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IWp— -^fcljl I WII^Wl ^u 
 
 THE DAYS 
 
 OP ram 
 
 FATHERS IN ROSS-SHIRE. 
 
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 TIE DAYS 
 
 OFTHB 
 
 I. FATHERS IN ROSS-SHIRE. 
 
 BT TBB 
 
 KEY. JOHN KENNEDY, 
 
 DIKQWALL. 
 
 FOURTH EDITION. 
 
 JAMES CAMPBELL & SON, 
 
 TORONTO & MONTREAL 
 
 MDCCCLXVII. 
 
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 311889 
 
PEEFACE TO THE FOURTH EDITION. 
 
 t' 
 
 While I was engaged in preparing for the press, I 
 did not expect that a second edition would ever be 
 required. I was writing merely for a district, and 
 even there, I expected a reading of my book, only 
 from a few, whose hearts were clinging fondly to 
 the days gone by. Whqn it appeared, it was so 
 vehemently assailed, that I expected it never 
 would have run through even the fii-st edition. But 
 a second and a third time it has run the race; and 
 it is now starting for the fourth time. 
 
 The call for a fourth edition finds me so occupied, 
 that I have no leisure for careful revision. Though 
 not in the least disposed to alter any statement, or 
 to modify any opinion, contained in the book, I 
 might, if I had time, dress it up more carefull/. 
 But, being a very old-fashioned sort of thing, both 
 in its stories and its notions, perhaps it is more 
 suitably attired in the rude garb, in which it first 
 appeared. The very extent to which it seemed to 
 require, served to prevent my attempting a thorough 
 
mm^'immmmm 
 
 VI 
 
 PREFACE. 
 
 recasting of my work. Mine seemed so like an- 
 other highlandman's gun, which needed " new lock, 
 stock, and barrel," that I shrunk from the task of 
 renewing it. But believing that it was charged with 
 truth before, and having no desire to change or to 
 reserve my amunition; and many hard blows, 
 which were meant to shatter, having failed to dis- 
 able it, it is now for the fourth tinie loaded, and is 
 ready to go off. 
 
 Dingwall, December 18G6. 
 
"■•" 
 
 PREFACE TO THE FIRST EDITION. 
 
 f. 
 
 The field, on which I gathered materials for this 
 book, would afford to a careful gleaner, a rich colivC - 
 tion of interesting matter. I had not time to pass 
 leisurely over it ; and even the scanty handful which 
 I picked up in my haste, I lacked the skill to arrange 
 into a pleasing sample. But if I cannot now, with- 
 out shame, examine the result of my labour, it is a 
 reKef to be assured that the toil of it is over j and if 
 this pioneer effort affords no pleasure to my readers, 
 I will yet be content, if its very rudeness shall make 
 it easier for others to come after me. 
 
 I offer no apology for directing attention to the 
 subject of this volume. If I required to do so, I 
 would be offering, as an excuse for having written, 
 what I should have used as a reason for not writing 
 at all. I heard the Lord saying, "the memory of the 
 just is blessed," and I saw that the righteous fathers 
 of Ross-shire were already being forgotten, and that a 
 lifeless formality was taking the place of their god- 
 liness. I could not therefore refrain from an effort, 
 such as I could make, to revive their memory, an4 to 
 
■ i fc.iu'w i r' 
 
 '^^ 
 
 VUl 
 
 PREFACE. 
 
 turn the eye of a backsliding generation to their good 
 old ways. 
 
 I am not very anxious to excuse myself for the 
 manner in which, any more than for the subject on 
 which, I have written. I might plead that I never 
 wrote with care before, and that I had but little lei- 
 sure fr ..* my first attempt, but if I did not do the best 
 I could, I ought to have done nothing. Amidst my 
 usual employment, when in health, I found no time 
 for " making books," and it was not, till laid aside by 
 sickness from my wonted work, that the purpose of 
 this book was formed. But health returned ere I had 
 begun to write, and, being afraid to abandon my de- 
 sign, I gave, to its execution, such snatches of time, 
 as were left unoccupied by labours which I could not 
 abridge. 
 
 I cannot account for the omission of a reference to 
 the honoured name of Dr Stewart. I fully intended 
 to have given him his place among the eminent min- 
 isters of Ross-shire, though the memoir of his life and 
 labours which has been published, made any attempt 
 to describe him by me unnecessaiy. The oversight 
 was ceHainly not due to any want of veneration for 
 the memory of one, than whom there were few^ men 
 more amiable, few Christians more humble and holy, 
 few preachers more faithful, and few pastors more 
 watchful and wise. 
 
 If I had not the hope, that none would be disposed 
 
^- 
 
 PREPACn. 
 
 to refuse him a place among the eminent ministers of 
 Ross-shire, and that the account, which I have given 
 of him, might be accepted as a specimen of how they 
 lived and laboured, I would not have ventured to 
 append the memoir of my father. It required no 
 labour to collect information regarding him, and it 
 was therefore easier to construct a memoir of him, 
 than of any other of the fathers. But it would be 
 dishonest to pretend, that it was not my love to him, 
 as my own father, which thrust into print the mate- 
 rials that lay in my memory. At the same time, the 
 impulse of that love I would certainly have repressed, 
 if I thought the position I claimed for him, would 
 not be conceded by all. 
 
 '^ 
 
 ...if,.-, 
 
 ^j;*-.t-.ih- i 
 
 V' 
 
PREFACE TO THE SECOND EDITION. 
 
 I ANTICIPATED all the censure, and none of the praise, 
 bestowed upon my little book. I would have been 
 quite as luuch disappointed, if it did not displease a 
 certain class of readers, as if none at all had been 
 found to commend it I therefore feel, that I have 
 no cause to complain of the reception it has met with ; 
 for by those, whose censure I would reckon praise, 
 it has been most heartily abused; and some friends 
 of Christ have been moved to say of it, "the Lord 
 bless it," and to say to me, "Be of good courage." 
 
 I expected that its Highland tone, and its seemingly 
 anti-lowland spirit, would have exited prejudice in 
 some minds against it. Its thorough Highlandism I 
 neither tried, nor was I able, to prevent. I was very 
 often translating from Gaelic as I wrote, and I could 
 not quite hide the tartan under the English mantle. 
 I was acting, too, on the defensive. It was not my 
 vocation to be seaiohing for Highland fiults; I was 
 engaged in warding ofi" Lowland blows. I had so 
 often, in speaking to Highlanders, pointed out their 
 bleumhes, that, in my ^-st attempt tc write about 
 
,.-._i: 
 
 PREFACE. 
 
 them, I thought I might refrain from doing so, espe- 
 cially as the fault-finding had been done, usque ad 
 vauseam, b}' otners. 
 
 I knew, too, .at I would seem to some to whine, 
 with unreasonable regret, over the degeneracy of the 
 present, as compared wiih the days of the fathers. 
 Those who think they dwell where the wilderness is 
 being transformed into a garden of the Lord, ought 
 not to judge of Ross-shire by their experience, for 
 here, alas ! the process is just reversed. I refeiTed 
 to Ross-shire only; and I cannot conceive how any 
 who desiderate, and can discern, vital godliness, who 
 are acquainted with the past and present of this 
 county, and who look beneath the surface, can form 
 a more saaguino estimate than that which I have 
 given. There are some, I know, whose eyes are so 
 dazzled with their own lustre, that they cannot con- 
 ceive of brighter days than those in which they 
 shine. These may be angiy ; I care not to concili- 
 ate them. I point to their shin-ng as a proof that I 
 am right. TJio sky has surely become dark, when 
 such lights as these appear. 
 
 I expected that many would count mo credulous, 
 some call me supci'stitious, and a few denounce me 
 as fanatical, because of some anecdotes I gave, to 
 p:*ove how near to God were the godly men of form- 
 er days. I knew that they would excite the anger 
 of those, whoso religion Lh but a cloak for men to 
 
Ifll 
 
 Xll 
 
 PREFACE. 
 
 look at. I counted the cost of being ridiculed be- 
 cause of these strange stories. I was quite prepared 
 to take the place that would be assigned to me 
 among those who are "behind the age." I anticipa- 
 ted too — ad I do not announce this in support of a 
 claim to the gift of prophecy — that some graceless 
 ministers would lead the choir of scomers. 
 
 To some, the i-arer attainments of the godly fur- 
 nish an opportunity, for such an expression of their 
 enmity against vital religion, as will not damage 
 their credit in the church. They are offensive to 
 them, merely because they are more palpable evi- 
 dences of the reality of commimion with God. Yet 
 they can attack them under cover of superior en- 
 lightenment, and even of a regard to the credit of 
 Christianity. " Of course," they will say, "only men 
 who are not up to the times would be so credulous 
 as to believe these things;" whereas the more extra- 
 ordinary instance of credulity, by far, is their believ- 
 ing that they themselves are capable of forming any 
 right opinion on the subject. If the occasion seems 
 to require it, they can shake their heads, very wisely, 
 over the supposed imprudence of exposing to ridicule 
 the cause of true religion, by the record of such 
 things ; but when they do so, it is but to conceal, 
 that, while having a form of godliness, they deny its 
 power. 
 
 Such things being unusual in the experienoe of 
 
.«•. 
 
 PRKFACE. 
 
 XIU 
 
 God's people, it may be asked, why they should be 
 found among the attainments of Ross-shire Chris- 
 tians, while they are unknown elsewhere? 
 
 It is enough in reply to say, that they were not 
 ordinary Christian.'* of whom these things are 
 affirmed. Judged by their clear views of "the truth 
 as it is in Jesus," by their deep experience of the 
 power of godliness, by the holiness of their lives, and 
 by their great usefulness in the vineyard of the 
 Lord, they must be reckoned as peculiar, even 
 among the godly. Their position, too, was such as 
 to allow of their devoting themselves to closet inter- 
 course with God, as other Christians could not, who 
 were placed in a busier sphere. More palpable evi- 
 dences of their nearncbs to God might therefore 
 be justly expected. 
 
 But even if these things be connected with some 
 defect in the pious Highlander, that will not render 
 them at all incredible, nor furnish any presumption 
 against the hand of God being in them. Whether 
 they indicate a love of tho marvellous, arising from 
 ignorant superstition, or a craving after palpiible evi- 
 dences of God's favour, arising from obstinate un- 
 belief, on the part of the Highland Christian, they 
 may bo veritable proofs, at the same time, of the 
 reality of his communion with God, and of tho gra- 
 oious condescension of his Father in heaven. 
 
 It iH not tlie Celt alone who is prone to supcrsti- 
 
J 
 
 I: 
 
 '} 
 
 I 
 
 mv 
 
 PREFACE. 
 
 tion. The immortal soul, be it in tlie breast of Celt 
 or of Saxon, feels desolate while shut out fi'om the 
 invisible. It has a feeling of dependence on some- 
 thing higher than sense informs it of, that keeps it 
 leaning towards the supernatural, even when all in 
 that sphere is, to its apprehension, dark and confused 
 as chaos. Left to itself, it will conjure, out of that 
 benighted region, the spectres of a bewildering super- 
 stition with which to people an imagined world. 
 The quickened soul, while seeking things above, 
 looks to them only in the light of Scripture, and be- 
 lieving, leans on God as He has revealed Himself in 
 His word. But if the pious Highlander is still ex- 
 ceeding prone to seek beyond the limits of the light 
 of revelation ; if his spirit is ever stretching itself be- 
 yond the boundary line, that separates between the 
 revealed and the " secret things," becomes it not the 
 condescension of the Lord to meet him, just on the 
 very verge, with such manifestations of His mind as 
 others crave not, even the most extraordinary, that 
 can be given him, without quite depai'ting from the 
 rule of His communion with His children on the 
 earth. 
 
 Or, if every pious Highlander is a Thomas in un- 
 belief, ought we to be surprised, if the class experi- 
 ence the condescension of Him, v/ho adapted himself 
 to the weakness of the individual, who was their pro- 
 totype? May not their very infirmity secure to 
 
 
t^^ 
 
 PREFACE. 
 
 XV 
 
 them tokens of His care and presence to which other 
 Christians are strangers^ I allow the Southern to 
 remind me, that "blessed are they that have not 
 seen 'and yet have believed;" and let me be content, 
 if these strange things are regarded, as proofs of the 
 Lord's gracious condescension, rather than of any 
 high attainment on the part of those who are its 
 objects. 
 
 But, after all, what is there in these things to ren- 
 der them incredible ■{ To aliens, the communion of 
 God with His people must be all a hidden mystery. 
 To them all the facts of that secret intercourse must 
 seem incredible. This kind of proof of its reality is 
 more offensive to them, just because it is more pal- 
 pable. They wish it to be untrue, and it is this 
 which moves them to decry it as incredible. There 
 are some, who are no strangers to a life of godliness, 
 though their own experience has never furnished 
 them with a confirmation of the reality of such 
 things. Not having thought with sufficient care on 
 the subject, they deem them inconsistent with the 
 standing rule of God's communings with His people, 
 " in these last days." A pious dread, of attaching a 
 rag of superstition to the fair form of Bible religion, 
 moves them to cast all such things aside. They seek 
 them not for themselves, and they will not allow 
 them to othera. 
 
 But may not such manifestations, of His mind by 
 
■ '?uWTJ5traW i t.gTi|i . 1 1: j ii ff—.m i M' ■ — - — ' » 
 
 f f 
 
 ^;> 
 
 ; i 
 
 4 1 
 
 I 
 
 I ^ 
 
 XVI 
 
 PREFACE. 
 
 the Lord, be explained, without the introduction of 
 any element not found in the process of His ordinary 
 intercourse with His people 1 Besides the operation 
 of the Spiri: (-n the soul, and the seasonable presenta- 
 tion and application of the truth, nothing is required 
 to account for the occurrence of these "strange 
 things." The mind is directed to a certain case and 
 a passage of Scripture is applied to that case ; and the 
 seemin ■ prophes; ing is the result. 
 
 But, however they may be explained, these strange 
 things are true ; and it would be more rational em- 
 ployment, to be inquiring into the reason of them, 
 than to be howling over the record of them. If the 
 examples of these things, which I have given, are not 
 true, there is no verity on any page of history, no- 
 thing credible in the testimony of men who were 
 never known to lie, nothing reliable in the clearest 
 evidence of the senses, and nothing trustworthy in 
 the plai est intimations of consciousness. Let men 
 receive or reject them ; let them awaken the sneers 
 of the scoffer, or be received unquestioned by the 
 credulous; let them provoke the enmity of the 
 hypocrite, or stimulate the desires of the Christian 
 after morj nearness to God ; let them confirm the 
 faith of the child, or prove a stumbling-block to the 
 alien, they are at least as true as they are strange. 
 
S"^-^' 
 
 •«R 
 
 CONTENTS. 
 
 CHAPTER L 
 
 THE GOSPEL IN ROS J-SHIRB. 
 
 The Year of Grace— State of the Highlands before the 
 Reformation — The First Labourers — State of Rosa- 
 shire before 1660, and thereafter, till the Revolution 
 — The Best Days of Ross -shire — Highland Clearances, 
 
 CHAPTER II. 
 
 THE MINISTERS OF ROSS-SHIRE. 
 
 TTie Various Classes of Ministers — Eminence in the 
 Ministry — How Attained— Character of the Eminent 
 Ministers — Mr Hogg— Mr M'Killigan — Mr Eraser — 
 Mr Porteous — Mr M 'Phail — Mr Calder — Mr Lachlan 
 Mackenzie — Mr Macadam — Dr Mackintosh — Mr 
 Forbes — Dr Macdonald, .... 
 
 CHAPTER III. 
 
 " THE MEN " OF ROSS-SllIRE. 
 
 Origin of their Designation — Misrepresentations, and 
 their Authors — Order and Body of "The Men" — 
 — Their Peculiarity — The Fellowship Meeting — Ob- 
 jections Anowered — The Character of "The Men " — 
 Specimens — John Munro, the Caird of Kiltearn — 
 Alister Og, the Eddcrton Weaver — Hugh Ross of Kil- 
 muir — Hugh Ross [Buie] — Donald Mitchell — John 
 Clark — Rory Phadrig, .... 
 
 PAGE 
 
 14 
 
 7S 
 

 I 
 
 * ', 
 
 w 
 
 XVIU CONTENTS. 
 
 CHAPTER rv. 
 
 THE RELIGION OP ROSS-SHIRE. 
 
 Fruits of the Gospel in the days of the Fathers — A 
 Ross-shire Congregation — A Ross-shire Sabbath — A 
 Ross-shire Communion Season — Radical Peculiarity 
 of the Religion of Ross-shire — Objections Considered 
 — Gloominess — Exclusiveness — Closetism — Influ- 
 ence of "the Men" — Paucity of Communicants, 
 
 PAOI 
 
 1U6 
 
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 
 His Birth-Place — His Father — Anecdotes of His Boy- 
 hood — His Education — College Days — License — Hia 
 Sermon in Applecross — His Labours in Lochbroom 
 
 — ^Anecdot?. 
 
 CHAPTER II. 
 
 Appointed Missionary at Eriboll — First Appearance — 
 First Sermon — State of Religion in the District — 
 Preaching Stations — Major Mackay — Mr. Mackay 
 Hope — Donald M'Pherson — Robert M'Leod — Mrs. 
 Mackay — Communion at Kinlochbervie — Translation 
 to Aasynt — Success — Trial — Marriage, . 
 
 CHAPTER m. - 
 
 Killeaman — The State of the Parish before 1813— Mr. 
 Kennedy's Induction — His Father's death — Anec- 
 dotes—The Old Church— Mr. K.'s Usual Services— 
 His Domestic Life — His Elders — His First Diet of 
 
 145 
 
 161 
 
* 
 
 w 
 
 -"■■*.■• 
 
 XIX 
 
 PAGB 
 
 183 
 
 CONTENTS. 
 
 Catechising— The Conversion of the Champion of 
 Prelacy— The Pensioners, Alexander M 'Donald and 
 Alexander Macleod— Old Macfarquhar— Colin of the 
 Peats— Sandy Dallas— David Miinro— The Cu ^ Ger- 
 man— Mary M'Eae, . . ^ 
 
 CHAPTER IV. 
 
 Hearers from Surrounding Parishes— Jane Bain— The 
 Munlochy Meetings— Anecdote— John Gilmour— 
 Blind Nelly— The Farmer's Wife-The Papist— The 
 Kiltarlity Merchant— The Double Marriage— The 
 Penny Smith— Little Hector— A Communion Season 
 —Assistants— The Friday Speakers— His last days 
 ^^•i^^a*^' 212 
 
 APPENDIX. 
 
 The Fear of the Lord, and the Secret of the Lord, 245 
 
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 CHAPTER I. 
 
 THE GOSPEL IN ROSS-SHIBE. 
 
 The Year of Grace — State of the Highlands before the Reforma- 
 tion — The Firet Labourers — State of Eoss-shire before IGCO, 
 and thereafter, till the Revolution — The Best Days of Ross- 
 shire — Highland Clearances. 
 
 Wild and uncultivated, as tlieir native hills, were 
 the people of the north, when already, in some parts 
 of the Lowlands, the desert was beginning to "re- 
 joice and blossom as the rose." The winter of the 
 north had lasted long, and dark and dreary had it 
 been throughout. And when " the time to favour," 
 " the set time," had come, protracted and broken was 
 the work of spring -, but a genial summer followed, 
 and a rich harvest was thereafter gathered. Cold 
 and dreary, or dark and stormy, may be the winter 
 that shall close this year of " visitation." The chill 
 of its presence is already on the hearts of " the liv- 
 ing ;" but who can tell, whether it shall continue to 
 advance with the quiet of a blight, or yet burst upon 
 us with the fury of a tempest { 
 
 When the Gospel was first sent to the Highlands, 
 Popery claimed the whole region as its own, although 
 its dogmas were not generally known, nor its rites 
 universally practised. Fearing no competing reli- 
 
 3 ■< 
 
 ■I 
 
!■ ^: 
 
 '^T 
 
 THE GOSPEL IN ROSS-SHIRE. 
 
 \ 
 
 gion, the priesthood had been content to rule tlie 
 people, without attempting to teach them. His 
 ignorance and superstition made the rude Highlander 
 all the more manageable in the hands of the clergy, 
 and they therefore carefully kept him a heathen. 
 He believed that the priests were as powerful as the 
 fairies, and he brought venison to the bishop, and 
 thus rendered her due of faith and of practice to the 
 Church. In exchange, there was given him all the 
 wild license which he craved. Popery has always 
 had an easy way of making conquests in heathendom. 
 If it can only steal in its baptism among the rites 
 formerly practised, and hang a crucifix on every idol 
 formerly worshipped, and attract to its priesthood 
 the blind veneration of the people, it will consent to 
 leave all else as it found it. Such must have been 
 its conquest of the Highlands of Scotland. Savage 
 heathen could everywhere be found, trained Papists 
 in very few places, when the light of the gospel fii-st 
 shone on the north. There was even then quite as 
 much of what was peculiar to Druidism, in the reli- 
 gious opinions and worship of the people, as of any 
 views and practices derived from Popery. 
 
 There were then in the Highlands, clans, each with 
 its chief, as well as congregations, each with its 
 priest. The influence of the castle had never been 
 displaced by that of the chapel, anxious though the 
 Komish hierarchy ever were for a monopoly of power. 
 Had the clergy attempted to supersede the chieftains, 
 they would have assumed the attitude of rivals before 
 them, and on this the Highlander had never learned 
 to look without being provoked to a trial of strengths 
 Had they even endeavoured to check them, they 
 
THE GOSPEL IN ROSS-SHIRE. 
 
 d 
 
 might have become unmanageable. They therefore 
 wisely gave them rein, careful only to direct them ; 
 for having learned to manage, they cared not to 
 remove them. Their power having been made use- 
 ful to the Church, the priests were rather anxious to 
 preserve it. Each found it his interest to acknow- 
 ledge and advance the influence of the other. The 
 chief sent his clansman, with blood on his hands, for 
 peace to the priest ; and thr more guilty the devotee 
 had become in the service of the former, his fear 
 made him all the more servile in the hands of the 
 latter. The priest sent his penitent, with an indul- 
 gence, to the service of the chief ; and the more the 
 serf placed his trust in the power of the Church, all 
 the more boldly could he fight the future battles of 
 his clan. The clergy, too, must themselves be Celts ; 
 and as no way had been found of emptying his veins 
 of Highland blood, while leaving him fit for High- 
 land service, the clannish feeling was strong even in the 
 priest. He could be moved, sometimes, to subordin- 
 ate the claims of his chief at Rome to the wishes of 
 his chief at home. Priest Mackenzie could be per- 
 suaded to gather the Macleods or the Munros to mass 
 at an appointed time, that his chieftain might find it 
 convenient to butcher or to burn them. A levy 
 from the clan would be the churchman's reward for 
 this service. The two thus helped each other; and, 
 combined, they bore with the pressure of a double 
 despotism on the deluded people, the chieftain using 
 all his influence to keep them serfs and savages, and 
 the priest doing his utmost to keep them dupes and 
 feuatics. Alas ! for the poor Highlander under 
 
w^ 
 
 THE GOSPEL IN R0S8-SFIRE. 
 
 I 
 
 h 
 
 i 
 
 them. He, with an energy and ardour that made 
 him a hero, even when a slave, and a love of country 
 and of kindred that made him a patriot, even \/hen 
 oppressed, was found by the Eeformation as Popery 
 had left liim, an utter heathen in ignorance, a very 
 fanatic in superstition, and, in his habits, a lawless 
 savage, rioting in the wild excitements of the chase, 
 in the perilous adventures of plundering raids, and 
 in the fierce combats of rival clans and chieftains. 
 
 It was in 1563 the fii-st ray of Reformation light 
 broke through the darkness of Ross-sliire. By the 
 General Assembly of tliat year, Mr Donald Munro 
 was appointed '" Commissioner of Iloss." The Lord 
 came with him to his work, and before seven years 
 had pas.sed> the cause of truth had made such progress 
 in Easter Ross, where he chiefly laboured, as to 
 attract the notice of the " good Regent Murniy," 
 who jneseiited to the people of Tnin a puljnt for 
 th(!ir clivuch, as an acknowledgment of their zeal. 
 
 In 1574 ten ministers and twenty- five readers 
 were labouring in Ross-shire. The county was 
 divided into ten districts, each containing several 
 charges. To each district a minister was appointed, 
 and, so far as the supply nfiforded, a reader to each 
 charge. The several congregations in his district 
 were visited by the minist«!r, tlion<j;h ho liad the im- 
 mediate oversight of the charge, which was accounted 
 the central or tlie most important. This arrange- 
 ment was, of course, only temporary, and was 
 gnuhially abandoned, an the su])ply of minister was 
 increasing. Efficient reatlers it wjis difficult to pro- 
 cure, and a number adequate for the 8upi)lying of all 
 the charges it was quite impossible to find. It was 
 

 THE GOSPEL IN ROSS-SHIRE. 5 
 
 difficult, too, to confine such as wpre employed to the 
 work which alone was assigned to them. Bome of 
 them had formerly been priests, and while required 
 only to read to the people, they could not l)e kept 
 from going beyond their commission into the track 
 of their oM coui'se of service. The ministers, too, 
 were liable to prelatic aspirations, and it was well, 
 for themselves and for others, that the temptation to 
 lord it over subordinate labourers was removed, so 
 soon as the Church could displace, by an ordained 
 pastorate, the temporary office of the roiiders. Of 
 the work and success of the labourers in Ross-»hire, 
 during tlie sixteenth century, no distinct memories 
 have survived. 
 
 Little is known of the state of matters in Ross- 
 shire, during the days of the Tulchan.>5. The Bishop 
 of Ross, who w£is deposed by the Assembly of 1G3X, 
 was one who wsvs likely to use all his influence in 
 suppressing the truth, and in oppressing the peo])lrt 
 who loved it. On the occasion of his deposition, Mr 
 Alexander Kerse said, " he is the vive examj)le and 
 perfyte j)aterne of a proud prehtt, and enters in com- 
 position with the Pope hiniselfe ; and therefore, let 
 him have his dm- deposition and excomniunication /' 
 "and the whole Assembly, in ane voice, voitod the 
 same." 
 
 On the re-estaV)lishmont of Presbytery, after the 
 days of the Tulchans, the people were found to be still 
 grossly ignorant and sup«n*stitious, and the state of 
 ;^ Jials to be extremely low. During a visitation of 
 the more remote Highland Parishes in lG5G,i*ie Pres- 
 bytt^ry of I/ii:gwall found that "amongst tlieir al>o- 
 miuable and heathenish practices, the people [of Apple- 
 
 •■ iiiOi. ». . 
 
 ls,.:^y^.. 
 
 ''f:.S$i^ 
 
Rlilill 
 
 ■i 
 
 THE GOSPEL IN ROSS-SHIRE. 
 
 fc 
 
 crosse] wer: accustomed to sacrifice bulls at a certaine 
 time, upon the 25tb of August, which day is dedicate, 
 as they conceive to S. Mourie, as they call him." 
 Whether this Mourie was a heathen deity, a Popish 
 saint, or one of Columba's missionaries, it may be 
 impossible to determine. The Presbytery also found 
 " that future events in reference specially to life and 
 death, in taking of journeys, was expected to be 
 manifested by a hole of a round stone, wherein they 
 tried the entering of their head, which, if they would 
 do, to wit, be able to put in their '.eads, they expect 
 their returning to that place ; and failing, they con- 
 ceived it ominous." What effect would the applica- 
 tion of this tesj;, and faith in this omen, have on the 
 liosts who travel in these restless days 1 If the old 
 Highland proverb — "a large head on a wise man, and 
 a hen's head on a fool" — be as tnie as it is trite, would 
 not the reading of the omen require to be reversed, in 
 order to keep the most of them at home 1 
 
 In Gairloch, during the same tour of visitation by 
 the Presbytery, similar practices were found to j)revail, 
 as appears from the following minute, dated, " Ken- 
 lochewe, 9 Sept., 1656 :"— -"The Brethren, takinginto 
 their consideration the abominations within the paro- 
 chin of Gairloch, in sacrificing of behests ui)on the 25 
 August, as also in pouring of milk upon hills as obla- 
 tions, whose names are not particularlie signifitxl as 
 yet, referred to the diligence of the minister to mak 
 search of thoas pt^rsounes and summond them ; and 
 withal that by his private diligence he have searchers 
 and tryers in everie comer of the cuntrey, espociallie 
 about the Locli Moiirie, of the most faithfulle and 
 honest men he can find ; and that such as are his ciders 
 
*^ 
 
 THE GOSPEL IN ROSS-SHIRE. 7 
 
 'be particularlie poseit concerning former practices, in 
 what they know of thoas poor ones who are called 
 Mourie his deviles, who receives the sacrifices and 
 offerings on account of Mourie his poore ones, and that 
 at least some of thoas be summond to compeare before 
 the Presoyterie until the rest be discovered." The 
 Presbytery, at the same time, found, "that Mourie has 
 his nionuments and remenibrances in several parochins 
 within the Presbyterie, but more particidarly in the 
 narochins of Lochcarron, Lochalsh, Kintail, Containe, 
 Foddertie and Lochbroome." In spite of eveiy effort 
 to put them down, these " heathenish practices" con- 
 tinued to prevail for some time theretifxer, for in 1 G78 
 the curate of Gairloch, Mr Roderick Mackenzie, sum- 
 moned certain parties "for sacrificing in ane heathenish 
 manner in the island of St. Rutfus, commonly called 
 Eilcan Mourie, in Lochewe, for recovering the health 
 of Cirstane Mackenzie." What wjis then the stiite of 
 that district, may help to give an idea of the gross dark- 
 ness that must have overspread tlie whole Highlands a 
 century before. 
 
 Of the ministers who then laboured in Ross-shire, 
 not many names are remembered. The gospel was fully 
 and faithfully preached in some parishes in those days. 
 In Tarbat and in Kincardine, in the Presbytery of 
 Tain, there were godly ministers ; in Kiltearn, and, 
 for a short time in Foddei-ty, in the Presbytery of 
 Dingwall, and in Cmmarty, in the Presbytery of 
 Chanoniy. It wjus in Kiltearn, under the ministry 
 of Mr Hogg, that the most signal success attended 
 the preaching of the gosp»>l ; but tliere were move- 
 ments elsewhere among " the dry lK>nes," and through- 
 out the county, aoula were then gathered to Chriat 
 
 =iK<r- 
 
^ 
 
 "m 
 
 8 
 
 THE GOSPEL IN ROSC-SHIRE. 
 
 f \ 
 
 and to glory, as tlie first-fruits of Ross-shire unto 
 God. 
 
 At the Restoration not many of the ministers were 
 found faithful in the day of trial. Mr M'Killigan, 
 then minister of Fodderty, was the only one who at 
 once demitted his cnarge. Mr Hogg of Kiltearn, Mr 
 Anderson of Cromarty, and Mr Andrew Ross of Tar- 
 bat were deposed ; and in 1G65, Mr Tlioraas Ross of 
 Kingcardine resigned his living. All the other mini- 
 ocers clung to their stipends, and contrived to swallov; 
 piecemeal the "black prelacy" that was then thrust 
 on tlie conscience of Scotland, 
 
 The conforming ministei-s were allowed to retain 
 some relics of their former privileges, to reconcile them 
 the more easily to their bondage. They, forsooth, 
 held tlieir meetings of presbytery, and wrote min\ites 
 of tlieir pioceedings, which are still extant, and, mix- 
 ing the memories of other days with tlie dreams of 
 the present, tliey might have cheated themselves into 
 thinking that tliey were not Episcopalians after all. 
 Their bishops — for they had three in succession — 
 humoured their dupes an other of their mitred breth- 
 ren would not. They allowed them to meet in pres- 
 bytery, with a Moderator, episcopally chosen, and an 
 archdeacon, who in the moderator's absence, might 
 act as his substitute. When both these " bisliops' 
 brats " were on a hunting exj)e(lition after some of 
 " the seditious ministers," or were required to wait on 
 " their Right Reverend Father in Clianrie " on the 
 day ai)pointed for the meeting of presbytery, " the 
 bretliren " were not allowed to transact any business, 
 and could only minute in their record that they had 
 met and doue nothing. The only work allowed to 
 
 . if 
 
5S- 
 
 ..w.; 
 
 *f 
 
 THE GOSPEL IN ROSS-SHIRE. 
 
 them, at any time, was to wade through all the vile 
 details of the cases of disciphne that were reported to 
 them, and then to pass them ovei- to the bishop for 
 decision ; to examine candidates for ordei-s, who were 
 then required to repair for ordination to the bishop ; 
 and to report, for the information of the bishop and 
 the Council, all they knew regarding the ongoings of 
 the outed ministers. They retained, from better- days, 
 the practice of delivering in rotation "an exercise and 
 addition " on some passage of Scripture, at each meet- 
 ing of their so-called presbytery ; but, strict though 
 they were in requiring an apology for absence, the 
 man who had " to exercise " was very often " indis- 
 posed " on the day of meeting. 
 
 In 1GG5 the bishop sent an order to the presby- 
 teries, " requiring them to uf-e all diligence in cele- 
 brating the holy sacrament of the Supper." The men 
 who, in former days, judged their conffi'ejiations 
 
 '»' 
 
 " quite unfitted for such service," now, while their 
 congregations are in no better state than before, re- 
 solve to yield obedience to the bishop. In I0G8, the 
 bisliop " ordains, by letter, that the brethren preach 
 on Christ's nativity day," and all the brethren after- 
 wards reported tliat they did so, except one, who 
 was " tender at the time." In 1671, the effect of 
 Episcopal drill becomes more apparent, and they 
 regulate their procedure most submissively " accord- 
 ing to the act passed by my Lord Bishop." In 1678, 
 they would meet " for despatching of Mr Roderick 
 Mackenzie, Chanter, south, as commissioner from the 
 Synod of Rosa to the primate, in order to the process 
 delivered against Mr Thomas Urquhart, late minister 
 at Ci*omartie ;' and on the same year, " the modera- 
 
 'I 
 

 i 
 
 I 
 
 % 
 
 10 
 
 THE GOSPEL IN ROSS-SHIRE. 
 
 tor presented a letter from the Right Reverend 
 Father, the Bishop, desiring that the moderator, with 
 a select number of the brethren, should repair to 
 Chanrie to put a final period to Mr Thomas Urqu- 
 hart j" the bishop adding the words, " his process," 
 to his order, to meet the scruples of the quondam 
 Presbyterians. Thereafter, they continued to act 
 most zealously, as the bishop's police, against the 
 few faithful Christians, who were left in the county, 
 and who were troublers of prelatic peace. 
 
 " The camel" given them to swallow in the test oath 
 of 1681, caused a little higgling, which drew down 
 upon them an imperious letter from the bishop, whose 
 threats were far more effectual than its logic. Tt had 
 a sting in its tail which terrified the poor men, though 
 the argument in the body of it must have failed to 
 convince them ; and so " all the brethren concluded 
 to meet at Chanrie, on Tuesday the 28th December, 
 current, to close their resolution anent the test." 
 Having bolted the oath, they lay down in their 
 chains, and, excepting the intervals of disturbance 
 caused by the conventicles at Kiltearn, Alness, and 
 other places, they slept on, till awakened by " the 
 glorious revolution." 
 
 In 1G90 Presbytery began to resume possession, 
 but only very slowly could it do so. There were few 
 ministers to whom places, occupied by them before 
 the Restoration were open. Mr Hogg returned to 
 Kiltearn, but the labour of a few weeks sufiiced to ex- 
 haust the remnant of strength which persecution had 
 left in him ; Mr Anderson resumed his work at Cro- 
 msirty ; and for a few months Mr M'Killigan laboured 
 at Alness ; but these, for nearly two years, were the 
 
"t^- 
 
 4 
 
 m 
 
 *», 
 
 THE GOSPEL IN ROSS-SHIRE. 
 
 11 
 
 only Presbyterian ministers, who had been in the 
 county. In 1693, though the ministers of Ross and 
 of Sutherland were united in one presbytery, there 
 were only four out of the two counties whose names 
 appear in the sederunt at any of their meetings ; Mr 
 Hugh Anderson, Cromarty, and Mr William Stewart, 
 Kiltearn, being at that time the only Presbyterian, 
 ministers in Ross-shire, and Mr Walter Denune, 
 Golspie, and Mr William Mackay, Dornoch, the only 
 Presbyterian ministers in Sutherlandshire. 
 
 A few of the Episcopal incumbents laid themselves 
 open to deposition by their disloyalty, and some by 
 their immorality, and the places of others were soon 
 made vacant by death. But of these openings the 
 Assembly could not take immediate advantage. The 
 demand for ministers was beyond the supply. They 
 had not learned to extemporise incumbents, as wis 
 the fashion in the days of the Tulchans, and of the 
 more ambitious prelatists of later times. Vacancies 
 abounded, but they chose to wait till the breaches 
 were repaired by the Lord, rather than to shovel in 
 such rubbish .as had filled them before. 
 
 The re-occupying of the county, even when supply 
 was provided, was found to be more difficult than to 
 take possession of it at first. Not only were the 
 Episcopal incumbents on the field, to employ all the 
 influence which they had managed to acquire, in op- 
 position to the cause of the Gospel, but a strong poli- 
 tical feeling was aroused, and directed by the Jacobite 
 chieftains, alike against the reigning sovereign, and 
 against the Church which he had been the means of 
 restoring. There were a few aniong the people who 
 had hailed the revolution with delight, and who, still 
 
 I 
 
 I 
 
I 
 
 12 
 
 ^ 
 
 THE GOSPEL IN ROSS-SHIRE. 
 
 more, rejoiced in the restoration of the Gospel to 
 their land ; but the number of such was small. In 
 several parishes the first presentees had much opposi- 
 tion to encounter. In 1716, the minister of Gairloch 
 •was compelled to leave his parish, owing to the ill 
 treatment he received at the hands of both the laird 
 and the people. His crops were destroyed, his house 
 robbed, and he and his family were reduced to a state 
 of starvation. In 1720 the presentee to Lochalsh 
 was iiot allowed to preach at all in that parish, and 
 for several years, after he was first driven out of it, 
 he could not venture to return to his charge. In 
 1717, the minister of Killearnan was refused by the 
 heritors, who were bigoted Jacobites, any share of the 
 maintenance due to him ; his mansp was razed to the 
 ground ; and, so incensed were the people against 
 him under the instigation of the lairds, that his minis- 
 try was deserted, and his person in danger. 
 
 Even after the most of the charges in the Synod 
 were supplied by Presbyteiian ministers, the curates 
 still hovered about them, and, by chmdestine mar- 
 riages and baptisms, and in various other ways, ex- 
 erted a baneful influence on the feelings and habits of 
 the people. In course of time these gad-flies were 
 removed ; and the only traces of " black prelacy," 
 left in the county, were a very few Episcopal chapels, 
 the resorts of Jacobite lairds and their underlings, 
 and of fugitives from Presbyterian discipline. 
 
 It was after the first quarter of the eighteenth 
 century liad passed, that the best days of Ross-shire 
 began. A few godly ministers were then scattered 
 over the province of the Synod. In 1725, Mr James 
 Eraser was ordained minister of Alness, and his 
 
 4-» 
 
-*' 
 
 M 
 
 THE GOSPEL IN ROSS-SHIRE. 
 
 13 
 
 labours were early and greatly blessed. Seven years 
 thereafter, Mr Porteous came to Kilmuir, and few 
 ministers have been more successful than he. Mr 
 Balfour of Nigg, Mr M'Phail of Resolis, Mr Beaton 
 of Rosskeen, and Mr Wood of Rosemarkie, all famous 
 men of God, were his contemporaries. Before the 
 middle of the century the great rcAdval of religion 
 began, which spread its blessed influence alike over 
 Highlands and Lowlands. At Nigg, Kilmuir, Ross- 
 keen, and Rosemarkie, especially, the Lord's right 
 hand wrought wonders of grace in " turning " many 
 " from darkness to light ; " but in other places 
 throughout the county, many souls were then 
 gathered to the Lord. Under the ministry of such 
 men as Fraser, Porteous, Beaton, Balfour, M'Phail, 
 and Wood, the good work continued to advance and 
 to spread, till the desert began now indeed to " re- 
 joice and blossom as the rose." 
 
 This extensive revival resulted from the blessing 
 of the Lord on the stated preaching of tlie Gospel. 
 It was preceded by much prayer. It began in the 
 hearts and the closets of the people of the Lord. Its 
 progi-ess was attended by no unseemly excitement. 
 There were no outcries or prostrations at public 
 meetings in those days. It gave rise to no unwise 
 multiplication of agents, means, and meetings. Deep 
 impressions of their utter impotence under the power 
 of sin, as well as of their utter inexcusableness under 
 its guilt, with a distinct recognition of the necessity 
 of regeneration and of the sovereignty of gi'ace, dis- 
 tinguished the experience of the awakened. Attain- 
 ing to a clear view of the foundation, object, and 
 warrant of " the hope set before him" in the Gospel, 
 
 . 1] 
 
1 
 
 '^ 
 
 ■I, 
 
 14 
 
 THE GOSPEL IN ROSS-SHIRE. 
 
 ■*■. 
 
 they grew up, under the skilful tuition of godly 
 ministers, intelligent, exercised, and consistent Chris- 
 tians. An intense aversion to unsoundness, forma- 
 lity, and unwatchfulness, distinguished them as a 
 class. Few, very few, of those who were admitted 
 into the confidence of the Church, at that time, ever 
 belied their profession. They were, indeed, to Ross- 
 shire a preserving and a seasoning salt, till the Lord 
 removed them out of it. 
 
 In 1782, there met at Kilteam, on a communion 
 occasion, under the preaching of Dr Fraser of Kirk- 
 hill, perhaps as blessed a congregation as ever as- 
 sembled in Scotland. Hundreds of God's people from 
 the surrounding district, were there, and all of them 
 had as much of the comforting presence of the Lord 
 as they were able to endure. It was then the culmi- 
 nating point of the spiritual prosperity of Ross-shire 
 was reached. Under the ministry of the Calders, 
 Macadam, Mackenzie, the Mackintoshes, Forbes, 
 M'Donald, and others, the Lord's people continued 
 to be edified, and souls were still " added to the 
 Church." But such days of power as were formerly 
 enjoyed, have never yet returned. Days of richer 
 blessing shall verily yet be given : but ere they shall 
 come, the present generation may have passed, under 
 " the shame of barrenness," from the earth. 
 
 It is worthy of remark, that it was at the climax 
 of its spiritual prosperity, the cruel work of eviction 
 began to lay waste the hill-sides and the plains of the 
 north. Swayed by the example of the godly among 
 them, and away from the influences by which less 
 sequestered localities were corrupted, the body of the 
 people in the Highlands became distinguished as the 
 
THE GOSPEL IN ROSS-SHIRE. 
 
 15 
 
 most peaceable and vii*tuous peasantry in Britain. It 
 was just then that they began to be driven off by un- 
 godly oppressors, to clear their native soil for 
 strangers, red deer, and sheep. With few exceptions, 
 the owners of the soil began to act, as if they were 
 also owners of the people, and, disposed to regard 
 them as the vilest part of their estate, they treated 
 them without respect to the requirements of right- 
 eousness or to the dictates of mercy. Without the 
 inducement of gain, in the very recklessness of cruelty, 
 families by hundreds were driven across the sea, or 
 vere gathered, as the sweepings of the hill-sides, into 
 ■WTctched hamlets on the shore. By wholesale evic- 
 tions, wastes were formed for the red deer, that the 
 gentry of the nineteenth century might indulge in the 
 sports of the savages of three centuries before. Of 
 many happy households sheep walks were cleared for 
 strangers, who, fattening amidst the ruined homes of 
 the banished, corrupted by their example the few 
 natives who remained. Meanwhile, their rulers, 
 while deaf to the Highlanders' cry of oppression, were 
 wasting their sinews and their blood on battle-fields, 
 that, but for their prowess and their bravery, would 
 have been the scene of their country's defeat. 
 
 ! I 
 
 M 
 
 ^, * 
 
1 
 
 jF *'■ 
 
 CHAPTER II. 
 
 THE Ml VISTERS OF ROSS-SHIRE. 
 
 The Various Classes of Ministers — Eminence in the Ministry — 
 How attained — Character of the Eminent Ministers — Mr 
 Hogg — Mr M'Killigan — Mr Eraser — Mr Porteoiis — Mr 
 M'Phail — Mr Calder — Mr Lachlau Mackenzie — Mr Macadam 
 — Dr Macintosh — Mr Forbes — Dr Macdonald. 
 
 ^mm 
 
 A LIST of the ministers of Ross-shire would be a 
 very checkered one. It would present many grades 
 of talent, from the man of genius down to the dunce; 
 many varieties of religion, from the man of singular 
 godliness down to the scoffer ; and many shades of 
 popularity, from the man whom all revered down to 
 the man whom all d.^spised. 
 
 A roll of its ministers in its worst days, would be 
 much more uniform than such a roll in its best. 
 There were times in Ross-shire, v hen its ministers 
 cared not to affect much godiirv^s, and were not 
 8usj)eGted of having any at all. --uch, at least, wore 
 the two sets of curates ; some of whom may have 
 sunk further down in ignorance and immorality than 
 the rest, but to eminence for learning and piety, 
 none of whom were known to aspire. But in the 
 best days of Ross-shire there was no monotony of 
 character among the clergy. It was just then that 
 strongly marked specimens of both the good and the 
 

 » '.4 
 
 "^^ 
 
 THE MINISTERS OF ROSS-SHIRE. 
 
 17 
 
 bad might be found. The more eminent the Lord 
 made His ministers, by the irr;asiire of grace whish 
 He gave them, the more diificult Satan must have 
 found it to insert a seemly hypocrite among them. 
 The places which were filled up by the enemy. He 
 succeeded in possessing, not by deceiving the judg- 
 ment of the Church, but by employing the power of 
 the world. The skilled labourers, whom the Lord 
 sent to His vineyard, were not easily imitated, and 
 the others would not try to be like them. Some of 
 these, therefore, began to follow the lairds, when 
 they could not copy the preachers ; they would be 
 real gentlemen, and cared not about bting real min- 
 isters at all. Others, too rude for the drawing-room, 
 and too keen in their enmity to refrain from perse- 
 cution, were given to annoying the ministers who 
 preached, and the people who loved, the doctrines of 
 grace. A few were so gross in their conduct, that 
 they seemed as if Satan, despairing of fashioning 
 them into plausible hypocrites, had let them fall into 
 the mire to which their sensuality inclined them, 
 that he night prepare them as a nuisance, since he 
 could not ;ise ' them as a snare. Getting them into 
 the ministry, he had tJie power to keep them, on the 
 elevation of theii* office, before the eyes of the faith- 
 ful, that he might grieve their hearts by the vileness 
 which could not possibly deceive them. Among the 
 Lord 's own ministers, there was variety al so. Some were 
 more gifted, some more godly, and some more suc- 
 cessful than others, but among them might surely be 
 found men, as like to their Master, and as fitted for 
 their work, as Christ ever gave to the Church since 
 the days of the apostles. 
 > .-^ , ^ B 
 
 ^;^ 
 
""tPllPiPfiiiipiPf lipiiti-. m • #PiiP>iiP -.' .|i.yiipiiiiiii| I 
 
 18 
 
 THE MINISTERS OP ROSS-SHIRE. 
 
 i I 
 
 The godly ministers of Ross-shire may be divided 
 into three classes. There are a few whose names 
 tower above these of all others, and to whom, by 
 universal consent, the first place would be given. 
 These alone are now to be specially noticed ; but in 
 the memories of those who are acquainted with the 
 history of the gospel in Ross-shire, about thirty 
 names will rise up, forming a second class, of men 
 who were faithful in their day and accepted in their 
 work. But the list of these would not exliaust the 
 whole number of the ministers, whom the Lord 
 claimed as His servants. Beneath them there 
 wrought, with more slender gifts, and with smaller 
 success, some whose names are now scarcely remem- 
 bered, but who were for Christ on the earth, and 
 who are now with Him in heaven. 
 
 It was neither by talents, nor by learning, nor by 
 oratory, nor was it by all these together, that a lead- 
 ing place was attained by the ministers in the High- 
 lands ; but by a profound experience of the power of 
 godliness, a clear view of the doctrines of grace, pecu- 
 liar nearness to God, a holy life, and a blessed minis- 
 try. Without these, without all these, a high place 
 would not be assigned to them either by the Lord or 
 by men. Eminence thus reached is surely the holiest 
 and the higliest; and it is a healthful state of matters 
 when the attainment of it otherwise is rendered im- 
 possible. In other portions of the Church, a minister 
 might become famous as an ecclesiastic, an orator, or 
 a scholar, who, merely for his godliness, would bo 
 utterly unknown. But mere gifts and acquirements 
 were but little accounted of in the nortli. Few op- 
 portunities for displaying them, apart from the pulpit, 
 
 lU^.^ 
 
THE MINISTERS OF ROSS-SHIRE. 
 
 19 
 
 were presented to those who may have had them, and 
 the unsanctified use of them there would earn only 
 the distinction of disgrace. Most ungracious, indeed, 
 would have been the treatment by the people of the 
 north, in the good days of the fathers, of such preach- 
 ing as is to be found in " The Religion of Common 
 Life," and even in " The Gospel in Ezekiel" Worth- 
 less, because Christless, would they have deemed the 
 religion commended in the former; and even the 
 latter, giving them rather more of the poetry in 
 Guthrie than of the gospel in Ezekiel, would have 
 found but small favour at their hands. 
 
 But the ministry in Rosa-diire furnishes no excep- 
 tion to the rule, that or. the man whom He makes 
 eminent in His Church the Lord bestows excellent 
 gifts, as surely iia an unusual measure of gnice. 
 Among them were men of distinguished talent; a fev/" 
 of them were men of genius; and the lowest of them 
 stood at least on a level with the average ministry of 
 the Church, in pcint of literary acquirements. If 
 they earned no fame for mere talent and learning, it 
 was because, having once cast their gifts and ac({uire- 
 ments at the feet of their Master, they cared not to 
 bear them aloft for the admiration of their fellows; 
 and because they occupied places, in a quiet portion 
 of the Church, from which they were not call«;d to 
 the construction or defence of the outworks — the 
 service in which the lustre of talent and of learning 
 finds most occasion to aj)pear. Thi^y were allowed 
 to devote tliemselves almost exclusively t<' the moie 
 spiritual duties of their calling; and they had learned, 
 in that sphere, to dispouse with "cxcelloucy of speech 
 and of wisdom." 
 
mmma 
 
 20 
 
 THE MINISTER,'^ OF ROSS-SHIRE. 
 
 Each of them would have been distinguished as 
 a Christian, though he had never been a minister. 
 There are ministers who find all their Christianity in 
 their office, having had none of it before in their 
 hearts. Far otlierwise was it with the godly fathers 
 in Ross-shire. With two exceptions, they had all 
 been Christians before they were office-bearers, and 
 some of thom from their earliest years. Nor were 
 they ordinay Christians. Their deep experience of 
 the work of the Spirit, their clear views of the doc- 
 trines of grace, their peculiar nearness to God, and 
 their holy watchfulness, would have made them emi- 
 nent among the godly, though they never had a place 
 among tlie clergy. Each of them had his own pecu- 
 liarity of experience, but all of them were deeply ex- 
 ercised in a life of godliness; each had his favourite 
 de[)artinent of truth, while lovingly embracing the 
 whole, but all of them were "skilful in the word of 
 righteousness;" some of thcsm were favoured with 
 more intimate communion with the Lord than tho 
 others, but they were all "a people near unto Him;" 
 each one was distinguished by some peculiar grace, 
 but they all lived "soberly, righteously and godly in 
 a present evil world." In every respect they diffiired 
 from each other, but in their common resemblance to 
 their Father in Heaven; but, owing to this, they 
 were all recognized, even by the world, as brethren 
 in the Lord. 
 
 As preachers they were all remarkable. There are 
 some who preach before their people, like actors on 
 the stage, to display themselves and to please their 
 audience. Not such were the self -denied preachers of 
 Koss-shire. There are others who preach over their 
 
V«rsjr?cyr;s 
 
 THE MINISTERS OF ROSS-SHIRE. 
 
 21 
 
 people. Studying for the highest, instead of doing 
 so for the lowest, in intelligence, they elaborate 
 learned treatises, which float like mist, when de- 
 livered over the heads of their hearers. Not such 
 were the earnest preachers of ^loss-shire. There are 
 some who preach past tlieir people. Directing their 
 praise or their censure to intangible abstractions, 
 they nev3r take aim at the views and the conduct of 
 the individuals before them. They step careftdly aside, 
 lest their hearers should be struck by their shafts, 
 and aim them at phantoms beyond them. Not such 
 wei'e the J'aith/ul preachers of Ross-shire. There are 
 others who preach at their people, serving out in a 
 sermon the gossip of the week, and seemingly pos- 
 sessed with the idea, that the transgressor can be 
 scolded out of the ways of iniquity. Not such wei'e 
 the ivise preachers of Ross-shire. There arc some 
 who preach towards their people. They aim well, 
 but they are weak. Their eye is along the arrow 
 towards the hearts of their hearers, but their arm ia 
 too feeble for sending it on to the mai'k. Superficial 
 in their experience and in tluur knowledge, tliey 
 rr;;ch not the causes of God's peo))le by their doctrine, 
 Y' they strike with no vigour at the consciences of 
 r j ngodly. Not such were the power/ul preachers 
 «. iloss-shire. There are othei-s still, who preach 
 along their congregation. Instead of stan<ling with 
 their bow in front of the rank, these archei-s take it 
 in line, and reducing their mark to an individual, 
 never change the direction of tlu^ir aim. Not such 
 were the discrinnnatiny preachers if Ross-shiro. 
 But there are a few who priuich to the people directly 
 and seasonably the mind oi God in His woitl, with 
 
 Jfe 
 
22 
 
 THE MINISTERS OF BOSS-SHIRE. 
 
 1' 
 
 authority, unction, wisdom, fervour, and love. Such 
 as these last were the eminent preachers of Ross- 
 shire. 
 
 While all of them were excellent, each of them 
 was peculiar ; and their variety was as necessary 
 as their skill. In apt and striking illustration 
 Poi-teous and Mackenzie excelled, and have left more 
 memorable sayings behind them than any of the 
 others; Calder and Macphail preached in clear, 
 unctuous words filled lull of Christ crucified, while 
 from their manner and language all was carefully 
 excluded that might withdraw the minds of their 
 hearers from the spiritual import of the message 
 wliich they carried ; for exactness of exposition, and 
 precision of statement. Macadam and Forbes were 
 second to none; Dr Mackintosh was eminent in 
 solemnity and power; and for clearness and skill in 
 unfolding the doctrines of grace, and in fervent 
 appeals to the Christless, Fniser and Macdonald 
 excelled them all. 
 
 Their preaching was remarkable for its complete- 
 ness. It combined careful exposition, fulness and 
 exactness of doctrinal statement, a searching descrip- 
 tion of experimental godliness, and close application 
 of truth to the conscience. The admixture of these 
 elements, in wisely-adjusted proportions, constitutes 
 the true excellence of preaching. Careful to ascer- 
 tain the mind of God in His Word, they were not 
 content merely to prefix a passage of Scrij)ture as a 
 motto to their sermon. They cliose to preacli from 
 a text, rather than to discourse on a subject. They 
 did not try what they themselves could say about it, 
 but to tell what the Lord said through it, to their 
 ht^urers. But, while careful expounders, they were 
 
■ ?R^^V' I'S"?.'^^ 'E n4'''^£^i'l?l-vv'.>:*b^vw-:. .J V j;^^,^--^5.^^„!^._i,,j^^ i||(j , 
 
 ■|i';^^: 
 
 THE MINISTERS OP ROSS-SHIRE. 
 
 23 
 
 systematic theologians as well. They clearly saw, 
 and they clearly taught, "the form of sound doc- 
 trine." No loose statement of doctrine would satisfy 
 them, and yet no men were further than they from 
 being frozen into the stiffness of a cold, lifeless ortho- 
 doxy. Their zeal for a sound creed was at least 
 equalled by their desire for a godly experience and a 
 holy life. They loved " the form of sound doctrine," 
 but they also loved " the power of godliness." They 
 insisted on a clear understanding of the former, but 
 they also insisted on a deep experience of the latter. 
 It is in fashion to speak of objective and subjective 
 preacliing, and to commend each by itself as excel- 
 lent in its way; but surely that preaching is defec- 
 tive, that presents a statement of doctrine without 
 any description of the experience which the application 
 of that doctrine produces, or of the fruits in which 
 that experience results ; and preaching without dis- 
 tinct doctiinal statement is like attempting to build 
 without a plummet or a plan. 
 
