tihvavy of Che t:h«olocjicaI ^tminwy 
 
 PRIKCETON • NEW JERSEY 
 
 '739 V\V 
 PRESENTED BY 
 
 Samuel Aqnew 
 1855 
 
 BV 3777 
 
 .G7 D86 1836 
 
 Duncan, 
 
 Mary Grey Lundie. 
 
 History 
 
 of revivals of 
 
 religion in the British 
 
HISTORY 
 
 REVIVALS OF RELIGION 
 
 BRITISH ISLES, 
 
 ESPECIALLY IN SCOTLAND. 
 
 BY THE AUTHOR OF THE " MEMOIR OF THE 
 REV. M. BRUEN." 
 
 " Be glad then, ye children of Zion, and rejoice in the Lord your God : 
 for he hath given you the former rain moderately, and he will cause to 
 come down for you the rain, the former rain, and the latter rain."— Joel, 
 Chap. ii. V. 23. 
 
 EDINBURGH: 
 
 WILLIAM OLIPHANT AND SON, 
 
 7, SOUTH BRIDGE STREET J 
 
 WItTJAM WHYTE AND CO., AND JOHN UNDSAY AND CO., EDINBURGH ; 
 
 W. COLLINS, GLASGOW ; W. CURRY AND CO., DUBLIN ; 
 
 AND HAMILTON, ADAMS, AND CO., LONDON. 
 
 M.DCCC.XXXVI. 
 
FI)INI!URf.H: rUINTr.D BY RAILANTYNK AND CO., PAILS UOBR. 
 
CONTENTS. 
 
 Tagk 
 
 Preface, 1 
 
 Introduction, ^^ 
 
 REVIVALS IN ENGLAND. 
 
 Chap. I. Under Venn, at Huddersfield, 2() 
 
 II. Under Walker, at Truro, Cornwall, 33 
 
 III. Under Berridge, at Everton, 44 
 
 IV. Under Grlmshaw, at Haworth, Yorkshire, 60 
 
 V. Reflections, 7l 
 
 VI. Under Wesley and Whitfield, at Kingswood, Bristol, 81 
 
 REVIVALS IN WALES. 
 Chap. VII. Under Owen, Harris, Jones, Williams, and Row- 
 lands, 90 
 
 Vm. Under Charles of Bala, 112 
 
 XL Reflections, 135 
 
 REVIVALS IN IRELAND. 
 Chap. X. Under Blair, Bedell, and Others, 145 
 
 REVIVALS IN SCOTLAND. 
 Chap. XI. Under Wishart and Cooper, 167 
 
 XII. Under Welsh, Kennedy, and Stewart, 176 
 
 XIII. Under Bruce, under Davidson in General Assem- 
 bly, at Dunfermline, in Army of the Covenant, 
 
 at Stewarton and Irvine under Dickson, &c... 186 
 
11 CONTEXTS. 
 
 REVIVALS IN SCOTLAND. 
 Chap. XIV. Account of John Stevenson, 203 
 
 XV. Under Guthrie, at Finwick, 212 
 
 XVI. Under Livingston, at Kirk of Shotts, 219 
 
 XVIL At Cambuslang, 229 
 
 XVIII. At Cambuslang, continued, 245 
 
 XIX. Reflections, 253 
 
 XX. At Kilsyth, Baldernock, Calder,St Ninlans, Mut- 
 
 hill, and other places...... 266 
 
 XXL Under Stewart, at Moulin, 304 
 
 XXIL Under M'Bride, in Isle of Arran, 321 
 
 XXIIL In Breadalbane, 331 
 
 XXIV. In Isle of Skye— General Remarks, 340 
 
 XXV. In Isle of Lewis, 355 
 
 APPENDIX. 
 
 False Appearances of the Influences of the Holy Spirit, 385 
 
 In North of Ireland,., 387 
 
 In England under French Prophets, 390 
 
 Prophets in Edinburgh, , 393 
 
PREFACE. 
 
 The religious world of Great Britain has had its 
 attention arrested for a few years past by lively 
 and cheering information from the gigantic scion 
 which has sprung from the parent stem on the 
 other side of the Atlantic ; and many have been 
 aroused to emulous zeal and prayerfulness, by read- 
 ing of American Revivals, and conversing with 
 men, the fruits of those revivals, who furnish us 
 with lovely exemplifications of Christian character. 
 The question — " Why have we no Revivals in this 
 country?" has been put, till it has been aptly an- 
 swered by another. " Is it true that we have no 
 Revivals in this country ? " It is a curious evidence 
 of the neglect to record these most interesting 
 visitations of the Holy Spirit, that many have ob- 
 tained, for the first time, an idea that God has at 
 times dealt in this manner with His church in their 
 native land, by reading the allusions made to such 
 things by Jonathan Edwards, in his Accounts of the 
 Revivals in New England. 
 
2 PREFACE. 
 
 This little work took its rise from the enquiry, 
 " Is it true that we have no British Revivals?" 
 The farther the enquiry was prosecuted, the more 
 did the information obtained rise in importance, 
 until it seemed the line of duty to lay before the 
 Christian community a result convincing as to the 
 past, and cheering with reference to the future. 
 
 The history, as it relates to Revival influences 
 exhibited in the Church of Scotland since the Re- 
 formation, is, it is hoped, not very incomplete, and, 
 in the main, correct ; as, from local circumstances, 
 materials and means of information relative to the 
 Church of Christ there, were more easily obtained 
 than as regards the Church in other parts of the 
 United Kingdom. And proof is thus procured, 
 that outpourings of the Spirit were not imknown in 
 that country nearly two centuries before Jonathan 
 Edwards was taken by surprise with the interesting 
 visitation at Northampton. In one region of Scot- 
 land, also, we have the great happiness of exhibiting 
 a spiritual work, in the Revival form, steadily going 
 forward at the present hour, which ought to stimu- 
 late the prayers of those who look for the fulfilling 
 of the promise of the Spirit in larger measure than 
 it has yet been possessed. 
 
