manifest expression in her countenance of sacred joy ; and she observed that a pious friend of hers at the Bridge-end was lately very ill, and, some time ago, she thought she would get away before her ; but latterly she understood she was rather better, adding, with a remark- able cheerful expression of countenance, ' I now think I'll get the start of her yet. I just thought we were like two children taking a race home, to see who would be first at their father's door.' I then remarked to her that I had met with many Christians, who, though they had well-grounded hope, in looking forward to death, and were even satisfied in regard to the issue of it, felt often uneasiness in the prospect of the act of dying. It was a new, untried situation, and as it was often accompanied with much bodily distress, they felt, on tliis account, no small appreliension in contemplating its approach. To this she replied with uncommon cheerfulness, — I would rather say, with a holy joy lighting up her countenance — 'I do not know what it may be when it comes, but I can only say I have never been feared for it [afraid of it] yet; there are just two things which make me quite easy on that subject — the first is, that whatever I may be called to suffer, I know I am in the hands of a recon- ciled Father, and he will do all things well ; and, secondly, that whatever my bodily afflictions may be, I am sure it is well worth the suffering for the glory that is to follow.' We oi'ten hear of the moral sublime ; we have here a specimen of the spiritual sublime, and that of the highest order." DAVID HUME AND THE CHILD. David Hume, the celebrated infidel philosopher, and author of a History of England, was once dining at the house qI an intimate friend. After dinner the ladies DA VID HUME AND THE CHILD. 97 withdrew ; and in the course of conversation, Hume made some assertion which caused a gentleman present to ob- serve to him, " 11' you can advance such sentiments as those, you certaijdy are wliat the world gives you credit for being, an infidel." A little girl, whom the philosopher liad often noticed, and with whom he had become a favourite, by bringing licr little presents of toys and sweetmeats, happened to bo playing about the room un- noticeil ; she, however, listeneil to the conversation, and, on hearing the above expression, left the room, went to her mother, and asked her, " Mamma, what is an infidel V " An infidel, my dear," replied the mother ; " why should you ask such a question ? An infidel is so awful a character, that I scarcely know how to answer 3'ou." " (), do tell me, mamma," returned the child, " I mutt know Avhat an infidel is." Struck with her eagerness, her mother at length replied, "An infidel is one who be- lieves that there is no God, no heaven, no hell, no here- after." Some days afterwards Hume again visited the house of his friend. On being introduced to the parlour, he found no one there but his favourite little girl ; he went to her, and attempted to take her up in his arms and kiss her, as he had been used to do ; but the child shrunk with horror from his touch. " My dear," said he, " what is the matter ? — do I hurt you ? " " No," she replied, " you do not hurt me ; but I cannot kiss you, I cannot play with you." " Why not, my dear ? " " Because you are an infidel ! " " An infidel ! — what is that ? " " One who believes there is no God, no heaven, no hell, no here- after." "And are you not very sorry for me, my child ?' asked the astonished philosopher. "Yes, indeed, I am sorry!" returned the child, with solemnity; "and I pray to God for you." " Do j'ou, indeed, and what do you say ? " "I say, O God, teach this man what Thou art ! " A striking illustration of the words of sacred writ, " Out of the mouths of babes and sucklings thou hast ordained strength, because of thine enemies, that thou mightesfc still the enemy and avenger." 98 BEL lOIO US ANE CDO TES OF SCO TLAND. SORROW AND GENIUS. An Anecdote oj the Grave of Robert Burns. [n the spring after Burns died, Thomas Nimmo, a native of Carnwath, having received his discharge from the army in Enghand, was travelling home with a comrade. Passing through Dumfries they inquired the way to St. Michael's churchyard to visit the poet's grave. Follow- ing a foot-path through the wilderness of ornaments which deck Death in that famous burying-ground, they looked around for a stone, to tell them where he slept. Not finding anything of the sort, they made up to a female in deep mourning, who was sitting on the ground a little farther on. Nimrao thus addressed her : " Mistress, we are strangers, and would feel obliged if you could show us the grave of Burns." Pointing to the narrow mound at her feet, and bursting into tears, she said : " That, soldiers, is his grave, and I am liis Avidow." The poor fellows felt hurt at having intruded on her in sueli circumstances, apologised for their abruptness, tendered their simple, but heartfelt condolence, and went on their way. This would have been a good subject for a painter : Jean Armour at the grave of Burns, while yet no monu- ment marked the spot ; and it might have been called Sorrow weeping over Genius, v/hich had been consigned to an early and too premature grave. A FIFTY YEARS COMMUNICANT AT EDINBURGH. On a cold, snowy winter's night some years ago writes a missionary, I accompanied a friend to visit an old woman in one of the closes that run off the High Street of Edinburgh. AVe ascended a stair, and found in a small room the old woman lying on her bed. No one could look on her features without seeing that death was very near. From our friend we learned that she was full eighty years of age; and she had made a kind of pro- fession of religion for fift}^ years ; had been a member of one of the most privileged congregations in Edinburgh ; but that, alas ! there was no reason to believe she knew A FIFTY YEAR'S COMMUNICANT. 99 anj'tlnng- of religion but the mere empty form. She had enjoyed the services of a fiiithful ministry, and had regulai'ly sat down at the communion table, and now her ordinances were all over for ever. We went up to her bedside and said, " So you are very ill — death is very near — the doctor says you cannot live above a few hours : what is your hope for eternity ? " " Oh," she said, "nobody can say a single word against me. I was a member of a church for lifty years, 'a regular joined member.' I was never absent from the sacrament once that I can remember." " If you are trusting for salva- tion to that," we said, " you are hiding in a refuge of lies, and death will sweep all your hope away." " Oh, but," she said, " I was always a decent woman ; nobody can say anything against me." We quoted the passage from God's AVord, "He that believeth shall be saved ; he that believeth not, shall be damned." But she began again about what she called her " privileges " for lifty years, and her soul seemed so hardened and blunted by her life-lono- form of c^odlincss, that the arrov/s of God's V/ord seemed to make no mark on her conscience. Here was a solemn lesson, to show what privileges unblessed can do. They had not been without effect, but the effect was but to sear and harden. They seemed, alas ! to have been but the savour of death unto death. We thought of the fifty years' Sabbaths, and communion Sabbaths, under the ministry of men of God who had been blessed to the conversion of many sinners, and the refreshing of many of Zion's children. All these precious means of grace had been no means of grace to this poor dj-ing; sinner. They had been but weaving together the rag of self-righteousness which she was now clasping around her so closely. And now her feet were soon to stumble on the dark mountains. Suddenly she moved her hand, as if she wished to say something to us. We came very close to her, for her voice was growing feeble, and we hoped to hear some inquiry after esus. No ; she had quarrelled with one of her neighbours about some triile, and she wished us to take her part. Thus was she spending her dying breath. Her soul seemed silent 100 RELIGIOUS ANECDOTES OF SCOTLAND. against the warnings or threatenings that so often make a sinner tremble. The door of lier heart seemed douhle- locked against the Lord knocking ; a thick veil of for- mality was upon her heart — the growth of fifty years of dry, lifeless, fruitless profession ; and now she was going before her Maker and Judge, with a miserable lie in her right hand. She died about two hours after ; her light went out in darkness. We often read of shipwrecks ; and often do we picture to ourselves that fearful moment v/hen the perishing one discovers he is lost. But there is a still more terrible scene — the sliipwreck of a soul. What an awful moment that must be, when a soul that has slept on secure in sin, with a name to live, discovers that all is lost — all hope gone for ever ! — the false peace shivered to picc^^rs, and the sinner now beyond the reach of mercy ; remembered Sabbaths — remembered com- munions and professions — all crowding up to the agon- ised view of the lost. Let us give diligence to make our callino- and election sure. THE BEV. GEOEGE GILFILLAN PREACHING HIS OWN FUNERAL SERMON. The Rev, Mr. Borwick, Rathmillet, says that a good man)'- years ago, he was assisting the late Mr. Marshall, Lochee, at the communion, and the Rev, George Giltilhin attended the Monday service. Mr, Borwick was at the time in very delicate health, and this could be easilj^ seen by those who saw him. His text that day led him to speak for a time upon the subject of our departure from tliis world to the next, and the needed preparations for tlio change. On returning from the church to the manse, Mr. Gilfillan said to him, " I have been sitting somewhat in misery. Why did you take that text ? Ministers so often preach their own funeral sermons," This remark was fully illustrated in his own case. On the Sabbath preceding his death, which took place suddenly on Tuesday morning, 13th August, 1878, Mr. Gilfillan went into his own pulpit, as if he had known it was the last time he should stand there. All the hymns A SOFT ANSWER TURNETII A WA Y WRA TIL 101 were of an impressive, solemn character, and bearing npon death. lie chose as liis text, Job xiv. 2, " Man Cometh forth as a llower and is cut down ; he fleeth like a shadow, and continueth not." Tlic burden of his dis- course was a vindication of God in relation to sudden deaths, some cases of which he mentioned as having recently taken place. His last words were — "Let us be ready when death comes — whether it comes swiftly or slowly — to adjust our mantle ere we fall, and say, with the blessed Saviour, ' Father, into Thy hands I commend my Spirit. Amen.' " Pie thus preached his own funeral sermon, and it is affecting to think that, at the close, he left his church never to return to it, with the notes of the " Dead March in Saul " sounding in his ears. ''A SOFT ANSWER TURNETII AWAY WRATH." An Anecdote of the Rev. Dr. Jamieson''s Congregation, Forfar. The wife of a respectable farmer, a very pious woman, having become a member of the Rev. Dr. Jamieson's con2;reo-ation, Forfar, the husband Avas exceedino-ly anjxrv, and felt scandalised that his wife should belong to a sect that was everywhere spoken against. He remonstrated with her on the subject, and even threatened that, if she persisted in going to that place, her conduct would make it necessary for him to expel her from his house. She heard him patiently and meekly, and, with a smile, intimated that he would not be so severe as he said. Matters came to a crisis on the Sabbath morning of the communion. The farmer got very excited, addressed his wife in a loud and menacing tone, forbade her to 2.0 to the church, and declared most solemnly that if she did so, she need not again return to his house, for he had made up his mind not to receive her. The only reply was, " William, you will not be so hard as you say." The good woman dressed herself and set out. William was confounded. " This," said he to himself, " is most amazing. That wife of mine is as docile, obedient, and dutiful a woman as ever man had, in everything except in this point. There must be something uncommon about 1 02 nELIOlO us A NEC DO TES OF SCO TLA ND. that church and minister. I'll go too." The church was at some distance ; and as the farmer knew the road his wife was accustomed to take, he went by another, and v\'as in church before her. " And what, sir," said he (when afterwards recounting the story), " do you think that I was doing all the time of the action sermon, and the serving of the tables ? I was going to have a roup in a few wrecks, and I was busy calculating what tliis field would bring,and what that lot of cattle -would sell at." This unhallowed exercise continued till Dr. Jamieson went up to the pulpit to give directions after the communion was over. His attention was then arrested, and tlic arrow of conviction entered his soul. It was the moment of his merciful visitation ; the day-spring from on high shone upon his mind, and he left the church a heart- stricken, humbled, and sincere penitent, who could find no rest till he had embraced the Saviour, and cast in his lot with those whom he had so cordially despised. BISHOP COWPEB'S DEATH. In the year 1G19, William Covv'per, Bishop of Galloway, died. He would have been a vcvj good man, if he had not been corrupted -svith superior powders and worldly cares of a bishopric, and other things. Owing to the position he occupied, he became involved in various polemical controversies, and among others with the Avives of Edin- burgh. One of the latter in her contention with the Bishop went so far as to charge him with apostacj^ and summoned him to prepare an ansAver shortly to the Judge of all the world, at a time when it would aj^jiear that the health of the Bishop Vfas indifferent. Within a day or two, after being at his pastime-game, golf, on the Links of Leith, he was terrified with a vision, or an apprehension ; for he said to his playfellows, after he had iu an affrighted and concerned way cast away his play- instruments, the clubs — "I vow to be about with th.o.-^e two men who have conic upon me with drawn swords." When his plaj^fellows replied, " My lord, it is a dream ; we saw no such thing," he was silent, went home trem- bling, took to bed instantly'-, and died. A VERY YOUNG DISCIPLE. 103 A VERY YOUNG DISCIPLE. Some instances of very early pict3''arc exceedingly toucli- ing and instructive. Such a case was that of Willie Grcig, who was the son of a respectable tradesman. He was a most wonderful boy from his earliest years, and had ways of life and a manner of speech far beyond his ex- perience. On Sabbath morning, when he reached tlic age of eight, he would go away to the church himself, and endeavour to understand as much of the sermon as possible, and repeat what struck him to his parents when he went home. Sometimes he would say, " The minister was not very good to-day ; I did not know what he said." At other times he would be full of jo}^ and would begin his story by saying, " Tlic minister looked at me, and spoke to me this morning," and then go on to make known what he remembered of the discourse, and other parts of the service. On Thursdays, he used to slip out of his home, and return after an hour or so v.'ith a tract in his hand. This he did for weeks without it being known where he went, and his mother at last discovered that he attended a mother's meeting, and seemed to de- light in the service. When ten years of age, Willie was laid up with scarlet fever, and passed through its various stages with case and comparative comfort. The doctor was pleased with the progress toward betterness he made, and did not ai> ticipate any danger. One Saturdaj', when Willie was in good spirits at the thought he v>'0uld now be able to run about again, his father came home for dinner, and took it at the bedside to please his son. Willie, feeling his appetite returning, asked a piece of the meat the father was eating, and, vv'ithout anticipating evil consequences, the father gave him a little piece. This, however, proved almost on the instant fatal. Reaction set in, and tlie symptoms were of the most alarming character. The doctor was sent for, pronounced the case hopeless, and that death would ensue in a few hours. The parents were overwhelmed with sorrow ; and the father wept and refused to be comforted. Willie was the only one 1 04 RELIGIO US A NECDO TES OF SCO TLAND. who could utter words of comfort and consolation. He wanted to be lifted on the knee of his mother, which re(][uest was granted. He then said, " Do not weep ; look at those words hanging up there," pointing to a card that hung above the fire-place, on which were the words, " Sailer little children to come unto me, and forbid them not, for of such is the kingdom of heaven." " Jesus said that," he continued, " and I am going away to him, to heaven, and I will meet you all there. I am not afraiil to die, for Jesus will be with mo ;" and throwing his arms round his mother's neck, he said, with great anima- tion, "0 mother! will ye no die with me, too, and we will all be in heaven, and happy together?" Gradually he sank in body, but rose in spirit, and, ere six hours passed, little Willie Greig passed in among the angels without his mother, but not alone — His angel docs always behold the face of our Father which is in heaven. CHANGE IN PBEACHER AND PBEACHING AND ITS RESULTS. Dr. Chalmers was minister of the parish of Kilmany, Fife, and preached what was called the liberal, or mo- derate, system for twelve years, but without producing the moi-al and spiritual eftects he desired to produce. " For the greater part of that time," he said, " I would expatiate on the meanness of dishonesty; on the villainy of falsehood ; on the despicable arts of calumny — in a word, upon all those deformities of character which awaken the natural indignation of the human heart against the pests and disturbers of human society. Even at this time, I certainly did press the reformations of honour and truth and integrity among my people ; but I never once heard of any such reformations having been eliected amongst them. If there was anything at all brought about in this way, it was more than ever I got any account of. I am not sensible that all the vehemence with which I urged the virtues and proprieties of social life had the weight of a feather on the morals of my parishioners." en A NO E IN PRE AC HER AND PREACHING. 105 At this period Sir James Craig, then residing at Dun- dec, one day met a Kilmany man on the road, with whom he entered into conversation. The man said to liim, " You arc well ofT at Dundee, sir, for ministers." Sir James remarked, knowing Chalmers's talents, " You arc Letter oft' at Kilmany." The peasant replied, " As for Chalmers, sir. he is nae minister ava." This indicates that though men of education saw and appreciated his natural powers, the common people did not hear him gladly as they did his Master, nor value him highly as a gospel minister. But a change came over the preaching and the preacher. He had been led to study the evidence and the nature of Christianity, and this led to a deeper and more personal faith in Christ as the Saviour. Having become personallj^ alive to the gospel, he became as a preacher like a giant refreshed with wine. His discourses were powerful and impressive, and crowds flocked on the Sabbaths to the quiet and seques- tered church of Kilmany, to hear the man whose lips and heart had been touched with a live coal from off the altar of God. The change was decided, and the fruits were unto salvation. In after days. Dr. Chalmers de- clared, " It was not until I got impressed by the utter alienation of the heart in all its desires and affections from God ; it was not till reconciliation to Him became the distinct and prominent object of my ministerial eftbrts; it was not till the free oft"er of forgiveness through the blood of Christ was urged upon their acceptance, and the Holy Ghost given through the channel of Christ's mediatorship to all who ask Him, was set before them as the unceasing object of their dependence and prayers, that I ever heard of any of those subordinate reforma- tions which aforetime made the earnest and zealous, but, I am afraid at the same time, the ultimate object of my earlier administrations." The people knew and felt the change in their experi- ence. Before Chalmers left the parish, on its being remarked to one of his simple-minded hearers, that their minister was like the Apostle Paul — "Paul," said he, "Paul wasna fit to hand the can'le to him !" — a remark lOG llELiaiOUS ANECDOTES OF SCOTLAND. winch, evinces how enthusiastically they valued the ser- vant of Christ, Avho proclaimed to them the glad-tidings of great joy. C UFA EJUS T ICE. What was called " Coupar Justice " was not alwaj^s bad, but sometimes leaned heavily to mercy's side. We are confirmed in this view when we think that the famous Bailie John himself, stern judge as he was, knew how to be humane and compassionate. The best known tra- dition concerning him, shows a fine blending of justice and mercy in his administration. On the morning of a Court-day, as he lounged about the back of Beechhill, looking down on the Isla moving sluggishly on in its serpentine course, a Highlander appeared trudging into the town along the public road. The Bailie accostisd him, and betraj'ed some anxiety to know the errand that had brought him to the Lowlands. He soon learned that Donald was one of the culprits who were to be arraigned that very day at his dread tribunal. "Are you guiltj^?" the Bailie asked, quite mildly. " Ou, ay, she's guilty," replied the Highlander, shrugging his shoulders ; " but there's nae preef." " YvHi-it," said the Bailie, "will you give a false oath ?" "Ay, an' that she will," answered the Celt, "there's mercy wi'God Almighty, but there's nane wi' Bailie Shon." With this they parted ; but, by and bye, Donald found to his utter dismaj^, his wayside friend on the bench transformed into his implacable judge. " Will you swear nov/ that j'ou are not guilty ?" said the Bailie, in a rough, stentorian voice. For a moment the culprit was quite paralysed ; but, quickly recovering himself, he answered lirml}^ and roundly, " Yes, she'll swore." The Bailie looked a good deal nonplussed, but, after a silent pause, in which he gave the reason Donald had in the morning assigned for swearing due weight, he dismissed him thus : " Go home, you rascal, and never let me see your face again ; and tell your friends in Kirkmichael that there is some mercy in Bailie John as well as in God Almighty." JUST LIPPEN TO II IM. 107 JUST LIPPEN TO HIM. Ati Anecdote of the Eev. Dr. Chalmers. Fr.EQUEXTLY has it been my privilege, says Dr. W. L. Alexander, to follow Dr. Chalmers to some country district, and hear him, in lanrjuage which he laboured to reduce as much as possible to the standard of " the common people," announce to them the way of salvation and the path to heaven. Sometimes, also, it was m}' lot to be his companion to some v;refcched hovel, where I have seen him take his seat by the side of some poor child of want and weakness, and patiently, afiectionatelj', and earnestly strive to convey into his darkened mind some ray of truth that might guide him to safety and to God. On such occasions it was marvellous to observe ■with what simplicity of speech that great mind would utter truth. One instance of this I must be allowed to mention. The scene was a low, dirty hovel, over whose damp and uneven floor it was diflicult to walk without stumb- ling, and into which a small window, coated with dust, admitted hardly enough of light to enable an eje un- accustomed to the gloom to discern a single object. A poor old woman, bed-ridden, and almost blind, who occupied a miserable bed opposite the fire-place, was the object of the doctor's visit. Seating himself by her side, he entered at once, after a few general inquiries as to her health, etc., in religious conversation with her. Alas ! it seemed all in vain. The mind which he strove to enlighten had been so long closed and dark that it appeared impossible to thrust into it a single ray of light. Still, on the part of the woman, there was an evident anxiety to lay hold upon something of what ho was telling her ; and encouraged by this he persevered, plying her, to use his own expression, with the efforts of the gospel, and urging her to trust in Christ. At length she said, — " Ah ! sir, I would fain do as jou bid me, but I dinna ken how. How can I trust in Christ ? " " Oh, woman," was his expressive answer, in the dialect of the district, "just lippen to him." " Eh ! sir," was the 108 RELIGIOUS ANECDOTES OF SCOTLAND. rcplj', "and is that a'?" "Yes, yes," was his gratified response, "just lippen to him and lean on him, and you'll never perish." To some, perhaps, this language may be obscure, but to that poor dying woman it M'as as light from heaven ; it guided her to the knowledge of the Saviour, and there is good reason to believe it was the instrument of ulti- mately conducting her to heaven. It is not easy to give an English equivalent for the word "lippen." It ex- presses the condition of a person who, entirely unable to support or protect himself, commits his interests or his life to the safe keeping of some person or object. Thus, a man crossing a chasm on a plank lippens to the ]>lank ; if it give way he can do nothing for himself. The term implies entire dependence under circumstances of risk and helplessness. DUNCAN MATHESON AND THE POWER OF SAC BED SONG. One night, weary and sad, Duncan Matheson, when a missionary to the soldiers in the Crimea, was returning from Sebastopol to his poor lodgings in the old stable at Balaclava. He had laboured all day with unflagging cnei-gy, and now his strength was gone. He was sickened with the sights he had seen, and was depressed with the thought that the siege w^as no nearer an end than ever. As he trudged along in the mud, knee-deep, he happened to look up, and noticed the stars shining calmly in the clear sky. Instinctively, his weary heart mounted heavenward, in sweet thoughts ol; the " rest that re- maineth for the people of God," and he began to sing aloud the well-known Scriptural verses, — " How bright these glorious spirits shine ! Whence all their white arraj^ ? How came they to the blissful seats Of everlasting day ? Lo ! these are they from suff'rings great, Who came to realms of light, And iu the blood of Christ have wash'd Those robes which shine so bright." WELSH OF IliONORA Y. 109 Next day was wet and •storin}'-, and wlien he went out to see wliat course to take, he came upon a soldier stand- ing- for shelter below the verandah of an old house. The poor fellow was in rags, and all that remained of shoes upon his feet were utterly insufficient to kt?op his naked toes from the mud. Altogether, he looked miserable enough. The kind-hearted missionary spoke words of encouragement to the soldier, and gave hiui at the same half-a-sovereign with which to purchase shoes, suggesting thart he might be supplied by those who were burying the dead. The soldier offered his warmest thanks, and then said, — "I am not what I was yesterday. Last night, as I was thinking of our miserable condition, I grew tired of life, and said to raj^sclf. Here we are not a bit nearer taking that place than when we sat down before it. I can bear this no longer, and may as well try and put an end to it. So I took my musket, and went down yonder in a desperate state about eleven o'clock ; but as I got round the point, I heard some person singing the old tune, — ' How bright these glorious spirits shine,' and I remembered the old tune and the Sabbath-school where we used to sing it. I felt ashamed of being so cowardly, and said, Here is some one as badly off as myself, and yet he is not giving in. I felt he had something to make him happy of which I was ignorant, and I began to hope I too might get the same happiness. I returned to my tent, and to-day I am resolved to seek the one thing." " Do you know who the singer was ? " asked the missionary. " No," was the reply. " Well," said the other, " it was I ; " on which the tears rushed into the soldier's eyes, and he requested the Scripture-reader to take back the half-sovereign, saying, " Never, sir, can I take it from you after what you have been the means of doing for me." WELSH OF IBONGBAY. This Mr. Welsh was grandson of the famous John Welsh of Ayr. Kirkton says in his history, that "he was a godly, incck, humblcj man, and a good preacher, but the bold'ife to accompany her to hear his friend preach. Tlic word took eli'ect in conviction and salvation, and the grovelling farmer was transformed into a son of God and heir of glory. y\ AN OLD WOMAN AND M'CHEYNE. An old woman said that a sermon she heard Mr.M'Cheyne preach from the Song of Solomon was the means of her conversion. It Vvas in the second chapter, from the 8th to the l7th verse, beginning with, " The voice of my be- loved," etc. She said she thought herself all right — she had a good moral character, she went to church as often as her many duties v/ould allov; her; but that sermon stript her of her self-righteousness, and made her cry out — " Vv hat shall I do to be saved ? " Her husband was a freethinker, and a great cause of sorrow to her. Then they were in the depths of poverty, for the family was large, and her husband's wages were very small. Still, the trouble at home v.-as nothing, compared to the agony of mind she suffered from the horror of her sinful condi- tion. One of tlic elders who chanced to see her told Mr. M'Cheyne of her state, who went to visit her. "When she opened the door in ansv/er to his knock, and saw hira, she was frightened ; but he soon put her at her ease by saying kindly, " Never mind me, I am a poor creatui-e like yourself, and, in the sight of a great and holy God, we stand on the same platform; the only difference in the Lord's sight, in this world, is the difference betvreen the righteous and the wicked : the prince and the peasant 1 20 RELIGIO US A NEC DO TES OF SCO TLA ND. are equal in his C3'c.s." Ho often, she said, came to see her after that, and she added, " Baith purse an' prayer were ready." One day wlion he came she was washinc;-, and her house was very untidy, i'or v^'hich slie was niakino- excuses, when lie interrupted licr by sayini^, " Do you not know me better by this time, than to understand that it is not to see your liouse I come here, but only to talk with yourself?" He would often say to her, when she told him of her troubles, " Ah ! could we get an insight into the work- ings of God, vre would see his principal work is training and pruning the vines in His vineyard." When asked if' hor husband ever saw the error of his ways, she said, " Yes, thank God ; and, thank God that every one of my children, man and woman of them, who have grown up, liave had cares enough — aye, and sins enough, too ; but they all know and acknowledge God to bo the true God, the Creator of heaven and earth ; and, oh ! that to me is everj^thing." »She then went on to say that her life, when her husband brought people of his own creed about him, had been most miserable — indeed, her horror of free- thinkers was very great, no poverty, no hardship seemed to weigh with her, when compared to what a life of care spent amongst such people would be. She is very old now, and blind and poor ; but God has not forgotten her, and she says her song is now, " I am poor and needy, but the Lord thinketh upon me." This old woman told of the d;;:th of one of her children, about that revival time in Dundee. She said he was the " best laddie she ever knew," his dread of sin was so great, and his love of God and God's people was very deep and tender. When he was just dying, he said to her, " Mother, meet me in heaven. But I ncedna say this, for I ken ye will ; but my father — oh ! tell him to for- sake that bad company, and come too." He then added, "Oh, moth.cr ! what bonnic!" "What is bonnie?" she asked, seeing such a heavenly look on his face. He smiled sweetly, and answered, "Ye couldna see them, mither ; but 1 can " — and then, stretching out his hands, he said, " Guid nicht, mither ! Come ! Lord Jesu.s," and PLAY WITH AND PliAY FOR CIULDREN. 121 died. Ili.s father from that hour renounced his frco- iliinkin^^ notions, and she hoped became a follower of llim to whom her son had gone. I'LAY WITH AND PRAY FOR CniLDREN. Dii. Joiix Brown, in his lay sermons on Health, advises parents to play with and pray for their children. He says, " There is no such good plaything for grown-up children as weans — wee ones. It is wonderful wliat you can get them to do with a little coaxing and fun. llero is a pleasant little story out of an old book : A gentle- man having led a company of children beyond their usual journoj', they began to get weary, and all cried to him to carry them on his back, but because of their nmltitudo he could not do this. 'But,' says he, 'I'll get horses for us all.' Tlien he cut little wands out of the hedge as ponies for them, and a great stake as charger for himself. This put mettle in their little legs, and they rode cheei'ily home. One thing, however poor you are, you can give your children, and that is your prayers, and they are, if real and humble, worth jnorc than silver or gold — more than food and clotliing, and have often brought from our Father who is in heaven, and hears our prayers, both money and meat and clothes, and all worldly things. You may ahvays teach them to pray. Some weeks ago, I was taken out to sec the mother of a little child. She was very dangerously ill, and the nurse had left the child to come and help me, I went up to the nursery to get some hot water, and in the child's bed I saw something raised up. This was the little fellow under the bed- clothes kneeling. I said, ' What are you doing ? ' 'I am prajdng God to make mamma better,' said he. God likes these little prayers and these little people — for of such is the kingdom of heaven. These are his little ones — his lambs — and ho hears their cry; and it is enough if they only lisp his prayers. ' Abba, Father,' that is all ho needs, and our prayers arc never so truly praj^ers as when they are most like children's in simplicity, in direct- ness, in perfect fulness of reliance. ' They pray right up,' as the pious negro said." l2i IIELIGIOUS ANECDOTES OF SCOTLAND. DB. CHALMEBS'S DAUGHTER. In one of the alleys running off from Fountain-Bridge, Edinburgh, a street crowded with drunlvenness and pollution, is the low-roofed building in which this good woman is spending her life to help men and women out of their miseries. Her chief work is with drunkards, their v/ives and daughters. Some of the poor women of the neighbourhood who have sober husbands, complain against her, saying, " Why do j'ou pass us ? Because our husbands are good, jou do not care fur us. If we had married some worthless sot, you would then have taken care of us in our poverty ! " In the winter, when the nights are long and cold, you may see Dr. Chalmers's daughter, with her lantern, going through the lanes of the city, hunting up the depraved, and bringing them to her reform meetings. Insult her, do they ? Never ! They would as soon think of pelting an angel of God. Fearless and strong in the rigliteousness of her v/ork, she goes up to a group of intoxicated men, shakes hands with them, and takes them along to hear the Thursday night speech on temperance. One night, as she was standing in a low tenement, talking with the intemperate father, and persuading him to a better life, a man kept walking up and down the room, as though interested in what was said ; but finally, in his intoxication, staggered up to her and remarlced, " I shall get to heaven as easy as you will ; do 3'ou think so ? " Helen answered not a word, but opened her Bible and pointed to the passage, "No drunkard shall inherit the kingdom of God." The arrow struck between tlie joints of the harness, and that little piece of Christian stratagem ended in the man's reforma- tion. BBOV/N OF PBIESTHILL. John Brov/n lived in a house called Priesthill, in the parish of Muirkiik, in the daj's of the Covenant. He was an amiable and blameless man, and had taken no part in the risings or public testifyings of the times. Nevertheless, his hour at last arrived. It was the 30fch BROWN OF PRIESTHILL. 