 Their preaching was distinguished by the minute- 
 ness with wliich the Lord guided them, to speak to 
 the varied cases of their hearers. In this respect 
 they were quite singular ; and many marvellous 
 instances of this might be given. Some of these 
 might be easily accoiuited for. In dealing with the 
 cases of God's people, a minister, acquainted with 
 the power of godliness, will be sure to have a coun- 
 terpart, in his own ex})erience, of many of the fears, 
 hopes, and enjoyments of those whom he addresses. 
 Speaking from the heart, he will be sure to speak to 
 the heart; declaring what he himself has felt, he 
 will be sure to express the feelings of others. When 
 
 \. 
 
*iPi*Pi?PiiP 
 
 24 
 
 THE MINISTERS OF ROSS-SHIRE. 
 
 the honour the Lord has been wont to put on the 
 ordinance of preaching, and His tender care of His 
 children are taken into account, who will limit the 
 degree of minuteness to which the -word's guidance 
 may be given, in adapting the message sent by His 
 servant to the varied feelings of the iiearers 1 Words 
 marvellously seasonable have been often thus spoken, 
 to account for which no proj)hetic gift should be 
 ascribed to the preacher. The pressing need of a 
 beloved child had to be seasonably met, and the 
 Lord revived, in the memory of His servant, a cor- 
 responding experience, and guided him to tell it, and 
 this is often the whole secret of the matter. There 
 have been, however, instances of " words in season " 
 that cannot thus be explained. Some more direct 
 guidance of the speaker's mind Wiis recpiired, and 
 some more abrupt impression must have been pro- 
 duced of the case, to which the Lord was sending a 
 leaf from the tree of life, or an arrow from the 
 quiver of the law. Care will be taken that any 
 such instances as may be given, shall bo accurately 
 stated rather than satisfactorily exi)lained. 
 
 Of all of them, without excejttion, it may be 
 aiBrmed, that they were scrupulously carefid in their 
 preparation for the pulpit. These were not men to 
 offer to the Lord tliat which cost them nothing. 
 Their aim in studying was not the construction of a 
 finished or a pleasing sermon. Mere sermon-making 
 was not their work. Thev sought to know what 
 message the Lord was giving them-, and to be pre- 
 pared to deliver it in the manner most accordant 
 with the gifts conferred on themselves, and most 
 suitable to the circumstances and attainments of 
 
THE MINISTERS OF ROSS-SHIRE. 
 
 25 
 
 their hearers. Each had his own way of studying, 
 as surely as his own way of preaching. Four of the 
 Ross-shire fathers were once comparing notes on this 
 subject. " I like," one of them said, " to have my 
 subject determined and my skeleton arranged, on 
 the Sabbath evening." " I devote," the second said, 
 " a portion of each day of the week to the prepara- 
 tion of my sennon." " I don't begin to write till 
 Friday," the third said. " But I," added the fourth, 
 " am so dependent on wind and tide, that I can act 
 according to no rule; I sometimes have my sermon 
 ready days before 1 deliver it, and sometimes it is 
 not ready till it is preached." On another occasion 
 the same number of eminent ministers united in 
 declaring, as the result of their experience, thai; none 
 had ever come to tell them of any part of what they 
 had preached from memory having been felt to be 
 " a word in season ;" and that any word, ascertained 
 by them to have been fitly spoken, was suggested to 
 their minds during the course of the sermon. This 
 circumstance, so carefully removing all grounds of 
 boasting, tbey, at the same time, i"egarded, as not 
 furnishing the shadow of a reason for relaxing their 
 dihgence in the careful preparation of their sermons. 
 All of them were distinguished as men of prayer. 
 Without this, they would not have had their godli- 
 ness as Cliiistians, nor their success as ministers. 
 One of them would spend whole niglits in prayer; 
 another would forget his daily meals amidst tiie 
 wrestlings of the closet ; and in the stiuly of another 
 the rug on which he usually knelt would, in a few 
 months, be quite worn through, But all of tliem, 
 like these, were given unto prater, and were admitted 
 
 
~^^Mi^^r:^^ffWWif!^^^'^?^^?W'^' 
 
 % 
 
 26 
 
 THE MINISTERS OP ROSS-SHIRE. 
 
 ff ^ 
 
 into peculiar nearness to the Lord. Their abound- 
 ing in prayer made it safe and healthful to abound 
 also in labours. Their public work was to them no 
 wasting bustle, for in communion with the Lord, 
 their strength was recruited in the closet. Wrest- 
 ling for grace with the Lord, and labouring with 
 grace for the Lord, no blight was permitted to rest 
 on their soul or their service. Prevailing witlj God 
 as they pled for men, they prevailed with men as 
 they pled for God. 
 
 As pastors, they watched for souls as those who 
 must give account unto God. Commanding the 
 respect of the people, they were allowed to deal with 
 them according to the authority of their office. 
 They were strict and faithful, but tende" and wise 
 in the exercise of discipline. They were not mvich 
 given to the formalities of s' ated visiting. It was 
 not their habit to cross a cei iain number of thres- 
 holds every year. They did what was better for 
 themselves and their flocks, for they visited tliem 
 often in spirit, as they went to carry them on their 
 hearts to the footstool of mercy. They obtained a 
 more thorough knowledge of the views and feelings 
 of their people from one course of catechising, than 
 they could from the perfunctory visiting of a life- 
 time ; and if there was awanting to them, from the 
 people, the merely carnal attachment, that may be 
 won by the civilities of " the minister's call," the 
 authority of their office was intact; and even from 
 the conscience of the unconverted their godly life 
 failed not to secure its tribute of respect. 
 
 The name of Thomas Hoqo is the earliest that 
 rises into eminence. From the interesting memoir 
 
 
 •>-tfuV-; 
 
 ii^ 
 
 
THE MINISTERS OF ROSS-SHIRE. 
 
 27 
 
 of him which has been so widely circulated, it is 
 evident that, while both a gentleman and a scholar, 
 he was a Christian of singular godliness, enjoying 
 very intimate communion with God, and a minister 
 of rare devotedness, whose labours were abundantly 
 blessed. 
 
 Next in eminence, among those of the, five non- 
 conforming ministers of Ross-shire, stands the name 
 of John M'Killigan. He received a unanimous call 
 from the people of Fodderty, September 4, 1655. On 
 the 25th of the same month, he writes to the Pres- 
 bytery, " that divers difficulties and perplexities made 
 him unable to give a peremptory answer for the time." 
 He was then in Morayshire, and thither Mr Hogg 
 was twice sent by the Presbytery to deal with him in 
 reference to the call. In the month of January fol- 
 lowing, he intimated his acceptance to the Presby- 
 tery, and his ordination took place on the 26th of 
 February 1656. Of his ministry at Fodderty no ac- 
 count can be given. In 1661 he unhesitatingly and 
 at once took his stand against prelacy. He was then 
 the only minister who did so ; for Mr Hogg was 
 unable, owing to the state of his health, to bear any 
 public testimony ao soon, and the others remained for 
 some time in their charges. A presentation was 
 offered to him by the patron, but as '* he reckoned 
 the acceptance of that as destroying the foundation 
 which God had laid in His Church, to the mainten- 
 ance of which he was bound by solemn oath," he con- 
 clusively declined to accept it. In 1663 he was 
 summarily ejected from his manse, which he continued 
 to occupy after demitting his charge, to make room 
 for Mr John Mackenzie, who, swollen by prelacy into 
 
 r^^ 
 
 V-' 
 
 V 
 
28 
 
 THE MINISTERS OP ROSS-SHIRE. 
 
 i;i 
 
 the vastness of an archdeacon, required the whole 
 house to contain him. in the same year he is sum- 
 moned to give his reasons to the conclave of curates, 
 his former co-Presbyters, for not asking from any of 
 them baptism for his child ; and, having been cited 
 by the bishop before his diocesan meeting, and re- 
 fusing to appear, a sentence of deposition was passed 
 against him, " for his absenting himself from the 
 diocesan meeting, his not answering the citation to 
 appear before him when called, and his preaching, 
 praying, and reasoning against prelatical govern- 
 ment." 
 
 Removed from Fodderty he took up his residence 
 on his own property at Alness. Till 1676 he con- 
 tinued to preach there and in other places to the few 
 who would assemble to hear him, and his labours 
 were greatly blessed by the Lord. A strong desire 
 having been felt by those who profited by his preach- 
 ing to partake of the sacrament of tlie Supper, though 
 under the ban of the Council and the watchful eyes 
 of Bishop Paterson's police, he resolved to dispense 
 that ordinance in September 1675. The little con- 
 gregation met in the house of the dowager Lady of 
 Fowlis at Obsdale, in the parish of Posskeen. Mr 
 M'Killig.m was assisted by Mr Hugh Anderaon, 
 minister of Cromarty, and Mr Alexander Fraser, 
 minister of Teviut. Mr Anderson preached the pre- 
 paration sermon on Saturday, Mr M'Killigan officiated 
 on Sabbath in the foreno-a, and Mr Fraser in the 
 afternoon, and Mr M'K. preached the thanLsgiving 
 discourse on Monday. During this last service there 
 was such a plentiful effusion of the Spirit that tlie 
 oldest CJiristiaDs tJ en present declared they had never 
 
 tm. 
 
lis; 
 
 * G 
 
 TH^ MINISTERS OF ROSS-SHIRE. 
 
 29 
 
 enjoyed such a time of refreshing before. "In short," 
 says Woclrow, " there were so sensible and glorious 
 discoveries made by the Son of Man, and such evi- 
 dent presence of the Master of Assemblies, this day 
 and the preceding, the people seemed to be in a 
 transport, and their souls filled with heaven, and 
 breathing thither while they were upon the earth; 
 and some were almost at that ' Whether in the body 
 or out of the body, I cannot tell.' " A man, hitherto 
 careless about the state of his soul, had gone to that 
 blessed meeting, impelled by mere curiosity, like the 
 chief publican of old. The God of Zaccheus met him 
 at Obsdale ; and on his return from the meeting, one 
 of his neighbours said to him, "What a fool you were 
 to have gone ; you will suffer the loss of all your 
 goods for what you have done." "You are more to 
 be pitied," he replied, "for not having been there ; 
 as for me, if the Lord would maintain in me what I 
 hope I have won to, I would not only part with my 
 cow and my horse, and these are my only earthly 
 possessions, but with my head likewise if called to 
 it." 
 
 Information having been given to the bishop, by 
 some of his spies, of Mr M'Killigan's intention to 
 disj^ense the sacrament, he instigated Sir Roderick 
 Mackenzie of Fiudon to send a party of soldiers to 
 apprehend him. On Sabbath, while the little con- 
 gregation was assembled at Obsdale, the soldiers came 
 to Alness, expecting that Mr M'Killigan would have 
 dispensed the sacrament there. To make amends for 
 their disappointment, they began to pillage the minis- 
 ter's orchard, and, finding his apples to be particu- 
 larly good, they remained long enough in the garden 
 
 -'->., -^ 
 
•*^i 
 
 
 THE MINISTERS OF ROSS-SHIRE. 
 
 ■» 
 
 n 
 
 to allow them to close the forenoon service at Obs- 
 dale. The soldiers then received information of the 
 actual meeting place, but before they could reach it, 
 the congregation had dispersed, and Mr M'Killigan 
 was safe in his hiding-place. Missing him, the party 
 sent to apprehend him returned ; and after they were 
 gone, the ministers and people assembled again, and 
 found that the Bridegroom had reserved the best wine 
 to the close. But in the strength of the food then 
 provided, the Christians who feasted at Obsdale had 
 to go many days. Mr M'Killigan was compelled to 
 abscond, and for several years he and his flock were 
 prevented from meeting together again. 
 
 Having gone to Cromarty, to baptize the child of 
 Mr Anderson, tlie deposed Presbyterian minister 
 there, he was apprehended by a party of the Earl of 
 Seaforth's followers. The night before his apprehen- 
 sion, " he was trysted," says Wodrow, " with an odd 
 enough passage, which he could not but remark. 
 When he fell r ^leep he dreamed that there were three 
 men come to the house to apprehend him ; he was 
 no observer of dreams, and therefore when he awak- 
 ened he endeavoured to be freed of the thoughts of 
 what he had been dreaming, and composed himself to 
 sleep; but, upon his falling asleep, he dreamed it a 
 second time, andawoke; and again, after he had essayed 
 to banish the thoughts of it, and falling asleep again, 
 he dreamed it a third time. This awakened him with 
 some concern, and he began to apprehend there might 
 be more than ordinary in it, and fell under the im- 
 pression that bonds and imprisonment were abiding 
 him, and arose to compose himself, by committing his 
 case to the Lord." Before he was dressed the party 
 
 
■•'r-^-j^7/.\' ; ■■ '■;♦>*■. -^T^ ;"^'r.-i---r^^ 
 
 Jk 
 
 THE MINISTERS OF ROSS-SHIRE. 
 
 ,31 
 
 sent to apprehend him were in the house. Confined 
 for sometime in the prison at Fortrose, he was after- 
 wards removed to Nairn. Kindness shown to him by 
 Sir Hugh Campbell of Cawdor, provoked his accusers 
 to insist on his removal to Edinburgh. After lying 
 in the Tolbooth for a shori time, he was sent as a 
 prisoner to the Bass. The timo spent by him there, 
 which his enemies desired to make a season of distress, 
 the Lord so sweetened by His presence that he could 
 say, " Since I was a prisoner I dwelt at ease and 
 securely." But while his soul was jojrful in the Lord, 
 his body contracted the disease which ultima^ ly ter- 
 minated in his death. In 1679, he was lib* luted on 
 bail, offered by Sir Hugh Campbell, who had formerly 
 befriended him. Returning to Ross-shire, he resumed 
 his work among the little flock that gathered around 
 hipa in Alness, much to the joy of his people, and as 
 much to the annoyance of the curates. But in 1683 
 he was again apprehended, and sent to the Bass. It 
 was again to him a Bethel. Becoming dangerously 
 ill, he petitioned for liberty to remove to Edinburgh, 
 and the Council, on the intercession of Sir Hugh 
 Campbell, granted his request. His health not im- 
 proving, he was pennitted, in 1 686, to return to Ross- 
 shire, where he continued to officiate in a meeting- 
 house, erected by his attached followers in Alness, 
 till the Revolution. Called in 1688 to Inverness, 
 his people, owing to the state of his health, consented 
 to his removal, but he preached there but seldom. 
 Exhausted by all his labours and sufierings, his bodily 
 strength rapidly declined, and he entered into his rest 
 on the 8th of June 1689. 
 
 In 1725, Mr James Eraser was ordained minister 
 
 > 
 
 .^^--r 
 
 ) 
 
liPiPPPiWW 
 
 «p 
 
 1 
 
 #. 
 
 32 
 
 THE MINISTERS OF ROSS-SHIRE. 
 
 of Alness. He was presented by the Presbytery, and 
 was at first acceptable to all the people ; but some of 
 th« lairds organised a factious opposition to his in- 
 duction, using all their ixiiluence witli their retainers 
 and tenants against him. The session and all the 
 communicants remained stedfast, in the face of all 
 the power of the lairds, but a gi'eat number of the 
 people who had at first signed his call, were induced 
 to oppose him as the time for ordaining him ap- 
 proached. When the Presbytery met to induct him, 
 they found the doors of the church shut and guarded 
 against them, and the solemn service was conducted 
 in a corner of tlie graveyard. An appeal against the 
 ordination was taken to the Synod, and thereafter to 
 the Assembly, but th*? Presbytery's conduct was 
 ultimately approved of, and Mr Fraser confirmed in 
 his cliar^gC. His inchiction did take place in the face 
 of opposition, but the Presbytery were, in this case, 
 in conflict only with those who interfered with the 
 free choice of the ])eople. 
 
 Mr Fraser is the only one of all the Ross-shire 
 fathers who is well known as an author. His work on 
 banctification gives the most satisfactory explanation 
 of that diflicult portion of Scripture exj)ounded in it, 
 which has yet been i)roduced. For exact analysis, 
 polemical skill, and wise practical application of the 
 truth, there are very few works which excel it. The 
 specimens of his sermons which have been published, 
 entitle him to a very high place among the true 
 preachers of the gospel. Full, clear, and unctuous in 
 their statements of gospel truth, close and searching 
 in their practical uses of doctrine, tend„. und wise 
 in tlio counsels and encouragements given to be- 
 

 THE MINISTERS OF ROSS-SHIRE. 
 
 33 
 
 lievers, and solemn and powerful in appeals to the 
 linconverted, they furnish a strong contrast to the 
 fashionable preaching of these days, with its vague, 
 hazy statements of doctrine, its wholesale application 
 of gospel comforts, and its flowers to please the taste, 
 instead of arrows to pierce the conscience of the un- 
 godly. 
 
 His preaching, at least during a great part of his 
 ministry, was mainly directed to the awakening and 
 conversion of sinnere, and was not so edifying and 
 consoling to the Lord's people a.s that of some othei*s 
 of tlie fathers in Ross-shire. He did preach Christ 
 crucified, and spake comfort to the broken-hearted, 
 but this wjus not tlie peculiarity of his preaching. 
 But the preponderance of the other element was of 
 God,o.nd He greatly blessed his preacbing for fulfilling 
 the end to which it was mainly directed. Many were 
 awakened under his ministry, but some of these went 
 elsewhere to get healing for their wounds. Each 
 Sabbatli not a few of his pi^ople were accustomed to 
 go to Kilmuir, to hear the famous Mr Porteous. So 
 many were at last in the habit of going, that the 
 Kilmuir congregation began to complain of tlie over- 
 crowded state of the church; and though willing to 
 bear soTue inconvenience for the sake of those who 
 could not find the Gospel at home, they had no pa- 
 tience for the fugitives from Alness. His sessiciu at 
 last spoke to Mr Porteous about it, and begged of 
 him to confer with Mr Fraser, "for the j)eople who 
 come from Alness," they said, "tell us that their 
 minister preaches, almost so exclusively, the law, that 
 those who seek the bread of life must starve under 
 Lis ministry, and are conij)elled to come hither for 
 
34 
 
 THE MINISTERS OF ROSS-SKIRE. 
 
 food and for healing." Meeting Mr Fraser soon 
 after, at a funeral, Mr Porteous said to him, "It gives 
 me, my dear brother, grief of heart, to see some of 
 your people in the church of Kilmuir every Sabbath, 
 My elders tell me, that those who come to us com- 
 plain of your preaching almost entirely to the uncon- 
 verted, and that the 'poor in spirit' can get no food 
 for their souls. Now, my dear brother, if the Lord 
 gives it to you, I pray you not to withhold their por- 
 tion from the people of the Lord, which you can dis- 
 pense to them as I never could." " My dear brother," 
 was Mr Eraser's striking reply, "when my Master 
 sent me forth to my work. He gave me a quiver full 
 of arrows, and He ordered me to cast these arrows at 
 the hearts of his enemies till the quiver was empty. 
 I have been endeavouring to do so, but the quiver is 
 not empty yet. When the Lord sent you forth, He 
 gave you a cruse of v il, and His orders to you were, 
 to pour the oil on the wounds of broken-hearted sin- 
 ners, till the cruse was empty. Your cruse is no 
 more empty than is my quiver. Let us both then 
 continue to act on our respective orders, and as the 
 blessing from on high shall r<'st on our labours, I 
 will be sending my hearers with wounded hearts to 
 Kilmuir, and you will be sending them back to Al- 
 ness rt\joicing in the Lord." Quite overcome with 
 this beautiful rei)ly, Mr Porteous said, "Be it so, my 
 beloved brother;" and, after a warmer embrace than 
 they had ever exchanged before, they parted. Surely 
 this was a rare exhibition of self-denial and brotherly 
 love ! 
 
 A cold, unfeeling, bold, unheeding, worldly woman 
 was his wife. Never did lier godly husband sit down 
 
 I 
 
■#^ 
 
 THE MINISTERS OF ROSS-SHIRE. 
 
 35 
 
 to a comfortable meal in his own house, and often 
 would he have fainted from sheer want of needful 
 sustenance but for the considerate kindness of some 
 of his parishioners. She was too insensate to try to 
 hide her treatmeno of him, and well was it for him, 
 on one account, that she was. His friends thus knew 
 of his ill-treatment, and were moved to do what they 
 could for his comfort. A godly acquaintance arranged 
 with him, to leave a supply of food in a certain place, 
 beside his usuiil walk, of which he might a\ail him- 
 self when starved at home. Even light and fire in 
 his study were denied to him on the long, cold winter 
 evenings ; and £is his study was his only place of 
 refuge from the cruel scourge of his wife's tongue 
 and teirper, there, shivering, and in the dark, he used 
 to spenc' his winter evenings at home. Compelled 
 to walk 'n order to keep himself warm, and accus- 
 tomed to do so when preparing for the pulpit, he 
 always kept his hands before him as feelci in the 
 dark, to warn him of his approaching the wall at 
 either side of the room. In this way he actually 
 wore a hole through the plaster, at each end of his 
 accustomed beat, on which some eyes have looked 
 that glistened with light from other fire than that of 
 love, at the remembrance of his cruel wife. But the 
 godly husband had learned to thank the Lord for 
 the discipline of this trial. Being once at a Presby- 
 tery dinner, alone, amidst a group of modcrat**'*, one 
 of them proposed, as a toast, the health of their 
 wives, and, turning to Mr Frascr, said, as he winktKl 
 at his companions, "You, of course, will cordially 
 join in drinking to this toa,st," " So I will, and so 
 I ought," Mr Fruscr said, " for mii:e has been a 
 
 -':\ 
 
rf — W^WWW 
 
 36 
 
 THE MINISTERS OF BOSSSHIRE. 
 
 vW* 
 
 better wife to me than any one of yours has been to 
 you." " How so V they all exclaimed. " She has 
 sent me," was his reply, " seven times a day to my 
 knees, when I would not otherwise have gone, and 
 that is more than any of yo\i can say of yours." On 
 the day on which her godly husband entered into his 
 eternal rest, and a very few Lours after his death, 
 some of the elders, on learning the sad tidings, 
 hurried with stricken hearts and in tears to the 
 manse. To their horror, they found Mi*s Fraser out- 
 side feeding her poultry. Approaching her, one of 
 them said, sobbing as he spoke, " So Mr Fraser has 
 gone to his rest." " Oh yes, the poor man died this 
 morning," she said, as she scittered the com among 
 the fowls ; "if you want to see the body you may 
 go in — chick, chick, chick." Whether horror of tlie 
 living, or sorrow for the dead, Wiis the deepest feel- 
 ing in the good men's bresvsts, both must have mingled 
 in the anguish of their hearts as they hurried to the 
 chamber of the dead. 
 
 Seven years after Mr Fraser's induction at Alness, 
 Mr John Porteous was ordained minister of Kil- 
 muir. He was born in Inverness. In his youth he 
 received an excellent education, and became distin- 
 guished as a classical scholar. Soon after his license, 
 he was presented to Daviot, but the people of that 
 parish would not receive him, and he was not one 
 who would consent to bo intruded into a charge. 
 The peoi)le may err as well as patrons, as did the 
 people of Daviot on this occasion ; but when tlio 
 former err, it is in die abuse of a power which right- 
 fully belongs to them, but when the latter presents 
 an unsuitable minister, ho doubly sins, for ho has 
 
 , 4i^ 
 
THE MINISTERS OF ROSS SH J RE. 
 
 37 
 
 usurped a power that belongs to othc ;, and employs 
 it to the injury of those from whom he has robbed 
 it. At Kilmuir he was cordially received by tho 
 body of the people. At the very outset of his 
 ministry, he got his place as a man of God over his 
 flock, and the blessing of the Lord rested on his 
 earliest labours among them. As a preacher, he was 
 quite peculiar. Of all the famous preachers in the 
 north, next to Mr Lachlan, he was the most success- 
 ful in rivetting the attention of his hearers. His 
 power of illustration was great, and he could make a 
 safe and dexterous use of allegory. His metaphors 
 were always apt, if not always poetical. His care 
 was to use them as illustrations rather than as orna- 
 ments. He never tried to embellish, but he laboured 
 to simplify his discourses. 
 
 In his pastoral intercourse with his people, he was 
 remarktibly winning and wise. Being fond of 
 flowei-s, and afraid that he might forget his flock 
 while engaged in cultivating his garden, he connected 
 with each plant he reared the name of some godly 
 parishioner or acquaintance. It was, to his mind, 
 congenial employment, to trace analogies between the 
 varieties of flowei*s in his garden and tlie varieties of 
 character in his parish ; and liaving succeeded in 
 attacliing each flower to its antityj)e, in liis mind and 
 memory, his enq)loyment in the garden never allowed 
 him CO forget that he was a watchman for souIh. A 
 brokei>-lieai-ted, liumble, timid Christian once found 
 the minister in his garden when he called upon 
 him. Bringing him beside a plant of violet, and 
 pointing to it, " There you are," Mr Porteous .said. 
 " That dark uncomely thing, without flower or fruit, 
 
 %^ 
 
T-^ 
 
 : ' if-- 
 
 if 
 
 M 
 
 38 
 
 THE MINISTERS OF ROSS -SHIRE. 
 
 «, 
 
 i 
 
 i' 
 
 is truly like me," remarked his visitor, as he looked 
 down on it. " Yes, it is indeed like you," rejoined 
 the minister, as he opened up its leaves and exposed 
 its flo Wei's, " for it is a lowly fragrant plant, that 
 usually hides its beauty, and whose sweetness is most 
 felt, when it is most closely searched and pressed. " 
 A young man who had been recently awakened, 
 came to him as he was walking among his flowera. 
 He described his feelings, and the minister listened 
 in silence, but he had no flower to which to point 
 the inquirer, and did not speak a word to him, till a 
 toad was observed crawling across the patli, on which 
 they were walking, " Do you see that ]" the 
 minister asked, pointing to the toad. "I do," tne 
 young man answered, and they passed on, and, with- 
 out another word from the ijiinister, they parted. A 
 second and a third time, there was a repetition of 
 what occurred at their fii'st interview. But when, a 
 fourth time, the youth's attention was called to the 
 crawling toad, " It would be well for me," he said,,' 
 " were I that toad without a soul that can be lost 
 for ever." " I can speak to you now," his minister 
 said. He judged his wound not to have been deep 
 enough before, but now he entered into close and 
 earnest conversation with him about the way of 
 healing. There may have been thereafter a type of 
 this young man among the flowers in the minister's 
 garden. * 
 
 Enjoying much of the Lord's presence in preaching, 
 and a rich blessing resting on his labours, it was no 
 wonder that he should have to bear many a nide as- 
 sault of " the wicked one." Ho could be no stranger 
 to Satan's devices ; for having so many of the Lord's 
 
 f^ f 
 
 ij^iL 1 .1^ 
 
 ^^4^;- 
 
^^"W?: 
 
 THE MINISTERS OF ROSSSHIbE. 
 
 39 
 
 children to feed, it was needful that he should, as 
 their pastor, be passed through their trials, besides as 
 a Christian experiencing his own. Speaking to a 
 pious woman once of some temptation by which he 
 was greatly afflicted, she said, " Be patient under the 
 Lord's training; the temptations of his people must 
 be given sevenfold to the minister, if he is to be a 
 minister indeed." 
 
 His personal appearance was striking. Unusually 
 tall, erect in his figure, light in his step, and scrupu- 
 lously exact in his dress, he was very unlike the pic- 
 ture a Southern would be disposed to di'aw, of the 
 Highland country ministry of a century ago. He never 
 married, and, unburdened with the cares of this life, 
 it might truly of him have been said : "He careth 
 for the things that belong to the Lord, how he may 
 please the Lord." He quietly fell asleep in Jesus, in 
 the attitude of prayer, alone with the Lord, on the 
 seventh day of January 1 775, in the 84th year of his 
 age. His ministry in Kilmuir extended over forty- 
 three years. 
 
 The following notes of Mr Porteous' preachmg 
 were often given, with great effect, in Gaelic, by Dr 
 M'Donald. The reader must find out for himself the 
 lessons of the allegories. It is impossible to trans- 
 late them without blunting their point ; but even in 
 starched English they may give an idea of how Mr 
 Porteous succeeded in arresting the attention of his 
 hearers, in getting access to their understanding, and 
 in fixing the truth in their memory : — 
 
 " A traveller, while passing through a desert, was 
 overtaken by a storm. So violent was the tempest, 
 that he at laat despaired of surviving it. Just as hope 
 
 ^i 
 
 #- 
 
 .'"'i. 
 
 i5L 
 
I 
 
 1: i 
 
 I 
 
 -^^mi 
 
 f 7 
 
 40 
 
 THE MINISTERS OF ROSS-SHIRE. 
 
 died within him, his eye was caught by a light that 
 glimmered in the distance, and he hastened his steps 
 to reach it. Arriving at the place where it shone, he 
 sees an open house, entering which, he finds himself 
 in an apartment, with a fire on the hearth, and a seat 
 placed beside it. He sat down, and making himself 
 as comfortable as possible, he felt happy at his escape 
 from the storm that was still raging without. On 
 entering, he had seen nothing but what has already 
 been noticed ; but about midnight, happening to look 
 round, he saw a dead body lying in a corner of the 
 room. The corpse having begun to rise, as he looked 
 at it, the poor man became dreadfully frightened, and 
 as the dead was rising higher and higher, he rushed to 
 the door to escape from the house. But the storm was 
 still so violent that he dared not go out, and no choice 
 was left to him but to return to his place by the fire. 
 For a time the corpse was at rest, but he could not 
 keep his eyes off the corner where it lay ; and as he 
 looked, it began to rise, and now higher than before. 
 Again he sprung from his seat, but, instead of rushing 
 to the door, he this time fell on his knees. As he 
 knelt, the dead body lay back again, and he ventured 
 once more to his seat by the hearth. He had not long 
 been there, when up again rises the corpse, and now 
 still higher than formerly ; so on his knees again he 
 fell. Observing that only while he was kneeling the 
 dead lay still, he rose not again from his knees till 
 the day had broken, and the shadows fled away." 
 
 " A farmer in Kilmuir was once engaged in thi*aah- 
 ing com. Having been busy all day, there was a con- 
 siderable heap on the floor at night, as the result of 
 
(i^fiV 
 
 '# 
 
 THE MINISTERS OP ROSS-SHIRE. 
 
 41 
 
 his labour. But when he came back to his bam next 
 morning, all the thrashed com was away. This oc- 
 curred a second and a third time, till the farmer could 
 bear it no longer. So he resolved to watch all night, 
 as well as work all day. Having done so, he had not 
 been long waiting, when the thief appeared, and began 
 to gather up the com. Leaping upon him, the farmer 
 tried to put him down, that he might either bind him 
 or hold him there till help arrived. But the thief 
 proved the stronger of the two, and he had laid the 
 farmer on his back, and had almost quite strangled 
 him, when a friend came to his rescue. Having liold 
 of the thief, after the farmer was on his legs again, his 
 friend said to him, * What will be done to the thief?' 
 * Oh, bind him,' was the answer, * and give him to 
 me on my back, and I will set off at once with him to 
 the prison at Tain.' His friend did as he requested, 
 and off set the farmer with his burden. But as he 
 went out of sight of his friend, in a hollow of the road, 
 the thief, with one effort breaking the cords that 
 bound him, fell upon the faimer, and gave him even 
 a rougher handling than before. He would utterly 
 have perished, had not his faithful friend just come up 
 in time again to save him. 'What will now be done ]' 
 his friend again asked. The answer was the same as 
 before, only he added, '1 will be more careful this 
 tims. So again he started with his troublesome 
 burden on his back, and all was quiet, till he came to a 
 dark part of the road, throiigh the woods of Calrossie, 
 when the fastenings were again broken, and the farmer 
 maltreated even worse than before. Once again his 
 friend comes to his help, but now the farmer would 
 not part with him, till he had accompanied him to the 
 
 
^. 
 
 ' 
 
 I 
 
 i 
 
 
 42 
 
 THE MINISTERS OF ROSS-SHIRE. 
 
 prison. His request was granted, the jail reached, the 
 thief locked up, and the farmer, forgetting his friend 
 in his delight at getting rid of his tormentor, with a 
 light step, set out for his home. Just as he had 
 banished all fear from his heart, and was indulging in 
 anticipations of peace for the future, in a moment the 
 thief, having escaped from his cell, and hurried to 
 overtake him, sprang upon him from behind, and, 
 with even more than his former fury, threw the poor 
 farmer to the ground, and would have now killed him 
 outright, had not the wonted help just ""'me ' in the 
 time of need.' Once, again, his friend asked, ' What 
 will now be done?' The farmer, worried and wear- 
 ied, cast himself at his feet, and, seizing him with 
 both his hands, cried, ' Let the day never dawn on 
 which thou and I shall for a moment be parted, for 
 without thee I can do nothing.'" 
 
 " The eagle is said to renew its a^^e. Old age 
 comes on, and its end seems near, but, instead of 
 passing out of life, it passes into youth again. It is 
 commonly believed in the Highlands, that its decay 
 is owing to its bill becoming so long and so bent, 
 that it cannot take up its food, and that, on that 
 account, it pines from want of nourishment. The 
 manner in which it ie said to renew its age is, by 
 letting itself fall on a rock, by which means its bill 
 is broken down to its proper size, its power to feed 
 is restored, and youth begins again. That is but a 
 legend, but this is truth, even that tliy soul's strength, 
 O believer, can only be renewed by thy letting thy- 
 self fall on Christ, the rock of ages." 
 
 I 
 
^^'' 
 
 :m^- 
 
 
 THE MINISTERS OF ROSS-SHIRE. 
 
 43 
 
 Mr Hector M'Phail, of Kesolis, was a minister 
 for several years before his conversion. He had 
 married a daughter of the godly Mr Balfour, minister 
 of Nigg. She had been one of Mr Porteous' hearers, 
 and had profited greatly by'^his preaching. Feeling 
 painfully the difierence between her husband's doc- 
 trine 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 foi its welfare, she had 
 resolved to go on that day across to Kilmuir, He 
 offered no opposition; he even accomi)anied her co 
 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 sei-vice in cluirch, Mr 
 Porteous was not a little surjirised to see her, and on 
 meeting her, asked very anxiously why she had come. 
 She told him that as her soul was famished at Resolis, 
 she was compelled to come for the bread of life to the 
 place where she had been wont +o receive it. Mr 
 Porteous retired to liis study, and, on rejoining her, 
 said, " If I am not greatly deceived, you will not long 
 have the same reason for leaving Resolis, for I ex- 
 pect that the Lord will soon give you, by the hand 
 of your husband, the very finest of the wheat." His 
 expectation was not disappointed. After parting 
 with his wife on that morning, the fact of her deser- 
 tion of his mini,stry made a deep impression -^n Mr 
 M'Phail's mind. Conscience testified that she was 
 right ; a deep sense of his unfitness for the work of 
 the ministry was produced, and a process of convic- 
 tion then began, that extended over several years. 
 At last, he resolved to demit his chai'ge, and to de- 
 
 il^Bfiti^S>«ii.*^^=^ ii--vlA:--."«J\:T;.". ■ 
 
* 
 
 44 
 
 THE MINISTERS OP ROSS-SHIRE. 
 
 clare his resolution of doing so publicly before his 
 congregation. With this view, he sent for Mr 
 Fraser of Alness, to preach on a week-day in his 
 church, and to intimate, after sermon, his resigna- 
 tion of his charge. Mr Fraser came and preached, 
 but with no intention of giving the required intima- 
 tion. During the sermon delivered on that day, Mr 
 M'Phail's bonds were loosed, and before the service 
 was over, he was in no mood to turn his back on the 
 work of preaching Christ to sinnei's. 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 MThail V the elder asked. 
 " Good news," he said; "Hector M'Phail is not to 
 preacli to you any more." " Oh, I expected other 
 news than that," the elder said, " for I don't reckon 
 that to be good news." " Hector M'Phail is not to 
 preach any more," his minister siplained, " 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. 
 Remember.ug his unfaithfulness during the years 
 of his ignorance, he had resolved never to omit an 
 opportunity of speaking to a fellow-creature, about 
 the things belonging to his peace. He was enabled 
 to fulfil his vow. The cases of Luke Heywood, and 
 the Highland kitchen-maid, are well-known instances 
 of how the Lord countenanced his faithful dealing 
 witli individuals. 
 
 I 
 
'■"■W^T 
 
 #^ 
 
 >7*jf'' 
 
 w 
 
 m 
 
 THE MINISTERS OF ROSS-SHIRE. 
 
 45 
 
 He was much given to pastoral visitation of his 
 parish. Throwing the rein on the neck of the well- 
 known grey pony, as he mounted after breakfast, at 
 whatever door it stopped, he alighted and entered the 
 house. The neighbours would immediately assemble, 
 and he would expound a portion of Scripture and 
 pray with them. Then, remounting, he would go, as 
 the pony carried him, to some other place, and would 
 occupy the remainder of the day in the manner in 
 which he began it. On one of his excursions through 
 the parish, he wp^ observed striking with his cane a 
 dog that lay beside the door of a house as he passed. 
 Being asked why he had done so, he answered, " He 
 was so like myself, as he lay dumb and sleeping at 
 his post, that I could not hold my cane off his back." 
 
 Seated, on one occasion, at dinner, in the house of 
 one of his parishioners, along with some of his elders, 
 he rose suddenly from the table, and, going out of 
 the house, was seen by those whom he left behind, 
 walking hurriedly towards a wood, not far from the 
 house. There was a small lake in the wood, on the 
 margin of which he found a woman, just about to cast 
 herself into the water. She had come from the parish 
 of Alness, and, distracted and despairing, was driven 
 by the Tempter to suicide. Mr M'Phail arrived, 
 just in time, to intercept her from her purpose, and, 
 preaching Christ to her disconsolate soul as " ablo 
 to save to the uttermost," this poor sinner was then 
 and there disposed and enabled to " flee for refuge 
 to the hope set before" her. Her after-life am))ly 
 proved the genuineness of her conversion. But 
 Satan will have his revenge. He suggested to Mr 
 M'Phail that this woman was sent by him to Resc- 
 
 i|^ 
 
,*. 
 
 [h 
 
 46 
 
 THE MINISTERS OF ROSS-SHIRE. 
 
 lis, because the sheplierdH across the water were too 
 wakeful to allow him an opportunity of accomplish- 
 ing his purpose in their parishes. When Mr Fraser 
 heard of it, he said, " That poor sinner was sent 
 to Resolis, because I was unfit for dealing with her 
 case." 
 
 As a preacher, he was peculiarly edifying to the 
 people of the Lord. He could deal with their cases 
 more closely and more tenderly than almost any other 
 minister in his day. He does not appear to have 
 been so careful in the composition of his sermons as 
 some others of the fathers in Koss-shire. He was 
 careful to feel rather than to arrange, the doctrine 
 which he preached, but what his discourses wanted 
 of order Wiis well made up by their unction and fresh- 
 ness. ILaving to preach on a Sabbath in Petty, and 
 after a large congregation had assembled to hear liim, 
 he was in the wood without sermon or text wrestling 
 with the Lord. The hour for beginning the service 
 had long passed before Mr M'Phail was seen ap- 
 proaching the tent ; but of all the remarkable sermons 
 he ever preached, the one he preached that day was 
 perhaps the most refreshing to God's people, and the 
 most fruitful iu the conversion of sinners. Some of 
 his own people were there, and wishing for their fel- 
 low- ])arishioners the benefit which they themselves 
 had derived, and expecting a renewal of their former 
 enjoyment, they requested their minister to preach 
 the same ser'.r.on at Resolis. He did so, but those 
 who heard it before were this time greatly disap- 
 pointed. Mentioning this to Mr M'Phail, he ac- 
 counted for the difibrenc(^ by saying, " When in Petty, 
 you were looking to the Lord, but in Resolis you were 
 
*^*jj;j--' -^i 
 
 THE MINISTERS OF ROSS-SHIRE. 
 
 47 
 
 looking to me. There you got the manna fresh from 
 Heaven] here you got it after it had moulded in 
 my memory." 
 
 On his death-bed, his hope of Heaven was for a 
 season sorely tried. Falling asleep in a dejected state 
 of mind, he dreamt that he was waiting, lonely and 
 despairing, outside the walls of the New Jerusalem. 
 Seeing the gate closed, and none near to help him, 
 and none in sight to cry to for help, he had just lain 
 down to die, when he heard sounds as of a company 
 approaching the city. Venturing to look up from 
 the dust where he lay, he recognised Noah, Abraham, 
 and all the j)atriarchs. As they drew near, the gate 
 flew open, a glorious company from within came forth 
 to meet them, and, in the midst of shouts of triumph, 
 they entered. The gate again closes, and again he is 
 left alone and hopeless. But soon he hears the noise 
 of another company approaching. As they pass, he 
 recognises Moses, Aaron, Samuel, David, and all the 
 prophets, a glorious and a numerous band. Again the 
 ga,te is thrown open, "an abundant entrance" given, 
 and again he is left outside, and feels more desolate 
 than ever. A third company is heard approaching, 
 comj)osed of the Apostles and all the earliest Chris- 
 tians. They enter the city amidst rejoicing like the 
 rest, and he, with less hope than ever, is still outside 
 the gate. A fourth company now appears. Luther 
 and Knox are at the head of those who form it. 
 They pass him by like those who went before, are 
 admitted into the city, and leave him alone and 
 despairing without. Quite close to him now comes 
 a fifth com])any. Ho recognises in it some of his 
 friends and acquaintances, who had died in the Lord ; 
 
 f 
 
 '•a 
 
 J. 
 
:^ ljr---^,r-f>^l.-^-r:'-'rp^j-y. 
 
 m 
 
 48 
 
 THE MINISTERS OP ROSS-SniRE. 
 
 I i! 
 
 [ pi . 
 
 but, though their shining skirts touch him as they 
 pass, he could not venture to arise and join them. 
 Again he sees the gate open and close ; and now, at 
 las J, he lays himself quite down to die. But he hears 
 the footstep of a solitary pilgrim, coming exactly to 
 the place where he lies. Looking up, he recognises 
 Manasseh. Summoning all his strength, he takes 
 hold of his skirt, as he moves slowly towards the 
 city, and, 'Creeping on behind him, he knows the gate 
 has opened, by the light of the city's glory shining on 
 his face ; and just as he thouglit he heard the sound 
 of the gate closing behind him, he suddenly awoke. 
 Tlie lesson of his dream was presented to him there- 
 after in the sweet words of Paul ; " This is a faitliful 
 saying, and worthy of all acceptation, that Clirist 
 Jesus came into the world to save sinners, of whom 
 1 am chief." 
 
 His tombstone in the churchyard of Cullicudden 
 bears the following inscription : " Here lies the body 
 of the holy man of God, and faithful minister of 
 Jesus Christ, Mr H(;ctor M'Phail, minister of the 
 Gospel in this parish, who died 23d January 1779, 
 ag(5d 58 years." 
 
 Four years before the death of Mr MTliail, Mr 
 Charles Calder was ordained minister of Ferintosh. 
 The Calders were a blessed race. Mr John Calder 
 was minister of Cawdor from 1704 to 1717. His 
 gifts, his godliness, and his acceptance and success as 
 a minister, wore such, that througlmut all the north 
 he was known as " the great Mr Calder." His son, 
 Mr James Calder, became minister of Arderaeir in 
 1740, and about seven years thereafter, wjih trans- 
 lated to Croy, where he died in 1775. BotJi us a 
 

 1 
 
 THE MINISTERS OF ROSS-SHIRE. 
 
 49 
 
 Christian and a minister, he was no less eminent than 
 his father. He had three sons — John, who was 
 minister of Rosskeen, where Iiis brief ministry was 
 greatly blessed ; Hugh, who succeeded his father, a 
 talented and a godly man, but so delicate that he 
 very seldom was able to preach; and Charles, the 
 celebrated minister of Ferintosh. 
 
 Naturally amiable, with a vigorous intellect, re- 
 fined taste, and more than ordinary accomplishments, 
 under the sanctifying influence of the truth, Mr Charles 
 Calder became "a man among a thousand." Early 
 taught of God, and trained and guided by the discip- 
 line and example of liia father, ':c came to his work 
 as a minister with all the maturity which only long 
 experience could give to another. Carefid in his pre- 
 parations for the pulpit, and much given imto prayer, 
 he was not often seen abroad among his people ; the 
 stern call of duty alone drew him from his study. 
 As a preaclier he was quite singular; and it was his 
 want of any marked peculiarity that made him so. 
 His sermons were written with great care, out a 
 chaste bimi)licity was tlio characteristic of his style. 
 He seldom used an illustration , but all others 
 would fail, when he tlid not succeed, in being suffi- 
 ciently clear. His wo 's were chosen not to please, 
 but to instruct; and wi 1 chosen indeed tliey were, 
 for his statements were s. batlied in light, the words 
 were never noticed. They were always so transpa- 
 rent, that the idea tliey contained was like n naked 
 flame. His manner was chastened and quiet, but 
 earnest and solemn. All was subordinated by him 
 to the great end of seeing only Christ befon^ the 
 eyes of sinners. His great tliemo was the love of 
 
60 
 
 THE MINISTERS OF ROSS-SHIRE. 
 
 * 
 
 
 I »• 
 
 Jesus. His own soul kept lying at the feet of Jesus, 
 he was wont to give forth, with all the freshness of a 
 present experience, his utterances regarding the per- 
 son, love, death, and salvation of the blessed Ke- 
 deeiner. There never was a more affecting preacher, 
 wlien discoursing on his favourite theme. Often 
 have his whole congregation been in teai's, as in his 
 own tender, solemn way, he commended Jesus as a 
 Saviour to the lost ; and when, with a tremuloiis 
 voice, but with the authority of one who knew he 
 was conveying a message from Jehovah, he warned 
 the unbeliever of his danger, the most indifferent 
 were compelled to tremble. It was a rare sight, to 
 see that man of God, his meek face lighted with the 
 radiance of his humble joy, and his eye suffused with 
 with tears, as he poured out of tlie fulness of a con- 
 trite heart tlio praises of Christ crucified, while many 
 i)f h's hearers were expressing, by their weeping, the 
 influence which his doctrine had upon tlieir hearts. 
 Tlujy were blessed Sabbatlis these, in the Church of 
 Ferintosh. Many a soul shall remember one of 
 tliese days for ever, as " the time of love,'' when the 
 Lord first espoused him to Himself, and when He 
 cheered his heart as he was fainting on his journey 
 towards Zion. 
 
 He was not ignorant of Satan's devices. He was 
 getting too near to the mercy-seat to be allowed by 
 the enemy to escape his revenge ; and he had, besides, 
 to bear the malice which was provoked by the in- 
 roads he was the me-".ns of making on his kingdom 
 in tlie world. Often did he find it ditlicult to leave 
 his study on a Sabbath morning, and many u sleep- 
 \(i6:i Sabbath night did he spends because of the short- 
 
«■ 
 
 THE MINISTERS OF ROSS SHIRE. 
 
 61 
 
 comings of the Sabbath service. He had a partner 
 of his temporal lot, who was also a partner of his 
 spiritual joys and sorrows, and whose pnidence was 
 equal to her piety. Often to her wise interference it 
 was due that he went out at all to public duty. 
 Once she found him, in an agony of fear, lying on 
 his study floor, at the hour for beginning the service 
 in the church. "Oh, why was I ever a minister'?" 
 he cried, as she entered, "I should have been a trades- 
 man rather." "My dear, the Lord knew that you 
 had not strength for a tradesman's work," wius his 
 wife's wise reply, as she pointed to his delicately 
 formed limbs ; "but as He has given you a voice 
 whei'ewith to speak the praise of Christ, go with it 
 to the work which now awaits you." He rose and 
 went to the pulpit ; the Lord nhone on his soul, and 
 blessed his preaching, and there are nionioriea in 
 heaven, and will be for ever^ of that Sabbath service 
 in the cliurch of Ferintosh. 
 
 Having preached, on the Monday of a communion 
 season in Dingwall, a sermon, singular even among 
 his own, so impressed were the souls of (Jod's people 
 by the doctrine, and so awed by the holy i-ohninity 
 of the service, that none of them could venture to 
 speak to him after it was over. Hi.s catechist was 
 sitting beside the tent, and as Mr Calder was coming 
 out of it, he placed his hand on the steps by which 
 his minister was descending, but was so overawed by 
 what he had heanl, that he dared not to adthess him 
 as he passed. It wjis not long, when Satan began to 
 retaliate on the Lord's servant for that day's work. 
 The Tempter insisted, that he had so grieved the 
 hearts of God's people by tliat sermon, that none of 
 
 
 .«.. 
 
Il 
 
 '■\ 
 
 
 52 
 
 THE MINISTERS OP ROSS-SHIRE. 
 
 them would speak to him, and that even his catechist, 
 Louis Calder, was obliged, on that account, to tu*Ti 
 his back upon him. Louis expected that Satan 
 would not allow his minister to pass scaithless after 
 such a service, and on the evening of the next day 
 he went to the manse. He was told, on entering, 
 that the minister was ill, and Mrs C. conducted him 
 to her husband's bedroom. There he found his mini- 
 ster, in great distress, lying on his bed. M? Calder 
 told his state of mind, and how he had interpreted 
 Louis' conduct at the 'close of the service in Dingwall. 
 The catechist then informed him of the true state of 
 feeling in which he and all the people of the Lord, 
 then present, were at that time ; and the snare of the 
 fowlei- was broken. 
 
 His last illness was a short one. At its com- 
 mencement he said to a Christian friend, " Here I 
 am, like a ship at sea, without rudder, sail, or com- 
 pass. If the Lord has said it, T will come, as a 
 vessel of mei oy, to the haven of glory; but if not, I 
 am lost for ever." Shortly before his death, he said, 
 " I am content to lie here to the end of time, if the 
 Lord would employ my suffering as the means of 
 saving good to any one of my people." He entered 
 into the joy of his Lord on the Isb of October 1812. 
 
 Of all the eminent ministers in the Highlands, 
 none is more famous than Mr Laciilan Mackenzie 
 of Loehcarron. Owing to his genius, his peculiar 
 Christian experience, and his great acceptance as a 
 preacher, he has retained a firmer hold of the mem- 
 ories of the people than any other besides. He was 
 born in Kilmuir Wester in 1754. Receiving an ex- 
 cellent classical education in his youth, and having a 
 
■«■ 
 
 THE MINISTERS OP ROSS-SHIRE. 
 
 53 
 
 predeliction for such studies, he attained to a con- 
 siderable acquaintance with tlie dead languages, 
 which he continued to retain, and even to extend, to 
 the very evening of his life. He was only eight years 
 of age, when he first felt the saving power of the 
 truth, and he became distinguished at once for his 
 devotion to prayer, which was his great peculiarity 
 during all his subsequent life. A few years before 
 he was licensed, he was appointed parish schoolmaster 
 of Lochcarron. The majority of the Presbytery 
 were not disposed to forward the views of a youth, 
 who showed such marked symptoms of the religious 
 enthusiasm which was regarded as a plague, in the 
 last century, by the stipend-lifters of tlie Establish- 
 ment. Men who thought, that to earn a stipend it 
 was enough to read a borrowed sermon on Sabbath, 
 and that after spending so unpleasant an hour in the 
 church, tliey had a right to enjoy all the other houra 
 of the week at their ease in the man.se, were not 
 likely to look with favour on the school ma.ster, who 
 set up prayer-meetings, and who ventured to read 
 the Bible, and to ex])ound it to the people, at most 
 uncanonical hours. They resolved, therefore, to with- 
 hold licence from Mr Lachlan. In point of scholar- 
 ship and theology, he was ahead of all his judges, 
 but merely because he could not be kept from pray- 
 ing, they were determined to keep him from preach- 
 ing. They agreed, at last, to license him, on condi- 
 tion of his not being settled within their own 
 bounds, a promise to that effect having V)een given 
 by the patron. But his chief opponents in the 
 Presbytery were removed soon after, and liis settle- 
 
 m 
 
 r 
 
'-■•'1?^'"^ 
 
 64 
 
 THE MINISTERS OF ROSS-SHIRE. 
 
 ment at Loclicarron took place in 1782, and there he 
 continued to labour till his death. 
 
 His immediate predecessor was Mr Donald 
 MuNRO. " He was an agreeable man, and preached 
 the gospel in its purity," is Mr Lachlan's account of 
 him — a tribute not kept back by recollections of his 
 unkind treatment of himself when he was pui-suing 
 his studies for the ministry. Unable to appreciate 
 his schoolmaster, and regarding his eccentricity as a 
 proof of his being below and not above the average 
 of intellectual power, he had always dissuaded Mr 
 Lachlan from asj)iring to the ministry, and refused 
 him all aid against his enemies in the Presbjrtery. 
 
 Mr Munro wag preceded by the fimous Mr 
 -^NEAS Sag?] — "aman of an undaunted spirit, who did 
 not know what the fear of man was. He had, how- 
 ever, the fear of God, and great zeal for the good 
 cause in its highest perfection. He was the de- 
 termined enemy of vice, and a true friend of the gos- 
 pel." Such, according to Mr Lachlan, was the 
 character of Mr Sage, the first minister who is known 
 to have preached the gospel in purity and with suc- 
 cess in Loclicarron. At the time of his induction, 
 the state of the parish was very much the same as it 
 was found by the Presbytery to be in 1649, when, after 
 visiting it, they reported that " there were no elders 
 in it, by l-eason of malignancy ; swearing, drunken- 
 ness, cursing. Sabbath profanation, and uncleanness 
 j)revailed." As to the church, there was found in it 
 " ane formal stool of repentance, but no pulpit nor 
 desks." The stool, if the only, was truly the suit- 
 able, seat for all the people in Lochcarron in these 
 days; but the more it was required, the less power 
 
THE MINISTERS OF ROSS-SHIRE. 
 
 55 
 
 m 
 
 there was to make it aught else than " ane formal" 
 thing, as the solitary occupant of the church. 
 
 Matters continued in this state till the induction 
 of Mr Sage, nearly eighty years after. He was just 
 the man foi? the work of breaking up the fallow 
 ground of a field so wild, and a rich blessing rested 
 on his labours. On the night of his first arrival at 
 Lochcarron, an attempt was made to burn the house 
 in which he lodged, and for sometime after his in- 
 duction, his life was in constant danger. But the 
 esteem he could not win as a minister, he soon ac- 
 quired for his great physical strength. The first 
 man in Lochcarrron, in those days, was the cham- 
 pion at the athletic games. Conscious of his strength, 
 and knowing that lie would make himself respected 
 by all, if he could only lay big Rory on his back, 
 who was acknowledged to be the strongest man in 
 tlie district, the minister joined the people, on the 
 earliest opportunity, at tlieir games. Challenging 
 tlie whole field, he competed for the prize in putting 
 the stone, tossing the caber, and wrestling, and won 
 an easy victory. His fame was established at once. 
 The minister was now the champion of the district, 
 and none was more ready to defer to him, tlian he 
 whom he had deprived of the laurel. Taking 
 Rory aside to a confidcntal crack, he said to 
 him, " Now, Rory, I an\ the minister, and you must 
 be my elder, and we both must see to it that all the 
 people attend church, observe the Sabbath, and con- 
 duct themselves proj)erly." Rory fell in with the 
 proposal at once. On Sabbath, when the people would 
 j;athcr to their games in the forenoon, the minister and 
 his elder would join them, and each taking a couple 
 
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 /)6 
 
 THE MINISTERS OF ROSSSHIRE, 
 
 by the hand, they would drag them to the church, 
 lock them in, and then return to catch some more. 
 This was repeated till none was left on the field. 
 Then, stationing the elder with his cudgel at the 
 door, the minister would mount the pulpit and con- 
 duct the service. One of his earliest sermons was 
 blessed to the conversion of his assistant, and a truly 
 valuable coadjutor he found in big Rory thereafter. 
 Mr Lachlan thus describes the result of his ministry : 
 — " Mr Sage made the people very orthodox." They 
 " seem to have a strong atvachment to religion." 
 " There is a great appearance of r' ' ion in Loch- 
 carron ; and as the fire of God's Word is hereafter to 
 try every man's work, there is cause to hope that 
 some of it will bear the trial." 
 
 Such was the state of Lochcarron at the time of 
 Mr Lachlan's induction. Taught to respect a godly 
 minister, the people cordially welcomed Mr Lachlan 
 as their pastor. His fame as a Christian was already 
 great; they had experience of his gifts as a speaker; 
 and he occupied, at once, the place of an approved 
 ambassador of Christ in the regards of the people. 
 