 With respect to England, Wales, and Ireland, 
 such materials as came readily within reach have 
 been employed, without any attempt to give a com- 
 plete history of Revivals in any of these countries, 
 
PREFACE. 
 
 but aiming solely to produce convincing evidence 
 that in all of them lively examples of such events 
 exist. Imperfect as the accounts are, and to be 
 found generally in books which mention them only 
 incidentally, it is probable that all the materials of 
 this description which might be assembled would 
 swell to several volumes. The object of the com- 
 piler has been to avoid extraneous matter, and to 
 present nothing of religious advancement which has 
 not partaken of the Revival character, viz. an out- 
 pouring of the Holy Spirit, which has consisted of 
 deep conviction, followed by sound conversion, 
 upon many souls about the same time, and under 
 the same religious instructors. All these will be 
 found of the same genus, though differing in 
 species, according to the state of general cultiva- 
 tion and previous religious instruction of the 
 people so influenced ; and under whatsoever de- 
 nomination the work may have taken place, its 
 scriptural test of unity of character will be found in 
 all the same — consisting of " repentance towards 
 God, and faith towards our Lord Jesus Christ." 
 
 
 OLOGIGi 
 
INTRODUCTION. 
 
 On contemplating- the works of the Eternal in their 
 most minute details, as well as in their mightiest 
 developements, we cannot fail to discover operations 
 calculated at once to fill us with the most profound ad- 
 miration of the divine perfections, and to overwhelm us 
 with the deepest sense of our own limited powers. This 
 is true, whether we turn our thoughts to the wonders of 
 creation, or to the character of Providence, as displayed 
 either in the history of human affairs or in the influences 
 of divine grace. In them all we trace the most unequi- 
 vocal indications of infinite power, wisdom, and goodness, 
 which yet are continually lost to our view in clouds and 
 darkness. To a certain extent we can distinctly follow 
 the designing and beneficent hand of an Almighty Ruler ; 
 we can see him working, as it were, in open day, and 
 can confidently and exultingly say, here is the impress 
 of an all-perfect mind ; and while M'e gaze, a heavenly 
 light seems to burst upon us, which opens the invisible 
 world to our senses, and gives a wider range, and a 
 higher elevation to our faculties. But at the moment 
 when we feel raised, as it were, above the grossness 
 of this nether sphere, and about to enter on brighter 
 regions of knowledge and intelligence, we are suddenly 
 arrested in our adventurous course— the beauty, order, 
 
6 INTRODUCTION. 
 
 and harmony in which we already appeared to expatiate 
 recede from our view, — the light grows dim and expires, 
 and we shudder to find ourselves surrounded with a 
 mysterious and impenetrable gloom. 
 
 These reflections, which the contemplative mind will 
 own to be universally applicable, seem to present them- 
 selves with peculiar force to the attention of those who 
 study the history of the Church, both under the Old 
 Testament dispensation, and under that for which it was 
 the preparation, the full and free revelation of the gospel 
 of Jesus Christ. When we look at the broad features of 
 the scheme of salvation, by which the original promise 
 was fulfilled, and the seed of the woman bruised the 
 head of the serpent — the incarnation, the sufferings, and 
 the death of the Son of God, — the Just One pardoning 
 sin, in consistency with his inflexible juvStice, — the Holy 
 One rewarding the unholy with the blessings of his 
 love, without tarnishing his purity, or abating the sanc- 
 tions of his eternal laws, we see a system which, in the 
 sublimity of its wisdom, and in the condescension of its 
 grace, is worthy of all adoration and praise. But even 
 here there are difficulties which human reason attempts 
 in vain to overcome, and mysteries which must remain 
 unrevealed till this mortal shall put on immortality. 
 
 The same character is observed in the progress of the 
 Christian Church as in its commencement. Throughout 
 its whole extent we see a checkered scene of light and 
 darkness, of prosperity and adversity, — periods in which 
 the Spirit of God is seen moving far and wide over the face 
 of the moral chaos, and in the act apparently of restor- 
 ing all things to primeval beauty, followed by long and 
 dreary ages of gloomy superstition and spiritual death ; 
 spots bright for a time with the unclouded glories of the 
 Sun of Righteousness, then darkening into an ominous 
 
INTRODUCTION. 7 
 
 twilight, and seeming- gradually to close in all the hor- 
 rors of ancient night, till in some new S2)ot the dawn 
 appears, and a new alternation succeeds. 
 
 It is at once mournful and humbling to look back to 
 the fate of the once highly favoured churches of Asia, 
 and of those other churches which were founded in the 
 apostolic age, when the deep and powerful eloquence of 
 Paul thundered conviction into the souls of appalled 
 multitudes, or the gentle and affecting voice of the be- 
 loved John drew them to his crucified master by the 
 cords of love, or the impetuous zeal of the self-accusing 
 Peter pricked them in their hearts, till they cried out, 
 " Men and brethren, what shall we do ? " And when we 
 think of the palpable darkness which for many centuries 
 has brooded, and still continues to brood, over those once 
 highly favoured regions, where miraculous power ere- 
 while bore testimony to the commissioned messengers of 
 Heaven, we feel constrained to lay our hands upon our 
 mouths, wondering while we adore. Nor is there less of 
 a mysterious awe shed around the whole subsequent 
 dealings of Providence in administering the affairs of his 
 Church. The heresies which early sprang up in the 
 bosom of Christian communities at the very time when, 
 with such supernatural rapidity, the truth was breaking 
 forth on the right hand and on the left, — the persecu- 
 tions which, while they exterminated the faithful, dis- 
 played their Christian graces before a wondering world, 
 and gave new energy and extension to the heaven-sup- 
 ported cause, — the countenance and support at length 
 afforded by the civil government, which, on the one 
 hand, gave triumph to the Christian name, and, on the 
 other, debased it with superstition, contaminated it with 
 false doctrine, and perverted it into an instrument of 
 worldly ambition ; the light which, gradually accumula- 
 ting in ages of darkness, at last burst forth with such 
 
8 INTRODUCTION"; 
 
 power and brightness as suddenly to illuminate a large 
 portion of the world called Christian ; the alternate 
 clouds and sunshine which attended this heavenly lights 
 and continued to mark its path ; the sects and divisions 
 which have since prevailed in Protestant nations, some- 
 times removing errors, and at other times causing- them 
 to assume new forms, or giving strength and permanency 
 to ancient heresies ; a perva<ling spirit of coldness, in- 
 difference, and practical atheism, alternating with periods 
 of divine illumination and zeal, or at least occasionally 
 interrupted by partial displays of the hallowed and en- 
 nobling character of that revelation which is the power of 
 God and the wisdom of God. Such is, in few words, 
 the mysterious history of the religion of the Divine 
 Being who came to " bring life and immortality to 
 light by his gospel," and in whom ancient prophecy had 
 foretold that all the families of the earth should be 
 blessed. 
 