123 of April, 1685. John Brown had been at home, and unmolested for some time ; he had risen carl}^, and had performed family worship. The psalm sung was t'.ie twenty-seventh, and the chapter read the sixteenth of John, which closes with the remarkable words, "In ih^ world ye shall have tribulation ; but be of good cheer, I have overcome the world." Ilis prayer was, as usu-al, powerful and fervent, for although he stuttered, in prayer he could not but speak fluently in the dialect of heaven. He then went away alone to the hill to prepare some peat - ground. Meanwhile, Claverhoiisc had come in late at night to Lesmahagow, wdiere- a garrison was posted, had heard of John; had risen sti'I earlier than his victim, and by six on that grey Aptji morning, had tracked him to the moss ; had surrounded him with three troops of dragoons, and led him down to the door of his own house. With the dignity of Cineinnatus, leaving his plough in mid - furrow, John dropped his spade, and walked down, it is said, " rather like a leader than a captive." His wife was warned of their approach, and, with more than the heroism of an ancient Roman matron, with one boy in her arms, with a girl in her hand, and, alas ! wuth a child within her, Isabel Weir came calmly out to play her part in this frightful tragedy. Claverhouse w^as no trifler. Short and sliarp was he always in his brutal trade. He asked John at onc3 why he did not attend the curate, and if he would pray for the king. John stated, in one distinct sentence, the usual Covenanting reasons. On hearing it, Claverhouse exclaimed, " Go to your knees, for you shall immediately die ! " John complied without remon- strance, and proceeded to pray, in terms so melting, and wdth such earnest supplication for his wife and their born and unborn children, that Claverhouse saw the hard eyes of his dragoons beginning to moisten, and their hands to tremble, and thrice interrupted him with volleys of blaspb.emy. When the prayer was ended, John turned round to his wife, reminded her that this w^as the day come, of which he had foretold her when he proposed marriage, 124 RELIGIOUS ANECDOTES OF SCOTLAND. and asked if she was willinc^ to part with him. " Heartily willing," was her reply. " This," ho said, " is all I desire. I have nothing more now to do but to die." He then kissed her and the children, and said, " May all pur- chased and promised blessings be multiplied unto you." '■ No more of this," roared out the savage, whose own iron heart this scene was threatening to move. " You six dragoons, there, fire on the fanatic." They stood motionless, the prayer had quelled them. Fearing a mutiny, both among his soldiers and in his own breast, he snatched a pistol from his belt and shot the good man through the head. He fell, his brains spurted out, and his brave wife caught the shattered head in her lap. " What do you think of your husband, now ? " howled the ruffian. " I aye thocht muckle o' him, sir, but never sae muckle as I do this day." " I would think little to lay thee beside him," he answered. " If you were per- mitted, I doubt not you would ; but how are ye to answer for this morning's wark ? " " To men, I can be answerable, and, as for God, I will take him in my own hands." And, with these desperate words, ho struck spurs to his horse and led his dragoons away from the in.glorious field. Meekly and calmly did this heroic and Christian woman tie up her husband's head in a napkin, compose his body, cover it with her plaid — and not till these duties were discharged did she permit the pent up current of her mighty grief to burst out, as she sat down beside the corpse and wept bitterly. ACTING DEATH LEADING TO LIFE. OjTE evening, says the Rev. Dr. J. H. Wilson, when I vv'as sitting in the gallery of the Independent Church, Cullen, the minister, in applying the text of his sermon, " Thou God seest me," said, with intense earnestness, " Sailors, write it on your binnacles ; merchants, on j'our counters; carters, on your carts, 'Thou God seest me;'" and then turning to the gallerj'-, where I was sitting, he seemed to fix his eyes on me, while he said, " Young man, write it on thy heart, ' Thou God seest me." That ACTING DEATH LEADING TO LIFE. 125 was all he said. But it was an arrow from God's quiver. I went homo wretched, and could not toll why. Days and weeks passed away, and I was unhappy. I read, I ^■jraycd, and I wept and laughed, and laughed and wopt, like a maniac, and father and mother thought I was going mad. Oh ! the rememhranco of those days. I cannot account for such feelings. All about me were Q'elifjious, but none were pious except my dear mother, and her piety was not of the demonstrative cast. I had no sins of a glaring character to mourn over. Ours had been a family of love and obedience, and yet I was not happy. In this state I continued to hear the good minister, but to no profit. At length the way to peace seemed to open up. I was walking down the principal street of our little town one day, when I met an acquaint- ance, who stopped me, and said, — " Come, now, I want you very much. We arc going to act the play of the ' Heart of Midlothian ' for the benefit of the poor, and Mr. Mullender of the Theatre Royal is to help us. You will make a capital Madge Wildfire. What do you say?" The passage, " charity covereth a multitude of sins," rushed into my mind. "I will," was the response, and then with all my heart and energy I committed to memory, and practised for performance, this character. It suited my romantic nature. Madge was a religious maniac, and I could enter into all her griefs and sorrows and joys with zest. But Madge had to die. On the stage this scene troubled me. " I am mocking death," said I to myself, when prostrate on the boards. " What if God take me in this act of solemn mockery ? " At that mo- ment a flash of lightning seemed to come across the stage, and with it the words, — '"' Thou God seest me." I could stand it no longer. Bushing behind the scenes, and spoiling the whole play, I put on my daily dress, ran home, went into a summer house in the garden, wept and prayed, and prayed and wept, for a whole night, and until day camo in the morning. Shortly-- after that, rest was found in Jesus, and a new life, with new ainis^ hopes, joys, and aspirations, began. 126 RELIGIOUS ANECDOTES OF SCOTLAND. THE BEV. JOHN JAMIE SON' 8 LETTERS. The Rev. John Jamieson, of Methven, who died in 1837, was celebrated as a letter-writer. His letters wx're written without the most distant prospect of publication, but they have run tliroiigh several editions. Giliillan says of them : — " Some of them, we hesitate not to say, are equal to any letters in the English language — nay, Cowper alone has equalled their na'iveU, pathos, and occasional humour." Though mostly addressed to those requiring consolation, there are in several of them some rich pieces of worldly wisdom. He w^rites thus to his son Alexander, on " application to business " : — " In these times it is a great mercy to get a place, a greater to be kept in it, and, the greatest of all, to be accounted worthy of holding it. Do your diligence to repay his kindness by being everything, in the work com- mitted to your charge, that such a man could desire. An Englishman's forte is superiority of execution. Though it were but the cleaning of a pair of shoes, never rest satisfied till you can do it better than any other man that puts his hand to the brush. Throw your wdiole soul into your work. Recollect that you can never claim a better place in advance, unless you fill the place well which you presently occupy ; and that now-a-days it requires a man to be anything and everything in order to be something. ' Seest thou a man diligent in business ? he shall stand before kings, he shall not stand before mean men ; ' keep a sharp eye a ready hand, a courteous manner, and a proud heart, that will not bow to meanness nor to mis- chief. Say little and do much ; be every man's servant, and no man's debtor. Seek God in everything ; trust and honour Him, and God will honour you. ' I love them that love me,' is His promise. A little self-denial for the present is the best security against trouble and vexa- tion for the future. Be very careful of your clothes : they will keep their face the longer ; and make a point never to sport a new suit till you are clear with the tailor. It is by such attention that we secure our ovrn self-respect ; and until wq respect ourselves, we never can CARLYLE AND THE SECEDING ELDER. 127 claim respect from others. Your salary cannot, in the lirst instance, be great. Make it do, however; you will thereby learn how to turn it to the best account when it becomes greater. A fool's income never keeps him ; a vri-jc man's always covers his demands. It is the bless- ing of God which maketh rich ; but God evidently helps those who help themselves. To expect otherwise is to mock God." If these quaint and wise sayings were attended to in tho start of life, a bright and successful future would bo experienced. CARLYLE AND TEE SECEDEB ELDEB. Carlyle, in his own nervous style, speaks thus of the Seceder Church he attended, and of one of its members : — " That poor temple of rny childhood is more sacred to me than the biggest cathedral then extant could have been; rude, rustic, bare, no temple in tho world more so; but there were sacred lambencies, tongues of authentic flame, which kindled whatwas best in one, and what has not yet gone out. Strangely vivid are some twelve or twenty of those old faces whom I used to see every Sunday, whose names, employments, or precise dwelling-pla,ces, I never knew, but whose portraits are yet clear to me as in a mirror. One of these was old David Hope, tall, straight, very clean always, brown as mahogany, with a beard as white as snow. He lived on a little farm, close by the Solway shore, a mile or two east of Annan — a wet country, with late harvests, which are sometimes incredibly ditHcult to save — ten days continu- ously poui'ing ; then a day, perliaps two days, of drought, part of them, it may be, of high roaring wind ; during whieli the moments were golden for you, and perhaps you had better work all night, as presently there will be deluges again. David's stuff, one such morning, was all standing dry, ready to be saved still, if he stood to it, which was very much his intention. Breakfast, whole- some hasty porridge, was soon over, and next in course came family worship, what they call'takin the book,' i.e., taking your Bible, psalm and chapter always part of \ 1 28 RELIGIO US A NEC DO TES OF SCO TLAND. the service. David was putting on his spectacles when somebody rushed in. ' Such a raging wind risen wall drive the stocks into the sea if let alone.' ' Wind !' an- swered David, ' wind canna get ae straw that has been appointed mine. Sit doun an' let us worship God.' " EBENEZEB BROWN AND THE CABTEES. " One story of him I must give," says Dr. John Brown. " My father, who heard it not long before his own death, was delighted with it, and for some days repeated it to every one. Uncle Ebenezer, with all his mildness and general complaisance, was, like most of the Browns, tenex 'propositi, firm to obstinacy. He had established a week- day sermon at the North Ferry, about two miles from his own town, Inverkeithing. It was, I think, held on the Tuesdays. It was winter, and a wild, drifting, and danger- ous day ; his daughtoi-s — his wife w^as dead — besought him not to go ; he smiled vaguely, but continued getting into his big-coat. Nothing would stay him, and away he and the pony stumbled through the dumb and blinding snow. He was half-way on his journey, and had got in thought into the sermon he was going to pi-each, and was utterly insensible to the outward storm : his pony getting its feet hailed, staggered about, and at last upset his master and himself into the ditch at the roadside. The feeble, heed- less, rapt old man might have perished there, had not some carters, bringing up whisky-casks from the Ferrj"-, seen the catastrophe, and rushed up, raising him and dichtin' him, with much commiseration and blunt speech, 'Puir auld min, what brocht ye here on sic a day?' There tliey were, a rough crew, surrounding the saintly man, some putting on his hat, sorting and cheer- ing him, and others knocking the balls off the pony's feet, and stujfing them with grease. " He was most polite and grateful, and one of these cordial rustics having pierced a cask, brought him a horn of whisky, and said, ' Tak' that, it'll hearten ye.' He took the horn, and, bowing to them, said, ' Sirs, let us give thanks !' and there by the roadside in the drift and nUUNS'S REFLECTIONS. 129 storm, with these wild i'cllows, he asked a blessing on it, and for his kind deliverers, and took a tasting of the horn. The men cried like children. They lifted hiin on his pony, one going with him, and when the rest arrived at liiverkeithing, they repeated the story to everybody, and broke down in tears whenever they came to the blessing. * An' to think o' askin' a blessin' on a tass o' whisky !' Next Presbytery day, after the ordinary busi- ness was over, he rose up — he seldom spoke — and said, ' ]\Ioderator, I have something personal to myself to say. I have often said, that real kindness belongs only to true Christians, but — ' and then he told the story of these men ; * but more true kindness I never experienced than from these lads. They may have had the grace of God, I don't know ; but I never mean again to be so ijositive in speaking of this matter.' " LOBEBT BUBNS'S BEFLEGTIONS. Robert Burns had his seasons when he was led to think of the nature of man and the solemnity of existence. One of these seasons was the beginning of a new year. As the year 1789 vv^as being ushered in, he wrote an aftectionatc letter to his brother, in which he says : — "I have just finished my Nev/ Year's Day breakfast in the usual form, which naturally makes me call to mind the days of former years, and the society in which we used to begin them ; and when I look at our family vicissi- tudes, 'through the dark postern of time long elapsed,' I cannot help remarking to you, my dear brother, how good tlie God of seasons is to us, and that, however some clouds may seem to lov/er over the portion of time before us, we have great reason to hope that all will turn out well." In another letter written on the same day he says, " I own myself so little a Presbyterian, that I approve set times and seasons of more than ordinary acts of devotion, for breaking in on that habituated routine of life and thought, which is so apt to reduce our existence to a kind of instinct, or even sometimes, and with some minds, to 9 130 RELIGIOUS ANECDOTES OF SCOTLAND. a state very little superior to mere machinery. This day — the iirst Sundny of May — a breezy, blue-skied iioou; about the boginuing of spring, aud a hoary morning and calm sunny day about the end of autumn — those, time out of mind, have been with me a kind of holiday. We know nothing, or next to nothing, of the substance or structure of our souls, so cannot account for tlioso seeming caprices in them, that we should be particularly pleased with this thing, or struck with that, wdnch on minds of a didercnt cast, make no extraordinary im- pression. I have some favourite flowers in spring, among which are the mountain-daisy, the hare-bell, the fox-glove, the wild-brier rose, the budding birch, and the hoary hawthorn, that I view and hang over with particular delight. I never hear the loud, solitary whistle of the curlew in a sunnner nook, or the wild, mixing cadence of a troop of grey plovers in an autunnial morning, without feeling an elevatioji of soul like the enthusiasm of devotion or poetry. Tell me, my dear friend, to what can this be owing ? Are we a piece of machinery which, like the iEolian harp, passive, takes the impression of the passing accident ? Or do these workings argue something within us above the trodden clod ? I own myself partial to such proofs of those awful and important realities — as that God made all things — man's immaterial and immortal nature — and a world of weal or woe beyond death and the grave." THE EEV. GEORGE GILFILLAN'S GENEROSITY. The Rev. Geoece Gilfillan was distinguished for his largeness of heart and his generosity. Many a poor man did he help with the good things of this life, and to many a student did he lend a helping hand when in difliculty. To the poor of his flock he was a true brother and pastor. On a melancholy occasion he had to meet one of the members of his church who had been called upon to follow one near to him to the grave. After the usual condolence, I>rr. GiliiHan said to the bereaved, " I have missed you in the church, for a long THE ELE VENT II COMMA NDMENT. 1 3 1 time. What is wrong?" " yes," said the poor man, " it is true, i'or I did not like to come witli a coat I am ushainiid of — it is so bare." The minister showing tlie nobility oH his character, innncdiately disrobed himself ot' his coat, and handed it to the distressed one, saying. There, my man, let me see my coat every Sunday until t becomes bare, and then call back." After so deliver- ing himself, the divine retired to his studies in his shirt sleeves, and being observed by his worthy spouse, she s;iys, "George, what have you done with your coat?" ]lis answer was, " Never mind, my dear, I have just given it to God," THE ELEVENTH COMMANDMENT. All Anecdote of ArcJihislwp UsJicr in ScotliDid. At one time Archbishop Usher visited Scotland, and liearing much of the piety of the llev. Samuel lluther- ford, resolved on being a witness of it. Disguised as a pauper, on a Saturday evening, he solicited lodging for the night. Mr. Kutherford took him in, and directed him to be seated in the kitchen. Mrs. Rutherford catechised the servants, as a preparation for the Sabbath ; and having asked the stranger the nundjer of the Divine coumiandments, he answered eleven. The good woman hastily concluded him ignorant, and said, " What a shame it is for you, a man with grey hairs, in a Christian country, not to know how many commandments there are! There is not a child six years old, in this parish, but could answer the question properl}'." Lamenting his condition, she ordered his supper, and directed a servjint to show him a bed in the garret. Mr. Rutherford ha\in<>- heard him at prayer, and finding out who he was, pre- vailed on the Archbishop to preach for him, which he agreed to do, on condition that he should not be made known. Early in the morning, Mr. Rutherford changed his clothes, suilered him to depart, and afterwards intro- duced him to breakfast as a minister on a journe3\ When in the pulpit, he announced his text — " A new commandment I give unto you, that ye love one another j'* 132 RELIGIOUS ANECDOTES OF SCOTLAND. and remarked that this rxiight be reckoned the eleventh commandment. Mrs. Uutherford, remembering the answer she had received the night before from the stranger, was astonished, and looking at the preacher, ahnost imagined he might be the pitied traveller. The two holy men spent the evening in delightful conversation, and the Archbishop departed undiscovered, early on the following c^ay. HIGHLAND BESPECT FOR THE SABBATH. One of the most peculiar, and, at the same time, pleasing features of the Highland character, is the respect uni- versally paid to the Sabbath-day. A curious illustration of this was found at Banavie, a very comfortable inn at the western entrance of the Caledonian Canal. A large party, including the Rev. Dr. J. H. Wilson, of London, who tells the story, were there at dinner one Monday afternoon, a gentleman from England, resident for a time, and fishing .salmon, being in the chair. In serving out a fine salmon, he expatiated on the fine quality of the fish, and concluded by saying, — " I know he is fresh and sweet, for he was all alive yesterday, and a hard struggle I had before I got him out of the water." A tall Highland farmer, of the name of Patcrson, was sup- plied with a fine piece, and v^^as about to dig into the portion which had been placed before him, when he instantly dropped the fish-knife, and, turning to th.o chairman, said, "Yesterday, sir, Vv'as the S;ibbath-day, you would have been better employed in going to the churcli than in catching salmon on the Lord's L)ay." " I don't think so," replied the Englishman, "for if I may judge from what I sav/ yesterday evening on the hill-sides here, I think ' going to the kirk,' as you call it, did the people little good." " What do you moan ? " inquired Paterson. "I mean this, that after being all day at the church in-doors, singing and preaching, and roaring, if I may call some of it by its right name, they came and squatted themselves on the hill-side, sat and drank whisky till they got drunk ; then some of them fought, and one poor fellow lies in the hotel novv' in a very bad Dli. BEQO ON now TO TREAT OPPONENTS. 133 state." For a moment Paterson was thoughtful, and havino' recollected himself, he said, — " yes, I under- stand it, sir, I sec it; yesterday was the sacrament Sundaj'." DB. BEGG ON HOW TO TREAT OrPONENTS. The Rev. Dr. Begg was a man of determination and activity. He took an active part in many puhlic move- ments, and was a member of various committees and boards. He had also the courage of his opinions, and v.'as a powerful debater in ecclesiastical courts and else- where. When a member of the Edinburgh School Board he had an earnest and animated discussion on one occasion on the subject of temperance, in which he con- tended, in opposition to another member, that alcohol ■was not poison, but a good creature of God. The con- tention was a little sharp on both sides, and feelings were considerably aroused. When the meeting was over, the Doctor left the room with his opponent, and they had not gone far when they were overtaken by a heavy shower of rain. They sought shelter in a passage at hand, and w^ere enjoying a quiet crack when a lady member of the Board made her appearance. When she sav/ the two former disputants in cheery converse, she held up her hands in astonishment, and said, — "If it had been two ladies who had differed as much as you two did an hour ago, they would not have spoken to each other for years." "Ah," said the Doctor, "that would have been far wrong. I never allow feelings of a per- sonal kind to enter into my public life, when I know others are as honest as myself. Fifty years ago, and more, my father said to me, ' Now, James, jow are going into the world to mingle with men who have as good a right to have their opinion as you have. When they differ from you treat them with respect, and after the discussion is over, let the whole be ended. Act on this principle, James, and you will prevent much mischief and much pain to yourself.' I have always endeavoured to act thus, and I have found it a good plan." Dr. Begg then hailed a cab, and the tv/o went home together. 134 RELIGIOUS ANECDOTES OF SCOTLAND. JOHN BROWN, THE EXEMPLARY GRAVEDIGGEB. When the Rev. Henry Gray was minister of the parish of Hamilton, John Brown was gravecligger. He had his own ways, and one of his peculiar habits was to attend especially to the graves of children, and he invariably sowed them with white clover. Mr. Gray had not been long minister of the parish till he noticed the odd practice of the gravedigger ; and one day, when he came upon John smoothing and trimming the lonely bed of a child which had been buried a few days before, he asked him why he was so particular in dressing and keeping the graves of the children. John paused for a moment at his Vvork, and looking up, not at the minister, but at the sky, said, — " Of such is the kingdom of heaven." "And on this account you tend and adorn them with so much care ? " remarked the minister, who was greatly struck with the reply. "Surely, sir," answered John, " I canna make over-braw and fine the bed-coverin' of a little innocent sleeper that is waiting there till it is God's time to wauken it, and cover it with the white robe, and waft it away to glory. When sic grandeur is awaitin' it yonder, it's fit it should be decked out here. I think the Saviour that counts its dust sae precious will like to see the white clover sheet spread ahiine it; dae ye no think sae tae, sir ? " " But why not thus cover larger graves ? " asked the minister, hardly able to suppress his emotion. " The dust of all his saints is precious in the Saviour's sight." " Very true, sir," responded John, with great solemnity, "but I canna be sure wha are his saints and wha are no. I hope there arc mony o' them lying in this kirkyard, but it wad be great presumption in me to mark them not. There arc some that I'm gey sure aboot, and I keep their graves as nate and snod as I can, and plant a bit flower here and there as a sign o' my hope, but I daurna gie them the white sheet. It's clean different, though, wi' the bairns. We hae His ain Word for their up-going, and sae I canna mak' an error there. Some folk, I believe, are bauld enough to say that it's only the infants o' the guid that will be saved." "And A GENTLE EFFECTIVE UEBUKE. 135 do j-Qii fidlicrc to that doctrine ? " inquired Mr. Gray. J()lin answered Ly pointinr;; to a little patch a few paces od", which was thickly covered with clover, " That ane," he said, "is the bairn o' Tam Sutton, the collier. Ye ken iani, sir. Mr. Gray did indeed know Tam, for he was the most notorious swearer, liar, and drunkard, in the parish, and John did not require to say any more to show that he disbelieved in the condeinnation of infants. "It's no only cruel and blasphemous," he answered, in a dry sarcastic way, "but it's quite absurd. Jist tak' that bairn o' Tarn's as an example. According to their belief, it's lost ; because v/e may, without any breach o' charity, say that Tam is at present a reprobate. But he is still in the place of hope, sir, and it is quite possible that he niay be converted. What comes o' the bairn, then ? Na, na," he added, looking reverently upward, " God is merciful, and Jesus died, and it was hiai that said, ' Of such is the kingdom of heaven.' " The minister took John's hand and silently pressed it. He had got the key to his deeper nature, and was thrilled by its unexpected richness. A GENTLE EFFECTIVE BEBVKE. In the old coaching days, there were many disputes and contentions among the passengers, and these were in- dulged in for various reasons, and issued in different results. An incident of a rather instructive character happened to the late Rev. Dr. W. Lindsay Alexander vrhen he was a young man. He had been appointed to go with the celebrated missionary, Richard Knill, as a deputation to the churches in the North of Scotland on behalf of the London Missionary Society, and had arranged to meet j\Ir. Knill at Blair-Athole. They met some stages in advance, but did not personally know each other, Richard Knill had met with a sceptic on the coach, and they had entered upon an argument re- garding religion. For a good part of the way the missionary was engaged combating the infidel arguments 13G liELIGlOUS ANECDOTES OF SCOTLAND. used by his fellow-passenger, and had rather a tough job in hand. When the coach stopped at the hotel where the passengers were to dine, Dr. Alexander said, — "If I mistake not, you are Richard Knill ? " "I am." "And I am Lindsay Alexander, appointed to accompany you to the churches in the nortli." Richard looked at him for a moment silentl}^ and then said, " I am ashamed of you, sir." "Why?" "Why? because you sat all the time by my side when I was defending your Master, and you had not a Vv'ord to say on his behalf." The young- minister quietly received the gentle rebuke, and never forofot his first introduction to Richard Knill. AN ANECDOTE OF GEORGE WISEABT. George Wisiiart, one of the fa-st Scottish martyrs at the time of the Reformation, being desired to preach on the Lord's Day in the church of Mauchline, went thither with that design, but the Sheriff of Ayrshire had in th.e night-time put a garrison of soldiers into the church to keep him out. Hugh Campbell, of Kinzeanclcugh, and others in the parish, were exceedingly offended at this impiety, and would have entered the church by force, but Wishart would not suffer it, saj'ing, " Brethren, it is the word of peace which I preach unto you ; the blood of no man shall be shed for it this day. Jesus Christ is as mighty in the fields as in the church, and He Himself, while He lived in the flesh, preached oftener in the desert and on the sea-side than in the Temple of Jerusalem." Upon this the people were appeased, and went with him to the edge of a moor on the south-west of Mauchline, where, having placed himself upon a mound of earth, he preached to a great multitude. He continued speaking for more than three hours, God working wondrously by him, insomuch that Laurence Ranken, the Laird of Shield, a very profane person, was converted by his discourse. The tears ran from his eyes, to the astonishment of all present, and the vrhole of his after life witnessed that his profession was without hypocrisy. S]n WALTER SCOrrS LAST DAYS. 137 SIB WALTER SCOTT'S LAST DAYS. In the month of September, 1830, Sir Walter set out for London, on the way to the Continent. At Malta and Naples he received every attention, awakening ,sad surprise among those who had known him but a fcv/ years before, b}'' his altered appearance. He visited Pompeii, murmuring, as he was carried among the dis- entombed ruins, "Tlie city of the dead ! The city of the dead ! " He desired to return by the Tyrol and Germany, principally that he might meet the mighty Goethe. But on the 2nd of March that tower of German genius fell, and the melancholy tidings sounded through the heart of Scott as the hollow echo of the tomb. He exclaimed, "Alas ! for Goethe; but he at least died at home. Let us to Abbotsford." In April he began the homeward journey. Arrived in Eomc, the city of the Caesars could awaken but little interest. But it was in the Eternal City that he gave utterance to one of the noblest sentences ever heard from human lips. Ho had been speaking of Goethe, and deploring the moral influence of some of his novels, and he added, "lam drav.'ing near the close of my career; I am fast shuffling off the stage. I have been perhaps the most voluminous author of the day, and it is a comfort to me to think that I have tried to unsettle no man's faith, to corrupt no man's principle, and that I have written nothing which on my deathbed I should wish blotted." In May he left Rome, and hastened with growing impatience to look once more upon the dear old land wdicre he wished to lie in the near repose of death. Hurrying through Florence he crossed the Apennines, on through Bologna and Ferrara to Venice. Here lie tarried a few daj's, then entered the TjtoI, but not to sta}^ On a leaf in the book of guests, an after- traveller found registered in Scott's own handwriting his name thus, "Sir Walter Scott, /o7' Scotland." On he pushed through ]\Iunich and Heidelberg to Frankfort, where he embarked on the Rhine boat, and on June the 11th he as lifted into an English steamer at Rotterdam. On 138 RELIOIOUS ANECDOTES Off SCOTLAND. the 13th ho reached London. Here many friends and all his family gathered around him. His children he blessed, but was unable to converse with them. Physi- cians came, but medical aid was unavailing. Outside, the great cit}^ was moved as thongh_ a king were about to die. Allan Cunningham, walking home late one night, saw several working-men at the corner of Jcrmyn Street, near the hotel where Scott lay; and one of them eagerly asked him, " Do you know, sir, if this is the street where he is lying ? " Innumeral3le messages were sent daily, including inquiries from every member of the royal family. And when reports were current that his funds were exhausted, the Government offered whatever was needed from the public treasury. But Abbotsford was the spot where the brave man desired to rest. He therefore proceeded thither on July 7th. Edinburgh was reached in a state of unconsciousness, and left for ever two days afterwards. As Abbotsford came in sight he was himself again; and, catching a view of the cherished dream of his early life, wdiich now came back to cheer his closing eyes, he uttered a cry of dcligh.t. Hardly could he be kept in the carriage till the door of the dear abode was reached. Then, carried into the dining-room, he sat down bewildered. His faithful dogs bounded in, fawned on their honoured master, and licked his hands in token of their mute welcome home. Now he smiled and now sobbed, till his exhausted nature sank into sleep. When the next morning dawned he was perfectly conscious that he was really in Abbotsford ; and, as his grandchildren wheeled him round the garden, he smiled his blessing on the children, the dogs, the blooming roses, and on all besides. " Nothing like my ain house in all my travels. Just one turn more." Next day he was wheeled round again and then taken into the fibrary, where he could look out upon the silvery Tweed. He wished Lockhart to road to him, and when his son-in-law asked from what book, the quick reply was, " Need j^ou ask ? There is but one." This man had read the most of the books in the litera- ture of his own country, and of other lands; he had W. 0. CAIiPENTER BROUGHT TO DECISION. 