 He was of a peculiarly sensitive temperament, 
 rendering him susceptible of the deepest impressions. 
 Were it not for his powerful intellect, he Avould liave 
 been the creature of impulse, driven by his feelings 
 rather than guided by his judgment. It is seldom so 
 much mind and heart are found in one man. The 
 light of a heartless intellectualism, or the fire of an 
 impulsive sentimental ism, are often the alternatives, 
 in the case of those who have risen above the crowd. 
 But in him the clear head and the warm heart were 
 connected. Capable of forming a vivid conception of 
 

 ■'^^■■f"'"-f-«T"'-r:^ 
 
 ■:"T^»^;';isp"'^^>4^^»f-T™7wr^^«i^.»5^W*'^-'^'' 
 
 THE MINISTERS OP ROSS-SHIRE. 
 
 57 
 
 a subject, his imagination never failed to furnish him 
 with metapliors by which aptly to illustrate it. He 
 was no poet, though he often rhymed; but if he 
 could not form those pleasing combinations of natural 
 objects, which, by their novelty and beauty, attest the 
 working of poetic genius, he had the power of tracing 
 analogies between the things of intellect and the 
 things of sense. This, to a preacher, is the more 
 useful endowment, and the imagination is more safely 
 employed in such an office, tlian when scattering the 
 gems of poesy over the treasures of truth. 
 
 His Christian experience was singular. Early 
 taught to know the Lord, one would have expected 
 his course to have been unusually even. But the 
 very reverse was the case ; for few Christians ever 
 experienced such marked changes of feeling. Now 
 on the brink of despair under the power of tempta- 
 tion, and soon again in a state of rapturous enjoy- 
 ment, shade and sunshine altei'nated in abi-upt and 
 rapid succession, during the whole of his life. Ardent 
 and imaginative as he was, the fiery darts of the wicked 
 one flashed the more vividly, and pierced the more 
 deeply, into his soul, and the joy that came to him 
 from heaven the more violently excited him. His 
 prayerfulness was the leading feature of his Christi- 
 anity. Much of his time was spent on his knees, 
 and many a sleepless night has he passed, sometimes 
 wrestling, as for his life, against the assaults of the 
 tempter, and at other times, " rejoicing in hope of 
 the glory of God." The nearness to the mercy-seat, 
 to which he was sometimes admitted, was quite ex- 
 traordinary. Proofs of this might be given, because 
 of which we cannot wonder that he had the fame 
 
 irSar- 
 
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 58 
 
 THK MINISTERS OF ROSS-SHITIE. 
 
 ) > 
 
 i ;» 
 
 and the influence of a prophet, among the simple 
 people of the north, but the record of which would 
 cause most incredulous noddings of the wise heads of 
 the south. Avoiding the extreme of a superstitious 
 credulity, on the one hand, and of the formalist's 
 scepticism, on the other, it is altogether safe to say, 
 that Mr Lachlan enjoyed peculiarly familiar inter- 
 course with God, and received such distinct intima- 
 tions of His mind, in reference to the cases which he 
 carried to the mercy-seat, as but very few of God's 
 children have obtained. 
 
 If is preaching was always remarkable. His great 
 originality of thought and manner, his apt and strik- 
 ing illustrations, his clear and emphatic utterance, the 
 unction and authority with which he spake, his close 
 dealing with the conscience, his dexterous and tender 
 handling of the cases of the tempted, his powerful 
 appeals, his solemn earnestness, and his frequent out- 
 bursts of impassioned feeling, could not fail to win for 
 him a measure of acceptance, as they gave him a mea- 
 sure of power, beyond that of any other of his breth- 
 ren. His was preaching to which all could listen 
 with interest. His striking illustrations, often homely, 
 though always apt, would arrest the attention of the 
 most ignorant and careless. There was an intellectual 
 treat in his sermons for such as could appreciate the 
 efforts of genius. The scoffer was arrested and awed 
 by the authority with which he spoke, and every 
 hearer seeking the bread of life hung upon his lips. 
 A congregation was always eager to hear when Mr 
 Lachlan was to preach. A large crowd once gathered 
 in Killearnan to hear him. So many had assembled 
 tliat the church could not contain them, and the ser- 
 
 i I 
 
H'9':- 
 
 THE MINISTERS OF ROSS-SHIRE. 
 
 59 
 
 vice was conducted in the open air. When the text 
 was announced, a rude fellow, sitting in the out- 
 skirts of the congregation, called out in the excite- 
 ment of his eagerness, "Speak out; we cannot hear." 
 Mr Lachlan, .not disconcerted in the least, raised his 
 voice and said, " My text is, * Ye have need of 
 patience,' " which the man no sooner heard, than he 
 was fain to hold his tongue and hide his face with 
 shame. 
 
 The minuteness with which he described the feel- 
 ings and habits of his hearers, and the striking con- 
 firmation of his doctrine, often given by the Lord in 
 His providence, gave him an extraordinary influence 
 over his people. Preaching, on one occasion, against 
 the sin of lying, he counselled his people to refrain, 
 in all circumstances, from prevarication and false- 
 hood, assuring them that they would find it their 
 best policy for time, as well as their safest coiirse for 
 eternity. One of his hearers, conscious of having 
 often told a lie, and finding it impossible to believe, 
 that it could always be wise to tell the truth, went 
 to speak to the minister on the subject. He wjis a 
 smuggler, and while conversing with Mr Lachlan, he 
 said, "Surely, if the exciseman should ask me where I 
 hid my whisky, it would not be wrong that I should 
 lead him ' off* the scent.' " His minister would not 
 allow that this was a case to which the rule he laid 
 down was not applicable, and advised him, even in 
 in such circumstances, to tell the simple truth. The 
 smuggler was soon after put to the test. While 
 working behind liis house by the wayside, on the 
 following week, the exciseman came up to him and 
 said, " Is there any whisky about your house to- 
 
 1 
 
60 
 
 THE MINISTERS OF ROSS-SHIRE. 
 
 rS 
 
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 »» 
 
 = ! r 
 
 day 1" Remembering his minister's advice, the 
 smuggler at once said, though not witliout misgivings 
 as to the result, " Yes, there are thvee casks of 
 whisky buried in a hole under my bed, and if you 
 will search for tliem there you will find them." 
 " You rascal," the exciseman said, " if they were 
 there, you would bo the last to tell me ;" and at once 
 walked away. As soon as he was out of hearing, 
 and tlie smiiggler could breathe fi-eely again, lie ex- 
 claimed, " Oh, Mr Lachlan, Mr Laciilan, you were 
 right as usual !" 
 
 On another occasion, he was bearing testimony 
 against dishonest dealing, assuring his hearei"s that, 
 sooner or later, the Lord would punish all who held 
 the balances of deceit. As an example of how the 
 Lord sometimes, even in this life, gives proof of His 
 marking the sin of dishonesty, he repeated an anec- 
 dote, which was current at the time. A wo^^ a, 
 who had l.jen engaged in selling milk, with which 
 she always mingled a third of water, and who had 
 made some money by her tralfic, was going with lier 
 gains to America. During the voyage she kept her 
 treasure in a bag which wa.s always under her pillow. 
 There was a monkey on board tiie ship, that was 
 allowed to go at large, and that in course of its wan- 
 derings came to the milk woman's hannnock, in rum- 
 maging which it found the bag of gold. Oai-rying it 
 olF, the monkey mounted the rigging, and, seating 
 itself aloft on a spar, opened the bag and began to 
 pick out the coins. The first it threw out into the 
 sea, and tlie second and third it dropped on the deck, 
 and so on, till a third of all the contents of the bag 
 had sunk in the ocean, thti owner of the bag being 
 

 ii 
 
 THE MINISTERS OF ROSS-SHIRE. 
 
 61 
 
 allowed to gather off the deck just what she had 
 fairly earned by her milk. One of Mr Lachlan's 
 hearers remembered, while listening to this anecdote, 
 that he had in his tmink at home, a bundle of bank- 
 notes, which he had got by the sale of diluted whisky. 
 Feeling very uneasy, he hurried to li < house after 
 the sermon was over. It was dark before he arrived^ 
 and, kindling a pine torch, he hastened to the place 
 where he kept his money, afraid that it had been 
 taken away. Holding the torch with one hand, 
 while he turned over the notes \/ith the other, a 
 flaming ember fell right down into the midst of the 
 treasure, and before the man, bewildered as he was, 
 could rescue them, as many of the notes were con- 
 sumed as exactly represented the extent to which he 
 had diluted the whisky. 
 
 Never did a sudden death occur in the parish, 
 during his ministry, without some intimation of it 
 being given from the pulpit on the previous 8abbath ; 
 and sometimes warnings would be so strikingly 
 verified, that one cannot wonder ho was regarded as 
 a prophet by his people. Such instances of the 
 minute guidance of the Lord could not fail to make 
 2, deep impression on a simple-minded people, and 
 should not fail to make some impression on any 
 people. 
 
 The most famous sermon he ever preached was on 
 " the Babe in Bethlehem." It made a very de«?p 
 impression on the minds of such of the Lord's people 
 as were privileged to hear it ; and the memories of 
 that sermon were always recaUed with peculiar 
 vividness and delight. The preacher having pro- 
 posed to go to seek for Jesus, an inquirer was sup- 
 
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 62 
 
 THE MINISTERS OF ROSS-SHIRE. 
 
 f 
 
 
 11 ' 
 
 
 ii 
 
 'I 
 
 i|f 
 
 posed to offer to attend him, and the two were 
 represented as setting out together on the search. 
 Tliey had not gone far, when, the inquirer's eye resting 
 on a fine house not far away, he said, " Surely tliis 
 is the place where we will find him." " Come and 
 let us see," was the guide's rej)lv. They go to the 
 fine mansion, and peeping in through the window, 
 they see a company septed round a. gaming table. 
 " O, come away, come away ; Jesus cannot be here," 
 the inquirer cries. " I knew that," his guide 
 replied, " but while we are on the way to some other 
 place, let me tell ) ou what will be the fate of the 
 company on which we were looking." He then 
 detailed the future of the family in the man on, and 
 the programme he gave was exactly carried out, in 
 the after-history of a family in his parish. " Oh, 
 perhaps he is there," says the inqi ''rer, pointing to 
 another house. " Come and let u.. see," was again 
 the guide's reply. Tliey reac^ied the house, but they 
 had only just stood, when the hoarse laugh of the 
 drunkard sounded in tlieir ears. Again the inquirer 
 is satisfied that they must seek elsewhere for Jesus ; 
 and again, with wonderful minuteness, the minister 
 describes the future career of another liousehold in 
 liis parish. After repeated trials, made at his own 
 suggestion, the inquirer begins to despair of finding 
 Jesus at all. He leaves himself now entirely in the 
 liands of his guide, who brings him to the back court 
 of the inn, and pointing to the door of the stab''', 
 says, " It is there Jesus will be found." " There !" 
 cries the inquirer, " behind that ma.ss of filth," as ho 
 pointed to the dung-heap at the door of the stable. 
 Applying this to his remembranco of past sins, and 
 
 ' t ! 
 
..,,0^ 
 
 THE MINISTERS OF ROSS-SIIIRE. 
 
 63 
 
 his fear that one so guilty as he could never find 
 Jesus, the guide reasoned with the inquirer, till Ins 
 first difficulty was removed. He then brings him to 
 the threshold, but the filth within now arrests him. 
 " Oh, surely," he cries, " he cannot bo in such a }>lace 
 as this." Applying this to his sense of indwelling 
 corruption, his guide again reasons with the inquirer, 
 till his second dilficulty is removed. But seeing 
 beasts within, he is afraid to cross over to the 
 manger. This suggests the presence and wiles of 
 the tempter, and the inquirer's fears, arising fi-om 
 temptation, are met and removed. At last the 
 manger is reached, and there, in swaddling clothes, 
 they find the infant Jesus. In the renewed will of 
 the inquirer himself, seeking Clirist as revealed and 
 ojffered in the gospel, and as he fain would embrace 
 Him in the j)romise, if he dared, Jesus at last is 
 found, notwithstanding all past guilt, abounding 
 corruption, and harassing temj>tationa. 
 
 Mr Laelilan was very careful in his prej)aration 
 for the pulpit, though it was only when his mental 
 vigour was declining that he began to write his dis- 
 courses. The few specimens of these which have 
 been given to the public, furnish no adequate idea of 
 his preaching. His illustrations were never written, 
 and the published skeletons are the productions of 
 his latter years, when his power was on the wane. 
 
 His last service in public was an address t.) com- 
 municants at the table of tiio Lord. He was then 
 unable to stand without support. The minister of 
 Killearnan, seating himself at tin* head of tin; table, 
 with Mr Lachlan standing in front of him, held him 
 up with his strong arms fiom behind. Mustering 
 
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64 
 
 THE MINISTERS OP ROSS-SHIRE. 
 
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 all his strength, he poured out with his broken voice, 
 from a broken heart, tlie praises of redeeming love. 
 
 A stroke of paralysis laid him prostrate during the 
 last year of his life. Mind and body alike succumbed 
 to tlie blow, and before the year had closed, the 
 friends who loved him best were willing that he 
 should leave them to enter on the rest for which his 
 soul was pining. It required such a visitation as 
 tliis ^o reconcile them to his death. He had sur- 
 vived his usefulness to the Church on earth, and 
 there was now no inducement to wish him longer 
 " absent from the liOrd." 
 
 The following appro])riate inscription, composed 
 by Dr Ross of Lochbroom, is engraved on his humble 
 tombstone : — " Here are deposited the mortal remains 
 of the Rev. Lachlan Mackenzie, Hte minister of 
 Lochcarron, who died April 20th, 1819, in the 37th 
 year of his ministry. A man, wliose simplicity of 
 manners presented a picture of apostolic times ; 
 whose heavenliness of mind still spurned the vain 
 objects of time and sense ; whose vivid imagination 
 shed a bright lustre on every subject which he 
 handled ; and whose holy unction in all his minis- 
 trations endeared him to the people of God, and em- 
 balmed his memory in their hearts. His praise is in 
 the churches. His parish mourns." 
 
 Mr Macadam's lii-st charge was the Gaelic congre- 
 gation of Croniiii'ty. His ministry there was greatly 
 blessed — more so, perhaps, than it ever was in the 
 pariah of Nigg, to which he was translated, and in 
 which he laboured till his dcith. The intrusion of 
 his predecessor had driven many of the people of 
 Is'igg out of the cpiublishmcnt, and a Congregation 
 
 ^<»ft_, ^ 
 
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 If 
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 THE MINISTERS OF ROSS-SHIRE. 
 
 65 
 
 was formed, and a church built, in the parish, in con- 
 nexion with the Secession. The minister of that 
 charge, iu Mr Macadam s day, was Mr Buchanan, a 
 godly man, who was greatly beloved and respected by 
 his people. For some time, Mr Macadam and he 
 kept very much aloof from each other, but a circum- 
 stance occurred which was the occasion of bringing 
 them, during their latter years, more closely together. 
 Mr Macadam, having been sent for, to visit one of 
 his hearera who was dying, went to the house, but 
 on reaching the door, was arrested by a passnge of 
 Scripture wliich was applied with peculiar power to 
 his heart, in the face of which not daring to enter, he 
 turned away and went home. The relatives of the 
 dying man were greatly oifended, and immediately 
 sent for Mr Buchanan ; but his conduct was an exact 
 repetition of that of the parish minister. Mr Ma - 
 adam, hearing this, visited Mr Buchanan, and was 
 surprised to find Lhat the very same passage which 
 had arrested himself was suggested to him also, and 
 had made the self-same impression on his mind. This 
 helped them to discover that they were more at one 
 than their relative positions seemed ^ ' •raca^'j. Mr 
 Macadam thereafter compared himself and Mr 
 Buchanan to two men engaged in thatching the 
 same house, though on opposite sides. The thatchers, 
 as tl'nr work proceeded, would approach each other, 
 till, when their work was finished, they met together 
 at the top. The ministers thus recognised each other 
 as fellow -labourers about the house of the Lord, 
 though they seemed to be opposed, expecting to meet 
 together, and be for ever with the I^ord, when their 
 work on earth wua done. 
 
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 66 
 
 THE MINISTERS OP ROSS-SHIRE. 
 
 As a preacher, Mr Macadam was peculiarly accept- 
 able to the people of God. To his solemn and weighty 
 thoughts he gave expression in terse vigorous words, 
 fitly uttered with a deep sonorous voice. His ser- 
 mons were remarkably compact and powerful, con- 
 taining a luminous statement of doctrine, aptly illus- 
 trated and skilfully applied, 
 
 A note of his preaching, often quoted by Dr Mac- 
 donald, deserves to be remembered : " Why are there 
 so many bankrupt professoi"s of religion in our day 1 
 It is because they start without a capi' tl." 
 
 During the latter years of his life, he devoted much 
 time to the study of unfulfilled prophecy, and his case 
 furnishes a striking proof of how dangerous that study 
 is. Few men possessed a more solid judgment than 
 he, and yet his views of unfulfilled prophecy were so 
 extravagant and confused that all his judiciousness, 
 80 remarkable in other departments, seemed to have 
 forsaken him when he entered upon this. Many 
 cruder and more confused charts of tJie future may 
 have been drawn nince his day, but these came gene- 
 rally from hands that were never known to be under 
 the guidance of a sober judgment. The study of 
 prophecy has now become the fashionable religious 
 diversion, and it is no wonder that those should bo 
 <lrawn aside after it, who were never strongly at- 
 tached to the fund lu iital doctrines of the gospel, 
 and liave never clearly tui, firuily held, and deeply 
 felt them. But even if the go<Uy and judicious Mac- 
 adam wandered into tangknl nxazus theie, sure in- 
 deed, of guidance from on higii, ought any one to bo, 
 who feels disposed to follow him into tho field of 
 prophecy. 
 
 th 
 
THE MINISTERS OF ROSS-SHIRE. 
 
 67 
 
 Ay 
 ic- 
 
 of 
 
 His most intimate friend, of all his brethren in the 
 Presbytery, was Mr Kennedy of Logic. Tliere was 
 ever between them both the closest Christian fellow- 
 ship, while togetlier on the eartli, and often have 
 they enjoyed a sweet foretaste of tlie convei-sc with 
 each other, and of the communion with the Lord, 
 which now fill their liearts with gladness in the 
 " Father's house." Mr Macadam died on the eighth 
 day of June 1817, in the sixty- ninth year of his age. 
 
 Dr Angus Mackintosh was minister of a Gaelic 
 chapel in Glasgow before his removal to Tain. His 
 preaching in Glasgow drew around him, as his stated 
 hearers, the pious Highlandei's in the city, and many 
 of the Lord's j)eople from the surrounding country, 
 and from noiglibouring towns, used occ isionally to 
 repair to his church. Blessed to many were liis 
 labours then. In 1797 he was translated to Tain, 
 and his ministry there, which at once won the confi- 
 dence and attachment of the godly, and was com- 
 mended to the consciences of all, continued to the 
 end to maintain its acceptance and its power. 
 
 His personal appearance was remarkable. Tall and 
 of a m.issive figure, a dark complexion, a face full of 
 expression, and a bearing peculiarly solemn and dig- 
 nified, he attracted at once the eye of a sti'angor, and 
 never failed to command his res])ect. Those who 
 knew him well could tell what kind of subject he had 
 been studying, from the expression of his countenance 
 as he entered the pulpit. The text had been deeply 
 and powerfully affecting his heart, and his expressive 
 fkoo gave out the fi^eling which it had produced. 
 Tlieix' was a gloom of awe on Ins countenance, lis if 
 the very shadow of Binai were darkeiiiug it, when his 
 
 m 
 
 \M\ 
 
68 
 
 THE MINISTERS OP ROSS-SHIRE. 
 
 heart was charged with a message of terror ; and the 
 softened cast of his features, and the gleam of light 
 in his eye, at other times, encouraged the broken- 
 hearted to expect a message of encouragement and 
 comfort. 
 
 To a stranger he seemed to wear an air of stern- 
 ness. His love did not lie on the surface, like that 
 of many, whose indiscriminate kindliness is seen by 
 every eye, while they have no hidden treasures of 
 aflfection for any. His heart once reached, it was 
 found fraught with love ; but it was too precious and 
 too sanctified to be given in intimate fellowship to 
 any but to those whom he could embrace as brethren 
 in Christ. Those who loved him at all, loved him as 
 they loved no other. In the society of kindred 
 spirits, there was often a radiant cheerfulness in his 
 manner, that made his conversation peculiarly attrac- 
 tive. But he was the man of God, wherever he was, 
 ever keeping an unflinching front to sin. His holy 
 life, and the authority of his doctrine, and his solemn 
 and dignified bearing, invested him with a power, 
 before which iniquity hid its face, and evil-doers could 
 not be bold to sin. How precious to a country is the 
 influence of such a life and of such a ministry as his ! 
 Alas ! how rare is such a blessing now. May the 
 Lord have mercy on the people who have sinned it 
 away ! 
 
 His impressions of divine things were peculiarly 
 solemn, his convictions of sin had been unusually 
 deep, and his vi(»ws of the way of salvation uncom- 
 monly clear and decided. " Knowing the terror of 
 the Lord," as few besides lave known it, overpower- 
 ingly urgent was his way of persuading the sinner to 
 
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 ti 
 
 ai 
 
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 abj 
 
 sei 
 
 afti 
 
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 i' 
 
 ^ 
 
THE MINISTERS OF ROSS-SHIRE. 
 
 69 
 
 lin- 
 
 of 
 
 |er- 
 
 to 
 
 flee from " the wrath to come." He was indeed " a 
 son of thunder," in preaching the law to the Christ- 
 less, and seared must have been the conscience of the 
 man who could listen to him without fear ; but, at 
 the same time, no preacher could be more careful not 
 to hurt when the Lord was healing. At the close of 
 one of his solemn and searching discourses, under 
 which none seemed to be spared, and all hopes seemed 
 to be levelled in the dust, carefully would he search 
 out the cases of the " poor in spirit," and speak com- 
 fort to " the broken in heart." In unravelling 
 the mystery of iniquity, and in exposing all counter- 
 feits of godliness, he was peculiarly solemn and skil- 
 ful ; and when unfolding and applying the doctrines 
 of grace, there was an unction, a clearness, and a 
 power in his preaching, to which very few have at- 
 tained. 
 
 Looking back, from his death-bed, on his experi- 
 ence as a preacher, he said, " I. have had days of dark- 
 ness in the pulpit ; but I have felt, at other times, 
 while preaching Christ to sinners, as if I were already 
 in Heaven." 
 
 Walking in his garden, shortly before his death, 
 leaning on the arm of his son, he stopped at a cer- 
 tain spot, each time he made a circuit on the walk 
 around it. Standing, for the third or fourth time, in 
 the same place, he pointed to a withered tree hard 
 by. " There am I, Charles," he said, and then burst 
 into tears. How touching a proof of his deep self- 
 abasement before God ! How ready was this faithful 
 servant of the Lord, to count himself unprofitable, 
 after all he had done, and how willing to acknow- 
 ledge, that if he ever entered into the joy of the 
 
 
 
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 i.!>'_vki:"'^- 
 
 jk- 
 
 Mi 
 
70 
 
 THE MINISTERS OP ROSS-SIIIRE. 
 
 ii f " 
 
 Lord, it must be as "the chief of sinners" saved by 
 grace ! He died in October 1831, in the sixty-eighth 
 year of his age, and in the thirty-ninth of his ministry. 
 
 Mr William Forbes of Tarbat, was Dr. Mackin- 
 tosh's most intimate friend. They had been compa- 
 nions, as jnipils in the Fortrose Academy, and as stu- 
 dents in King's College, Aberdeen; and the warm 
 attachment then formed, knew no interruption during 
 all their subsequent intercourse. 
 
 If kindliness of manner is required to make a man 
 amiable, Mr Forbes was far from being so. There 
 was a rough crust on the outside of liim, but there 
 was much sterling love beneath it, though too deep 
 for all to find it. With a horror of affectation, a 
 rigid exactness of habits, a contempt of petty conven- 
 tionalities and an eruptive temper, there was not 
 much about him, to attract the attention of those 
 who would not love him for his godliness. Some- 
 times he would unbend, when softened by the genial 
 intercourse of Christian friends, and, on such occa- 
 sions, he infused so much genuine humour into his 
 conversation, that one wondered where he usually 
 hid the stores, on which he then drew so largely. A 
 man of sterling worth he was, who could afford to 
 want the smooth exterior, that other men require to 
 make them tolerable. Always holding his best in 
 reserve, one could never duly value him who did not 
 know him thorougldy. He bore to be examined, and 
 the longer and the closer one's intercourse with him 
 was, the more he commanded his affection and respect. 
 Unscared by the fear of nian, he was an unsparing re- 
 prover of sin wherever it appeared. Not accessible 
 to the impressions by which others might be swayed, 
 
mmmmm 
 
 I. 
 
 THE MINISTERS OF TtOSS-SHIRE 
 
 71 
 
 t. 
 
 from following the strict requirements of conscience, 
 he kept his flock invariably under the strictest dis- 
 cipline. But no man Avas less disposed to lord it 
 over the consciences of the people, while careful to 
 keep his own " void of ofience," in his dealings with 
 them all. The result of this stern regime was jin 
 order and propriety, in the demeanour of his congre- 
 gation, in the house of God, such as could not else- 
 where be found. 
 
 His clear and vigorous intellect, with a cultivated 
 taste, enabled him to clothe in most expressive lan- 
 guage the exactest thinking. He was scrupulously 
 careful in his preparation for the pulpit. His manu- 
 scrijits were often quite as ready for the press as for 
 the pulpit, though they never found tlieir way to 
 either. As a lecturer there have been few to excel 
 him; and at the head of a communion table, where 
 he opened up, as on no other occasion, the rich trea- 
 sures of his experience, his addresses were peculiarly 
 refreshing to the people of the Lord. Solemn and 
 quiet in his manner, and most emphatic in his utter- 
 ance, he sjtoke with such authority and unction as 
 never failed to command the attention of his hearers. 
 Precious to God's people have his sermons often been, 
 and, by his hand has the Lord sent the arrow of con- 
 viction to not a few proud hearts. He died in May, 
 1838. His ministry in Tarbat began in the first year 
 of the century. 
 
 Of the Iloss-shire fathers, he who went last to 
 his rest, v^s, in some respects, the fii-st. The ex- 
 tent of his labourts, and his great popularity and suc- 
 cess, won for him the name of "the apostle of the 
 north." More in the eye of the public, the name of 
 
 
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 72 
 
 THE MINISTERS OF ROSS-SHIRE. 
 
 Dr. Macdonald is familiar to many, to whom that 
 of some of the others is utterly unknown. His was 
 mainly the work of an evangelist ; and his great 
 physical energy, his masculine intellect, his i*etentive 
 memory, his buoyancy of spirits, his pleasant manner, 
 the fervour of his love, and the character of his Chris- 
 tian experience, mfjrked him out as an instrument 
 of the Lord's own fashioning for the work in which 
 he was engaged. A more extended memoir of his 
 life and labours being in course of preparation, it 
 is unnecessary to anticipate here the record that may 
 yet be given. 
 
 The "fathers, where are theyI" "Woe is me! 
 For I AM AS WHEN they have gathered the summer 
 fruits, as the grape gleanings of the vintage; 
 there is no cluster to eat ; my soul desired the 
 
 first- RIPE fruit." 
 
 * 
 
t 
 
 CHAPTER III. 
 
 "the men" of ROSS -shire. 
 
 Origin of their Designation — Misrepresentations, and ttieir Aulliors 
 —Order and Body of "The Men "— Tlii-ir reciiliarity— The 
 Followsliip Meeting — Objections Answered — The Character 
 of "The Men" — Specimens — J'»hn Munro, the Caird of Kil- 
 tearn — '* lister Og, the Edderton Weaver — Hugh Ross of 
 Kilmuir — Hugh Ross [Buie] — Donald Mitchell — John Clark 
 — Rory Fhadrig. 
 
 **The men" were so named, not because they were 
 not women, but because they were not ministers. It 
 was necessary to distinguish between the ministers 
 and the other speakers «( a fellowsliip meeting, when 
 notes of their addresses were given ; and the easiest 
 way of doing so was by saying "one of the ministers," 
 or "one of the men, said uo." Hence the origin of 
 this designation ; and speakers at religious meet- 
 ings in the Highlands, who are not ministers, ai'Q 
 those to whom it is applied. 
 
 An unfavourable opinion is entertained of them by 
 some, because they know them not; but an unfair 
 representation has been given of them by othere, be- 
 cause they liked them not. Not a few have been 
 accustomed to speak of " the men," whom perha})s it 
 woulu not be impossible to persuade, that, if thoj 
 
\ *i 
 
 
 1 1 
 
 
 74 
 
 "the men" of ROSS-SHIRE. 
 
 caught a live specimen, he would be found to have 
 both horns and hoofs. The name presents, to some 
 minds, a class of proud, turbulent fellows, who will 
 submit to no rule, and are always in a state of 
 miitiny against all ecclesiastical authority. The idea 
 of " the men," in other minds, is, that they are a set 
 of superst.'tious and bigoted persons, who see visions 
 and who dream dreams, and who think that their own 
 straitened circle encloses all the vital Christianity on 
 the cai-th. Nor have there been awanting those who 
 would denounce them as mystics in their religion, and 
 as antinonuans in their practice. It is trying to have 
 to notice these gross misrepresentations, when one 
 looks back on the noble phalanx of woi-ihies to whom 
 they hive been applied; but it is a relief to remem- 
 ber that those who have spoken "all manner of evil 
 against tlicm falsely," have but unwittingly i)roved, 
 that "the men" were a people whom the Lord had 
 blessed. 
 
 To various sources may be traced the prevalence of 
 these mistaken estimates of the men. There is an 
 anti-Highland feeling, that is apt to prejudice, uncon- 
 sciously, the Lowlander against them, just because 
 they speak in Gaelic, and arc peculiar to the north. 
 His incapacity to juclge, owing to his ignorance of 
 what may be said in Gaolic, and of what may suit the 
 north, does not prevent his attempting to judge not- 
 withstanding. Conscious of superioi-ity, it is difficult 
 for him to believe, that what he cannot appreciate 
 can possibly be good. Men will try to form a posi- 
 tive judgment regarding all they think to be beneath 
 themselves, and when they are compelled to feel, that 
 they cannot intelligently do so, they are very prone 
 
"the men" of ROSS-SHIRE. 
 
 75 
 
 to vei-t their mortification in sweeping censures, or in 
 expressions of contempt. 
 
 Not unfrequent have been references to "the 
 men" and their ways in a tourist's sketches of the 
 Highlands ; and however unjust his verdict might have 
 been, and however impossible it was that he could 
 have accurately described them,' he found many who 
 would both read and receive his opinions about them. 
 In the uncivilized north, everything must, of course, 
 lie within the ken of a wise man from the south, and 
 the order, influence, and habits of "the men," with 
 all else that may - ome in his way. He may have 
 lighted on the place where a congregation met on the 
 Friday of a comnninion season. Asking why the 
 people were assembled, he would be told they were 
 engaged in public worship. Cui'iosity would arrest 
 him, for a time, on the outskirts of the crowd. Ho 
 sees one man after another rise up to speak, and he 
 listens, with amused attention, to the strange gut- 
 tural sound which they emit. Remembering the 
 service in a cathedral, in which he worshipped a few 
 days before, what a contrast to its pomjious ritual is 
 presented in the scene before him ! The bislioi) in his 
 lawn, the altar, the organ, and the choir, the chaunted 
 liturgy, and the well-delivered sermon, the fine attire, 
 and the graceful genuflexions of the people who sur- 
 rounded him, as he sat in his well-cushioned pew, all 
 rise up in his memory ; and who can wonder that ho 
 smiles with supreme contempt on all the actors and 
 ongoings, and, excepting of couixe his own presence, 
 all the circimistances of the scene before him] Bo- 
 taking himself to his desk, on his return from the place 
 where he saw it, ho would thus describe the hill-side 
 
 I 
 
 I 
 
warn 
 
 « 
 
 76 
 
 "the men" of ROSS-SHIRE. 
 
 \.S' 
 
 gathering: — " I walked about, after breakfast, to-day, 
 and lighted on a strange scene. A large crowd of 
 men and women were seated, in a shaded hollow on 
 the hill-side, engaged in public worship, after the 
 grotesque fashion of the Highlands. There were two 
 or three of their parsons confined in a wooden box, at 
 one side of the congregation, as if the people had shut 
 them in there, in order to take their own way of con- 
 ducting the service. Their own way they, indeed, 
 seemed to have ; for I saw one man after another rise 
 up among the crowd, each of them with long hair 
 down to his shoulder, and a huge cloak down to his 
 heels, and with a handkerchief wrapped round his 
 head ; and there they successively stood, uttering the 
 strangest sounds through their noses, with as much 
 solemnity and earnestness as if they were delivering 
 the most edifying discourses. 'Like priest like people,* 
 is true in the Highlands as elsewhere, for their hearers 
 seemed quite as earnest, because quite as witless as 
 themselves. Losing all patience at last, I turned 
 away and left them." 
 
 Let us suppose one of the worshippers, whom he 
 saw on the hillside, returning the tourist's visit, and, 
 after having been on a Sabbath in his grand cathe- 
 dral, giving an account of what he saw. How would 
 he describe the scene 1 "I entered," he would say, 
 " a large building, that seemed made for any purpose 
 but that of hearing, with ^indows daubed over with 
 paint, as if those who made them were afraid the 
 light of heaven would come pure on the people who 
 might meet within. There were a great many 
 strange things inside, that seemed made on purpose 
 to be looked at, and to keep the eyes of sinnera oa 
 
■ ■»' < ■ " ■ m J W '■ ■ . — i T rii 
 
 **^" iyj- 1 '^* 'jft-'* — ^-- i< 
 
 ■W^^^' **lfr-* 
 
 'if 
 
 " THE MEN " OF ROSS SHIRE. 
 
 77 
 
 le 
 
 In 
 
 mere wood and stone. I was not long seated, when 
 in stalked a man, who seemed to have come straight 
 from his bed, for he had on his night-gown, which 
 fortunately happened to be a long one. The poor man 
 must have been crazy, for who in his senses would 
 have come in such a plight before a congregation 1 
 Turning towards the people, he began to read some 
 gibbei'ish out of a book ; but what was my astonish- 
 ment to see the people attending to what the poor 
 creature was muttering, and kneeling as if they were 
 praying along with him. All of a sudden he and 
 they rose from their knees, and there came a sound 
 like that of a pipe and a fiddle together from behind 
 me. I thought when I heard the music begin, that 
 the people had risen up to dance ; but no, they 
 stood quite still. On looking round I saw, instead 
 of a pipe and fiddle, a large box with long yellow 
 whistles stuck in the front of it, from which came 
 the noise. The deluded people, it seems, as they did 
 not like to praise the Lord themselves, and were 
 afraid not to get it done at all, set this box to make 
 a noise through its whistles for them. But by this 
 time I liad more than enough of it ; and, remember- 
 ing it was tlie Lord's day, 1 hurried out of the place, 
 right glad to escape from the synagogue of Satan." 
 
 Such would, probably, be the simple Highlander's 
 account of the cathedral and its service ; but it would 
 be quite as faithful as tlia tourist's description of the 
 fellowship meeting in the north. But the latter can 
 write letters from tlie Highhinds, which will appear 
 in print, and which will be read and believed ; and 
 he haa thus succeeded in giving such an impression 
 of " the men " to many, that they always rise up 
 
 
iWiiiiia 
 
 78 
 
 " THE MEN " OF ROSS-SHIRE. 
 
 W 1 
 
 "iy; 
 
 before their mind's eye in long cloaks and with long 
 hair, and with a napkin on their heads, pouring in a 
 rough stream of gutturals, nonsensical cant through 
 their noses, over a crowd of gaping barbarians. 
 
 But to strangers cannot be traced all the false- 
 hoods spoken and written of " the men." They had 
 bitter enemies at home, in the ungodly ministers of 
 many Highland parishes. These they would not 
 hear, and their influence secured to them a following, 
 when they went to other places to hear the gospel. 
 This was the only thing these ministers could urge 
 as a reason for opposing them. But all the more 
 virulent was their enmity, because " they could find 
 none occasion nor fault " against them, " except con- 
 cerning the law of" their " God." As no manner of 
 evil could be spoken against them truly, all the more 
 ready were they to speak "all manner of evil against" 
 them " falsely." Abuse of the men was sure to be 
 mingled, in due proportion, with the copious after- 
 dinner libations of every party of moderates. Some 
 of them never appeared in print, but when they pub- 
 lished a tirade against " the men," and never rose in 
 a Church court, except to deliver an elaborate invec- 
 tive against them. In the measure in which they 
 could give wing to their calumnies against these 
 troublers of their peace, they succeeded in circulat- 
 ing false opinions regarding them. 
 
 " The Veto Act ' brought out against " the men '' 
 the malice of another clsiss of enemies. Preachers 
 who had been trained with a view to stipend-lifting, 
 began to feel that the influence of " the men " inter- 
 cepted them from " the loav(>s and fishes.'' They 
 felt it hard, that they could not live and preach aa 
 
■"T'P* 
 
 >^i=i?*'S'^ ^^'^V^' 
 
 " ' mm ■ I . L » nn ii n i »i.wi^ iii J 
 
 6-5* ■ 
 
 " THE MEN " OF ROSS-SHIRE. 
 
 79 
 
 they listed, without endangering the prospect of a 
 settlement, and that these " Gileadites took the 
 passages before " them, and had " their senses 
 exercised to discern " that " they could not fi-ame to 
 pronounce " the " Shibboleth." A loud blast against 
 them has been sounded by an Ephraimite, whom 
 they scared fi'om the north. Contining attention to 
 a coterie in Caithness, as distinct from " the men " 
 of Ross-shire in their faults, as they were in other 
 respects from himself, he offers a caricature of their 
 failings as a description of all " the men " of the 
 north. This was "Investigator's" form of attack, 
 strong only in its malignity ; though he assumed the 
 airs of a victor, and found a law^'^er who would write 
 his paean in the " Quarterly." His panegyrist is well 
 known : and it is easy to determine under whose 
 banner lie fought, when the hand is discovered that 
 gave him the laurel. But, louder than all the praises 
 of his prowess, shall yet sound in his ears, the voice 
 that from heaven proclaimeth, " Woe unto that man 
 by whom offences come." 
 
 There have been in the north, for half-a-century 
 at least, a few cliques of separatists, quite distinct 
 from the order of " the men." Specimens of the 
 the former have often been taken as if fairly repre- 
 senting the latter. Among these separatists were 
 men of eminent piety, and some of eminent gifts. 
 Disgusted by the ungodliness, or driven off by the 
 t3n'anny, of moderate ministers, they separated from 
 the Church, and assumed an almost distinct position 
 to themselves. Having begun to be leaders, in the 
 first consciousness of power, they were unduly elated, 
 and became the censors of Bome of whom ihej 
 
 -i 
 
' f^ 
 
 80 
 
 " THE MEN " OP ROSS-SHIRE. 
 
 should have been the disciples. Some followed 
 them, who had all their exclusiveness, with but 
 little of their piety, and with none of their prudence. 
 Sheltering themselves under the acknowledged godli- 
 ness of their leaders, they became bold in their 
 bitterness, and indiscriminate in their censures, 
 against the good and the bad, among those with 
 whom they had parted. Some of them became 
 leaders in their turn, and though very different from 
 the worthies, whose place they assumed, they failed 
 not to secure a following of adherents. Extreme 
 specimens, of this section of the separatists, might 
 be found, who used an extravagant profession, as a 
 covering over much pride and worldliness of heart, 
 and some licentiousness of practice. But these 
 could not be taken as fair specimens, even of the 
 separatists, and were no specimens at all of "the 
 men." 
 
 It would be a reproach, on the memory of such a 
 man as the godly John Grant, to accept, as his fitting 
 successors, some who seized upon his mantle after he 
 was gone. A godly man, and blameless in his life 
 was he, and much might be said to account for, if not 
 to excuse, the exclusiveness by which he stinted his 
 comfort and straitened his sympathies, and for which, 
 he himself, ere he died, expressed his regret. More 
 gifted, but less godly, than John Grant, was the 
 famous Sandy Gair. Less watchful than the other, 
 he was a Christian notwithstanding, and was decidedly 
 a man of genius. No one, able to appreciate talent, 
 could listen to one of his addresses, without admiring 
 the originality of his views, and the clear terseness 
 of his diction. In apt illustration, and in scathing 
 
 fd 
 
 ;*?■ 
 
r'<^. 
 
 M 
 
 (( 
 
 IHE MEN " OP S0S3 SHIRE. 
 
 satoe, few could excel him T„- 
 '^ter ever hear him but „^; J^ ° ""'^ *'' ^e 
 f ot fo^et Speak™; „f the.. ? ""^'"S^ ''« <««'- 
 the Christian over hf wV.Ui "">"' P°^««^«l bj 
 portion, he »aid. "It '°n^^ " ^^^ '^"'"'^ "^ h^ 
 with him, when he left The f '^"t *'"'* J««»'' ^ok 
 to hi^ kindred, but amM J the°li«. ^.'^';'" *" '^*"™ 
 away, Laban Io,t his godf- b,tt ^ "l ^ ^' ''""S'^' 
 Job, till he left not evTn i;^"* *»"«'' S^'an stripped 
 «ch still could sav 'r t •',™ '^'»' *>■« Patri- 
 Jiveth,'" SpeakiC'^'oua.r" ''** ""^ B'^-'emer 
 different estimates! Vthet"!' *• '^''»'' "^ ''"o very 
 bj the Christian a^d he I^ST^T' '""'-^ 
 offering accepted on Mon^Tl^ ^'' f"^ ^''the 
 Jieaven left only the aTes tl vTl' *^ *'^ ^om 
 Pr-ests of Baal survived the" i^^'f A' *•"*' ^^ tie 
 selves fat on their refe't'e^ 1 T"" , '"^^ *^ tl«^m- 
 But in Ro r J ™ sacrifice." 
 
 of the cla« now'Sfete"; (T"'^ T'f *^'^ "any 
 were, attain to a name^j a^ « "^'^ *''« ''"^^ho 
 «t necessaiy to noticrthTm '"'i"!'"™"^' that make 
 by the fact, that there wTa s,^^' •' ""'"""'*«* ''or 
 there, who commandedX . *'™ "^ »'-"«ters 
 ^he people, and whose in J^' ^"^ '"' ''" "'a^^es of 
 in the p„i,h^ not"Xitr.l''""''"™''*'-on 
 Who, then and wH *'' **^ gospel. 
 
 -r to'this",Ci:' s' JlThe d7^" ' !^ '"- »- 
 ^°-W. is a Character tt'ttnu^Tb%r' 
 
 -i-rustiSf r r'*^ "'--d a P- 
 
 truly converted unto God L^ 'T"? '" ''^'^ >«»" 
 forward into a mo,^ public no ?"^''V"'" «^''*'«"r 
 
 PUWK position, by calling him, " 
 
Vi 
 
 — . -_. ■^*'mml0* 
 
 «m 
 
 ^ 
 
 
 82 
 
 " THE MEN " OF ROSS SHIRE. 
 
 first to pray, and then " to speak to the question," 
 at the ordinary congregational meetings. According 
 to the manner in which he approved himself there, 
 v/as the prospect of his being enrolled among " tlie 
 Friday speakers " on communion occasions. It was 
 thus the order of " the men " was established, and 
 thus the body of " the men" was formed. 
 
 The only peculiarity about them, besides their god- 
 liness, was their service in the fellowship meeting. 
 This has, to some eyes, the wild look of a great irre- 
 gularity. It is thought that " the men '' were pushed 
 forward, into the position of public speakere, by the 
 current of poj>ular feeling, and that the ministers 
 were compelled to share with them their own place, 
 in order to reserve any part of it to themselves. 
 Than this there cannot be a greater mistake. The 
 peculiar service of " the men " was not thrust upon 
 those ministers, who were what ministers should be. 
 By such it was freely and deliberately adopted, and 
 none of them had ever cause to regret that it was. 
 " The men" were never found to be enemies to due 
 ecclesiastical order, though they failed in learning to 
 Bubmit to undue ecclesiastical tyranny. They were 
 influenced by no feeling of disrespect to the office of 
 the ministry, nor were they disposed to take a place 
 in the house of the Lord, not given them by the Lord 
 of the house. It was not in their heart, it is true, 
 to esteem the individuals, who found it their interest 
 to hold, while it was their practice to degrade, the 
 office of the ministry ; but it is only in tlieir respect 
 for the office itself that the true reason of this can 
 be found. Valuable was the help, and cheering the 
 encouragement, which a godly minister always re- 
 
 hi 
 
 h 
 
 thi 
 
 Jia 
 
 as 
 
 me 
 
-'.V- '"' -'lii!li!^^ *?!■■• 
 
 "T1IEME.V"0FR0S8-SIIIRE. 
 
 fio 
 
 eeived, from tj,,,;^ 
 
 laboura. ^ ''•'^'"^' *«"• counsefe, and their 
 
 The great object of the fell„ i • 
 mutual eomfort and edl^eltiri'': T'"'S was the 
 «Pec.ai reference to the c^^Z ^'"'™"' *'"> » 
 ««ed with fears a,, to thXll ? '' ?f *"'■« ««r. 
 tow was it conducted » At?,tT ,'" *"""* ^"d 
 ''ere present; but. latterly ad^;;"'^ ?"'""'»'«'"'« 
 criminate The minister n're^T" '"'«"»<' '"dfa- 
 Praise and the read °l!!f f^"^*"' *"<'' '''■*«■• prayer 
 calls on any one ttol Indus'? °' «"">'»-. he 
 tion to the meeting, to doT t. ''li"'"'* » ^ues- 
 *<- V some man who rises „!^k ' ^ ""''"""^'^ 
 Scripture describing some C T " f^'^So of 
 character, and exprlsriis de °f "'" ^''™«'"' ' 
 marks of those whom Se n , *° """^^'-to™ the 
 
 various Inspects in wMch ther'^' ^''^''^''- »d tbe 
 nominal Christians thfl^^ "i"!^ '""" '^"^-'Y 
 Scripture is then opened ITT, *^^ l"«'*'>8'' of 
 exact import of the q„tZ\*''^'";"'*'-' ^"5 the 
 P'amed. He then Sbv .!"' "P"" '* ''« ex- 
 auch as ai-e of repute for piL ,?' '• "*'^^'™'y' »» 
 to ' speak to the question." Sne'r™"'' ^'^ «''^ 
 a« he IS called, states brieflv h"'^";'""'*''^'- rises, 
 
 and without attempting eSer to™'' "^ '^^ '""^■'«»n 
 or to deliver an exhortitl e^Pound Scripture 
 
 h« own experience, p^^^^^^^^ "T'^S to pLda 
 has felt, and feared, and en jovr 'l '""''' *'«* *« 
 the truth. Therea ter tS ,t T^'' *''« T^^er of 
 haa heen said, eo.rectiiU !"& ' '"""f "P "" «'»* 
 as m=.y be necessary, and Zw ^^' "'"' e^P^nding 
 ment of the whole."^' Tl e per,!" T""" ""i™™" 
 question, is then usuaUy Jfoj t' " '° P'-°P»«i the - 
 
 J- cajiea to engage in p^yer, 
 
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wm 
 
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 Bi 
 
 " THE MEN " OF ROSS-SHIRE. 
 
 f'^ 
 
 i' ' 
 
 ^. 
 
 and, -with praise and the benediction, the meeting is 
 closed. Such was the fellowship meeting in the good 
 days of the fathers in Ross-shire. 
 
 " The men " seem^ to some, to have been taken out 
 of their proper place, when called to address a con- 
 gregation, and to have assumed work propsrly and 
 exclusively tiie minister's. They must be quite igno- 
 rant of " the men " ,'?ad of their work with whom this 
 objection can have any weight. If they were accus- 
 tomed to expound, or if they attempted to preach, it 
 might be said, that they were stepping out of their 
 proper place, and invading the province of the minis- 
 ter : but tl ey who were worthy of a place among 
 " the men " never attempted to do so. They but 
 spake to one another, of their mutual fears and trials, 
 hopes and joys : and the position, as office-bearers, 
 held by the most of them, and the gifts which the 
 Lord had conferred on them all, entitled them to do 
 so, in the more public position of the fellowship meet- 
 ing. Never was a godly minister's office leas endan- 
 gered, than when he was countenancing and directing 
 their service in " speaking to the question," and often 
 has the time thus spent by him bee»i, to his own soul, 
 a season of refreshing. 
 
 There are many who think, that imeducated per- 
 sons, such as " the men,'' could not possibly deliver 
 addresses that might edify their hearers. Those who 
 required "the excellency of speech and of wisdom " 
 in ofder to be pleased, would certainly not be gnitified 
 at the fellowship meeting, but tiioso who " desired 
 the sincere milk of the word that" they" might grow 
 thereby," wouid as certainly be profited. Of such 
 learning, as makes ouq proud, " tho men " had none; 
 
IWL.Ii '■", "I JMl'l" 
 
 *' THE MEN " OP ROSS SHIRE. 
 
 «K 
 
 but they knew their bibles as few besides have known 
 them. Their clear view of the Gospel system might 
 bring a blush on the face of some professors cf divi- 
 nity if they heard and understood them ; and some 
 doctora however learned, might sit at their fett, as 
 they spake of the sorrows and the joys of the Chri3- 
 tian's: life. Some of them were men of distinguished 
 talent, and all their mental vigour, imtrammelled by 
 learning, they brought to bear upon the things of 
 God. Nevei, surely, is there a more attractive exer- 
 cise of intellect than when, divested of all literary 
 acquirements, it entera directly into " the mysteries 
 of the kiiigdom," and comes forth in a panoply of 
 Scripture truth. Light from heaven then irradiates 
 all the gifts of the speaker. Traces of leaniing,, 
 mingled with the halo of this light, would be spots 
 of darkness. Some of " the men " were able 
 speakers. Orators they were, without attempting to 
 be so, and utterly unconscious of tiieir gift, who 
 could powerfully affect the feelings of their hearers. 
 Some of them gave utterance to sayings tliat could 
 not be forgotten, and a few of which would earn a 
 fame for genius in a more public sphere. 
 
 Of the question, " Kow far lay agency may be em- 
 ployed ♦or the edification of the Chxirch," the wisest 
 pi'actical solution has been furnished in the service of 
 the fellowship meeting. It is surely desirable, that, 
 if there are talented and godly men in a congrega- 
 tion, an opportunity should be aflbrd \1, for se'^uring 
 to others, the benefit of those gifts, with which the 
 Loitl has endowed them. If He has made them 
 " ap* to teach," an opportunity to teach should be 
 given them by the church. This should be provided, 
 
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 MS 
 
 m 
 
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I i i yil M l n MlMlfc W Jllii ir» | >fH| Hn i M. i*y y i» ' **'' " 
 
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 86 
 
 " THE ME\ " OF ROSS-SHIRE. 
 
 BO as not to invade the province of the ordained 
 teacher, and so as to con-^erve and support the autho- 
 rity of his office. By no summary process ought a 
 man to be converted into a preacher, however shin- 
 L.^ liis gifts, and however eminent his godliness. 
 But is he therefore to be kept silent 1 May no 
 opportunity be given him to exhort his brethren, 
 publicly as well as privately, so as to secure, to the 
 Church at large, the benefit of his stores of Christian 
 knowledge and experience 1 All these conditions 
 have been met, in the service of the fellowship meet- 
 ing. There an opportunity, to exercise their gifts, 
 for the good of the Church, and without the least 
 prejudice to the position and i if uenc<^ of the minister, 
 was given to such as the Lord had qualified. How 
 strange it is, that some, who neglect to avail them- 
 selves of such an arrangement, and who are disposed 
 to frown upon it where it has been adopted, should 
 not hesitate to exalt into the position, even of evan- 
 gelists, neophytes, with cnide views of the doctrines 
 of the Gospel, owing subjection to no ecclesijistical 
 authority, and furnishing no security whatever for 
 the prudence and the purity of their doctrine and 
 their life. 
 
 The service, in which " the men " were employed, 
 "waa useful as a test. In the good days of the 
 fathei*s, the discernment of tlu; Church was keen, 
 and very rai-ely could a man, wlio was a stranger to 
 a life of godliness, be approved at the fellowship 
 meeting. Satan required to do his utmost in mak- 
 ing a passable hypocrite in these days. He some- 
 times, even then, succeeded in foisting a counterfeit 
 on the confidence of the Church, but it was not ofbea 
 
 t| 
 al 
 
-- ^^^/' ■ 
 
 " THE MEN " OF ROSS-SHIIIE. 
 
 87 
 
 that he ti'ied it. Usually, " of the rest dui-st no man 
 join himself to them." Through this ordeal the 
 eldership had to pass, ere they found a place in a 
 session, over which a man of God presided. It 
 would be well if this kind of trial were univei'sal. 
 The application of such a test might, in some cases, 
 allow no session at all ; but it may be fairly ques- 
 tioned whether this is a valid objection to its use. 
 Now, and in some places, let a man's religion be all 
 on the outside of him, if it is only a decent garb to 
 look at from a distance, and if he is a man of influ- 
 ence, or of money, or of talent, this is quite enough 
 to win for him an elder's place. An uneducated, 
 but godly and praying elder, would be better thun a 
 host of such men as he ; but better still, the man, in 
 whom the gifts and the influence of the one were 
 sanctified by the gi-ace given to the other. 
 
 It is partly true, that " the men " were peciiliar 
 in their dress, but it is not at all true, that they 
 adopted any kind of badge, or that they wore a 
 UTiiform that distinguished them Jis a class. In the 
 circle in which they moved, there were attempts 
 made, by the careless and worldly, to follow, at a 
 distance, the mutations of fashion in their attire. 
 The men would not, and, merely, on that account, 
 tlieir dress was j)eculiar. It was otten the case, that 
 they wore long hair, partly, because a regard to 
 aj)pearances did not remind them of cutting it, and, 
 partly, that they might discountenance the attempts 
 at clipping and combing " after the fashion," by 
 which many around them evidenced their conformity 
 to the world. It is true, also, that thoy often 
 appealed with a handkerchief on theii* heads, but 80 
 
 
 -ril- t 
 

 
 88 
 
 " THE MEN " OF ROSS-SHIRE. 
 
 1 
 
 did many besides them, who met to worship under a 
 scorching sun, and regarded it as unbecoming to 
 have a hat or a bonnet on their heads. If their 
 dress seemed peculiar, it was only because it was 
 old-fashioned, even in the highlands. Its singularity 
 was not owing to any affectation, or to an undue re- 
 gard to what was external and trivial. 
 
 Of the orthodoxy of " the men " of Ross-shire no 
 defence is required ; on the ground of alleged un- 
 soundness in the faith, none of all their enemies ever 
 ventured to bring a charge against them. A strong 
 aversion to any deviation from the authorised stan- 
 dards of doctrine, characterised them as a class ; and 
 often have the ministers, who ventured to challenge 
 their views, been forced to feel, in an encounter with 
 them, how little, as compared with " the men " they 
 themselves knew of their Bibles, or had studied the 
 standards which, to win stipends, they subscribed. 
 A few of them once were present, when a sermon 
 was preached, giving a faulty exposition of the text, 
 and containing an infusion of Arminianism. On the 
 next day, there was a fellowship meeting, at which 
 the minister, who preached that sermon, presided. 
 According to a preconcerted plan, the text of the 
 Sabbath sermon was proposed, as the passage, on 
 which the question should be founded, at the meet- 
 ing. The minister demurred, but could not succeed 
 in getting the question replaced by another. One 
 man after another spoke, exposing the unsoundness 
 of the doctrine delivered from the pulpit. The 
 result was, that the preacher betook himself, in self- 
 dnfence, to the Bible and to " the Confession of 
 Faith j" but the weapons, which he found in that 
 
..*; 
 
 - ♦ 
 
 "* THE MEN " OP ROSS-SHIRE. 
 
 armoury, instead of being r sed by himself in beating 
 down "the men," were employed by the Spiiit of 
 the Lord in overturning his own views, in slaying 
 his former hopes, and in lapng low his soul at the 
 footstool of mercy. From that day, this minister 
 never preached, as he had preached before. 
 
 It is due to their memory to add, that they 
 " adorned the doctrine of God their Saviour in all 
 things." By the purity of their lives, they con- 
 strained all, who observed them, to regard them as 
 Christians. Their enemies did call them " bigots," 
 " enthusiasts," and "fanatics," but they did not dare 
 to say they were not Christians. They were com- 
 pelled to acknowledge that they were " sincere," 
 " upright," and " well-meaning," though " very 
 straitlaced," and " righteous overmuch." 
 