 These are events which deeply atfect the hearts of 
 believers, and strongly exercise their faith; but amidst 
 them all they either trace the hand of unerring wisdom 
 and goodness, or, when their spiritual vision fails, learn 
 to turn inward on themselves, and to confess that the 
 defect lies not in the ways of Providence, but in the 
 weakness, the waywardness, and the ignorance of their 
 own shortsighted and sinful minds; and hence to cherish 
 more fondly the blessed hope, that the time is approach- 
 ing when they shall no longer " see as through a glass 
 darkly." 
 
 There is one thing, however, which, by a pious mind^ 
 engaged in retlecting on the history of the Church of 
 Christ, can neither be overlooked nor misunderstood; 
 we allude to the evident progress w hich, amidst all these 
 advances and retrogressions, the cause of revealed truth 
 is actually mjiking when considered as a whole. II 
 
INTRODUCTIOy. ^ 
 
 periods of extraordinary light have been interrupted by 
 periods of darkness, the effects of the former have not 
 been entirely obliterated. Age after age divine know- 
 ledge has been accumulating ; and even in days of the 
 deepest gloom men have been gradually, though in 
 many instances imperceptibly, laying up stores which 
 were destined to be made available for the improvement 
 of more favoured times. Every contribution to the stock 
 of human learning, — every new discovery in science or in 
 art, — every thing, in short, which has served to develope 
 the mental powers, or to enlarge the intercourse of society, 
 all have united, with the more direct influence of Chris- 
 tian principle, to give new range, expansion, and vital 
 energy to the operation of revealed truth on the human 
 mind. The instruments may have been " of the earth 
 earthy," but they have been secretly overruled by an 
 unseen hand; the events may have seemed only to add 
 vigour to the worldliness of seltish and unhallowed men, 
 but they have also afforded new means, and prepared 
 new instruments, for the accomplishment of the blessed 
 promise, that the earth shall be full of the knowledge 
 of the Lord, as the waters cover the sea. The gene- 
 ral progress of public opinion in this country has been 
 justly and beautifully compared to the flowing tide ; and 
 the same comparison will apply, with an exactness 
 singularly striking, to the progress of revealed religion. 
 " Each successive wave rushes forward, breaks, and rolls 
 back ; but the great flood is steadily coming in. A per- 
 son who looked on the waters only for a moment might 
 fancy they were retiring, or that they obeyed no fixed 
 law, but were rushing capriciously to and fro ; but when 
 he keeps his eye on them for a quarter of an hour, and 
 sees one land-mark disappear after pnother, it is impos- 
 sible for him to doubt of the general direction in which 
 
10 INTRODUCTION. 
 
 the ocean is moved." * An illustration scarcely less ap- 
 propriate mig-ht, perhaps, be drawn from the advance of 
 the seasons from winter to summer. Vv^e have not only 
 short days, succeeded l)y long- and dreary nig-hts, but pe- 
 riods ofbeautiful sunshine and progressive light, followed 
 by days of g"loora and storm, which seem to throw nature 
 back into all the horror from which it was emerging-. 
 The next day and the next again returns, and still the 
 threatening aspect of the season may remain ; but spring- 
 is nevertheless advancing — the sun, though obscured by 
 clouds, has been steadily increasing in his meridian alti- 
 tude, and day has, by unobserved degrees, been encroach- 
 ing on the night, till, either gradually, or by a sudden 
 revolution, the heavy clouds disperse, the keen air be- 
 comes soft and balmy, the sun looks forth in his strength, 
 and the green earth and vocal woods rejoice in the genial 
 influence. Other clouds may gather and other blasts 
 may blight ; but, amidst every vicissitude, the light be- 
 comes brighter and longer — the warmth more vivifying 
 — buds and blossoms more profuse — and every thing 
 proclaims the approach of summer. If, in simply com- 
 paring yesterday with to-day, or even the last week with 
 the present, the progress might seem to be reversed, yet 
 our judgment is infallibly corrected when we take in a 
 more extended period, and compare month with month, 
 and still more when we compare one season with another. 
 And just so it is with the history of the Christian 
 Church — amidst every vicissitude the light of the Gos- 
 pel has been progressive. Even in those ages which 
 have been emphatically called dark, when fearful igno- 
 rance cast its Cimmerian shade over the Christian world, 
 when phantoms of superstition stalked amidst the gloom, 
 
 * Edinburgh Review, July, 1835, p. 280. 
 
INTRODUCTIOX. 11 
 
 and when a grinding- tyranny bound its chains round the 
 soul, materials were accumulating in the cloisters of the 
 monastery, and the closet of the philosopher, which were 
 to furnish fuel for the flame about to be kindled at the 
 great era of the Reformation, while among the mountains 
 of the Alps and Apennines the sacred fire was kept alive 
 which was destined to hght that mighty torch. Nor 
 must we forget, what is no unusual, though a very 
 striking- characteristic of the operations of Providence, 
 that while these direct means were in progress, the very 
 downward force of the opposite principle was destined to 
 occasion a recoil, and accelerate the crisis ; the yoke was 
 to become too heavy to be borne, and the fetters were to 
 be tightened till they burst. Ever since that memorable 
 period, the history of the Church has continued to exhibit 
 the same strongly-marked features, — alternate advance 
 and retrogression in the shorter periods being- uniformly 
 accompanied with an obvious and triumphant progress 
 in the longer. It is impossible, indeed, not to lament 
 the counteracting- power of evil, or to hide from our 
 view the deep depravity of the human heart, which shuts 
 out the light of heaven, and chills the vivifying in- 
 fluences of divine truth ; but when we look at the 
 general result in the sure and increasing diflusion of 
 Christian truth, the mind is cheered and reassured. This 
 result, harmonizing as it does with the language of pro- 
 phecy, gives us additional encouragement in looking 
 forward to the promised time when all the kingdoms of 
 the world shall own but one King, whose kingdom is not 
 earthly, and all their inhabitants shall be animated with 
 but one ambitious wish, whose object is not the fame 
 which perishes, but the glory which is eternal. 
 