139 •written himself hundreds of vohimcs ; he was surrounded at that moment by a vast library of books in all lar.o-uan-es , and yet now in his d3'ino- hour there was but one book he thou^'ht worth listening to. Lockhart read him the 14th chapter of Jolm. On Tuesday, the l7th, he tried to write, but the pen dropped from his helpless hand ; and, with tears ilowino down his cheek, he fell back upon the pillow. The right hand of the Northern Wizard had for ever lost its ciuniing. Day after day he lingered in a state of delirium till the l7th of September, when he awoke conscious and calm. To his son-in-law he uttered these memorable last words, " Lockhart, I may have but a minute to speak to you. ]\Iy dear, be a good man ; bo virtuous ; bo religious; be a good man. Nothing else will give you any comfort when you coine to lie here." Deep sleep then supervened, and on the 21st of September, 1832, in the presence of all his children, Avith the sinking sun shining softly in through the open casement, and the silvery Tweed outside the window creeping along in mournful monody, the spirit of Sir Walter Scott ascended to the saints' everlasting rest. His eldest son closed and kissed his eyes, and the sadly sublime tragedy was all over. The curtain has fallen ; let us v/ithdraw. Brave man ! he died free of debt ; every bond cancelled, every engagement cleared. Amid the sobs of a great multitude, he was laid down to rest in his narrow bed, in certain hope of a blessed resurrection. With Carlyle's beautiful words we close : " Adieu, Sir Walter, pride of all Scotch- men, take our proud and sad farewell ! " WILLIAM GILBERT CABPENTEE BROUGHT TO DECISION. Ix the Life of Ifay ]\Iacdowall Grant, an interesting case of religious experience is given. William Gilbert Carpenter, Craigellachie, was a most respectable, and, nominall}', religious man ; an office-bearer in the church. On the morning of ]\Ir. Aitken's last Sunday at Arndilly, he was debating whether he should go to his own church 1 40 p^EL WW US ANEODO TES OF SCO TLAND. or attend tlie English minister's service at the Barn. Ke wished to do what Avas right, and felt some scruple about leaving his regular place of worship, but it seemed as if a voice said to him, — " Go, and thou shalt hear vrords whereby thou mayest be saved." Durincc the discourse he was much affected, but on his way home his impressions began to wear off, as he joined in the criticisms of his neighbours; when suddenly, just as he was entering his own door, the thought flashed across his miind, " You have not heard the words whereby you were to be saved." Upon this he became intensely miserable, and began to turn the sermon over in his mind ; this time, not with a view to criticism. Then he seemed to hear these words, " Did not the preacher tell you that there was one little word upon Mdiich eternal life might be said to depend, and that word was until. That we must 'ask until we receive, and seek until v/c find ' ? " Smitten to the heart, he cried, " Oh, my God, I have often sought, but not until I found ; and knocked, but not until the door opened ; now, by God's help, I shall be no longer guilty of this fearful trifling with God and my own soul." He went into the v\'ork.shop and bolted the door, with the fall determination that, by God's help, he would not leave the spot until he had found the salvation for which he had so often prayed. Then he spent a night of agonizing pra^'cr ; sometimes he knelt, sometimes he paced up and down in the restlessness of his anguish ; sometimes he lay prostrate on the floor, weeping and groaning in helpless anguish before the Lord. As the morning began to dawn upon him, the terrible thought took possession of his mind, — that he had so long trifled with the truth, that there vras no salvation for him. Yv'hile he was thus sinking into the very depths of despair, it seemed as if the same voice, which had spoken to him twice before, whispered in his car, — " What was the Lord's first miracle ? " and he cried aloud, — " Oh, my micrciful Saviour, thou didst turn the w^ater into wine, do the same to me, for the pots are, indeed, full to the brim with the water of tears!" Then NEEDED AND UNEXPECTED ENCOUnA CEMENT. 1 1 1 it was th.at, quick as a flash of lightning, his sorrow was tuniod into jo}-; the thought of tlie all-snflicienc}^ of the blood of Christ to atone for his sins liUed liiui with joy and peace, and his lips wore filled with praise. When he re-entered his house he opened his Bible, and his eyes fell on the words, " One thing I know, whereas I was blind, now I see." NEEDED AND UNEXPECTED ENCOURAGEMENT. An Anecdote of Dr. Chalmers. Dr. Citalmers, says Mr. J. Wright, had been preaching in the Barony Church, Glasgov.', for the venerable Dr. Burns, on tlie Monday after the Comniunion, which was, in the suburban districts, about two months after tlio time of its celebration in the town churches. As was customary on such occasions. Dr. Burns invited the ministers who had assisted him, and some of his ciders and friends, to dinner on the Mondaj^ I was on that d;iy one of the party, and I was exceedingly disappointed to see that Dr. Chalmers, who, in ordinary times, poured a fascinating influence over every company where he Vv'as, seemed extremely dull, nay, I may say, dejected. When he arose, about nine o'clock, to go away, as our tract homeward lay for some distance in the same direc- tion, I left the company along with him. W~hen v.'e had got togetiier, I said to the Doctor, "Arc you well enoucdi to-day. Doctor ? for I noticed jow have not to-day been in your usual tune." " Oh, yes," he said, " I am quite in. good health, but I am not comfortable. I am grieved in my mind." Seeing that he so frankly communicated to me the general cause of his unusual appearance, I used the freedom to say, " Well, Doctor, is this a matter that I may be made acquainted with, as if it is not, I have no wish to pry into any thing of a private nature ? " " Oh, yes !" he replied, "you may perfectly know it, for it is a matter that presses very grievously upon me. In short, the truth is," said he, in his own emphatic manner, " I have mi.stakcn the way of mj- duty to God, in at all 142 JIELIOIOUS ANECDOTES OF SCOTLAND. coming to your city. I am doing no good. God has not blessed, and is not blessing my ministry here." On hearing this, I replied, " Well, Doctor, it is a very remarkable circumstance that, in the providence of God, you should have been sent with your complaint to me on this point, because I have it in my power, at any rate, to mention one instance in which your ministry has been made instrumental in bringing a soul from darkness to the marvellous light of the gospel of salvation." " Can you ? " said he, " then you will give me the best news I have heard since I came among you." Mr. Wright then told him how that his own minister, Dr. Balfour, of the Outer High Church, had recently, in reading over the name or an applicant for membership, said, — " By the bye, I mast tell you something about this young man, for his histor}' is somewhat interesting and singular. He sat for nearly twenty years under my ministry, but when my worthy friend, Dr. Chalmers" (for that was the almost uniform designation he gave him when he had occasion to speak of him), "came to Glasgow, he was attracted to him by his splendid talents, and sat under his ministry for about two years, and then it pleased the Lord to come to him in the day of his power ; and I have every reason to think him a truly converted young man. And now that he wishes to become a member of the church, he wishes to return to us. But," added Dr. Balfour, with a truly sublime humility, " it was not under my ministry that he was turned to the Lord, though he sat for the greater part of his lifetime in the Outer Church, but it was under the preaching of Dr. Chalmers." At tliis needed, though unexpected word of encouragement. Dr. Chalmers exclaimed, — 'Ah ! Mr. Wright, what blessed, what comforting news you give me. I knew it not; but it strengthens me." This time- ous news was as water to the thirsty, and food to the perishing. SAINT COLUMBA AND HIS HOESE. Saint Columba was a man who was full of com- passion, and he exercised it not only to his own c* A TIIOHLAND ELDER'S ASSURANCE. 143 species, but to every creature under luavcn. A person had the presumption to ask him to bless liis dagger. "God grant it then," said the Saint, "it may never shed a drop of blood of either man or beast." On the day of his death he had been to see and to bless the provisions of his monks, from whom he was to be taken away. On his return to the monastery, he sat down on the way to rest him. His old white horse, which used to carry the milk vessels betwixt the mon- astery and the fold, observed him, came where he was, reclined his head upon his breast, and, as if sensible of liis m.uster's near departure, began to express his grief by groans, and even tears. Dermit, his servant, offered to turn him away, but the Saint forbade : " Let him alone," said he, "let him alone, for he loves me, and I v\'ill not hinder him on this occasion to drop his tears in my bosom, and show the bitterness of his grief. To thee God hath given reason ; but see, he hath planted affection even in brutes ; and in this, even something like a prescience of my departure. Now, my faithful and affectionate friend, begone, and may you be kindly cared for by Him who made you ! " A SAINTLY HIGHLAND ELDER'S ASSURANCE OF SALVATION. Mr. Hugh Mackenzie was born in Kilmuir Easter, in 1728 ; in after years he left Ptoss-shire, and removed to Sutherlandshire. An eminent minister, who had often met him, was struck with his habitual assurance, and, that he might know the foundation of it, he went to visit him, a distance of thirtj- miles. To draw him out, he said to him : " Mr. Mackenzie, you are a man to be envied ; you know nothing of doubts and fears ; you always enjoj' the full assurance of hope." The old man replied at once, — " Yes, yes, I understand you. Many a man speaks of my strong faith that does not know all it has to struggle with. i3ut I shall tell you what my faith is, I am the emptiest, vilest, poorest sinner I knov/ on the face of the earth. I feel myself to be so. But I 144 RELIGIO US A NEC DO TES OF SCO TLA XD. read in TTis own word that lie heareth the cry of tlie poor, and I believe Ilira, and I cry to Kim, and He always hears me, and that is all the faith or assurance I have got." The venerable minister on telling me the incident, made the remark, — "If I know anything of true faith, Mr. Mackenzie's faith is a most scriptural and a most rational one." Some years before his death, I happened to be at his son's house wdien the Lord's Supper was dispensed in the parish. On Monday, Mr. Mackenzie went to the tent to hear an old minister with wliom he had been long in- timate, and the text was, " He will speak peace to His people, and to His saints." The wind happened to bo high, and when the sermon w^as over, the minister said to him, — " I fear Mr. Mackenzie, you w^ere not hearing well," " Yes," w^as the answer, " I was hearing all day, and believing too." In the evening I accompanied his sons to call upon the old man. Wlien the question was put, " How do you feel, to-night ? " His ansv»''er was, " My case is more easily felt than described. You read that there is a ' peace of God wdiich passeth all under- standing,' and a 'joy unspeakable and full of glory,' and that is just my case to-night." When further questioned, he remarked: "I got into this state of mind v^diilst hearing that precious sermon, to-day;" and then, addressing his sons, he said, " Dcn't think that I despise your preaching. You preach the gospel, and I bless God for it; but you have not the experience of the old minister. The preaching we had to-day about the 'peace,' is v\diat suits my soul." In 1829 he began to sink, and his son was sent for. On being asked by his son vvdiat his views w'cre now as to the things of eternity, he ansv/ered, with beautiful sim- plicity, " I leave it all in His own liands. I am not able to think much, but I knov/ He won't send mo to hell." When his end was evidently near, and wdien asked hoAV he felt, he was able to whisper, — "He has been entertaining me with a promise," and, soon aftei", he breathed his last in the one hundred and first year of his acfo. Dli. CHALMERS ON HYPER-CIilTICISM. 145 Dli. CHALMERS ON HYPEB-CIilTICISM. Dr. Chalmers, says one of his friends, had preached for a missionary society in Dundee, a sermon which was publislicd at the request of tliose who heard it, and an ac- quaintance of mine, a student of divinity in the Secession denomination, had written a critique on what he con- sidered the solecisms of its composition. This critique, which he showed to me, I thought quite hyperci'itical ; and on his expressing an intention of sending it to the Doctor, I said, that to pounce upon a few trivial shps in so excellent a discourse would show a very captious and illiberal disposition. He, however, sent it to the Doctor, alleging, as his reason, that the Established Church ministers looked upon those of the Dissenters as far inferior to them in learning, and he wanted to show that the latter were not afraid to enter the lists with the former, in so far, at least, as related to the art of composition. A few days afterwards I was surprised at being told by an acquaintance from Kilmany that I had given much offence to the Doctor's friends by sending him a communication condemnatory of his dis- course. Feeling hurt at being considered the writer of an article of which I had disapproved, I introduced the subject to the Doctor at our next meeting, and asked him if it were true that I was suspected of having written the article in question. " Everybody," he replied, " who has heard anything about the matter believes it to have proceeded from your pen." I said that I never could have acted so disingenuous a part as to write anonj^- mously to him on any subject, to whom I had so many op- portunities of expressing what I wanted to communicate viva voce; that my only connection with the critique was having seen it and disapproving of it. " Then you, perhaps, know," said the Doctor, " who the writer is ? " I said I did, and had obtained his permission to tell his name should it be asked. "Who is he ?" inquired the Doctor. "He is," I replied, "a Mr. S., a teacher, and. expects shortly to become a licentiate in the Secession 10 146 RELIOIO US A NEC DO TES OF SCO TLAND. Church." "Since he has not found," said the Doctor, "the sentiments of the discourse assailable, he miglit have spared the diction, though he had not found it altogether invulnerable; but it is not, I think, doing him any injustice to say, that his remarks are hypercritical, and attbrd much less evidence of critical ability than of an ambition to be thought possessed of it — an infirmity, alas ! too common, and one against which the wisest ai;d best among; us would need to be on our guard." THUMBING THE PEOMISES AT DUNFEBMLINE. Some years ago a number of Christians met together around a social board, near the town of Dunfermline, on a Christmas evening. They enjoyed themselves in a rational Christian way, and there was a full flow of sweet feeling, and nmch sweet and brotherly intercourse. The good things of this life had also been enjoyed, and all the more so that they were looked upon as good and perfect gifts from the great Giver. As the shades of evening were deepening into darkness, one of the party said, " We have really had a pleasant time of it since we met together, and I was just wondering if there were no poor persons near that we might make happier by way of practically showing our gratitude to God." Addressing the eldest daughter of the family, he said, " Jane, do you know any person near who might be in want this even- ing of some earthly comfort which we could give ? " " Yes," said the young girl addressed, " there is Nancy in the cottage, who depends on what the Lord sends her by means of those who take an interest in the poor. She has no relative to care for her. Her husband is dead long ago. Her children are all gone, and she is now left alone. She would bo thankful for anything that you might give her," "Well, Jane, if you think that she is one of tliose whom Jesus meant when he said, ' TJie poor ye have ahvays ivilh you' let us raise a contribution for this widow, and you and I will go and give it to her." No sooner was the proposal made than it was carried into execution. A considerable sum of money was given THUMBING THE PROMISES. 147 by those assembled, and Jane and her companion set out to find Nancy's humble home. It did not lie far away. When they readied the door Jane lifted the latch with- out any ceremony, as was her wont, and went into the place where the poor widow sat. It was now dark, and the only light in the dwelling was that which came from the few embers on the fire. Before the fire old Nancy sat with her head bent over an old book, whose words she sought to make out l>y the little light which the fire emitted. She did not hear them as they entered, nor did slie know that there was any person in her home till the gentleman looked over her shoulder and said, " Well, Nancy, we have come to see you ; what is this you are so eaofcr in i-eadin": ? " Raising her head, and lookino- calmly up in the stranger's face, she replied, " Well, sir, this is the Bible, and I have just been thumbing the promises, sir — 1 have just been thumbing the promises ; and they are all true, sir — they are all true." "And what promise of God have you been meditating on?" he asked further. "I have been thumbing," she said, "that precious one in which God says, ' His bread shall he given him, his ivater shall he sure.'" (Isa. xxxiii. IG.) "It has stood me in dark days that are past, and it will not fail me even in darker days to come." The gentleman Avas not a little astonished at this, and inquired, " What do you mean by thumbing this promise ?" " I mean," she answered, " by putting my thumb on it to remind God that he has made such a promise, and that I believe that he has done so, and look for its fulfilment." "Great is your faith, my good woman," said the gentle- man, "and according to your faith so will it be done unto you, for there is the promise," pointing to the Bible, "and here is the fulfilment of it in this sum of money which has come straight from God, though it is given by man." " To His name be all the praise i " exclaimed the aged saint, as tears of gratitude streamed down her v.ithcred cheeks. "He has never disappointed me yet. Ills promises are all yea and amen in Christ Jesus." She tiien entered into a statement of her past history and present circumstances, and dwelt upon the fact that the 148 RELIGIOUS ANECDOTES OF SCOTLAND. Lord had never left her, that she had found Him true to His word, and that she had never thumbed the promises in vain. EDWABD IBVING AND THE SHOEMAKER. AVhen Edward Irving was in Glasgow, he visited the families in his parish, and won their confidence and took some of them captive by innocent wiles and premedita- tion. A certain shoemaker, radical and infidel, was among the number of those under Irving's special care, a home workman, of course, always present, silent, with his back turned upon the visitors, and refusing any com- munication except a sullen Itumph of implied criticism, while his trembling wife made her deprecating curtsey in the foreground. The way in which this intractable individual was finally won over, is attributed by some tellers of the story to a sudden happy inspiration on Irving's part, but by others, to plot and intention. Approaching the bench one day, the visitor took up a piece of patent leather, then a recent invention, and remarked upon it in somewhat skilled terms. The shoe- maker went on with redoubled industry at his work ; but at last, roused and exasperated by the speech and pretence of knowledge, demanded, in great contempt, but without raising his eyes, " What do ye ken about leather?" This was just the opportunity his assailant wanted ; for Irving, though a minister and a scholar, was a tanner's son, and could discourse learnedly upon that material. Gradually interested and mollified, the cobbler slack- ened work, and listened while his visitor described some process of making shoes by machinery, which he had carefully got up for the purpose. At last the shoemaker so far forgot his caution as to suspend his work alto- gether, and lift his eyes to the great figure stooping over his bench. This conversation went on with increased vigour after this, till finally the recusant threw down his arms — " Od, you're a decent kind o' fellow ! — do you preach ? " said the vanquished, curious to know more of his victor. The advantage was discreetly, but not too THE REV. WILLIAM DUNN OF C ALDER. 149 hotly pursued ; and on the following Sunday the rebel made a defiant, shy appearance at church. Next day Irvinp^ encountered him in the savoury Gallowgate, and hailed him as a friend. Walking- beside him in natural talk, the tall probationer laid his hand upon the shirt- sleeve of the shrunken sedentary ■workman, and marched by his side along the well-frequented street. By the time they had reached the end of their mutual way, not a spark of resistance was loft in the shoemaker. His children henceforth went to school ; his deprecating wife went to the kirk in peace. He himself acquired that suit of Sunday " blacks " so dear to the heart of the poor Scotchman, and became a church-goer and respectable member of society; while his acknowledgment of his conqueror was conveyed with characteristic reticence, and concealment of all deeper feeling in the self-excusing pretence — " He's a sensible man, yon ; he kens about leather." THE EEV. V/ILLIAM DUNN OF C ADDER. The Rev. William Dunn was minister of the parish of Cadder, at the end of last century. Well, this quiet, decent, unofFendiug country minister, in the neighbour- hood of Glasgow, happened to be the Moderator, for the time being, of the Presbytery of the bounds, and as such, it fell to his lot, or it came to be his sacred duty, to preach a sermon before the Synod of Glasgow and Ayr, in the city of Glasgow. This sermon, when delivered, was relished, and was reckoned to be a very able one, and there were some sprinklings of lofty liberality about it, rare of its kind, which gratified the hearts of some of the lay members of the Synod, who heard it circumspectly in the Old Tron. They, indeed, became so prepossessed with the manner and the matter of the sermon, that they desired to have it printed and published at their expense. In this laudable ferv^our of ecclesiastical love towards Mr. Dunn, it happened that the Secretary of the Glasgow Reform Association was also specially directed to write to him a letter, conveying to him the most respectful 150 RELIOIO US AN EC DO TES OF SCO TLAND. thanks of that association for his very excellent sermon, as they were also pleased to call it. This, at the time, naturally afforded some gratification to the worthy minister in his own quiet manse at Cadder. Not very long after the above event, or this true history of the sermon, the beagles of the law, in- structed by the Sheriff of the county of Lanark, and commanded by the then Lord Advocate, Dundas, went to Cadder to search for " seditious papers." The minis- ter, some how or other, got a hint that they were coming to him at the manse, and when they rapped at his front door, he scratched his head, and began to think that the only paper he was possessed of, smacking in the least degree of " sedition," was the afore- said letter of thanks about his relished sermon; so he ran up stairs to his old mahogany drawers, turned up that original and till then treasured letter, and threw it into the smouldering peat-fire of his own kitchen. He then made- his obeisance, and frankly told the officers of the law what he had just done. Will it be credited ? he was soon afterwards actually seized by the cuff of the neck, on a petition and complaint of the Lord Advocate of Scotland, for falsely and fraudulently destroying or putting away seditious letters or papers, and, on that positive complaint, he was dragged to the bar of the High Court of Justiciary in Edinburgh ! He repeated to their Lordships the veritable statement as here given. He did more, he threw himself " on the clemency of tho Court," and respectfully besought them to pardon him ii he had done anything wrong. Their Lordships, after delivering their unanimous opinions "on the criminality of the act of which he stood charged," solemnly declared " that if he (the Rev. Mr. Dunn) had been served with an indictment, instead of a petition and complaint, they must have inflicted on him the highest arbitrary piinishment" As it was, and see- ing he had humbly thrown himself on the clemency of the Court, they just decerned and " ordained him to be imprisoned in the Tolbooth of Edinburgh for the space of three months." A ]^ HONES T EXEC U T ION EH. 151 AN HONEST EXECUTIONEB IN AYRSEIBE. During the "killinf:^ time," there were so many execu- tions in some parts of Scotland, as to make them common. So convinced were all classes of the innocence and moral M'orth of those "who sudbred, that no execu- tioner could be prevailed upon to carry the sentence into effect. At last one of the prisoners, bribed and drac^ged into service, executed his companions, but soon after- wards died himself in despair. In Irvine, the hangman, a poor simple Highlander, named William Sutherland, peremptorily refused to execute the good men merely for opposing the bishops, whom he said " he had never liked since he knew how to read his Bible." Solicitations, promises, and threats, were all used with him, but in vain. They threatened him with the hoots. " You may bring your boots and the spurs too," said William, "you .shall not prevail." They swore they would pour melted lead on him — they would roll him in a barrel full of spikes ; but the Highlander stood firm. They then put him in the stocks, and the soldiers having charged their pieces, and blind-folding him, rushed upon him with fearful shouts and imprecations ; but all in vain. Con- founded at his fortitude, they declared " that the devil was surely in him." " If the devil be in me," said William, " he is an unnatural devil, for if he were like the rest, he would bid me take as many lives as I could ; but the Spirit that is in me will not suffer me to take good men's lives." "Tell me," said one of the judges, " who put these words into your mouth ? " " Even He who made Balaam's ass to speak and reprove the mad- ness of the prophet," replied William. At length, finding that they could make nothing more of him, they allowed him to escape. ADAM SCOTT, SEEPHEBD IN UPPER DALGLIESH. Hogg tells of a shepherd of the name of Adam Scott, who lived in Upper Dalgliesh, who had a remarkable gift of prayer. He says — I had an uncle who herded with 152 liELIOlOtrS ANECDOTES OF SCOTLAND. lum, from wliom I heard many quotations from Scott's 2)rayor.s, a few of wliicli are as follows : — " Wc particular thank Thee for Thy f,a-cat j^oodncss to Mcc^, and that ever it came into your head to take any thou^dit of sic an useless baw-waw as her." (This was a little girl that had been somewhat miraculously saved from drowning.) " For Thy mercy's sake — for the sake of Thy poor sinfu' servants that arc now addressing Thee in their ain shilly- shally way, and for the sake o' mair than wc dare weel name to Thee, hae mercy on Rab. Ye ken yoursel he is a wild, mischievous callant, and thinks nae mair o' com- mitting sin than a dog does o' licking a dish ; but put Thy hook in his nose, and Thy bridle in his gab, and gar him come back to Thee wi' a jerk that he'll no forget the langest day he has to lecve." " Dinna forget poor Jamie, wha's far awa' frac araang us the nicht. Keep Thy arm o' power about him, and oh ! I wish yc wad endow him wi' a like spunk and smcddum to act for himscl. For if ye dinna, he'll be but a bauchle in the world, and a back-sitter in the neist." " We're a' like snails, we're a' like slogie riddles ; like hawks to do evil, like snails to do good, and like slogie riddles, that let through a' the good and keep the bad." " Bring down the tyrant and his lang neb, for he has done muckle ill the year, and gie him a cup o' Thy wraith, and gin he winna take that, give him kelty." Kelty signifies double, or two cups. This was an occa- sional petition, for one season only, and my uncle never could comprelicnd what it meant. The general character of Scott was one of decision and activity ; constant in the duties of religion, but not over-strict with regard to some of its moral precepts. A NOVEL WAY OF FINDING OUT CHBISTIANS. Duncan Matheson, the evangelist, in the course of his itineracy, once found himself in a strange out-of- the-way region, without a friend, without lodging, and without means. It was drawing towards night, and ho A COVENANTER AND II IS DREAMS. 153 knew not where to oo. Seeing a boy crossing a field, he called to him, and said, "Are there any godly people here about?" " Na, na," replied the lad, " there is nae sic fonk in this jiarish." "Are there any believers ? " asked the Evangelist. "Bleevers!" exclaimed the boy ; "I never heerd o' sic things." "Any religious people, then ? " "I dinna ken ony o' that kind ; I doot they dinna come this road at a'." "Well, then," said the missionary, "making a last attempt, "Are there any who keep family worship ?" "Family worship," replied the lad, with a bewildered look ; " fat's that ? " The boy having taken his last stare at the curious stranger, was about to go. Matheson was at his wit's end, when a happy thought struck him. " Stop," he cried ; "Arc there any hypocrites hereabout ? " " Ou, aye," replied the youth, brightening into intelligence ; " the fouk say that *s wife is the greatest hypocrite in a' the pairish." " Where is her house ? " " Yonner by," said the lad, pointing to a house about a mile distant. Having rewarded his guide with a penny, the last he had, he made his way to the dwelling of "the greatest hypocrite in the parish," and knocked at the door as the shades of night were falling. The door was opened by a tidy, cheerful, middle-aged matron, to whom the sti'anger thus addressed himself, — " Will you receive a prophet in the name of a prophet, and you'll not lose your reward ? " She smiled, and bade him welcome. The hospitalities of that Christian home were heaped upon him, and he spent a delightful evening in fellowship. In this M^ay a lasting friendship began, and, what was better, a door of use- fulness was opened to him. A COVENANTEE AND HIS DREAMS. James Howie was not a native of Lochgoin. He be- longed to the Mearns branch of the family, but he was married to Isobel, eldest daughter of John Howie, with whom lie resided after his marriage, at Lochgoin. The old man, the father-in-law, who was infirm, and much afflicted with asthma, had one night a dream of rather a 154 RELIOIO US AN EG DO TES OF SCO TLAND. striking nature. After the disaster at Pentlancl, a num- ber of those concerned in that rising found refuge in the Avilds in the vicinity of Lochgoin, and the residence of the Howie's became in a manner their lieadquarters. It was the place in the lonely waste to which they resorted for prayer and social intercourse, and the humble roof often sheltered many a hungry and weary wanderer. One night, when a number of refugees met in his house, the aged man dreamed that he was at the Cross of Kil- marnock, and distinctly heard General Dalziel give orders to a party of his dragoons to repair to Lochgoin, the wdiich, as it was situated in the heart of the moors, was by no means easy of access, especially to horsemen. When the party had advanced about two miles on their way, he imagined that one of the soldiers used him rudely, on Avhich he awoke and found it was a dream. In a little he fell asleep again, and dreamed that he met with the troopers a second time, whom he accompanied on their march till they came to a stream which they had to pass, wdien one of the sturdy dragoons seized him by the shoulders, and pushed him forcibly into the tor- rent till it reached his knees, and the sudden chill of the cold water broke his slumbers, and he began to be a little thoughtful. He fell asleep for the third time, and once more met wdth the soldiers, and went along with them till tnhey came to the bottom of the rising ground on which his dwelling stood, when, being maltreated by them as for- merly, he started from his bed, and cried to the persons in concealment to look out on the moor and see if danger was approaching. One of the company ran to the little turf en eminence that was reared a few yards from the house for the purpose of observation — and which stands to this day — and sav/, to his astonishment, in the grey of the morning, the muskets and points of the bayonets of a party of military just at hand. He hastened back to make the announcement, and the company within instantly made their escape, and hid themselves in the hollow of a brook behind a moss, which afforded them a retreat from the vigilance of their enemies. The worthy THE ERSKINES AS PREACHERS. 