 And they loved one another. Their position 
 being one of greater eminence than that of mere 
 "private Christians," and opportunities, of sowing 
 discord among them, being all the more manifold, 
 because of the pecuUar service in whicli they were 
 employed, it is quite marvellous, how few instances 
 of unseemly quarrels their enemies can record against 
 them. Sometimes differences would arise, but they 
 were felt by them all as a family affliction would be 
 felt. lu such cases, a peace-maker would always be 
 found. Sometimes, his task would be made an easy 
 one. One rf them, hearing of a quarrel between 
 two of his brethren, set off at once to make peace. 
 Meeting one of the offenders, he asked, "Is it tine 
 that you and James have quarrelle<l 1" " Oli, yes ; 
 ■ alas ! it is quite true," was the reply ; " but James 
 V ia not to be blamed — the fault is all mine." " If T 
 
 1 
 
90 
 
 " THE MEN " OF ROSS-SHIRE. 
 
 find James," he remarked, "in the same state of 
 mind, I expect very soon to see you at one again." 
 On reaching the other, he said, " I am sorry to liear 
 that you have quarrelled with John." " Oh, yes," 
 he replied, " but it was my hasty temper that did all 
 the mischief." " Come with me, then," the peace- 
 maker said, " and confess your fault to your brother." 
 He at once agreed to accompany him ; and, no 
 sooner did the separated brethren meet, than they 
 embraced each other, mutually forgave and were for- 
 given,, and continued ever after " in the bond of 
 peace." 
 
 Two of them, happening to differ about the pro- 
 por iLterprctation of a passage of Scripture, lost 
 temper, and as, alas, too often happens, quarrelled 
 over the Bible. For sometime, thereafter, they woiild 
 not speak to each other. Some of their brethren inter- 
 fered, but they found them implacable. At last, it 
 was agreed to refer the matter to the arbitration of 
 Hugh Ross of Kilmuir, and Hugh Buie. A meet- 
 ing took place, at which the two vdio had quarrelled, 
 and the two arbiters, only were present. After en- 
 gaging in prayer, one of the Hughs said to the other, 
 " Brother, we must be on our guard against being 
 led into adopting instead of settling the quarrel of 
 those men ;" and in token of their love, and to seal 
 their resolution still to love, they embraced each 
 other. The sight of these two godly men locked in 
 each other's arms, quite overcame the disputants, who 
 were looking on. The thought arose simultaneously 
 in the mind of each of them, " These are true 
 Christians, for they love one another ; and if we 
 were like them we would not have quarrelled." 
 
" THE MEN " OF ROSS-SHIRE. 
 
 91 
 
 Looking at one another, they could not refrain from 
 following the example which was given them ; they 
 rushed to a mutual embrace, all strife was at an end, 
 and their hearts once more united, they found it 
 easy to " see eye to eye." The arbitere succeeded, 
 by the example of their love, in securing a result, 
 which they would have failed to achieve by all their 
 tact and influence. 
 
 The earliest traditions of "the men" are clustered 
 around the name of John Munro, the celebrated caird 
 of Kiltern. An interesting account of his conversion 
 is given in the memoir of Mr. Hogg, to which the 
 reader is refen^ed. On anecdote of him only will be 
 given here. 
 
 The case of a pious man in the parish of Tarbat, 
 having been pressed upon his spirit, his anxiety about 
 him became so great that he could not refrain from 
 going to visit him. On a stormy winter day, he 
 started on his journey, and with considerable diffi- 
 culty reached the house of his friend. No sooner 
 had they saluted, than his friend threw himself on a 
 seat, and burst into teal's. "This is not the welcome 
 I expected," John said ; " I had hoped you would 
 have been glad to see me." "What grieves me," 
 was the reply, "in tliat after you have come so far 
 on such a stormy day, I have no food that I can set 
 before you." "I know now why I have come," the 
 caird said ; and throwing on the table a piece of bre«d 
 which he had carried in his pocket, he hurried out of 
 the house. Setting his face on the west again, not a 
 house by^he way, in which he knew there was a 
 friend to the poor, did he pass on his jouniey l)ack to 
 Kiltern, without entering it, and telling of the poverty 
 
92 
 
 " THE MEN " OP ROSS-SHIRE. 
 
 ;* 
 
 s 
 
 of his friend, urging them all at once to send him a 
 supply of food. In the morning of the morrow, 
 horses, laden with creels full of provisions, began to 
 arrive at the empty house in Tarrel ; and before that 
 day was closed, a supply of meal, and butter, and 
 cheese, was stored up in it, that sufficed for " a year 
 and a day." 
 
 Before the death of John Munro, the famous Alex- 
 ander M*Leod, better known as Alister Og, the godly 
 weaver of Edderton, was born, and perhaps " born 
 again." He just outlived the first quarter of the 
 eighteenth century, but as he was an old man when 
 he died, the greater part of his life must have been 
 passed in the century before. 
 
 Even in his day there were favoured spots in Ross- 
 shire, that were beginning to be as the garden of the 
 Lord, and his great eminence was not owing to his 
 being a solitary witness for God. There was then in 
 Edderton a minister by whose doctrine even Alister 
 could be fed, and there was a lady of Balnagown who 
 deemed it an honour to have the godly weaver as her 
 guest. A nxious inquirers, too, from surrounding dis- 
 tricts, used often to visit him for advice. 
 
 On one occasion, there came a pious man to con- 
 sult him about the meaning of the counsel, "Pray 
 without ceasing." On his arrival, he found Alister 
 busy digging his croft. "You are well employed, 
 Alister," he said, on coming up to him. " If delving 
 and praying, praying and delving be good employment, 
 I am," was his answer, which met the inquirer's diffi- 
 culty before he had stated it. 
 
 Once late at night, a stranger applied at Alister's 
 door for a night's lodging. His wife was unwilling 
 
" THE MEN " OF ROSS-SHIRE. 
 
 98 
 
 to admit him, but Alister, "not forgetful to entertain 
 strangers," at once invited him to come in, and gave 
 him the best his house could afford. On rising next 
 morning, the wife found that the stranger had gone, 
 and had carried off a web wh.,h her husband had 
 just finished to order. "Didn't I tell you," she said, 
 after hurrying to Alister with the tidings of the theft, 
 " not to admit that man ; you yourself will now be 
 suspected of doing away with the web, and what will 
 become of us 1" "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 will 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 were sitting by the ingle, they 
 heard a knock at the door, on opening which, whom 
 should they see on the threshold but their guest of 
 the night before. He had wandered, not knowing 
 whither, till his eye was arrested, and his course 
 directed, by the light that twinkled in Alister's win- 
 dow ; and now, much to his surprise and confusion, 
 he finds himself throwing the web ofi" his back in the 
 house from which he had stolen it. 
 
 Alister had once a sore battle with self — a giant 
 who has been found, by all who ever encountered him 
 to have "seven lives, seven guises, and seven hands." 
 Nothing would satisfy his enemy but to wrest from 
 poor Alister his all of experience, service and sufibr- 
 ing, leaving nothing with him for Him who had 
 bought him with His blood, and to whose service he 
 ' was sworn. The conflict was severe, and Alister, 
 
 h^ 
 
 

 94 
 
 " THE MEN " OF ROSS-SHIRE. 
 
 I 
 
 I 
 
 1 
 
 though he would not yield, found his strength to be 
 but weakness and his wisdom but folly in the fight. 
 He resolved, therefore, to call for help from above, 
 and he devoted a day to fasting, heart-searching, and 
 prayer on the summit of the hill of Edderton. The 
 Lord came to his help, and Alister was delivered from 
 the grasp of his enemy, and he gave himself without 
 reseive anew to the Lord. In the flush of victory, he 
 began to descend the hill, and on coming near his 
 house, and observing his neighbours closing a busy 
 day's work on their crofts, the thought at once sprung 
 up in his mind, "how very much better I have been 
 employed to-day than these." Telling the story him- 
 self afterwards, and referring to this suggestion, he 
 added, "the fellow I thought I had left stark dead on 
 the top of the hill of Edderton, I found as lively as 
 ever in my heart." 
 
 As he was standing, one morning, in front of his 
 house, his wife, looking out through the window ob- 
 served him smiling with joy. Anxious to know what 
 amused him she came out to inquire. Pointing to 
 his cow, which lay dead before the door, he said, " I 
 was rejoicing because mine was a God that could not 
 die like yours." 
 
 His minister, in one of his sermons, pressed strong- 
 ly upon Christians the duty of seeking and the profit 
 of attaining " an assurance of God's love." Alister 
 was deeply affected by that sermon ; and, instead of 
 returning to his house on that evening, he repaired 
 to his usual haunt on the hill. There he remained 
 all that night, and a day and a night besides, pleading 
 with the Lord and examining himself, till he attained 
 the assurance which he sought. On Tue&day he de- 
 
t;.. .. I T' 
 
 " THE MEN " OF ROSS-SHIllE. 
 
 95 
 
 acended from the hill, and went straight to the manse. 
 Meeting the minister, he at once asked him, " Did 
 you preach your last sermon according to your own 
 experience ? The minister was able to assure him 
 that he had. Alister then solemnly said, " Not many 
 sermons more will you ever preach." And so it hap- 
 pened ; for in a very short time the minister died, 
 and not long after Alister followed him to the 
 " Father's house." 
 
 Hugh Ross of Kilmuir represents the genemtion of 
 "the men" that succeeded Alister Og and his cotem- 
 poraries. He was a man of considerable mental 
 vigour, of singular godliness, of an unblemished life, 
 favoured with great nearness to God, and with a 
 manifest blessing resting on his labours. During the 
 years of his ignorance, he was known as a powerful 
 handsome youth, glorying in his symmetry and 
 strength, the leader of the shinty matches, and the 
 best dancer in the district. Getting a new Highland 
 dress, which he thought very fine, and which he was 
 anxious to display, he went, on the Saturday of a 
 commimion season at Feam, to show it off before the 
 congregation. Choosing the most conspicuous seat, 
 there he showed himself in his pride before the eyes 
 of all. Mr. Porteous preached on that day ; and be- 
 fore the sermon was over, an arrow, shot " at a ven- 
 ture," had found a joint in the proud youth's harness, 
 and pierced him to the heart. Deep were his convic- 
 tions thereafter, and for months he walked under the 
 shadow of death. Each Sabbath now found Hugh at 
 church, but across its threshold, he would not venture 
 to pass. He stood alone and desolate outside, each 
 time he came, the drops from the eaves often falling 
 
H 
 
 " THE MEN " OP ROSS-SHIRE. 
 
 on his head, and sometimes, in winter, congealing 
 into clusters of icicles from his hair. But what affec- 
 ted merely his body he felt not. He was listening to 
 the \V ord of God, with an immortal soul at stake, 
 and as if each sermon he heard was to decide its des- 
 tiny for ever. One of the elders, an aged and godly 
 man, felt the warmest interest in the stricken and 
 desolate youth ; and on a Sabbath of snow and drift, 
 as Hugh was standing outside as usual, he crept up 
 towards him, pushed him across the threshold, and 
 shut him in. But his time of deliverance had now 
 come, and in proportion to his former bondage was 
 the thoroughness of his liberty, and to his former dis- 
 tress the intensity of his joy. He became " a burn- 
 ing and a shining light," was chosen catechist of 
 Kilmuir, and was highly honoured and blessed in his 
 work. Three of the children of the old elder were 
 brought to Christ under his instructions, and he thiis 
 received from the Lord a most precious reward lor 
 his kindness to Hugh in the day of his distress, lb 
 is said that, on one occasion, no fewer than seve^j, 
 and on another twelve, persons were awakened under 
 his teaching, who were afterwards approved followei-s 
 of the Lamb. 
 
 Perhaps of all "the men" of Ross-shire the moio 
 famous was Hugh Ross, commonly called Hugh 
 Buie. It was in Alness he resided when, before his 
 twentieth year, he firat " knew the grace of God in 
 truth." He removed afterwards to Rosskeen, and his 
 last ciays were spent in Resolis. 
 
 M' . James Fmser of Alness was his father in Chvu-'t. 
 After the death of that eminent minister, a preacher 
 WU3 presented to the parish of Alness, whom Hugh 
 
 I 
 
mm 
 
 " THE MEN " OF ROSS-SHIRE. 
 
 9? 
 
 
 opposed with all his influence. This man having 
 been thrust into the church. Hugh was greatly dis- 
 tressed, and was so violently excited that, being natu- 
 rally keen tempered, it was easy for the Tempter to 
 persuade him, that all his agitation was but the sinful 
 fretting of his temper, and that there was no exer- 
 cise of grace at all in the ferment of his spirit. On 
 the first Sabbath after the induction, he resolved to 
 go to hear Mr. Porteous. But a parish intervened 
 between him f.nd Kilmuir, and if he went by the 
 usual road, he would meet the people as they were 
 assembling to the church of Rosskeen. So he deter- 
 mined to walk along the sea-shore, that he might 
 reach Kilmuir unobserved. This was then compara- 
 tively easy, as the villages now built along the shore 
 were not then in existence. Mr. Porteous preached 
 that day on " the hidden man of the heart" (1 Pet. 
 iii. 4). To illustrate his subject, he referred to the 
 ark and its coverings in the wilderness. " Its out- 
 side covering was made of badgers' ^ skins," he said, 
 " and the fur of this animal always points against the 
 wind, and as one looked on it, rough and ruffled as 
 a breeze was blowing on the tabernacle, it seemed 
 very unUkely that under it the precious ark was hid- 
 den. Thus is the 'hidden man of the heart ' often hid- 
 den under a fretful temper ; and there is one now pre- 
 sent, who has lately felt his mind so ruffled under a 
 trying providence, that he finds it impossible to be- 
 lieve that * the ornament of a meek and quiet spirit ' 
 can be his at all. But let us raise this covering and 
 examine what is under it ;" and then removing one 
 covering after another, he conducted Hugh at last to 
 * the liidden man of the heart' within himself, and the 
 
H 
 
 " THE MEN " OF KOSS- SHIRE. 
 
 Holy Spii it sealed to his soul, by the truth, a satis- 
 fyiiig evidence of grace. Cheereu by this seasonable 
 comfort, he returned home by the public road, declar- 
 ing, after his return, that h^. was now ready to go to 
 Kilmuir> in the face of all difficulties, and under the 
 eyes of al) obsiervers. 
 
 Over eighty years his Christian course on earth 
 extended, and during, all that time he continued to 
 "adorn the doctrine of God." He was unable to read 
 even his Bible, but he knew it well, and believed, 
 loved, and lived its precious truths. But though 
 quite uneducated, he was a man of rare talent. As a 
 speaker he was peculiarly clear and concise. In a 
 few terse and vigorous expressions, fraught with 
 thought ai^d seasoned with grace, he conveyed more 
 instruction than could be derived from many ? learned 
 and laboured treatise on the subject on which he 
 spoke. 
 
 He was always slow to rise when called upon to 
 speak. Having on one occasion, to go with some 
 cattle to a remote place on the hills of Lochbroom, he 
 was obliged to remain all nigh'j in the house of the 
 farmer to whose care they were consigned. His host 
 never bent his knee before his household, and, with- 
 out doing BO on thai night, he offered to conduct 
 Hugh to his bed. His guest at once refused to go 
 till they hail read the Word of God together and 
 joined in prayer. The farmer agreed to allow family 
 worship, if Hugh himself would conduct it, but, 
 according to his usual custom, he declined, and urged 
 the farmer himself to do it. The latter at last con- 
 sented, but such was his prayer that Hugh was quite 
 shocked and sickt^ncd before it was over, and sorely 
 repented of his refusal. He slept none on going to 
 
" THE MEN " OP ROSS-SHIRE. 
 
 99 
 
 bed, and, starting at the dawn of next morning, he 
 reached the house of Hector Holn in the evening. 
 Hemaining there all night, he was present at family 
 worship. After the reading of the chapter, Hector 
 asked his friend to pray ; and expecting the usual de- 
 lay, he set himself slowly to close the jBible and to 
 fold his spectacles. But to his surprise, scarcely wa« 
 his request ux-tered, when Hugh was on his knees 
 and the prayer begun. So soon aa it was over, his 
 host asked him to account for the change that had 
 come over him since he saw him last. Hugh then 
 told the story of the night before. Dr. Macdonald, 
 hearing the story, would ever afterwards say to him 
 when he did not rise at once on being called, "I find 
 we must send you again to Olascarnich." 
 
 Removing in his la^'t days to Resolia, he sat under 
 the ministry of Mr. Sage, Seated in his usual place 
 in Church, on his last Sabbath, which proved to be 
 his last /"ay on earth, he seemed unurually happy, his 
 countenance radiant with the light of the joy of his 
 heart, us his soul was feeding "on the bread of life." 
 After sermon, he accompanied the minister to the 
 manso. Having sat at the dinner-table, he asked a 
 b]''ssing in his own clear unctuous way ; and having 
 taken up his spoon, he quietly laid it down again, 
 leant back on his chair, and without a moan or a 
 struggle, fell " asleep in Jesus," in the ninety-ninth 
 year of his age. 
 
 Seldom has a lovelier Christian character been deve- 
 loped than that of Donald Mitchell, the celebrated 
 catechint of Kilmuir. Amiable in disposition, vigor- 
 ous in intellect, knowing in early youth " the gi'ace 
 of God in truth," and trained under a powerful 
 
 ill 
 
100 
 
 " THE MEN " OF ROSS-SHIRE. 
 
 gospel ministry, he entered on his public career, as a 
 witness for God, with an equipment for his work, to 
 which but few attain. As a speaker, he was pecu- 
 liarly solemn, clear, and pathetic. His words came 
 carefully weighed from his well balanced mind, while 
 coming fervent with love, from his broken heart. 
 At the fellowship meeting, he has often carried *' a 
 word in season " to a weary soul. As a catechist, 
 he was quite unrivalled. Hector Holm used to say 
 of him, that, " as a Friday speaker, he had his ups 
 and downs like other men, but that as a catechist, 
 he was always excellent." Patient, when he met 
 with ignorance or error, discriminating accurately 
 between the various dispositions with which he had 
 to deal, clear and pointed in examination, and skilful 
 in bringing the truth by the right course to the con- 
 science, he is generally regarded as the model cate- 
 chist of Ross-shire. No greater boon could be con- 
 ferred on a godly minister, than the aid of such a 
 man jvs the godly and judicious Donald Mitchell. 
 
 John Clark, Cromarty, may be claimed as one of 
 " the men " of Ross-shire, for it was there he usually 
 heard the Gospel, and there alone he had stated op- 
 portunities of taking part in the fellowship meetings. 
 He was a noble looking man. When his tall figure 
 became erect, as ho rose up to speak, and when with 
 both his hands ho threw back his white flowing 
 locks, exposing his expressive face, he looked a man 
 that might have graced a senate. As a speaker, he 
 was deliberate, clear, and persuasive. Never tedious, 
 and never trifling, he arrested and sustained the 
 solemn attention of his hearers. 
 
 There was a young man in Rosolis, who was sub- 
 
" THE MEN " OP ROSS-SHIRE. 
 
 101 
 
 
 ject to dreadful fits of epilepsy. HLs father bethought 
 him of bringing a few praying Christians together to 
 plead with God for the recovery of his son. Before 
 doing so, he consulted his minister, who, after ascer- 
 taining that he was influenced by no superstitious 
 feeling, and actuated by no improper motives, allowed 
 him to carry out his project. John Clark, and two 
 others v/ere invited to meet, and agreed to the dis- 
 tressed father's proposal. John was the first who 
 engaged in prayer when they met, and it pleased 
 the Lord to gmnt him such nearness to Himself, and 
 such encouragement to ask what there was no general 
 warrant to seek, that, ere his prayer was concluded, 
 he expressed his assurance that his petition would be 
 granted. And so it was ; for the young man was 
 never aftenvards attacked as he had so often been 
 before. * 
 
 He once caused no small commotion at Cromarty, 
 by declaring, very emphatically, at a fellowship meet- 
 ing, that not a builder or tailor in Cromarty could 
 be saved. All the masons and needlemen ."^ere vastly 
 indignant, not understand 'ng that John referred to 
 "the builders " who rejected the "chi»f stone of the 
 comer," and to all who were patching with rags a 
 righteousness for themselves. 
 
 There is one wlio, stretching his memory across 
 more than thirty years, to the days of his boyhood, 
 can recollect a part of one of John's addresses ax a 
 fellowship meeting. The homeliness of the illustra- 
 tion drew the attention of the boy, and falling into 
 the mistake of the Cromarty tradesman, ho waH ready 
 to cry at the prospect held out, aa he tliought, to 
 himself, and to be angry at the prophet of evil. " I 
 
102 
 
 " THE VLES " OP ROSS-SHIRE. 
 
 '^■ 
 
 % 
 
 #^ 
 
 don't pity you," he said, " while, yet a child in your 
 father's house, your mother places your food at stated 
 times before you, and you know not the pain of 
 anxiety, the pinching of want, nor the drudgery of 
 labour. But wait a little, and these pleasant days 
 will be gene, and you will have then to set out to 
 your daily toil, in the morning, with your mattock 
 on your shoulder, and a barley-cake in your pocket 
 as your * daily bread.' " The use of this illustration 
 the reader is left to determine for himself ; but it has 
 afforded no unprofitable matter for reflection to him 
 who first heard it as a boy. 
 
 Several members of his family having emigrated 
 to America, he, in his old age, resolved to follow 
 them, much to the surprise of all who knew him, 
 and to the sorrow of all who loved him. He reached 
 the land of his adoption, shone there as a light amid 
 the darkness for a few years, but pined till he died 
 amid the memories of the land of his birth. His 
 body now lies in the soil of America, and his spirit 
 is resting in its mansion in glory. 
 
 Roderick Mackenzie, better known by the name 
 of Rory Phadrig, was a man of sterling worth. 
 Wj'.th a horror of affectation, that made him afraid 
 to shew in his manner the warmth of his heart, a 
 stranger would have thought him to be an imper- 
 scnation of rudeness. " I'm but an rude crabbed 
 bodach ;" he used to say of himself, and, to those 
 •vrhose religion he suspected, he never tried to be 
 otherwise. His manner as a speaker -was quite 
 peculiar. Ho had a voice that could not bi. tamed 
 into melody, and he was not the man to make an 
 effort to subdue it. It was not loud, but deep-toned 
 
"# 
 
 " THE MEN " OP ROSS-SHIRE. 
 
 103 
 
 and harsh. He was never tedious when he spoke, 
 and what he caid was always to the point. He 
 would omit no opportunity of warning the hypocrite, 
 and of commending to the Christian, watchfulness 
 and prayer. The carnal mind was always referred 
 to, in a way that indicated the deadly war that was 
 ever waged between it and Rory ; and he always re- 
 served his harehest tones for expressing his feelings 
 in reference to its workings. In prayer, or in an 
 address, he soon came to the cross, and fresh and 
 unctuous were all his utterances regarding the love 
 of Jesus. 
 
 There \^ere three classes of professors in whom it 
 was very difficult for Rory to see any good ; those 
 who, elated with spiritual pride, became disaffected 
 to the stated mi listry of the Gospel ; the affected 
 sentimentalists, who made a parade of their feelings ; 
 and those who might be suspected of having all their 
 religion in their heads. 
 
 It was under the preaching of Mr Macadam, dur- 
 ing his ministry in Cromarty, that Rory wafl fii-st 
 brought to a knowledge of the truth. Not long 
 thereafter, ho removed to Strathconon, where he was 
 at a great distance from the ministers whom ho most 
 loved to hear. " Beware," he once said at " a Friday 
 meeting," " that you don't make idols of your minis- 
 ters, it was this that banished me to the bleak hills 
 of Strathconon." 
 
 He frequently went to Lochcarron, to visit and to 
 hear Mr Lachlim. By that eminent minister he was 
 greatly beloved, and many an hour of sweet and pro- 
 fitable converse have they spent together. The only 
 time Rory ever succeeded in infusing music into his 
 
104 
 
 " THE MEN " OF ROSS-SHIRE. 
 
 voice, was when repeating as he often did in an 
 ecstasy of spiritual enjoyment, Mr Lachlan's poem on 
 Redemption ; and his only attempt at poetry, was 
 composing an elegy in verse in his praise. To the 
 minister of Killearnan he was devotedly attached, 
 and his love was fully returned. Few of the cares 
 and sorrows of either were unshared by the other. 
 In his distant highland glen, Rory would know when 
 Mr Kennedv was in distress : and when he came to 
 Killearnan, all his own fears and sorrows were told 
 to him from the pulpit. " I had just two days of 
 heav^en on earth," he once said, " when Mr Lachlan 
 preached on the Babe in Bethlehem, and Mr Ken- 
 nedy on the Covenant of Grace. The one helped 
 me to find the child Jesus in the vile stable within 
 me ; and the other helped me to read the name of 
 Rory Phadrig, in the list of the chosen, for whom 
 Christ became surety in the Covenant." 
 
 Throughout his Christian couree, he was much 
 given to prayer, watchful in his conduct, industrious 
 in his calling, wide and warm in his sympathies. 
 During the last few years of his life, he was employed 
 as Catechist in the parish of TJrray, and so acquitted 
 himself in his work, as to disappoint all the fears, and 
 to exceed all the hopes, of those who appreciated and 
 loved him. It was his mellowed old age he gave to 
 this work ; and while retaining still the peculiarities 
 of his manner, he mingled his faithfulness with much 
 affectionate tender tiess. Death found him on his 
 knees, on the scene, and in the midst, of his last 
 labours of love. 
 
 "Were there no reason to believe, that one, more 
 qualified for the work, will undertake a minuter de- 
 
" THE MEN " IN ROSS-SHIRE. 
 
 105 
 
 scription of the men, and a more comprehensive 
 record of their sayings, the sample now given would 
 have been greatly enlarged. The time was, when, 
 in a single parish, twenty could have been found, 
 any one of whom would^ in our day, be ranked 
 amongst " the first three," whom the whole county 
 can produce. " The king's mowing " has long since 
 taken away the rich produce of the best days of 
 Ross-shire. "The latter growth" is rapidly dis- 
 appearing ; and desolate will be its spiritual aspect, 
 and dismal the prospect of its future, if " the men " 
 shall be utterly removed from the north. Verily, it 
 is high time to cry, " By whom shall Jacob arise 1 
 For he is small." 
 
 :■ ' i i 
 
 ad.' 
 
 i 
 
* 
 
 #. 
 
 •4w 
 
 CHAPTEK IV. 
 
 THE RELIGION OF ROSS-SHIRE. 
 
 Fruits of the Gospel in the days of the Fathers— A Ross-shire 
 Congregation — A Ross-shire Sabbath — A Ross-shire Com- 
 munion Season — Radical Peculiarity of the Religion of Ross- 
 shire — Objections considered — Gloominess — Exclusiveness — 
 Closetism — Influence of "the Men" — Paucity of Communi- 
 cants, i 
 
 n 
 
 The ministry, of which a description was attempted, 
 could not fail to leave a deep impression, of its own 
 peculiar character, on the views, feelings, and habits 
 of the people. The power of the pulpit was para- 
 mount in Ross-shire, and the people became, to a 
 great extent, plastic to its influence. The preachers 
 could mould the opinions and habits of their hearers, 
 without any counteracting influences, besides such as 
 invariably operate, to distort the impression which 
 they desired to produce. In such circumstances, 
 these men of God failed not to realise their own 
 ideal, to a great extent, in the efiects of their 
 ministry. But the attained result was of the Lord ; 
 and the fabric, reared by these " wise master 
 builders," bears the traces of their skill, no further 
 than it proves, that they were " labourers together 
 
THE RELiaiON OF ROSS-SHIBS. 
 
 107 
 
 with God." It was not a monument to themselves, 
 these devoted men were building, but a house for 
 God ; and in its " form and fashion," we have abun- 
 dant proof that, in raising it, they kept their eye on 
 the " pattern " given them by the Lord. 
 
 And what was the result of their ministry 1 In 
 order to ascertain this, we look back on one of the 
 congregations of Ross-shire in its best days. 
 
 A gifted man of God is the minister. A goodly 
 number of his hearers have been tnily converted unto 
 God, by whom he is loved, encouraged, and aided. 
 By the unconverted the authority of his office is re- 
 spected, although their feeling towards their pastor 
 may have in it as much of fear as of love. A cate- 
 chist, a godly, wise, and gifted man, is employed in 
 teaching the people from house to house. The 
 session is formed of elders, each one of whom is a 
 man of prayer, and of a well-established reputation 
 for godliness ; and all of whom command the respect 
 and submission of the people. Such was a Ross-shire 
 Congregation in the good days of the Fatliers. 
 
 On Sabbath they all meet in the house of God. 
 The Lord himself is in the midst of them ; the word 
 is rightly divided ; hungry souls are fed with " the 
 finest of the wheat ;" some of " the whole " are 
 wounded ; and some of the wounded ones are healed. 
 The public service over, the people return to their 
 homes ; and by the way, they form into companies 
 around some of the Lord's people, who are speaking 
 of the sermon, and bring again, before themselves 
 and others, the precious lessons which it furnished. 
 In the evening district meetings are held, each pre- 
 sided over by an elder, or by some man of reputt for 
 
 ,# 
 
 •1 
 
 i 
 
108 
 
 THE RELIGION OP ROSS-SHIRE. 
 
 \ ! 
 I I - 
 
 
 ■■ ,<^' 
 
 godliness. After prayer and praise, and the reading 
 of a portion of Scripture, a certain number of the 
 questions of the Shorter Catechism are asked and 
 answered, and notes of the sermons, heard during the 
 day, are repeated. Time is allowed for family duties, 
 and in many a household, the incense of prayer and 
 praise ascends from the family altar to God. Such 
 was an ordinary Ross-shire Sabbath in the good days 
 of the Fathers. 
 
 Fortnightly, on Monday, at noon, there is alter- 
 nately a prayer and a fellowship meeting, after which 
 a meeting of session iii generally held. On Tuesday 
 and Wednesday, during winter and spring, the 
 minister " holds diets of catechising." The residents 
 in a certain district are gathered into one place — the 
 church, a school, or a barn — and after praise, prayer, 
 and an exposition of one of the questions of the 
 Shorter Catechism in course, each person, from the 
 district for the day, is minutely and searchingly ex- 
 amined. All attend, and all are catechised. Each 
 individual conscience is thus reached by the truth, 
 the exact amount of knowledge possessed by each of 
 his hearers, as well as his state of feeling, ascertained 
 by the minister, a clear knowledge of the funda- 
 mental doctrines of the gospel communicated, and 
 valuable materials gathered for the work of the pul- 
 pit. During the remaining days of the week, the 
 minister's work is in secret, except when a call to 
 visit comes to him, in which he hears the voice of 
 his Master. On four evenings of the week, the 
 catechist is employed in his peculiar work. He goes 
 over the several districts of the parish, as the pastor's 
 pioneer, and his diets of catechising are conducted 
 
 -=«^ 1 . jflLlti 
 
THE RELIGION OF ROSS-SHIRE. 
 
 109 
 
 almost quite like those of the minister. All the 
 people attend to be examin3d by him, and often have 
 his instnictions been signally blessed. On a set 
 evening of each week, prayer-meetings are conducted 
 by the elders in the several districts ; and such men 
 found, in those days, congenial employment in fre- 
 quent converse with inquirers. Such was the ordin- 
 ary weekly work in one of the Ross-shire congregations 
 in tlie good days of the Fathers. 
 
 A communion season is approaching. It has been 
 timeously announced, that it may be known " far 
 and wide," and that the praying people may be bear- 
 ing it on their spirits before the throne of grace. 
 The minister preaches a suitable course of sermons 
 on several preceding Sabbaths. The Lord's people 
 are stirred up to seek a special manifestation of His 
 power and "^lory. A few, who propose to seek ad- 
 mission to the Lord's table, are deeply exercised 
 about the solemn step they contemplate, and faith- 
 fully and tenderly are they dealt with by both minis- 
 ter and elders. As the appointed time draws nigh, 
 special meetings for prayer are held, and, with holy 
 solicitude, all the preparatory ari'angements are made. 
 The Fast-day is come. Eminent ministers have 
 arrived to take part in the solemn services. Many 
 of the Lord's people are gathering. From as many 
 as forty parishes they come ; but lodgings they will 
 easily procure, as the parish people are striving for 
 the pleasure of entertaining them. Suitable dis- 
 courses are preached in Gaelic, on the open field, and 
 to a small English congregation, in the church, and 
 in tke evening, prayer meetings are held in the 
 varioiis districts of the parish. On Friday ^ tho day 
 
 \ 
 
9m 
 
 110 
 
 THE RELIGION OF BOSS-SHIRE. 
 
 of self-examination, the only public service is in the 
 open air. A large crowd in gathered. " In the 
 tent " there are several godly ministers. The service 
 is that of a fellowship meeting, such as has already 
 been described, but now with special reference to the 
 soli mn duties of a communion Sabbath. There are 
 two questions proposed successively to secure variety. 
 Strangers only are called to speak, and even of these 
 only " the flower," for there are so many. Not fewer 
 than thirty will have spoken before the service is 
 over. Blessed indeed to many souls have these 
 " Friday meetings " been. The services on Saturdayy 
 the day of preparation, are conducted as on Thurs- 
 day, but, owing to the gathering influx of strangers, 
 the congregation outside is greatly larger than on the 
 Fast-day. At the close of the service, tokens are 
 distributed. Prayer meetings are held throughout 
 the parish in the evening ; and while the ministers 
 are preparing for the solemn work of the Sabbath, 
 many are the petitions that ascend in their behalf, 
 to Him who hath " the treasure" to dispense, and of 
 whom is " the excellency of the power." In many 
 instances, these p- o^er meetings have been protracted 
 all night. So .ien >ible were the people of the pre- 
 sence of the Loid, that they could not forsake the 
 place where they enjoyed it ; and they found " the 
 joy of the Lord " a sweet substitute for sleep. On 
 Sabhathy the day of Communion, an immense crowd 
 is gathered before the tent. As many as eight 
 thousand are there. The " Beauty of the Lord," is 
 on the assembly of His people ; and before the ser- 
 vice is over, many a soul has had reason to say, " it 
 is good to be here." On Monday^ the day of thanka- 
 
 ■■^_- 
 
 i 
 
^r 
 
 THE RELIGION OF BOSS-SHIRE. 
 
 Ill 
 
 giving, a crowd alniost as large as that on Sabbath is 
 assembled ; and often has " the last " been found to 
 be the " great day of the feast." The closing service 
 of the communion season is now over, and then comes 
 the solemn parting ! How affecting do the Lord's 
 servants and people feel the scene before them to be, 
 as that multitude disperses, never to meet all together 
 again, till the vast congregation of " the last day " 
 has assembled ! What touching farewells are now 
 exchanged between the Christians who enjoyed with 
 each other, and together with the Lord, such sweet 
 communion since they met a few days before! 
 There are few tearless eyes, but the weeping is ex- 
 pressive of gratitude as surely as of sorrow. Such 
 was a communion season in the good days of the 
 Fathers in Ross-shire, 
 
 All this was true of Ross-shire in its best days ; 
 but only then, and even then only in those parishes 
 that enjoyed a spiritual ministry. At the same time, 
 the influence of the gospel spread over the com- 
 munity. It reached the parishes in which there was 
 no evangelical ministry, not only in individual cases 
 of conversion, but so as to win the esteem of the 
 whole body of the people. This was owing to the 
 commanding position, their godliness and their gifts 
 acquired for the pious ministers of those days, and to 
 the unblemished lives of the Christians, who were 
 edified by their preaching. Both ministers and 
 private Christians in those days, were such that " the 
 people magnified them." 
 
 There are not awanting, some who suspect the 
 healthfulness of the religious spirit, which was thus 
 so extensively excited. As there are certain peculi- 
 
»t^i"«i^"l«i™»IP« 
 
 MM 
 
 #• 
 
 112 
 
 THE RELIGION OF ROSS-SHIRE. 
 
 ' 
 
 arities which distinguish it from the type assumed by 
 the religious feeling in the lowlands, the Southrons 
 have been anxious to make out, that the difference is 
 owing to some defect or excess, that may be charged 
 against the north. The Ross-sliire preaching, they 
 say, was too experimental, and in the religion of those 
 who were trained under it, there was, in consequence, 
 a faulty excess of subjectiveness. To the radical pe- 
 culiarity, thus indicated, whether it be accounted a 
 defect or an advantage, may be traced all the develop- 
 ments of the religious spirit in the Highlands, that 
 form its distinctive character, as compared with the 
 Christianity of the Lowlands. > ■'"?" "^ ' v; ^^ftr* ^ 
 Those who think the comparison unfavourable to 
 the pious Highlander, regard him as prone to attach 
 imdue importance to mere " frames and feelings," hav- 
 ing never learned to distinguish between the founda- 
 tion and the building — the work of Christ for him, 
 and the work of the Spirit within him. He is sus- 
 pected of liaving a fictitious standard of experience, 
 which, like a Procrustes' bed, he uses as a means of 
 torture to himself, and as an unrelenting test of the 
 Christianity of others. A Highland Christian is, 
 therefore, in their esteem, a gloomy bigot, as com- 
 pared with the more cheerful and liberal Christiana 
 of the south. To the same source, they would trace 
 the want of that activity, whjcli distinguishes Chris- 
 tians elsewhere. The Christian Highlander, they say, 
 is employed in determining whether he is a true ser- 
 vant of Christ or not, when he should be proving that 
 ho is so, by being "up and doing." The same 
 amount of religious princij)ie, because of this subjective 
 tcudoniy, is thought to throw off a less amount of 
 
:: r: 
 
 THE BELIGION OF ROSS-SHIRE. 113 
 
 '■^ :':/-■■: ■ ■"'■'■- -<::."::.■■ -.^■;-:"-v:'^ -:■-;. ■'-■.-'.^^ifn- :■ 
 
 religious principle, because of this subjective tenden- 
 cy, is thought to throw off a less amount of work, 
 than otherwise it would. It is to the same source, 
 the peculiar order and position of " the men " is ulti- 
 mately traced. It is an excessive self-suspiciousness, 
 say they, of the south, that has originated the fellow- 
 ship meeting, and there " the men " acquired their 
 position and influence. The same peculiarity finds 
 another development in the jmucity of communicants 
 in the Highlands. It is aflirmed, that there they 
 frighten themselves by an exaggerated standard of 
 fitness, and are guided l)y their feelings rather than 
 by the wvitten word. Thus all the peculiarities of 
 the type of religion prevalent in tlie Highlands, aio 
 traced to one source ; and would be designated by 
 those who are unfriendly, the gloominess, the bigotry, 
 and the closetism of Highland Christians,, the undue 
 influence of " the men," and the extreme paucity of 
 communicants. 
 
 1. The gloominess of Highland Christians is un- 
 fairly taken for granted, and on the ground of tlie 
 assumption, some of their Lowland brethren have 
 been forward to denounce them. All that there is 
 of truth in this charge is, that they were free from 
 frivolity. They were grave, but not gloomy. They 
 had not the light cheerfulness of unbroken hearts. 
 They did not, like others, take it for granted that 
 they were " the Lord's," they could not, like otliers, 
 speak peace to themselves ; out, anlike many others, 
 they were dependent on the Loixl for their hope and 
 their joy. If some of thosn who denounce their 
 gloominess, were as willing as they were to dispense 
 with all joy, not the "Iruit of the Spirit," they 
 
 I 
 
114 
 
 THE RELIGION OF ROSS-SHIRE. 
 
 would regard with less complacency their own state 
 of feeling ; and if they had more true godliness, and 
 some common sense, they woi Id refrain from casting 
 aspersions on the memories of these men of God. Aa 
 they are, they cannot sjrmpathize with the broken- 
 hearted who join trembling with their mirth. 
 Always on the surface, alike of their hearts and their 
 Bibles, they may feel that they are masters of their 
 happiness ; but it ill becomes them to cast their shafts 
 at those to whose depths of distress, under a aeiv-c '■ . 
 corruption, He only can bring peace who " scar'^detii 
 the deep things of God." 
 
 It cannot be denied that the pious Highlander 
 was wont to look within. To do so cannot jtlwaja 
 be a mistake. If the Christian looks within for the 
 ■warrant of his faith, he of course greatly errs. If 
 he looks to his own state of feehng as his rule of duty, 
 instead of being always guided by the word of com- 
 mand from his Master, again he greatly errs. But 
 "Would it not be an error greater still, not to look 
 ■within at all 1 Is there no prayerful watchfulness 
 over his heart which it is his duty to practise 1 
 Ought he not to examine himself, habitually and 
 closely, in order to ascertain the state and progress 
 of his soul ] Must he not keep an eye on his spirit, 
 ■while engageti in his work, lest his service should be 
 found by tlie Lord to be a graceless formali«,y 1 
 While the Christian is on earth, there will be flesh 
 as well as spirit in him ; and in the flesh a love of 
 ease, causing a constant tendency in his soul to sub- 
 tide into a state of stagnancy. He who resists not 
 this tendency, may j)resent a smooth surface of hope- " 
 fulness, wluah, thoi^(h but a covering over deaduess 
 
 ' • 
 
{■:: 
 
 THE RELIGION OF ROSS-SHIRE. 
 
 115 
 
 and decay, may seem in favourable contrast to the 
 disquietude of those, who are more deeply stirred 
 by a sense o' coiTuption ; more aware of uheir own 
 deceitfulness, more moved by the solemn realities 
 of eternity, and therefore less forward to declare their 
 hope. But is the stillness of the former safer or more 
 healthful than the disquiet of the latter 1 Will there 
 not be more of genuine faith mingled with the groan- 
 ings of the one, than is expressed in the easy assur- 
 ance of the other 1 
 
 The Highland Christian cannot account for the 
 ease with which a Lowlander, of whose piety he is 
 persuaded, can adopt the language of assurance in his 
 addresses to God. It is such a habit that he thinks 
 the confidence with which his brother spoaks, cannot 
 always be in his heart ; and if it is not there, he can- 
 not, he thinks, be right in using words which express 
 it. And when he speaks with assurance, in the n^^me 
 of a mixed multitude, in public prayer, he cannot 
 conceive how he can be speaking honeitly. He 
 could not speak thus dishonestly himself ; and this is 
 just the diflerence between the two. And is there 
 not good reason for affirming, that there is as great a 
 tendency to an arid objectiveness on the one side, aa 
 to a morbid subjectiveness on the other, to an un- 
 licensed familiarity on the one side, as to a slavish 
 distrust on the other 1 
 
 The Christians, in the Higli hinds, had been taught 
 to distinguish bet* een doubting the safety of their 
 state, and doubting the truth of the Wonl. They 
 were accmtomed to hear, that one may Ik) trusting in 
 Christ, while contitniing to feel that he is a siiinor, 
 and without any evidence at all of his ytt being a 
 saint. It waa not the same kind of evidence they 
 
^ 
 
 ^mmmmmmmmm 
 
 116 
 
 THE RSLIOION OP ROSS-SHIRE. 
 
 required to satisfy them as to the trustworthiness 
 of Christ, as they needed to assure them of being 
 partakers of His grace. They had learned to be con- 
 tent with the Word as the evidence of the former, but 
 they sought in their " life and conversation " for the 
 evidence of the latter. They could quite understand 
 why Christ, who so often reproved His disciples for 
 theii' unbelief, should yet excite them to self-jealousy, 
 when He said, " one of you is a devil," and " one of 
 you shall betray me ;" and why Peter, to whom a 
 special me^sage of comfort had previously been sent, 
 should thrice be asked, "Lovest thou me ?" If some 
 others understood this as well, the case of the High- 
 land Christian would not be such a puzzle to them, 
 as it seems to be. 
 
 There are some, who, once obtaining somehow r 
 hope of safety, banish all fears as to their interest in 
 Christ from their hearts. A hope of being safe is all 
 they desire, and having this, they seek not for evi- 
 dence of being holy. There are some Christians, too, 
 who are strangers to the anxieties of others of their 
 brethren, just because they are less impressed by the 
 reality of eternal things, and less acquainted with the 
 deceitfulness, as well as less pained by the corruption, 
 of their hearts. These would have no sympathy with 
 the godly Highlander, who shrinks from expressing 
 an assurance of his interest in Christ. They would 
 attribute his Tears to mistaken views, and to an un- 
 healthy state of feeling. They cannot conceive how 
 he can be at all trusting in Christ, whil j at the same 
 time not a-nsured of his interest in Him. They seem 
 to think, that the individual's interest in Christ, eis 
 Burely as his right to appropriate Him, is matter of 
 
THE RELIGION OP ROSS-SHIRE. 
 
 117 
 
 ■' 
 
 direct revelation. They forget that the persuasion, 
 I may trust in Christ, is one thing, the consciousness, 
 that I am trusting in Him, another thing, and the 
 assurance that I have trusted in Him, yet another 
 stiU. One may surely have the first without the 
 second, and one may have the first and second with- 
 out the third. The believer may be trusting in Christ, 
 and yet not assured that he is. He may be con- 
 scious of an exercise of trust, and yet be suspecting 
 the genuineness of his faith. This suspicion is not 
 to be rudely put down, as if it were the working of 
 unbelief, or the fruit of temptation. It may prove 
 to be a healthful feeling ; profitable, as it moves one 
 to examine the fruits of his faith ; and hurtful only 
 w^hen it degenerates into a slavish fear, under the 
 power of which the soul departs from the Lord. 
 
 It would mdeed be false to affirm, that there were 
 no extreme developments of the Highland peculiarity, 
 in the case, both of individuals and communities, in 
 tha north, but it would be quite as false to affirm, 
 that these were the results of the kind of preaching, 
 for which the eminent ministers of Ross-shire were 
 distinguished. Never, since the Apostles' day, wjia 
 the foundation more wisely laid, than by these 
 preachers of the Gospel, and by none was its own 
 place more carefully reserved for the written word of 
 God. But at the same time, they were careful to 
 distinguish between " the wood, hay, and stubble," 
 and the " gold and precious stones " of the sujwr- 
 Btructure, and anxious to keep Cliristiana dependent 
 on grace, and alive to the importance of things \niseen 
 and eternal. A Christian, raouldiid after the fashion 
 of their teaching, would be a man who, after a 
 
 I 
 
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 mmBmm 
 
 laHMi 
 
 118 
 
 THE BELIOION OF ROSS-SHIRE. 
 
 thorough work of conviction, found himself hopeless 
 in " the horrible pit,'' and helpeless in " the miry 
 clay," and quite at the disposal of the Sovereign who 
 "will have mercy on whom He will;" who was 
 raised by the quickening Spirit, and established on 
 the " Rock of Ages," and wms thenceforth leamiug, 
 moiG and more, to seek his righteousness and his 
 strength in Christ ; who, with clear views of the 
 doctrines of the gospel, combines an earnest desire 
 to feel inore of its power ; who is kept sensible of 
 heart-plagues, and is not allowed to be ignorant of 
 Satan's devices ; who is anxious, rather to be spiritual, 
 than to be merely busy in his generation- work ; who, 
 as he cannot take his own Christianity for granted, is 
 not easily satisfied with the profession of others ; but 
 who, while severe in his judgment of himself, and 
 afraid to spoil an inquirer by premature comforts, is 
 all warmth and tenderness of heart, to all, in whom 
 there is seen " some crocd thing toward the Lord." 
 There were many Highlands among the Christians, 
 of whom aught of this, and there were some Christians 
 among the Highlanders, of whom all of this could not 
 be affirmed ; but such was the genuine Highland 
 Christian, as reared under the ministry of the Ross- 
 shire fathers. 
 
 2. There have been exhibitions, in the north, of a 
 spirit of proud exclusiveness, but the staple Chris- 
 tianity of Ross-shire was never smitten by it. It is 
 not a peculiarity of any one country, that its Chris- 
 tians find it more difficult to recognise true godliness, 
 in any other development, than in that of the type to 
 which they have been accustomed. This has often 
 made a pious Highlander cautious, in meeting the 
 
 ? 
 
THE HELIOION OP ROSS-SHIRE. 
 
 119 
 
 advances of a Christian fi*om the south, who was too 
 prone to regard his carefulness aa the sternness of 
 bigotry. This caution, and the habit oi keeping his 
 eye on the Bible standard of godliness, may have 
 given an air of exclusiveness to his bearing toward 
 others ; but he never was one-half so severe upon 
 them, as he was always accustomed to be upon himself 
 He had learned, in travelling over his native hills, 
 when about to leave the beaten tract, to plant his 
 foot firmly before him, and to refrain from advancing, 
 till he had examined the ground over which he was 
 to pass. He had too often fallen into quagmires, not 
 to be cautious, when treadin,^ where they abound. 
 But he had known, too, so much of his own deceit- 
 fulness, and so often found a fair profession to be a 
 false one, that he also learned to be cautious, in his 
 advances towards them who are called by the name o.^ 
 the Lord. <; ; "^'*' - ''...'n »,,_ ,;V-:v^.7'"^"': > ■_■ 
 
 3. Under the vague charge, to which the name of 
 Closetism has been given — just because it was never 
 distinctly designated before, and because it can only 
 be appropriately, when vaguely named — there are hid 
 insinuations of licentiousness and indolence. It is 
 suspected by some that the religion of the Highlands 
 is something which its possessors never bring out of 
 their closets, but to pit it against the religion of others. 
 There never was a fouler calumny thpn this. No- 
 where could Christians be found more intolerant of 
 antinomianism, in themselves or in others, than the 
 godly H ighlanders ; more careful to order their house- 
 holds in the fear of the Lord ; more exact in their 
 dealings in the market-{)lace, and more cii'cumspect in 
 their whole life and conversation. 
 
 
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 120 
 
 THE RELIGION OF ROSS-SHIRE. 
 
 It is true, they may not have had the activity of 
 those who delight in the bustle of mere surface work 
 in public, but they were not idle in the house of the 
 Lord. Neither was their place there a mere subor- 
 dinate one, nor their work such as bore with no effect 
 on the advancement of the cause of the Redeemer. 
 Their work was less seen than Ihat of others, whose 
 labours were chiefly on the outside of the tabernacle. 
 Their work was more hidden, for they wrestled in 
 ] "the holiest." There they were taking no rest to 
 / themselves, and they were giving no rest to the Lord ; 
 J and no contribution of service to the work of the 
 / Lord could be more precious than theirs, who were 
 V^noving by prayer the very apn of o mnipo tence. 
 
 The chief care of the Ross-shire fathers was to raise 
 a godly seed. Personal Christianity was the great 
 object on which their attention and their labour were 
 bestowed. They were not anxious, merely to spread 
 a layer of religion thin over the face of society, but to 
 obtain, from the Lord's hand, living specimens of the 
 power of His grace. They were anxious, too, to em- 
 ploy in the work of the Lord only such as were pre- 
 pared by Himself. There did not attend the progress 
 of their work the outward bustle, arising from the 
 wanton multiplication of agents and of means, that, 
 in other places may have got up a superficial religious 
 excitement. Now-a-days the chief care seems to be 
 expended on the construction of a social Christianity. 
 Personal godliness is not so carefully required as in 
 the days of the fathers. If there be no overt ground 
 for suspecting the religion of an individual, a place 
 and work will be given him in the house of the Lord. 
 . "^ The stones that seem at all in shape, are taken as they 
 
 .:•■ ■■■■> 
 
 • 
 
THE RELIGION OP ROSS-SHIRE. 
 
 121 
 
 are, and placed in the building. No care being taken 
 in selecting and in hewing, much building work is 
 done. Ordinary decency being all that is required to 
 secure them employment, many agents are at work 
 about the house of the Lord. * But, in reality, how 
 little may after all be achieved. 
 
 Of the two kinds of labour, that of the Ross-shire 
 fathers was the safer and the more efficient. The living 
 stones did find their place, and the spiritual priesthood 
 their work, in the temple of the Lord, but not so many 
 more besides, as to hide and overwhelm them ; and 
 the progress of the building, if not noisy and rapid, 
 was solid and sure. But out of the mass of building 
 carelessly raised after a different system, how few 
 living stones, and out of a multitude of workmen 
 hastily collected, how few spiritual priests, may in the 
 day of trial be found 1 A seemingly thriving, and a 
 really active church, may be the embodiment of a 
 great practical lie. : ' > ■'': 
 
 It was only in defence of the blessed memory of the 
 righteous, that a comparison has been drawn between 
 the type of religion peculiar to the north, and that 
 which prevails in the south. Instead of doing so to 
 provoke animosity and debate, it were better, while 
 accepting the genuine in all its developments, to ad- 
 mire the wisdom of the Lord, as displayed in the 
 variety. If the pec\iliaiity of the Celtic temperament, 
 and of the Celtic piety, unfitted the godjy Highlander 
 for the activities of a more public position, the Lord, 
 whom he served, did not call him to go forth ; and if, 
 in the more uniform hopefulness of the Chri^stian Low- 
 lander, there is aptness for employment so uncongenial 
 to the other, the Lord has assigned him his position 
 
 ,' 
 
 ■^- 
 
 I 
 
WF 
 
 122 
 
 THE RELIGION OF ROSS-SHIRE. 
 
 in a more bustling sphere. But if his father keeps 
 David at home, while Eliab is in arms on the battle- 
 field, let not the praying shepherd boy forget his 
 brother in the fight, nor let the warrior in his armour 
 despise the stripling with his sling, for when the 
 victory has been won, his hand will be found to have 
 done more than his own to achieve it. 
 
 4. The fellowship meeting was a very early product 
 of the vital Christianity of the Highlands. It arose 
 spontaneously out of the lively feeling pervading the 
 first groups of believers there. We cannot conceive 
 of a party of exercised Christians met together, 
 without some converse regarding the fruits and evi- 
 dences of true godliness. Such converse would 
 naturally arise if there was any unsuspecting inter- 
 change of thoughts in their intercourse. One of them 
 would be sure to have his doubts and difiiculties ; these 
 he would state to his brethren ; add they, from the 
 word of God and their own experience, would endea- 
 vour to afibrd him suitable counsel and comfort. 
 Finding such converse to be edifying, and remember- 
 ing that Christians are exhorted to comfort and to 
 edify one another, what would be more likely th.«n 
 that they should set apart seasons for that duty, that 
 He who gave the counsel, might have to record the 
 fact, " even as also ye do." In order to conduct the 
 exercise in a orderly way, what would be more likely 
 than that they should choose him, whom they accoun- 
 ted the most advanced among them to preside over 
 them, and that he should ask each one who could do 
 so, to speak to the question in course 1 Thus the 
 Tellowship meetings would be at last set up. Why 
 should not the minister then adopt it, and by taking 
 
 ;.-t! 
 
 ■rtif j'^.fe 
 
/' 
 
 THE BELIOION OF HOSS-SHIRE. 
 
 123 
 
 
 the direction into hia own hands, do all he could to 
 provide for its being conducted "decently and in 
 order 1" And this is just the story of the rise and 
 establishment of the Highland Fellowship Meeting. 
 It was the product, not of the peculiar natural tem- 
 perament of Highlanders, but of the lively spiritual 
 feeling of Christians, fostered by the warm brotherly 
 love that prevailed in the days of its origin. It is 
 an interesting fact, that on one of tho slopes oi the 
 Pyrenees, where the Lord has reserved a small rem- 
 nant of living Christians to Himself, conventicles, 
 exactly corresponding to the fellowship meetings of 
 the Highlands of Scotland, are held ; the only differ- 
 ences being, that there they " speak to the question" 
 in French and not in Gaelic, and that they have no 
 minister to patronise and direct them. So naturally, 
 indeed, do such meetings arise out of a healthful state 
 of religious feeling, that the communities, in which 
 they are awanting, are those from whom an apology 
 is required. 
 
 6. The most evident peculiarity yet remains to be 
 considered, the paucity of communicants in Highland 
 congregations. Lowlanders trace this to an un- 
 healthy state of feeling on the part of the people, 
 and to unwise teaching on the part of the ministers. 
 Both people and ministers are thus put on their 
 defence. 
 
 It would seem, at first sight, more likely that the 
 different state of matters in the south should be 
 right. The great men, and the learned are there, 
 and those who differ from them may be supposed to 
 be mistaken. But what if it should be otherwise f 
 There wei-e great men and good in the north who 
 
 ! 
 
m 
 
 124 
 
 THE RELIGION OF ROSS-SHIRE. 
 
 thought so ; and the fact that the godly ministers 
 in the Highlands possessed such influence in mould- 
 ing the views and habits of the people, and such 
 facility in carrying on the Lord's work according to 
 their own ideal, is a reason why a defence of them 
 is the more necessary, and is, at the same time, a 
 strong stimulus and encouragement to attempt it. 
 It would, indeed, be more than unwise, out of blind 
 reverence for the fathers, to take for granted that all 
 must be right which we have received from their 
 hand. It would be unsafe and insane, to close one's 
 eyes before the halo of their piety, and to acceM 
 without enquiry all that they have given us ; ' 
 it would be casting contempt on men, who h 
 claims to our profoundest respect, to take for granted 
 that they were wrong because their practice was ex- 
 ceptional ; and his would be a craven heart, who 
 would shrink from their defence, if he judged them 
 to be right. 
 