 But the work now presented to the public takes in a 
 far more limited range than that to which this rapid 
 retrospect alludes. It is confined to the British Islands, 
 
12 INTRODUCTION. 
 
 and even here professes not to give any thing- approaching* 
 to so much as a sketch of reb'gious history. The simple 
 object of the compiler is to call attention to some of 
 the more remarkable instances in which it has pleased 
 the great Head of the Church to visit particular districts, 
 chiefly within the last two centuries, with peculiar marks 
 of his countenance, and striking influences of his spirit. 
 In this more contracted survey, however, the very same 
 character may be traced as is presented to our view when 
 we examine the operations of Providence in the religious 
 world on a larger scale. In both instances, the Spirit 
 works in the same mysterious manner, by his sovereign 
 power controlling events, and overruling intentions and 
 motives, so as to confound the wisdom of the wise, and 
 to bring to nothing the understanding of the prudent, 
 pouring floods of unexpected light on dark and desolate 
 places, by instruments, in the estimation of the world, 
 weak and inadequate, and withholding the blessing from 
 talents, zeal, and fervid eloquence, under circumstances 
 which appeared to the shortsighted view of mortals to 
 promise abundant success. Again, we see the progress 
 of a work arrested which had been begun with the bright- 
 est prospects, and been the subject of many prayers, an 
 event which appeared to give a long and alarming triumph 
 to the powers of darkness ; while, by a way wholly his 
 own. He who brings good out of seeming evil was per- 
 haps, by that very triumph, preparing for them the 
 means of a signal overthrow. Mean while, amidst these 
 alternations, the cause of Gospel truth advances, and, in 
 a series of years, the fruits of apparently transient in- 
 fluences are distinctly seen in the increasing prosperity 
 of the Church. Such influences, indeed, limited and 
 partial as they appear, are often the very means by 
 which the mightier and more extensive changes in the 
 condition of religion are eff'ected. It is by an accumu- 
 
INTRODUCTION. 13 
 
 lation of many comparatively small operations that a city 
 is built and becomes the emporium of commerce, and 
 that a country is reclaimed from a state of nature and is 
 converted into an enclosed and cultivated region ; and 
 again, to recur to a former illustration, it is by the 
 united efforts of frequent, but not protracted, periods of 
 sunshine, alternating- with rain, that, notwithstanding- the 
 interruptions of chilling- blasts, and lowering- clouds, and 
 bursting- tempests, the year is at last crowned with 
 plenty, and glows in all the beauty of summer. And so 
 it is with the influences of the Spirit. From the visible 
 effusion of that divine power on the assembled multitude 
 on the day of Pentecost, down to the present time, his 
 operations have been similar in their nature and effects, 
 resembling rather gleams of blessed sunshine from a sky 
 generally overcast, than the steady brightness of an un- 
 clouded atmosphere ; but the genial light and warmth 
 have been reflected and diffused — the gracious intentions 
 of Heaven are accomplished and accomplishing — the 
 seed is sown and grows — amidst all obstructions, the 
 seasons advance, and harvest approaches. 
 
 Few exercises appear either more edifying or more 
 delightful than those which employ the mind in tracing 
 the operations of divine grace on the human soul ; whe- 
 ther we seek for these operations in the lives of insulated 
 individuals, or in those more rare and remarkable in- 
 stances in which whole districts have been visited with 
 peculiar manifestations of the power of religion, and the 
 work of the Holy Spirit. By such an employment, when 
 conducted in the spirit of humility and wisdom, we ob- 
 tain clearer and more mortifying views of the natural 
 corruption of the human heart, and of the necessity of 
 divine illumination to enlighten us, and divine power to 
 create right spirits within us. Nor can we engage in 
 this study without having the truth impressed on our 
 minds at every step, that the ways of God are not as our 
 
14 INTRODUCTION. 
 
 ways, nor his thoughts as our thoughts. The conver- 
 sions and revivals which form the subject of the follow- 
 ing pages, have been regarded by the profane as too 
 ridiculous to deserve any thing but contempt, while per- 
 sons of a more sober and contemplative turn have joined 
 with the votaries of a cold philosophy in viewing them 
 with a suspicious eye, and have been inclined to attri- 
 bute most, if not the whole, of the manifestations, to the 
 excitement of powerful, or perhaps fanatical preaching, 
 operating on the natural feehngs, and increased by the 
 effects of sympathy, — thus excluding supernatural in- 
 fluences, and ranking these operations of the Spirit 
 among the phenomena of a heated imagination. 
 
 Now, that the imagination has sometimes a very sur- 
 prising effect, both on the moral and intellectual powers, 
 we have no wish to deny, and the connexion between 
 these and the corporeal frame is too well known to make 
 it wonderful, that a powerful mental excitement should 
 be accompanied with a corresponding influence on the 
 body. It must be owned, indeed, to be a matter of 
 notoriety, that instances of violent and irregular excite- 
 ment have not unfrequently occurred, both among in- 
 dividuals and in large communities, which, to a super- 
 ficial observer, might seem to be of a nature not dissi- 
 milar to those recorded in this volume, and which yet 
 have exhibited such characteristics as sufficiently to prove 
 that they are not the effect of divine agency. Some 
 examples of this species of false excitement will be found 
 recorded in the Appendix to this work, which the reader 
 will do well to study with care. He will thus be led to 
 perceive the importance of the apostolical injunction, — 
 " Beloved, believe not every spirit, but try the spirits 
 whether they are of God ;" and this exercise, when con- 
 ducted with a humble but earnest desire to know the 
 truth, will not fail to increase our faith, by throwing new 
 and important light on the operations of divine grace. 
 