155 old man, whose dream was the means of saving tho fugitives, hastily left his bed, and, wrapping his cloak about him, went out and stationed himself at the end of the house. When the party advanced, John was leaning against the wall, and, apparently, panting for breath. The troopers, astonished at seeing the worthy in this position at so early an hour, cried out, taking the Divine name in vain in a profane manner, — "What have we here?" "It is e'en an aged man," said John, "infirm and breathless, who is under the necessity, at this un- seasonable hour, to seek relief in the open air. The smoke of the fire, which, on account of the cold, he is obliged to keep burning in the hearth, is like to stifle him by reason of this cough." This statement seemed to the dragoons to account naturally enough for the ex- istence of the fire which they found blazing within, and lulled their suspicions of its having been kept burning for the accommodation of the party who had just fled from the apartment. The soldiers, when they had searched the dwelling and found nobody, entertained themselves with what provisions they could find, and, in the early morning, returned to Kilmarnock. Thus the dream of the good old man, however it may be accounted for, was the means employed by Providence of saving a handful of helpless men, who, in the time of their trial, sought refuge under his hospitable roof. THE EBSKINES AS PBEACHEBS. The two brothers, Ebenezer and Ralph Erskine, were both preachers, and remarkable men. Ebenezer was born in 1680, and Ralph in 1685. Some one said of Ebenezer that to hear him was " to listen to the Gospel presented in its majesty;" and he excelled in strength and leading power. But Ralph had more of the orator, and of that subtlety of thought and fer- vour of emotion which met so remarkably in Samuel Rutherford. In general literature, too, he was far in advance of most of the ministers of his time, and there was, according to tradition, a humanism in his 156 RELIGIOUS ANECDOTES OF SCOTLAND. recreations that stumbled the more rigid, but attracted to him the mass of the people. The story of his practice on the " wee sinful fiddle," is so Avell known, that wc do not repeat it ; but there is another, showing the warmth of attachment to Ralph and his preaching. At West Linton, which was one of the early head-quarters of the Secession south of the Forth, there was a gathering of thousands to a sacrament, and the two brothers were present. The communion took place in the open air, on a beautiful green, beside the little river Lyne. After the services, the ministers, in order to reach the manse, had to cross the stream on stepping-stones. A countryman from the far north had been so delighted and edified by Ptalph's preaching that, to have a few words with him, he marched through the Lyne, step for step, beside him, with the water nearly up to his knees. Pulling out a large Highland snuft-horn, he put it in his hand, with the words, " sir, take a pinch, it will do you meikle good." Ralph readily complied, and on his return- ing the horn, the v>^orthy man, not knowing how to show liis feeling, refused it, saying, " sir, keep it, it will do me meikle good." On telling the story, and showing the gift at the manse dinner, his brother said, " Ralph, Ralph, ye hae blawn best, ye've brought away the horn," with a reference to the legend of the knight in the old talc of chivalry. It is a simple story, but it brings the two brothers near us, anil lets us see how the time imprinted the little incidents on the memories of the people. THE EEV. DB. M'CBIE AND DUGALD STEWART. When the life of John Knox was first published by Dr. M'Crie, as nothing was expected, d 'priori, from the work of a Seceding clergyman, its great merit was not perceived for some time, especially by the literati. The way in which it first fell under the notice of the author's illustrious contcmpoi-ary. Professor Dugakl Stewart, was very remarkable. The professor, one Sunday, being confined at home with illness, and all the family at church, except his man-servant, he had occasion to ring J A MES GUTHRIE'S CO UliA OE A ND DEA TIL 157 his bell, to call up this faithful old attendant. To his surprise, John did not make his appearance. Again he rung the bell ; but still without effect. After ringing a third time, he thought it necessary to step down stairs, to see Avhat could possibly be the occasion of John's apparent negligence. On opening the door of the old man's apartment, he found him sitting at a little table, his eyes bent attentively upon a book, and his whole soul apparently engrossed by what he was reading. It was only on being shaken by the shoulder, that he rose from the trance of rapture in which he had been held by the book. Mr. Stewart was, of course, much surprised at the sudden turn which John's mind seemed to have taken in favour of literature ; and he had the curiosity to ask what book it was which had captivated him so wonderfully. " Why sir," said John, " it's a book that ony minister has written, and really it's a grand ane." The professor said he would take it up with him to his room, and try what he could make of it. He accordingly did so, and being once commenced, he found it fairly impossible to withdraw himself till he had completed the perusal of its whole contents. He next day waited upon Dr. ]\PCrie, to express the admiration he entertained for his performance, which he did in the highest possible terms. The author bowed to Professor Stewart's praises with the modesty of real genius, and replied by a compli- ment as exquisite as it was brief — ' Pidchrum est laudavi a laudato ' — It is delightful to be praised by one who has himself gained the praise of mankind. JAMES GUTHEIE'S COURAGE AND DEATH. This Covenanter earned the hatred of the Earl of Middle- ton in a manner singularly characteristic both of the man and of the cause in which he w^as engaged. In a certain crisis Middleton proposed to aid the fallen fortunes of the King by raising a corps of Papists in the Highlands, and on account of this act of treason to Protestantism the General Assembly of the Church pronounced against him a sentence of excommunication ; and it fell to the 158 RELiaiOUS ANECDOTES OF SCOTLAND. lot of Guthrie to administer from the pulpit this piece of wholesome discipline. Just prior to the time of service Guthrie received a letter — thought by some to have Leen written by the King — dissuading him from attempting to humiliate the nobleman in the open church. The warning only served to confirm the preacher in his purpose of obeying the Presbytery, and honouring God. That action cost the old man his life ; for it was contrary to the nature of the Restoration statesmen to forgive an enemy. Guthrie was in due time arraigned on a paltry charge, which might have been equally brought against the best men of the country, and was sentenced to be hanged, and to have his head set up over the West Bow at Edinburgh. When his doom was pronounced, his heart was so wholly set upon Christ, that he came forth from the judgment-chamber with a heavenly countenance, which strangely contrasted with the profanity around him. He was an outcast from earth ; but the gallows and market-cross at Edinburgh were to him the portals of heaven. A belief in omens was common in his age, and Guthrie was not superior to the prevailing weakness. When, many years before, he had subscribed the Covenant, ho was " stunned a little " by a circumstance which ruffled his composure — he met the hangman, in his uniform, passing along the street. This was an evil omen, accord- ing to the common belief, and Guthrie quite believed it to be so. What if the Covenant should entail death? The question was asked, the cost was counted, and from tliat hour there was no looking back. After his execu- tion, Guthrie's remains were carried into a neighbouring church to be dressed by a number of ladies of quality ; and a youth, more demonstrative than the rest, entered and anointed the body with an ointment which perfumed the whole building. Persons in sympathy with the Covenant also dipped napkins in the warm blood, declar- ing their intention of spreading them out before the Lord, who would avenge the innocent in his own time. Some time after Guthrie's death, a weird story gained currency in Edinburgh which, whether true or otherwise^ A SOLDIER AT FORT-GEOROE. 159 shows the spirit of the times : — As the commissioner's carnage passed underneath where the liead was spiked, some drops of blood fell upon the vehicle " which all their art could not wipe off." Men of science were con- sulted, and asked to account for the startling circum- stance, first of the hlood dripping at all, and then of the impossibility of wiping it out. Bafllcd and alarmed, the commissioner ordered a new covering for the carriage ; but that did not mend the matter, nor remove the guilt. A crime had been committed, and his conscience could not rest. A SOLDIEB AT FOBT-GEOBGE. Thk parish of Resolis is situated on the southern shore of the Frith of Cromarty, lying immediately to the cast of the well-known Ferrintosh. In order to reach it from the coast of Nairn, one would require to cross the ferjy of Fort-George, and strike athwart the peninsular dis- trict known by the name of the Black Isle. After a journey of some eight or nine miles over an immense wilderness of the most dreary moorland, lying along the entire back of the peninsula, you reach the church and manse of Resolis, situated in a spot which has lately been rendered a little more civilised looking than the desert around. At the period cf our anecdote. Fort- George was garrisoned by an English regiment, which partook of the unusually profligate and debauched character of the British army at that time. As the neighbouring town of Campbeltown is at some distance from the Fort, wooden shambles had been erected close to the water's edge, im- mediately below the garrison, to serve as a flesh market for the convenience of the military. Having occasion one day to travel homewards by the route which, for more than one purpose, we have described, the Rev. Hector M'Phail was detained for some time below the Fort by the delay of the ferry-boat, which had to be summoned over from the opposite side. While he was standing at the water's edge, with his inseparable white pony, a soldier came into the shambles to purchase some meat, and asked the price of a quarter of mutton. The butcher 160 heligious anecdotes of Scotland. named the sum. With a frightful oath, in which he pledged the everlasting salvation of his soul, the man refused to give the price, but ultimately, after a good deal of wrangling, agreed to the butcher's terms, and took up the meat to go away. All this while Mr. M'Phail, who was standing outside the shambles, over- heard the conversation within, and, shocked at the awful jeopardy in which the soldier had placed his soul, was watching for an opportunity of addressing him upon the imminent danger of his condition. No sooner, therefore, had the man left the flesh market, than Mr. M'Phail con- trived to throw himself in his way, and to engage him in conversation. "A fine day, soldier." "A fine day, sir," replied the man, touching his cap. " Do you belong to the Fort ? " " Yes, sir, and a dull enough place it is ; nothing but drill and the blues." " You are an Englishman, I see ; what is your name?" " Luke Hey wood, your honour." "That seems a nice piece of mutton you have got." " So it is, sir, and cheap, too." " What did you give for it, may I ask ? " The soldier named the price. " Oh ! my friend," replied Mr. M'Phail, " you have given more than that." Luke Heywood looked astonished. " No, sir, I gave no more ; there's the man I bought it from, and he can tell you what it cost." " Pardon me, friend ; you have given your immortal soul for it. You prayed that God might damn your soul if you gave the very price you have just named ; and now, what is to become of you ? " The ferry-boat was announced as ready, and Mr, M'Phail stepped on board; while Luke Heywood walked off with his purchase, and entered the Fort. Throwing off his cap, he sat down upon a form in the barrack, and in a short time his reflections turned upon his conver- sation with the stranger at the ferry. The gentleman's parting words were still fresh in his memory : " You have given your immortal soul for it ; and now, what is to become of you?" "E-eally," thought he, "the stranger was quite right. I have a soul, though I had almost forgotten it ; and I have pawned it for a bit of mutton, too. Well, I didn't mean that : but I have done it A SOLDIER AT FORT-QEOROE. IGl though ; and now, what is to become of nie ? " The thought, even to a prolligate, was anything Lut an agreeable one, so ho ti-ied to banish the occurrence from his memory. But it would not do ; conscience was at its work, and refused to still its voice. The v.'ords of the stranger were pealing in his ears like the death-knell of his soul : "You have given your immortal soul for it; and now, what is to become of you ? " In a perfect agony of terror he started from his seat, rushed bare- headed from the Fort, and arrived, all flushed and breathless, at the ferry in quest of Mr. M'Phail. "Where is the gentleman?" cried Luke to the butcher. " AVhat gentleman i " inqviired the other. " The gentle- man dressed in black clothes, and with a white pony, who told me that my soul was lost." " Oh ! you mean Mr. MThail ; he's the minister of Resolis, and you will have to go far enough till you catch him, for he has crossed more than half an-hour ago." The ferry-l)oat being about to make a second passage across the water, Luke Hcywood entered it, with the design of following the stranger with whose words he liad been so painfully impressed. Inquiring at the ferry- men the route he must follow, Luke leaped from the* boat as it touched the point of Fortrose, and started afresh upon his intensely exciting pursuit. We know not the feelings of the agitated traveller as he rushed bareheaded through the little town of Rosemarkie, or toiled all flushed and heated across the weary solitudes of Maol-bhui ; we have not been informed regarding the astonishment of the shepherd or the cottar as an excited soldier hastily inquired whether he had seen anything of a clergj-man upon a white pony — which was all the description he could give. He arrived, however, towards evening, at the manse of Resolis, and on demanding eagerly to see Mr. M'Phail, was immediately admitted. From the manse he came a new man, and went back to the garrison of Fort-George, singing — " He took me from a fearful pit, And from the mirj^ clay, Ami on a rock He set my feet, 11 Establishing my way." 162 JRELIGIOUS ANECDOTES OF SCOTLAND. Like the Vv-oman of Sranaria, Luke Heywood now began to feci a love for the souls of others, and, with David, to say to his comrades, " Come, and I will tell you what God hath done for my soul." The word was "as fire within his bones," and he "could not but speak the things which he had seen and heard." He accord- ingly began to hold small prayer meetings in the barracks, and to expound the Scriptures to his fellow-soldiers. By degrees, however, the piety and zeal of the former pro- lligate became knov/n throughout the district; the people of God were amazed when they heard that, like Paul, he that had scoffed at them " in times past, now preached tlie faith which once he destroyed ; and they glorified God in him." His prayer-meetings attracted others than the military, and the people began to flock from the neighbouring parishes to hear the expositions of this wonderful man. An old relation of the writer used to come down among the crowd from the parish of Ardclach, a distance of about sixteen miles from Fort-George ; and his informant was personally acquainted with a godly old schoolmaster who had been a fellow-soldier of Luke's (and a very wild and thoughtless young man he was), but who, along v^ith many others, owed his conversion to these prayer-meetings among the garrison. THE LAST POPISH VICTIM IN SCOTLAND. Walter Mill, an old decrepit priest, who had been con demned as a heretic in the time of Cardinal Beaton, bu had escaped, was at last discovered by the spies of his successor, Archbishop Hamilton, and brought to St. Andrews for trial. He appeared before the court so worn out with age a,nd hardships, that it was not ex- pected he would be able to answer the questions put to him ; but, to the surprise of all, he managed his defence with great spirit. He v/as condemned to the flames ; bub such was the horror now felt at this punishment, and such the general conviction of the innocence of the victim, that the clergy could not prevail on a secular judge to ratify the sentence, nor an individual in the A BOY THEOLOGIAN. 163 town so much as to give or sell a rope to bind the martyr to the stake, so that the Archbishop had to furnish tliem with a cord from his own pavilion. When commanded by Oliphant, the bishop's menial, to go to the stake, the old man, Avith becoming spirit, refused, " No," said he, " I will not go, except thou put me up with thy hand ; for I am forbidden by the law of God to put hand on myself." The wretch having pushed him forward, he w'ent up with a cheerful countenance, saying, " I will go unto the altar of God." "As for me," he added, when tied to the stake, his voice trembling with age, " I am fourscore years old, and cannot live long by course of nature ; but a hundred better shall arise out of the ashes of my bones. I trust in God I shall be the last that shall suffer death in Scotland for this cause." So say- ing, he expired amidst the flames, on the 28th August, 1558. He was indeed the last who suffered in that cause, and his death was the death of Popery in the realm. A BOY THEOLOGIAN. Dr. Balmer was a professor in the Secession Church Hall, and a man of more than ordinary parts. The first day he went with his mother to attend public worship at Jedburgh, having formerly gone with his father, during his life -time, to Morebattle, was one on which the sacrament of the Lord's Supper vras dispensed. The action sermon, as it is called, was preached from a tent erected in a green adjoining the church. Robert sat before his mother on the grass. She, having never seen his demeanour in the public assembly before, was sur- prised and somewhat grieved by his apparent restlessness, but took no notice. However, when the services were concluded, and the little band which came from Eckford- moss were returning, and talking by the Avay of v.diat they had heard, and endeavouring to recall the particulars of the sermons delivered, he was found able to supply much of what the older people had forgotten. He had several times thus assisted them to the recollection, both of the heads of the discourses and of remarks made iu 1 64 RELIGIO US AN EC DO TES OF SCO TLA ND. illustration, when an elder who was among them, looking to his mother, said, " Margaret, do you know wha's laddie that is ? " She might, no doubt, feel something oi" maternal pride, as she replied — " The boy is mine." When about ten years of age, an old man, a neighbour, came frequently at leisure hours to converse with his parents. This person was harassed with doubts and fears about his interest in the Saviour. One day Eobe]'fc listened while his mother argued with the poor man, and endeavoured to persuade him to dismiss his fears, and to commit himself trustingly to Christ. It was in vain. He still reiterated, " Christ will have nothing to do with me." Robert perceiving, it would seem, that the man was speaking under the influence of morbid feeling, and wilfully putting away consolation, at last put in his word. " Then what is the use of your aye talk talking about Him to my mother ? If He'll have nothing to do with you, can't you let Him alone ? " " Let Him alone, liinney ! " the man replied, " I would not let Him alone for a thousand worlds." " O then," said the boy, " I'm thinking you'll do well enough." BOBEBT FLOCKHABT AND TEE BIBLE. Robert Flockhart was a street preacher in Edinburgh, and had an aptness in quoting the Bible, and applying its truth to the souls of those he addressed. The Rev. James Robertson, who knew him well, tells us that he had a sort of instinctive dexterity with which he made the most simple incident subservient to the enforcement of Bible truths. For instance, speaking of the time when he first saw the sin-bearing Saviour, he said, — " Well, you know, after that, how I wondered that all the world did not see him too. I fell to telHng all my comrades what a Saviour I had found ; and there was one of them, a young lad — Edward Brown — that I took great pains to instruct in the ways of peace ; but he was little the better of my concern about his soul, for he soon ran again into excess of riot. He was taken up on charge of having to do with a highway robbery, and, nOBERT FLOCKIIAIiT AND THE BIBLE. 1C5 along with two other soldiers, was condemned to be hanged. The night before the execution, he sent for me, and said, ' You've been very kind to me, Flockhart ; I want you to be my heir — to leave you all my effects.' So the morning came, when we were all ordered out to attend the execution. There were the three with the halters round their necks. I had heard o' ' mercy at the foot o' the ladder,' but I never saw it till then. For almost at the last moment a message came that there was a pardon for Edward Brown. ' Well, lad,' says I to myself, ' you've got your life, but I've lost my legacy ; for a testament is of no force while the testator liveth.' But," turning to Mr. Robertson, with a beaming face, he added, " Isn't it precious that we're so sure that Jesus died ; it is attested by so many ' infallible proofs.' ' He died for our sins according to the Scriptui-es.' We need not fear about losing our legacy because there's any doubt about the reality of his death. But we may fear something else. My wife had once a legacy left her by a lady. The lady was dead, beyond a doubt, but the lawyers got the legacy into their hands, and it was not easy, I assure you, gettin't out again. In fact, they wasted it among them, and my wife never never saw a sixpence o't. Had the kind lady been living, she would have had the business better managed. And isn't it doubly precious to ' know that our Redeemer liveth ' ? ' He liveth by the powder of God.' He has made himself responsible to be the executor of his own will. When we put our case into his hands, he'll let none wrong us o' our legacy." At another time, speaking of the risen Redeemer meet- ing his disciples on the shore of the sea of Tiberias, ho observed, — "I suppose the kind salutation to them, 'Children, have ye any meat'? had a higher aim than the supply of their bodily wants. Ay, something was to be set right wi' Peter that day, and the plan Jesus took was wonderful like himself. He knew that the seafaring trade is a hungry trade, so, in order to keep Peter's temper sweet, he had a refreshment ready for him. And it was only after the meal was ended (' when they had dined') that he turned to him, and asked, — 166 RELIGIOUS ANECDOTES OF SCOTLAND. ' Simon, son of Jonas, lovest thou me ? ' He did not cut him short, and say, ' You denied me the other day, sir.' No, he took a more telling wa.y of his own. The three askings would put Peter in mind of how often he had misbehaved in the high priest's hall before the cock crowed outside, and maybe the very 'fire of coals' on the shore might be just a picture of the fire at which he had warmed himself that cold night wdien the breath of a woman threw him down." A MERRY GENTLEMAN'S ADVICE. After the burning of Patrick Hamilton in 1528, there was a great excitement in Scotland on religious matters. The friar Campbell v/ho insulted him at the stake went distracted, and died in the utmost horror of mind, with the last appeal of the martyr ringing in his ears. This produced a deep impression on the popular mind, and even on those who were not apt to be affected with a mere passing prejudice. Manj^ even in the University of St. Andrews began to call in doubt what they before held for a certain verity, and to espy the vanity of the received superstition. " Shortly after this," saj's Knox, " a new consultation was taken that some should be burnt. A merry gentleman, named John Lindesaj', fa- miliar servant to Bishop James Beatoun, standing by Avhen consultation was had, said, — ' My lord, gif ye burn any man, except ye follow my counsell, ye will utterly destroy yourselves. Gif ye wall burn them, let them be burned in how [deep] cellars, for the reek of Mr. Patrick Hamilton has infected as many as it did blow upon.' " What immediate effect this advice had on those to whom it w^as tendered history saith not. BREAD UPON THE WATERS. A Scotch lady of social distinction, wdiose name for obvious reasons need not be mentioned, and whose hus- band had left her a competence, had two profligate sons, who wasted her substance with riotous living. When THE ASTBONOMWAL DISCOURSES. IC7 she saw that her property was being squandered, she determined to make an ofiering to the Lord. She took twenty pounds and gave it to the London Missionary Society. Her sons were very angry at tliis, and told her that she might just as well cast her money into the sea. "I will cast it into the sea," she replied, "and it will bo my bread upon the waters." The sons, having spent all they could get, enlisted in a regiment, and were sent to India. Their positions were far apart, but God so ordered, in his providence, that both were stationed near good missionaries. The elder one was led to repent of his sins and embrace Christ. He shortly afterward died. Meanwhile the widowed mother was praying for her boys. One evening, as she was taking down her family bible to read, the door was softly opened, and the younger son appeared to greet the aged mother. He told her he had turned to God, and Christ had blotted out all his sins. Then he narrated his past history in connection with the influence the missionaries of the Cross had on his own mind, while his mother, with tears of ovei'fiowing gratitude, exclaimed, — "Oh, my twenty pounds! my twenty pounds ! I have cast my bread upon the waters, and now I have found it after many days." THE ASTEONOMICAL DISCOURSES. In the early part of this century, it was the custom that the clergymen in Glasgov/ should preach in rotation on Thursday in the Tron Church. On Thursday, the 23rd of November, 1815, this week-daj^ service devolved on Dr. Chalmers. The entire novelty of the discourse delivered upon this occasion, and the promise held out by the preacher that a series of similar discourses was to follow, excited the liveliest interest, not in his own con- gregation alone, but throughout the whole communit}-. He had presented to his hearers a sketch of the recent discoveries of astronomy — distinct in outline, and drawn with all the ease of one who was himself a master in the science, yet gorgeously magnificent in many of its details, displaying, amid "the brilliant glow of a blazing elo- 168 RELIGIOUS ANECDOTES OF SCOTLAND. quence," the sublime poetry of the heavens. In his subsequent discourses, Dr. Chahiiers proposed to discuss the argument, or rather prejudice, against tlie Christian Revelation, which grounds itself on the vastness and variety of those unnumbered worlds which lie scattered over the immeasurable fields of space. This discussion occupied all the Thursday services allotted to him during the year 1816. The spectacle which presented itself in the Trongate upon the day of the delivery of each new astronomical discourse, was a most singular one. Long ere the bell began to toll, a stream of people might be seen pouring through the passage which led into the Tron Church. Across the street, and immedi- ately opposite to this passage, was the old reading room, where all the Glasgow merchants met. So soon, however, as the gathering and quickening stream upon the opposite side of the street gave the accustomed warning, out flowed the occupants of the coffee-room ; the pages of the Herald or the Courier were for a while forsaken, and during two of the best business hours of the day, the old reading-room wore a strange aspect of desolation. The busiest merchants of the city were wont, indeed, upon those memorable days, to leave their desks, and kind masters allowed their clerks and apprentices to follow their example. Out of the very heart of the great tumult, an hour or two stood redeemed, for the highest exercise of the spirit, and the low traffic of earth forgotten ; heaven, and its high economy and its human sympathies and eternal interests, engrossed, for a while, the mind and the fancy of congregated thousands. This series of discourses was published on the 28tli January, 1817. In ten weeks 6,000 copies had been dis- posed of, the demand showing no symptoms of decline. Nine editions were called for within a j^ear, and nearly 20,000 copies were in circulation. Never previously, nor since, has any volume of sermons met with such immediate and general acceptance. The " Tales of my Landlord " had a month's start in the date of publication, and even with such a competitor it ran an almost equal race. Not a few curious observers were struck SIR DAVID BliEWSTEIt DTSOUSTED. 169 with the novel competition, and watched with lively curiosity how the great Scottish preacher, and the great Scottish novelist, kept for a whole year so nearly abreast of one another. It was, besides, the first volume of sermons which fairly broke the lines which had separated too long the literary from the religious public. Its secondary merits won audience for it in quarters where evangelical Christianit}^ was non-seated and despised. It disarmed even the keen hostility of Hazlitt, and kept him for a whole forenoon spell-bound beneath its power. "These sermons," he says, "ran like wild-fire through the country, were the darlings of watering-places, were laid in the windows of inns, and were to be met with in all places of public resort." They were received by all classes with acclaim, and their author M'as looked upon as one, who had done much to present the truths of Christianity in new forms, and to invest them with all the attractions of a fascinating eloquence ; nor could any single volume bo named M-hich has done more than the " Astronomical Discourses," to soften and subdue those prejudices which the infidelity of natural science enjxenders. SIB DAVID BBEWSTER DISGUSTED. During a severe illness in 1858, Sir David Brewster entertained a firm faith that death was at hand, and requested his pastor to pray for him as a dying man. It was then that his Christian faith was strengthened, and that he enjoyed a time of finding, after the long search of his life. During his convalescence, for he recovered, his daughter, Mrs. Gordon, read aloud to him. Among the books she read was a small one, entitled, " Perfect Peace," the memoir of a clever and scientific medical man, who accepted Christ after a severe struggle. He listened with his peculiar habit of vivid interest, combined, at first, with unqualified approbation. In the course of reading, they came to several of the biographer's lauda- tory remarks, such as the following, — "Notwithstanding- his high talents, and great proficiency in professional and 1 7 PxELIG 10 US A NEC DO TES OF SCO TLA ND. scientific knowledge, he talks with me in the most child- like manner on the things which concern his peace; indeed, he evinces as humble and teachable a spirit as ever I met with," — "his humble and teachable spirit, notv.'ithstanding his great litei'ary and scientific attain- ments," — " the pride of intellect was lost at the Cross of Christ." These passages produced evident dissent, and when the last quoted was read, it caused an unpremeditated burst of disapprobation on the part of Sir David — more satis- factory than any set expressions could have been, and th-ough vehement, were not bitter. "That disgusts me!" was his sudden and lively exclamation, "A merit for a man to bow his intellect to the Cross ! Why, what can the highest intellect on earth do, but bow to God's word and God's mind thankfully?" and he added, with touch- ing simplicity, "That's not 'my difliculty — what distresses me so much is, that I don't love the Bible enough." DB. M'-CBIE'S SINCERITY, Sir George Sinclair, while attending the classes of the University, happened to get into conversation with a medical student, a man of learning and talents, but thoroughly sceptical in his religious opinions. The in- fidel stoutly maintained that no clergyman, possessed of any mental powers or liberal acquirements, really believed in the truth of what he preached. Sir George mentioned several clergymen to whom, in his opinion, such a suspicion could never be attached. " Can you suppose," he asked, " that Dr.," naming a reverend gentle- man, " is not a sincere believer in the tenets whicli ho preaches ? " " Oh, he is a man of the world ; he cannot believe in them." " What say you to Dr." so and so, naming him ? " He is too much of a scientific man to be a believer," said the other, with a look of disdain. " AVell, then," said Sir George, " can you say that Dr. M'Crie does not believe in the truths which he delivers?" The countenance of the sceptic fell, and, after a pause, he replied, "You have the advantage of me now; I must THE GIFT OF TONGUES. 171 grant j^'oii that Dr. M'Cric would not prcacli such doc- trines if he did not believe them." The sincerity of this devoted preacher closed the mouth of the gainsayer. THE QUEEN'S TABLE AT BALMOBAL. The Rev. J. H. Wilsox, who founded the "Ragged Kirk," Aberdeen, was invited by Her Majesty to Bal- moral, and had the honour of dining with the Queen. During dinner wine was used, and as it went round the table Mr. Wilson passed it on, but did not touch it. On seeing this one present whispered to his neighbour, loud enough to be heard by others, that there was a gentleman at the table who did not take wine. The Queen, on hearing the remark, said, with great considerateness, — " Whoever dines at my table, it is my pleasure he may partake or refuse any beverage he pleases." During the course of the banquet, Hci Majesty sent, by a special servant, one of the most magniliccnt bunches of grapes to Mr. Wilson, that she might thus acknowledge him as her most honoured guest. MARY fJAMFBELL AND THE GIFT OF TONGUES. The intensely devoted and pious Mary Campbell of Garelooh fame, lived at Fernicarry, near Row, and was the subject, about the year 1830, of peculiar experiences, regarding whicli there was very great interest excited at the time in the West of Scotland. She, with many others, believed that the gift of tongues and other special gifts were to be vouchsafed to the Church, and that the advent of the Lord was at hand. On a Sunday evening in the month of March, Mary, in the presence of a few friends, began to utter sounds to them incomprehensible, and believed by her to be a tongue such as of old might have been spoken on the day of Pentecost, or among the Christians of Corinth. This was the lirst manifestation of the restored "gift," for such it was imagined to be. She was anxious to ascertain what the tongue was, in order that she might. 1 72 RELIOIO US A NEGDO TES OF SCO TLAND. if strengthened to do so, repair to the country where it was intelligible, and there Begin her long-contemplated labours. By and bye, she announced that she believed it to be the language of a group of islands in the southern Pacitic Ocean ; but as nobody knew the speech of the said islanders, it was impossible either to refute or cor- roborate her assertion ; and, for the time, at least, she was unable to proceed in person in quest of the remote savages, whose mother tongue, she held, had been re- vealed to her. MABY CAMPBELL'S BELIEF IN MIBACULOUS HEALING FOWEB. Among many other strange incidents regarding this singular but intensely religious woman, the following may be given. It is Marj^'s own account of her re- covery from a very serious illness, which had caused herself much suffering, and her friends much anxiety. The reader will bear in mind what is said in the previous anecdote with regard to belief in the restoration of the special gifts to the Church. "On the Saturday previous to my restoration to health, I was very ill, suffering from pain in my chest and breathlessness. On the Sabbath I was very ill, and lay for several hours in a state of insensibility. Next day I was worse than I had been for several weeks previous, the agony of Saturday excepted. On Tuesday I was no better. On Wednesday I did not feel quite so languid, but was suffering some pain, from breathing and palpi- tation of my heart. Two individuals who saw me about four hours before my recovery, said that I would never be strong — that I was not to expect a miracle to be wrought upon me. It was not long after until I received dear brother James M'Donald's letter, giving an account of his sister being miraculously raised up, as in New Testament times ; and in which he similarly commanded me to rise and walk also. I had scarcely read the first page when I became quite overpowered, and laid it aside for a few minutes ; but I had no rest in my mind until ST. ANDREW AND SCOTLAND. 