 They of the south maintain, that both the sacra- 
 ments, being seals of the same covenant, and imposing 
 the self-same obligations, ought to be administered 
 on the same footing, the same kind and measure of 
 profession and of qualification being required, on the 
 part of applicants for either ; that no adult should 
 be admitted to the one, without being admitted also 
 to the other ; and that the Christian profession re- 
 quired of a parent, in order to the baptism of his 
 child, cannot be complete, without his being a com- 
 municant. The result of these views being cari'ied 
 into practice in the Lowlands, or rather the result of 
 their mode of reducing them to practice, is, that with 
 rare exceptions, all the members of a congregation, 
 
THE RELIGION OF ROSS-SHIRE. 
 
 125 
 
 above a certain age, go to the table of the Lord, ar d 
 that any parent, who is a communicant, receives, is 
 a matter of course, baptism for his child. ' ' " 
 
 The Ross-shire fathers held, that though in 
 general, the two sacraments were equally seals of tho 
 covenant of grace, they do in some respects diifer, 
 even as sealing ordinances ; that baptism, being the ^ 
 door of admission into the visible Church, a larger ' 
 exercise of charity is required in dealing with appli- 
 cants for that sacrament, than is called for in ad- 
 ministering the other, which implies a confirmation 
 of those who were member before ; that the lessons 
 of baptism are more eleiucntary than those of the 
 sacrament of the Supper ; that the connection of the 
 child, and of both the parents, with an ordinary case 
 of infant baptism, calls for peculiar tenderness on the 
 part of church rulers ; and that the rule of Scripture 
 requires baptism to be given, on an uncontradicted 
 profession of faith, while an accredited profession is 
 required to justify the church, in granting admission ^ 
 to the table of the Lord. The result of carrying ^ 
 these views into practice is well known ; the number^^ 
 of members in full communion is comparatively ^Jk^JV 
 small, and parents who have never communicated, ST v 
 
 I 
 
 tt 
 
 receive baptism for their children. 
 
 The Ross-shire fathers of course held, that the 
 two sacraments were in general, seals of the covenant 
 of gi'ace, and that, £is such, they were equally valid. 
 But they also held, with Mastricht, that they did 
 not specially seal the same measure of privilege. 
 They regarded baptism as the saci'ament of admission, 
 specially sealing the believer's introduction into the 
 covenant of grace, and his interest in the initial 
 
 
 N 
 
126 
 
 TH£ RELIGION OF BOSS-SHISE. 
 
 ? 
 
 blessings of regeneration and justification, and for- 
 mally admitting him into the general membership 
 of the viHible Church. They regarded the Lord's 
 Supper '5 the sacrament of nurture, specially sealing 
 the believer's right to all that is required to advance 
 him to "the stature of a nerfect man in Christ 
 Jesus ; " and formally admitting him, when first 
 administered, into full communion with the church, 
 as one who, by the seeming fruits of his &ith, had 
 established his claims to the Church's; confidence. 
 They also held, that, in the professions lequired from 
 applicants, there must be a corresponding difierence ; 
 the profession, in either case, being suitable to what 
 is specially sealed by the Sacrament, fcr which they 
 apply — an applicant for baptism, malcing a suitable 
 profession, when declaring his faith in Christ, and 
 specially his willingness to receive Him aa his 
 Saviour, and his resolution to serve Him as hia 
 Lord ; but that a person, desii'ing to communicate, 
 must profess not merely tfco first exercise of faith in 
 Christ, but a persuasion or a hope, derived from an 
 examination of his experience and his life, that his 
 faitli is that which " worketh by love," " purifieth 
 the heart," and "overcometh the world." They, 
 moi'eover, held that there must be a corresponding 
 diffei'ence in the actions of the Church in administer- 
 ing the Sacraments — that the Church ought to sus- 
 tain, in the case of a person apj lying for baptism 
 either for himself or for his child, a profession not 
 made incredible by ignorance and immorality ; but 
 that none ought to bo admitted to the Lord's table 
 in whom, after examinati'^'" :3nderly and wisely con- 
 ductedi no seeming evidence of grace can at all b« 
 
THE RELIGION OF ROSS-SHIRE. 
 
 127 
 
 discerned 
 
 or, aa Dr. 
 
 M'Donald was accustomed to 
 
 
 Btate it, applicants for baptism should be admitted on 
 an uncontradicted^ and applicants for the other sacra- 
 ment on an accredited, profession of faith. 
 
 There are here three distinct statements ; the first 
 defining the distinctive characters of the two sacra- 
 ments, the second describing the profession required 
 on the part of applicants for either, and the third, 
 laying down the rule of the Church's duty in dealing 
 with these applicants. If the position assumed in 
 the first of these statements is tenable, the defence of 
 the others is secured. But, let it once be determined 
 that there is no such difference between the two sac- 
 raments, as has been indicated, and it will be impos- 
 sible to hold the position that they ought not to be 
 administered by the Church on the very same footing, 
 or that she should require a difierent professi(^n and 
 a higher qualification from applicants in the case of 
 the one than she insists on in the case of the other. 
 But if the distinctive characters of the two sacraments 
 be such, as the Ross-shire fathers were accustomed 
 to define them, the practical distinction observed in 
 their mode of administering them can be triumphantly 
 defended. And yet it wo\ild seem an eaay thing to 
 defend the first point of attack, though one cannot 
 but suspect that something is overlooked in examin- 
 ing the position, and that this accounts for the con- 
 fidence with which it is scanned, when he looks to 
 the hosts across the Spey who are marshalled against 
 him. 
 
 It is not denied that baptism is a seal of the cove- 
 nant of grace, and that an interest in all the bless- 
 in|p of that ooveuaut is secured to the believer, at 
 
 i . 
 
 il 
 
.*■■, ' 
 
 128 
 
 THE RELIGION OF ROSS-SHIBE. 
 
 the moment of his union to Christ. Nor is it denied, 
 that the blessings which are said to be sptcially 
 sealed to the believer by baptism, are an earnest of 
 all spiritual blessings in heavenly places. At the 
 same time, it is held, that the blessings of regenera- 
 tion and justification alone, are directly presented in 
 baptism to the understanding and faith of the be- 
 liever ; and that it was the divine intention, as de- 
 clared in the divine word, specially to seal by this 
 sacrament an interest in these blessings alone. (Rom. 
 vi. 1-4 j Col. ii. 12 ; Acts ii. 38.) It is difficult to 
 see how, without this limitation of its special effect 
 as a seal, baptism, once for all, is sufficient. TJie 
 fact that it is administered only once to the same indi- 
 vidual, is instructive and necessary, according to the 
 view of it now given. It teaches the consoling 
 truth, that once in Christ, tlie believer is for ever in 
 Him, that once regenerated he is for over spiritually 
 alive, and that once justified he is for ever free from 
 condemnation. 
 
 If these blessings alone are specially scaled by 
 baptism, how and when is an interest in them ob- 
 tained 1 At the moment of the soul's union to Christ, 
 and, in the case of an adult, when he firet exercises 
 faith in Jesus. If so, this act of faith is what an ap- 
 plicant for baptism must profess. He may at on»je, 
 yea, he ought immediately to profess it ; and on that 
 profession he may be *' bai)tized straightway." Such 
 was the profession on which the Pentecost converts, 
 the Eunuch, the riiilii)pian jailor, and Lydia were 
 baptised. It was the invariable rule to sustain such 
 a profession in the days of the apostles. They did 
 so not us men inspired to judge iufuUibly the state of 
 
 ■•H 
 
THE RELIGION OP ROSS-SHIRE. 
 
 129 
 
 those who applied to them. Instead of this, they re- 
 frained from forming any positive judgment regard- 
 ing the state of professing believers. They acted as 
 wise men, but as mere men and charitable, not as in- 
 paired men and infallible ; and casting the responsi- 
 oility on those who made it, they administered 
 baptism on an uncontradicted profession of faith. 
 Proof that they were not infallible, is furnished by 
 every recorded case of j>postacy, and proof that they 
 did not venture to pass judgment on the state of ap- 
 plicants, is clearly furnished in Philip's method of 
 dealing with the Eunuch. What but a merely un- 
 contradicted profession of faith could there have been 
 in the case of one, whose conversion could only have 
 occurred a few minutes before ? He " was baptised, 
 he and all his straightway." There was no oppor- 
 tunity of knowing liim by his fruits. He professed 
 to have just believed in Christ, and there being 
 nothing known to forbid the hope that his profession 
 was genuine, he was at mce baptized. Now, if it 
 was the same profession that was required by the 
 apostles for the baptism of oneself, as for the baptism 
 of his child, and if it was, and could only be such, 
 as the '* charity " that " thiuketh no evil " alone 
 could accept, was not this exactly the practice of 
 the Ross-shire fathers in administering that ordi- 
 nance 1 
 
 It maybe objected, however, that the profession 
 of a parent, educated under the gospel, ought to em- 
 brace more than that of a recent convert. We ought, 
 indeed, to expect more knowledge in the former case ; 
 but if that is competent, and if his conduct furnishes 
 no positive evidence against him, why should not his 
 
^1^ 
 
 wm 
 
 m 
 
 130 
 
 THE RELIGION OP ROSS-SHIRE. 
 
 profession of faith be accepted 1 And there is, in his 
 case, a reason why it should, not found in the case 
 of one claiming baptism for himself He is already 
 a member of the Church, and as " the infants of such 
 as are members of the visible Church are to be bap- 
 tised," on no ground can the baptism of his child be 
 refused, that will not justify the Church in excom- 
 municating or susi'Snding him. The fact of his not 
 being a communicant is held, in the south ^ to be a 
 sufficient reason for refusing the baptism of his child. 
 If it be so, it must be a good reason for at least sus- 
 pending him from the enjoyment of all the privileges 
 of his status, as a member of the Church. To refuse 
 baptism, is but to take that suspension for granted, 
 when there is ro such act of the Church to which to 
 refer. And the strange thing is, that the very man 
 who would be punished to the extent of disallowing 
 his membership altogether, would be, at the very 
 same time, rewarded with both the Saci-aments, if he 
 would take them ! The one, which demands the 
 larger exercise of charity in its administration, is re- 
 fused, but both would be given him at once ! He, 
 who is on the eve of being excluded from the pale of 
 the Church, will be welcomed into the full communion 
 of the Church, if he will only offer himself to her em- 
 brace ! 
 
 It may be said, that, by not accepting of both the 
 Sacraments, he proves himself unfit for either of them. 
 This might be allowed, if it might be taken for 
 granted, that in absenting himself from the Lord's 
 table, he indicated a wilful contempt of Christ's 
 autho:"itv, and a wanton neglect of Hie ordinance. 
 
 But surely this is not always the case ; and we are 
 
s^sMi^^Ha 
 
 THE BELIGION OF ROBS-SHIRE. 
 
 131 
 
 . -t 
 
 firmly persuaded, that such a feeling as often finds 
 expression in the conflict of those who go to the 
 table of the Lord, as lu that of many in the north 
 who refrain from communicating ; the difference 
 between some of either class being simply this — the 
 former, being dead to all the solemn considerations 
 suggested by the ordinance of the Supper, are bold 
 to go forward, while the latter, having some sensi- 
 tiveness of conscience, shrink from approaching the 
 table of the Lord, fearing that it is not legitimate 
 nor safe for them to do so. 
 
 It is altogether unfair, to charge on the Ross-shire 
 fathers any remissness, in requiring from parents the 
 due discharge of their duties towards their children. 
 They were careful to seek security to the Church for 
 **the godly upbringing of tlie young ;" but this they 
 obtained, more effectually, than by making each 
 parent a communicant, by taking pains, in private 
 and public catechising, to teach them the doctrines 
 of grace, and the requirements of the law of the Lord. 
 The plain truth is, that they were invariably more 
 strict in administering baptism, than their brethren 
 in the south, who differed from them mainly in this, 
 — that while opening the door of admission more 
 widely than they, these laid the other Sacrament 
 in front of it, not as a barrier against the rusli of tig 
 multitude, but as a broad stepping-stone to facilitate 
 their access. 
 
 The views of the Sacrament of tlie Supper, and 
 the practice in administering it, whioh are peculiar 
 to the north, remain to be considered. The difference 
 between it and the other Sacrament, insisted on by 
 the minisi/ers in the Highlands, has been already 
 
 ■» 
 
 :f- 
 
 
132 
 
 THE RELIGION OP ROSS-SHIRE. 
 
 ^v 
 
 ,i' 
 
 pointed out. This distinction was clearly seen, and 
 firmly acted on, by the Ross-shire fathers. They 
 were fully persuaded in their own minds as to this 
 matter. They had no difficulty in regarding the 
 Sacrament of the Supper, as intended by the Lord, 
 specially to seal something other and higher than 
 that which is specially sealed by baptism. They 
 called it with Mastricht, " sacramentum nutritionis" 
 as being intended to be an occasional feast to be- 
 lievers, during all their wilderness journey. They 
 beheld, in the symbols of Christ's body and blood, 
 the clearest and the closest manifestation of the 
 glory of the Lord, and in the exerciP3 of those who 
 pa'iiake of them, the nearest approach to the Lord, 
 thai, can be on the earth. They regarded the guests, 
 at that table, as having the most conspicuous con- 
 nection with the cause and glory of Christ. They 
 saw the Church pointing the eye of the world to a 
 Communion table, to inform them whom she accre- 
 dited as the true people of God. On all these 
 accounts, they felt that they were specially called to 
 guard the passage to the table of the Lord, and to 
 subject to the closest scrutiny all who would approach 
 it. And surely they were right. And if they were, 
 how can an indiscriminate, a wholesale admission 
 to this Sacrament be justified, when the mass is just 
 as heterogeneous as that with which they had to 
 deal? 
 
 As to the propriety of carefulness in granting ad- 
 mission to the table of the Lord, as a matter of 
 opinion, there will be no dispute, whatever may be 
 the difference in practice. Those who condemn the 
 mode of administering the Sacraments followed in 
 
 ■ 
 
m^ 
 
 THE RELIGION OF ROSS-SHIRE. 
 
 133 
 
 the north, must insist that there is no more urgent 
 call to fence the table of the Lord, than there is to 
 guard the Sacrament of Baptism. If they can 
 establish this, from the nature of the two Sacraments, 
 and from the Word of God, they may prove the 
 Rosa-shire practice to be wrong ; but just as surely 
 as they do so, they will fail in showing that their 
 own is right. If there is an equally urgent call to 
 be careful in the case of both, they may prove it is 
 not right to make a distinction in administering 
 them ; but they cannot surely make out, what would 
 be the only justification of theii own practice, that 
 it is right not to be careful as to either. But the 
 former they will fiiil, and the latter they wont try, 
 to prove. 
 
 It is surely unnecessary to furnish any proof of 
 the statement, that both the Saci-aments do not 
 specially seal the same blessings, though both are, in 
 general, equally seals of the covenant of grace. If 
 it were not so, it would be impossible to show why 
 there should be two ; a second would be quite 
 superfluous, if it specially sealed no more than the 
 first ; but surely there is no redundancy, where only 
 two are acknowledged and administered. If baptism 
 seals the believer's introduction into the covenant, 
 and his interest in the blessings bestowed on him 
 immediately on his union to Christ, and if tliese 
 blessings art? an earnest of all " spiritual blessings in 
 heavenly places," the other Sacrament directly seals 
 his right to all, of which he had a sealed earnest 
 given to him before. The Lord's Supper, as a seal, 
 was intended to assure believers of their mterest in, 
 all that was required to prepare them for glory, and, 
 
 A 
 
 •^ iMjam 
 
134 
 
 THE RELIGION OF ROSS-SHlRB. 
 
 
 *' 
 
 I i 
 
 as a feast, was appointed to be a means of applying 
 that provision to their souls. 
 
 It is difficult to conceive how any serious objection 
 could be offered to this representation of its use. 
 " This cup," saith Christ, " is the New Testament in 
 my blood," the fulness of the blessings of that cove- 
 nant, as procured by His blood, being by these words, 
 in explanation of the symbol, specially represented 
 and sealed to believers. In only one of the four 
 descriptions given in Scripture of the mode of cele- 
 brating the Lord's Supper, is there any mention of 
 the blessing of parrjon, and there it is not spoken of, 
 as if specially sealed at the time. It is only referred 
 to, in such a way as to intimate, that it was un- 
 necessary specially to seal it, this having formerly 
 been done. " This is my blood of the New Testa- 
 ment, which is shed for many for the remission of 
 sins." In these words, Chriat mentions it in a 
 doctrinal statement to explain how the provision of 
 the covenant waa secured to His people by His 
 blood, and what was the divinely appointed order in 
 which that provision was applied. Their justifica- 
 tion is taken for granted, and the abstract blessing 
 is pointed to, only in its place in the arrangements 
 of the covenant, as an earnest of all other spiritual 
 blessings ; and the benefits, of which it is an earnest, 
 are alone directly represented and specially sealed. 
 
 If it seals a more advanced privilege, it teaches a 
 higher lesson than baptism. It presents to us the 
 mystery of Christ's person, and the mystery of 
 Christ's death, in relation to the everlasting covenant 
 of grace. Deeply did the disciples feel tha^ these 
 lessons were not easily learned. In presence of no 
 
 ,. 
 
■^ 
 
 «iWHPiPlPVP«iiiP 
 
 * 
 
 THE RELIGION OF ROSS-SHIRE. 
 
 135 
 
 I ^ 
 
 other, does a living soul feel more dependent on 
 divine teaching, than when before the lesson of the 
 words, " this is my body which is broken for you." 
 And who, being one of the " disciples indeed," will 
 deny, that he is only slowly creeping on his way to 
 the high attainment of tracing his salvation, entirely 
 and closely, to the death of Christ, as its only chan- 
 nel, and to the covenant love of Jehovah, as its 
 primary source ? In baptism, on the other hand, 
 Christ is represented in the general aspect of His 
 office, as a Saviour from sin, and its lessons are 
 those which are given to the class of beginners — our 
 need of cleansing from sin ; Christ as the only 
 " fountain opened for sin and uncleanness ; " the 
 necessity of an interest in Him ; the infallible 
 certainty of salvation to all who are found in Him ; 
 and the obligation resting on all who believe in Hia 
 name to " walk in newness of life." 
 
 And surely those who are admitted to the table 
 of the Lord, are placed in closer and more manifest 
 connection with the cause and the glory of the Lord, 
 than they ever were before. Even if the Lord's 
 Supper were nothing more than a second seal, it 
 would have this effect. All the more, if it specially 
 seals an advance of privilege. He who comes to the 
 table of the Lord, must come nearer than before to 
 the Lord of the table. At the great love-feast there 
 spread, the guests are seated as at the family table, 
 in the house of the King, and those who admit them, 
 point the eye of the world to them, as the accredited 
 childr<^n of Zion. Of the merely baptized they may 
 say, " these have come into the house of the Lord, 
 but we merely admitted them, in the charitable hope 
 
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 ^ 
 
 *■ 
 
 n xmrj-x. ' jK^y ' .iai» iii «. .i m i T . " . v 
 
mm 
 
 wm 
 
 136 
 
 THE BELIOION OF ROSS-SHIRE; 
 
 that they might prove, "what they professed to be." 
 But of these others they must say, " we have tried 
 them, and we accredit them as approved followers 
 of Christ." 
 
 Is there not then good gi'ound for maintaining, 
 that the way to the table of the Lord ought to be 
 more strictly guarded than the outer door of His 
 house 1 Must not the applicant for admission to it 
 ^it^j profess that he has been regenerated and justified 
 already ] Can he sit down at a feast without pro- 
 fessing that he lives, has appetite for tht food placed 
 before him, and has an invitation from Him by 
 whom it was provided 1 Is he not expressly com- 
 manded to examine himself as to these things, " and 
 so," and only so, *' to eat of that bread, and drink of 
 that cup 1" And can the church deal faithfully with 
 him, without instituting a closer scrunity than before, 
 into his knowledge, experience and conduct, when 
 he is now extending hL profession, and taking a 
 nearer position to the Lord among His followers on 
 eurth 1 Can the Church be faithful to her Head 
 without doing so 1 And was not this all that was 
 done by the Ross-shire fathers, though a supercili- 
 ous sneer is very often the only notice taken of their 
 conduct 1 
 
 Whatever opinion may be formed of the grounds 
 on which the practice of the Ross-shire fathers was 
 defended, it certainly has the advantage of being the 
 only mode, according to which the rulers of the church 
 can suitably express their varied feelings, towards ap- 
 plicants for sealing ordinances. There will always 
 be about the church, those who may be excluded, 
 and in the church, tho^e who may be extrude^, with- 
 
 N 
 
 < 
 
 ^-J^.-Mt. 
 
&' 
 
 THE RELiaiON OF BOSS-SHIBB. 
 
 137 
 
 r- 
 
 N 
 
 il 
 
 -'out any breach of charity. Against these let the 
 door of admission be shut. Within the church, also, 
 there have always been those who muKe a profession 
 of religion, which cannot be summarily rejected, but 
 which can win no unsuspecting confidence. Let 
 such be allowed to remain within her pale, but into, 
 full communion let them not be admitted. Let 
 only such as have accredited their profession be re- 
 ceived within the inner circle, by the sealing ordi- 
 nance of the Supper. This is the only course of 
 procedure on the part of church rulers, that can be 
 suitable in relation to the three classes with whom 
 they have invariably to deal ; and this was the 
 practice of the Ross-shire fathers. Acting on their, 
 views of the distinctive characters of the two sacra- 
 ments, they enjoyed a liberty in dispensing ordi- 
 nances which they cannot have, who, acting accord- 
 ing to different views, are under the painful constraint 
 of being compelled, either to exclude an applicant 
 from membership altogether, or to admit him within 
 the innermost v^lrcle, around the table of the Lord, j . 
 Am I not justified in cherishing the hope of their 
 being Christians, regarding some professors, whom I 
 cannot confidently embrace as brethren in the Lord ] 
 Ought I to admit them into intimate fellowship, till 
 I become more satisfied than I am as to their ac- 
 quaintance with the power of godliness 1 Surely I 
 am not required summarily to reject all whom I can- 
 not confidently receive as Christians, nor to be on 
 terms of intimate fellowship with all whom, in the 
 judgment of charity, I regard as such. And why 
 should not the same liberty be allowed to the church 1 
 
 • Is she bound to exclude from her pale, all whom. 
 
 ♦. 
 
 --<-*' 
 
t^w' 
 
 ^ 
 
 138 
 
 THB KELIQION OF ROSS-SHIRE. 
 
 into full communion, she cannot admit ? Yet such 
 would be her bondage, if the two sacraments were to 
 be administered on the same footing. But such 
 fetters were never placed by Christ's hand on the 
 conscience of the church. They who are in this state 
 It of bondage have themselves forged their chains. 
 
 • The practice, peculiar to the north, has another 
 marked advantage ; it is admirable/ adapted to meet 
 the various feelings of applicants for sealing ordi- 
 nances. When a Christian applies for admission to 
 the table of the Lord, who is enabled to express a 
 hope of an interest in Christ, and in whom some 
 seeming marks of grace are discerned, at once,*^but 
 not because any judgment of his state has been formed, 
 his request is complied with. But among true Chris- 
 tians there have always been differences as to the 
 measure of their hope. All of them incline to seek 
 communion with the church, but some of them can 
 only come, with a trembling heart, to ask for the 
 • privilege. One of the comes to a pious Highland 
 minister in olden times, to speak to him about com- 
 municating. Does the minister insist on his express- 
 ing an assurance of his conversion, before he grants 
 him admission to the table of the Lord 1 Does he 
 require him to satisfy him, by a record of his experi- 
 ence, that the change through which he passed was 
 really spiritual and saving? Not at all. How, then, 
 does he act ? He examines him closely, but wisely 
 and tenderly ; and in the measure in which he finds 
 such views and feelings, as seem to indicate a work of 
 grace in his soul he labours to remove his difficulties, 
 and offers him all needed counsel and encouragement, 
 when giving him a token of admission to the table of 
 "^ the Lord. • ' 7- -^ 
 
# 
 
 iK 
 
 THE RELIOION OF ROSS-SHIRE. 
 
 13d 
 
 Let us suppose this man under the regime of the 
 South. Not being a communicant, he is, in the judg- 
 ment of the church there, no member of the church 
 at all. His status, as a member of the church, be- 
 cause of his own baptism in infancy, is disallowed ; 
 although, by no formal act of the church, had he 
 ever been deprived of it. He will be acknowledged 
 as a member, only if he communicates ; although at 
 the time he is a member of the mystical body of 
 Christ, and had been admitted into the visible church 
 by baptism before ! The sacrament of the Supper is 
 thus made the door of admission to the church ! By 
 a very mysterious process of transposition, the inner 
 becomes at once the outer door of the house of the 
 Lord ! Let us further suppose that this man is a 
 parent, and that he is applying for the baptism of his 
 child. Meeting with no one to sympathise with his 
 scruples as to the other sacrament, and no effort made 
 to remove them, he resolved not to ask a token of 
 admission to the table of the Lord. He is auked if he 
 is a communicant, and simply because he says he is 
 not, and cannot promise to become one, the privilege 
 for which he asks is refused. This refusal rests on a 
 denial of his being a member of the church. No 
 minister, it is presumed, would refuse to baptize the 
 infant of a parent, who himself had just been baptized, 
 before he had at all partaken of the sacrament of the 
 Supper. The apostles, we know, did not refuse to 
 do so. Baptism conferred, in their judgment, the 
 privilege of membership in the visible church. Be- 
 cause the parent thus became a member, his child 
 also was baptized. But refuse the applicant in the 
 supposed case, and you act towards tlie man on the 
 assumption, that he is not a member of the church at 
 
 m 
 
 % 
 
 |i 
 
 r...aJraa«KSC5!!l<»^ 
 
,-»( 
 
 ^ 
 
 140 
 
 THE SELIOaON OF ROSS-SHIRE. 
 
 l; , 
 
 ^* 
 
 all ; and you thrust out that timid child of God 
 beyond the pale of the church, because he has not 
 yet the courage to ask for admission into full com- 
 munion. 
 
 ?^he following case has actually occurred. A High-: 
 lander, temporarily residing in a Lowland district, ap-: 
 plies to a minister f jr the baptism of his child. He 
 is one of that minister's most regular hearers. The 
 elders report him as correct in all his habits. He is 
 in fact tlie only one in the district in which he resides 
 who maintains the worship of God in his family, 
 thougb. his neighbours are all communicants. But 
 because he cannot declare that he is, nor promise to 
 become, a communicant, he is summarily dismissed. 
 After him comes to the same study a man from whom 
 his children often heard an oath, but from whom they 
 never yet heard a prayer, and who seldom returned 
 sober from a market ; but he is a communicant, 
 and of course his child is baptized the very next 
 Sabbath ! 
 
 Let us suppose the case of one whose profession is 
 really false, though his knowledge is competent, and 
 his known I'.abits correct. He applies to a Lowland 
 minister for the baptism of his infant. He has him- 
 self a suspicion that matters are not right between 
 his soul and +hr' Lord, but he is anxious that hia 
 child should be baptized. In order to obtain that, 
 he smothei's his scruples, and agrees to become a 
 communicant. What effect will this have on the 
 mind and heart of that man 1 What must ho think 
 of the lumister who will insist on his taking both 
 the saoraments, while he himself is aware that lie is 
 unfit fcr either of them 1 With what feelings will 
 

 ■# 
 
 7 ^ 
 
 h 
 
 THE RELIGION OP ROSS-SHIRE. 
 
 141 
 
 he receive the highest attestation of his profession, 
 which the church has thus thrust upon him, while 
 his own conscience testifies to its falseness 1 And 
 how will his communicating affect his soul 1 He will 
 have borne down all his rising scruples, and left the 
 communion table under the judgment of increased 
 hardness of heart. If he had to do with one of the 
 Ross-shire fathers, the privilege he first sought would 
 not, indeed, have been withheld from him. In such 
 a case it could not, as there was no overt contradic- 
 tion, of his profession of faith, by his conduct. The 
 minister would remember too, that if either parent 
 was a believer, the child must be "holy ;" and that 
 the probabilities as to both father and mother must 
 be taken into account, as well as the interests of the 
 child ; and, therefore, after serious dealing with his 
 conscience, and casting the responsibility on himself, 
 he would agree to baptize his child. But he would 
 do no more. This is all the account he makes of 
 the man's profession. His giving him the baptism 
 of his child was doing els much as the man's pro- 
 fession would bear, and his not offering him the 
 other sacrament, was a testimony on the side of 
 conscience in the breast of him with whom he was 
 dealing. 
 
 Four most desirable results were secured by the 
 mode of dispensing scaling ordinances, practised in 
 the north, which go far to prove, that it was acconling 
 to the mind, and was crowned with the blessing, of 
 the Lord. 1. The church was presened from the 
 extreme of exclusiveness, on the one hand, and from 
 that of laxity, on the other. The door of admission 
 was open to all " whom piety, charity, and prudence,'? 
 
 \ 
 
#■ 
 
 U2 
 
 THE RELIGION OF BOSSSHIRE. 
 
 i 
 
 « 
 
 would admit, and the inner circle was guarded from 
 the profane rush of the crowd. 2. It marked and 
 preserved a distinction, so far as this can be legiti- 
 mately done, between the approved followers of Christ 
 and all others. This distinction, as an ecclesiastical 
 one, is quite blotted out, when both sacraments are 
 administered on the same footing. 3. It kept up, in 
 the consciences of non-communicants, a sense of short- 
 coming, that would have been quite extinguished 
 wnder a different system. 4. It always reminded the 
 ministers of the danger of indiscriminate preaching, 
 and secured some consistency between what was faith- 
 fully said in the pulpit, and what was done in the 
 session-house. When a minister has always a con- 
 gregation of communicants before him, he is easily 
 led to address them from the pulpit, as it ought to be 
 fitting he should, when standing at the head of the 
 table of the Lord. It is difficult to change one's form 
 of addressing the same congregation, though standing, 
 on one occasion, in the pulpit, and on another be- 
 fore it. 
 
 As to the prevalent feeling, in the minds of High- 
 landers, in reference to the sacrament of the Supper, 
 there has been much misconcei)tion in the south. 
 It is supposed that the majority are utterly indifferent 
 about it, and that some of the few pious people scare 
 themselves away from it by superstitious notions of 
 its sanctity. This is almost entirely a mistake. It 
 might be an improvemci . on the state of mattere else- 
 where, if all the communicants had as much respect 
 for this ordinance as many of the non-communicants 
 of the north, and took their way of expressing it ; and 
 it ia the invariable experience of a Highland minister, 
 
snPM" 
 
 1^' 
 
 i' 
 
 THE RELIGION OF R08S-SHIRE. 
 
 143 
 
 that all whom he would wish to bring foi-ward, do, 
 sooner or later, apply for admission to the table of 
 the Lord. It is often said, that as it is a sin not to 
 confess Chr'jt before men, by obeying His dying com- 
 mand, his must be a most unhealthy state of feeling 
 who, without a disquieting sense of guilt, can refrain 
 from doing so. This cannot be denied ; but let it not 
 be forgotten, that the sin which should, in the first 
 instance, be felt, is not his absenting himself from 
 the table of the Lord, but his not coming to the Lord 
 of the table. His error lies in his not coming to 
 Christ, that ho might be entitled to communicate. 
 The lack of faith is his first want, and profession 
 cannot surely supply it. And yet, if all are to be 
 told without qualification, that it is a sin not to com- 
 municate, the result will be, a rush to the communion 
 table to get rid of the uneasiness which such doctrine 
 produces. And will not this be, in eficct, to make 
 profession a substitute for faith, and a shelter for 
 unbelief] 
 
 At least something might be said as an excuse for 
 the state of feeling in the north, in reference to the 
 sacraments. Our enlightened friends in the south 
 must not exptH to find the body of the peoj)le, in our 
 dark region, skilled to act on general principles, or so 
 wj as to be guided otherwise than by simple and 
 diret't inferences from the Word of God, or so expe- 
 rien» ^ as to have correct(Ml their fii3t impressions. 
 And when a simple Highlander, without any formula 
 to guide him in his study, takes up his Bible to hiarn 
 from it what the Lord says about this matter, and 
 meets in it with no recorded instance of an unbeliever 
 at the Lord's table, and ponders the solemn warnings 
 
 % 
 
mm 
 
 mmmm 
 
 mmm 
 
 mm 
 
 •« 
 
 w'i 
 
 # 
 
 
 144 
 
 THE BELIGION OF ROSS-SHIRE. 
 
 -# 
 
 f!l 
 
 by which it is guarded ; when he contrasts the select 
 companies, who communicated, with the crowds of 
 whose baptism an account is given, and meets with 
 no sanctions, around the one ordinance, that seem to 
 compare with those by which the other is fenced, is it 
 a wonder that this disciple should carry with him 
 from the perusal of the Bible, a more solemn impres- 
 sion of the one saci'ament than of the other? If that 
 man's state of feeling is not to be regarded with re- 
 spect, let it not at least be treated with nideness. 
 And can we wonder that he, accustomed to see the 
 southern practice followed by the Modem Les around 
 him, whom he regarded as ungodly men, never look- 
 ing for guidance from on high, should have imagined, 
 that w>iat he had originally derived fi*om a study of 
 the Word of God, was confirmed i/O him by expe- 
 rience, that he should therefore have held his own 
 views very firmly, and have looked with grave sus- 
 picion on the state of mind and feeling that differed 
 from his own. 
 
 •INMMaiNM 
 
 
m » 
 
 THE IIMSTER OF KILLEAENAN. 
 
f 
 
 % 
 
 \ r 
 
 PREFATOEY NOTE. 
 
 The minister of Killearnan -waB my father. I could not forget 
 Ihis, while I was writing his memoir. In the only sense in which 
 ho was my father, while he lived, I lost him when he died. But 
 the memory of that loss I can bear to recal, as I cherish the hope, 
 that his death was the means of uniting us in bonds that shall 
 never be broken. Doubly knit to him, therefore, now that he is 
 gone, I can by no means keep down the son in my heart, when I 
 write or when I think of him. This accounts for the frequency 
 with which "I" and "my" appear on the following pages. They 
 came unconsciously from my pen, but, when my eye detected them, 
 they seemed so offensive, that I was strongly induced to attempt 
 their removal. But the effort, to hide the son in the writer, re- 
 quiring the affectation of an indifference that was far from my 
 feeling, both my heart and my conscience revolted against it. 
 And, even if the change were permitted by these, my hand lacked 
 the skill to make the change an improvement 
 
 # 
 
 
 f 
 
CHAPTER I. 
 
 His Birthplace — His Father — Anecdotes of His Boyhood — His 
 Education — College Days — License — His sermon in Apple- 
 cross — His labours in Lochbroom — Anecdote. 
 
 RisSEL, in the district of Kishorn, within the parish 
 of Applecross, was my father's birtliplace. It is one 
 of those green spots that usually speck the breasts of 
 hills, formed of such limestone rocks as abound in that 
 part of the country. The time was when the most of 
 these oases had cottages on or beside them. Often, 
 throughout the Higlilaiids, they now serve but to mark 
 where cottages once stood. Some of these desolate 
 hill-sides have seen better days, and they have their 
 own striking way of telling their revei-se. As one 
 looks on them now, in their patched clothing of green 
 and purple, through which the grey and naked elbows 
 of the underlying rocks protrude, they seem, like laen 
 of broken foi-tunes, wealing, all in rags, the dress of 
 other days. 
 
 His father, himself the son of godly parents, waa 
 well known in the surrounding district. Ho had been 
 educated with a view to the ministry, and had been 
 for several sessions at college ; but believing that the 
 Lord had accepted his intention without recpiiring its 
 fulfilment, as in the case of David, in reference to the 
 building of the temple, he never applied for licenae, 
 
" » ' 
 
 
 148 
 
 THE MINISTER OF KILLEARNAN. 
 
 
 ' ■ 
 
 / 
 
 t 
 
 but lived to see two of his sons serving the Lord in 
 the Gospel. Combining, with the warm heart of a 
 Christian Highlander, an enlightened understanding 
 and a tender conscience, he was a man to win affection 
 and command respect. He was eminently a man of 
 prayer ; and such was the feeling with which, on that 
 account, he was regarded by the people, that, when 
 the fishermen were out on Loch Kishorn on a stormy 
 night, they knew no fear, so long as they saw the 
 light in his window, believing that while it twinkled 
 there, he was pleading with God for their safety. 
 During many years of his life he attended the minis- 
 try of Mr. Lachlan Mackenzie of Lochcarron, by whom 
 he was greatly beloved and respected. Sometimes, 
 when that godly minister would shrink from engaging 
 in public duty, in a fit of unbelief, Donald Kennedy 
 would succeed in persuading him, after all others had 
 failed. Once, on the morning of a communion Sab- 
 bath, when the hour for commencing the service had 
 come, Mr. Lachlan was still locked up in his bedroom. 
 The morning had been stormy, and the Tempter had 
 found it easy to persuade him that this was per- 
 mitted, just to prevent his preaching, and that it 
 would be presumption to go out in the face of a frown- 
 ing Providence. His friend from Kishorn, had only 
 arrived as the hour for beginning public worship had 
 come. Being prepared to find what he afterwards 
 ascertained to be the case, he went at once to the 
 minister's bedroom. The door was locked, and no 
 answer would be given to all jhis knocks and en- 
 treaties. He had much in him yet of the strength of 
 younger days, and, putting his shoulder to the door, 
 he forced it open, and on entering, found as expected, 
 
THE MINISTER OF KILLEARNAN. 
 
 149 
 
 the minister stretched weeping on his bed. He 
 ordered him at once, in accents tremulous with re- 
 spect, to rise ; telling him he was ashamed to find one, 
 who had so often caught the tempter in a lie, yield- 
 ing yet again to his suggestions, and assuring him that 
 if he went forward to the Lord's own work, at the 
 Lord's own bidding, difficulties would vanish, and his 
 fears be disappointed. Mr. Lachlan yielded before 
 his urgency ; and scarcely had he crossed the threshold, 
 on his way to the place of meeting, when the rain 
 ceased, the clouds were scattered, and the frowning 
 morning w as succeeded by a smiling day of sunshine. 
 During the service of that day, the^Lord's servants 
 and people enjoyed a " time of refreshing " that left 
 its mark on their memories for ever. 
 
 In his management of his household, he was pecu- 
 liarly conscientious. It was his habit, as it was that 
 of " his father before him," when each of his children 
 reached a certain age, to retire with them to a quiet 
 spot in the wood, and there, after spending some time 
 in prayer, after explaining to them the nature of his 
 engagements, in their behalf, at their baptism, and 
 appealing to their conscience as to his manner of ful- 
 filling them, directing them to the only source of 
 strength, he took them under vow to seek and serve 
 the Lord. My father always retained a lively recol- 
 lection of this solemn transaction. 
 
 But before that time, and even from his very in- 
 fancy, he was regai-ded by his acquaintances as a sub- 
 ject of gj'ace. At the age of three years, it was his 
 habit to retire to some secret place to pray. One day, 
 in his fourth year, while thus engaged, a woman, who 
 was passing, heard the child's voice lisping his peti- 
 
 . 
 
150 
 
 THE MINISTER OF KILLEABNAN. 
 
 . 
 
 (. f 
 
 tions to God, and, arrested by the words she first 
 heard, she stood to listen till his prayer was ended. 
 What she then heard, the Lord applied with saving 
 power to her soul, and she, notorious only for wicked- 
 ness before, was known, from that time till her death, 
 as a consistent witness for God in the district. Thus 
 early did the Lord give an earnest of the great iisefiU- 
 ness of his later years. 
 
 Notwithstanding these indications of an earlier 
 piety, he himself, sometimes at least, looked no further 
 back than the twenty-fourth year of his age for the 
 dawnings of spiritual lif< < his soul. In that year, 
 he passed through a proccb-s, that gave him a deep ex- 
 perience of the convictions and temptations usually 
 attending a work of conversion; but whether it availed, 
 merely to prepare him for dealing with the cases of 
 others, or as his introduction into the kingdom of 
 grace as well, it is now impossible conclusively to de- 
 termine. But the individual himself not being always 
 the best qualified to judge in a such a case, I cannot 
 dissent from the opinion of those, who knew him in his 
 youth, and who believed that he had feared the Lord 
 from his earliest years. 
 
 About the sixth year of his age, he was seized with 
 small-pox. The attack proved to be very severe, and 
 the child, unable to see or to sj^eak, seemed lying at 
 the very gates of death. Just when "at the lowest," 
 and while his father was in his closet wrestling with 
 God for his life, a man from the neighbourhood, who 
 had the reputation of a seer, entered the house. The 
 mother, ascertaining he was in, and having in her as 
 much superstition as made her anxious to consult him, 
 brought him to the room in which her son w as lying. 
 
 I f 
 
T 
 
 THE MINISTER OF KILLEABNAN. 
 
 151 
 
 The child was quite aware of the man's entrance, but 
 was utterly unable to express the horror with which 
 his presence had inspired him. "What do you think 
 of John ?" asked the anxious mother. The oracular 
 reply was, " Ere the tide that now ebbs shall have 
 touched the shore again, your child shall be no more." 
 This the child distinctly heard, but it gave him no 
 alarm. He knew the man who spake these words 
 was a messenger of Satan, and the Lord so calmed 
 his spirit that "the prince of the power of the air " 
 could not stir it. Just then the father returned from 
 his place of prayer, his face lighted up with the joy of 
 hope. Observing the seer, he ordered him at once 
 away. The man, too glad to escape, instantly vanish- 
 ed, though not tlirough the chimney or the keyhole, as 
 such persons were sometimes suspected of doing. 
 Observing his wife in tears, he asked her wliy she 
 was weeping. She told him the seer's gloomy pro- 
 phecy. " The messenger of Satan lieth," he said : 
 " the Lord hath given me the life of my child, the 
 blessings of His right hand shall rest upon his head, 
 and he shall yet serve the Lord in the gospel of His 
 Son." In course of time the child recovered sight 
 and health ; but never could the man who prophe- 
 sied his early death, from that day look him in the 
 face. He carefully avoided him whenever he seemed 
 Ukely to meet him. But as he was leaving home, 
 on one of his journeys to college, and as he was pass- 
 ing out of a narrow gorge, that formed the outlet of 
 the Iglen behind his father's house, the seer suddenly 
 came out from behind a rock, and, in a flutter of 
 excitement, rushed up to him ; but with no worse 
 intent than to thrust a sum of money into his hand, 
 
 ill 
 
 
aOB: 
 
 152 
 
 THE MINISTER OF KILLEARNAN. 
 
 I 
 
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 which having done, he as suddenly again disappeared. 
 Doubtless, the man's conscience was smarting under 
 a sense of guilt, and the money was intended as a 
 solatium for the pain which he formerly inflicted. 
 
 His early education was the best that could be 
 procured in the district. This, however, is no high 
 praise. He was taught to read, and write, and 
 count, and was crammed with Latin. This was all 
 that parish teachers in the Highlands, in those days, 
 usually tried to do, besides practising themselves in 
 the use of the lash, their kilted pupils affording them 
 a tempting facility for the perfonnance. Each 
 lesson, given with this accompaniment, left its mark 
 on the skin as well as its print on the memory, and, 
 it must be confessed, stuck well to the pupil. Better 
 Latin scholars, at least, were turned out of the 
 dreadful schools of those days, than come from the 
 pleasant seminaries of the present. Whatever was 
 the character of the teacher under whom my father 
 studied, he left his school prepared to pass respect- 
 ably through the curriculum at King's College, 
 Aberdeen. 
 
 Very different from what it now is, was the 
 journey to College in those days. Many students 
 were obliged to walk their weary way, from the far 
 north, to the granite city. Sometimes a gillie was 
 in attendance, who carried the scanty wardrobe and 
 the provisions for the way ; a laird's son would have 
 a horse and a gillie. Hospitality was no rare virtue 
 in the days of our fathers, and but few of the poor 
 students had to pay for a night's lodging by the way. 
 Some kind farmer was almost always found, who 
 made the weary traveller welcome to bed and board 
 
' / 
 
 
 *'*■■' 
 
 
 1 
 
 THE MINISTER OF KILLEARNAN. 
 
 153 
 
 for a night. This might be less necessary to the 
 student, on his way to the south, his purse then con- 
 taining the sum given him to meet the expenses of 
 the session. But the purse was, generally, empty 
 enough on his way home again. An Aberdeen pro- 
 fessor used to tell his students of his having started 
 once, after a College session, for his home in Caith- 
 ness, with only twopence in his pocket. On one of 
 his journeys to College, my father walked, " between 
 sleep and sleep," no fewer than eighty miles, a feat 
 very unusual even in those pedestrian days. 
 
 A College life, before his time, was almost as un- 
 like the present as were College journeys. Not long 
 before then, all the students occupied apartments 
 within the College, and messed together. Strange 
 parties these must have been that sat around the 
 long table in the College hall ! Many a district 
 contributed its share of temper, fun, wildness, and 
 awkwardness, to the talk and the manners of that 
 group of youths. Under a professor's eye and influ- 
 ence, the whole might have been smoothed down 
 into a very dull affair ; but the recoil would be all 
 the greater when the professor had gone, and wild 
 and furious would be the din, when each one in that 
 motley group resumed his own proper phase, and 
 found the reins lying on his neck again. Had the 
 lodgings been comfortable, the fare good and cheap, 
 and the supervision close and godly, this arrangement 
 might have been excellent. Almost anything is 
 better than to send a youth to College, without a 
 tutor or a friend, allowed to keep liis o^vn purse, and 
 to choose his own companions. — — 
 
 Three sessions, then, completed the literary course 
 
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 154 
 
 THE M1NI8TEP OF KILLEARNAN. 
 
 at King's College, and each professor carried a set of 
 students through all the classes. This could only be 
 a good arrangement, if each professor was equally 
 qualified in all the departments of study, if all v/ere 
 equally good or equally bad, and if the proiessor and 
 his pupils took well to each other at the outset. 
 But the " Jack-of-all-trades " is generally " master of 
 none ;" and considering the difficulty now felt in 
 getting one suitable man for each chair, we may 
 not return to the plan, requiring each professor to be 
 qualified for all. 
 
 Tw ) sessions only were then spent in tne study of 
 theology. Five years were thus the term of a youth's 
 college studies for the ministry. This is now thought 
 to be greatly too short ; but if young uien v/ere only 
 allowed to get out of their teens before entering col- 
 lege, the result of a five years' course would weigh 
 just as much as that of eight years, on which a youth 
 at twenty can now often look back. Let Greek, and 
 Latin, and Hebrew be confined to schools and gym- 
 nasia, and let theological professors examine oftener 
 and lecture less, and we can have in five yeai*s all 
 that is wortliy of a college ijt our present literary 
 course, and quite as useful preparation for the work 
 of the ministry, as can now be procured in our 
 divinity halls. But, after all, what avails any course 
 of theological study, if the essential qualification be 
 awanting, which only the Spirit of the Lord can 
 supply. It is too often supposed, that any gifted 
 man can be shaped into a minister ; whereas the 
 more talented a man is, and the more famished with 
 all the accessories that constitute a minister's intel- 
 lectual eqiiipmont, the more dangerous will ho prove, 
 
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 THE MINISTER OF KILLEARNAN. 
 
 155 
 
 if he be not a minister of God's own making. It is 
 indeed a mistaken idea, that learning is unnecessary 
 and college studies useless ; but it is a greater and 
 more dangerous error, so to elevate the importance 
 of literature and science, as practically, at least, to 
 exalt them above the essential of godliness. On no 
 account ought the Church to lower the stand bvrd of 
 literary attainment, by which candidates for the 
 ministry are tried ; but when she allows Satau, so 
 often, to thrust ungodly men through her courts, 
 under the disguise which talent and learning may 
 form, she should surely be at liberty to receive, 
 occasionally, from the Lord, men whom He hath 
 " created anew " for His work, though they may lack 
 the trappings by which the ungodliness of these 
 others was concealed. Sometimes, such men have 
 been signally blessed in the ministry of the gospe), 
 and any arrangement, that makes their reception im- 
 possible, cannot be sanctioned bj' the Lord. 
 
 In these remarks, some may think they discover an 
 admission, tliat my father's early education was defec- 
 tive. With all the ardour of my love to him, and 
 all the depth of my veneration for his memory, I will 
 not claim for him any distinction for extraordinar)' 
 talent or learning ; nor does it pain me that I cannot. 
 He may have entered college with the disadvantjige 
 of a defective education, and he may have passed into 
 the hall without having made any marked progress 
 in literature and science*; but I can truly claim for 
 him, at least, Jin ordinary measure of attainments. 
 His sternly exclusive regard to what was substantial 
 and useful, made him utterly indifferent to the ao- 
 quii-ement of what was merely shadowy or showy. 
 
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 156 
 
 THE MINISTER OF KILLEARNAN. 
 
 He knew what he lacked, and if he cl ose he could ac- 
 quire it; but if he was understood, this was all he wj's 
 ever careful about, as to his manntr of expressing his 
 thoughtv, when preaching the gospel. The idea oi' 
 studying manner or style was one that nover found a 
 place in his mind. But what a counterpoise to every 
 defect, in point of literary acnuirement and mere 
 superficial polish, were his sound and penetrating judg- 
 ment, liis devotion of heart t(} the service of the Lord, 
 his experience from very infancy of the power of the 
 truth, his habitual prayerfulness, and th.vt. iioly watch- 
 fulness which communion with God never fails to pro- 
 duce. Such was my father when studying for the 
 ministry, and if I may not bt- proud of him, J cannot 
 be ashamed of him. 
 
 During the interval between two of his college 
 sessions, an incidtt t occurred, to which he often 
 gratufully referred. He and his brother Neil, haviig 
 gone a deer-stalking, they came in sight of a herd 
 wliich the} could only approach within gunshot, by 
 creeping slowly up the slope of a hill. John was 
 in advance, as they were stealing there way towards 
 the deer. The tricker of his brother's gun having 
 been caught by tlio heather, the sho. was discharged, 
 and tiie ball passed through his coat. Rising at once, 
 lie said to his brothci', "Neil, I think it is time for ur 
 to give up this work." Discharging his own gun, he 
 shouldered it, and, on reaching home, laid it aside, 
 never to use it again. 
 
 He was licensed to preach the gospel, by the Pres- 
 bytery of Lochcarron, Nov. 24th 1805, in the twenty- 
 fourth year of his age. His discourses, all of wliich 
 ho delivered that day, "were uuauimumily approved 
 
THE MINISTER OF KILLEARNAN. 
 
 157 
 
 of," and the Presbytery "were fully satisfied with 
 the manner in which he acquitted himself in the 
 languages, moral and natural philosophy." Either at 
 the same meeting, or nearly about the same time, 
 other young men were licensed. Keferring to the 
 group, Mr Lachlan said, "the others are only preach- 
 ers of our making, but the Lord made a preacher of 
 Jthn Kennedy." 
 
 About the time of his license, he was appointed 
 teacher of the parish school of Lochcarron. While 
 discharging the duties of that situation, he continued 
 to reside in his father's house; and was accustomed 
 to walk to his school and back again, each day ; but 
 to him, with his atliletic frame and buoyant step, the 
 twelve miles walk was but a pleasant exercise. Dur 
 ing his connection with the parish school, he enjoyed 
 the privilege of sitting under Mr. Lachlan's preaching, 
 and of being admitted by him to the closest private 
 intercoui*se. How his face used to light up, in after 
 years, at the remembrance of the sermons and the con- 
 versations of those days ! 
 
 Not long after his license, he attended a communion 
 at Applecross, at which Mr. Lachlan was the princi- 
 pal assistant. On Saturday, Mr. Lachlan waa ap- 
 pomted to preach a Gaelic sermon, in the open air ; 
 but such was his state of mind, in the morning of 
 that day, that he abandoned the idea of preaching, 
 and resolved to remain in his bed. He sent for 
 "John," as lie always called my father, about break- 
 fast-time and insisted on his preaching for him. It 
 was not easy, to think <»f taking Mr. Lachlan's place; 
 but there was "no help for it," and he was obliged to 
 promise to preach. The advice, given him by Mr. 
 
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 *-W^jl 
 
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 158 
 
 THE MINISTER OF KILLEARNAN. 
 
 'fi 
 
 Lachlan, was — "when you are asked to preach on an 
 hour's notice, spend one half of the hour on your 
 knees, pleading for a text, a sermon, and a blessing ; 
 and the other half employ in studying the text and 
 context, and in gathering as many parallel passages 
 as you can find." The time for beginning the service 
 arrived, and the preacher went to the meeting place. 
 The tent, in which he stood was constructed with oars, 
 in the form of a cone, covered with blankets, and 
 having an opening in front, with a board fixed across 
 it, on which the Eible was placed. Unobserved by 
 the preacher, and just as he had begun his sermon, 
 Mr. Lachlan, lifting the blanket from the ground at 
 the back of the tent, crept in behind him, and sat 
 down. The sermon hpd not proceeded far, when a 
 case war described, which was so exactly Mr. Lachlan's 
 at the time, that he could not refrain from exclaiming 
 aloud. Starting on hearing the voice from behind, 
 the preacher, not a little disconcerted, looked round, 
 on whicli Mr. Lachlan kindly said to him, "Go on, 
 John ; I have got my portion, and my soul needed it, 
 and other poor souls may get theii's, before you con- 
 clude." Tlius encouraged, the preacher proceeded, 
 the Lord was with him, and his sermon was blessed. 
 About two years after being licensed, he was ap- 
 pointed to preach in Lochbroom, the parish minister 
 having been suspended. The tim > which he spent 
 there, v/as in some respects the happiest portion of 
 his life, and a light rested on it, that drew the eye of 
 memory frequently toward.^ it. It was tlie season of 
 his "fiist love," as a preacher the Lord was very 
 near t)o his soul, and a iAianifest blessing rested on his 
 
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 .^.•WJ7> ^j'^A^^t 
 
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THE MINISTER OP KILLEARNAK. 
 
 159 
 
 labours. During that time, many souls were truly 
 converted unto God, some of whom, in Lochbroom, 
 and soire, in other places, to which they were scat- 
 tered, continued till their death, to shine as " lights 
 in the world." Many a sweet hour of communion 
 with the Lord he enjoyed in those days, in the woods 
 of Dundonnell ! 
 
 I cannot forget a trying scene, into which a streak 
 of the light of those days was once cast to cheer my 
 heart. Being called to see a dying woman, I found, 
 on reaching the place to which I was directed, a dark 
 filthy attic in which I could observe nothing, till the 
 light I had carried in had quite departed from my 
 eye. The first object I could discern, was an old 
 woman crouching on a stone beside a low fire, who, as 
 I afterwards ascertained, was unable to move but " on 
 all fours." Quite near the fire, I then saw a bed, on 
 which an older woman still was itretched, who was 
 stone blind, and lying at the very gates of death. 
 The two women were sisters, and miserable indeed 
 they seemed to be ; the one, with her breast and face 
 devoured by cancer, and the other, blind and dying. 
 They were from Lochbroom ; and we had spoken but 
 little, when one Oi wia. n iierred to the days of my 
 father's labours in their native pariah, and told^of her 
 first impression of divine things, under a sermon 
 which he preached at that time. The doctrine of that 
 sermon was as fresh in her mind, and as che<'ring an 
 when slie first heard it, half a centuiy before. 8uch 
 was the humble hope of both of them, and tlieir 
 cheerful resignation to the will of God, that I could 
 not but regard them, even in their dark and filthy 
 attic, as at the very threshold of glory. I left them 
 
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 160 
 
 THE MINISTER OF KILLEARNAN. 
 
 9 
 
 -vrith a very different feeling from that with which I 
 first looked on them ; nor could I see, among the gay 
 and frivolous, whom I passed on the street, after leav- 
 ing them, any who, with all their health, cheerfulness, 
 and comforts, I would compare, in point of true hap- 
 piness, with the two old women in the cheerless attic. 
 
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 CHAPTER II. H. 
 
 Appointed Missionary at EriboU — First Appearance — First Sermon 
 — State of Religion iu the District — Preacliing Stations — 
 Major Mackay — Mr. Mackay Hope — Donald MTlierson — 
 Robert M'Leod — Mrs. Mackay — Communion at Kinloclibervio 
 — Translation to Assynt — Success — Trial — Marriage. 
 