INTRODUCTION. 15 
 
 That Satan should counterfeit the appearance of an 
 angel of light is no new device, nor are there wanting- 
 avenues by which he can gain access for this malicious 
 purpose to the human heart. There are always materials 
 at hand by which individuals and bodies of men can be 
 excited and deceived, and the extravagances of which 
 they may be guilty when under such delusion can scarcely 
 be overrated. If we seek for an example of this on the 
 largest scale, we shall be at no loss to find it in the his- 
 tory of the Crusades, when all Europe, by a simultaneous 
 movement, threw its excited millions on the coasts of 
 Asia, to rescue the Holy Land from the grasp of an 
 infidel power. The spirit which, in more modern times, 
 has filled nations with revolutionary frenzy, and led them 
 to the most revolting excesses, is of a similar nature ; 
 and indeed we may trace the same tendency to undue 
 excitement, aggravated by the powerful effects of sym- 
 pathy, in the madness of every infuriated mob. But a 
 species of hallucination, which apparently approaches 
 nearer to the character of a revival, and sometimes, 
 indeed, assumes an aspect but too well calculated to 
 deceive the unstable, is to be discovered in the impulses 
 of fanatical enthusiasm, which have not unfrequently 
 disturbed the peace of society. Of this character are the 
 extravagances of the Anabaptists in Germany, and of 
 the more amiable Quakers in England. Nor must we 
 forget the French prophets, who made their appearance 
 about the beginning of the last century, and deluded so 
 many with their bold and impious pretensions, both in 
 that country and in England. Some notice of this ex- 
 traordinary delusion, nearly resembling that which has 
 appeared in our own day, supported by the talents and 
 devoted zeal of an Irving and a Campbell, will be found 
 in the Appendix already alluded to ; and the reader will 
 be particularly interested in the singularly ingenuous 
 account of the attempts of this fanatical sect in the 
 
16 INTRODUCTION. 
 
 capital of Scotland, detailed in the letters of a hig-hly 
 respectable clerg-yman, and now for the first time g-iven 
 to the public. 
 
 It were folly, however, to confound these false appear- 
 ances with the genuine fruits of the Spirit, nor would it 
 be more contrary to the dictates of revealed religion than 
 inconsistent with sound philosophy to conclude, that, 
 because the human mind may be hurried into extrava- 
 gances by fanatical excitement, no faith is to be reposed 
 in supernatural agency, where the effects are altogether 
 of a different character. The delusive nature of the 
 appearances above alluded to may be detected by various 
 infallible tests; among which may be mentioned false 
 doctrines, immoral practices, extravagant pretensions, 
 childish or impious conceits, abortive expectations of 
 supernatural interference, and prophetical utterances 
 contradicted by the result. On the other hand, the 
 distinguishing features of a real work of the Spirit con- 
 sist in the absence of all these unsound views and prac- 
 tices, and in the exhibition of Christian virtues and 
 graces, — especially a deep sense of sin, profound hu- 
 mility, and an entire reliance on the merits of a crucified 
 Redeemer, accompanied by a love of holiness, displaying 
 itself in the daily conduct, and not only surviving times 
 of peculiar excitement, but continuing stedfast to the 
 last. 
 
 This is true, whether we refer to individual cases of 
 conversion or to those memorable occurrences in which 
 a peculiar awakening of many souls to the knowledge and 
 power of religion, by a simultaneous efliusion of the Spirit, 
 has been vouchsafed to particular districts of the church 
 The latter, indeed, do not differ from the former in kind 
 but only in juxtaposition as to time and place. Every 
 time a fallen child of Adam is brought out of his natural 
 darkness into the marvellous light of divine truth, this 
 work is accomplished by the power of the Holy Spirit. 
 
INTRODUCTION. 17 
 
 This is conversion, whether it take place gradually and 
 even almost imperceptibly in the use of the ordinary 
 means of grace, or more suddenly and strikingly by ar- 
 resting the sinner in the midst of a headlong career of 
 worldliness. Many such conversions, occurring at the 
 same time and in the same place, constitute what has 
 been called a Revival. In both instances, the same 
 sovereign will is displayed, and the same vivifying jDowers, 
 and in both the believer traces and adores the same 
 unerring wisdom and the same unspeakable grace. There 
 is this only difference, that a Revival, coming with more 
 outnard observation, and operating more suddenly on 
 friends and neighbours, excites a more powerful and 
 glowing sympathy. The overpowering sense of sin, 
 which, in the case of an individual conversion, would 
 have been pent up, perhaps, in the secret recesses of the 
 heart, obtains free vent where many are similarly affected; 
 the perception of divine grace in the wonders of redeem- 
 ing love, which might otherwise have caused the soul to 
 overflow with love and gratitude only in its own inward 
 feelings, is now cherished and brought to light by the 
 warmth of congenial sentiments ; heart communicates 
 with heart — one sympathetic emotion runs from indivi- 
 dual to individual, and from family to family ; in the 
 house of prayer, the fervid minds of the audience take 
 fire at the words of the servant of God, and are torn with 
 remorse, or glow with love, or melt with tenderness, as 
 the corresponding chord is struck in the heart. Under 
 such circumstances, can it be thought either wonderful 
 or irrational that the deeply cherished, and unspeakably 
 important sentiments of the heart should find expression 
 in outward symptoms of astonishment, of sorrow, or of 
 delight ? " In a Christian assembly, blessed with the abun- 
 dant pouring out of the spirit from on high," says an en- 
 lightened writer, " I should not be surprised though the 
 
18 INTRaDUCTION. 
 
 impression of love or of terror from so mighty an agent 
 should in some cases overwhelm for a time the powers of 
 unimal nature ; or break in a little on that external orde 
 which dead formalists are left perfectly capable in all 
 points to observe." 
 