173 I took it up again, and began to read. As I read, every word canio home with power, and when I came to the connnand to arise, it came home with a power which no words can describe; it was felt to be, indeed, the voice of Christ ; it was such a voice as could not be resisted. A might}' power was instantaneously exerted upon me. I felt as if I had been lifted from oli" the earth, and all my diseases taken from off me at the voice of Christ. I was verily made in a moment to stand upon my feet, leap and walk, sing and rejoice." Mary Campbell, who before this time had been con- fined to bed ; from this moment, without any interval, returned to active life, became, as was natural, the centre of double curiosity and interest; spoke, expounded, gave forth the utterances of her power in crovv^ded assemblies, and entered into the full career of a prophetess and gifted person. The lil'Donalds, less demonstrative, and more homely, went on upon their modest way, attracting crowds of observers, without being thereby withdrawn from the composed and sober course of their existence ; and thus a new miraculous dispensation was, to the belief of many, inaugurated in all the power of apostolic times, by these waters of the West. ST. ANDBEW AND SCOTLAND. After the ascension of our Lord, the name of St. Andrew is not mentioned in the New Testament, but he is believed to have travelled as a missionary through Asiatic and European Scythia ; to have afterwards passed through Thrace, Macedonia, and Epirus, into Achaia ; and at a city of Patra, in the last-named region, to have suffered martyrdom about 70 A.D. It is said that a Christian lady of rank, named Maximela, caused the body of St. Andrew to be embalmed and honourably interred, and that in the earlier part of the fourth century, it was removed by the Emperor Constantino to Byzantium, or Constan- tinople, where it was deposited in a church erected in honour of the twelve apostles. The history of the relic does not end here, for we are informed that about thirty 174 RELIGIOUS ANECDOTES OF SCOTLAND. years after the death of Constantine in 368 A.D., a pious Greek monk, named Regulus, conveyed the remains of St. Andrew to Scotland, and there deposited them on the eastern coast of Fife, where he bnilt a church, and where afterwards arose the renowned city and cathedral of St. Andrews. Whatever credit may be given to this legend, it is certain that St. Andrew has been regarded from time immemorial as the patron saint of Scotland ; and his day, November 30, is a favourite occasion of social and national reunion amid Scotchmen residing in England and other places where Scotchmen dwell. BBOWNLOW NORTH'S SUDDEN AWAKENING. Mr. Brownlow North was the subject of a remarkable spiritual awakening, which he narrated to the students of the Edinburgh University in 1862. " It pleased God," he said, " in the month of November, 1854, one night v/hen I was sitting playing at cards, to make me con- cerned about my soul. The instrument used was a sensation of sudden illness, which led me to think I was going to die. I said to my son, ' I am a dead man, take me up stairs.' As soon as this was done, I threw myself down on the bed. My first thought then was, now what will my forty-four years of following the devices of my own heart profit me ? In a few minutes I shall be in hell, and what good will all these things do me for which I have sold my soul ? At that moment I felt constrained to pray, but it was merely the prayer of the coward, a cry for mercj''. I was not sorry for what I had done, but I was afraid of the punishment of my sin. And yet there was something trying to prevent me putting myself on my knees to call for mercy, and that was the presence of the maidservant in the room, lighting my fire. " Though I did not believe at that time that I had ten minutes to live, and knew that there was no possible hope for me but in the mercy of God, and that if I did not seek that mercy I could not expect to have it, yet such was the nature of my heart and of my spirit within THE BEV. DR. MACLEOD AND A WAIF. 175 me, that it was a balance with me, a thing to turn this way or that, I could not tell how, whether I .should wait till that woman left the room, or whether I should fall on my knees and cry for mercy in her presence. By the grace of God I did put myself on my knees before that g'irl, and I believe it was the turning-point with me. I believe that if I had at that tiuio resisted the Holy Ghost — of course, I cannot Scay, for who shall limit the Holy Ghost ? — but my belief is that it would have been once too often. By God's grace I was not prevented. I did pray, and though I am not what I should be, yet I am this day what I am, which, at least, is not what I was, I mention this because I believe that every man has in his life his turning-point. I believe that the sin against the Holy Ghost is grieving the Spirit once too often." THE BEV. DB. MACLEOD AND A WAIF. The Rev. Dr. Noeman Macleod when in Dalkeith, in a letter to his mother, depicts a waif thus : — " On coming home one evening, I saw a number of bo3^s following and speaking to, and apparently teasing, a little boy, who, with his hands in his pockets and all in rags, was creeping along close by the wall. He seemed like a tame caged bird v»'hich had got loose, and was pecked at and tormented by wild birds. I asked the boys who he was. 'Eh! he's a wee boy gaun' aboot beggin', without faither or mither!' He did seem very wee, poor child — a pretty boy, only nine years old. I found him near my gate, and took him in. I asked him to tell me the truth. He said his father was alive — a John Swan — in Kirkcaldy ; that his ' ain mither ' was dead ; that he had a stepmother ; that * a month and a-week ago ' he left them, for they used to send him to beg, to drink the money he got, and to thrash him if he brought none in, and that they sent him out one evening, and he left them. He got threepence from a gentleman, and crossed in the steamboat to Leith. He had heard that he was born in Kirklull, near this, 'and that his mither lived there wi' him when he was a baiiii.- 176 RELIGIOUS ANECDOTES OF SCOTLAND. He got shelter in a stable, and there he has been ever since, begging round the district. Poor infant ! Jessie, my servant, once a servant in some charitable institution, was most minute in her questionings about Kirkcaldy, but his answers were all correct and very innocent. " Well, a few minutes after, Jessie came in. ' What,' said I, ' arc you doing with the boy V ' 0, I gicd him his supper, puir thing, and am making a shake down for him ; and, ye see, I saw he was vera dirty, and I put him in a tub o' water, and he's staunin' in't 'e noo till I gang ben. That's the way we used to do in the Insti- tution. Eh, if ye saw the boys frae the Hielans that used to come there ! Keep me ! I couldna eat for a week after clcanin' them, and wee Swan is jist as bad. I wadna tell ye hoo dirty he is, puir bairn ! I couldna thole tae pit him tae his bit bed yon way. I cast a' his /luds outside the door, and sent Mary Ann straight up tae the factor's for a sack for him ; for ye see, whan we washed them in the Institution .' ' Be off,' said I, ' and don't keep the poor fellow in the tub longer,' I went in a few minutes after, and there I found him, or rather saw something like a ghost amongst mist, Jessie scrubbing at him, and seeming to enjoy the work with all her heart. 'How do you like it?' 'Fine, fine!' But just as I wa'ote the above Vv'ord the door was opened, and in marches my poor boy, paraded in by Jessie — a beautiful boy, clean as a bead, but with nothing on but a large beautiful clean shirt, his hair combed and divided, and Jessie gazing on him with admiration, Mary Ann in the background. The poor boy hardly opened his lips ; he looked round him in bewilderment. ' There he is,' said Jessie ; ' I am sure yc're in anither warld the nicht, my lad. Y/han were ye clean afore ? ' ' Three months syne.' ' War ye ever as clean afore ? ' ' No.' ' What will ye dae noo ? ' 'I dinna ken.' ' Will ye gang awa' and beg the nicht.' ' If ye like.' ' No,' said I, ' be off to your Ijed and sleep.' Poor child, if his mother is in heaven she will be pleased. If charity covers a mul- titude of sins, Jessie V/ishart will get her reward." THE CAPTIOUS CHURCH MEMBER. 177 THE REV. DB. LAWSON AND THE CAPTIOUS CHURCH MEMBER. When Dr. Lawson received a call to Selkirk, tliero was one member of the church who opposed his settlement. This member took every opportunity to annoy the young minister, and put him out. One day, when on a diet ot' pastoral visitation, he came to this person's house, and being desirous of conciliating him, he entered into con- versation with him in a very frank and friendly style. His mildness, however, had no mollifying effect ; this person watched every opportunity to contradict and find fault with him. At length captiousness had the eifrontery to assert, that the young minister had actually told a lie since entering the house, when he meekly said — " I am not aware of having committed so grave a misdemeanour as that with which you charge me." " Yes," rejoined the man, " you have ; for, when I asked you to stay and take tea wuth us, you replied that you would not, and yet you have done both ; is not this something like telling a lie ? " " You must have read the story," answered Mr, Lawson, " of the angels in Sodom who, when Lot pressed them to enter his house and lodge with him during the night, refused, and said, ' Nay ; but we will abide in the street all night ; ' and instead of doing so, when Lot pressed them much, ' they turned in unto him, and entered into his house : and he made them a feast, and did bake un- leavened bread, and they did eat.' Now, do you suppose that these angels told a lie ? No, they only changed their mind; and so I too have just changed my mind, and have remained to partake of your fare." This proved a silencer to the individual who had, in his conceit, opined that he had caught the good man in a snare. The youthful Samson showed that the withes wherewith he was bound, were as tow when it touchoth the fire. This is the sort of treatment all such captious persons should receive, and if they \vere so dealt with in a good spirit, they would be made quieter, if not better, members of the Christian community 12 178 RELIQIOUS ANECDOTES OF SCOTLAND. EBENEZEB EBSEINE AND THE MUBDEBEB. The Eev. Ebenezer Erskine, after travelling, at one time, towards the end of the week, from Portraoak to the banks of the Forth, on his way to Edinburgh was, with several others, prevented by a storm from crossing that frith. Thus obliged to remain in Fife during the Sabbath, he was employed to preach, it is believed, in Kinghorn. Conformably to his usual practice, he prayed ea,rnestly in the morning for the Divine countenance and aid in the work of the day ; but suddenly missing his note-book, he knew not what to do. His thoughts, how- ever, were directed to the command, "Thou shalt not kill ;" and having studied the subject with as much care as the time would permit, he delivered a short sermon on it in the forenoon. Having returned to his lodging, he gave strict injunctions to the servant that no one should be allowed to see him during the interval of worship. A stranger, however, who was also one of the persons detained by the state of the weather, expressed an earnest desire to see the minister ; and having with difficulty obtained admittance, appeared much agitated, and asked him, with great eagerness, whether he knew him, or had ever seen or heard of him. On receiving assurance that he was totally unacquainted with his face, character, and historj^, the gentleman pro- ceeded to state that his sermon on the sixth command- ment had reached his conscience; that he was a murderer; tliat being the second son of a Highland laird, he had, some time before, from base and selfish motives, cruelly suftbcated his elder brother, who slept in the same bed v/ith him ; and that now he had no peace of mind, and wished to surrender himself to justice, to suffer the punishment due to his horrid and unnatural crime. Mr. Erskine asked him if any other person knew anything of his guilt. His answer was, that so far as he was aware, not a single individual had the least suspicion of it, on which the good man exhorted him to be deeply affected with a sense of his atrocious sin, to make an immediate application to the blood of sprinkling, and to bring forth DR. JAMIESON AND THE SUGOESTED TEXT. T'O fruits meet for repentance ; but at the same time, since, in proviilence, his crime had hitherto remained a secret, not to disclose it, or giv^e himself up to public justice. The unhappy gentleman embraced this well-intended counsel in all its parts, became truly pious, and main- tained a friendly correspondence with Mr. Erskine in after life. THE REV. DE. JAMIESON AND THE SUGGESTED TEXT. A REMARKABLE caso occurred in the ministry of the Rev. Dr. Jamieson, author of the " Scottish Etymological Dic- tionary," Vv'hich evinces the sympathj'' and long-suffering patience which the compassionate Saviour, who, on the morning of his resurrection, showed himself first to the weeping and desolate Mary Magdalene, bears to the humblest and the most solitary of his people. One week the Doctor, after returning from the meeting: of Pres- bytery, prepared his lecture for the Sabbath forenoon ; but after doing so, he found that he could not succeed in con:imitting it to memory. No portion of it would adhere to his recollection. Various efforts were made, but all without avail. He felt that he could not deliver the lecture, and at last resolved to abandon the idea of attempting to give it at that time. But what was he to do ? He had nothing else to put in its place. The Sabbath morning came, and he did not know the subject on which he was to speak. He went to the pulpit, sang and prayed, and still he had no text. During the singing of the second p.salm, he resolved that, in the peculiar circumstances, he would throw himself upon his Divine Master, open the Bible, and take the first passage that would meet his eye. The only limitation made was that it should be in the Book of Psalms. The words on which his eye rested were, " Blessed is he whose transgr ssion is forgiven, whose sin is covered ; blessed is the man unto whom he Lord imputeth not iniquity " (Ps. xsxii. 1, 2); from which he preached with great ease and comfort. 1 80 RELIQIO US A NECDO TES OF SCO TLAND. In a few weeks the matter was explained. A poor woman, a member of the congregation, who lived in a house by herself, called on him and made the following disclosure : — Being in very poor and destitute circum- stances, and seeing many of the wicked around her in the enjoyment of wealth, ease, and luxury, she began to think that God was unjust, and that He did not regard those who feared and served Him. These thoughts so affected her, that, after many painful struggles, she con- cluded that religion was a delusion, the Bible a fable, and that there was no God. Having done so, she resolved to lead the life of an Atheist. One Saturday night, she went to her bed without prayer — a thing which she had not done from her infancy. It was a night of agony. She could neither rest nor sleep ; and towards morning the thought struck her that she would take farewell of God upon her knees. "And sir," said she, trembling and weeping, "I had the awful presumption to dictate to God, and to make this bargain with Him : I said, that if the Bible was true, and that if you were His servant, as you said you were, He would make you that forenoon preach from these words that I mentioned, ' Blessed is tlie man unto whom the Lord imputeth not iniquity.' If you did this, I engaged to serve God; and, if you did not do this, I was to abandon Him altogether. I came to the church in a state of mind that cannot be described. You opened the Bible, read these words, and preached from them. My bands were loosed, and I went home rejoicing. Oh ! is not the Lord our God merciful and gracious, long- suffering, and slow to anger ! And may we not say of Him, that He will not break the bruised reed, nor quench the smoking flax, and that He does not deal with us as our sins deserve ; for as the heavens are high above the earth, so great is His mercy towards them that fear him?" SEEKING FOB GOD IN THE SCOTTISH HIGHLANDS. Many years ago, and long before any awakening had taken place in Skye, a young girl, of little more than childish years, residing in a glen, which during the revival THE JiEV. nODEIiT BliUCE. 181 of 1812 was distinguished by much of divine power, became deeply impressed with the idea that God was not in her native i.sle. At the same time, she was over- come by the feeling that she must go in pursuit of llini where He was to be found. She stole away from her home, and travelled across the country to the usual ferry to the mainland. She made no secret of her errand, and as her relations had taken up the opinion that she had become insane, little attempt was made to recall her. So soon as she was out of Skj^e, she began to ask every passenger where she might find God, for that He was not in her country. Her question excited surprise, but as her manner expressed sincerity and deep earnestness, every one answered her soothingly, and 'was unwilling to interfere with the hallucination under which they conceived she laboured. At length she reached Inver- ness. The first person she met in the street was a lady, to whom she addressed her usual question. The lady was struck by her earnest manner, and engaged in con- versation with her until assured of her sanity. " Come with me," at last the lady said, "perhaps I can bring you to where God is." She took her home, and next day being Sunday, took her to the house of God. For the first time the gospel was proclaimed in her hearing, and it came with power and blessing to her soul. She soon became a happy convert, and one of the brightest Christians of her day. TEE BEV. ROBERT BRUCE OF EDINBURGH. This minister of the gospel was a man of great power, and so impressed King James, that he said Mr. Bruce was v.-orthy of half of his kingdom. He was a man that had much inward exercise, and had been often assaulted anent that great foundation truth if there was a God ; which cost him many days and nights wrestling. When he had come to the pulpit, after being sometime silent, which was his usual way, he would say, " I think it is a groat matter to believe there is a God," tolling the people it is a greater thing to believe that, than they judged. 182 RELIOIO US A NEC DO TES OP SOO TLA ND. Great success attended his ministrations in Inverness, Edinburgh, and wherever he preached. A rather re- markable conversion under his ministry occurred on this wise. Mr. Henderson, who at his first entvy to the ministry at Leuchars, was very prelatic, and by the Bisliop of St. Andrews brought in against the parish's consent, so that, on the day of his admission, the church doors being shut by the people, they were forced to break in by a window to get hiin entrance. But a little after this, upon the report of a communion Avhere Mr. Bruce was to help, he w^ould needs, from a longing he had to hear and see such a man, go secretly there, and placed himself in a dark part of the church where he might not be known. When Mr. Bruce was come to the pulpit, he did for a considerable time keep silence, as his manner was, which did some way astonish Mr. Henderson ; but much more when he heard the first words wherewith he began, which were these, — " He that cometh not in by the door, but climbeth up another way, the same is a thief and a robber ; " which did, by the Lord's blessing, at the very present take him by the heart, and had so great an impression on him, that it was the first mean of his con- version. When aged, and through infirmity of body confined to his chamber, where he was frequently visited by his friends, being asked by one of them how matters now stood betwixt God and his soul, he made this return, — " When I was a young man," said he, " I was diligent, and lived by faith on the Son of God ; but now I am old, and not able to do much, yet He conde- scendeth to feed me with lumps of sense." And that morning before the Lord removed him, he came to breakfast at his table, and having, as he used, eaten one single egg, he said to his daughter, " I think I am yet hungry, ye may bi-ing me another egg ; " but instantly thereafter falling into a deep meditation, and after having mused a while, he said, " Hold, daughter, hold ; my Master calls me ! " With these words his sight failed him, whereupon ho called for a Bible, but finding his sight gone, he said, — SAINf COLtTMBA. 183 " Cast up to nie the 8tli chapter to the Romans, and set my iinger on these vrords, ' I am persuaded, that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come, nor height, nor depth, nor anj" other creature, shall be able to si'parate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.' Now," said he, " is my finger upon them ? " When they told him it was, without any more, he said, " Now God be with you, my children ; I have break- fasted with you, and shall sup with my Lord Jesus Ciu'ist this night," and so gave up tlie ghost, death shutting his eyes, that he might see God. Thus that valiap.t champion for the truth, wlio, in his appearing to plead for the crown and interest of Jesus Christ, knew not what it was to be daunted by the face and frowns of the liighest and most incensed adversaries, was, by his Master, taken off the field, as more than a conqueror, and as the reward of much faithful diligence about the souls of others, and much pains and seriousness about making h.is own calling and election sure, had an entrance uiini:itcred unto him abundantly into the everlasting kino-dom of his Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. SAINT COLUMBA RECEIVING A LESSON IN CHABITY. Saint Columba spent much of his time in giving charity and procuring relief for the needy. He did this by every method in his power, beside praj'ing for the blessing of God to increase their store. Still, he required a lesson in charity, and he received it thus. We are told, that after he had erected the monastery of Dunough, he ordered a hundred poor persons to be served with victuals every day at a certain hour, and a-ppointcd an almoner for that purpose. One day a mendicant came to apply for a share of this charity, but was told by the almoner that he could have nothing, as the appointed number had been already served. He came the second day, and was told in like manner that he was come too late, and that for the future he must come earlier, if he expected his 184 RELIGIO US A NEGDO TE8 OF SCO TLA ND. share of the charity. The third clay, however, he came as late as before, and when the almoner gave him the same reply as formerly, he bade him go and tell the abbot from him that he ought not to limit his charity by any precise rules which God had not prescribed, but always to give while he had, in whatever number, time, or manner, the poor should apply to him. Columba, upon receiving this message, ran hastily after the men- dicant, who had then assumed a heavenly form, which gave him to understand to whom he was indebted for the counsel. From that day forward Columba laid aside his rules, and gave to all objects, at all times, provided he had any to iDCstow. If at any time he had not, his tears would flow, till God enabled him to relieve their wants. For this reason, the Saint was esteemed, what he really was, the common father and patron of the poor and needy. THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY AND FOBEIGN MISSIONS IN 17 9G. The subject of sending missionaries to the heathen was introduced for discussion to the General Assembly of the Kirk of Scotland in 1796. It soon appeared that there were considerable difference of opinion on the subject. The moderate party pronounced the idea to be " pre- posterous." One of their leaders argued that it "reversed the order of nature ; " that " men must be polished and refined in their manners before they can be properly enlightened in religious truths ; " that " the proposed method by missions Avas like teaching a chilcl the Principia of Newton ere he is made at all acquainted with the letters of the alphabet ; " that " the heathen did not need the gospel, as the savage had his own simple virtues after his own rude type, and that to send the gospel to him, and perhaps 'some of the vices of civilised society ' along with it, might not tend to ' refine his morals or insure his happiness,' which reminds one of Prince Kung's request to Sir Eutherford Alcock — ' Now that you are going home, I wish you would take away with you your opium and your missionaries.'" CliniSTlAlf CJIAHITY OVERCOMllTG UNBELIEF. 185 These sentiments roused the venerable Dr. Erskinc. Starting to his feet, and stretching his arms towards the Moderator, he exclaimed, " Rax (reach) me that Bible ! " and from it he quoted and enforced, with telling power, those texts in which an apostle declared himself a debtor to the barbarian as much as to the Greek, and pro- nounced the gospel to be the power of God unto salvation to every one that believeth. The Moderates, however, were not to be moved. One of them smelt in the j^oung missionary societies and their " common fund," secret clubs that might be " turned against the constitution," and therefore he would oppose them. Since these days this same Church has done much to send the gospel to heathen lands, and at present is most ziealous in the great missionary enterprise. CHRISTIAN CHABITY OVERCOMING UNBELIEF. Joseph Barker,' who was once an infidel, and lecturer against the Bible and Christianity, gives the following in his work, " Teachings of Experience." He says — A gentleman whose conduct left a very favourable impres- sion upon my mind was Colonel Shaw, of Ayr, Scotland. He Vv^as a retired officer, but being a real Christian, and a good speaker, he emploj^ed a considerable portion of his time in preaching the Gospel. How it came to pass I do not exactly remember, but it was arranged that he and I should have a public discussion on the divine authority of the Bible. The discussion took place in the City Hall, Glasgow. The Colonel was so very kind and gentlemanl}', that I found my task exceedingly difficult. It was \cvy unpleasant to speak lightly of the faith of so good and true a man ; or to say anything calculated to hurt the feelings of one so guileless and so afTectionatc. And many a time I wished myself employed about some other business, or engaged in contest with some other man. At the end of the second night's debate we were to rest two days, and the Colonel was so kind as to invite me, and even to press me, to spend those days wuth him 1 8 6 IIELIGIO US A NEC DO TES OF SCO TLAND. at his residence near Ayr. Tlie Colonel had given his good lady so favourable an account of my behaviour in the debate, that she wrote to me enforcing her good husband's invitation. I went. I could do no other. The Colonel and his venerable father met me at the station with a carriage, and I was soon in the midst of the Colonel's truly Christian and happy famil}'-. Neither the Colonel nor any of his household attempted to draw me into con- troversy. Not a word M^as spoken that was calculated to make me feel uneasy. There seemed no effort on the part of any one, yet every thing was said and done in such a way as to make me feel myself perfectly at home. Love, true Christian love, under the guidance of the highest culture, was the moving spirit in the Colonel's family circle. A visit to the birth-place of Burns, and to the banks of Bonnie Doon was proposed, and a most delightful stroll we had, made all the more pleasant by the Colonel's remarks on the various objects of interest that came in view, and his apt and read}^ quotations of passages from the works of the poet, referring to the scenery amidst which we were moving. On our return home I was made to feel at ease again with regard to everything but myself. I felt sorry that I should be at variance with my kind and accomplished host, on a subject of so much interest and importance as religion and the Bible. The thought that on the even- ing of the coming day I should have to appear on the platform again as his opponent, was really annoying. To talk with such a man privately, in a free and friendly Avay, seemed proper enough, but to appear in public as his antagonist, seemed too bad. When we started from Ayr to Glasgow in the same train, and in the same carriage, I felt as if I would much rather have travelled in some other direction, or on a dif- ferent errand. But an agreement had been made, and it must be kept; so two more nights were spent in discussion. But it was discussion — fair and friendly discussion — and not quarrelling. Neither he nor I gave utterance to an unkind or reproachful word. When the discussion was lliVlNCf AND THE SCOFFER. 187 over, the Colonel shook me by the hand in a most hearty manner in the presence of an excited audience, and pre- sented me with a book as an expression of his respect and cjood feeling. I made the best return I could, unwilling to be too much outdone by my gallant and Clu'i.-5tian friend. The audience, divided as they were on matters of religion, after gazing some time on the spectacle presented on the platform, as if at a loss what to do, or wdiich of the disputants they should applaud, dropped their dillerences, and all united in applauding both, and the disputants and the audience separated with the heartiest demonstrations of satisfaction and mutual good will. The events of those days, and the impression I received of my opponent's exalted character, never faded from my memory. And though they had not all the effect they ought to have had, their influence on my mind was truly salutary. I have never thought of Colonel Shaw and his good, kind. Christian family, without affection, gratitude, and delight. He wrote to me repeatedly after my return to America, and his letters, which reached us when we were living among the wilds of Nebraska, were among our pleasantest visi- tants, and must be reckoned among the means of my recovery from the horrors of unbelief. IBVING AND THE S C F F E E. When Edward Irving was in Glasgow, he attended a social party at the house of one of the members of his church. A young man was present who had permitted himself to talk profanely, in a manner now unknown, and wdffch would not be tolerated in any party novv^-a- days. After expending all his little wit upon priestcraft and its inventions, this youth, getting bold by degrees, at last attacked Irving — who had hitherto taken no notice of him — directly, as one of the world-deluding order. Irving heard him out in silence, and then turned to the other listeners. " My friends," he said, " I will make no reply to this unhappy youth, who hath attacked 1 S8 RELIOtO US ANEObO TES OP SCO TLAND. the Lord in the person of his servant; but let us pray that this his sin may not be laid to his charge," and with a solemn motion of his hand, which the awe - struck diners-out instinctively obeyed, Irving rose up to his full majestic height, and solemnly commended the offender to the foro;iveness of God. AN ANTIQUE SCOTTISH MATRON. As a certain minister vv^as waiting for converse with his young commimicants, an old woman, neatly dressed in kirtle and snood, like any well-to-do cottar's wife of the last century, was introduced. On asking her errand, she answers wath a bright twinkle in her eye,— "Are na ye waiting for the young folk ?" It is rejoined that she is "surely rather an old disciple." Her reply is, — "Only seventy-eight past; but to make a lang story short, I have just come from the country, have been stud^^ing baith sides of present controversies, and think your folks as near the truth as ony o' them, and having tried your gifts for my edification, I am anxious to become a member of your church, if you are willing to tak' me." On being reminded that it less concerned the minister what church one belonged to, than to be assured that we belonged to Christ, she replied, "Yes, but disna Christ demand a reasonable service ? I have been upv/ards of sixty years a member of the kirk, but I have brought no certificate, for if I canna gie, to every man that asketh me, a reason of the hope that is in me, I am unfit to be a member ony gaet." She proved to be an expert Bible Christian, and by her ready wit and caustic humour, a dangerous antagonist in any religious controversy. An over zealous missionary once intruded into her house, and began to ask the character of some of her neighbours. Her answer was, — " I allov/ no one to meddle with me, and my Bible does not allow me to be a tale-bearer." On the same occasion, it being insinuated that she had far to go to her church, instantly she answered, "A willing heart maks licht heels." LR. JOHN BROWN'S EARLY EXPERIENCES. 189 DB. JOHN BROWN'S EARLY EXrEIilENCES. Ox the morning of the 28th May, 181G, writes Dr. John Brown, my eldest si.stcr Janet, and I, were sleeping in the kitchen-Led, with Tibbie Meek, our only servant. We were all three awakened by a cry of pain — sharp, insufferable, as if one were stung. Years after, we two confided to each other, sitting by the burnside, that we thought that "great cry" which rose at midnight in Egypt must have been like it. We all knew whose voice it was, and, in our night clothes, we ran into the passage, and into the little parlour to the left hand, in which was a bed-closet. We found our father standing before us, erect, his hands clenched in his black hair, his eyes full of misery and amazement, his face white as that of the dead. He frightened us. He saw this, or else his intense will had mastered his agonj^, for taking his hands from his head, he said, slowly and gently, " Let us give thanks," and turned to a little sofa in the room ; there lay our mother, dead. She had long been ailing. I remember her sitting in a shawl — an Indian one, with little dark - green spots on a light ground — and watching her growing pale with what I afterwards knew must have been strong pain. She had, being feverish, slipped out of bed, and grandmother, her mother, seeing her "change come," had called my father, and they, two, saw her open her blue, kind, and true eyes, " comfortable " to us all " as the day " — I re- member them better than those of any one I saw yester- day — and, with one faint look of recognition to him, close them till the time of the restitution of all things. " She had another morn than ours." My mother was buried in a quiet little churchyard in Symington, lying in the shadow of Tinto, a place where she herself had wished to be laid. The funeral was chiefly on horseback. We, the family, were in coaches. I had been since the death in a sort of stupid musing and wonder, not making out what it all meant. I knew my mother was said to be dead. I saw she was still, 190 RELIGIOUS ANECDOTES OF SCOTLAND. and laid out, and then shut up, and didn't move ; but I did not know that when she was carried out in that long black box, and ^v'c all went with her, she alone was never to return. When we got to the village all the people were at their doors. One woman, the blacksmith Thomas Spence's wife, had a nursing baby in her arms, and he leapt up and crowed with joy at the strange sight, the crowding horsemen, the coaches, and the nod- ding plumes of the hearse. This was ray brother William, then nine months old, and Margaret Spence was his foster-mother. Those with me v/ere overcome at this sight, he of all the world whose, in some way, was the greatest loss, the least conscious, turning it to his own childish (f\&e. We got to the churchyard, and stood round the open grave. My dear old grandfather was asked by my father to pray — he did. 1 don't remember his words ; I believe he, through his tears and sobs, repeated the divine words, — "All flesh is grass, and all the good- liness thereof is as the flower of the field ; the grass withereth, the flower fadeth, but the word of the Lord endureth for ever ; " adding in his homely and pathetic way, that the flower would again bloom, never again to fade ; that what was now sov/n in dishonour and w^eak- ness, would be raised in glory and power, like unto His own glorious body. Then to my surprise and alarm, the cofBn, resting on its bearers, was placed over that dark hole, and I watched with curious eye the unrolling of those neat black bunches of cords, which I have often enough seen since. My father took tlie one at the head, aiid also another smaller springing from the same point as his, which he had caused to be put there, and unrolling it, put it into my hand. I twisted it firmly round my fingers, and awaited the result ; the burial men, with their real ropes, lowered the coffin, and when it rested at the bottom, it was too far down for me to see it — the grave was made very deep, as he used afterwards to tell us, that it might hold us all — my father first and abruptly let his cord drop, followed by the rest. This was too much. I now saw what was meant, and held on, and A FRUITFUL SERMON. 