 In 1802 he was appointed missionary at Eriboll. It 
 was on a Saturday he first arrived there. The people 
 were looking for the new minister, and were watcliing 
 the road by which they expected him to come. They 
 saw a young man of a fair complexion, and a frame 
 that seemed, in their eyes, a model of symmetry and 
 power, walking past with a step so light that it scarce 
 bent the heather ; but the more tht^y admired the 
 athletic Highlander, the further were thoy from con- 
 jecturing that he was their future minister. To the 
 no small surprise of the people, the traveller, v.ljom 
 they obsei'ved on the Saturday, mounted the pulpit on 
 the Sabbath, and, before the sermon was over, they 
 were all disposed to join with Major Mackay, who 
 said, *' We had a minister, before, who was a Christian j 
 but we have now a minister who is both a man and a 
 Christian." His text on that Sabbath was Isaiah xl. 
 1 1 ; and through the sermon preached sevenil persona 
 received their first impressions of divine things, who 
 gave proof, till their death, of their having in their 
 hearts tJbie true fear of the Lord. On the minigtry 
 
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 162 
 
 THE MINISTER OP KILLEARNAM". 
 
 
 
 5 
 
 -t i 
 
 thus auspiciously begun, the blessing of the Lord 
 rested till its close. 
 
 EriboU had enjoyed the ministry of Mr Robertson, 
 afterwards of Eothsay and of Kingussie, and of Mr 
 M'Bride, afterwards of Arran. The labours of these 
 men of God had been blessed, and the fruit of them 
 appeared in a goodly remnant of living souls, who 
 ■were " the light" and " the salt" of the district, and 
 in the respect for the means of grace entertained by 
 the whole body of the people. My father often spoke 
 of a certain glen, in which about thirty families re- 
 sided, in each of which there was, at least, one who 
 feared the Lord, and in each of which there was the 
 true worship of God. The houses in this blessed 
 ^ hamlet were close together, around the sides of an 
 amphitheatre, through which a small river had torn 
 a course for itself Standing on the edge of the de- 
 clivity above this glen, on a q\iiet summer evening, 
 one could hear the songs of praise from all these 
 houses mingling together before they reached the 
 listener's ear, whose heart must have been hard in- 
 deed if they failed to melt it. One, at least, did feel, 
 while listening to the psalm-singing in these blessed 
 homes, as if the place were none other than the house 
 of God, and the very gate of heaven. By one ruth- 
 less eviction, all the tenants of that glen were 
 banished from their homes, and the most of them 
 found no resting-place till they reached the backwoods 
 of Canada. 
 
 Though it was at Eriboll he resided, and most fre- 
 quently ( ciated, he was required to preach occasion- 
 ally at Melness, in the parish of Tongue, and at Kin- 
 lochbervie, in the parish of Eddrachilhs. The 
 
 I 
 
THE MINISTER OF KILLEARNAN. 
 
 163 
 
 distances between tliese places are considerable, and 
 as there were no roads, it required no ordinary 
 strength, and it tasked the best pedestrian, to over- 
 take the necessary amount of work. Often, while in 
 that charge, has he walked more than twenty miles 
 to the meeting-house, over marsh and moor, and 
 sometimes preached thereafter in cloth-s quite 
 drenched with rain. But the Lord fitted him for 
 such work, and his constitution came " scaithless" out 
 of it. On one occasion, walking fi-om EriboU to 
 Rhiconich, he was accompanied by his beadle, and 
 hj his youngest brother then a mere boy. They had 
 not pi'oceeded far when a snovz-stomi came on, and 
 his little brother became quite exhausted. Raising 
 him in his arms, ray father carried him, and not only 
 kept up with the beadle, but left him behind. The 
 interval between him and the beadle wfia increasing 
 so fast, that he at last waited till he came up, when 
 he found him so wearied that he was compelled to 
 relieve him of the portmanteau which he carried, and 
 to strap it on his own back. Those who were wait- 
 ing his arrival at the journey's end were not a little 
 surprised to see him coming with the bag on his back, 
 and the hoy in his arms, and dragging the beadle by 
 the liand. 
 
 Major Maekay then resided at Eriboll. Faith- 
 fill in the service of his earthly sovereign, he was at 
 the same time, " a good soldier of Jesus Christ." It 
 was a rare sight to see liim rise on a Communion 
 Friday, in his regimentals, to "speak to the (juestion." 
 A gentleman, a soldier, a Higlilander, and a Chris- 
 tian at once, it was no wonder that he waa loved and 
 
 

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 164 
 
 THE MINISTER OP KILLEARNAN. 
 
 respected, and this might be seen in the eager atten- 
 tion of the people when he rose to address them. 
 
 For his daughter, Mrs Scobie of Keoldale, mv 
 father always cherished the highest esteem and affec- 
 tion. He corresponded with her during the whole 
 of his life, and his lettera to her indicate the warmest 
 Christian friendship. She was generally regarded as 
 the model of a Christian Highland gentlewoman. 
 Her intellect was of a high order. Her appearance 
 and bearing were such as would befit one of the 
 highest stations in society. Many had proved her 
 hospitality, and all of them found her heart fraught 
 with kindness, and her pleasant home with comforts. 
 The poor found her charity always fervent, and her 
 hand always full. But beyond all these in price, were 
 her devotion to the fear of the Lord, and her fervent 
 affection for His servants and people. 
 
 With Mr Mackay, of Hope, my father, was very 
 intimate. He was a man eminent for godliness. The 
 following anecdote, connected with his last days, is 
 given on authority that may not be questioned. My 
 father was to preach on a certain day, in a place not 
 far from his hou.s<\ Mr Mackay, though very ill, 
 would allow none of the family or domestics to re- 
 main with him, insisting on all in the house going to 
 hear sermon. On their return, some one remarked 
 to him that it was a precious sermon they had heard 
 that day. " My soul knows that right well," he said, 
 " for, though lying here, my mind was following the 
 preacher's, as he was engaged in his work," and to 
 their utter astonishment, he mentioned the text and 
 repeated much more of the sermon than could those 
 who actually heard it. This story, seemingly so in- 
 
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 1^ 
 
 4 
 
 THE MINI:^ KR OF KILLEARNAN. 
 
 165 
 
 credible, is perfectly true, and furnishes a most re- 
 markable instance of the mysterious fellowship of the 
 saints. 
 
 The godly Donald Macpherson was still alive when 
 my father was in Eriboll, of whom he has often said 
 that, of all the Christians he had ever known, he was 
 the man who lived nearest to the Lord. Many an 
 hour of sweet profitable converse have they spent 
 together. They have been known to retire to a lonely 
 hillside, and there to spend, in prayer and conversa- 
 tion, a long summer day. It was exceedingly sweet 
 to my father to recall the memories of this eminent 
 saint. He was, in some rtspects, more like a seer of 
 the days of old, than the ordinary Cliristian of the 
 present time. His nearness to God in prayer was 
 remarkable. Seldom, did he specially carry one's 
 case before the throne, without its being so laid open 
 to him, that there was scarce a thought or fe- ling of 
 the party prayed for, hidden from him by the Lord. 
 Remarkable instances of this might be multiplied. 
 
 The well known Robert Macleod was Donald 
 Macpherson's devoted disciple. In whatever way 
 Robert was at first awakened, it was through Donald's 
 blessed instruction he was established in "the tnith 
 as it is in Jesus," and never was a soul more tenderly 
 and wisely nursed, than that of this interesting in- 
 quirer. Ardent and honest, he, in his outset, needed 
 a judicious friend ; and in Donald Macpherson he 
 found one, who could understand all his peculiarities, 
 and who carried his case so closely under the light 
 from the mercy- seat, that few of his fears and sorrows 
 were hidden from him. No wonder though he vene- 
 rated this man of God. TLo story of his first prayer, 
 
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 THE MINIOTER OF KILLEARXAN. 
 
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 in Donald's family, has been often told. To Robert's 
 bewilderment, his host abruptly asked him to pray at 
 fiimily worship, during a visit which he paid him. 
 He dared not refuse ; so, turning on his knees, • nd 
 addressing his Creator, he said, " Thoii knowest chat 
 though I have bent my knees to pray to Thee I am 
 much more under the fear of Donald Macpherson, 
 than under the fear of Thyself." Donald allowed him 
 to proceed no farther, but, tapping him on the 
 shouldei-, said, " that will do, Robert ; you have 
 honestly begun and you will honourably end," and 
 then he himself concluded the service. Poor Robert's 
 first attempt was not, he himself thought, very en- 
 couraging, and he was expressing to his friend hia 
 fear that he never could be of any use in bearing a 
 public testimony for the truth. " Yes, Robert," his 
 friend soothingly said, "the Lord will open your 
 mouth, to speak the praises of free gi-ace, and, as a 
 sign of this, you will be called th 'ice to speak, the 
 very first day you are called to speak in public." 
 Soon thereafter, Robert heard th it the communion 
 was to be dispensed in liochbroom, and that Mr 
 Lachlan was expected to be there. He went on the 
 appointed week, but did not reach the place of meet- 
 'ng at Lochbroom till after the coraiaencement of 
 the service on Friday, He had not arrived, when 
 Mr Lachlan was opening the question, and yet, 
 strange to say, the minister declared that he expected 
 a recruit to the ranks of the speakers that day, from 
 whatever quarter lie miglit come. Robert just then 
 made his appearance, and was not long seated, when 
 he was called to " speak to the question." He did 
 not refuse to rise, but was so embarrassed as to be 
 
 
THE MINISTER OF KILLEARNAN. 
 
 ler 
 
 
 able to utter only a few hurried words. Towards 
 the close of the service, and after many ot'aers had 
 spoken, Mr Lachlan called Robert again, and said to 
 him, "as you were taken by surprise before, you 
 could not be expected to say much, but rise again, 
 and the liberty formerly denied will be given you." 
 Robert rose, and delivered a most affecting address, 
 which so delighted the minister, that he called him 
 to conclude the service with prayer. This was 
 Hobert's first public appearance, and he was called 
 thric3 to speak ; and thus, the sign was given to 
 him, which Donald Macpherson had led him to ex- 
 pect. 
 
 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 tempoi-al want. He was strongly moved to plead 
 with God for " daily bread " for His child, and so 
 constantly was he thinking of him for three days, 
 that at midday of the fourth he resolved to set out 
 for John's house, and he gave himself little rest till 
 he reached it. Fu'.l 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 nesirly 
 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 1" " No," waa 
 Robert's answer, " but that meal-chest gave me no 
 small t:x)uUe for the last few days ; but if I had 
 
. -f^ 
 
 168 THE MINISTER OP KILLEARNAN. 
 
 known it was so far froi^ being empty as I find it is, 
 you had not seen me here to-day." " When did you 
 begin to tliink of it ?" John inquired. Eobert men- 
 tioned the day and the hour when his anxiety about 
 liis friend began. " Well, Robert," John said, " the 
 meal-chest was then as empty as it could be ; but how 
 long were you praying that it might be filled?" "For 
 three days and a half I covild scarcely think of any 
 thing else," Robert answered. " O 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, an- 
 other on the second, and a third on the dvy 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 m heaven, 
 who heareth the cry of the needy, they warmly em- 
 braced each other. 
 
 1 A still more remarkable person then resided within 
 the boimds of the Eriboll Mission, — Miss Margaret 
 M'Dairmid, afterwards Mrs Mackay. She was a na- 
 tive of Argyleshire, and came to reside in Sutherland 
 along with a brother. During his lifetime, she was 
 known only as a giddy girl full of fun, and with a 
 way of doing things quite unlike that of all around 
 her. It was her brother's death that was the means 
 of fixing her attention on eternal things. He had 
 been deer-stalking on a winter day, when the lakes 
 were frozen over. Anxious to be at a certain point, 
 before the herd of deer, he ventured on a frozen lake, 
 that lay between him and his goal. He had not 
 gone far, when the ice gave way, and he sunk in a 
 moment and was drowned. The shock to his sister 
 
 ■tm 
 
 Tili i ii" -" 
 
THE MINISTEB OP KILLEAENAN. 
 
 169 
 
 
 ■was appalling, but the season of her anguish was the 
 Lord's set ''time of love." Her soul's state and 
 danger soon drew her mind from the affliction of her 
 brother's death ; and she was the subject of a search- 
 ing work of conviction when my father . came to 
 Eriboll, Uiider his preaching, she waB led to the 
 foundation laid in Zion, and her new life began in a 
 flush of fervent love that seemed to know no waning 
 till her dying day. She was one among a thousand. 
 Her brilliant wit, her exuberant spirits, her intense 
 originality of thought and speech and manner, her 
 great faith, and her feivent love^ formed a combina- 
 tion but rarely found. j 
 
 •During the summer of each year, she was accus- 
 tomed for a long time to come to Ross-shire, in order 
 to be present on communion seasons, wherever she 
 was sure of hearing the gospel, and of meeting the 
 people of the Lord. In all those places, her presence 
 was like sunshine, and many a fainting spirit was 
 cheered by her affectionate counsels. Her greatest 
 enjoyment was to meet with anxious inquirers, and 
 many such have cause to remember for evei' the wis- 
 dom and tenderness of Mrs Mackay's advices. 
 
 Her visits sometimes extended to Edinburgh and 
 Glasgow. On one occasion, she abruptly announced 
 to her husband her intention of starting for the south. 
 Her purse was, at the time, almost empty, and her 
 husband could not replenish it ; and she was also in 
 a very delicate state of health. All this her hus- 
 band was careful to bring before her, with a view to 
 dissuading her from attempting the journey she pro- 
 posed. But, assured that the Lord had called her to 
 go, ahe would not look at the " lion in the way," and 
 
170 
 
 THE MINISTER OF KILLEARNAN. 
 
 if^ 
 
 w 
 
 ^ 
 
 I 
 
 i 
 
 met every reference to her empty purse by saying, 
 " the children ought not to provide for the fathers, 
 but the fathers for the children, and it is not the 
 Father in heaven who will fail to do so." In faith 
 she started, and not a mile had she walked, when a 
 gig drew up beside her, and the gentleman who drove 
 it kindly asked her to take a seat. Tlianking him 
 in her own warm way, she sprang into the gig, and 
 was carried comfortably all the way to the Manse of 
 Killearnan. But it was the smallest part of her 
 journey to Edinburgh that was passed on reaching 
 Killearnan, and she could not calculate on travelling 
 over the rest of it with an empty purse. Her faith, 
 however, failed not, and "the Lord will provide," 
 was her answer to every fear that arose in her heart, 
 and to the anxieties expressed to her by others. 
 Hearing that the sacrament of the Supper was to be 
 dispensed at Kirkhill on the following week, she re- 
 solved to attend it, and to postpone her visit to the 
 south till after it was over. She went, and on Mon- 
 day a gentleman made up to her, after the close of 
 the service, who handed to her a sum of money at 
 the request of a lady who had been moved to offer 
 her the gift. Mi's Mackay gratefully accepted it ; 
 but being accompanied on her way back to Killear- 
 nan by a group of worthies, all of whom she knew 
 to be poor, she divided all the money among them, 
 assured that it was for them she received it, and that 
 provision for her journey would be sent by some 
 other Iiand. Her expectation was realised, a sum 
 fully sufficient was given to her, aud she started on 
 her journey to the south. 
 
 Travelling by the stage-coach, she was accompanied 
 
 N \ 
 
 ■■ "iTi-ianj 
 
 -iir"- -*%-" 
 
THE MINISTER OP KILLEARNAN. 
 
 171 
 
 by several strangers, who were quite struck with lier 
 manner, and afterwards fascinated by her conversation. 
 One of them venturing to ask whence she had come, 
 her beautiful and striking answer was, " I am come 
 from Cape Wrath, and I am bound for the Cape of 
 Good Hope." On one account alone were they dis- 
 posed to quarrel with her. At that time there was a 
 change of drivers at each stage, and at every halt, 
 "remember the coachman," was called out at the 
 window. Mrs Mackay invariably gave a silver coin 
 and a good advice to each of the drivers. Her com- 
 panions, not liking to be out-done by their strange 
 fellpw-passenger, and liking still less to part so freely 
 with their money, at last remonstrated. " We can- 
 not afford to give silver always," one of them said, 
 "and we cannot keep pace with you in liberality." 
 " The King's daughter must travel as becomes her 
 rank," she said, a* she again handed the silver coin, 
 tnd spoke the golden counsel to the driver. Before 
 they parted, her companions -were persuaded she was 
 the cleverest, and the pleasantest, but the strangest 
 person they had ever met. Many a refreshing visit 
 she paid to all the Lord's people whom she could 
 reach before she returned home ; and when she did, 
 it was with more strength in her frame, and more 
 money in her purse than when she left it. Her hus- 
 band, who had so strongly dissuaded her before, 
 could only wonder now and give thanks to the Lord 
 for His gracious care of her by the way. Of him 
 she used to say, " he was just made for me by the 
 Lord's own haD4 ; the grace he had not at first, has 
 now been given him, and he will allow mo to wander 
 for bread to my soul wherever I can find it." 
 
mm 
 
 172 
 
 THE MINISTER OP KILLEARNAN. 
 
 She was usually called "the woman of great faith." 
 ** The woman of great faith !'* a minister once ex- 
 claimed, on being introduced to her for the first time. 
 " No, no," she quickly said ; " but the woman of 
 small faith in the great God." 
 
 In repartee few could excel her, or tried to get the 
 advantage over her, without being foiled in the at- 
 tempt. On one occasion, she met with Mr Stewaii; 
 of Cromarty, and few ever more dexterously poised a 
 lance, or were more skilful of fence than he. He had 
 heard of Mrs Mackay, and resolved to draw her out. 
 His congenial spirit soon evoked all her wit. Get- 
 ting the advaatage over him, Mr S. threw himself 
 on the sofa, exhausted by the excitement of the ren- 
 contre, and a little chafed under a sense of defeat. 
 
 A brotlier minister wished him to sit 
 
 up, 
 
 and to re- 
 
 new the conversation wliich had been so delighting. 
 " Oh ! let him alone," Mrs M. said, patting him on 
 the head, " every beast, you know, must be after his 
 kind ;" shewing how well she had marked his origin- 
 ality, and how skilfully she could feather the arrow 
 of rebuke with a compliment. 
 
 Dr Mackenzie, when minister o£ Clyne, used, as 
 often as he could, to bring liis godly father to preach, 
 on a week day, in his church. He invited on such 
 occasions all the rainistera of the presbytery to be his 
 guests at the manse. Mrs Mackay was present on 
 one of these days, and being seated in the drawing- 
 room after the service in church was over, the minis- 
 ter of Tongue came in. Rusliing up to him, in her 
 own eager way, " glad I am to se§, and still more 
 glad to hear you," she said. "Oh, you could not have 
 been glad in hearing me to-day," Mr M'K. said, with 
 
 
 • '»■— irti'Mi* I ■'■' — 
 
^t--'/ 
 
 THE MINISTER OP KILLEAHNAN. 
 
 173 
 
 I 
 
 a sigh, " for I had but little to say, and even that 
 little I could only speak in bonds." " Hush^ man," 
 was her quick replj, 
 
 " A little that a just man hath, ' 
 Is more and better far, 
 Than is the wealth of many such : • 
 
 As lewd and wicked are." . i ^ri'v 
 
 ^. 
 
 % ■■' J 
 
 and as she repeated the last two lines she waved her 
 hand across the group of moderates who were seated 
 beside her. 
 
 Her faith, always remarkable, triumphed in a sea- 
 son of affliction. A beloved son ^vas once drowned, 
 before her eyes, quite near the shore in front of her 
 house. The body was soon found, and the mother, 
 supporting the head of the corpse as they carried it 
 to the house, was singing with a loud voice the praises 
 of the Lord. She had learned as few Christians have 
 ever done, to show the dark side of her case only to 
 the Lord. However low her hope might be, and 
 however harrowed her feelings, see would allow none 
 to see a tear in h,er eye, or to hear a groan from her 
 heart, except those with whom her secret was safe, 
 and who would not be discouraged by her distress. 
 Many were thus led to think, that her sky was al- 
 ways without a cloud. It was far otherwise, under 
 God's eye ; but the Christless never saw in her what 
 would prejudice them against a life of godliness, and 
 the godly were always encouraged by her ever-radiant 
 cheerfulness. 
 
 Till her last ilThess her spirits had never sunk, nor 
 had her mind lost aught of its activity and clearness. 
 
 .j i ii i Biiilil 
 
 iHhpaMwi- iiii 
 

 '* 
 
 174 
 
 THE MINISTER OP KILLEABNAN. 
 
 She died in April 1841. Even when lying on her 
 death-bed, her cheerfulness did not forsake her, and 
 she was always ready to give a word of advice or en- 
 couragement to all who approached her. Her hus- 
 band had heard, a few days after it occurred, of my 
 father's death, and determined not to communicate the 
 tidings to his dying wife, as she was so soon to know 
 it, by meeting his spirit in the region of the blessed. 
 With this resolution he entered her room, and sat 
 gloomily down on a seat by the fire. "I know what 
 ails you," his wife said to him soon after he was 
 seated, "you have heard of Mr. Kennedy's death ; I 
 knew of it before. He died," she added, "on Sabbath 
 evening, and," mentioning a certain day, "before 
 then, I will join him in the Father's house." And so 
 it was. So knit together, and so near to God, were 
 the spirits of both, that less than the death of either 
 would not be hidden from the other. 
 
 The Sacrament of the Supper was dispensed at 
 Kinlochbervie, while he was missionary in the district. 
 The only minister present with him on that occasion 
 was the parish clergyman. The less that would be 
 given him to do, the better pleased would he himself 
 and all others be, and so the whole burden of the 
 service was left upon the missionary. The only avail- 
 able and comfortable room near to the place of meet- 
 ing, was occupied by the ministers. A cQjnsiderable 
 number of respectable persons had gathered, among 
 whom were Major Mackay of Eriboll, Mr. Mackay 
 of Hope, and several othera. In a corner of "the 
 meeting house," there was a square seat into which 
 heather had been packed, and there, :.uvered with 
 their cloaks, the Major and some others slept. The 
 
 
THE MINISTER OF KILLEARNAN. 
 
 176 
 
 [: 
 
 r9\ 
 
 minister's housekeeper having to furnish the gentry 
 with a light, as i^hey retired to their sleeping place, 
 failed to find a candlestick, and, being anxious to 
 save appearances, was in no small ferment. In great 
 pertui'bation, she came to her master to tell him that 
 the only candlestick she could set before Major 
 Mackay was "a peat with a hole in it." "There 
 was no better candlestick in the stable at Bethlehem," 
 was his only reply to her statement of grievances. 
 He knew well that those about whose comfort 
 Abigail was so anxious, were quite content with 
 whatever provision was made for them. A great 
 crowd of people had gathered, and the parcels of pro- 
 visions which they carried with them were stored 
 behind a screen, formed of a sail hanging from one 
 of the rafters of the meeting-house. Each one came, 
 at stated times, for his parcel, that he might eat his 
 crust beside a stream on the hill-side. In bams they 
 found accommodation during the night. But the 
 Lord was in the midst of them, and many felt His 
 saving power and saw His glory during that com- 
 munion season. On Monday, in particular, so much 
 of the Lord's presence was enjoyed by His people, 
 that, to many of them, it was the happiest day of 
 their life. When the time for parting came, none 
 had courage to say "farewell" to the minister. They 
 lingered around him, and followed him to the house; 
 and, before they sepai^ated, he and they sat down 
 together, to a refreshment in the open air. That over, 
 they walked together towards an eminence, over 
 which the people had to pass. On reaching the 
 summit, they stood around the minister as he prayed, 
 and couimended them to the care of the Good Shep- 
 
 i ■ 
 
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 i~»i« iii "; rin m i ii| i Li »i || i gJ ifTf-l 
 
PMIH 
 
 
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 H 
 
 
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 #' 
 
 THE MINISTER OF KILLEARNAN. 
 
 herd of Israel. He t,hen said to them, as tears ran 
 down his cheeks, "This is pleasant, my dear friends, 
 bat it must end ; we need not expect unbroken com- 
 munion, either with each other or with the Lord, 
 till we all reach in safety our home in heaven;" and, 
 without trusting himself to bid them farewell, he 
 turned away from them, and they, each one weeping 
 as he went, took their respective journeys to their 
 homes. 
 
 In 1 81 6, he was called to be assistant to Mr. "Wra. 
 Mackenzie, minister of Assynt. He had been enabled 
 to decide unhesitatingly, and at once, that it was his 
 duty to accept the offered appointment. What his 
 reasons for this decision were, and how the Lord had 
 revealed His mind to him, there are now no means of 
 ascertaining. But the issue proved that the Lord had 
 indeed taken him by the hand to guide him. No 
 sooner did the people become aware of his intention to 
 remove from Eriboll, than grief and consternation 
 spread over the district. Donald Macpherson was the 
 only one who sympathised with him, being persuaded 
 that the Lord was calling him away. To the rest, and 
 even to the best of the people, it seemed very unlikely 
 that the Lord, who had not ceased to countenance his 
 labours among them, should take him from them in 
 the very midst of his usefulness. For p time, they 
 would listen to no argument on the subject ; they 
 wished to retain their minister ; they could not see the 
 Lord's hand in his removal, and, with tears and en- 
 treaties, they besought him to reconsider his decision 
 and still to remain among them. One after another 
 would wait upon him ; groups would be watching for 
 him whenever he went abroad ; each one whom he 
 
 w 
 
« 
 
 THE MINISTER OP SJLLEARNAN. 
 
 177 
 
 met was weeping at the sight of him ; and the congre- 
 gation always now pairted in tears. All this was ex- 
 tremely paxnful to him, but could not move him from 
 his purpose. He knew what the Lord would have 
 him to do, and he was resolved, at any cost, to follow 
 His leading. At last, prayer-meetings were held by 
 the people, and they were brought to ask for direction 
 "from on high ;" and, ultimately, they came to a sober 
 and resigned state of mind and feeling. Doiiald Mac- 
 pherson's influence greatly contributed to this result. 
 The night before his departure, a deputation waited 
 on him, and intimated to him that they could no 
 longer oppose his removal, as they believed it was of 
 the Lord, although it was, on that account, more 
 painful to their hearts, fearing, as they did, that by 
 their abuse of the gospel they had sinned it away. 
 All that they now could do, they said, was to cross, 
 as often as they could, the hills between them and 
 the scene of his future labours. The state of feeling, 
 thus indicated by the people, must have been grati- 
 fying to their minister, as it was creditable to them- 
 selves. 
 
 The actual parting had now come, and rarely has 
 there been a more affecting scene than that through 
 which he had to pass on the day of his departure from 
 EriboU. His servant, yet alive, remembers it most 
 vividly. Strong men were bathed in tears, women 
 in groups were wailing as he passed, and all watched 
 to get the last look of him as he went out of sight. 
 His servant, who followed him at some distance, 
 hearing the sound of sobbing from behind a wall, 
 went up to the place from which it issued, and 
 found Mrs. Major Mackay and Mrp. Mackay, Skerra, 
 
 I 
 
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 Liuii.i|i|i)iiiL«pn 
 
 nil v.4MWAi)9w>>pxinnippiimipi 
 
 mmmmm 
 
 * 
 
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 ■ij^. 
 
 178 
 
 THE MINISTER OP KILLEARNAN. 
 
 seated there and weeping bitterly. Poor Barbara 
 could not refrain from joining in the chorus of grief. 
 One of the ladies, turning to her, said, " Little cause 
 have you to weep this day ; could we follow him, as 
 you do, we would soon dry our teara." Their pity 
 was reserved that day for those who remained in 
 Eriboll. 
 
 Mr. William Mackenzie, the minister of Assynt, 
 was almost all a minister ought not to be, yet he con- 
 tinued to occupy his charge till his death. Always 
 accustomed ^o regard his pastoral work as an unplea- 
 sant condition of his drawing his stipend, he reduced 
 it to the smallest possi bio dimensions, and would not 
 unfrequently be absent, without reason and without 
 leave, for many weeks from his charge. This was the 
 usual practice, in these days, of the moderate stipend- 
 lifters of Sutherland. The visit of one of thim to 
 Ross-shire would be an affair of a month's length, at 
 the least, and the people never clamoured for his re- 
 turn. The beadle, who was also the parson's gillie, 
 invariably accompanied the mmister on these excur- 
 sions. In one case the beadle was also the piper of 
 the district, .and during his absence with the minister, 
 on one of his jaunts, a parishioner was asked when 
 he expected the minister to return. " I don't know, 
 and 1 don't care," was his reply ; " if he had only 
 left the piper, he might stop away as long as he 
 pleased." 
 
 During the latter part of his life, " Parson 
 William" was much addicted to drink. This a/ub 
 known to the Presbytery, but could not easily be 
 proved. The peojile wcir unwilling to compldn, 
 and to give evidence against him. The awe of his 
 
 \ 
 
THE MINISTER OF KILLEARNAN. 
 
 179 
 
 office was on them in spite of all the irregularity of 
 his life, and as a man and a neighbour he was rather 
 a favourite. Such of them as might have been ex- 
 pected to act differently, cherished the hope of his 
 yet seeing the error of his ways ; and while they en- 
 jd|nd the privilcg. s of the ^Dspel, under the ministry 
 of his assistant, Ihey let " Parson William " aione. 
 
 There was the least possible intercourse between 
 the paraon and his assistant. Consulting him only 
 when ab.solutel)' necessary, the assistant carried on 
 tW parochial work in his own way, and was generally 
 not interfered with. The parish was extensive and 
 populous, and the church inconveniently situated. 
 It was necessary, therefore, to divide the parish into 
 districts, each with its preaching station, whore the 
 minister was expected to officiate in course. 
 
 His work, in Assynt, was early blessed, and w£is 
 made effectual for good during the whole of his 
 ministry thero. Very seldom has so much been done 
 in so short a time in the conversion of sinners, and 
 in the edification of the body of Christ, as was done 
 during the j^eriod of his labours in Assynt. There 
 were then converted unto God many young men 
 who, to old age, and in various districts of the High- 
 lands to which they were scattered, bore fruit, to the 
 praise of the Lord, and to the good of His Church. 
 Assynt then became a nursery of Gaelic school- 
 masters and citcchists, who were afterwards trans- 
 planted throughout the north and the v est, and were 
 known as " trees of righteousness, the planting of 
 the Lord," wherever they were placed. Of those 
 who were then " turned from darkness into light," 
 many, both men and women, were eminent for godli- 
 
 ^'' ' 
 
180 
 
 THE MINISTER OP KILLEARNABT. 
 
 1 
 
 ness and usefulness ; and there was a peculiarity of 
 feeling and of sentiment about them all that made 
 them marked as a class. This was due to the deep im- 
 pressions their early training had left upon their 
 minds. 
 
 To those days of power in Assynt were bound the 
 sweetest memories of those who then enjoyed the 
 presence of tlie Lord. Often in tears have they 
 spoken of them afterwards, amidst the dreariness and 
 trials of the way of the wilderness ; and from many a 
 broken heart, and in many an hour of sadness, has 
 the remembrance of them wrung the cry, " Oh ! that 
 I were as in months past, as in the days when God 
 preserved me ; when his candle shined upon mine 
 head." 
 
 Amidst his hi^piness and success in his labours 
 in Assynt he had to bear what, in some respects, was 
 the greatest trial of his life. Among the young men 
 who then began to make a profession of godliness 
 was one, perhaps the most talented of them all. 
 Norman Macleod, known before as a clever, irrever- 
 ent, forward youth, began all of a sudden to join 
 himself to the people of the Lord. Claiming to have 
 been converted in a way at least unusual if not 
 miraculous, he all at once started in the course of 
 profession, at a stature and with a courage that 
 seemed never to have known a childhood at all. 
 He began at once to prepare for the ministry. But 
 Norman's ambition to preach outgrew the slow pro- 
 cess of the stated course of preparation, and, cutting 
 short his college studies, he separated from the 
 Church, and began to found a sect for himself. His 
 power, as a speaker, was such that he could not fiiil 
 
 
THE MINISTER OF KILLEARNAN. 
 
 181 
 
 to make an impression ; and he succeeded, in Assynt 
 and elsewhere, in drawing some of the people after 
 him for a time. His influence over those whom he 
 finally detached from a stated ministry was para- 
 mount, and he could carry them after him to almost 
 any extreme. A few of the people in Assynt were 
 drawn int permanent dissent, and but for the 
 influence that was brought to bear in counteraction 
 of his movement, the whole body of the people would 
 have b'^en quite severed from the Church. Some, 
 even of the pious people, were decoyed by him for a 
 season, who escaped from his influence thereafter ; 
 and the people remained, as a body, unbroken. 
 The anxiety and disappointment of this trying season 
 were peculiarly painful to my father, but the Lord 
 was with him to encourage his heart and to streng- 
 then his hanas. This discipline, though trying was 
 profitable. It kept him humble, when there was 
 much to elate him ; sharpened his discernment, and 
 doubled his watchfulness, in his future dealings with 
 professora ; and gave him an opportunity of estimat- 
 ing the motives in which divisive courses usually 
 spring. 
 
 It was while in Assynt his marriage took place, an 
 event in which he saw at the time, and loved to trace 
 thereafter, tlio working of tlie Lord's own hand. 
 Disposed to love him with all the ardour of a first 
 attachment, }:reparcd to reverence, as her husband, 
 him who had firat espoused her to Christ, and with 
 prudence, of which her whole subsequent life was an 
 unvarying proof, his wife was truly " a good thing," 
 of the Lord's own giving. His happiness in his 
 marriage was sweuteucd by the asaurance that he 
 
182 
 
 THE MINISTER OP KILLEARNAN. 
 
 ^ 
 
 would not have to bear the pain of surviving his 
 wife. This anticipation, which he declared at the 
 time, seemed very unlikely to be verified during 
 the years that succeeded, throughout which he con- 
 tinued in the vigour of unbroken health, while his 
 partner often lay at the very gates of death. But 
 " the secret of the Lord is with them that feur 
 Him," and the pleasing anticipation by which the 
 Lord sweetened the enjoyment of his wedded life 
 was in due time realized. 
 
 ■#' 
 
 # 
 
mrk 
 
 CHAPTER III. 
 
 Killearnan — The State of the Parish before 1813— Mr Kennedy's 
 Induction — His Father's Death — Anecdotes — The Old Church 
 — Mr. K.'s Usual Services — His Domestic Life — His Elders — 
 His First Diet of Catechising — The Conversion of the Cham- 
 pion of rrolacy— The Pensioners, Alexander McDonald and 
 Alexaiider M'Leod— Old M'Farquhar — Colin of the Peats 
 — Sandy Dallas — David Munro— The Cutterman — Mary 
 M'Rae. 
 
 The parish of Killearnan is pleasantly situated, along 
 the northern shore of the Beauly Frith. It derives 
 its name, according to tradition, from the grave of 
 " lernan, a Danish prince, wlio fell in battle on its 
 confines ; where Cairniernan still exists." It extends 
 five miles along the shore, and stretches back, two 
 miles to the north, till it reaches' the brow of the 
 Black Isle, which, because of its covering of furze, 
 bears the Celtic name of Maolbuie. 
 
 Quite near to the shore stands Redcastlcj which, 
 owing to its traditional history, was so famous as to 
 have covered the whole parish with its name. It was 
 once a stronghold, and was the scene of some rather 
 famous exploits, during the wara of the Stuarts, as 
 well as in earlier times. Near it, Montrose is said 
 to have been encamped, when tidings reached him of 
 the death of Charles. An old manuscript) in the 
 
I' r^ 
 
 
 IP 
 
 '*# 
 
 184 
 
 ■^ 
 
 THE MINISTEB OP KILLEARNAN. 
 
 hands of the minister, who preceded my father, con- 
 tained the following lines, said to have been written 
 by Montrose, with the point of his sword, on receipt 
 of the intelligence: — 
 
 " Great, good, and just, could t but rate 
 My griefs, and thy so rigid fate, 
 I'd weep the world to such a strain, 
 As should it deluge o'er again. 
 But, since thy loud-tongued blood demands supplies, 
 More from Briareus' hands, than Argus' eyes, 
 I'll sing thy obsequies with trumpet sounds. 
 And write thy epitaph with blood and wounds." 
 
 In former times, the whole parish was under the 
 rule of the Mackenzies, and the people being yet in 
 a state of serfdom, followed their lairds wherever they 
 chose to lead them. This will account for the strenu- 
 ous opposition to the Whig ministers, which distin- 
 guished the parishioners of Killearnan, till the first 
 half of the eighteenth century had passed. 
 
 Mr. John M' Arthur, the first Presbyterian 
 minister after the Revolution, was settled in 1719 ; 
 and he had but a sorry life, during his brief ministry 
 at Killearnan. He was succeeded, though perhaps 
 not immediately, by Mr Donald Fraser, the father of 
 Dr. Fraser, Kirkhill, who, about the year 1745, was 
 translated to Ferintosh. He declared, before his re- 
 moval, that he would not leave Killeainaii if there 
 was one man, woman, or child, in all the parish, 
 who would ask him to remain. Besides these, and 
 before 1758, two others, Messrs. Robertson and 
 Williamson, were ministers of the parish. In that 
 year, Mr. David Denoon was inducted. The state of 
 the parish, when he became its minister, is thus de- 
 
 ^^1 
 

 I 
 
 ■$r- 
 
 THE MINISTER OF KILLEARNAN. 
 
 186 
 
 scribed by his son, who succeeded him: — "The, 
 generality of the inhabitants were then ignorant in 
 the extreme, and much disaffected towards our civil 
 and ecclesiastical establishments. As a striking in- 
 stance of this, the following circumstance is men- 
 tioned : — The late incumbent was settled minister of 
 this parish in 1758 ; he, eight months thereafter, 
 publicly intimated after sermon, his intention of 
 catechising the inhabitants of a particular district, on 
 the following Tuesday ; but on going to the house, 
 which he had fixed on as the place of meeting, not 
 above three miles from the church, he found a con- 
 vention of only a few old women. Having never before 
 seen their minister, they appeared much agitated, 
 telling him, however, that he might have saved him- 
 self the trouble of coming to their town, as they had 
 no whisky. They retired, one by one, and alarmed 
 the neighbourhood, by saying, that a strange excise- 
 man had just come to such a house. Since that 
 period," he adds, " the change is striking ; the assi- 
 duity of the minister, in the discharge of his paro- 
 chial duties, was attended with mach success." "The 
 house of God is now attended with regularity and de- 
 votion ; they have learned, not indeed the cheerless 
 refinements of niurlem philosophy, inxt, in the perusal 
 of the Gospel of peace, to find a healing balm to 
 soothe and Comfort them under the pressure of all the 
 calamities of life." The good work, begun xinder the 
 ministry of the elder Mr. Denoon, continued to make 
 progress under that of his son. The latter died in 
 1806. 
 
 At the time of my father's induction, there were 
 upwards of 300 Episcopalians in the pai'iah, in whom 
 
wmm 
 
 ^p-^rp 
 
 186 
 
 THE MINISTER OF KILLEARNAN. 
 
 were found, surviving all the changes that had trans- 
 formed the whole country around them, much of the 
 ignorance of Scotland's old heathenism, much of the 
 superstition of its Popery, and much of the disaffec- 
 tion of its Jacobitism. Apart from these, the people 
 were now regular, in their attendance on the means 
 of grace, in the parish church, neighbourlike in their 
 habits, and with a sprinkling, among them, of the 
 Lord's " peculiar people." 
 
 For nearly seven years, before my father's settle- 
 ment, the parish had been vacant, owing to a dispute 
 as to the right of its patronage, between the Crown 
 and the representative of the Cromarty family. In 
 coming to Killearnan at first, he looked forward to 
 the prospect of being minister of Lochbroom, the 
 scene of his first stated labours, as a preacher ; but 
 insi ;ad of a presentation to that parish j he obtained 
 and accepted a gift of the living at Killearnan. 
 After labouring as an ordained missionary, in the 
 ) parish, for nearly a year, receiving, for his services, a 
 small moiety of the vacant stipend, his induction 
 took place in 1813. 
 
 During the same year, his father's death took place; 
 an event which, owing to the double tie that bound 
 them, he could not but have deeply felt. Sweet to 
 both, had been the occasional visits, which, since he 
 had begun to preach, lie paid to his father ; and they 
 were as profitable as they were pleasant. On these 
 occasions, he always preached in his native parish. 
 Once, while preaching there, on a Sabbath, he said, 
 in a very marked and emphatic way, " There is one 
 now present, who, before coming into the meeting, 
 was engaged in bargaining about his cattle, regardless 
 
 M>n«dflUin>MM«rtMMNHMMMI 
 
THE MINISTER OF KILLEARNAIT. 
 
 187 
 
 alike of the day, and of the eye, of the Lord. Tliou 
 knowest that I speak the truth, and listen, while I 
 declare to thee, that if the Lord ever hath mercy on 
 thy soul, thou wilt yet be reduced to seek as alms 
 thy daily bread." The confidence with which this 
 was said, was soon and sorely tried ; luid he passed a 
 sleepless night, under the fear that he had spoken 
 ^^ unadvisedly. At breakfast, next morning, in his 
 "f * father's house, several neighbouring farmera were pre- 
 sent, one of whom said to him, as they sat at table, 
 " How did you know that I was selling my heifers 
 yesterday to the drover 1" " Did you do so T my 
 father quietly asked him. " I can't deny it," was the 
 farmer's answer. Directing on him one of his search- 
 ing glances, the minister said, "Remember the warn- 
 ing that was given you, for you will lose either your 
 soul or your substance." " But will you not tell me 
 hew you knew it ?" the farmer asked. The only 
 reply to this was, in the words of Scripture, " The 
 secret of the Lord is with them that fear him." 
 Some of those who heard the warning given to him, 
 were often applied to for alms by that farmer, during 
 the latter years of his life. 
 
 On another occasion, in the same place, while 
 warning sinners of their danger in a Christless state, 
 he suddenly paused, and in a subdued and solemn 
 tone, said, " There is a sinner in this place, very ripe 
 for destruction, who shall this night be suddenly 
 summoned to a judgment-seat." Next morning, the 
 neighbours observed flames issuing from a hut, not 
 far from the " meeting house," which was occupied 
 by a woman, notorious for immorality, and in which, 
 when they were able to enter, they found but the 
 charred bones of its miserable tenant. 
 
i 
 
 188 
 
 THE MINISTER OP KILLEARNAN. 
 
 These are indubitable facts ; if not, they were not 
 recorded here ; though perhaps some may sneer as 
 they read them, and others may shake their wise 
 heads over the supposed imprudence of stating them. 
 A little careful thinking on the subject, might help 
 one to see that, by means of the written word, under 
 the guiding hand of His Spiri|, the Lord may give 
 such intimations of His will in a way very diflFerent 
 from the direct inspiration of prophecy, and that ends 
 are served, by these communications of His mind, 
 that make it far from improbable, the Lord may hi«ve 
 given them — ^for thereby His servants are encouraged, 
 their hands are strengthened in their work, and proof 
 is pressed on the consciences of the ungodly, that the 
 true Israel of God are a " people near unto Him." 
 And it is to simple and uneducated people, unable to 
 appreciate the standing evidences of the gospel, we 
 might expect the Lord to give such tokens of His 
 presence with those who preach it. ' The improba- 
 bility of such things, to the minds of some, is owing 
 to their own utter estrangement from the Lord. 
 This is not the only secret, connected with the life 
 of godliness, which is hidden from them. They 
 know not yet some secrets in that life of which it is 
 death to be ignorant. It is not, to its occasional 
 accessories merely, that they are strangers, but to its 
 very essentials, and fet who so ready as they, to pass 
 judgment on every one of its mysteries. It is a 
 strange fact, that the only subject of wJiich one can 
 know absolutely nothing, without special teaching 
 from on high, is, of all others, the one on which the 
 mo it* benighted of all the " children of darkness," 
 thiiiks himself qualified to pronounce. The man 
 
 ,M^ 
 
THE MINISTER OP KILLEARNABT. 
 
 189 
 
 who would shrink from direcsting the blacksmith in 
 shoeing his horse, unless he had studied and practised 
 his trade, will, before one lesson has been given him 
 by the Lord, pass judgment off-hand, witli all the 
 airs of an adept, on the hidden life of the people, 
 who alone have " the secret of the Lord." There 
 lire some, even of the godly, who are strangers to 
 any such intimations of the will of their Father ; 
 but, the longer they live, the less disposed will they 
 be, to measure, by their own experience, the attain- 
 ments of others of their brethren. » 
 
 The church of Killearnan, till within two years of 
 my father's death, was almost as bad as it could be. 
 Built in the form of a cross, with the pulpit at one 
 of the angles, its bam-like roof unceiled, its windows 
 broken, its doors all crazy, its seats ill -arranged, and 
 pervaded by a dim uncertain light, it was a dismal 
 dingy-looking place within. But all applications for 
 a new church, or for a sufficient repair of the old, 
 were refused by the heritors. Tradesmen were found 
 to declare, that the church was perfectly safe, and, 
 whether it was comfortable or not, the heritors did 
 not care, as they never sat in it themselves. Strange 
 to say, the heritor, who chiefly opposed the applica- 
 tion for a new church, lost soon after, by fire, much 
 more than his share of the expense of erecting it ; 
 the carpenter, who declared the old church to be 
 "gjood and sufficient," was killed, while going to 
 purchase the wood, required for the trifling repair 
 that was granted ; and the lawyer, who represented 
 the heritors at the presbytery, when the application 
 for a new church was refused, was unable thereafter 
 to transact any business. These are facts, and no 
 
 t 
 
m 
 
 190 
 
 THE MINISTER OP KILLEARNAN. 
 
 
 f i 
 
 comment on them is to be added ; but there were 
 some who regarded them as the echo from providence, 
 of the voic3 that proclaimeth, "touch not mine 
 anointed, and Jo my prophets no harm." 
 
 His first sermon, as minister of Killeaman, was 
 on the text — " God forbid that I should glory, save 
 in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ ; " and not 
 more suroly was this the text of his first sermon, than 
 it was the rule of all his ministry there. The plan 
 which he had formed, of conducting his work, and 
 the measure of regular service, which be had allotted 
 to himself, at the outset, he was enabled, without in- 
 termission, to follow and to fill up, to the very last 
 week of his life. He preached thrice every Sabbath, 
 held a fortnightly meeting on Monday, and delivered 
 a monthly lecture on Thursday. He catechised his 
 people every year, aud visited the sick, as occasion 
 required, or as the Lord might direct liim. On Sab- 
 bath, the chuich was almost invariably overcrowded ; 
 the Monday meetings were well attended ; and the 
 church would be nearly full on the Thursday of the 
 lecture, although the service was during the day, and 
 in a busy country parish. These monthly lectures 
 were specially addressed to the people of God, and 
 often were they signally blessed. These days were 
 known to be faasting times to the heritage of the 
 Lord, and from great distances, were they accustomed 
 to gather, to share in the provision of Zion. There 
 were also, invariably, sermons preached on Christmas, 
 and on New Year's Day, both tibese being idle days 
 in the parish ; and seldom, if ever, did either of them 
 pass, without " a brand " being " plucked from the 
 
THE MINISTER OP KILLEARNAN. 
 
 191 
 
 fire," or one oi the Lord's people receiving special 
 help and comfort, in the old church of Killearnan. 
 
 During all his ministry at Killearnan, he was 
 accustomed to preach, on communion occasions, in all 
 the surrounding parishes to which he had access. 
 His journeys often extended to the western shore of 
 the county, to Sutherlandshire in the north, and to 
 Badenoch in the south. His soul never wearied of 
 his Master's work, and his health was never impaired 
 by all these journeyings and preachings. " I wish I 
 could enjoy preaching as you do," a brother minister 
 once said to him ; " to me it is comparatively a toil." 
 " No wonder," he replied, " though I should enjoy it, 
 for if ever I had foretastes of heaven's own joy on the 
 earth, it was while preaching Christ crucified to sin- 
 ners ; " " and never," he said, on another occasion, 
 " did I truly preach the Gospel but while I felt that 
 I myself was the greatest sinner in the congregation." i 
 The mingled labours and joys of these days are now 
 for ever gone by, but the fruit of these labours shall 
 for ever endure, and the fulness of pleasure, of which 
 these joys were a foretaste, is his, in the home of the 
 blessed. 
 
 Of his domestic life but little must be written. 
 The record of much that is pleasant to his son to, 
 remember, would be interesting to but few besides. 
 Both outwardly and spiritually, his was a life of un- 
 usual happiness. Death had never visited his family 
 till sent to summon himself to his home. The 
 partner of his temppral lot was one who, by her 
 watchfulness and wisdom, preserved him from many 
 an annoyance, that might have fretted his spirit and 
 interfered with his work. His home life was, indeed, 
 
~<^«*»M*a»4. 
 
 
 1 
 
 # 
 
 192 
 
 THE MINISTER OF KILLEARNAN. 
 
 a lioly life, tew ever spent more time in secret 
 prayer, or more fully evinced that, on communion ^ 
 with the Lord, their happiness mainly depended. In 
 anything connected with his tempoial lot, beyond its 
 bearing on his work, and on the welfare of his family, 
 he took no interest whatever. Of all the animals 
 about the manse, his favourite pony, that bore him 
 on hifl Gospel errands, was the only one he couldT re- 
 cognise as his own. 
 
 In the eldership in Killeaman during the first 
 years of his ministry there were no " men of mark." 
 There were a few simple-minded praying men, who 
 could have no commanding influence over the people, 
 though their lives did not weaken the littie which 
 they had. John Dingwall, for many years his pre- 
 centor, and one of his eldei"s, was a simple, loving 
 being, living peaceably with all men, and walking 
 ^ humbly with his God. In h s dottage, which ex- 
 tended over the last few years of his life, he read 
 and prayed and sang, and sang and prayed and read, 
 all day long. Every day waa then a Sabbath to 
 John, and every week a communion season. I have 
 heard him ask a blessing five or six times before he 
 would begin iiis dinner. So soon as he was reminded 
 of his dinner being before him, he at once began to 
 ask a blessing, forgetting that he had done so before, 
 until, at last, it became very doubtful whether 
 the dinner would be eaten at all. 
 
 Simon Bisset was, naturally, a very different char- 
 acter. As transparently honeat as John, he was far 
 from being so amiable, and had a much moi-e vigorous 
 intellect. Uncompromising in his opposition to all 
 that ho did not approve, ho was quite as ready to con- 
 
 U <i' 
 
4 
 
 .?•/; 
 
 THE MIKISTl^ OF KILLEARNAN. 
 
 193 
 
 # 
 
 bo 
 
 
 
 16 
 )d 
 
 bo 
 
 re. 
 
 5r 
 
 fess his error Vhen convinred that he "waii wrong. 
 His minister had been the fii*st to introduce a yearly 
 " private communion " — so called because it was spe- 
 cially intended for the benefit of his own congregation 
 alone, and because, being held in winter, not many 
 strangers could be present. Simon was quite opposed 
 to the innovation, because it appeared to him to pre- 
 clude all strangers from the privileges of the feast, 
 and he declared that he would take nothing to do 
 witn the work. ,He kept his resolution till the ^b- 
 bath, but the action sermon of that day quite over- 
 came him, and, no sooner were his services required, 
 for keeping an open passage to the table of the Lord, 
 than he rose to talce Lis place with tears in his eyes. 
 The sermon was on the character of "the good 
 Shepherd." A boy from Contln, just entering on 
 his teens, was standing in the a'sle during the former 
 part of the service, his eyes fixed on the preacher, 
 and an expressioi. of earnestness, and at last of 
 delight, on his face. Simon found him in his way as 
 he went to clear out the passage for communicants, 
 and was about to remove th« boy, when the minister 
 observed him. " Leave him. Simon," he said, " that 
 may be one of the good Shepherd's lambs." The 
 elder was in such a softened, loving mood, that, in 
 presence of all the congregation, he threw his arms 
 around the cliild, and gently placed him on a scat. 
 That interesting boy gave the brightest evidence after- 
 wards of his being " a lamb of the fiock." He had 
 given his heart that day to the Lord, was carried in 
 the arms of the good Shephei*d very swiftly over the 
 wilderness way, and, within a year, he wes added to 
 the fiock that is led by " the Lamb " to the "foun- 
 
''■*^i^^'^mm'ii^'mi^-:m»»..^.,' 
 
 I 
 
 194 
 
 THE MINISTEB OF KILLEABNAN. 
 
 tains of living water " above. The Sabbath service 
 over, honest Simon could not rest till he had con- 
 fessed his fault to the minister. Coming to the 
 manse, he requested an interview, during which he 
 confessed, with tears, how greatly he had erred in 
 opposing the private communion, acknowledged how 
 his soul had been fea«ted during the day, and de- 
 clared hn resolution never to oppose what the Lord 
 had so manifestlv blessed. 
 
 There were others in the eldership whose memories 
 are sweet to those who knew them, but of whom 
 notliing can be written that would be interesting to 
 strangers, besides what may be recorded of every one 
 who walks in tl«e fear of the Lord. 
 
 Soon after his admission, he began to catechise in 
 the east end of the parish, in a district which, at 
 that time, was a colony of Episcopalians. The Epis- 
 copal clergyman himself, either not deigning, or fear- 
 ing to be present, sent his most trusty man to oppose 
 the parish minister in the event of his making any 
 attack on the doctrines or on the practices of his 
 Church. The champion of prelacy was present all 
 the time, and liad to listen to many things that were 
 far from being pleasant, but he had not the courage 
 to cause any inten*uption of the service. But he 
 became bold, like many a warrior before him, just 
 when the field day had passed, end, surcharged with 
 revenge, he waited about the door till the minister 
 came out. Getting tongue at last, he began to abuse, 
 in no measured terms, the minister and his doctrine. 
 Listening quietly for a little, and then fixing one of 
 his piercing looks o'^i the man, the minister spoke a 
 word to his conscience, a» it waa given him at the 
 
 'I 
 
THE MINISfER OF KILLEARNAN. 
 
 195 
 
 time, mourted his horse and was gone. What was 
 spoken to his conscience had reached and had pierced 
 it ; and ^out few days had passed, when the champion 
 of prelacy came to the manse, asking, " What must 
 I do to be saved V The wound was deepened, till 
 the Lord's hand bound it ; and from among the 
 most unpromising of his flock, the Lord thus raised 
 up, as a witness for the truth, the most unpromising 
 individual of them all. 
 
 Inroads continued to be made on the colony of 
 Episcopalians till, some won by the power of grace, 
 and othera drawn by the current of example, only a 
 very few old people were to be found in the parish, 
 &i, the period of my father's death, who crossed the 
 threshold of the Episcopal Church. 
 
 After the peace of 1815, soldiers, who had been 
 engaged in the Peninsular war, returned, as pen- 
 sioners, to their native parishes. In general, they 
 were no acciuisition. Judging of them as they were 
 on their return, Killearnan's share of the rensioners 
 formed no exception to the rule. B it some of them 
 had been preserved amidst all the dangers of cam- 
 paigns and battles, and brought to Killenrnan, that 
 the Lord, in his " time of love," might meet with 
 them there, 
 
 Alexander Macdonald, " a Waterloo man," came 
 to reside in a village quite close to the church. Ad- 
 dicted to drink, and pestered ))y a fretful wife, the 
 poor pensioner led but a miserable life His homo 
 was often the scene of unseemly squabbles. This 
 state of mattere coutinuetl for some time after his re- 
 turn from the Continent. But, at last, tiie day of 
 hia solvation did come. While in church, on an 
 
 
igpr-rii frrri-a 
 
 ^■r 
 
 ''^*>H0mmkmim«m,.,>»... 
 
 196 
 
 THE MINISTER OP HILLEARNAN. 
 
 ordinary Sabbath, the Lord applied the doctrine of 
 the sermon with power to his soul. He was quietly, 
 but effectually, drawn unto Christ by the cords of 
 His love ; and he, who entered church that day in 
 all the indifference of a hardened transgressor, left it 
 rejoicing in the Lord. This was a case in which we 
 might have expected a more protracted and painful 
 preliminary work ; but the Lord is sovereign, and 
 giveth no account of His ways. The pensioner was 
 soon missed by his former companions. Neighbours 
 observed that a calm had settled on his once restless 
 home. He began to attend the prayer and the fellow- 
 ship meetings, and many were wondering what had 
 befallen the pensioner. They had not heard of any 
 process of conAriction of which he had been the sub- 
 ject ; they only knew that he was not now what he 
 used to be before. It was with no small wonder, 
 then, that they saw him rise, within a few months 
 affcer this change, to propose a question at the fellow- 
 ship meeting. Still greater became their surprise 
 when, instead of instantly refusing, the minister most 
 gladly accepted it, expressing, at the same time, his 
 assurance that it was proposed under the guidance 
 of the Lord. The pensioner had not then spoken to 
 the minister in private, and this being known by the 
 p.-'iople, their astonishment was all the greater, be- 
 cause of his manner of receiving the question. But 
 the pensioner's case had been on the minister's heart, 
 and the Lord had led him to expect that he would 
 yet be a witness lor Himself, and had prepared him 
 to receive lii»n as such. That day's meeting '^as 
 countenanced by the Lord, and was an occasion of 
 gladness to minister and people. 
 