 The truth is, that our holy religion presents to the 
 mind subjects of such paramount importance, the hopes 
 which it inspires are so exalted, and its terrors so tremen- 
 dous, while the mercy and grace which it reveals are so 
 engaging, that it seems impossible for any rational being 
 to be awakened to an adequate sense of them without 
 being filled with emotions for which language has no 
 utterance. Were not the mind of man naturally blirid to 
 divine things, the agitation and excitement which have 
 been ridiculed as so irrational in a revival, would be uni- 
 versal throughout the Christian world, and would l)e felt 
 by all to be nothing more than the obvious and reason- 
 able consequence of the perception of divine truth. The 
 power of the Holy Spirit merely removes a veil from the 
 heart, and a film from the eyes. It enables us to see 
 clearly, to reason justly, and to feel correctly. It is our 
 natural state of coldness and indifference which deserves 
 to be branded with the name of folly. To tremble under 
 convictions of sin, to flee from the wrath to come, to 
 adore our Creator, to bless our Redeemer, and to feel and 
 act as expectants of immortality, — this alone is true wis- 
 dom. And what is this but to be converted ? The dis- 
 pensation of the gospel is peculiarly a dispensation of the 
 Holy Spirit. Though the mighty work which was 
 " finished " on Calvary is the blessed — the unspeakable 
 labour on which depends the redemption of lost millions, 
 yet the Son of God would have died in vain had not 
 means been provided for applying to all the subjects of 
 his kingdom the salvation which he had purchased for 
 them. In bestowing this inestimable gift, with all the 
 blessings attached to it, the Holy Spirit is the agent. 
 
INTRODUCTION. 19 
 
 Our Lord declared this to his disciples when he was about 
 to quit the world. " When the comforter is come whom 
 I will send unto you from the Father, even the spirit of 
 truth which proceedeth from the Father, he shall testify 
 of me. He shall guide you into all truth. He shall 
 receive of mine and shall show it unto you." * Nay, so 
 important are the influences of this comforter, that Jesus 
 hastened, as it were, his departure to make room for him. 
 '• It is expedient for you that I go av/ay ; for if I go not 
 away the comforter will not come unto you ; but if I 
 depart I will send him unto you." | Thus then the com- 
 pletion of the " consolation" which had so long been 
 waited for was remitted by the Lord himself into the 
 hands of the Holy Spirit. The church has enjoyed the 
 first fruits of that promise. First of all they v.ere mani- 
 fested in the persons of the disciples themselves. No 
 sooner was the gift bestowed than they suddenly arose 
 from a slough of prejudice, worldly ambition, and timi- 
 dity, to courage, disinterestedness, and spiritual discern- 
 ment. Who were presently so intrepid as they who had 
 but recently deserted their master and fled in dastardly 
 terror ? Who so regardless of ease and temporal advance- 
 ment as they who had formerly quarrelled for anticipated 
 places of earthly honour? Who so faithful as they who 
 had denied their benefactor and friend in the hour of his 
 enemy's triumph ? With what new fervour and emotion 
 was their preaching distinguished ? What holiness, meek- 
 ness, and charity now adorned their characters and sanc- 
 tified their lives ? Under the influence of the Spirit of 
 truth, the testimony which they bore to Jesus was 
 attended with demonstration and with power. Thousands 
 on thousands were converted and subdued, and wherever 
 they went the cause of Christ mightily prevailed. If, 
 while their master was alive, they returned to him with 
 
 * John, XV, 26 ; and xvL 13, 14. t John, xvi. 7. 
 
^0 INTRODUCTION. 
 
 joy, saying, that even the devils were subject to them, 
 with how much greater joy must they have exercised 
 those gifts of the spirit which melted the hearts of both 
 Jews and Gentiles, and constrained them to own that 
 the crucified Jesus was both Lord and Christ I 
 
 Since those days of miraculous power the ordinary 
 influences of the Spirit have not ceased to operate, and 
 have, even in the darkest periods of ignorance and super- 
 stition, been advancing, as we have already observed, the 
 interests of pure and undefiled religion. That its pro- 
 gress has been slow and sometimes even retrograde, while 
 on the one hand it may be resolved into the sovereign 
 will of Him who doeth all things well, must on the other 
 be attributed to the perverseness and the enmity of those 
 to whom the offer of salvation is freely made. If it be 
 asked why the promise of righteousness and peace to the 
 world is so long delayed, we may confidently answer, that 
 it is not because the arm of God is shortened, or his ear 
 heavy. The obstruction lies with ourselves. He calls, 
 but we will not answer. He offers, but we refuse. The 
 means of grace are ample, but our hearts are hard. In 
 the ministers of the gospel there seems to be increasing 
 life and zeal, but can it be said that the people second 
 their efforts and gladly hear their voice ? Alas ! com- 
 plaints of carelessness and deadness are heard on every 
 side. In England the way of salvation is proclaimed 
 from very many pulpits — sedulously and pitifully pro- 
 claimed ; and yet, when you ask the pastors to show you 
 the faithful of their flock, they reply with a groan, " Who 
 hath believed our report?" The people crowd perhaps 
 to church, and attend to all the outward decorum beco- 
 ming Christian congregations, and then withdraw as unin- 
 fluenced by solemn warnings and earnest invitations as if 
 they heard them not. In Scotland we have this testi- 
 mony from one of its most faithful pastors about the end 
 of last century : " The gospel is no where more ably or 
 
INTRODUCTION. 21 
 
 more plentifully preached than in Edinburgh and its 
 environs, but it is not apparently accompanied with that 
 power which our fathers have told us it used to be. At 
 the same time the servants of the Lord seem to be won- 
 derfully assisted in boldly declaring- the genuine gospel of 
 Christ." Since that period faithful ministers of the gos- 
 pel seem to have rapidly increased in every corner of the 
 land ; but we are still at a loss to discover any very 
 marked effects of their zeal in giving rise to a praying 
 people. How affecting is it to hear a minister of the free 
 and blessed gospel say from his pulpit, " I have laboured 
 among you for more than thirty-five years, and were any 
 one to ask me ' where are the fruits of your labours ? ' I 
 should be confounded, and know not what to answer ! " 
 
 How long shall we hear sermons which shut us up to 
 the only way of deliverance through the cross of Christ — 
 Nay, how long shall the people demand such sermons, 
 and admire them, and tolerate no other, and yet listen to 
 them without conviction and without emotion ? How 
 long shall the gospel be preached in its purity and not in 
 its power ? Shall we make that condemnation and death 
 to our souls which ought to be life and glory ? 
 