191 fixed my fist and feet, and I believe my father had some diillculty in forcing open my small fingers; he let the little Llack cord drop, and I remember, in my misery and anger, seeing its open end disappearing in the gloom. A FBUITFUL SEBMON OF THE BEV. DB. CHALMEBS. After Dr. Chalmers passed through the spiritual crisis which changed the Vv'holc spirit and style of his pulpit ministrations, he achieved wonders ; many under his word were born again. One instance is given. It was in the spring of 1812, and the preacher's text was John iii. 16 — "God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth on him should not perish, but have everlasting life." Two young men heard this sermon, the one, the son of a farmer in the parish ; the other, the son of one of the villagers. They met as the congregation dispersed. " Did you feel anything particular in church, to - day ? " Alexander Paterson said to his acquaintance, Robert Edie, as they found themselves alone upon the road. " I never," he con- tinued, " felt myself to be a lost sinner till to-daj'', when I was listening to that sermon." " It is very strange," said his companion, "it was just the same with me." They v/ere near a plantation, into which they wandered, as the conversation proceeded. Hidden at last from all human sight, it was proposed that they should join in priiyer. Screened by the opening foliage, they knelt on the fresh green sod, and poured out in turn their earnest petitions to the hearer and answerer of prayer. Both dated their conversion from that day. Alexander Paterson went shortly afterwards to reside in the neigh- bouring parish of Dairsie, but attended regularly on the Sabbath at Kilraany Church. His friend, Robert Edie, generally convoyed him part of the way home. About one hundred yards from the road along which they travelled, in the thickly-screened seclusion of a close plantation, and under the shade of a branching fir-tree, the two friends found a quiet retreat, Avhcre, 192 RELiaiOUS ANECDOTES OF SCOTLAND. each returninc^ Sabbath evening, the eye that seeth in secret looked down upon these two youthful disciples of the Saviour on their knees, and, for an hour, their ardent prayers alternately ascended to the throne of grace. The practice was continued for years, till a private footpath of their own had been opened to the trysting-tree ; and when, some years ago, after long absence on the part of both, they met at Kilmany, at Mr. Edie's suggestion, they revisited the spot, and, renewing the sacred exercise, offered up their joint thanksgivings to that God who had kept them by His grace, and, in their separate spheres, had honoured each of them with usefulness in the Church. Mr. Paterson laboured for twenty - two years as a missionary in the Canongate of Edinburgh, not without many pleasing evidences that his labours have been blessed. And there is reason to believe that by his efforts in behalf of Bible and Missionary Societies, through means of Sabbath Schools and prayer meetings, and by the light of a guiding and consistent example, Mr. Edie's life, while one of active industry, has also been one of devoted Christian usefulness. LIFE T HBO UGH DEATH. Miss Eliza Fletcher was summoned from Paris to Scotland to the bedside of her friend, Marjory Smith, a minister's daughter at Kilwinning. This girl she had loved idolatrous!}^, but not her religion ; for her own strong religious impressions alternated with fits of wilful scepticism. Marjory knew this, and had laboured with all her gentle force to bring her to the humble acceptance of Jesus. And now on her death-bed she made one last solemn effort. She sent for her friend to her bedside, and a solemn scene ensued. Miss Fletcher tells the story herself : — " Early next morning I was awoke from sleep by a voice at my bedside : ' Rise immediately. Miss Eliza ; make haste. Miss Marjory is very ill, and wants to see you at once.' I sprang up ; I think I was beside her in LIFE THROUGH DEATH. 193 ten minutes. It was half -past four. When I entered the room, ' Eliza/ she said, ' I am glad you are there ; I want to see you alone' She made all go out. ' Now, Eliza,' she said, 'sit close beside me. I am dying, there's no use in concealing that or not speaking of it. I feel I am dying, and I wish to speak to you. Oh ! Eliza, you have often talked lightly of Satan, heaven, hell. I know you have not yet given 3^our heart to the Lord, and now I wish to tell you something. Last night Satan came to my bedside — it was no heated imagination — he was there,' she said, pointing to the other side. 'I fdt his presence. He drew near, and held up to my terrified eyes all my past sins — sins, Eliza, long forgotten — and it was a terrible sight. I tried to drive him away by telling him I had come to Jesus. You, he said, such a sinner as you, — look ; and I gazed at my sins. Again I told him of the blood which cleanseth from all sin. But are you washed ? he argued ; look again at your sins ; ihsxQ they are, you cannot deny them. Oh ! Eliza, the conllict was so awful that the perspiration broke all over my body. At length I said. Well, Satan, I give it up. I am a sinner. I have committed all these sins, and far more ; but I am not worse than Mary Magdalene, and she is in glory. The Saviour that took Iter there can, and will, take me. Then he pointed to the cold grave. Look at that dismal damp grave, how will you like to be there ? Ah ! Satan, I said, my dear Saviour has lain there before me, and the bed upon which he lay will bo a sweet one for me. Then he lied. Now, dear Eliza, I tell you as a dying one — you will believe my dyin;/ words, won't you ? There is a hell, there is a devil ; and blessed be God, there is a heaven, and there is a Saviour. I speak to you solemnly ; let my death be life to you.' She was exhausted. 'Marjory,' I said, throwing myself on the bed beside her, 'I cannot live without you.' Putting her hand tenderly on my shoulder, she replied, ' Oh, dear Eliza, get Jesus and His love, and you will do without me ! ' " This appeal was not in vain, for Eliza became a noted Christian worker, and died a Christian death. 13 194 RELIGIOUS ANECDOTES OF SCOTLAND. TEE THBEE BEMABKABLE PABISHIONEBS AT ABBIBLOT. Arbirlot was Dr. Guthrie's first parish, and among those who belonged to it he refers to three of them thus : — • In this population of a thousand parishioners, there were three units that stood out in a marked way from the rest. There was one dissenter, a very worthy man, a tailor, who travelled every Sunday, fair weather or foul, ten or twelve miles in order that he might worship with his own small sect of Old Light Seceders in Arbroath ; there was one man who could not read, but he was an interloper, and not a native; and there was one man who did not attend church on the Lord's Da}^ and he Vi'as crazy. The first was much respected ; the second was regarded as a curiosity, people pointing him out as the man who could not read ; and the third nobody heeded, far less follov/ed his example. On the other hand, we had two or three as bad, im- moral fellov/s as v\^ere to be found in the whole country, yet they v^ere never out of church. I remember with no small satisfaction hov/ I took the wind out of the sails of one of these in an attempt ho made to mortify me, at the very time I was showing him kind and Christian attentions. He had been very ill, and was prepared to express his gratitude for my attentions on a day when I went to visit him, and v/hcn he expected me to do so. At that time the Voluntary Controversy was raging throughout the country, and a fierce and scurrilous attack had been made on me by a low pamphleteer in Arbroath. V/ith this, which I had not seen but had heard of, this " fellow of the baser sort " had furnished himself, that he might annoy and mortify his minister by getting me to take it homo and read it. So, no sooner had I finished praying vrith him, and was on my feet to go, than he said, — " Oh, Mr. Guthrie, here is a pamphlet about you!" I saw malignity gleaming in his eyes, and, suspecting the truth, turned round to ask, " Is it for or against me ? " " Oh," he replied, " against roil : " .and never did a man look more mortified, n^.oro THE FRIENDS IN SCOTLAND. 195 chopfallen than he, on my saying, with a merry laugh, "Ah, well, you may keep it ; had it hccn for me, I would have read lb. I never read anytliing that is against me ! " This answer is one, which, if given in similar circumstances, would put an end to much mischief. THE FBIENDS, OB QUAKERS, IN SCOTLAND. Whkn the Friends began in Scotland they were harshly treated. They were excommunicated from the National Church, and otherwise looked upon as not sound in faith, nor v»-]iat they sb.ould bo in practice. This led them to explain many incidents as if tb.ey were judgments of God on their enemies. Thus Barclay remarks : — " Sir John Keith, who, in those days and afterward, was very violent against Friends, having in the year 1GC7 brought away under a guard several of his people from Inverury, where they had been previously imprisoned, the magis- trates of Aberdeen, to whom they were delivered, after keeping them in confinement some time, caused them to be conducted through the streets, with great contempt and reproach, to the Bow Bridge, where a guard was provided to conduct them southward to Edinburgh, from sb.ire to shire, as the worst of malefactors. When they had proceeded a little way out of the town, one of the prisoners, William Gellie, a man of very weakly and inhrm habit, sat down ; and the rest of the Friends followed his example, refusing to go further, unless horses were provided. Alexander, who attended, in order to see them set out, was much enraged, commanded William Gellie to rise and go forward on foot ; and, because of his refusal, he struck him piteously. " The Friends, however, continued to sit still ; upon which the magistrate, with all his train, not being able to prevail in their purpose, returned to Aberdeen, and the Friends to their respective dwelling-places. But, what was remarkable, the first ol)ject that presented itself to this persecutor on reaching his own house was his son, who had, by a fall, broken his arm, and in the very same time that the father had been using hig 1 9 6 RELIOIO US A NEC DO TES OF SCO TLAND. arm to strike the harmless servant of the Lord ; which circumstance, thus coinciding, so awakened the conscience of this person, that ho said (and afterwards told it to some Friends), he ivoiild never strike a Quaker again. LORD BBOUGHAM'S DECISION OF CHARACTER IN EARLY LIFE. Lord Brougham was born in Edinburgh, and attended the High School. When there, and as a boy, he dis- played the wonderful powers of mind which were so conspicuous as a man. Lord Cockburn, who was at the same school, relates the following anecdote, which is characteristic : — " Brougham," he says, " was not in the same class with me. Before getting to the Rector's class, he had been under Luke Frazer, who, in his two immediately preceding courses of four years each, had the good fortune to have Francis Jeffrey and Sir Walter Scott as his pupils. Brougham made his first explosion while at Frazer's class. lie dared to differ from Frazer, a hot, but good - natured old fellow, on some bit of Latinity. The master, like other men in power, main- tained his own infallibility, punished the rebel, and flattered himself that the affair was over. But Brougham reappeared next day, loaded with books, returned to the charge before the whole class, and compelled honest Luke to acknowledge he had been wrong. This made Brougham famous throughout the school. I remember as well as if it had been yesterday, having had him pointed out to me as 'the fellov/ Vv^ho had beat the master.' It was then that I first saw him." He who could set his master right when at school was likely to turn out a man of energy and success. This Brougham was, and in his case, the boy was the father of the man, and shows his unqualified devotion to truth as truth. It likewise illustrates the importance of being thoroughly confirmed in one's own mind in matters of more im- portance than that of Latinity, and thereafter holding fast to that which is true. DRINK AND DEA Til A T BLA IRGO WRIE. 197 THE HUMANITY OF BURNS. Burns was tender in heart, and was benevolent in dis- position. This tenderness comes out in liis many poems, especiall)^ in his "Address to a Mountain Daisy" and " To a Mouse." And his benevolence finds expression in " Man is made to Mourn," and others of his productions. But he did not confine his love for man to words, but many were the deeds of kindness he did. An eye- witness has said, that returning home to his house in the Wee Vennel, Dumfries, one stormy wet night after dark, he discovered a poor, half-witted, street-strollinnr beggar woman, well known about the town, half-naked, drenched, and shivering, huddled together, almost in- sensible, on his own door-step. In those days there was no shelter of a police-office to which such a helpless vagrant could be removed, nor was there any house open at the moment to which she could be carried but his own. Mrs. Burns might, perhaps, be excused for hesi- tating to receive such an inmate, even for the night; but remonstrance was in vain. The insensible outcast, motionless, presumably unconscious, was carefully lifted in, and housed and sheltered under the Poet's hospitable roof till morning, when, not without breakfast, wo may be sure, she was enabled to pursue her way. " Then shall the King say unto them on his right hand. Come, ye blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world : For I was an hungered, and ye gave me meat; I was thirsty, and ye gave me drink : I was a stranger, and ye took me in : Naked, and ye clothed me : I was sick, and ye visited me : I was in prison, and ye came unto me." DBINK AND DEATH AT BLAIRGOWRIE. The Rev. Dr. Guthrie sent a letter to his eldest son from Blairgowrie in the month of J\ray, 1859, in which he describes the terrible results of intemperance. In the letter he says : — "A wretched, ill-doing, drunken baker, had come on Thursday morning by the train 198 RELIGIOUS ANECDOTES OF SCOTLAND. from Dundee. He had been working there, and for some days past drinking hard. He had two children here, boarded with a woman, for whom, spending his money on drink, he had not been paying regularh^ The woman, by letter, had dunned him for their board. The tv\'o bairns were crossing the bridge on their way to school in the morning, when they encountered their father. He bade them go up with him and see their grandmother, who lived some mile or so up the banks of the Ericht. " It was a roaring flood, he was mad and moody after his days of debauchery. He took his lassie in the one hand, his boy in the other. About 1,000 feet above the bridge and the town, the banks approach, the bed grows rocky, and the whole body of the v.'ater shoots among horrid rocks, forming great, black, deep, swirling pools, through a very contracted channel. They reach the place. He takes off the laddie's cap, and, throwing it on the ground, says he will buy a better for him ; does the same with his lassie's bonnet, then, standing on a rock about eight feet above the boiling flood, he seizes his boy and throws him in — he is shot off like an arrow. Some twelve feet farther down, there rises up from the black depths a rock which lifts its head about a foot above the surfact;, the stream roaring on each side. By a most merciful Providence, the boy was whirled within reach of it; he caught it, hung on, and got upon the rock. "This must have been the work of a moment; he was safely there before the wretched drunkard had had time, I fancy, to complete his work, for the boy saw him next seize his little sister, and leap with her into the jaws of death. The poor laddie called to her to make for the rock. She cried, as she floated by along with her father, that he ' wadna let her;' and at that moment the boj saw the drowning monster actually raise his hand and press her poor head below the \^'atcr, and then, in a moment, both vanished from his sight, while he stood screaming. A woman heard his cries ; the alarm was given, a ladder was thrown from the bank, it reached A CA MEUONIA N ELD En ON BE A DING SERMON^;. 109 the rock — a man passed over and rescued liiin. I Avent to see the place, and saw a commotion among the people that were scattered in groups all along the banks. A few steps brought me in sight of wliat I never shall forgot. A deep hole lies behind a dam-dyke. A man had thrust a long pole into it, and, when I got to tlie spot, he was up to the middle in v>'atei-, making his way to the shore, bearing in his arms the poor dead body of a l)onny lassie. liur arms were extended, her head was lying on his shoulders, her face was ruddy. I thought it was a girl who had fallen in, and was not dead. But the outburst of grief, the cries and tears of Avomen and children soon undeceived me. The body of the poor bairn, her yellow hair parted back from a sweet fore- head, with a comely face, looking calm as if asleep, the face full of colour, but the little hands and arms deadly Vtdiite, was laid on the bank. The sight was over- whelminsc enouo-h to drive one mad Vv'ith sorrow, rao-e, pit}'', horror, indignation. I spoke out to the multitude against drinking, and when one spoke of the body of the man lying, perhaps, in the same place, I said, if it were found, it should be hung up in chains ; to which, to the credit of humanity, there was from some a loud and hearty assent. " The only thing that calmed me was to look on that poor corpse, and tliijik that, poor thing, this lassie Vv^as better dead than living, — with God, and in His arms, than to live and have a drunkard for her father. I expect God will bring much good out of this most horrid and unnatural tragedy. Strange that ministers will meet in General Assemblies and discuss this thing and that thing, nor address themselves aright and with self-denial to this spring and well-head of miseries and murders, the damnation of souls, and the ruin of our land." A CAMEBONIAN ELDER ON BEADING SEBMONS. The Rev. Dr. Wm. Anderson used to tell the following incident with much interest: — I had just, he .said, been licensed to preach, and was despatched to Kirkintilloch, 200 RELIGIO US AN EC DO TES OF SCO TLAND. to officiate on the coming Sabbath. The mode of conveyance was by the night canal boat leaving Glasgow at 9 o'clock ; the cabin oi" these vessels was so narrow that the knees of passengers sitting opposite touched. In the centre was a long narrow table, at the stern end of which sat a fiddler, whose duty it was to fill up the gaps between the political and theological discussions, which often made pleasant those otherwise weary night voyages. Opposite me sat an old grey-headed man, the whole make-up of whom indicated a Cameronian Elder of the " stvaitest sect," and on my right sat a young man, going to the same place, the twinkle of whose eye seemed to sa}^ let us have some fun ; and hardly had the boat left the wharf till he looked over to his old friend, and* said, "Ay, David, man, say ye ha'e been in Glaskie, hae ye? What i' the world ha'e ye been there for, man ? It's nae a journey that everybody taks ; and abune a', wha wid hae expected tae see ye there ? " " Weel, ye see," replied David, " ma dochter gat married tae a lad there, an' they wad ha'e me to gang thro' an' see them." "Weel, David, an' what think ye o' Glaskie ? " " Oh, man, it's an awf u' place ; it's abune a' ma thochts. I had nae idea o't, an' I'm jist glcd to get awa' hame again." " Weel, David, an' wha did ye hear preachin'?" "Oh, ye ken, I gaed tae oor ain place, o' course ; we ha'e a kirk in Glaskie, ye see." " But ye dinna mean to tell me, David, that ye didna gang to hear Tammas Chalmers, do ye ? " " Aweel, aweel (scratching his head as if in a dilemma), I's no say that I didna, but then, do ye see, it was on Thursday nicht, an' I didna think there wad be meikle sin, when it wisna the Sabbath day ; but, man, he's an awfu' man that : I never heard a man like him, for I was sittin', whan, an' afore I kent whaur I was, I was up on my verra feet, stretchin' o'er the beukboard, wi' my e'en wide starin', an' my mooth wide open, feared I wad lose a word. But ca' ye yon preachin' ? Na, na, it was rank black prelacy ; man, he read ilka word o't; na, na, nane o' that abomination for me — na, na." I thought I might have a little banter with the old man also, and so I said, " David, you need not be so hard A CAMEnONlAN ELDER ON READING SERMONS. 201 arrainst prelacy, or read sermons, for ye know it is a fact, ■which yoa cannot don}', that yc read prayers yourself every morning." With a smile of contempt, mixed with pity, the old man fixed his eyes on me, and in a solemn tone said, " Laddie, ye'll no ken wha I am, or ye wiidna speak that way ; for onybody that kens me that has been an elder o' the Cameronian Kirk o' Kirkintilloch for abune thirty j'ears, wudna set sic a sin to my door ; na, na." "But, ])avid, I have good ground for what I have said, and I know that you do read prayers every morning." At this reiterated charge, the old man's wrath began to wax warm, and rising to his feet, he ex- claimed in a passion, " It's a lee, it's a lee ; wha ever tald *ye that I carcna, but it's a black lee." Feeling that I had, perhaps, led him far enough, I said, " Be calm, David, and answer me a question ; do ye not read the Psalms of David every morning ? " " To be sure I do ; but what has that to dae wi' the lee ? " " Well, David, are not David's Psalms the best prayers ever written ? " The face of the old Cameronian relaxed into a smile, as he sat down and exclaimed, " A}^ laddie, but ye ha'e caught me noo, ye ha'e caught me noo." " But, David," I con- tinued, " I am afraid, that from the way you have been talking, you do not know what a sermon means." "I sud think," he rejoined, "I sud think that a man wha has been an elder o' the Cameronian Kirk abune thirty years, sud ken what a sermon means, if onybody kens." "Well, David, let me tell you that a sermon is a proclama- tion ; now you know that when the king makes a pro- clamation, it is written on paper, and read at the Cross, and that it is not a proclamation unless it is read ; now, 5'ou know that the gospel is the proclamation of the King of kings ; therefore, as all proclamations must be read, so a sermon, being a proclamation, must be read, or it is not a sermon." David looked dumfoundered ; the boat had reached our destination, and the old Cameronian in stepping out, exclaimed, "Tuts, tuts, laddie, ye hae ower muckle Latin for me." 202 nETAOIO us ANECDO TES OF SCO TLAND. THE FATHER OF THE BEV. DIt. WABBLAW. " Old Bailie Wardlaw " as he was called, the father of the Rev. Dr. llalph Warcllaw, spent his life in a cheerful and charitable religiousness, and his end was in keeping with such a life, peaceful, serene, and happ}''. Being visited by some Christian friends during his confinement, he discoursed with theui in his usual cheerful and pleasant way, and spoke, with humble but mif altering confidence, of his hopes for eternity, founded on the Saviour's merits. One of the party, whose views of divine truth were of a kind which led him not only to indulge in gloomy feelings and anxious forebodings, but even to attach to these a certain religious worth, wa^ somewhat scandalised hj the brightness which seemed diflfused over the soul of the dying saint, and he could not refrain from endeavouring to recall him to what he considered a more befitting^ state of mind. " Oh, Mr. Wardlaw," he said, " does it beseem us to pass through the dark valley without a struggle ? Eemember how it fared with our Master : was not his soul troubled within him, and was not he sorrowful even unto death ? " " Aye," exclaimed the dying saint, rising on his couch, " it was even so ; and oh ! man, it is that very trouble and that very sorrow that make me go so lightly through the valley this day; surely lie hath home our griefs, and carried our sorroivs." Within a few hours of his departure, he repeated the vrords, "He which testifieth these things saith, Surely I come quickly : Amen. Even so, come. Lord Jesus." " That is," he added, " come quickly. But this is not to be understood as the language of impatience — come instantly — come now because it is my time. No, I would say, ' Come, Lord Jesus, come in Thine own good time, in Thine own way, and by Thine own appointed means ; for those are always best. Even so, come, Lord Jesus.' " There is something in this akin to the faith of the Apostle wdion he exclaimed, "I know whom I have believed, and am persuaded that he is able to keep that which I have committed unto him against that day." This calm, serene reliance in the prospect of death rises to the sublime of piety. ^ THE SABBATH MARKET. 203 JOY IN TEAIiS. " Many years ago, in a time of spiritual inquiry," says Dr. Moody Stuart, "a stranger, having an air of superior intelligence, called on me in distress of mind. In sj^eak- ing to her, I was brought to a stand l>y her thorougli knowledge of the letter and doctrine of the Scriptures ; and iinding I could add no instruction, I asked no further questions, but briefly opened and pressed the words, ' Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners,' and ended with praj-er. While I was speaking, a stream of silent tears began to flov.', and she looked relieved, but was silent. A week after she returned, with her face bright with joy, to tell me that she had found that peace with God, which she had before been vainly seeking. I asked her, 'Vvliy did you weep when you left last day?' 'I wept for joy.' 'And what gave you the joy?' 'I saw, as 3'ou were speaking, that Jesus came into the world to save sinners.' ' But you knew that before ? * ' No.' ' Then what did you think ?' 'I always thought that Jesus came into the world to save saints ; and I wept for jo}^ when I sav/ He came to save sinners.' " TEE SABBATH MABKET. In the j^car 183-i the Rev. Alex. Stewart, of Cromarty, visited the Duchess of Gordon at Gordon Castle, and when there, told an anecdote the Duchess often repeated wuth great animation. Hector Munro was a half-witted man, but like so many of the weak ones in this world, he was strong in the grace that is in Christ Jesus. He had a fair knowledge of sacred things and of tlie Bible, and was most careful in his religious duties. He was, though weak in iiitellect, much respected, and taken notice of by those who belonged to the better class of society. Mr. Stewart having invited him to pay him a visit at Cromarty Manse, he came most inopportunely on the Saturday afternoon, with the design of remaining all night, when the minister was busily engaged with his work for the Sabbath. Mr. Stewart was a man of genius as well as grace; his sermons were often the 204 HELIGIO US A NEC DO TES OF SCO TLA ND. product of a hio-h effort of intellect; and he was not constitutionally free from the senstiveness which might be ruffled at and resent such an interruption. But he overcame his discomposure, received and kindly enter- tained his guest, and found his reward in an intercourse more precious to him, and more memorable than the interrupted sermon. Hector having come in his best clothes, the minister addressed him, — " Wcel, Hector, ye've made yoursel' braw the day." " Hout ay, folk mak's themscl's braw tae gang tae thae vain markets, but I'se warrant the Sabbath's the best market, for it's there we get withoot money and withoot price. An', Maister Stewart, I'm thinkin' the Seterday's jist like the Christian's deathbed; he's dune his wark, an' he's wash't, an' he's clean, an' lie lies doon, an' he waukens, — an' it's the Sabbath ! An' He was braw Himsel' that day," meaning thereby that Jesus was arrayed in a bright robe when He rose on the first day of the week. DAVID HUME AND PBINCIPAL ROBERTSON; Or, The Light of Nature and of Revelation. David Hume wrote an essay on the sufficiency of the light of nature, and Dr. Robertson wrote on the neces- sity of revelation and the insufficiency of the light of nature. Hume came one evening to visit Robertson, and the time was spent in conversation on this subject. The friends of both were present, and it is said that Robertson reasoned with unusual clearness and power. Whether Hume was convinced by his reasoning or not we cannot tell ; but, at any rate, he did not acknowledge his conviction. Hume was very much of a gentleman in his manners, and, as he rose to depart, bowed politely to those in the room, while, as he retired through the door, Robertson took the light to show him the Avay. Hume was still facing the door. " Oh, sir," said he, " I find the light of nature alwaj's sufficient;" and continued, " pray, don't trouble yourself, sir," and so he walked on. LORD HADDO'S SPIRITUAL CHANGE. 205 The door was opened, and presently, as lie went along the hall, he stmnLlcd over something concealed, and pitched down the steps into the street. Robertson ]-an after him with the light, and as he lield it over him, whispered soi'tly, " You had better have a light from above, Mr. Hume;" and raising him up, he bade him good night, and returned to his friends. LOBD IIADDO'S SPIBITUAL CHANGE. Lord ITaddo thus records in his diary the history of his spiritual change. lie says : — "About this time last year, 29th January 1849, or perhaps a few days earlier, I lirst began to change my habits of life. It was about seven o'clock in the evening that I received such a deep impression of eternity, that the cfl'ect has continued to the present day, and, by the blessing of God, will remain to my dying day. I had just dressed for dinner, when the sight of the clothes which I had thrown off, suddenly impressed me with the thought of dying ; of undressing for the last time ; of being unclothed of this body. I felt the terrors of dying unprepared, in a degree ap- proaching to reality. In the bed I saw not a place of nightly repose, but a place intended to receive the dj^ing struggle. In short, the prospect of death was impressed on my imagination v/ith overwhelming force ; and not of death only, but of eternity; of the day of judgment, an offended God, and the sentence to eternal torment. I felt the imperative necessity of preparing for death at any cost and any sacrifice. The prospect of heaven added little or nothing to my resolution. Safety was all I aimed at. This I felt was within my reach, and I grasped at it with the feelings of a drowning man. " When I went to dinner, my poor wife saw from my expression that something had occurred ; and when I began to speak, she fairly thought that I had lost my senses, till, after a few days, she herself embraced the same sentiments. Some musicians came, as usual at this hour, before the house. Their tunc seemed to me utter discord, and they were sent away in disgust. What 206 RELIOIO US A NEGDO TES OF SCO TLA ND. madness, I thought, to be fiddling, when heaven and hell are immediately before us. " That evening and the next I read over Baxter's 'Saint's Rest,' and Wilberforce's 'Practical View,' — books which I had read before, but every word of which had now irresistible force. I felt the conclusion irresistible, that salvation must be sought and attained, though the path to it lay through fire and water, and that no hard- ships V\'erc worth a moment's consideration in comparison of so great a prize. In the same manner, the pursuits of my life hitherto appeared utterly frivolous — such as painting, etc. They could not advance me one step on the road to heaven. Till my title to salvation was assured, these occupations seemed an intolerable v/aste of time. After such an assurance, they could possess no interest for one v.diose thoughts and affections were in heaven. I mentally abandoned, without hesitation, everj-thing, and resolved to make an entire change in my life, and to spend the whole day in the service of God, and to devote myself entirely to the promotion of His glory." This change manifested itself in good works. During his life he walked in the footsteps of his Saviour, and died having the victory in the Lord. THE OLD FEBBYMAN ON THE FBITH OF FOB TIL On the Frith of Forth lived an old ferryman, a man of much thought and observation, but of few w^ords, a con- stant student of the Bible, and a firm believer in its truths. Among his patrons were two loquacious com- panions, whose business led them across the river on the same day once a-week. One of them, as he supposed, thought he could do without works if he had faith, and the oth.er thought he could do without faith if he had works. Their conversation always turned upon some doctrinal point. The ferryman was frequently annoyed by the repetition of faith on one side and works on the other, because they were used in a sense so different from tlicir real import, and so destructive of their Scrip- tural harmony. At length the patience of the old man A THIEF OUTDONE. 207 failed him; ho Mt tliat he must interfere. He said nothinnr, hut lull upon the following expedient. Upon one of his oars he painted " Faith," and upon the other, " Works." It was not long before the zealous but friendly disputants applied for a passage over the Forth. Upon entering the deepest part of the river, where the swollen water ru.