THE MINISTER OF KILLEARNAN. 
 
 197 
 
 The pensioner's life, from that day forth, was a 
 striking evidence of the power of grace. A more 
 temperate man there was not in all the parish. His 
 house was a very model of cleanliness and neatness, 
 within and without. His garden was always the 
 neatest, the earliest, and the most productive. His 
 wite continued the impersonation of fretiulness and 
 discontent she ever was before, but never did she 
 draw an angry retort from her husband. Remem- 
 bering his former unkindness, there was no self- 
 denial he would not practise, no drudgery he would 
 not submit to, no expense he would spare, to add to 
 the comfort of his wife. Never was wife more ten- 
 derly treated than she now was, and though an ap- 
 proving smile, or a gi^ateful word, would never be 
 given in exchange for his kindness, the pensioner 
 never wearied in his tender attention to her wants. 
 His was, indeed, the path of the just, and it shore 
 " more and more unto the perfect day." His Chris- 
 tian course was not long, but it was bright. He had 
 Lis burden, but he found it light ; he had his conflict, 
 but it was short ; and, leaving behind him the fra- 
 grant meraoiy of the righteous, he passed into his 
 rest in heaven. 
 
 At a later period, Alexander Macleod returned to 
 the parish. He had been in the grenadier company of 
 his regiment, and a fine looking soldier he must have 
 been. Above six feet in height, he earned himself so 
 erectly, since the days of his drilling, that, when he 
 had on the long cloak which he usually wore, he 
 seemed gigantic in stature. He is " the long pen- 
 sioner" in the memories of my boyhood, and that was 
 the name by which he was known in the parish. He 
 
5*--,' ^---^^JSWyigMiaiKW^Aik**-*- 
 
 198 
 
 THE MINISTER OF KILLEARNAN. 
 
 had been wounded severely during a siege, and left 
 among the dead, when the wounded were carried to 
 the hospital. It was when they came to bury the 
 dead they discovered that Macleod was still breathing. 
 When he was brought to the hospital, his case seemed 
 so hopeless that the surgeons would bestow no atten- 
 tion on his wound, till more promising cases had been 
 treated. At last he was examinedj his wound was 
 dressed, and he gradually recovered, till abb to avail 
 himself of his discharge, £ind to return to his native 
 land. On the first occasion on which he called to pro- 
 cure the attestation of his schedule, in order to the 
 payment of his pension, he walked up proudly to the 
 front door of the manse, and demanded, in a most 
 imperious tone, an audience of the minister. Being 
 admitted to the parlour, he soon began his stories of 
 the war, and so shocked the minister by the profusion 
 of oaths which he mixed up with his narrative, that, 
 after rebuking him, he was compelled to leave the 
 room. A year had not passed when one day " the 
 long pensioner" was seen walking with a hesitating step 
 towards the back-door of the manse, a greater contrast 
 to his former self than he could be to almost any other. 
 On entering, he anxiously asked the g3rvant if the 
 minister was at home. He was evidently in deep 
 distress ; a tremor shook his whole frame, and tears 
 were falling fast from his eyes. His heart had been 
 pierced by the arrow of conviction on the previous 
 Sabbath, and he had now come in deep agony of spirit, 
 seeking an answer to the question, "What must I 
 do to be saved 1" His convictions of sin wore deep, 
 but in the Lord's good time, " the oil of joy" was 
 given him " for mourning, and the garment of praiso 
 
! 
 
 THE MIXISTES OF KILLEARNAN. 
 
 199 
 
 for the spirit of heaviness." For a few years only 
 did he live thereafter. He never recovered from 
 the effects of his wound, but as his bodily vigour was 
 yielding before the progress of disease, his soul was 
 advancing in the knowledge of the truth. It was 
 refreshing to those who delighted in the triumph of 
 grace, to see that noble-looking man, now a broken- 
 hearted sinner, listening to the gospel in tears. 
 Known and trusted as a sincere follower of the 
 Lamb, by all the people of God in the pai'ish, he 
 continued to advance in knowledge and in holiness 
 to the end of his life. One morning, while engaged 
 in prayer, during family worship, he suddenly stopped, 
 laid himself down on the floor, and, without a move- 
 ment thereafter, he expired. 
 
 It is not often that, after three-score years and ten, 
 a sinner is turned " from darkness unto I'ght," and 
 whenever this is done the riches, power, and sove- 
 reignty of grace are gloriously displayed. On this 
 account, other interesting cases of conversion are 
 passed over, to make room for a sample of converts 
 from among the aged. 
 
 Alexander M'Farquhar remembered '45 quite dis- 
 tinctly. He had seen prince Charlie, and had heard 
 the guns on the day of Culloden. Often did he tell, 
 to wondering groups of listeners, his stories of those 
 days, and filling up, from his imagination, the blanks 
 in his memory, marvellous, indeed, were his tales of 
 Charles and his exploits. The Prince, of M'Farqu- 
 har's tales, was a Goliath in height ; his horse could be 
 mounted by ordinary men only by means of a ladder ; 
 and never was Eastern k'ug, glittering all over with 
 gold and jewels, one half so splendid in his attire as 
 
-^*-^<i>iitiiiiiifirftiiiiiiMBii'-i<Miii III 
 
 wmimmm 
 
 tSmSSm 
 
 WPi 
 
 .Jfe- 
 
 200 
 
 THE MINISTER OF KILLEABNAN. 
 
 he, according to MTarquhar's description, who com- 
 manded the clans at CuUoden. Only as a retailer of 
 fiibulous stories of the rebellion, and as a hardened, 
 ignorant, worldly man, was he known, till he had 
 pasied fourscore years and ten. But then, the Lord 
 broke down the strong intrenchments of the kingdom 
 of darkness in that hardened sinner's soul, by the 
 • almighty power of His Spirit, and won him, as a child 
 is won, by the beauty and the love of Christ. He 
 had passed into his dotage then, but he had not gone 
 l^yond the efficacy of the Lord's own teaching. It 
 was wonderful to hear that man, who had lived for 
 ninety years " without God in the world," now de- 
 scribing, with a child's simplicity, his first impres- 
 sions of the Saviour's love. It was through the 
 preaching of the gospel, under which he had sat so 
 long, a listless hearer, that the light first broke in on 
 his long-benighted soul, and he first " tasted that the 
 Lord is gracious." He lived, thereafter, wondering 
 at the change he felt, and at the grace that produced 
 it, till he went in to join the choir, who sing the 
 praises of redeeming love in heaven. His new life 
 was, indeed, a short one, but a light shone upon it, 
 in which all around him saw that he was departing 
 " from hell beneath." 
 
 Still older, was " Colin of the peats," as the school- 
 boys called him, before the light of truth dawned on 
 his darkened soul. One of my earliest memories is 
 the visit of old Colin to the school, with his little cart 
 of peats. We then thought him to be a century old, 
 and his pony's age was reckoned at almost half its 
 owner's. Up to his hundredth year, he continued a 
 dark earthworm, without a thought about his soul, or 
 
THE UINISTEB OF KILLEABNAN. 
 
 301 
 
 18 
 
 one care about its safety. His mind, never vigorous, 
 was then in the weakness of a second childhood ; and 
 if there was one on earth that seemed quite beyond 
 the reach of grace, it was old " Colin of the peats." 
 Able yet to walk, he was regularly in Church. After 
 a Sabbath, on which he was observed to have a wake- 
 ful, earnest expression on his deeply furrowed face, 
 he came to his minister. " I saw a most beautiful 
 one last Sabbath," the old man said, as he sat down 
 in the study. " Where did you see him ?" he was 
 asked. " In the sermon," was Colin's answer. 
 "What was his appearance, Colin?" "Oh, he >^ 
 fairer than the sons of men ; I can't tell what he was 
 like, for he was altogether lovely." His minister then 
 asked, " What effect had the sight of Him on your 
 heart 1" " Oh, he quite took my heai-t from me," 
 was Colin's simple and touch'jg answer. This was 
 all that he, then in his dotage, could tell about the 
 change through which he passed. But, thereafter, 
 old Colin thought and spoke of Christ, of whom he 
 had never thought nor spoken before, and he cared 
 now to think and speak of none and nothing else. 
 The little exercise of intellect, now left in Colin's 
 mind, was bathed in gospel light, and the old man's 
 broken heart gave forth, with all the freshness of a 
 child's affection, the savour of the love of Christ. A 
 year of this new life was added to the century, dur- 
 ing which he lived "without God in the world,'' 
 and then he quietly " fell asleep." * 
 
 More marked and evident was the conversion of 
 old Sandy Dallas. Till he reached his seventieth 
 year, there was not, in all the parish, a more worldly 
 and insensate man than he. He regularly came to 
 
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 ^."i::v',.;'^. ...-rii»l^.atyi..a««)^.ltM«i|^|.|^>.^^ . 
 
 202 
 
 THE MINISTER OF KILLEARNAN. 
 
 S 
 
 church, but he gave not even his ear to the gospel ; 
 for no preacher and no sermon could keep Sandy 
 awake. Busy, late and early, with his farm- work all 
 the week, and thinking of nothing else. Sabbath was 
 to him a day of rest, just as he could make it a day 
 of sleep. He chose to take his nap, in his pew in 
 church, rather than on his bed at home, but this was 
 all his concession to the claims of conscience. It was 
 about six yeai's before my father's death, that the long 
 slumber of his soul was broken. The first indication 
 of a change was his earnest attention to the word 
 preached. He, who used to sleep out the whole ser- 
 vice in church, now fixed his eye — and he had but 
 one — on the preacher, and with rivetted attention, 
 and in tears, seemed to drink in with eagerness all 
 that was spoken. On leaving the house of God, he 
 was now observevi to choose a retired path, to walk 
 in, apart from the crowd ; and, though his house was 
 only about a mile from the church, hours would pass 
 before he reached it. The elder of his district, ob- 
 serving this, resolved to follow him, that he might 
 ascertain how he employed his time by the way. He 
 could easily conceal himself firom Sandy, while only 
 a short interval separated them. He approached him 
 closely enough to hear his voice, as he repeated all 
 he could remember of the sermon, and to notice that, 
 when his memory failed him, lie knelt to pray for 
 help, to recollect what he had lost ; and that, when 
 any note particularly impressed him, he would again 
 kneel to pray, asking now the Lord to preserve it in 
 his memory, and to apply it effectually to his soui. 
 This was, thereafter, his usual practice in retiring 
 from the house of God. In course of the following 
 
THE HINISTEB OF KILLEAHNAN. 
 
 203 
 
 year, he applied for admission to the table of the 
 Lord, and was cordially received by both the minister 
 and the elders. Among the many who came to look 
 on my father's remains, after his death, was Sandy 
 Dallas, and, of them all, there was not a more heart- 
 stricken mourner. Grasping, convulsively, the post 
 of the bed on which the corpse was stretched, all hia 
 sobbing voice could utter were the words, " He there, 
 and I here !" He survived his minister a few years, 
 during which he gave ample evidence of his affections 
 being now " set on things above." All he now did 
 about the farm was occasionally to herd the cattle, 
 and even then he passed his time in reading, and in 
 prayer and praise ; others complaining that the herd- 
 ing was spoiled by the praying, and he himself com- 
 plaining that the pi-aying was spoiled by the herding. 
 The freshness of his spiritual feeling waned not with 
 his decaying intellect and strength, and, as an humble 
 follower of the Lamb, he passed the remnant of hia 
 days on earth. 
 
 David Munro, till within two years of his death, 
 was the moat notorious drunkard in the parish. Sel- 
 dom sober, and only so when he could not manage to 
 get drink, he passed a beastly life, till he approached 
 fourscore years of age. But all this time he was 
 regularly in the house of God. This, and his terror 
 of the minister, were the only evidences of his not 
 being quite abandoned. His dread of my father had 
 all the power of a passion. There was no effort he 
 would not make to avoid encountering him. But 
 an occasion occurred, in which he was under the 
 necessity of meeting him. One of his daughters waa 
 about to be married, and her fitther must, of course. 
 
 ■ 
 
204 
 
 THE MINISTER OF KILLEARNAV. 
 
 f 
 
 come " to speak to the minister," for such was the 
 stern custom of the parish. He could not avoid 
 meeting the minister on the marriage day, at any 
 rate, so he resolved to come to speak to him in the 
 manse. He came, but in such a state of fear, that it 
 was with difficulty he could mount the stair to the 
 study. H^ came out of it, after a short interview, 
 bathed in tears. Meeting the minister s wife, he said 
 to her, "Oh, I expected to meet a lion in the study, 
 but I found a lamb ;" and, quite overcome by the 
 kindness he had met with, he renewed his weeping. 
 His case had been on her heart before, and on those 
 of other praying people, and her feeling towards him 
 was such that she could not refrain from saying, 
 " Would that the power of grace transformed your- 
 self, David, into a lamb." "Who knows, who knows, 
 but it may," he said, as he hurried olf. Not long 
 after, he was laid low by sickness, and nothing would 
 satisfy him now but a visit from the minister, whom 
 he so dreaded to meet before. My father went to see 
 him, and his visits were blessed to the poor drunkard. 
 After a deep work of conviction, he was led to the 
 only good foundation of a sinner's hope, and lived 
 long enough to give evideL -a-. -, which assured the hearts 
 of many, who were no^ c .dily satisfied, ti-at he waa 
 verily "a brand plucked ^rom the fire." 
 
 Another case is linked with David's in the memo- 
 ries of those days, just because the convert had been 
 a di'unkard also. Returning home, on a dark night, 
 after preaching at Dingwall, my father heard a moan 
 by the wayside, which arrested his attention, and on 
 dismounting, he found a poor wretch lying in the 
 ditch, helplessly drunk, and almost strangled. Kais- 
 
THE HINISTEB OF KILLEARNAN. 
 
 205 
 
 ing, he supported him, as he led his hoi'se to a house 
 at a little distance. There the poor man lay till he 
 had the drunkard's wretched waking next morning. 
 The story of his rescue was told him next day, and 
 it so wrought upon his mind, that he resolved to go 
 to thank the person, who had so kindly taken care of 
 him. He could not summon courago to pay his visit 
 till that day had passed. Arriving at the manse of 
 Killeaman a little after midday on the Thursday of 
 the monthly lecture, he found that the minister had 
 gone to church, and that there was public worship 
 there, that day. He went to the house of God, the 
 Lord met with his soul, and he who had been the 
 means, so lately, of extending his life on earth, was 
 now, besides, the means of leading him into the way 
 of life eternal. 
 
 A more interesting case than any yet given, must 
 now be added, as the last in the sample of converts 
 in Killeaman. Mary Macrae lived in Lochbroom, 
 till she was more than fifty years of age. She was 
 regarded by all her acquaintances . as a witless 
 creature that could not be trusted, as she herself 
 used afterwards to say, " even with the washing of a 
 pot." The little intellect she had was in a state of 
 utter torpor, nothing moved it into activity. Any 
 attempt to educate her was regarded as quite hope- 
 less. Her life was indeed a cheerless waste, during 
 her " years of ignorance." Regarded as a simpleton 
 by her neighbours, and as a burden by her relatives, 
 she was a stranger even to the happiness which 
 human kindness gives ; and no light or joy from 
 heaven had yet reached her alienated soul. On a 
 Saturday, as she sat by the fire in her bothy in 
 
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 wm 
 
 206 
 
 THE HINISTEB OF KILLEARNAN. 
 
 Lochbroom, the idea of going to Killeaman came 
 into her mind. Whence, or how, it came to her, she 
 could not tell, but she found it in her mind, and she 
 could not shake it out. She rose from her seat, 
 threw on her cloak, and started for Killearnan. Sue 
 had never been there before, although she had often 
 heard it spoken of ; the journey was long and lone- 
 some, but she kept on her way, and asking direction 
 as she went on, she at last reached the old church of 
 Killeaman, as the people were assembling on the 
 Sabbath morning. Following the people, she entered 
 the church. During the sermon, the voice of the 
 Son of God was heard by Mary's quickened soul. 
 She saw His beauty as no child of darkness ever saw 
 it, and with her heart she said, before she left the 
 church that day, " I am the Lord's." 
 
 Never, from that day till her death, did Mary re- 
 turn to her former home. Where she had found the 
 Lord, there she resolved to cast her lot. But the 
 joy of her espousals was soon rudely broken, and 
 deep, for a season, was the agony of her soul there- 
 after. I used to know h#r then, as " foolish Mary," 
 and wondered what could move ray father to admit 
 her to his study, but the time came, when I accounted 
 it one of the highest privileges of ray lot, thiit I 
 could admit her to ray own. By degrees, she was 
 raised out of the depths of her sore distress. Mar- 
 vellous was the rainuteness with which Mary's case 
 was dealt with by the preacher, Sabbath after Sab- 
 btth. Every fear was raet, every difficulty solved, 
 that di.^'trcsaed and troubled her ; and she, whom 
 '* the wise and prudent " would despi-se, seemed the 
 special favourite of heaven, among all the children of 
 
 
" 
 
 THE HINISTEB OF KILLEARNAiC. 
 
 207 
 
 Zion, who were fed in KiJleaman, Her mind was 
 opened up to understand the truth, in a way quite 
 peculiar, and she was led into a course of humble 
 walking with her God. 
 
 Owing to the feebleness of her intellect, Rhe could 
 directly apprehend only a Iqgical statement of the 
 very simplest kind. The truth was first pictured, in 
 an allegory, in her imagination, and then, holding the 
 statement of it before her understanding, and its 
 symbol beside it, she examined and compared them 
 both ; able to receive from the former, into her under- 
 standing, only what was made clear by the latter, and 
 refusing to receive from the latter, into her heart, all 
 that did not accord with the former. Regarding a 
 merely imaginative as necessarily a merely carnal view 
 of spiritual truths, one could not but be staggered, at 
 first, before Mary's habits of thought. But, in course 
 of time, they would furnish to a wise observer, a very 
 distinct delineation of the proper offices of the various 
 mental facilities, in relation to "the things of God." 
 Being all feeble, each required to do its utmost, in its 
 own peculiar place, ere a truth, presented to her mind, 
 could reach her heart. Because of this they could 
 the more easily be seen at work, in all her mental 
 processes. Her imagination was employed, in intro- 
 ducing the truth into her understanding ; and this 
 must always be its handmaid work, about "the things 
 of God." It must not convey the truth directly to 
 the heart ; it nnist only help its passages thither, 
 through the understanding. When it pssumes a 
 more lordly function, the light which it furnish*^, 
 cannot be safe, nor the fueling which it produces 
 healthful. 
 
 I. 
 
wmmmmmmmm 
 
 208 
 
 THE MINISTER OF KILLEABNAV. 
 
 Like the sickly child in a family, Mary vran all the 
 more closely and tenderly dealt with, owing to her 
 very feebleness. Her imagination could not form the 
 emblem required to assist her understanding ; and the 
 illustrations she employed, seemed to have been the 
 Lord's own suggestions. She could not read, and in 
 her feeble memory, but little bible truth was stored. 
 The word seemed, on that su^count, to have been dir- 
 ectly given her, by her heavenly Teacher. As she 
 could not repidr to her bible, to search for it, her 
 daily bread tor her soul came to her like the manua, 
 always fresh fiom heaven, right down upon her case. 
 Peculiarly near was thus her intercourse with God, 
 just because of her very weakness. 
 
 Her way of telling any of her views or feelings 
 would be quite startling to a listener, at first. It 
 was always easier for her to give the matter as she 
 fouiid it in the emblem, than embodisd in a formal 
 statement. She seemed, on that account, to one who 
 knew her not, to be telling of somo dream or vision 
 she had seen. It was only after she had told the 
 allegory, that she could attempt to state what it was 
 intended to illustrate. The emblem was not con- 
 structed by her to make her meaning clear to another ; 
 i*^^ was presented to her by the Lord, to make a truth 
 clear to herself She always felt that it was some- 
 thing given to her, and it was always as vivid as a 
 scene before her eyes. She could not dispense with 
 it, either in examining what she sought to know, or 
 in describing what she sought to cell. Meeting a 
 young man once, who was on the eve of license, and 
 much cast down in prospect of the work before him, 
 she said, " I saw you lately in a quagmire, with m 
 
 w. 
 
 
m 
 
 IP 
 
 THE MINISTER OF RILLEARNAN. 
 
 209 
 
 a 
 
 , fishing-rod in your hand, and you and it were sink- 
 ing together, and you cried, as if you would never 
 rise again ; but I as^ you again, on the bank?, of a 
 broad river, and the joy of your heart was in the 
 smile on your face, and you were returning home 
 with your rod on your shoulder, and a basket full of 
 fish in your hand ;" and then, in broken words, she 
 spoke of his present fears, and of the joy aw^aiting 
 him in the future. 
 
 Of all I ever knew, she was the one who seemed 
 to enjoy the greatest nearness to God in prayer. The 
 whole case of one, whom she carried on her spirit 
 before the throne of grace, seemed co be uncovered 
 before her. She could follow him with the closest 
 sympathy in his cares and sorrows, during his course 
 through life, with no information regarding him but 
 euch as was given her in her intercourse with God. 
 A minister to whom she was attached, having been 
 sorely tempted during the week, and, finding no relief 
 on Sabbath morning, resolved not to go out to cxiurch 
 at all that day. About an hour before the time for 
 beginning public worship, Mary arrived at his house. 
 As she came to the door, he was seated in a room 
 just beside it, and overheard a conversation l)etween 
 Maiy and the person who admitted her. " What is 
 the matter with the minister V she asked. " 1 don't 
 know," was the reply ; " but I never saw him in 
 greater distress." " I knew that," Mary said, " and 
 he is tempted not to go out to church to-day ; but 
 he will go after all ; the snare will he broken, and 
 he will get on tl'e wing in his work to-day." She 
 then rej)eated a passage of Scripture, which was " a 
 word in season " to him, m iio littteued out of sight, 
 
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 -v. tJ 
 
3SS 
 
 mmg^mi^mm 
 
 210 
 
 THE MIinSTER CP KILLEARNAIT. 
 
 and a staff to help him on his way " to the gates of 
 Zion." 
 
 It was quite extraordinary how her mind would 
 be led to take an interest in the cause of Christ, in 
 places and in countries, of which she knew not even 
 the names. Instances of this might be given so 
 remarkable, that I cannot venture to risk my credi- 
 bility by recording them. One only will be given. 
 Coming to me once, with an anxious expression on her 
 face, slie risked, if there was any minister, in a certain 
 district, which she could only indicate by telling that 
 it was not far from a place of which she knew thei 
 name. I told her there was, " but why do yoa wish 
 to know?" I asked. "I saw him lately," was her 
 answer, " fixing* a wing to each of his sides, and 
 rising, on these wings, into the air, till he was very 
 high ; and then, suddenly, he fell, and was dashed 
 to pieces on the ground ;" and, she added, " I think, 
 if there is such a minister, that he has but a borrowed 
 godliness, and that his end is near." There was just 
 such a minister, and his end was near, for, before a 
 week had passed, I received the tidings of his death. 
 
 Symptoms of cancer in her breast havi ng appeared, 
 and medical advice having been taken, she was told 
 that nothing could be done for her, but Ihe removal 
 of the affected part. She "wan then about sixty years 
 of age, and it seemed to all her friends that she would 
 be running a great risk by submitting to the opera- 
 tion. But Mary had asked counsel of Him, to whom 
 she went with all her cares, and, with an assurance 
 of recovery, she resolved to have the cancerous tumour 
 removed. The operation was performed. AJJ few 
 days thereafter, she was in the bum of Ferint/osh, 
 
THE MINISTEB OP KILLEABNAN. 
 
 2U 
 
 hearing the gospel, and never suffered again, from 
 
 the same cause, till her death. 
 
 Sweet to all who knew her, and who saw in her 
 
 the working of the grace of God, is the memory of 
 that simple, loving, holy woman. She is now at 
 rest, m her Father's house; and those who loved her 
 may not wish that Phe still were here; but, since 
 she haa pjissed from the earth, they often sadly miss 
 the cheenng streak of light, her presence used to 
 cast across their dark and lonesome path, in this vale 
 of tears. 
 
CHAPTER IV. 
 
 Hearers from Surrounding Parishes — Jane Bain— The Munlochy 
 Meetings — Anecdote — John Gilmour — Blind Nelly — T he Far- 
 mer's Wife— The Papist— The Kiltarlity Merchant— Tho 
 Double Marriage — The Penny Smith — Little Hector — A Com- 
 munion Season — Assistants — The Friday Speakers — His last 
 days and death. 
 
 During all his ministry at Killeaman, many, from 
 surrounding parishes, were among his stated hearers. 
 These were a precious accession, for many of them 
 were praying people, and were athirst for the gospel. 
 Some had received their first impressions of the truth 
 through his preaching, and the strong tie, thus formed, 
 bound them to his ministry ; and others of them found 
 his doctrine to be suited to their cases, and resolved 
 to attend where " a word in season " was spoken. A 
 few regularly walked about twenty miles, each Sab- 
 bath, to Killeaman. 
 
 To one, at least, the Sabbath journey was nearly 
 thirty miles ; for she came from the confines of 
 Sutherland. Leaving home about midnight on Satur- 
 day, she walked across the hills, regularly in summer, 
 and often in winter, and generally without any com- 
 panion by the way. After the service on Sabbath 
 
"9PH 
 
 rly 
 of 
 ir- 
 ter, 
 Hn- 
 
 it 
 
 THE MINISTER OF KILLEARNAN. 
 
 213 
 
 she returned to her home, and was ready to join in 
 the labour of the farm next morning. On that con- 
 dition alone, would her father allow her to c. ^e to 
 Killeaman, being more anxious about the state of 
 his croft than about the salvation of himself and of 
 his family. It was surely owing to "the tender 
 mercies" of the Lord that " worthy Jane Bain " waa 
 so long enabled to bear all this fatigue and exposure. 
 Her soul thriving under the gospel, and her body 
 kept from harm, she continued to grow in grace, till, 
 dying in peace, she was removed to the land, whose 
 inhabitants toil and suffer no more. 
 
 The parish next to Killearnan, on the east, is 
 Knockbain. Mr. Roderick Mackenzie, better known 
 as " Parson Rory," was its minister, at the time of 
 my father's induction, and for more than twenty 
 years thereafter. More ambitious of being popular 
 aa a " country gentleman," than of being acceptable 
 as a gospel minister, he courted the favour and 
 society of the lairds, rather than the love and the 
 fellowship of the saints. Naturally amiable, and 
 impulsively generous, few could apply to him in vain 
 for relief, unless they were deserters of his ministry. 
 For these there was no avenup to his heart. Almost 
 all in Knockbain, who d^Hiired " the sincere milk of 
 the word," attended on Sabbath at Killearnan. 
 These were all known to " Parson Rory," and their 
 names were on the black list in his bookj. For the 
 preacher who drew them away he had no liking, and 
 he was not careful to conceal that he had not ; and 
 no opportunity of appearing in the pulpit of Knock- 
 bain would be given to the minister of Killeaman. 
 
 A femilyiresided not far from the manse of Knock- 
 
^■■■p 
 
 .aj ' En.1. 
 
 214 
 
 THE MINISTER OF KILLEARNAN. 
 
 bain, whose house was always open to the servants 
 of the Lord. My father often spent a night in this 
 house. His kind host, Mr Munro,. would of course 
 ask him to conduct family worship. He could not 
 be punished for doing so, nor could the minister for 
 agreeing to his request. The house of Munlochy 
 was able to accommodate many more than the 
 members of the family, and it would have been very 
 uncivil to exclude any of tlieir neighbours who chose 
 to attend. The bam was still larger, and to it, when 
 the house could not hold them, the family and their 
 friends were, on such occasions, in the habit of ad- 
 journing. Often had the bam been repa'red to by 
 others, when large parties had gathered for a feast 
 and a dance, and they could scarcely be charged with 
 a trespass, who used it for the worship of God. No 
 law could be found forbidding the minister to lecture 
 on the chapter which he read, even though the 
 lecture should be quite as long as a sermon, and not 
 very unlike one. In this way, a safe opening was 
 found for preaching the gospel at Knockbain, for 
 which not a few shall for ever give praise to the 
 Lord. 
 
 Returning on one occasion from Cromarty, he wph 
 prompted to remain all night in Mr Munro's house, 
 but, anxious to be at home, he resisted the suggestion 
 and drove on. He had not gone many yards past 
 the crossing, when his conveyance broke down, and 
 he was compelled to turn down to Munlochy. The 
 people, informed of his arrival, gathered in the even- 
 ing to worship. Among his hearers was a youth, 
 who amused himself a little before with caricaturing 
 " the cronies," as he called the good people who were 
 
■• ^ r- 
 
 THE MINISTER OF KILLEABNAN. 
 
 215 
 
 coming to the house. In all the levity of wanton 
 indifference he entered the room, in which worship 
 was conducted. Soon after the lecture began, a 
 case, which he could not fail to recognise as his own, 
 was described, and with such minuteness and 
 authority, that the stricken youth imagined every 
 eye in the room was upon him. To his surprise, on 
 looking up, he saw that the eyes of the minister were 
 closed, and that he was quite unobserved by all 
 around him in the room. He then felt that the eye 
 of the Lord alone was upon him, and that the words 
 which were spoken were sent from on high. During 
 a season of sifting temptation which followed, 
 tenderly and wisely was be treated by him, through 
 whom the Lord first spoke to his soul ; and deep 
 thereafter was their mutual love. He still lives, and 
 I will not offend him by recording his name ; but I 
 cannot forget that he was the best friend on earth of 
 my soul, in the day of my distress. To the end of 
 his wilderness journey, may " the good Shepherd " 
 reserve a nd guide him ! 
 
 Among those who came to Eolleaman from Knock- 
 bain, was a young man, whose case was peculiarly 
 interesting. John Gilmour, while a tradesman in 
 Aberdeen, was awakened under the preaching of Mr 
 Grant, then minister of the Gaelic Chapel in that 
 city. His convictions were unusually deep and pro- 
 tracted, and, being utterly unfitted for any active em- 
 ployment, he was compelled to return to his native 
 parish. For several years he walked on the very 
 borders of despair. It was in the study of the old 
 manse of Killearnan, the light of the gospel first 
 auone into his souL He had come to speak to the 
 
216 
 
 THE MINISTER OF EILLEARNAN. 
 
 
 minister, but could only tell him of the misery of a 
 soul lying " without hope," on the very brink of de- 
 struction. In course of conversation, and to illus- 
 trate the state of his soul in relation to the gospol, 
 the minister rose, and closed the shutters of the win- 
 dow. When the room was thus darkened, he said, 
 " Such is the state of your soul, John ; this room is 
 dark, not because it is not day-time without, and the 
 light not ready to enter, but because the light that 
 shineth so brightly upon it, is excluded by some- 
 thing within. It is so with you, in relation to Him, 
 who is 'the ligh'; of the world.'" Then, while gradu- 
 ally opening the shutters, he preached Christ to his 
 disconsolate hearer, and just as the light of day was 
 entering into, and filling the room, the " marvellous 
 light " of the gospel was penetrating into the broken 
 heart of John Gilmour, till the desperate misery of 
 that heart gave place to an ecstacy of joy. The lib- 
 erty, then attained, continued, with but little inter- 
 mission, till he died; but so overpowering was his 
 gladness, that he himself declared, his bodily strength 
 was more reduced, by three weeks of his happiness, 
 than by three years of the misery which he had pre- 
 viously endured. Rapidly growing in grace, and 
 distinguished for the clearness of his views, as well as 
 for the depth of his experience, he seemed one emi- 
 nently fitted for serving the Lord in the church on 
 earth. But while yet in his youth, he was suddenly 
 removed to his p xe in the church in heaven. On 
 the Sabbath after his death, my father's text was 
 Psalm xlvi. 10. Having announced it he said, "I 
 have searched the Bible throughout for a reason, why 
 the Lord should suddenly, and, as we would think 
 
w 
 
 1: 
 
 I 
 
 THE MINISTER OF KILLEARNAN. 
 
 217 
 
 
 prematurely, remove, out of the church on earth, one 
 who had given rich promise of usefulness there, but 
 the Lord gave me no account of this dealing, and has 
 only answered my inquiries in the words: "Be still, 
 and know that I am God." 
 
 Urray is the next parish on the west ; and its 
 eastern boundary is not more than a mile from the 
 parish church of Killeaman. A considerable number 
 from the eastern district of that parish, came statedly 
 to Killeaman on Sabbath. Among them were two 
 who came always together while they lived, ' blind 
 Nelly,' and her guide and companion, * old Nanny.' 
 Nelly was a lively Christian, with clear views of the 
 truth, and a deep experience of its power. With 
 more than ordinary cheerfulness, were combined in 
 her much solemnity and courage. Living near to the 
 Lord, and having more than ordinary prudence, she 
 and her minister were on very intimate terms, and 
 she was one of those whose visits to the study were 
 always specially welcome. Returning from Killear- 
 nan on a Sabbath evening, Rory Phadrig, having 
 missed Nelly from her usual seat in church, called 
 at her house to ascertain why she was absent. 
 Standing before the window of her room, he over- 
 heard her voice in prayer. " I cannot be silent," he 
 heard her saying to the Lord, " till I know why I 
 was kept from Killeaman, for thou knowest my 
 soul used to be fed there, and that it greatly needed 
 a diet to-day." Rory at once removed, and unwill- 
 ing to disturb her, went on his way, and as he him- 
 self said, covered with shame by this proof of her 
 earnestness and boldness, in pleading with the Lord. 
 Rory haAdng on another occasion gone to Nelly's 
 
 4 
 
mm 
 
 218 
 
 THE MINISTER OF KILLEARNAN. 
 
 4 
 
 little bothy along with a friend, so soon as she was 
 aware of their presence, she said: "I was sure the 
 Lord was going to send two of his people to me to- 
 day, who needed food, for meat for three was sent to 
 me this morning, by one who never assisted me be- 
 fore." Then, groping her way to her chest, she 
 produced the food, which had been so seasonably 
 provided. When death came to " blind Nelly," it 
 found in her a body that old age had ripened for the 
 grave, and a soul that grace had ripened for glory. 
 
 Among those who came from Urray wisis a wo- 
 man, noted for her kindness to the poor, and for her 
 love to the people of the Lord. Her husband was a 
 farmer in comfoi-table circumstances, but he did not 
 share in ti^e fervent charity of his wife. Anxious on 
 one occasion, to show kindness to a few Cliristian i 
 friends, whom she knew to be poor, she resolved be- 
 fore the Lord to slaughter the best heifer on the 
 farm, and to divide it among them. On announcing 
 her r^roject to her husband, he laughed at a proposal 
 that seemed to him so outrageous, and decidedly re- 
 fused to allow her to carry her plan into effect. " I 
 have given the heifer to the Lord," she said, "and if 
 He comes to claim it for the poor of his people, you 
 cannot withhold it." On entering the byre next 
 morning, the farmer was not a little astonished to find 
 his favourite heifer lying in the stall, and gasping its 
 last breath. There was now no alternative but to 
 bleed and to flay it ; and he was too thoroughly 
 frightened to prevent his wife from disposing, as she 
 pleased, of the carcase. 
 
 Shortly before her death, this godly woman waa 
 sorely tempted to fear, that all her love had termin- 
 
' I 
 
 THE UINISTER OF KILLEARNAK. 
 
 219 
 
 ated in Am people, and that none of it had risen up 
 to the Lord Himself. Under the pressure of this 
 temptation, she came to Killeaman on the Monday of 
 a fellowship meeting, and called at the manse after 
 the service in church was concluded. She told her 
 fears to the minister. As she could not doubt her 
 love to the people of the Lord, and as it was proved 
 to her, that it w^is as the brethren of Christ she 
 loved them, he reminded her of the words, "we know 
 that we have passed from death to Hfe, because we 
 love the brethren." As there was no simpler, he 
 assured her there was no surer evidence of grace, 
 than that there given; and after ovplaining to her, 
 why she was more conscious of aer love to His 
 people, than of her love to the Lord, he declared to 
 her, on Scripture warrant, his assurance of the safety 
 of her state, in prospect of eternity. His words 
 were blessed to her soul, and she was entirely de- 
 livered from her distress. " There is nothing now 
 left for me to do on earth, but to die," were her 
 words, as she bade the minister farewell ; and on the 
 second day thereafter she died. 
 
 There were a few from Kilmorack, and after Dr 
 Bayne's death, from Kiltarlity, who statedly waited 
 on his ministry. One of these had received his first 
 impressions of the truth in rather remarkable circum- 
 stances. For several years, my father occasionally 
 preached in Strathglass, a district peopled chiefly by 
 Papists. Preaching, on one occasion, beside the river 
 that flows through that lovely glen, a Papist, who 
 dared not to join the congregation, but could not re- 
 strain his anxiety to hear, crouched in the thick 
 brushwood that covered the slope of the opposite 
 
 !, 
 
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 msmm 
 
 ^^m^mm 
 
 'W 
 
 220 
 
 THE MINISTER OF KILLEARNAN. 
 
 bank. While lying there, and quite able to hear the 
 words of the preacher, the truth was applied by the 
 Spirit to his soul. He lived to give satisfying evi- 
 dence to all who knew him, that, on that day, he had 
 begun " to know the grace of God in truth." 
 
 A reminiscence of another of the hearers from, the 
 west, is connected with the circumstances of his 
 death. Having attended at Contin on a Communion 
 Sablath, when my father officiated, after all the 
 other communicants had taken their places at the 
 table, he, for some reason which he did not live to 
 reveal, still remained in his seat. The minister said, 
 ** There is still some communicarit here who has not 
 come forward, and, till that person takes a seat at 
 the table, I ca^inot proceed with the service." An- 
 other verse was sung, but * the merchant from Kil- 
 tarlity* did not come. He was not in the minister's 
 eye, though there was some one on his spirit, when he 
 said, " I implore you to come forward, for this is 
 your last opportunity of showing forth the Lord's 
 death, till he come, for, if I am not greatly mistaken, 
 you will not reach your home in life after the close of 
 this service." The merchant then came forward, and 
 no sooner had he taken his seat at the table than the 
 minister said, " we may now proceed with the ser- 
 vice." On the dismissal of the congregation on 
 Monday, the merchant set his face on his home ; but, 
 while crossing the ford of tlie Orrin, he was carried 
 down by the stream and was drowned. 
 
 Among thv>se who came from the west, was one of 
 whom those who knew her used to say, that she wan 
 twice married in the same hou.. jCuring an excur- 
 sion to the west, my father preached in St«:ut)ibran, 
 
 Mi- 
 
THE MINISTER OF KILLEABNAN. 
 
 221 
 
 ■which, though now a ■waste •wilderness ahnost 
 throughout, then contained a considerable population. 
 A marriage party arrived before the hour appointed 
 for preaching, and having a coDsiderable distance to 
 travel to their home, were anxious to start immedi- 
 ately after the ceremony. The minister agreed to 
 marry them at once. During his address, while 
 commending the love of Christ, and presenting first 
 of all his offer of marriage to each of the parties, the 
 Lord applied the word with power to the heart of the 
 bride, and, before the marriage ceremony was over, 
 she gave herself to the Lord. No persuasion could 
 now induce her to leave the place till the sermon was 
 over. Christ was now the supreme object of her 
 love, and she would not lose the opportunity of 
 hearing His praise. During the remainder of her 
 life, she gave satisfying evidence of her having truly 
 known " the love of Christ that passeth knowledge." 
 < A few from Dingwall regularly attended at Kill- 
 eaman on Sabbath. One of these was Kenneth 
 Mackenzie, commonly called "the Penny Smith." 
 He was one of the few who succeed in keeping their 
 original shape under all the pressure of conventional 
 usage, refusing to take the form and fashion of those 
 . who surround them. In his dress, manner, habits, 
 and modes of thinking, he retained his own peculiar- 
 ity, and would be neighbour-like in nothing. In his 
 kilt and antique coat, he seemed toiiave just stepped out 
 of the midst of the generation of the fathers. While 
 his neighbours were engaged in idle gossip, or loung- 
 ing idly by ihe fire, he was poring over an old Latin 
 book, spelling through a Hebrew Grammar, or writ- 
 ing in characters of his own devising, some of his 
 
u- I'^'^m^mmmmmmiKmK 
 
 222 
 
 TH2 MINISTER OF KILLEABNAN. 
 
 ■I. 
 
 •% 
 
 strange thoughts in a record. On the Saturday 
 afternoon, his smithy was cleared of its iron and its 
 tools, and seated with benches, on which, for an hour 
 in the evening, sat the young men of the neighbour- 
 hood, while the smith gave them lessons in psalmody. 
 Not fearing the face of man, it cost him no eflTort to 
 administer a reproof, whatever the character, rank, 
 and influence of the transgressor might be. Meeting 
 the Sheriff on his Sabbath evening walk, " Law- 
 makers should not be law-breakers," the smith said 
 to him, as he looked him boldly in the face. " My 
 health requires that 1 should take a walk Kep''ieth," 
 the Sheriff said by way of excuse. " Keep you God's 
 commandment, and yon can trust Him with the 
 keeping of your health," was the smith's reply ; 
 " accui-sed must be the health that is preserved by 
 trampling on the law of God." 
 
 Hector Maclean was another of the hearers from 
 Dingwall. " Little Hector" he was usually called, 
 for he was not four inches above five feet in height. 
 In his youth he had been engaged in smuggling, as 
 in those days wjis too commonly the habit. Having 
 lost, by a seizure, the produce of a small quantity of 
 barley, which he had purchased on credit, he was not 
 able to pay for it. Determined, even then, to owe 
 no man anything, he accepted of the bounty that was 
 offered for a substitute, by one who was balloted for 
 the army ; and the sum that was given to him just 
 covered the price of the barley. Soon after joining 
 his regiment, he was sent to Spain with the army 
 under Sir John Moore. Ho went through all the ad- 
 ventures of the memorable retreat, that terminated 
 in the battle and victory of Corunua, Of all hit 
 
THE MINISTER OF KILLEARNAN. 
 
 223 
 
 regiment, there were only seven vho, on landing in 
 Britain, were healthy and unwounded; and Hector 
 was one of them. Often did he look back on this 
 fiict vrith gratitude and wonder, after he had learned 
 to acknowledge the goodness of the Lord. 
 
 Returning to Dingwall after the peace, he resided 
 there till his death. Not long after his return, as he 
 was dressing himself on a morning early in August, 
 he was seized with an unaccountable desire to go to 
 Cromarty. He had never been there before, and was 
 conscious of no inducement to visit it ; but he could 
 not repress the feeling that had so suddenly seized 
 him. He started on the journey, not knowing 
 whither or wherefore he went. Reaching Cromarty 
 before noon, he followed groups of people, who were 
 ^thering to an eminence above the town. It waa 
 the Saturday of a communion season there. My 
 father preached outsMe in Gaelic, and Hector was a 
 hearer. The doctrine preached tli t day, the Lord 
 applied with power to his heart, and before the ser- 
 mon was over, he had given himself to the Lord. 
 Few lives were more unblemished than Hector's, 
 from that day till his death, few Avitncsses for Christ 
 more faithful than he, and in simplicity and godly 
 sincerity but very few Christians could excel him. 
 
 These are but a few specimens of those who usually 
 came to Killeanian on Sabbath. Almost all of them 
 are now removed from the earth. They no longer 
 require the wells in the valley of Baca, for Zion hr.3 
 been reached, where the Lamb is leatling them to 
 living fountains of water, and where they hunger 
 and thiiTiit no more. 
 
 During the first half of hit. ministry at Killeaman, 
 
224 
 
 THE MINISTER OF KILLEARNAN. 
 
 
 «! 
 
 the sacrament of the Lord's Supper was dispensed 
 only once a year^ and generally on the first Sabbath 
 of August. Great crowds were accustomed to as- 
 semble on such occasions. As many as 10,000 
 ^ people have met on a communion Sabbath, and 
 ^^ nearly 2000 communicants have sat at the table of 
 
 the Lord. These large assemblies were, of course, in 
 the open air. The place of meeting was a large 
 quarry, not far fi*om the church. In front of the 
 rock, which, with the strata of earth that covered it, 
 rose to a height of about a hundred feet, and be- 
 nM- tween two mounds of the rubbish that ha ^ been re- 
 moved during the process of excavation, the minis- 
 ter's tent was erected. There was level ground in 
 front of it, on which the communion tables were 
 placed, and on either side, tier above tier, rose the 
 vast multitude of people. All were able to hear the 
 voice of the preacher, and even its echo from the 
 rock. Sometimes, a few adventurous people sat just 
 on the edge of the precipice ; but if the preacher was 
 prone to be nervous, it was not safe for him to look 
 up to the group on the gallery of the church in the 
 quarry. 
 
 An unreasonable prejudice exists in the minds of 
 strangers, against the great sacramental gatherings of 
 the Highlands. They are associated in their views 
 with endless confusion, and many positive evils. It 
 cannot be denied that, where such large crowds 
 assemble, there will necessarily be much, in the out- 
 ward behaviour of some, that is offensive to those who 
 are impressed by the solemnity of the occasion. But 
 of what congregation, may not this to some extent be 
 affirmed ) There was more of this, however, in the 
 
 If 
 
h 
 
 %," 
 
 4 
 
 
 THE MINISTER OF KILLEARNAN. 
 
 225 
 
 f^v 
 
 # 
 
 dajTS whdn these gatherings were most honoured by 
 the presence of the Lord, than no , when "the Hope 
 of Israel " is " as a stranger " in the midst of them. 
 When the Lord was doing a great work, Satan was 
 busy too. While souls were bom again, and the 
 quickened were refreshed, the enemy took his revenge, 
 by doing what he could, through the conduct of the 
 openly ungodly, to grieve the hearts of the servants 
 and people of the Lord. But would not that work 
 of the enemy have been got rid of at too great an 
 expense, if removed at the cost of losing that work 
 of the Loid 1 At present much less will be seen, in 
 the outward demeanour of a Highland congregation, 
 in the open air, to offend right feeUng, than in 
 that of some congregations, in the fine temples of the 
 south, that niay be held up as models of propriety. 
 
 It has also been objected, that these frequent 
 gatherings must encourage habits of indolence among 
 the people, as they draw them so often away from 
 their stated employments. That they have by some 
 been thus abused, cannot be denied. But let it not 
 be forgotten, that many of the people in the High- 
 lands, had no stated employment, and no family to 
 provide for, and were therefore free to search for " the 
 bread of life," wherever they could find it. 
 
 They have been condemned too on the ground of 
 their necessarily causing a vacancy in surrounding 
 parishes, whose ministers must bo present to assist 
 where the sacrament is dispensed. But if the people 
 attend there, what reason is there for their ministers 
 remaining at home 1 They could only preach to their 
 own people by leaving their own parislies on that day; 
 and as it must not be supposed that there is any pccu- 
 
 %» 
 
226 
 
 THE MINISTER OF KILLEABNAIT. 
 
 -*Li- 
 
 it' 
 
 f 
 
 »' 
 
 liar virtue in their own pulpits, they may be quite as 
 useful to their people by preaching to them elsewhere. 
 This takes for granted, what was usually the case in 
 days past, that neighbouring ministers would find the 
 whole body of their people in the great congregation 
 before them. 
 
 There were two great advantages attending these 
 " public communions," as they were called. An op- 
 portunity of fellowship was given by them to Chris- 
 tians from all parts of the country, who would not 
 else have met or known each other on the earth ; and 
 the gospel was preached to a great multitude of 
 sinners, by a variety of ministers, amidst the prayers 
 of a great many of God's people. In other circum- 
 stances a narrow congregational feeling is apt to 
 cramp the sympathies, even of Christians. Even in 
 the name town, how few are the opportunities of 
 woi-shipping together afforded to the people of several 
 congregations ; and any opportunity of sitting together 
 at the Lord's Table have they not, during all their 
 life on earth. The effect of this is, that each con- 
 gregation becomes a detached self-contained sort of 
 community, with a minister better than every other 
 minister in the town, and who must be extolled at 
 the expense of all others around him. One congre- 
 gation says, " I am of Paul," and another says, " I 
 am of Apollos," and jealousies arise, causing aliena- 
 tion, where there should be a community of interests 
 and feelings. In widely scattered communities, such 
 as are in the Highlands, there was all the more need 
 of a prevention of this evil. There was, in tho wide 
 north, a greater tendency to rally round a Paul and 
 an Apollos, and there was some there too — and in 
 
f 
 
 *' 
 
 ** ,.^,.. 
 
 THE MINISTEB OF KILLEABNAIT. 
 
 227 
 
 , in 
 
 all ages they were the worst — who were prone to 
 say, in a spirit of proud exclusiveness, "I am of 
 Christ." But the opportunity which was afforded, 
 on a communion occasion, of heaiing all the good 
 ministers of the district, the proofs given of the 
 Lord's presence with each of them, the effect of a 
 community of profit and enjoyment under their 
 preaching, and the loving fellowship of such seasons, 
 tended in a gi'eat degree to bring all these sections 
 more closely together, and to expand their sympathies 
 and hopes. 
 
 On these accounts, while desiring to have the 
 sacrament of the Supper administered also more 
 privately, my father resolved to continue the public 
 communion once a-year. Feeling the desirableness 
 of having it oftener than once, and it being impos- 
 sible to find two days, with a sufficient interval, on 
 which the people could comfortably assemble in the 
 open air ; and anxious, besides, to be rid of the dis- 
 tractions that necessarily attend the public com- 
 munion, he resolved to dispense the sacrament of the 
 Lord's Supper in winter. At that season a large 
 number of strangers could not attend, and could not 
 be accommodated even if they did ; and it was called, 
 on that account, "the private communion." A 
 strong prejudice against it generally prevailed at first. 
 It looked to some like an attempt to shut out 
 strangers from the privileges of the sacred feast, and 
 to those who viewed it thus it wore a most unchris- 
 tian aspect. Forgetting that it was only added to 
 the other mode of celebrating the ordinance, they 
 opposed it as if it were its substitute. Some minis- 
 ters, yielding to the unreasonable prejudice of their 
 
 1?? 
 
i 
 
 ■' 
 
 'd* 
 
 22« 
 
 TBi: XINISTEB OF KILLElkRKAK. 
 
 people, refused to adopt it ; but, itt course of time, 
 the feeling against the private commuuion wore 
 away, and what was at first a solitary and disliked 
 exception, became afterwards the rule. 
 v^ The same ministers, for many years, invariably 
 assisted in conducting the services of the communion 
 season at Killeaman. He himself usually preached 
 on the Fast-day, alternately in English and Gaelic, 
 choosing always for that day a different language 
 from that in which he preached on Sabbath. His 
 brother, the minister of Logic, always officiated in 
 either language in the action service. There were 
 always some to whom his presence and preaching 
 were peculiarly acceptable. Himself often touching ' 
 the two extremes of experience, there were a few to 
 whose depths of distress, his was the hand to let 
 down the cord, that helped them to rise up to light 
 and liberty in Christ. Peculiarly searching and 
 solemn, while systematic and clear, his manner quiet, 
 and his style unadorned and simple, there were few 
 who felt attractiveness in his preaching but such as = 
 relished the savour of its spirituality. His appear- 
 ance was very pleasing ; and an air of meekness and 
 dignity rested on his coimtenance, well befitting his 
 position and his work. If there were others his 
 superiors in pleading with men, there was none to 
 excel him as a wrestler with God. 
 
 The late Mr Fraser of Kirkhill was always one of 
 his assistants while he lived ; and by none was he 
 more loved and appreciated than by my father. His 
 •sermons, always remarkable for lucid arrangement, 
 cogent reasoning, and vivid illustration, were pecu- 
 liarly so in Killeaman. Generally on Saturday hu 
 
THE MINISTBR OF KILLEAANAN. 
 
 320 
 
 preached in Gaelic on- some subject bearing on the 
 priesthood of Christ ; and on Monday in English, on 
 the life, privileges, duties, or prospects of believei-s. 
 These latter were always specially acceptable to the 
 people of God, and oftener than once they were 
 blessed for the conversion of sinners. Mr Fraser's 
 sudden death, which occurred a few years before his 
 own, deeply affected my father. The tidings reached 
 Killeaman after he had gone out to church, on the 
 day of the monthly lecture. To the surprise of all, 
 he expressed in public prayer that day, his persuasion, 
 that a breach had been made on the walls of Zion in 
 the north, by the removal of one of the eminent ser- 
 vants of the Lord. On coming out of church, and 
 being informed of Mr Fraser's death, he said : " T 
 was prepared for this." 
 
 Dr Macdonald was invariably there. He usually 
 preached on Saturday in English, and on Monday in 
 Gaelic. His share of the work was always heartily 
 given, and always heartily relished ; and th« com- 
 munion season at Killeaman used to be to himself a 
 time of peculiar enjoyment. 
 
 The only survivor of all his assistants is Mr Sage 
 of Resolis. Comparatively young, and always given 
 to seeking a lower place than would be assigned to 
 him by his brethren, his portion of the work was 
 usually as small as he could contrive to make it. He 
 contributed his share as if he might be ashamed to 
 present it ; but he himself was the only one who 
 wished it were omitted. Yet among us, a repre- 
 Bentative of other and better days, may the evening 
 of his life be brightened by the light of his Father's 
 
 ■A> 
 
230 
 
 THE MINISTER OF EILI^EABNAir. 
 
 face, and may a rich blessing from on high rest on 
 his last works in the vineyard. 
 
 What a goodly company of the Lord's people were 
 wont, in the earlier days of his ministry, to meet at 
 the communion in Killeaman ! Many pious men 
 and women from Sutherland, the flower of the 
 worthies of Ross-shire, the most eminent Christian? 
 in Inverness-shire, and not a few from greater dis- 
 tances, would meet together there. How precious 
 were the loving fellowships, and the wrestling 
 prayers of these saints ; and how many proofs were 
 given, ere they parted, that tne Lord was in very 
 deed in their midst ! 
 
 On Friday, the difficulty in these days would be to 
 select, and not as now to find " men ; " so many 
 would be present who wore qualified to speak, and 
 who would be acceptable to their hearers. Each 
 one, who was called to speak, knowing this, and un- 
 willing to occupy the time of another, was invariably 
 concise. Hugh Buie would be the first speaker, and 
 clear, full-fraught with thought, and unctuous his 
 remarks would be. Alexander Vass, himself in tears 
 as he spoke of the love of Christ, would move all 
 others to tears by his melting words. Hector Holme, 
 less remarkable than these as a speaker, would be 
 listened to as a man of God, and the unction of his 
 utterances would be sweet to many hearts. John 
 Finlayson, with an experience of the power of the 
 gospel deeper than his knowledge of its doctrines was 
 clear, would speak a word in season to the simple, 
 broken-hearted Christian. John Gordon would 
 catch the attention of his hearers by some striking 
 allegory, and would be sure to leave some saying in 
 
 mat. 
 
•'•mx-^m 
 
 iifPii ^^■'■mmmmmi^mmmi^mmmitlHflfgtKi 
 
 THE MINISTER OF KILLEAKNAH. 
 
 231 
 
 on 
 
 
 their memories. Donald Fraser would carefully 
 dissect the question, and bring it closely home to the 
 conscience. When Alexander Hutcheson sp< ke it 
 was as if the alabaster box of ointment were broken 
 in the midst of the assembly. John Clark, with a 
 grace and dignity of manner quite remarkable, would 
 command the respectful attention of all who heard 
 him. In a few broken but savoury sentences, Daniel 
 Bremner would follow him. When Angus Ross 
 rose, all were eager to listen. A few searching 
 sentences of rebuke, addressed to the hypocrite, 
 would be followed by a few sweet words of comfort 
 to " the poor in spirit," and he would be soon on his 
 seat again. John Fi-aser, unconscious of his ^i% 
 spoke with peculiar precision and fluency. Roderick 
 Mackenzie, in spite of his rude manner and rough 
 voice, would have earnest listenere, for all knew his 
 thorough integrity, and many felt the point and 
 unction of his remarks. John Munro would speak, 
 deliberately, clearly, and to the point. Angus 
 Munro's untutored genius would prove its power, in 
 presenting, in bold striking words, a view of the 
 subject, not seen by any other, till suggested by 
 himself, and even then appreciated only by a few, 
 owing to the intensely metaphysical cast of his think- 
 ing. David Ross would always have something to 
 say, at once fresh and striking. And John Macdon- 
 ald would determine the state of the question with 
 marvellous precision, and would £pply it with rare 
 skill. These and some others would have spoken to 
 the question in these days. 
 