 The quickening power is too often neglected in this 
 mighty concern. We have the letter which killeth, but 
 the spirit which givetli life is awanting. The distinguish- 
 ing characteristic of the Christian dispensation, as we 
 have said, is the work of the Holy Spirit. Do our pastors 
 hold forth this characteristic with sufficient emphasis ? 
 While Christ is preached to us distinctly enough as the 
 Saviour of sinners, is this all-important doctrine pro- 
 claimed as a fact to be believed, and to exercise the un- 
 derstanding, rather than as a truth which ought deeply 
 to affect the heart, and entirely to influence the conduct ? 
 Is there any backwardness and reserve in bringing home 
 to the minds of hearers the necessity of the divine Spi- 
 rit's operation, or in faithfully warning them that with- 
 
^2 INTRODUCTION. 
 
 out power from on high they cannot savingly accept of 
 the truth, or become wise unto salvation ? While we 
 are taught to believe that our souls must be born again, 
 is there no reluctance freely to declare that, even after 
 conversion, we can receive no spiritual gift, and make no 
 ■advance in holiness, except through the medium of the 
 Spirit ? Under these impressions is there any lack of 
 incitement ceaselessly and earnestly to pray for the aid of 
 this life giving agent ? Assuredly if there be a defect in 
 the preaching of the present day as to these vital princi- 
 ples, it cannot be matter of surprise that the influence of 
 the pastor's ministrations should be feeble, and that the 
 flock should languish for want of nourishment. Were 
 the minister to enter his pulpit, and the people their 
 seats, convinced that without the Spirit's intervention 
 preaching and hearing are alike powerless, how difl'erent 
 might be the result ! W^ere it laid on our conscience and 
 on our understanding that we must always in all duties^ 
 by prayer seek the teaching and assistance of the Spirit, 
 that we must pray for this gift while we read, that we 
 must pray for it while we hear, that we must pray for it 
 while we speak, and even pray for it with every act of 
 confession, supplication, or thanksgiving, might we not 
 expect to obtain the inestimable blessing, and to be visited 
 Avith some of those times of refreshing from the Lord, 
 which should prove that he is amongst us of a truth ? 
 
 What avails all the apparatus of Christianity without 
 the living principle to give it efficacy ? Our country is 
 divided into parishes, each possessing its pastor and its 
 eldership, with its church and its school ; our cottages 
 are furnished with Bibles ; our scattered hamlets are 
 strewn with religious tracts ; Scriptural knowledge, 
 though far from being universal, is not rare among us ; 
 daring vice and impiety are kept under restraint. But 
 «ven in these advantages and privileges does there not 
 lark a snare ? Have they not become to us as the Nile 
 
INTRODUCTION. 23 
 
 ^s to the land of Egypt ? We regard them as our ferti- 
 lizing stream. We water the hmd with our foot, and 
 trust that the fructifying influence is there; and thus we 
 are visited with barrenness. If our work is to prosper, 
 if our own souls are to prosper, we must look higher than 
 ordinances for our refreshment ; we must drink water of 
 the rain of heaven. The Lord must care for us. His eye 
 •must he ever upon us, and his ear open to our cry. And 
 surely, if we feel the helplessness of our natural condi- 
 tion, and apply for that strength which is made perfect 
 in weakness, He who hath said " Ask and ye shall 
 receive that your joy may be full," will not be unfaith- 
 ful to his own promise. 
 
 Is it not a time for those who pray at all to arouse 
 themselves, and seek more earnestly the best gifts, when 
 the powers of our country, both political and religious, 
 are in commotion ; when many conflicting opinions and 
 clashing interests are at work to unsettle old institutions ; 
 and when there may be a dearth of grace and wisdom to 
 reconstruct the fabrics, or give strength and stability to 
 their shaken foundations ? While some of our legislators 
 would make no difficulty about the re-estabhshraent of 
 Popery in a misruled and afflicted portion of our empire, 
 and others would cleave to our Protestant establishments ; 
 some from enlightened and pious attachment, and others 
 from more timid or prejudiced adherence to things as they 
 are ; and while a new and unlocked for party project to 
 purify the Church of Christ, and strengthen and enlarge 
 its borders by depriving it of all pecuniary aid from the 
 state, and shaking it loose from the protection of constitu- 
 ted authority; — while men, entertaining these various and 
 jarring sentiments, are each working in their own way to 
 promote their own ends, where is our shelter ? Wliere 
 our deliverance ? Is it not in Him whose name is a 
 strong tower, into which the righteous runneth, and is 
 safe ? He passes by the minor difl'erences, and disowns 
 
24 INTRODUCTION. 
 
 the bitter contendings of party, while, without respect to 
 church order and government, he pours out his Holy- 
 Spirit on the meek and lowly in heart, and revives the 
 souls of the prayerful. Leaving- men to arrange the local 
 circumstances and conveniences of his church, he gathers 
 out of all the denominations of worshippers who hold 
 " the truth, once delivered to the saints," a people for 
 himself. Christ is not divided, and his members must be 
 knit together by holier and more indissoluble ties than 
 those which are formed by sect or party. They are 
 drawn together by the bonds of Christian love, and uni- 
 ted, in one spiritual body, to the Head, by the plastic 
 and constraining power of the Holy Spirit. We cannot 
 hope that He who has been emphatically called the Prince 
 of Peace will look down with favour on our land while 
 Ephraim envies Judah, and Judah vexes Ephraim. But 
 if believers would only unite in humble, earnest, and per- 
 severing prayer for those divine influences which he has 
 promised to shed abroad on his church, we should soon 
 have other work to do than to engage in unhallowed 
 strife. A breath from the Spirit of Holiness, convincing 
 the worldly-wise of their common misery and their com- 
 mon hope, would dissolve all their views of expediency 
 and of self-aggrandizement like a morning dream ; an 
 effusion of that love which pervades the regions of 
 heavenly peace would combine all the disjointed materials 
 of which the church on earth is formed. Prayer and sup- 
 pHcation, with thanksgiving, would occupy bosoms which 
 are now the seat of misgiving and coldness ; one hope 
 and one labour of love would blend the sympathies of 
 believers ; and while they united their efforts in guiding 
 the perplexed through the mazes of doubt, and in con- 
 ducting the convicted to the foot of the cross, angry con- 
 tention would cease, sectarian prejudices would give way, 
 and the servants of Jesus would wonder that they had 
 ever differedo 
 