^hcd down with some violence, the ferryman took in "Faith," and pulled away upon "Works" with all his might. The boat went round and round, much to the annoj'anco and terror of tlic two passengers. " Put out the other oar," said one of them in a loud and angry tone. " Very well," was the calm reply of the old man, at the same time taking in " Vv\)rks " and putting out " Faith " alone, upon which he pulled. The experiment Avith this oar produced the same result, and drove the witnesses of it to the conclusion tliat the ferr3'man was " out of his head." The old man, however, continued his "practical demonstrations" on the water until ho thought the friends were prepared to see two things in connection. He then called their attention to the names painted on his oars. "I have tried your way," said he, " and yours ; and you have seen the result. Nov/, observe my way." And giving a steady pull to each oar, the little boat soon acknowledged the power of their harmonious strokes by the straight and rapid flight which she took for the landing. " Thus it is," he added, " faith works by love." A THIEF OUTDONE. There lived in Eoss-shire one of the ''Men" called Alister Og, the godly weaver of Edderton, who was famous as a man of prayer and earnestness. On one occasion there came a pious man to consult him about the meaning of the counsel, "Pray vrithout ceasing." On his arrival, he found Alister busy digging his croft. "You are w^ell employed, Alister," he said, on coming up to him. " If delving and praying, praying and delving, be good emploj-ment, I am," was his answer, which met the inquirer's difficulty before he had stated it. Once, 208 liELlQIOUS ANECDOTES OF SCOTLAND. late at niglit, a stranger applied at Alister's cloor for a night's lodoiiigs. His wife was unwilling to admit liim, but Alister, " not forgetful to entertain strangers," at )nce invited Inni to come in, and gave him the best his house coulvl alford. On rising next morning, the wife found that the stranger had gone, and had carried off a web which her husband had just linished to order. " Didn't I tell you," she said, after hurrying to Alister with the tidings of the theft, "not to admit tliat man; you yourself will now be suspected of doing away with the web, and what wdll become of us?" "I admitted the stranger," was her husband's reply, "because the Lord commanded me ; and if there is no other way of defending His cause. He wdll send the man who stole the web back with it again." That day was very misty, and the thief spent it, wearily wandering, with the web on his back, over the hill of Edderton. After nightfall, as Alister and his wife w^ere sitting by the ingle, they heard a knock at the door, on opening wdiieh, wdiom should they see on the threshold but their guest of the night before. He had wandered, not knovv^ing whither, till his eye was arrested, and his course directed, b}'- the lio-ht that twinkled in Alister's window ; and now, much to his surprise and confusion, he finds himself throwing the web off his back in the house from which he had stolen it. He was thus outdone, and the words he received from Alister would, it is to be hoped, lead him to see that the way of transgressors is hard, and that a just and all-seeing God reigneth. SIB JAMES lOUNG SIMPSON'S SUPEBSTITIOUS FOEEFATHERS. Sir James Y. Simpson, the "Beloved Physician," was descended from those who entertained notions of a super- stitious kind, which were, less than a century ago, pre- valent in Scotland. Several of Ids near relatives were men of mark in their native district, and noted for strong individuality of character. His grandfather, Alexander Simpson, was long remembered in Linlithgowshire as a SUPERSTITIOUS FOREFATHERS. 209 man of great shrewdness, and highly skilled in the diagnosis and treatment of cattle-disease. His uncles were prudent and energetic men of business — all of them, like their father, adepts in farriery. To these qualities was added a dash of deep superstition. Cattle diseases that baffled their skill were at once ascribed to witchcraft, and characteristic expedients were resorted to for the removal of the spell. Ou an occasion when nuu'rain threatened to empty the well-filled byre at Slackend, the old man took counsel with his sons, and pointed out that the plague could only be stayed by their giving up a cow to be buried alive. Accordingly, a grave was prepared in a field behind the byre, and the beast was led to its edge with great solemnity. " How shall we get her in ? " asked one son. " Father will take the head, you will take the tail, and we will push at the side," was the ready answer. " I remember," says the narrator, "seeing the earth heaving as the soil was pushed in." " Certainly," wrote Dr. Simpson in 1861, " some strange superstitions do remain, or, at least, lately did remain, among us. The sacrifice, for example, of the cock and. other animals for recovery from epilepsy and convulsions, is by no means extinct in some Highland districts. In old Pagan and Mithraic times we know that the sacrifice of the ox was common. I have myself often listened to the account given by one near and dear to me, who was, in early life, personally engaged in the ofiering up and burying of a poor live cow as a sacrifice to the spirit of the murrain. This occurred within twenty miles of the metropolis of Scotland." The uncle, who became pro- prietor of Gormyre, was truly his father's son. " In the same district," Dr. Simpson continues, "a relative of mine bought a farm not very many years ago. Among his first acts, after taking possession, was the enclosing a small triangular corner of one of the fields within a stone wall. The corner cut oft', and which still remains cut oft', was the 'Gudeman's Croft,' — an oftering to the spirit of evil, in order that he might abstain from ever blight- ing or damaging the rest of the farm. The clergyman 14 210 EELIOI0U8 ANECDOTES OF SCOTLAND. of tlio Free Church, who told mc the circumstances, added that my kinsman had hccn, he feared, far from acting honestly with Lucifer after all, as the corner which he had cut off for the 'Gudeman's' share Avas, perhaps, the most worthless and sterile spot on the whole property. "Some may look on such superstitions and superstitious practices as matters utterly vulgar and valueless in them- selves, but in the eyes of the archreologist they become interesting and important, when we remember that the popular superstitions of Scotland, as of other countries, arc, for the most part, true antiquarian vestiges of tlio Pagan creeds and customs of our earlier ancestors ; our present folk-lore being merely, in general, a degenerated and debased form of the highest myth.ological and med- ical lore of very distant times." The laird of Gormyro was known to have interrupted sowing for a day wlien two magpies Hew across the field, in the belief that all the seed sown between the time of their appearance and sunset will be blighted. Another uncle was wont, when driving his cart along the road to Edinburgh, to return home at once, even though nearing town, if a hare crossed in front of him. Yet these men were intelligent above the average. They were industrious, persevering, and self-reliant ; men who knew how to make money, how to keep it, and make it minister to their influence among their fellows. IN A CLEFT OF THE GABBICK FELLS. A LITTLE party assembled in a shepherd's house in Nithsdale to hear Pcden — the prophet, as he was termed — expound the Word of God. "While thus engaged, the bloating of a sheep was heard. The noise disturbed th-- little congregation, and the shepherd was obliged to oO out and drive the sheep away. While so engaged, ]io lifted up his eyes and saw, at a distance, horse-soldier-^ coming towards his cottage. Ho hastened back to give the alarm. All instantly dispersed and hid themselves. Mr. Peden betook himself to the cleft of the rock, tho THE WIGTON MA R T YRS. 2 1 1 Cavo of OMrriok Foils, niid soon tho clnHtn* of horses* liool's nnd (bt> rino' of nnnouv toM liini that his foos w nt IimikI. r^?., Margaret Wilson, a girl of eighteen years of age, and Margaret Lauchlison, an aged widow, were adjudged to die, becauso they refused to acknowledge tho supremacy of any other than Christ in tho Church. Tho sontenco pronounced u]ion them was, that they .should bo fastened to sliikes driv^Mi into tho oo/,y sand that covers tho be.'ich of Wigton l^;iy, and left to perish in tho risiu;,' tide. They were brought out to suller I'oi- their fnilh in tho presence of Gricr.son and Major Winram, nnd :\n innnenso concourse of .^^pectator.s. "They did put the old woman first into tho water," say.s tho chronicler (no doubt with the expectation that tho sight of her death- sti'uggles would terrify the younger suliin'er into sub- nnssion), "and wIxmi the water w;vs overllowing her, th(>_y asked Margaret Wilson what she thought of her in that case ? Sho answered, ' What do I see but Christ wrest- ling there ? Think yo that wo arc sufterer.s ? No I it i.s Christ in u.s, for lio sends none a warfare on their own charges.' Margaret then read tho eighth cluipter of tho Ivoiuans, and .sang T.salm x\v., from the seventh ver.so: — • My sin.') niul faulta of youth Do 'I'hcu, Tionl, forf^ivo; Aflor 'I'liy itipicy lliiiik ou mo, And for Thy {goodness groat,' oto. — and di MABTYES AT P E B T H. On the 25th January, 1544, Helen Stark, her husband, and four others, were tried in Perth for holding meetings for conversing upon and explaining the sacred Scriptures, and were condemned. The men were sentenced to be hanged at the common place of execution, and Helen was to be drowned in a pool in the neighbourhood. Helen and her husband had lived together in the ten- derest union, and, in the ardour of her affection, she implored, as a last request, that she might be permitted to die with him ; but she had been sentenced to undergo a different kind of death, and the affecting request was denied. Being allowed to accompany him to the place of execution, she ministered to him consolation by the way, exhorting him to patience and constancy in the cause of Christ, and parting from him with a kiss, she expressed her feelings in these singularly touching words, the sincere effusion of the heart, for the occasion was too serious for mere theatrical display of sentiment : " Husband, be glad ; we have lived together many joyful days, but this day, on which we must die, ought to be the most joyful of all to us both, because, now we shall have joy for ever. Therefore, I will not bid you good night, for we shall suddenly meet with joy in the king- dom of heaven." A METHODIST MINISTER IN ORKNEY. 225 Immediately after his execution, and the execution of his fellow-martyrs, she was led forth to a pool of water in the neighbourhood, to undergo the death to which she had been condemned. Upon reaching the pool, she prepared for her fate. Having several children — one of whom was an infant hanging upon her breast, a scene of the most affecting nature was exhibited, which strongly moved the spectators, many of whom could not refrain from shedding tears. Her affections being now strongly excited towards her orphan children, the thought of sepa- ration from them seemed for a moment to disturb the serenity of her mind, and she commended them to the compassion of her neighbours. But the most powerfully exciting cause of agitation and agony, was her parting with her sucking child. This beloved object, at whose couch she had often sung, in the joyousness of her heart, her favourite airs, she took from her bosom, and after fixing upon it a last look, full of the tender yearnings of a mother's heart, gave it to the friend who had under- taken to become its nurse. This struggle with parental affection made the sacrifice of her life the more trying, but it made it also the more magnanimous, the more sacred, the more acceptable to God. Recovering from the shock, she yielded herself to death with unwavering faith, calm tranquillity, and heroic fortitude. Without any change of countenance, she sees her hands and her feet bound by the executioner. Thus secured, and being tied in a sack, she was plunged into the water. After a momen- tary struggle, her redeemed spirit, emancipated from all its sorrows, was rejoicing before the throne of God ; and may we not affirm that, next to the Saviour, among the first to welcome her into that happier state of being, were her own husband and his fellow-sufferers, who hatl reached it, perhaps, hardly an hour before ? \^ A METHODIST MINISTEE IN OBKNEY. The Rev. Thomas Collins was sent to Orkney, and laboured there with great zeal from 1835 to 1838. Ho 15 226 RELIOIO US A NECDO TES OF SCO TLAND. was not very heartily received by some people, and was bitterly opposed by not a few. The country folk did not understand what Methodism was, and they were afraid of his theological views. After an open-air service, a poor, much conscience - smitten woman followed Mr. Collins to the house of a friend, where he gave her kindly advice. Before leaving the place, he sought out the humble home where she dwelt, in order to leave with lier some instruction. Seeing that she had seven chil- dren, he prayed for them, and besought her to " bring them up in the nurture and admonition of the Lord," for, said he, "all their immortal souls are precious in the sight of the Saviour." This all was fatal to his influence. It broke the spell thrown over her. She exclaimed, — "'All precious to God ! Not one, out of so many, repro- bated ? Impossible. What heresy ! " The woman's faith in her spiritual instructor had been shaken. To whom had she been listening ? What terrible falsehood had well nigh beguiled her ! From that day she held Mr. Collins to be a deceiver, and would never see or hear him more. On another occasion, a strong controversialist asked him, — " Do you believe in the perseverance of the saints ? " " Certainly," was the unexpected reply. " In- deed ! I thought you were a Weslej^an. I thought you did not." " O, sir, you have been misinformed ; it is the perseverance of sinners that we doubt." This smart reply stopped the outflow of words, and the discussion cea..ed. "^ BEAUTIFUL FIELD IN EDINBUBGH:' After the Rev. Dr. Guthrie settled in Edinburgh, he set to work right earnestly to understand the wants of his parish, and the state of the population in the Cowgate. The valley where he laboured is spanned at one place by George IV. Bridge. Looking through the open rail- ings, the stranger sees v.'ith surprise, not flowing water, but a living stream of humanity in motion beneath liis feet. " It was there," writes Dr. GutTn-ie, " where one looks down on the street below, and on the foul, crowded *'A BEAUTIFUL FIELD IN EDlNBUEOIi:' 227 closes that stretch, like ribs, down into the Cowgate, I stood on a gloomy day in the fall oi' the year '37. The streets were a puddle ; the heavy air, loaded with smoke, was thick and murky; right below lay the narrow street of dingy tenements, whose toppling chimneys and patched and battered roofs were fit emblems of the fortunes of most of their tenants. Of these, some were lying over the sills of windows innocent of glass, or stuffed with old hats or rags ; others, coarse-looking women, with squalid children in their arms or at their feet, stood in groups at the close-mouths — here, with empty laughter, chafiing any passing acquaintance, there screaming each other down in a drunken brawl, or standing sullen and silent, with hunger and ill-usage in their saddened looks. A brewer's cart, threatening to crush beneath its pon- derous wheels the ragged urchins who had no other playground, rumbled over the causeway, drowning the quivering voice of one whose drooping head and scanty dress were ill in harmony with song, but not drowning the shrill pipe of an Irish girl, who thumped the back of an unlucky donkey, and cried her herrings at ' three-a- penny.' So looked the parish I had come to cultivate ; and while contrasting the scene below with pleasant recollections of the parish I had just left — its singing- larks, daisied pastures, decent peasants, and the grand blue sea rolling its lines of snowy breakers on the shore, my rather sad and sombre ruminations were suddenly checked. A hand was laid on my shoulder. I turned round to find Dr. Chalmers at my elbow. " This great and good man knew that I had accepted an Edinburgh charge mainly for the purpose of trying what the parochial or territorial system, fairly Avrought, could do toward christianizing the heathen down beneath our feet, and restoring the denizens of the Cowgate and its closes to sober, decent, and church going habits. Contemplating the scene for a little in silence, all at once, with his broad Luther-like face glowing with en- thusiasm, he waved his arm to exclaim, — 'A beautiful field, sir; a very fine field of operation.'" This field was brought in, and a rich harvest was produced, by the 228 RELIGIOUS ANECDOTES OF SCOTLAND. earnest husbandman, which is scattered over the world in the persons of honest, industrious, and Christian men and women. THE IMPOBTANCE OF DECISION. " I ONCE attended an old man on his death-bed," said the Rev. Dr. Macleod. " He was very lonely, and very poor, and more than fourscore years of age. He was naturally very shy and timid, and suffering from many unbelieving doubts and fears. It was sad to see an old man so far from peace with his Father ; yet he had been a church- member, and had led what is termed ' a quiet inoffensive life.' I found him, however, very earnest, inquiring, and thoughtful ; but very weak in his faith as to the good- will of God towards hwi, and in the freeness of the gospel offers of pardon and grace to him. I felt much interested in him. One afternoon I was passing his door. I had seen him the day before. His illness seemed to be the lingering weakness of old age. It was within a few minutes of my dinner hour, and I had been labour- ing since morning. A strong impulse seized me to enter the sick man's house. But the flesh argued for delay, and pleaded fatigue and want of time, and to-morrow, etc. Yet the words, ' What thy hand findeth to do, do it,' rung in my mind. "I entered, and found the old man very weak. ' 0, sir,' he exclaimed, alluding to a previous conversation, 'is the Lord indeed willing to receive a poor sinner like me?' I again pressed a few truths upon his mind; and, when parting, I strongly urged the importance of be- lieving in the love of God to him through Jesus Christ. In bidding him farewell, I said, 'As freely as I offer you my hand, and with infinitely more love, does Jesus offer as your Saviour every possible good, and Himself as the greatest good of all. Believe, and tJiOu shalt be saved ! ' He seized my hand eagerly, saying, ' I believe it ! ' and promised, according to my request, to resign himself, and all his concerns, in earnest prayer into Christ's hands the moment I left his poor and lonely room. ' You will RETURNING GOOD FOR EVIL. 229 pray for mc, sir ? ' he asked, as I was departing. ' Yes,' I replied. ' To-day, sir ? ' — ' Tliis hour,' was my promise ; ' but,' I added, ' no delay — no, not a minute ! — remember 5'ou arc to pray immediately to Jesus, and to tell Him all your cares, sins, and sorrows, and to commit your soul to His keeping now and for ever. Farewell!' I sent for a person to sit by the old man, as he seemed weaker than usual. In about half an hour after partino- from him, the woman whom I had requested to attend him came running to my door with the intelligence, that she had found him dead!' y. liETUPiNING GOOD FOB EVIL; Or, Conq^iicrecl hy Kindness. James Harkness, Mdio was one of the leaders of the Covenanters of Scotland, in the reign of Charles the Second, was once riding from his persecutors with a party of his friends among the wild mountains and solitarj^ glens of Nithsdale, when they were surprised by a party of dragoons, who hastily surrounded them and took them prisoners. It was in vain to resist ; they were in the firm grasp of the powerful foe, from which they could not extricate themselves. The commander of the party who apprehended them was a man of a cruel disposition, and he used them with great harshness. It appears that prisoners were frequently treated in a very barbarous manner by the soldiers who conveyed them to their place of destination. When they arrived in Edin- burgh, to which place they were conveyed to be tried, they were put into a place of confinement, from which, before they were brought to trial, they succeeded in making their escape. They then proceeded homewards with all the secrecy and despatch they could, and passing Biggar, where the leader of the party who conducted them to Edinburgh happened at the time to be resident, they resolved to visit him. Their design in Avaiting on him was to put in execution a project which they had devised, for the purpose not of injuring, but of frighten- 230 RELiaiOUS ANECDOTES OF SCOTLAND. ing one who had caused them so much trouble and inconvenience. As they approached his house he observed them, and at once knew them to be the prisoners M'ho were recently under his charge. He could not understand how they had possibly got free, and dreading mischief from them, he hid himself. At the door they asked civilly for the captain, and said they wished to see him on particular business. His wife, who had been apprised of the character of her visitors, said he was not at home. Harkness began to fear lest their intention should be defeated, when a little boy standing near said, " I will show where my father is," and forthwith conducted them to the place of his concealment. They instantly dragged him out, as the soldiers used to do the Covenanters from their hiding-places, and appeared as if they were going to take his life. They imitated in all respects the manner in which the dragoons shot the vv'anderers in the field. PTaving furnished themselves with a musket, probably from his own armoury, they caused him to kneel down while they tied a napkin over his eyes, and ordered him to prepare for immediate death. The poor man, in the utmost trepidation, M'as obliged to submit. He bent on his knees, and, being blindfolded, he expected every moment that the fatal shot would be fired into his body. Harkness, after an ominous silence of a few seconds — a brief space, doubtless of intense anxiety and agony to the helpless captain — fired, but fired aloft into the air. The shot went whizzing over the head of the horror- stricken man, who, though stunned with the loud and startling report, sustained no injury. Having thus, by way of chastisement, succeeded in making him feel something of what the poor Covenanters felt when their ruthless foes shot them without trial or ceremony in the fields, they took the bandage from his eyes, and raised him almost powerless with terror to his feet. The circumstance made a deep impression on his mind ; he saw he was fully in the power of the men who had thus captured him, and that, notwith-^tanding, they had done him no harm. Surprise and gladness took the THE A NNI VEli SA RY OP A DELI VE RA NCE. 231 place of the foar of doatli and of the anguish of despair in the grateful man's bosom. He confessed that the .sparing of his life was owing to tlieir Christian clemency, and to the merciful character of their religious principles. He was deeply afiected by a sense of the favour shown him, at a time when he had nothing before him but a pros|)ect of immediate death, and determined to change his life. He became a new man./ THE ANNIVEBSABY OF A DELIVERANCE AT HADDINGTON. John Ceoumbie of Haddington was an amiable, bounti- ful, singularly pious, and every way memorable Christian man ; as well as a rather ungainly, grim-visaged, over- scrupulous, nervous, and eccentric old bachelor. He was a travelling dealer or chapman, and was, indeed, about the best of this class. The most conspicuous feature in his secular character was an unbending and even chivalrous integrity ; and the richest, or at least the rarest qualit}^ of his Christian nature Vi'as his zeal and almost prodigal liberality in the cause of his Lord. So fine a soul could almost afford to be peculiar, to live in a rough-spun bodily presence, and to do without some congenial graces of manner and appearance. Then the world never knows aught of those inward experiences which sometimes modify the whole exterior of such a deep, still spirit, as this inflexible, sternly and tenderly pious, and, to Christ's cause, open-handed country mer- chant. To John Brown, the Commcntcitor, and to some few more that knew him by heart, he was both lovel}' and beloved in no common degree. His experiences, too, were varied, and he had, at least, one of the most extra- ordinary kind to carry to the grave with him, enough to make most men nervous and strange for life. He sold gunpowder. The store where he kept it was in a cellar right below the shop. One summer evening, as he sat at the shop-window over his ledger, an apprentice went below stairs, candle in hand. A spark from the candle did its work ; 232 nELIGIOUS ANECDOTES OF SCOTLAND. the barrel exploded ; the lad was killed ; the flooring and window were blown to pieces, and John Croumbie was lifted into the air, and thrown up the street the length of the old Tron, where, in the strangest manner possible, he was set down safe and sound — except from the slight effects of his fall. This Tron, the public weighing machine, was just half-way between his win- dow and the Cross — a flight of some one-and-thirty yards. The shop doors being supposed shut for the night, the good man was doubtless projected by, and likewise carried safely within, the range of the explosion, the terrible fragments going with him, instead of dashing about him ; if not dashing him to bits, as they might have done but for his guardian angel, the Providence of God. It was, in any case, a most solemn and memorable event. Its influence on his sombre and susceptible mind was deep and permanent. As long as he lived he religiously observed the anniversary of this deliverance from death. Regularly as the day came round, he shut himself within his bed-chamber the whole day long. The hours were spent in thanksgivings for the mercy of not having been hurried, all too suddenly, into the nearer and everlastingly fixed presence of Him who is the rein- trying and heart-searching Jehovah. He remembered the mercies of the Lord, and dedicated himself anew to his service. This was a means of grace which tended to keep the heart of honest John Croumbie right, and enabled him to value at their worth the things of earth and time. Deliverances remembered in this spirit will always have a sanctifying effect. DB. CHALMEBS' INTEGBITY. In Dr. Chalmers' journal we meet with the following : — " Left Kilmany on horseback for Kirkcaldy. Was an- noyed with the peculiarities of my horse, and gave way to an old habit of vehemence on the subject. This must DC carefully guarded against." We are informed, by Dr. Hanna, that the annoying peculiarity of the horse was the habit of suddenly depositing his master upon the CHALMERS AND THOLUCK. 233 earth witli no great respect to gentleness in the act. At first, the Doctor was much interested, by noticing the relative length of the intervals between each fall. One fall, however, was so severe, that he ordered his servant to sell the horse forthwith. " You must conceal none of his faults," said Dr. Chalmers, "and bo sure and tell that he has thrown his master ten times." "And who will buy hiin," said the servant, " if I tell all that before- hand?" "I cannot help that," was the reply; "I will have no deception practised." The horse was finally ex- changed for one of Baxter's works. The quiet and faithful manner in which he served his new master for many years, led to the suspicion that the annoying peculiarity formerly exhibited, was owing to " the singu- larly restless and energetic horsemanship of the rider." Nor does it fail to show forth the Doctor's love for " the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth." CHALMERS AND THOLUCK. When Professor Tholuck of Halle was in Edinburgh in 184G, Dr. Chalmers took an early opportunity of spend- ing an evening with him at the house of the friend with whom he resided. "Dr. Chalmers," says this friend, " seated himself on a low chair close to the learned German, and listened with an air of genuine docility to all he said, throwing in a stray characteristic observation now and then, always, however, in the way of encourage- ment, never in the way of contradiction. Dr. Tholuck had published some verses of a religious character, which had given umbrage to some sect or other. He showed the lines to Dr. Chalmers, who, admiring them, observed that he had often been taken to task himself for a similar latitudinarianism ; 'for, my dear sir,' he added, 'some people have a line nose for heresy.' While Dr. Chalmers was sitting in this posture, drinking in all that was said to him, Tholuck turned to his host, and said, in German, that he had never seen so beautiful an old man. " The words coming out so suddenly in an unknown 234 RELIGIO US ANECDO TE8 OF SCO TLAND. tongue, instantly changed the whole expression of Dr. Chalmers' i'ace from that of happy acquiescence, to one of puzzled amazement, which was, in the highest degree, comic, and this effect was not lessened by his eager putting of the question, — ' What is it, sir, that he says ? ' • — a question impossible to answer, and jei not easy to evade. The result of this interview was an amount of mutual confidence and esteem, as deep and sincere as it was sudden. Dr. Tholuck took an early opportunity of returning the visit, and spent some hours with Dr. Chalmers, urging upon him, in the most direct and homely way, the necessity of directing his mind to the study of the German theology, for, as it was from that quarter the bane had come which was poisoning the simple faith, so it was there alone that the antidote could be found. The day before Tholuck's departure. Dr. Chalmers called upon him and found him at his midday repast. He sat with him only for a few minutes, and said little, but looked at him constantly with an expression of earnest interest and affection. He rose to take leave, and, instead of taking him b}'' the hand, he threw his arms round his neck and kissed him, while ' God bless you, my dear friend,' broke with apparent difficulty from his overcharged heart. After he was gone, it was noticed that a tear had gathered in the crya of him who had received the apostolic benediction and seal of brotherhood from one he loved and venerated so much. His only observation was a half-muttered, half- spoken, ehen ein huss — even a kiss ! " BBOWNLOW NORTH TUBNING A LETTEB TO ACCOUNT. After Mr. Brownlow North became an evangelist, ho was taunted by those who knew his past career, and this sometimes with more than a tinge of spite. One evening Mr. North was about to enter the vestry of a church in one of our northern towns, in which he was going to preach, when a s^-anger came up to him in a hurried manner, and said, — " Here is a letter for you of KNOX'S PliAYEJi FOR SCOTLAND. 235 great importance, and you arc requested to read it before you preach to-niglit." Thinking it might be a request lor prayer from some awakened soul, he immediately opened it, and found that it contained a detail of some of his former irregularities of conduct, concluding with ■words to this effect : " How dare you, being conscious of the truth of all the above, pray and speak to the people this evening, wdien you are such a vile sinner ! " The preacher put the letter into his pocket, entered the pulpit, and, after prayer and praise, commenced his address to a xqxj crowded congregation ; but before speaking on his text he produced the letter, and informed the people of its contents, and then added, — "All that is here said is true, and it is a correct picture of the de- graded sinner that I once M'as ; and oh ! how wonderful must the gi-ace be that could quicken and raise me up from such a death in trespasses and sins, and make me what I appear before y'ou to-night, a vessel of mere}'-, one who knows that all his past sins have been cleansed away through the atoning blood of the Lamb of God. It is of His redeeming love that I have now to tell jovl, and to entreat any here who are not yet reconciled to God to come this night in faith to Jesus, that He may take their sins away, and heal them." His hearers were deeply impressed by the words he spoke, and that which was intended to close his lips was overruled to open the hearts of the congregation to receive his message. KNOX'S PBAYEB FOB SCOTLAND. During the troublous times of Scotland, when the Popish courts and aristocracy were arming themselves to suppress the Keformation in the land, the cause of Protestant Christianity was in imminent peril. Late on a certain night John Knox \vas seen to leave his stud}^, and to pass from the house down into an inclosure to the rear of it. He v^^as followed by a friend ; when after a few moments of silence, his voice was heard as if in prayer. In another moment the accents deepened into intelligible words, and the earnest petition went up 236 RELIGIOUS ANECDOTES OF SCOTLAND. from his struggling soul to heaven, — " Lord, give me Scotland, or I die ! " Then a pause of hushed stillness, then again the petition broke forth, — " Lord, give me Scotland, or I die ! " Once more all was voiceless, noise- less, when, with a yet intense pathos, the thrice-repeated intercession struggled forth, — " Lord, give me Scot- land, or I die ! " And God gave him Scotland in spite of Mary and her Popish missionaries. For Knox's influ- ence has been the greatest of any man in Scotland, and has done much to determine her ecclesiastical, social, educational, and political institutions — Knox's prayer was heard and largely answered. FLOCKHAETS IMPOBTANT SCHOOL-LESSON. Robert Flockhart tells us in his life that, soon after his conversion, he commenced a school in which he taught children to commit to memory portions of Scripture. He had done this himself when a boy, and he found it had been blessed to him. He sa^^s : — " One passage which I learned at that school was Isaiah i. 18, ' Come now and let us reason together, saith the Lord ; though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be white as snow ; though they be red like crimson, they shall be as wool.' This text the Lord hid in my heart for fully twenty years. During all that time, I had clean forgotten it. At length the Lord was pleased to afflict me, and bring me into the wilderness that he might draw me to himself, as it is written, ' I have loved thee with an everlasting love ; therefore with loving-kindness have I drawn thee.' The Spirit of God strove with me through the once crucified, but now glorified Saviour, to lead me to pray. I said, ' I do not know how to pray, or what to say.' Then it came into my mind that I could ofter the Lord's Prayer only. Then, methought I felt not satisfied with praying the Lord's Prayer only ; and now that the task I learned so long ago at Mr. Robertson's school came into my mind, ' Come now, and let us reason together, saith the Lord,' etc., etc., I repeated that blessed portion of God's Word, LIVINGSTONE'S MODESTY. 