 Of all these, the two whom my father most fer- 
 vently loved, were Alexander Hutcheson and Angus 
 
-CTiw»r 
 
 
 232 
 
 THE MINISTER OF EILLEaRNAIT. 
 
 floss. Of them he used to say, that of all the 
 Christians he had ever known, except Donald Mac- 
 pherson, they lived nearest to the Lord. 
 
 Alexander Hutcheson was cafechist in Kiltarlity 
 during Dr Bayne's ministry there, and thereafter till 
 the infirmities of old age no longer permitted hia en- 
 gaging in his work. He was but eleven years of age 
 when he felt the first impression of the truth. En- 
 gaged in tending his father's sheep, one night, as ho 
 was shutting them up in tlie fold, he was strongly 
 
 , moved to kneel down and pray. There, in the midst 
 of his little flock, he fell on his knees, and ere he rose 
 he thought that Christ had won his heart. The im- 
 pression then made gradually wore away, till he had 
 
 ' fallen back into the lethargy that preceded it. Just 
 a year had elapsed, when the same feeling was again 
 excited, and in the same circumstances as beforoi 
 This, once more, in course of time, wore away. The 
 listlessness which succeeded continued till, one night, 
 just after he lay down in bed, an impression of his 
 guilt and danger £is a sinnei vas made with irresist- 
 ible power on his heart. So sudden and so over- 
 powering was the awe that came upon his spirit, that 
 he had sprung out of bed, to rush out to the hill, 
 when, as suddenly, the light of the glorious gospel il- 
 lumined his soul. Never from that hour did Alex- 
 ander Hutcheson return to the ways of sin, and thus 
 began his Christian life. Enjoying unwonted near- 
 ness to God, he was at the same time a most humble, 
 loving, tender-heart'3d Christian. It was a fine sight 
 to see him, in his old age, when he rose to speak to 
 the question, as he leant on some one for support. 
 
THE MINISTER OF KILLEABHAK. 
 
 233 
 
 while tears gushed from his eyes at every reference 
 to the love of Jesus. 
 
 Angus Boss, more talented than Alexander 
 Hutcheson, was also much more impulsive. The 
 first sermon he ever heard my father preach, proved 
 to him peculiarly seasonable. Living in a district 
 once highly favoured, but then again a desert, he was 
 just on the eve of seceding from the Establishment. 
 He had gone so far as to be quite ready to join the 
 Secession Church on the very next Sabbath. Hear- 
 ing that a stranger, who was well reported of, was to 
 preach in a neighbouring parish chiu'ch, he went to 
 hear him. The text was, "If thou know not, O 
 thou fairest among women, go thy way forth by the 
 footsteps of the flock, and feed thy kids beside the 
 shepherds' tents." During the discourse, all Angus' 
 diihculties were so minutely described, and his whole 
 case so thoroughly met, that he was filled with sur- 
 prise; and accepting as of God the counsels that 
 were given him, he finally abandoned, then and 
 there, his intention of joining the Seceders. An at- 
 tachment was that day formed between him and the 
 minister who preached that sermon, that knew no 
 waning while they lived. It was his habit, ever 
 after, to come occasionally all the way from Auldearn, 
 to hear sermon at Killeaman. 
 
 As a speaker, always pointed and lively, Angus 
 never failed to be interesting. His statements of 
 doctrine were always exact, his practical remarks 
 suitable and searching, his reproofs very penetrating, 
 and his counsels specially apt and discriminating. 
 His prayers were very remarkable for childlike free- 
 dom and burning earnestness. During thirteen 
 
.'^ l 
 
 234 
 
 THE MINISTER OP KILLEARNAN. 
 
 M ' 
 
 ;»'?^: 
 
 years of his life, he enjoyed a continual assurance of 
 his interest in Christ. Happy were these years, 
 spent under the light of his Father's face. Not long 
 before L'.s death, the Lord laid His afflicting hand 
 on his body, and withdrew the light of His face from 
 his soul. For a season, he walked amidst terrors in 
 " the valley of the shadow of death," but emerging 
 into light and liberty again, he went singing across 
 the river to the heavenly city. 
 
 John Macdonald, Urquhart, was the Torretine of 
 " the men." Trained in early life under a powerful 
 gospel ministry, his views of the plan of salvation 
 were peculiarly clear. He ^r".s intolerant of any de- 
 viation from the strictest accuracy in a statement of 
 doctrine, but was intensely practical withaL Often 
 have his luminous and unctuous addresses been 
 blessed " for correction and instruction in righteous- 
 ness" to the people of God; and not a few received 
 their first impressions of divine things under his 
 teaching. On the Friday of a commuriion season, he 
 was generally the hist speaker ; and often has he ex- 
 cited the admiration of his hearers by the dex- 
 terity with which, after determining the exact state 
 of the question, he would explain or rectify some of 
 the remarks of those who preceded him, and employ 
 for practical uses the bearings of all that had pre- 
 viously been spoken. 
 
 " Donald Fraser 6f the Haugh," as he was called, 
 from the name of the street in Inverness in nhlch 
 he resided, was well known and highly respected. 
 " My minister," he always called Dr Fraser of Kirk- 
 hill, for it was under his preaching he was trained in 
 his youth. After the first impression of eternal 
 
Pfp 
 
 ■*■.•■■- 
 
 THE MINISTER OF EILLEABNAN. 
 
 235 
 
 things was made upon his mind, he was tried with a 
 peculiar temptation. Satan would insist that only 
 great sinners could warrantably expect to be saved, 
 and that as he had been kept from all flagrant trans- 
 gressions, he ought not to apply for salvation to 
 Christ, till he had first qualified himself by commit- 
 ting some crime. Pressed by the tempter, he had 
 almost yielded to his suggestion, when the Lord 
 broke the snare of the fowler. The light of the law's 
 spirituality shed into his soul, soon discovered to 
 Donald guilt enough to entitle him to rank with 
 great sinners, without his adding one other to the 
 list of his transgressions. His temptation thereafter 
 was, that he was too great a sinner to have any 
 reason to expect that Jesus would receive him. 
 But, on the right hand as on the left, the Lord was 
 near to deliver him, and guided his feet into the way 
 of peace. 
 
 Of all, who usually spoke at the fellowship meet- 
 ing in Killearnan in those days, Angus Munro alono 
 survives, retaining at foui'score yeara and five, much 
 of the fire of his genius, and all the fervour of his 
 love. Those righteous ones shall be held in everlast- 
 ing remembrance. Their several histories shall not 
 be left buried in the dust of the p»u?t, but, written on 
 their memories, shall be read over in their heavenly 
 home, to the praise of His wisdom, faithfulness, and 
 love, who kept and guided them by the way. As- 
 sembled worlds, too, shall yet hear as much, regard- 
 ing their life on earth, proclainuHl from the great 
 white throne, as the glory of their God re(juire« to be 
 made known. 
 
 Towards tho closo of my father's life, the only 
 
 :0, 
 
 t \p^A^ * 
 
 ■■tiijilti' 
 
 *« <*• ' »M ' «j '''"<:> 
 
m 
 
 23C 
 
 THE MINISTER OF KILLEARNAIf. 
 
 b!>> 
 
 t 
 
 change that could be observed, and that was evident 
 only to a few, was his growing abstraction from the 
 things of time, and the increased hea^^enliness of his 
 doctrine. His bodily health was not impaired, nor 
 was his natural strength abated, and he abounded in 
 labours to the end. 
 
 Always deeply interested in all that concerned the 
 welfare of his church and of his country, he was pecu- 
 liarly so during the latter years of his life. Being 
 resolutely opposed to Catholic emancipation, many a 
 groan was wrung from his heart by the Act of 1829. 
 He often referred to it in public, and many incredu- 
 lously listened to his forebodings of the sad results of 
 that measure. Regarding papists, not merely as the 
 members of an anti-Christian Church, but as the sub- 
 jects of a foreign prince, who aspires to establish, qa 
 the dominant power, in all counti'ies, his own tem- 
 poral as well as spiritual sovereignty, all his loyalty 
 and patriotism, as well as his protestantism, revolted 
 against giving them a place in the legislature. His 
 forebodings were but too well founded; for whether, 
 as the natural result of the increase of its political 
 power, or as a judicial award, from the hand of the 
 Highest, to the nation that gave so much of its 
 "power to the beast," popery has, since 1829, made 
 greater progress in this country, than during the 
 whole century which preceded. The plague of 
 mawkish liberalism, which '^ -^vailed at the time, 
 smote the great majority with blindness as to the 
 true nature and results of the measure, and the few 
 who protested against it were regarded as bigots. 
 Opinion has changed since then ; and the concesHion 
 
 f. 
 
-s&. 
 
 THE UINTSTER OF KILLEARNAIT. 
 
 237 
 
 ■.t 
 
 ff 
 
 has lately been ■wnmg frc>m those once loudest in de- 
 nouncing them, that the bigots were right. 
 
 The conflict tbn,t terminated in the Disruption of 
 the Church of Scotland from the State, had been 
 going on for seven years before his death. He 
 , never hesitated as to the part he should act in that 
 controversy. On the question of the spiritual inde- - 
 pendence of the Church, he had no difficulty in 
 forming a judgment. The people's right to elect 
 
 J|; their own pastors he asserted most strongly, but he, 
 at the same time, expressed his fear, that they were 
 not qualified to use it. That, however, he did not 
 regard as a reason for retaining it from them ; for as 
 it was given them by Christ, no other power had a 
 right to withhold it. His anticipations of the result 
 of the conflict were very alarming, and to some seemed 
 prophetic. Often did he distinctly announce the 
 event of the disruption. Dr Macdonald has told me, 
 with what surprise he hoard him once say, while 
 preaching in the church of Ferintosh in 1829, "This 
 crowded church will yet become a place into which 
 . none who fear the Tord will dare to enter," iulding, 
 " not long before th . change takes place, I shall bo 
 remo\« 1 to my rest, but many who now hear me shall 
 see it." From that, period till his death, his antici- 
 pations > "re more and more vivid. The coming 
 crisis seeii d to emerge before his eyes, more and 
 more distinctly out of the mist, that lay on tho 
 future, and that liid its secrets from the eyes of 
 others ; and his solicitude, in proHjwct of the Disrup- 
 tion, wrung more groanH from his heart, than the 
 actual oxporienoe of tho trial from tho huaits of 
 
 — many who survived it. ~ ~"" 
 
238 
 
 THE MINISTEB OF KILLEARNAN. 
 
 His anticipations as to the state of religion in the 
 north, during the next generation, were extremely 
 gloomy. Often did he declare Ihis persuasion, that 
 the people were wearying of a spiritual ministry, and 
 of a purely preached gospel. Like the Israelites, in 
 the wilderness, they had begun to count as " light 
 bread " what was sent to them from heaven. " Few 
 and far between," he expected the faithful preachers 
 of the gospel to be, in the generation that succeeded ; 
 and when the decay of religion had converted " the 
 garden of the Lord," almost into a wilderness ago ' u, 
 he expected a season of trial to come, during which 
 " the man of sin " would again have supremacy, and 
 the witnesses of Christ be few, feeble and hidden, and 
 through which he could only look with a tearful eye, 
 to the prospect of the glorious millennium, whose 
 bright morning was seen dawning beyond it. 
 
 The religious awakening which, a short time 
 before his death, spread over virions districts of 
 Scotland, he did not regard with much hopefulness 
 and pleasure. He expected but little permanent 
 fruit as its result, and was much pained by the 
 countenance given, in the excitement of that time, 
 to manifest delusions. The experience of all his life 
 tended to make him distirustful as to all awakening 
 accompanied with violent bodily excitement, and he 
 never failed to repress any such exhibitions, when- 
 ever they appeared in his presence. His anticipa- 
 tions were, alas ! too fully realised. The rich flush 
 of blossom, that then appeared, withered prematurely, 
 and almost entirely away, and bitter disapimintment 
 awaited those who formed a more sanguine estimate 
 
 % 
 
THE MINISTER OP KILLEARNAN. 
 
 239 
 
 than his of the fhiit that might in the end be pro- 
 duced. 
 
 Shortly before his death, he took a peculiarly 
 "warm interest in the case of a woman in his parish, 
 whom he frequently visited. "While engaged with 
 others in planting a piece of moorland, she observed, 
 within the broken walls of a ruined cottage, part of 
 a lady's veil protiniding out of a heap of rubbish. 
 Taking hold of it, she was unable to pull it out with- 
 out removing the stones and turf around it, in doing 
 which a woman's face appeared. The shock caused 
 by this discovery was such, that she was almost dis- 
 tracted with terror. The horrid sight of the mur- 
 dered woman's face — for such it proved to be — was 
 the last her eyes ever saw, for from that moment she 
 was quite blind. Laid aside on a bed of sickness, 
 she remained a helpless invalid till her death. But 
 her reason survived the shock which deprived her of 
 vision, and the Lord visited her with His salvation 
 in the day of her distress. Her pastor's visits were 
 greatly blessed to her, and she was one of the last 
 whom he was the means of turning " from darkness 
 unto light." Precious to the blind as well as to 
 others, were his lectures in her house, and the time 
 spent beside her was to himself a season of i)eculiar 
 enjoyment. Her Christian course was short, but it 
 seemed to all who knew her to be indeed " the path 
 of the just." 
 
 His last pastoral visit was to a pious couple in 
 the east end of his parish, wlio were n[)parently 
 dying and very anxious to see him. The husband 
 was one of his elders, but both in intellect and in 
 spirituality excelled by hia wife. Among other 
 

 4. 
 
 *w 
 
 #' 
 
 
 ^40 
 
 THE MINISTER 01' KILLEABNAN. 
 
 questions, he asked them individually, "Do you 
 believe that your affliction was appointed by God in 
 the everlasting covenant ! " The wife was first ad- 
 dressed, and her reply was, " I believe that it is per- 
 mitted by God in His providencie, but I have not 
 attained to believe that it was ordered in the cove- 
 nant." The husband's answer was, " I cannot even 
 say what my wife has just said." "You are a step 
 behind her, Donald," his minister said, "and as surely 
 as she is before you in this, she will be before you in 
 heaven." And so it happened ; though the husband 
 was both older, and a greater invalid than his wife. 
 
 After leaving this house he passed into the parish 
 of Kjiockbain, to visit a woman who had been for 
 many years one of his stated hearers, and whose soul 
 had profited by his preaching. She was enduring 
 great agony under the gnawing of a vinilent cancer, 
 and her soul's hope was, at the same time, sorely 
 tried by the tempter. Her case had for some time 
 lain closely on his heart, and his frequent and 
 eaimest references to her in fiimily prayers indicated 
 how intensely he desired her deliverance from her 
 deep despondency. Much of his interview with her 
 was strictly private. Its result was her complete 
 deliverance from the fetters in which Satan, for a 
 season, bound ner. She was enabled, ere they parted, 
 to declare her assurance of salvation, her contentment 
 with her lot, and her willingness to leave the event 
 of her der*th in the good hand of Him to whom she 
 had committed her spirit. Her eye was moist with 
 tears, but her faoe was bright with joy, as she bade 
 him farewell ; and, before a fortnight passed, they 
 
 ' 
 
 '4ff^.- 
 

 « 
 
 m 
 
 THE UINISTEB OF KlLLEARNAN. 
 
 241 
 
 met, for the next time, in their eternal home in 
 heaven. 
 
 His references to his death were frequent in his 
 preaching during the last year of his life, and his 
 appeals to his hearers were peculiarly earnest and 
 solemn. His anticipation of death was so assured, 
 that he could not refrain from referring to it, and he 
 himself preparing, he desired to prepare his people 
 also, for the pai-ting which drew near. He would 
 announce the subject of a course of sermons, and open 
 it up ; but instead of resuming it next Sabbath, lie 
 would mention a new text. This again would be 
 laid aside for another. He was thus hurried over a 
 series of texts, in such pressing haste, that he could 
 not but direct the attention of his people to the fact, 
 entreating them to observe how his Master was urg- 
 ing him to fulfil his ministry with all haste, as the 
 end of it was near. One of his last Sabbath texts 
 was Rev. iii. 20. His sermons on that verse were 
 very remarkable, and were, indeed, like the utter- 
 ances of one wlio was just going to step across the 
 threshold of eternity. 
 
 For a few weeks before his death, he preached 
 every Tuesday evening from the words, " We are 
 come to God, the Judge of all." This text was the 
 announcement of his deatli to his people, and his 
 sermons contained much of his own feeUng in pro- 
 spect of that event. His last sermon in church was 
 preached on the Tuesday evening before his death, 
 and it closed the series of discourses on the text last 
 mentioned At the close of the service he announced 
 that on Thursday he would preach in the schoolhouse 
 in the eastern district of his parish, in order to take 
 
■*.••• 
 
 242 * 
 
 ;"^'' 
 
 ¥HE MINISTER 6¥ KILLEABNAN. 
 
 that last opportunity of wiping oflf his skirts the 
 blood of the people who resided there. The congre- 
 gation was then dismissed by him, under the assured 
 persuasion that he and they would never meet again 
 on earth. On coming out of church, he stood for a 
 few minutes looking to the people as they were re- 
 tiring under the clear moonlight. " My poor people," 
 he was heard exclaiming by one who came up beside 
 him, and whose approach caused him to turn away, 
 and to hurry on to the Manse. if 
 
 ' All this time he was in perfect health, his step al- 
 most as firm and elastic as when he was in the prime 
 of his manhood. The usual indications of approach- 
 ing dissolution were entirely awanting, and yet his 
 persuRsion of death being nigh, was quite assured. 
 His sermon on Thursday was on spiritual worship, 
 and in preaching it, his whole soul seemed to go out 
 in aspirations after the pure service of heaven. On 
 Friday his throat became affected. Inflammation set 
 in, and continued to make progress. He expressed 
 no anxiety, and uttered no complaint, and his family 
 had no distinct anticipation of danger. Remaining 
 in bed, he seemed lost in contemplation, an expres- 
 sion of placid joy resting on his face. He had calmly 
 laid himself down to die. His work was done ; he 
 knew that his eternal rest was nigh ; and with his 
 eye fixed on the glory that was dawning on his 
 vision, he awaited with joyful expectation the coming 
 of death. His only reply to all inquiries about his 
 health was, " I'll soon be quite well." While his 
 wife and a pious friend were sitting in his room, not 
 till then excited by alarm as to the issue of his ill- 
 ness, their attention was suddenly arrested by sounds 
 
 t9? 
 
THE HINISTEB OF KILLBARNAIT. 
 
 243 
 
 of the sweetest melody. Such was the softness of 
 the strange music, thoy felt as if it could not have 
 been a thing of earth, and while it lasted, they could 
 only listen in solemn silence. When the spell was 
 broken, Mrs Kennedy hastened to ask him if he had 
 heard any strange music. He gave no answer, but 
 beckoned her to be silent, with an expression of ab- 
 sorbed attention and of ecstacy on his face. Her 
 rising fears then grew strong, and, in a crushing 
 foreboding of her loss, closed upon her heart. The 
 medical man arrived soon thereafter, and with the 
 utmost kindness ;ind with all his skill, applied the 
 fitting remedies. His patient meekly submitted to 
 the prescribed treatment, but the disease was quietly 
 though surely making progress, and, on Sabbath 
 evening he fell asleep in Jesus. 
 
 The week on which he died was very stormy. 
 Snow had fallen to a great depth ; but many of the 
 Lord's people, from all districts of the country, hur- 
 ried, on hearing the tidings of his death, to take a 
 last look of his body. A large crowd attended his 
 funeral ; and amidst the tears of his people, and |under 
 a frowning sky, his mortal remains were laid in the 
 grave. Many of the people hov6red around his closed 
 grave, as if they shrunk from realizing that they had* 
 parted with him, and that they should see his face no 
 more on earth. Dr. Macdonald, who was standing 
 beside the grave, knowing well the feeling that 
 detained the mourners, turned to them and said, 
 "You will never see John Kennedy again, till you 
 see him on the last day." 
 
 His bereaved flock testified their respect for his 
 memory, by enclosing his tomb, and erecting beside 
 it a tablet, which bears the following inscription : — 
 
9B 
 
 wmimm 
 
 w 
 
 244 
 
 THE MINISTER OF EILLEARNAN. 
 
 vj SACRED 
 
 TO THE MEMOBY OF 
 JOHN KENNEDY, 
 MINISTER OF KILLEARNAN, 
 WHO DIED, JANUARY 10th, MDCCCXLI. 
 
 • ) 
 
 t' ! 
 
 A MAN OF OOD 
 SENT POKTH INTO THE VINEYARD 
 WITH THE FULNESS OF GOSPEL BLESSINGS, 
 THE PECULIARLY HONOURED AMBASSADOR OF CHRIST, 
 THROUGH WHOM SHONE FORTH TIT ' 'EXCELLENCY OF THE POWER 
 IN THE CONVERSION OF Ji > Y A SOUL TO GOD, 
 TIIL. JOY OF THE LORD WAS HIS STRENGTH, 
 THE MINISTERIAL GIFTS AND GRACES OF PRIMITIVE TIMES 
 WHEN ON THE GLORY OF ZION THERE WAS DEFENCB, 
 IN HIS PERSON WERE SEEN REALISED, 
 ATTRACTING THE LOVE OF BELIEVERS, 
 AND IN EVERY UTTERANCE 
 REFRESHING THEIR SOULS. 
 THEY WERE GLAD IN HIS LIGHT. 
 IN EVERY ORDINANCE OF THE SANCTUARY, 
 RICHLTREPLENI8HEDIN8PIR1TBYCLOSECOMMUN10NWITHQOD 
 OP INTIMATE STANDING IN THE MIND AND COUNSEL OF CHRIST; 
 WITH HOLY UNCTION, FERVOUR, WISDOM, AND LOVE, 
 HE WATCHED, WARNED, AND NOURISHED THE HERITAGE. 
 SINNERS IN ZION WFRE AFRAID. 
 FULL OF FAITH AND OF THE FRUITS OF THE SPIRIT, 
 ABOUNDING IN LABOURS, 
 AND RIPENED FOR 6L0KT, 
 BE FELL ASLEEP. 
 
 THIS PARISH MOURNS. 
 
 ' ) 
 

 .■..#■ 
 
 ^i' 
 
 w 
 
 APPENDIX 
 

 ■^. 
 
 ;*. . 
 
 ^' 
 
 
1^ 
 
 i-y 
 
 # 
 
 
 '*' 
 
 APPENDIX. 
 
 " The secret of the Lord is with them that fear Him." 
 FsALM xxy. 14. 
 
 All true Christians are peculiar. Their singular 
 character and their exclusive privileges make them 
 BO. The Lord causes them to differ from all others 
 by what He does in them, and by what He does for 
 them. He creates a new heart in them, and they 
 fear Him. He puts His Spirit within them, and 
 makes known to them His mind. Into their soul 
 He infuses life, and into their ear He speaks His 
 secrets. Fearers of God are thus favourites of God; 
 and both as His fearers and as His favourites, they 
 are a peculiar people. 
 
 I. True Christians differ from all others because 
 they only fear tlie Lord. " I will put my fear within 
 them," is a promise fulfilled to them all, and to them 
 only. Covenant gi'ace was put within them ere 
 covenant secrets were made known unto them. 
 
 Those who fear the Lord, are and must he, quickened 
 souls. They were once dead in sins, but they are 
 now alive to God ; and they live because they were 
 ** quickened together with Christ." The fear of God 
 in them is just the life of God in them suitably re- 
 
,1^ 
 
 ■■^^1 
 
 •f* 
 
 *■ •■*■. 
 
 I-" 
 
 
 
 2i8 
 
 THE FEAR OF THE LORD. 
 
 sponding to the manifestation of " the Glory of God 
 in tlie face of Jesus Christ," These realize God as 
 others do not. They know Him as none else do 
 know Him. They alone approve of His character 
 ^ and appreciate His greatness. There are God ward 
 movements in their hearts as in no hearts besides. 
 Of them only does the Lord say, "They shall not de- 
 part from me." 
 
 A soul, spiritually dead, may be moved by an en- 
 slaving dread of God j but there can be no God ward 
 advances in such a case. Farther and farther from 
 God will that soul depart, who, left unrenewed, feels 
 the terrors of His wrath. What causes his fear in- 
 flames his enmity. The more helpless he feels before 
 the lire of God's anger, the more active is h" enmity 
 before the brightness of God's purity. Fearing and 
 hating Him at once, the unquickened soul departeth 
 from the living God. 
 
 Those ivho /ear, must he near to, God. They were 
 once "far off," l)ut they have been brought nigh by 
 the blood of Jesus. In the covenant right of Jesus 
 the quickening Spirit came to them when they were 
 far off and dead. He caused them to live, and Ho 
 united them to Christ. Being clothed in the right- 
 eousness of Christ, they .vere justified by God ; the 
 criminals were pai'doned and made heirs of life ; and 
 they received power to become tlie sons of God. 
 Having a right to communion with God, the Spirit 
 guides them to the throne of grace. Their homage 
 at the footstool of lliat throne is fear. It is neither 
 the rebel, who dreads the king's approach, as he 
 skulks on the otitskirts of the kingdom, nor the 
 stranger, who has never visited the sovereign, wlio 
 
•rp»^i^ > iTV^r'^^™ 
 
 .-#'* 
 
 THE FEAR OF THE LORD. 
 
 249 
 
 can do him homage in loyal friendly deference to his 
 rank and rule ; but the courtier or the child, who is 
 in the palace and in the presence of the king. So 
 only those, who are His loving children, and His 
 loyal servants, can honour the Lord as a father, and 
 as a master fear Him. 
 
 In their apjyroaches to God on Ilia throne of grace f 
 they mingle reverence of His glory with hope in His 
 mercy. This is a combination only found where the 
 true fear of God is. Othei*s may have either a slavish 
 fear witliont hope, or a presumptuous hope without 
 fear; but the view of God which inspires hope in tho 
 heart of a Christian produces also reverential fear. 
 The glory of God, as seen in the cross, commands his 
 admiration as well as his trust. It is at once solem- 
 nising and encouraging. It beais him down while it 
 draws him near. It breaks his heart as surely as it 
 cheers it. And the more it has of the one effect tho 
 more it has of the other. The more clearly he dis 
 corns the rigour of divine righteousness and the stead- 
 fastness of divine truth, the more he is constrained to 
 reverence and encoumged to hope. It is to the mercy 
 that is accompanied with truth he humbly ventures 
 to appeal, and he can claim peace, only whca he sees 
 it in the embrace of righteousness. His confidence 
 increases with his admiration of (Jod's character and 
 his awe of His majesty. His fear is not now in con- 
 flict with his liopo. Solemn awe only gives zest to 
 his enjoyment of liberty in th" presence of God. Tlie 
 more I am persuaded that it is the sovereign with 
 whom I commune, the more I prize the tokens of that 
 sovereign's favour. I may j)erhaj>s, have mot him, 
 on a journey, divested of the insignia of royalty, I 
 
 ■1 
 
250 
 
 THE FEAR OF THE LORD. 
 
 A' 
 
 
 ^ 
 
 may then have received some token of favo-ir; but it 
 cheered me not, as it would if I had gotten it from 
 the king when wearing his crown, and plated on his 
 throne, amidst the splendour of liis court. What 
 proved him king and glorious, would make me all the 
 more prize his favour. I might have feared that it 
 ^vaf^ not as king that he was my friend before, and 
 that he would i.ot acknowledge, in open court, the 
 poor man, to whom he then happened to be kind. 
 But when, from th^ vei/ throne he helps me, how 
 precious is his kindness, and how cheering ou my 
 heart ! 1 cared not so much for his kindness, nor 
 would I so depend upon it, when I could s1»and up 
 before him as he showed me favot r. But how in- 
 valuable do I reckon his condescension, when I can 
 only receive the token of it lying prostrate at Lis 
 footstool ! 
 
 Thei/ who /ear the Lord, seek to do Tlis vill. lie 
 who does homiige t<. the Lord at the footstool of His 
 throne comes forth to serve Him, In earthly families 
 there are children who make a show of affection in 
 their manner tijwards their father, but quite forget 
 to do his will when he h out of sight. There are no 
 such children in the heavenly family Men have 
 children who cannot n frain from expressing a rever- 
 ent ^ 5ve to their fathers, when tiiey are near them, 
 and who act according to their directions when they 
 send them on an errand. Such as these do all God's 
 children beek to bo. But in humar fc*milies ai-e 
 sometimes found children, who have not courage to 
 use filial libei-ty with their fatiier when they are near 
 him, but whc prove themselves to be children indeed, 
 by their endeavours to please him. They cannot 
 
 CI 
 
• "^i-'V-Wi^ ■■', iiii^pilll. 
 
 i.* <iif' nrnJismiM 
 
 THE FEAR OF THE LORD. 
 
 251 
 
 claim the child's privilege, but they do the child's 
 work. They do not commune as children, but they 
 obey as children. There are some such in the family 
 of God. 
 
 They have respect to all their Father's command- 
 ments. They do not, like the Pharisees, pick out 
 those to wliich they find it most convenient to have 
 respect, and leave the rest. Their righteousness ex- 
 ceedeth in breadth " the righteousness of scribes and 
 Pharisees." Nor do they rest contented, unless tlieir 
 obedience arises from the heart ; they seek to obey 
 out of genuine love. Their righteousness thus ex- 
 ceeds in depth "the righteousness of scribes and 
 Pharisees." The aim of their service is higher ; they 
 "seek" not "tlieir own," but "the things which 
 are Jesus Christ's." That the Loi-d may be pleased 
 and glorified is the end to M'hich they a«piro. Their 
 righteousness thus exceeds in height "the righteous- 
 ness of scribes and Pliarisees." Matt. v. 20. 
 
 Their right to privileges depends, not at all, hut 
 their enjoyment o/ privileges depends greatly, on their 
 obedience. They cannot be happy without having 
 respect to all God's commandments. Psalm cxix. 6. 
 They must first seek grace to fear the Loid, in order 
 that His secret may be with tliem. When they wan- 
 der from His Avay, He will either frown upon them 
 and be sihnit, or He will frown upon them and rebuke 
 them with stem words, or He will frown upon thora 
 and cha.sten them with His I'od. They shall not bo 
 cast out of their Fathei's house, Ix^cause they sin; 
 but when they "regard ini<j»iity in" their "heiu't the 
 Lord will not hear" tiiem. Psalm Ixvi. 18. When 
 they have depai-ted fioui the Lord, they shall not 
 
 « 
 
ri ' <i 
 
 252 
 
 THE SECRET OF THE LORD. 
 
 J^ 
 
 
 
 u 
 
 again enjoy the light of His fiice, till their backslid- 
 ings have been healed. Isa. Ivii. 18. An offended 
 father may thrust out his child from his presence, 
 and that child may for a time Jje outside with tho 
 dogs, but he is a child there as surely as when he 
 lay on his father's bosom. He has not been thrust 
 out of the father's heart, nor has he finally forfeited 
 his place in the father's house. Till the Lord shall 
 " l:^ terly take " His "loving kindness from him" who 
 is the Elder Brother, He will not disown the adopted 
 sons, whom "the Only Begotten" has made free. 
 He abideth in the house for ever, and so shall they. 
 Psalm Ixxxix. 30-34; John viii. 35, 36. 
 
 It is just, then, as the life of God in their souls is 
 exorcised in seeking tlieir Father's face an:l strength, 
 and they thi'ough grace end"'avour to do His will, 
 that tlK>se who fear the Lord may expect His secret 
 to be with them. 
 
 II. True Christians differ from all others, because 
 with them only is "the secret of the Lord," "The 
 secret" which is with them is liidden in the mind of 
 God from all to whom He does not reveal it. "Thou 
 hast hid these things," saith Jesus to the Father, 
 " from tlie wise and prudent, and hast revealed them 
 unto babes." Matt. xi. 25. 
 
 This surely means more than that they have the 
 Bible in their hands. True in it, there is a complete 
 r(;velation of the Avill of God. It is by ii, too, that 
 God communicates all fche knowledge of his mind to 
 which men shfill attain on earth. But many have 
 the Bible in whom tlio fear of the Lore, is not found, 
 and to whom *he secret of the Lord is not given. 
 They wlio feiir the Lord have received, not tho spirit 
 
THE SECRET OF THE LORD. 
 
 253 
 
 of the world, but the Spirit who is of God, tliat "they 
 niif^ht know the things that are freely given to" them 
 "of God." It is tlius that they are "made toditfer." 
 " He will manifest to them His covenant." This 
 covenant — the covenant of grace — was once known 
 only to God himself It was then written only in 
 the volume of the book which contained a record of 
 the eternal counsels of the Godhead, and on wliich no 
 eye looked but that of God himself But he gradu- 
 ally revealed the jjlan and provision of that covenant, 
 ,when the eartli wtis formed, and men were, and were 
 sinners, on it. The revelation of tliat covenant, in- 
 tended for men on earth, is not complete. A clearer 
 light from heaven, shall never shine on c^'-th, than 
 that which now illumines tliese last gospel days. 
 " The word of the Lord," as it now is, " abidoth for 
 ever." But, not only does the Lord shine, with gos- 
 pel liglit on them that fear Him, as ho does on all 
 around them ; He hatli also shined into tlieir hearts, 
 giving them tlie light of the knowledge of His glory 
 in the face of Jesus Christ. 2 Cor. iv. 6. He lias 
 tauglit to them their need of the grace of the ever- 
 lasting covenant. He ha*-' made known to them its 
 plan and its provision. -'cy, aad only they, have 
 " tasted that the Lord is gracious." But they know 
 only a very little. They need that He would still 
 continue to manifest His covenant \mtothem. And 
 He will do so. Into all truth the Spirit of God shall 
 guide them. All the l<!ssons appointed by their 
 Father shall be learned by tliem ; and all thrir dark- 
 ness and folly shall, at the last, be utterly removed. 
 John xvi. 13. 
 
 The Spirit, who luakc-' known 4Uid applies the pro- 
 
 ', 
 
 1 
 
254 
 
 THE sechet of the loud. 
 
 if.. 
 
 'i- y 
 
 K 
 
 vision of the covenant, and who, in doing so, first 
 quickeneth the dead, hath given unto these the pecu- 
 liar knowledge which they have. Their knowledge, 
 therefore, is spiritual, not merely because the Spirit 
 gave it, hut because they were made spiritual in order 
 to I'eceive it. It is the spirit born of the Spirit that 
 takes knowledge of tlie things of God. It is the life 
 of God in their underatanding, that perceives the 
 mind of God in His word. That same life, in the 
 heart, seeks the enjoyment of what is known. This 
 desire accords with God's gro nous design ; for His 
 people have been enlightened to know just in order 
 to partake of, the things of God. They are therefore 
 helped to receive them by faith. And their faith is 
 not exercised in vain. Tlie fulness of covenant grace 
 in Christ is reached and communicated, and out of 
 that fulness they receive, " and grace for gi'ace. " John 
 i. 1 G. As the High Priest in heaven pleads, " Sanc- 
 tify them through Thy truth," so, under His govern- 
 ment, and by His Spirit, they on the earth receive ; 
 and " beholding as in a glass the glory of the Lord," 
 they " are changed into the same image, from glory 
 to glory, even aa by the Spirit of the Loi-d." 2 Cor. 
 iv. 18. 
 
 But is there nothing more intimate than this in 
 God's intercourse with His people ] Im this all that 
 is imj)lied in the secret of the Lord being with them 
 thai/ ft Hiui] Is this pccidiar privilege exhausted 
 in their receiving i saving knowledge of the covenant 
 of grace JUS revealed in the gospel I Is this all tho 
 proof given of their bemg the fa\uurite8 of heaven ? 
 Is it what is barely necessary for their salvation alone. 
 God gives to llm Kdoved people 1 Givoth He no 
 
 X 
 
THE SECRET OP THE LORD. 
 
 265 
 
 I 
 
 assurance to them of His love to themselves mdividu- 
 ally ? Do they remain ignorant of His mind in refer- 
 ence to the cases, which they carry to His footstool, 
 and there spread out before Him ? Is God silent 
 when they plead for others 1 Does He altogether 
 hide from them, as He does from the world, the bear- 
 ings and coming issues of His providence 1 Surely 
 they are deceived who think that these things are so. 
 And yet how many there are who would evacuate the 
 communion of the Lord with His people, of all special 
 proofs of how near and dear to Him they are, and 
 who regard the privilege, referred to in the text, as 
 enjoyed merely in the attainment of what is essential 
 to salvation. 
 
 It is one extreme statement, that God reveals aught 
 to His people apart from the Bible, but it is another, 
 that He makes known to them only what is there 
 directly revealed. We must not expect to know the 
 mind of God but by means of the written word. 
 " The law and the testimony" must be our only guide 
 in knowing, our only standard in judging of " the 
 things of God." To that light must we repair, to 
 examine what is of God, and to that rule, to try what 
 professes to be of Him. Isa. viii. 1 9, 20. But, surely 
 God does make knoAvn, to His people, what is not 
 directly revealed in His word ; although He docs 
 not do so except by means of what is written. 
 
 He often maketh known their election to them who 
 fear Ilini. He acquaints them with His everlasting 
 purpose to save them ; yet this is not directly reveal(!(L 
 The fact of the election of any particular individual is 
 not found written in the Bible ; and yet by means of 
 the word in connection with His work of grace, Mo^ 
 
256 
 
 THE SECRET OF THE LORD. 
 
 i' 
 
 I'- 
 
 \m 
 
 by His Spirit, maketh it known to believers. The 
 secret of His everlasting purpose of mercy, is thus 
 with tliem that fear Him. Of His special covenant 
 love, to themselves individually, they are made assured, 
 but in a manner very different from that in which 
 they are persuaded of His "good will to men.' 
 Tt)kens of that love the Lord giveth to His people ; 
 but His wf^y of doing so is a secret hid from all who 
 receive them. 
 
 Thus too, by means of the v)ritten word, does God 
 often reveal to them who fear Him, the issues to which 
 He ivill bring their cases, when the]) deal with II im hj 
 prayer. Applying to their case "a word in season," 
 He excites an expectation of such a result as that 
 word dijth indicate, and thus His piu-pose of dealing 
 with them in a particular way is made known. They 
 are thus enabled to anticii)ate an event in tlieir own 
 spiritual history, without receiving any revelation of 
 God's unfultilled purposes apart from the light of 
 Scripture. 
 
 A mere outside Christian is an utter stranger to 
 any such intimations of the Lord's will by the special 
 application of the statements or promises of the 
 Bible. He judges that communion with the Lord is 
 a one sided matter. He thinks that in dealing with 
 the Hearer of prayer, the speaking is all on his own 
 side. He is so enamoured of his own utterances that 
 he cares not whether God speaks or not. But it is 
 far otherwise with those who truly fear the Lord. 
 It is, when they hear the Lord's voice speaking words 
 of truth and mercy, that they can venture to utter 
 words of faith and liope. " Take not the word of 
 truth utterly out ol . .ly mouth ; for I have hoped in 
 
f^i^^.T^''^'^'^"^ -"'*^'?^''^'^'" ^^^'!* 
 
 ' ■■*^'P5':*-'^^«''"''; ■ i^"': 
 
 THE SECRET OF THE LORD. 
 
 25^ 
 
 
 thy judgments." " Cause me to hear thy loving- 
 kindness in tlie morning ; for in Thee do I trust." 
 " Be not silent to me." " The companions hearken 
 to thy voice ; cause me to hear it." There are times 
 when, in the i'ace of His silence, as surely as in the 
 face of His frown, they who fear Him cannot advance 
 nor speak to the Lord. And when they have pre- 
 sented their suit, they look up for an answer in 
 peace. This, in the meantime, tlie Lord often gi\es 
 them by " a word in season " spoken to their heai't. 
 It may, sometimes, please Him not to give any inti- 
 mation of His acceptance of their prayer, till the 
 time for granting their request has come. But it is 
 not always so. Many seem to think, that all that is 
 allowed to petitioners at the footstool of mercy, at 
 any time, is libei'ty to hope because of God's chnr- 
 acter and His general promises of grace ; and that 
 they must wait, without any more sj)ecial encourage- 
 ment, till the course of providence has borne to them 
 an answer to their cry. 
 
 " The secicjt of the Lord is with them that fear 
 Him," as to the cases of othersyfor whom iluij phad. 
 The Spirit of prayer may suggest, and (^ften does, the 
 case of a particular individual, to the mind of one 
 who is pleading at the footstool of mercy. With the 
 suggested case may come a suggested po)ti(»n of 
 Scrii)ture. In the light of the latter, the former is 
 considered ; and, as thus seen, is laid before the Lord. 
 To the Ciise thus presented, the Lord may apply a 
 pasaage of Scripture to indicate His mind regarding 
 it, and to give to the pleader a favourable or un- 
 favourable anticipation of the result. That pre- 
 monition may be more or less distinct ; but, even 
 
i*'. 
 
 V 
 
 258 
 
 THE SECRET OF THE LORD. 
 
 when assuring, it is something very different from the 
 inspiration of the prophet. It results entirely from 
 an adaptation by God Himself of His own written 
 word. 
 
 They vjhojear the Lord are not blind, as others are, 
 to the indications 0/ His inind in the dealings of His 
 providence. They are acquainted, as others are not, 
 with the principles of His moral government. They 
 have the sensitiveness of spiritual life under the 
 workings of His great hand, while others lie un- 
 affected in death. They watch and walk with God, 
 while others live without Him in the world. They 
 speak to Him about His doings, and He speaks to 
 them, while othera are dumb and deaf before Him. 
 Shall tliey not therefore know the bearings of God's 
 providence, as others cannot ? May not one, who 
 fears the Lord, who is much given unto prayer, 
 whose heart is charged with care about the interests 
 of the cause of Christ, who watches over the move- 
 ments of providence with a feeling of intensest 
 interest, who looks on God's works in the light of 
 His word, and of His recorded antecedents, and who 
 has acquired the blessed habit of speaking about His 
 doings to the Lord Himself, seem to penetrate a 
 future, all dark to others, as with a seer's eye, while, 
 with all truth and honesty, he may disclaim being 
 either a prophet, or the son of one. " They are little 
 acquainted with the ways of God," says the godly 
 and judicious Dr Love, "who imagine God has 
 ceased to give His people assurance as to future 
 events. God has not bound Himself in this manner; 
 and there have been many things intimated to, and 
 
 
THE SECRET OP THE LORD. 
 
 259 
 
 d 
 
 known by the most eminent saints, before such things 
 came to pass." 
 
 It is well to mark the difference between the 
 knowledge derived from the direct teaching of the 
 Bible, and that which is only indirectly obtained by 
 means of it. It were a great mistake to attribute 
 equal certainty to the information received in each 
 of these ways. In the former case, the intelligence 
 comes to me directly, and lies before me plainly 
 written in the Word of God. And is it not well 
 that it is the knowledge which is "life eternal," that 
 is thus obtained 1 In order to " believe to the saving 
 of the soul," I must know Him in whom salvation is 
 to be found, the terms on which His salvation is be- 
 stowed and the warrant given me by God for casting 
 my lost soul into the hands of "His anointed." And 
 all this is clearly and directly revealed. In times of 
 doubting, the Cliristian can repair to the Bible, and 
 find, plainly written there, what he requires to know 
 regaixling the object and warrant of his f;iith. 
 
 But his own personal interest in Christ is not mat- 
 ter of direct revelation. In acquiring information 
 regarding this, much depends on the mode of God's 
 dealing with his soul. The fruit of God's secret 
 work, as well as the matter of His open revelation, 
 must be taken into account, in seeking information 
 of his being a child of God. He is sometimes so 
 assured of this as to be free from all doubting regard- 
 ing it ; but nevei" is his hope of this so fixed and un- 
 varying as his persuasion of God's good-will to him 
 as a sinner. 
 
 More uncertain is his knowledge of God's mind 
 regarding the cases which he brings to the mercy-seat. 
 
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260 
 
 THE SECRET OF THE LORD. 
 
 %. 
 
 All depends here on the special application of the 
 truth being verily by God. What is plainly written 
 in the Bible I know to be of God. But I have not 
 the same ground for saying that the suggestion to 
 my mind, and the application to my case, of what is 
 written, is of God; and on these depends tlie good- 
 ness of the information, which, in this instance, I 
 think T pos?ess regarding the mind of the Lord, 
 Verily the Lord can give an assurance of this. He 
 can so impress a soul with His authority, He may so 
 disclose the treasures of His grace, and may so help 
 one to appropriate what the word conveys to him, 
 that there is no room leffc for doubting. But the 
 man cannot fall back on this again, when misgivings 
 arise, as he can on the direct teaching of Scripture 
 regarding the way of salvation. So much depends, 
 in the former case, on his own discernment, on his 
 spirituality o' mind, oi^ his iiearness to God, and on 
 his sensitiveness to God's dealinjrs with his soul, that 
 he feels a vast difference between the hope of ever- 
 lasting salvation, founded on the call of the Gospel, 
 f'iid the hope of a particular result in tliis life, 
 founded on a word of promise, which seemed to have 
 come from the Lord. * 
 
 Still greater is the uncertainty of the information 
 which, he thinks, the Lord has given him, regarding 
 the pi'ospects of othere for wIkhu he was pleading in 
 prayer. He cannot, in this cjise, claim, as a j)romise 
 given to himself in Christ, tlie word which has been 
 suggested to his mind. He cannot now, when afraid 
 to receive the word as from God, fall baok dn his 
 warrant to receive Christ, and embracing Him anew 
 in Gosj)el oftbr, approach, on the ground of His right, 
 
 "^iHummmmm^^- 
 
'*" 
 
 THE SECRET OP THE LORD. 
 
 261 
 
 to the grace of the promise suggested to liia mind. 
 His infonnation depending, as it is, on his own 
 spiritual sensitiveness and discernment, partakes of 
 tlie comparative uncertainty that attaches to all that 
 is subjective. 
 
 And greater still is the nncertainfrv of the infor- 
 mation which guides him in anticipating a certain 
 result from a course of providence. Even in the 
 case of those grand results that are indicjitenl in the 
 unfulfilled prophecies of the Bible, and which form 
 the great landmarks of the future, how uncertain is 
 the light in which he tries to forecast them. And 
 when examining providences on whicii the light of 
 prophecy does not shine, while he is so dependant 
 for any just anticip.ation on his own spirituality of 
 mind, his nearness to God, and his ability to discern 
 the mind of God in tiie word which is suggested to 
 explain the doings of His hand, how far removed 
 from the certainty of his knowledge, regarding what 
 is essential to salvation, is any mfoi-mation, regard- 
 ing the fiiture, which he may think he possesses. 
 
 But while this is true, it is (piite as true, that in 
 all the ways that have been indicated, "the secret of 
 the Lord" may be "with them tliat fear Him." And 
 let us not limit the Holy One, as if He were not 
 able, in all ther.e instances, to give infallible direction 
 and " much assurance." The comparative un- 
 ceiiipinty of the informition, in some of these, is 
 altogether diie to the subjectiveness of tin; mode in 
 which it is obtained. It is in these canes, theref(,re, 
 that the truth of the text is most manifestly proved. 
 It is in connection with them the Christian most 
 thoroughly realizes, that, in order to know "the 
 
362 
 
 THE SECRET OP THE LORD. 
 
 If 
 
 
 
 secret of the Lord," he must be " of quick under- 
 standing in the fear of the Lord." 
 
 It is not difficult to find the reason, why those, 
 who are tliemselves strangers to communion with 
 God, are so ready todonoiincc as superstition all faith 
 in tlie reality of information from heaven, besides 
 that which is given in the direct teacliings of Scrip- 
 ture. They cannot bear to think that those who 
 fear the Lord, have reached any attainment beyond 
 themselves, and to which, by any amount of pains- 
 taking, they cannot advance. This wounds their 
 pride, and tends to make them uneasy in their 
 alienation from Cod. They may allow that unusual 
 knowledge is attained by those who are "disciples in- 
 deed," from the direct teaching of Scripture, for this 
 they can hope to imitate. Their own unsanctified 
 knowledge of what is written, tliey can make to ap- 
 pear, to themselves at least, not unlike to what these 
 have obtained immediately fi'om the pages of Scrip- 
 ture. They could hold up their heads among the 
 godly, if this were all their attainment. The most 
 convenient way of getting rid of their uneasiness is 
 to regard as superstitious the attainment that is be- 
 yond them. They can make out a case, with a 
 plausible surface in supi)ort of their opinion. 
 
 "It is pretending to know," they say, "what is not 
 revealed in Scripture." This sounds well. It seems, 
 at first siglit, due to the Word of God as the only 
 complete revelation of His will, that we shoidd at 
 onco regard as false all infin-mation regai'ding tho 
 r ind of God not d(!rived directly from the plain im- 
 port of Scripture. They have never gone beneath tho 
 surface in their tliiukiug on tliia matter, who iiave not 
 
 
T;!?J*«?^?^™»:pf^l^(W«'^".(B'-;!'-W"'!!'?W?W?P»!^«^^ 
 
 THE SECRET OF THE LORD. 
 
 263 
 
 discovered the extremeness of this view. But, hacked 
 by tliis false assumption, some will quote, with an air 
 of triumph, the pretensions to inspiration, the claims 
 to the gift of prophecy, the faith in dreams and visions, 
 of those whom all acknowledge to have been deceivers 
 and deceived. To minds that have always kept far 
 off from the realities of a life of godliness, that look 
 from a distance, on the communion of his peoj)le with 
 the Lord, the difference between the baseless preten- 
 sions of deceivers, and the God-given privilege of the 
 righteous is utterly im])alpable. All kinds of inter- 
 course with the invisible are classed by these togetlier, 
 uid to them all who claim the privilege of communion 
 with the Lord, appear as d<>luded fanatics. More 
 triumphant still is their air, when they can quote, in 
 support of their position, the mistakes of those who 
 were truly godly. But surely, it is not difficult to 
 discover a very good reason why the Lord shoidd al- 
 low even these to be sometimes deceived in their an- 
 ticipations, and in their readings of the l>age of 
 providence. Such mistakes only prove that th(>y are 
 always prone to eri', when the correctness of their in- 
 formation specially depends upon their own spiritu- 
 ality. They need to learn this, and their fulls will 
 teach them. Aiid their painful experience of their 
 proneness to wander hei-o, will help to make all the 
 more precious to them the certainty attaching to 
 what is tin; standing ground of their hope — ?. plain 
 " thus saith the Lord," on souio page of Scripture. 
 
 1. Let none forget that " the secret of the Lord 
 is" 07il>/ "with them that fear Him." Let no one 
 dare to claim the privilege of having "the secret of 
 the Lord," who seeks not to walk in His fear. Of 
 
 M_ ii n mw i^ inj 
 
t. 
 
 ■1 
 
 2G4 
 
 THE SECRET OF THE LORD. 
 
 all pretensions tliis is the vilest. While disregarding 
 the Lord's claims to our hoaiage, it is impious to 
 claim His secret. It is sacrilege to lay a dishonest 
 hand on the peculiar privileges of His people ; and it 
 is daring hy})ocrisy to deck oneself with a counter- 
 feit of these before the eyes of men, and to walk in 
 pride under this disguise, beneath the gaze of the 
 Omniscient, who, looking down from heaven, sees 
 witliin a heart that is an utter stranger to His fear. 
 Tliere is something, in the more peculiar attain- 
 ments of the righteous, which excites an unholy and 
 dishonest ambition in those who seek " the honour 
 that cometh from man." Men have pretended to 
 know, as others knew not, the mind of the Lord, who 
 exhibited no such difference, between themselves and 
 the world, as there is " between him that feareth 
 God, and him tliat feareth Him not." When out of 
 sight, they have pretended to be holding converse 
 with God, but th(ur faces did not shine when they 
 came down from the Tuount. But " from him that 
 hath not" the true fear of the Lord, " shall be taken 
 even that whicli he seemeth to have." The wise 
 course is, to seek to have the fear of God within us, 
 to pray for grace to keep that fear in exercise, and 
 to leave in the hands of Him, who divideth "to 
 every man severally as He will," to determine to 
 what extent " the secret of the Lord" shall be with 
 
 us. 
 
 2. Let none of the Lord's peoj)le settle down into 
 formality in their intercourse with God, on the fore- 
 g«>nc conclusion, that it is not legitimate to seek, witli 
 deference to the divine sovereignty, the more peculiar 
 attainments, to which reference has been made. The 
 
 
# 
 
 ^.>'~.s•:^=v-^-.(^t■i 
 
 THE SECRET OF THE LORD. 
 
 265 
 
 time was, when, during a close walk with God, some 
 of His people enjoyed such nearness to Him, that it 
 would have surprised them if they received no token 
 of His favour, whenever they bowed tliemselw s in 
 prayer before Him ; if they were overtaken by a trial, 
 of which, through the word, they had no previous inti- 
 mation ; and if a brother or sister were in trouble, and 
 they found not their case on their spirits. But there 
 is now a change. They have backslidden from the 
 Lord. They hear not His voice now, as in other and 
 better days. They ore becoming content without any 
 such tokens of His love, as once were given them. 
 Tliey are beginning to be satisfied with a peradventure 
 as to their interest in Christ. They are inclining to 
 think, tliat, beyond the vague encouragement derived 
 from the general tenor of the Gospel, and the aspect 
 of God's character as therein revealed, they ought not, 
 as they care not, to seek p.ny more definite and per- 
 sonal intimation of His favour. Or, they have learned 
 to handle, in cold easy formality, the precious pro- 
 mises of grace without caring to taste their sweetness, 
 or to feel their power. The liberty and songs of their 
 youtli are now no longer tlieirs ; nor will they recover 
 them till their backslidings are healed. Hos. ii. 15. 
 The fear of the Lord must be revived within them, 
 ere His secret shall again be witli them. 
 
 3. Let all beware of an unlawful employment of 
 the word of God, as well as of entire ignomnce of its 
 sweetness and its power. There are, who find it easy 
 to appropriate to themselves without misgiving, the 
 precious promises of the word, not caring to ascertain 
 their right to them in Christ, to be rightly informed 
 of the mind of God as expressed in them, or to b<» 
 
 ^, 
 
266 
 
 THE SECRET OF THE LORD. 
 
 strengthened to take hold of the truth, and power, and 
 grace of Him who gave them, as they plead them at 
 His footstool. There are others who lay themselves 
 
 open 
 
 to the 
 
 suggestion 
 
 of " a word," as they crave 
 encouragement or direction ; and who, if a Scripture 
 saying, which seems seasonable, comes abniptly into 
 their mind, conclude, because of its suitableness and 
 suddenness, that it is a message to them from heaven. 
 These care not whether their application of it accords 
 with the scope of the passage in which it occurs ; 
 they realize not His authorilr whose word it is; and 
 they desiderate no experience of its sanctifying power. 
 It is convenient for them to get it, and it seems to 
 them safe to take it, and this is all about which they 
 care. 
 
 There are others still, who have settled do^vn in the 
 conviction, that a speculative acquaintance with what 
 is written is all that it is wise to seek. Utter 
 strangers to the seasonable suggestion of the truth by 
 the Lord, blind to the wonders of gvnce which the 
 word unfolds, without any exercise of appropriating 
 faith in Christ whom it reveals, and destitute of all 
 experience of its power to kill or to quicken, to 
 wound or to heal, to cast down or to raise up, to 
 burn as a fire or to break as a hammer — these go on 
 at their ease, without joy in the communion, or profit 
 from the word of the Lord. 
 
 But let it be ours to be dependant on the gracious 
 and effectual teaching of the Spirit of truth, under 
 whose guidance even fools can be kept from wander- 
 ing, and who can make it impossible that even they 
 can be deceived. Let us not think that, amidst the 
 multiform delusion which prevaileth, there is no 
 
THE SECRET OF THE LORD. 
 
 267 
 
 genuineness and no security. There are a people 
 who have an unction from tlie Holy One, and who 
 know all things. These have genuine wisdom, and 
 they have good security from error. Let us seek to 
 have fellowship with them. Let us not be content 
 with what is barely necessary to salvation in our in- 
 tercourse with God. From unholy aspirations after 
 being like the Christian in some of his attainments, 
 without being like him in his character, may the 
 Lord deliver us. May we be kept athirst for com- 
 munion with the Lord, and seeking grace to prepare 
 us to enjoy it. Let His word be precious to us, and 
 may we be wise to use it for the ends for which it is 
 given. Let us aspire after clearer views of its won- 
 ders, a simpler fiiith in its truth, a more ravishing 
 sense of its sweetness, and a deeper experience of its 
 power. And thus may we be guided by its light, 
 moulded by its form, fed by its manna, and cheered 
 by Its comforts, " until the day dawn, and the day 
 star arise in our hearts;" till perfect likeness to 
 Christ IS attained; till the land of promise and of 
 plenty is reached, and the fulness of pleasures en- 
 joyed, at the right hand of God. 
 
 TrKNBCLL AND I^I'EAKS, PKINTKKS, EDINBrHQH