237 and the Lord came to inc, and I came to him, and pleaded the fuKihncnt of that .sweet promi.se. " I now iinder.stood why the Lord required me to con- fe.ss my sins and tran.sgre.ssions ; it was that his justice might be gloritied, in my eternal punishment for break- ing his law, and living a life of rebellion against him. When, therefore, I repeated the words, ' Though my sins be as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow ; thougli they be red like crimson, they .shall be as wool,' I had the full assurance of faith that God had heard and an- swered this my first prayer. Thus, judging from my own case, I thought that portion of God's Word instilled into the children's young hearts might afterwards be productive of great good, though I might not live to see it. It might, I thought, be twenty, or even thirty years before the seed sown would ripen into fruit. No matter, the attempt ought to be made, and the result left with God. The attempt, therefore, I did make, praying at the same time that, as in my own case, the fruits of my labours might appear (even though it should be many years hence) in the lives of at least some of my pupils." LIVINGSTONE'S MODESTY. When David Livingstone returned to his native country for the second time, the great explorer and heroic mis- sionary was received everywhere with honour and ap- plause. He was, as he him.self says, cheered and welcomed as a man and a brother. But amid all the exciting scenes through which he pas.sed, he was ever the same retiring and modest Scotchman. He went with his daughter Agnes to see the launching of a Turki.sh frigate from Mr. Napier's yard, when he saw eight thousand tons weight plunged into the Clyde, which sent a wave of its water to the other side. The Turkish Ambassador, Musurus Pa.sha, was one of the party at Shandon, and he and Livingstone travelled in the same carriage. At one of the stations, they were greatly cheered by the Volunteers. " The cheers are for you," Livingstone said to the Ambassador, with a smile, " No," said the 238 RELIGIOUS ANECDOTES OF SCOTLAND. Turk, " I am only what my master made me ; you are what you made yourself." When the party reached the Queen's Hotel, a working man rushed across the road, seized Livingstone's hand, saying, " I must shake your hand," clapping him on the back, and rushed back again, " You'll not deny, now," said the Ambassador, " that that's for you." AN OLD-FASHIONED SAINT OF THE PENTLAND HILLS. Just at the foot of the Pentland Hills lay, years ago, an old farm-house, of the plainest kind, built of rough stone, and roofed with thatch, but shaded by venerable trees, and cheered by a "bonnie burn, wimpling" over its peb- bly bed. That was the home of Sandy Morrison, an old-fashioned Presbyterian elder. In exterior, Sandy Avas rough, tall, and ungainly. The only thing about him really attractive was his large clear hazel eye, which lay beneath his shaggy brows. Sandy had a perfect trust in the Providence of God. " The Lord reigneth," he would say, " ever3^thing is wisely ordered, and will come out right in the end." If jou. said, " Not surely the sins and follies of men," he would reply as follows : — " Sins and follies are ours, and we suffer for them ; but God overrules them for His glory. You see the eddies in the stream yonder ; they twist and turn a* sorts o' ways, but they go xn' the current at last. In the storm, sticks, stanes, and dirt come tumbling doun frae the hills ; but in the valley j'onder, they lie a' quiet enough, and, in the simmer time, will be covered wi' grass and daisies. In the same way, it seems to me, God works a' things according to the counsel o' his ain will." This accounts for Sandy's peace and joy. " You see," said he, explaining the matter in his peculiar fashion, "years gane by, I believed jist as ithers dae, wha ha'e a fo]"m o' godliness, but deny the power thereof. I didna understand, an', abune all, I didna love God. I was worryin' aboot this, that, and the other. Things were AN OLD-FASHIONED SAINT. 239 nae richt ; wife an' I were puir, ye ken, and had to work hard ; but we didna mind that sac lung as we had health an' strength. We lived in a bonnie place; the sun shone cheerily on oor Lit housie, amang the roses an' honeysuckles that my auld mithcr had planted wi' her ain hand — an' mair tlian that, the Lord sent us a honnie bairn. Hcch ! tlie wee thing seemed an angel in disguise, wi' its yellow hair, dimplin' cheeks, and blue eon! It was the licht an' glory o' oor hame; but the Lord took her to himsel'. O how we grat when we laid her in the yird ! and Mary (that's my wife's name) began to fail. She couldna tell what was the matter wi' her. The doctor said she had a weakness in the chest. But it made oor hame unco dowie-like. Everything seemed to gae wrauQ-, and I murmured sair ao;ainst the Lord. The world looked waefu', and I would have liked to dee. But I began to think — I seemed to come to myscl'; yet my mind was unco dark. Then I read the Bible and prayed. Oor neebor, auld Mr. Wallace, a guid man, tauld us to look to the Rock o' Ages, and see if the Lord wadna open for us the fountain o' consolation. Then I saw, but not very clearly at first, that there was anither warld — anither kingdom-like, speeritual an' eternal — as auld Mr. Btutherfurd wud say. This Vv^arld is only a husk or shell — the substance, the speerit, is anitlier. An' a' is fu' o' God. Then I saw wee Mary, whose body we had laid in the grave, walkin' in that warld o' licht an' peace. I heard her singin' there wi' the angels o' God ; I heard the voice o' Jesus there, saying — Peace, peace ! It cam' like the sweetest music to my puir heart ! Then I understood hoo blind, unbelievin', an' wicked I had been, an' I said to mj^sel', 'What's the use o' murmurin' ? The Bedeemer livcth, an' blessed be His name; I will jist put mysel' an a' I ha'e under the shadow o' His wings.' " Says I to my wife, ' Mary, we maun believe in God — He's a', an' in a'. He gave us oor bonnie bairn, an' He's ta'en her again ; for she was His mair than oors ; an' noo she's an angel ; she winna come to us, but we'll gang to her. An' noo ye maun be comforted.' An' then we kneeled doon thegither, and prayed to the God o' oor 240 RELIOIO US AN EC DO TES OF SCO TLA ND. faithers, the God o' oor bairn, an' were comforted. Then the world appeared to mo in a new licht. It was filled wi' the holy presence o' God. I saw that a' was His — • licht an' darkness, simmer an' winter, sorrow and joy, death an' life ; an' that Ho was governin' a' things accord- ing to the counsel o' His ain will." BEV. WILLIAM WILSON AND THE SOLDIEE. One evening, as the Eev. William Wilson, of Perth, was passing along the streets of that town, three soldiers, then quartered in it, happened to walk behind him, who were indulging in the utterance of the most profane and blasphemous language. One of them, on some frivolous account, declared it to be his wish, that God Almighty might damn his soul in hell to all eternity. Mr. Wilson immediately turned round, and, with a look of dignity and compassion, said, " Poor man, and what if God should say Amen, and answer that prayer?" Mr. AVilson passed on. The man seemed to stand petrified, and, on going home to his quarters, was in such dis- traction of mind, that he knew not whither to turn for relief. He was soon afterwards seized with fever, under which he continued to suffer the most awful forebodings of eternal misery. His case was so singular, that many Christians went to visit him, to whom he invariably said he was sure of being bej^ond the reach of mercy, and that God had sent his angel to tell him so. One of them asked him to describe the appearance of the person Mdio had pronounced this doom on him. He did ao, and the visitant at once perceiving that it must have been Mr. Wilson, inquired if he would wish again to see him. " Oh," said he, "I would wish above every- thing to see him, but he would not come near a wretch like me." Mr. Wilson was soon brought; and he told him of the way of salvation through Christ crucified, and encouraged him to flee for refuge to lay hold upon the hope set before him. His words being accompanied by Divine power, the poor soldier was enabled to believe ''IF YE KENNED HOW 1 LO VE IlIM." 241 in Christ, and thus found peace and comfort to his troubled soul. He soon afterwards recovered, and be- came a very exemplary Christian ; and as he felt the army unfavourable to a religious life, Mr. Wilson, at his request, used his influence, and procured his discharge. He settled in Perth, became a member of the church, attached himself steadily to Mr. Wilson, and was, through life, a comfort to him, and an ornament to the Christian profession. He became a soldier of the Cross, and fought nobly the battle of an earnest Christian life. From being a blasphemer, he became known as one who, in childlike humility of soul, bent the knee, and looked to heaven with the words on his lips, "Abba, Father." ''IF YE KENNED HOW I LOVE HIM." A POOR idiot, who was supported by his parish in the Highlands of Scotland, passed his time in wandering from house to house. He was silent and peaceable, and won the pity of all kind hearts. He had little power to converse with his fellow-men, but seemed often in loving communion with Him who, while He is the High and Holy One, condescends to men of low estate. Yeddie, as he was called, was in the habit of whispering to him- self as he trudged along the highway or performed the simple tasks which any neighbour felt at liberty to demand of him. Once, when a merry boy heard him pleading earnestly in prayer, he asked, "What ghost or goblin are j'ou begging favours of now, Yeddie ? " "Neither the one nor the tither, laddie," he replied ; " I was just having a few words with Him that neither your.sel' nor I can see, and yet with Him that sees the baith of us ! " One day Yeddie presented himself in his coarse dress and hob-nailed shoes before the minister, and, making a bow, much like that of a wooden toy when pulled by a string, he said, " Please, minister, let poor Yeddie eat supper on the coming day with the Lord Jesus." The minister was preparing for the observance of the Lord's 16 242 EELIOIOUS ANECDOTES OF SCOTLAND. Supper, which came quarterly in that thinly settled region, and Avas celebrated by several churches together, so that the concourse of people made it necessary to hold the services in the open air. He was too busy to be disturbed by the simple youth, and so strove to put him off as gently as possible. But Yeddie pleaded, " Oh, minister, if ye but kenned how I love Him, ye wud let me go where He's to sit at table." This so touched his heart that permission was given for Yeddie to take his seat with the rest. As the service proceeded, tears flowed freely from the eyes of the poor "innocent," and at the name of Jesus he would shake his head mourn- fully, and whisper, " But I dinna see Him." At length, hovf ever, after partaking of the bread and wine, he raised his head, wiped away the traces of his tears, and, looking in the minister's face, nodded and smiled. Then he covered his face with his hands, and buried it between Ids knees, and remained in that posture till the parting- blessing was given and the people began to scatter. He then rose, and, with a face lighted with joy and yet niarked with solemnity, he followed the rest. One and another from his own parish spoke to him, but he made no reply until pressed by some of the boys. Then he said, " Ah, lads, dinna bid Yeddie tcilk to-day ! He's seen the face of the Lord Jesus among His ain ones. He got a smile frae His eye and a word frae his tongue ; and he's afeared to speak lest he lose memory o't, for it's but a bad memory he has at the best. Ah ! lads, lads ! I ha' seen Him this day that I never seed before. I ha' seen Vvd' these dull eyes yon lovely Man. Dinna ye speak, but just leave poor Yeddie to His company." When Yeddie reached the poor cot he called " home," ho dared not speak to the "granny" who sheltered him, lest he might, as he said, " lose the bonny face." He left his " parritch and treacle " untasted ; and, after smiling on and patting the faded cheek of the old woman, to shov/ her that he was not out of humour, he climbed the ladder to the poor loft where his pallet of stravv"- was, to get another look and another word " frae yon lovely Man." And his voice was heard below, in low tones: "IF YE KENS ED BOW I LOVE IIJM." 243 "Ay, Lord, it's just poor me that has been sac long seek- ing Ye ; and now Ave'll bide thcgither and never part more ! Oh, ay ! but this is a bonny loft, all goold and precious stones ! The hall o' the castle is a poor place to my loft this bonnj'- night ! " And then his voice grew softer and softer till it died away. Granny sat over the smouldering peat below, with her elbows on her knees, relating in loud whispers to a neighbouring crone the stories of the boys who had preceded Yeddie from the service, and also his own strange words and appearance. "And, beside a' this," she said in a whisper, "he refused to taste his supper — a thing he had never done before, such a fearfu' appetite he had ! But to-night, when he cam' in, faint wi' the long road he had come, he cried, " Nae meat for me, granny ; I ha' had a feast which I will feel within me while I live; I supped with the Lord Jesus, and noo I must e'en gang up the loft and sleep wi liim ! Y\"hen the morrow's sun arose, " granny," unwilling to disturb the v\^eary Yeddie, left her poor pillow to perform his usual tasks. She brought peat from the stack and water from the spring. She spread her humble table, and made the " parritch " ; and then, remembering that he went supperlcss to bed, she called him from the foot of the ladder. There was no reply. She called again and again, but there was no sound above, except the wind whistling through the openings in the thatch. She had not ascended the rickety ladder for years, but anxiety gave strength to her limbs, and she soon stood in the poor garret which had long sheltered the half-idiot boy. Before a rude stool, half-sitting, half-kneeling, with his head resting on his folded arras, she found Yeddie. She laid her hand upon his head, but instantly recoiled in terror. The heavy iron crown had been lifted from his brow, and, while she was sleeping, had been replaced with the crown of the ransomed, which fadeth not away. Yeddie had caught a glimpse of Jesus, and could not live apart from Him. As ho had supped, so had he slept — with Him ! 244 RELIGIOUS ANECDOTES OF SCOTLAND. GOOD SEED STBANGELY SOWN ON THE BANKS OF THE TWEED. Some years ago, a lady, while strolling along the banks of the Tweed, near her own mansion, cither mislaid or accidentally dropped a new copy of Reid's "Blood of Jesus," bearing her name and address. There, among the grass, the flowers, and the drifting leaves of autumn, it lay until a rainy season flooded the river. The up- rising waters, surging over the grassy banks, swept it out into the current, and carried it downwards for many miles. At last it floated aside towards a mill-dam, where, along with much wreckage brought down by the flood, it became fast in the mill heck. Here it was discovered by a working man, who came from some distance to the saw-mill to procure a load of wood. He took it home and read it, and at once he became deeply earnest about his soul's salvation. After awhile he gave himself to Christ, and has since endeavoured to live as a poor blood-washed sinner should do. Several other uncon- verted persons have also been blessed by reading this precious little volume. In this marvellous manner the Lord was pleased to carry the glad tidings to several careless persons, making the waters an instrument in bearing the savino; messasce. A LAMB OF CHEIST'S FLOCK. Let me tell you, says the Rev. Robert Murray M'Cheyne, a word of a gentle lamb whom Jesus gathered, and whom I saw on her way from grace to glory. She was early brought to Christ, and early taken to be with Him where He is. She told her companions that she sometimes fell asleep on these words — " Underneath are the everlasting arras." She said she did not know how it was, but some- how she felt that Christ was always near her. When seized with her last illness, and told that the doctors thought she would not live long, she looked quite com- posed, and said, — " I am very happy at that," She said that she could not love Jesus enough here, that she would HIS WORD IS AT STAKK Uo like to Lc with Ilim, and then she would love Ilim as she ought. To her tender, watchful relative, she said, — • " I wonder at your looking so grave. I am surprised at it, for I think I am the happiest person in the house. I have every temporal comfort, and then I am going to Jesus." After a companion had been witli her, she said, — ■ " Margaret quite entered into my happiness ; she did not look grave, but smiled ; that shows how much she loves me." When sitting one evening, her head resting on a pillow, she was asked, " Is there anything the matter, my darling ? " " Oh," she said, " I am only weak. I am quite happy. Jesus has said, 'Thou are mine.'" Another day, when near her last, one said to her, — "Have you been praj-ing much to-day ? " " Yes," she replied, " and I have been trying to praise, too." "And what have you been praising for?" "I praise God," she said, "for all the comforts I have. I praise Him for many kind friends. You know He is the foundation of all; and I praise Him for taking a sinner to glory," HIS WOBD IS AT STAKE. Grandly did the old Scottish believer, of wdiom Dr. Brown tells us in his " Hora3 Subsecivaj," respond to the challenge of her pastor regarding the ground of her con- fidence. " Janet," said the minister, " what would you say, if after all He has done for you, God should let you drop into hell ? " " E'en's (even as) He likes," answered Janet. " If He does. He'll lose mair than I'll do." At first sight Janet's reply looks irreverent, if not some- thing worse. As we contemplate it, however, its sub- limity grows upon us. Like the Psalmist, she could say, "I on til}" word rely" (Ps. cxix. 114, metrical version). If His word were broken, if His faithfulness should fail, if that foundation could be destroyed, truly He would lose more than His trusting child. But that could never be. " For ever, Lord, thy word is settled in heaven. Thy faithfulness is unto all generations." Well, then, might Janet encourage herself in the Lord her God, and say, "' God hath spoken in his holiness; I will rejoice." 246 RELIGIOUS ANECDOTES OF SCOTLAND. THOMAS CAMPBELL CLOSING HIS LIFE. Thomas Campbell, the poet, was born July 27, 1777, and died July 15, 1844<. His end was peace. On the 6th June, 1844<, Campbell was able to converse freely with those around him, but his strength had become reduced, and on being assisted to change his posture, he fell back in the bed insensible. Conversation was carried on in the room in whispers ; and Campbell uttered a few sentences so unconnected, that his friends were doubtful whether he was conscious or not of what was going on in his presence, and had recourse to an artifice to learn. One of them spoke of the poem of " Hohenlinden," and pretending to forget the author's name, said, he heard it was by a Mr. Kobinson. Campbell saw the trick, was amused, and said pla3full3', in a calm but distinct tone, "No; it was one Tom Campbell." The poet had — as far as a poet can — become for years indifferent to posthumous fame. In 1838 he had been speaking to some friends in Edinburgh on the subject. "When I think of existence," he said, "which shall commence when the stone is laid above my head, how can literary fame appear to me — to any one — but as nothing ? I believe when I am gone, justice Vvill be done me in this way — that I was a pure writer*. It is an inexpressible comfort, at my time of life, to be able to look back and feel that I have not written one line against religion and virtue." Religious feeling was, as the closing scene approached, more distinctlj^ expressed. A friend was thinking of the lines in " The Last Man," when he heard, with delight, the djdng man express his belief in life and immortality brought to light by the Saviour. To his niece he said, "Come, let us sing praises to Christ." Then pointing to the bedside, he added, "Sit here." "Shall I pray for you?" she inquired. " Oh yes, he replied," let us pray for each other." After she had done so, the dying poet expressed himsell; "soothed and comforted." The next day, at a moment when he appeared to be sleeping heavily, his lips sud- denly moved, and he said, — " We shall see to- A CHARAGTER AT WEST LINTON. 24? iiiorroAV," naming- a friend who was dearly beloved, and who had been long departed this life. On the morrow the Poet of Hope passed away, believing in Him " "Who captive led c'as brought to the scaf- fold in the presence of a multitude greater than had ever 25^ RELIQIOUS ANECDOTES OF SCOTLAND. before thronged the Gvassmarkefc. He first sanp;- the 103rd Psalm, and read the 19th chapter of the Book of Kevelations, which describes the advent and conquering career of Hiin who is called " Faithful and True," the Avenger of the blood of His saints upon the false pro- phet, and the wild beast, and the kings of the earth and their armies. He then prayed. His address to the spectators w^as, as usual, drowned by the beating of drums. But once when there was a momentary pause, looking up to the clouds gathering on a lowering February sky, he was heard to say, "I shall soon be above these clouds ; then shall I enjoy Thee and glorify Thee, my Father ! without interruption, and without intermission for ever." Renwick w^as only twenty-six years of age when he was put to death. He was the last who suffered martyrdom in Scotland for Christ's " Crown and Covenant." A few months later, the principles for wdiich he had laid down his life were recognised as the foundation of the revolution settlement. What was capitally punished in February as treason, was adopted by the Legislature of both countries in November as the palladium of their liberties. DB. HENRY AND THE WEARISOME MINISTER. About 1790 the Rev. Dr. Henrj^, author of the "History of England," was living at a place of his own in his native county of Stirling. He was about seventy-two, and had been for some time very feeble. He wrote to Sir Harry MoncriefF that he was dying, and thus invited him for the la it time, — "Come out here directly. I have got something to do this week ; 1 have got to die." Sir Harry went, and found his friend plainly sinking, but resigned and cheerful. He had no children, and there was nobody with him except his v/ife. She and Sir Harry remained alone with him for about three days — being his last three — during a part of which the reverend historian sat in his easy chair, and conversed, and lis- tened to reading, and dozed. AVhile engaged in this M^ay, the hoofs of a horse were heard clattering in the MAJOR-QENERAL BURNS' DREAM. 253 court below. Mrs. Henry looked out, and exclaimed tliat it was " that wearisome body," meaning- a neigh- bouring minister, who was famous for never leaving a house after he had once got into it. " Keep him out," cried the Doctor, " don't let the cratur in here." But before they could secure his exclusion, the cratur's steps were heard on the stair, and he was at the door. The Doctor instantly winked significantly, and signed to them to sit down and be quiet, and he would pretend to be sleeping. The hint was taken ; and when the intruder entered, he found the patient asleep in his cushioned chair. Sir Harry and Mrs. Henry put their fingers to their lips, and, pointing to the supposed slumberer as one not to bo disturbed, shook their heads. The man sat down near the door, like one inclined to wait till the nap should be over. Once or twice he tried to speak, but was instantly repressed by another finger on the lip, and another shake of the head. So he sat on, all in perfect silence, for about a quarter of an hour, during which Sir Harry occasionally^ detected the dying- man peeping cautiously through the fringes of his eye- lids, to see how his visitor was coming on. At last Sir Harry tired, and he and Mrs. Henry, pointing to the poor Doctor, fairly waved the visitor out of the room ; on which the Doctor opened his eyes wide, and had a tolerably hearty laugh, which was renewed when the sound of the horse's feet made them certain that their friend was actually off the premises. A lesson is here taught to ministers who frequent the chambers of weak and dying men. MAJOB-GENEBAL BUBN'S DBEAM. Major-General Andrew Burn, who became a decided Christian after the death of his brother, had a very striking and significant dream, which was more than a dream. He thus gives it : — " I thought I was sitting, a little before daylight in the morning, with my deceased brother, on the wall of a churchyard, situated in a neighbourhood where we had 254 RELIOIO US A NECD TES OF SCOTLAND. lived many years together. Ho remained silent for some time, and then asked me if I would not go with him into the church. I readily consented, and immediately rising up, walked with him towards the porch, or outer gate, which I thought ^Yas very large and spacious ; but, when we had passed through it, and came to the inner door that led directly into the body of the church, some v/ay or other, but hov^ I could not well conceive, my brother slipped in before me ; and when I attempted to follow — which I was all eagerness to do — the door, which slid from the top to the bottom, like those of some fortified towns on the Continent, was instantly let down more than half-v.-ay, so that I found it requisite to bend my- self almost double before I could possibl}^ enter. But as I stooped to try, the door continued falling lower and lower, and, consequently, the passage became so narrow that I found it altogether impracticable in that posture. Grieved to be left behind, and determined to get in, if possible, I fell down on my hands, and tried to squeeze my head and shoulders through ; but finding myself still too high, I then kneeled down, crept, wrestled, and pushed more eagerly, but all to no purpose. Vexed to the last degree, I, yet unwilling to be left outside, came to the resolution of throwing off all my clothes, and crawling like a worm ; but being very desirous to preserve a fine silk-embroidered waistcoat), Vvhich I had brought from France, I kept that on, in hopes of being able to carry it with me. Then, laying myself fiat on my face, I toiled, and pushed, and strove; soiled my embroidered waist- coat, but could not get in after all. At last, driven almost to despair, I stripped myself entirely, and forced my body between the door and the ground, till the rough stones and gravel tore all the skin and flesh upon my breast, and, as I thought, covered me with blood. In- different, however, about this, and perceiving I advanced a little, I continued to strive with more violence than ever, till at last I safely got through. As soon as I stood upon my feet on the inside, an invisible hand clothed me in a long white robe ; and as I turned round to view the place, I saw a goodly company of saints — among DR. WM. ANDERSON ON MINISTERS' STIPENDS. 255 whom M'.as my brother — all dressed in the same manner, partaking oi' the Lord's Supper. I sat down in the midst of them, and, the bread and wine being admin- istered to me, I felt siieh seraphic joy, such celestial ecstasy, as no mortal can express." A MISTAKE OF THE INTELLECT. In the cai'ly ministry of Dr. Chalmers, he had been given to scientific studies, and published a pamphlet, in which he reflected severely upon such ministers as did not do the same. Years after, this pamphlet was cast up to him in the General Assembly, to shov/ his incon- sistency in then urging what he now discarded. Having acknowledged himself the autlior of the pamphlet, he added, — "Alas, sirs ! so I thought in my ignorance and pride. I have now no reserve in declaring that the sentiment was wrong ; and, in giving utterance to it, I penned what was outrageously v/rong. Strangely blinded that I was ! What, sir, is the object of mathe- matical science ? magnitude, and the proportions of magnitude. But then, sir, I had forgotten tivo 'magni- tudes. 1 thought not of the littleness of time; IrecJdessly thought not of the greatness of eternity." DB. WILLIAM ANDERSON ON MINISTEES' STIPENDS. "Willie Anderson," as the E,ev. Dr. Anderson, of Glasgow, was familiarly called, was a great favourite on the platform, and by his pawkie straightforwardness, carried all before him. He was once addressing a crov/ded meeting in the City Hall on some Church finance business or other, when he had occasion to speak of ministers' stipends — at that time a more delicate subject for a minister to speak about than now. And he dashed into the shabby treatment they received in something like th.e following style. " If a doctor comes to sec you when j-ou are dj'ing, he will drug you, and drug you, and in gratitude to him you will add a codicil to your will to 256 RELIGIOUS ANECDOTES OF SCOTLAND. the effect that he receives a considerable sum over and above his bill of fees. If a lawyer come to see you and make out your will, you will instruct your immediate attendants to give him a beautiful statuette or a gold ring in recognition of his services, for which services he will take care to be well paid besides. But for the minister, who, perhaps, alone of all the three does you any real service — who visits you daily, and pours out his sympathy and instruction into your soul, you not only have no acknowledgment of service to make, but you often do not even bequeathe to him the poor reward of thanks." One would think that courage could hardly venture farther than this. But this was not all. The audience by this time were on fire with the justice of this droll exposure of unequal treatment for ministers. And Anderson burst out in one of his good-natured furies into this further appeal. "And why should we be singled out for this unthankful treatment ? I will ask this assembly of Glasgow merchants and professional men, — Are we less gifted as a class ? Have we less intellect or scholarship ? I appeal to yourselves. We beat you in the classes of your boyhood. We took the best prizes out of your hands at college. And we could have distanced you in your own line of things if we had become merchants, or doctors, or lawyers." When he had got to this point lie was able to do anj^thing with the audience ; and he struck in forcibly with the business in liand, and carried his resolution ncm. con. DB. NOBMAN MACLEOD'S LAST EOUBS. On the morning of Sunday, the 16th of June, 1872, Dr. Macleod was so much better that his brother left him in comparative comfort, and when Professor Andrew Buchanan saw him some hours afterwards, he was sur- prised at the great improvement which had taken place. He felt so refreshed after taking some food, about seven in the morning, that he asked his wife to sit beside him while he told her the deeper thoughts that were pos- DR. NORMAN MACLEOD'S LAST HOURS. 257 scssing his soul, " I believe I will get Letter," he said, " but I wish you to record for my good, and for our good afterwards, that in this hurricane I have had deep thoughts of God. I feel as if He said, — ' We know one anotlier, I love yon, I forgive you ; I put my hands round you,' just as I would with my son Norman," and here he laid his hand tenderly on his wife's head. " I have had few religious exercises for the last ten days. If my son were ill I would not be angry with him for not sending me a letter. But I have had constant joy, and the happy thought continually whispered, 'Thou art with me ! ' Not many would understand me. They would put down much that I have felt to the delirium of weakness, but I have had deep spiritual insight." When he was speaking of God's dealings, the ex- pression of his face and his accents were as if he was addressing One actually present. Still more intimately, it seemed, than ever, his fellowship was with the Father and the Son. He again repeated that he believed ho would get better, and that his latter days would be more useful than any former ones. " I have neglected many things. I have not felt as I ought how awfully good God is; how generous and long-suffering; how He has 'put up' with all my rubbish. It is enough to crush me when I think of all His mercies" (as he said this he was melted in tears) ; " mercy, mercy, from beginning to end. You and I have passed through many lifestorms, but we can say with peace, it has been all right." He added something she could not follow as to what he would wish to do in his latter days, and as to how he "would teach his darling children to know and realise God's presence," Some hours afterwards two of his daughters came to kiss him before going to church. " He took my hands in both of his," one of them v.-rites, " and told mo I must come to see him of tener, ' If I had strength,' he said, 'I could tell you things would do you good through all your life. I am an old man, and have passed through many experiences, but now all is perfect peace and perfect calm. I have glimpses of heaven that no tongue, or pen, or words, can describe.' I kissed him on 17 258 liELiaiOUS ANECDOTES OF SCOTLAND. his clear forehead and went away, crying only because ho was so ill. AVhcn I next saw him he was, indeed, ' in perfect peace and perfect calm.' " The church bells had for some time ceased to ring, and the quiet of the Lord's-day rested on the city. His wife and one of his sons were with him in the drawing-room, where he remained chiefly sitting on the sofa. About twelve o'clock Mrs. Macleod v\'ent to the door to give some directions about food. The sudden cry, "Mother, mother!" startled her, and when slie hurried in she saw his head had fallen back. There was a soft sigh, and, gently as one sinking into sleep, his spirit entered into rest. THE SIMPLICITY OF FAITH. Dr. William Andep.son was journeying to Kilsyth to help in the revival v/hich v\'as then going on. He met Vv'ith a boy who told him of the death of his little brother. The lad seemed sure that his brother had gone to heaven. Dr. Anderson asked him for the ground of his confidence. He replied, "Because he had faith." "But," said the Doctor, "how do you know?" "Weel, sir, when he was dying, he seemed afraid. I told him to trust in Jesus. He asked me what that meant — what he was to do. I said, ' Pray to Him.' He replied, ' I'm too weak : I'm not able to pray.' Then I said, ' Just hold up your hand — Jesus will see you, and know what it means.' And he did it. Noav, was not that faith?" Dr. Anderson was a great theologian, yet he often pointed to that dying lad with the uplifted hand as a beautiful illustration of the simplicity of faith. RESIGNATION TO THE DIVINE WILL. An Incident in the Scottish Highlands. The following remarkable anecdote is currently related in the Highlands : — A farmer, whose wealth, vrisdom, and benclicence gave him great sway in his elevated l]r).mlctj was fortunate in all respects but one. He had liESlONATION TO THE DIVINE WILL. 259 three very fine children, who all in succession died after having been weaned, though before they gave every pro- mise of health and firmness. Both parents were much afflicted ; but the father's grief was clamorous and un- manly. They resolved that tlic next should be suckled for two years, hoping by this to avoid the repetition of such a misfortune. They did so, and the child by living longer only took a firmer hold of their aflections, and furnished more material for sorrowful recollection. At the close of the second year ho followed his brothers, and there were no bounds to the affliction of the parents. There are, however, in the economy of Highland life, certahi duties and courtesies which are indispensable, and for the omission of which nothing can apologise. One of these is to call in all their friends and feast them at the time of the greatest family distress. The death of the child happened late in the spring, when sheep were abroad in the more inhabited straths, but from the blasts in that high and stormy region, were still confined to the cot. In a dismal snowy evening, the man, unable to stifle his anguish, Vv-ent out lamenting aloud for a lamb to treat his friends with at the " late- wake." At the door of the cot, hov/ever, he found a stranger, standing before the entrance. He was astonislied on such a night to meet a person so far from any frequented place. The stranger was plainly attired, but had a countenance expressive of singular mildness and benevolence ; and addressing him in a sweet impressive voice, asked him what he did there amidst the tempest. He was filled with awe which he could not account for, and said that he came for a lamb. " What kin