REVIVALS OF RELIGION, 
 
 &c. 
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 
 This and the three following- chapters contain each an 
 account of a work of grace in parts of England remote in 
 situation, yet taking- place within a few years of each 
 other, and some of them going on at the same date. It 
 does not appear that any of the excellent pastors who were 
 the honoured instruments in promoting the work, were 
 acquainted with the operations of the rest, or that their 
 own religious impressions had commenced or been nur- 
 tured during their academic course. Nay, it is remark- 
 able, that Walker, Berridge, and Grimshaw preached for 
 years without knowing the true plan of salvation, and 
 their own minds were disfranchised from the trammels 
 of error and prejudice, only after periods of hard conflict. 
 Venn and Berridge became attached friends late in life, 
 and were both made instrumental in leading the minds 
 of some members of the University of Cambridge to em- 
 brace evangelical truth. The fruit which sprung of this 
 happy combination, in the characters of Simeon and 
 others, remains to this day, and has furnished faithful 
 guides to many English parishes, which were previously 
 in a desolate condition. Walker was the friend of Re- 
 main, and through him, of several other good men of his 
 day, and united wdth them in seeking to influence the 
 minds of clergymen in various parts of the kingdom. 
 Grimshaw seems to have stood alone in the energy of 
 his eccentric faithfulness ; and till he was sought out by 
 
26 REVIVAL UNDER VENN 
 
 Whitefield, and through that circumstance shared his 
 name of Methodist, he seems scarcely to have found a 
 clerical friend who understood him. There arose soon 
 after him, however, a band of holy men, who appreciated 
 his worth; and his life by John Newton, written thirty 
 years after he had ceased from his labours, is a pleasing- 
 evidence that his work has left a long- trace behind it. 
 
 REVIVAL UNDER VENN AT 
 HUDDERSFIELD. 
 
 [1759.] The Rev. H. Venn removed from Clapham, 
 where he had not experienced the success which he hoped, 
 and settled at Huddersfield, in Yorkshire. As soon as 
 he began to preach there, the church became crowded 
 to such an extent that many were not able to procure 
 admission. Numbers became deeply impressed with con- 
 cern about their immortal souls, and persons flocked from 
 the distant hamlets, enquiring what they must do to be 
 saved. He found them in general utterly ignorant of 
 their state by nature, and of the redemption that is in 
 Christ Jesus. His heart yearned over his flock, and he 
 was never satisfied with his labours among them, though 
 they were continued to a degree ruinous to his health. 
 He often addressed the congregation from the desk, 
 explaining and enforcing the Psalms and the lessons. 
 He would often begin the service with a solemn and most 
 impressive address, exhorting them to consider them- 
 selves as in the presence of the great God of Heaven, 
 whose eye was in a particular manner upon them whilst 
 they drew nigh to him in his own house. His whole 
 soul was engaged in preaching ; and as at this time he 
 only used short notes in the pulpit, ample room was left 
 to indulge the feelings of compassion, of tenderness, and 
 of love, with which his heart overflowed towards his 
 people. In the week, he statedly visited the different 
 hamlets in his extensive parish, and collecting the inha- 
 
AT IIUDDERSFIELD. '27 
 
 bitants at a private hoiisp, he addressed them with a kind- 
 ness and earnestness which moved every heart. Oppo- 
 sition, however, followed him here. Ke was assailed 
 with the old and slanderous insinuation, that while he 
 preached the doctrine of justification by faith aione, he 
 undervalued moral worth, and neglected to enforce works, 
 though his whole life was a practical confutation of such 
 a falsehood, and the lives of those who received the doc- 
 trines he preached became so strict and exemplary, that 
 they were immediately accused of the opposite extreme 
 of carrying- hoHness to an unnecessary length. 
 
 A club, chiefly composed of Socinians, in a neighbour- 
 ing market-town, having heard much censure and ridicule 
 bestowed on his preaching, sent tvwo of their body, whom 
 they considered the ablest to detect absurdity, and the 
 most witty to expose it, to hear this strange preacher, 
 and to furnish matter of merriment for the next meeting. 
 They accordingly went ; but could not but be struck, 
 when they entered the church, to see the multitude that 
 was assembled together, and to observe the devotion of 
 their behaviour. When Mr Venn ascended the reading- 
 desk, he addressed his dock as usual, with a solemnity 
 and dignity which showed him to be deeply interested in 
 the work in which he was engaged. The earnestness of 
 his preaching, and the solemn appeals he made to con- 
 science, deeply impressed them, so that one of them ob- 
 served as they left the church, " Surely God is in this 
 place! — there is no matter for laughter here ! " This 
 gentleman immediately called upon Mr Venn, told him 
 who he was, and the purpose for which he had come, and 
 earnestly begged his forgiveness and his prayers. He 
 requested Mr Venn to visit him without delay, and left 
 the Socinian congregation, and from that time, to the 
 hour of his death, became one of Mr Venn's most faith- 
 ful and affectionate friends. 
 
 The deep impression made by his preaching upon all 
 ranks of the people was indeed very striking. A gentle- 
 man, highly respectable for character, talents, and piety, 
 the late William Hay of Leeds, who frequently went to 
 Huddersfield to hear him preach, assured the writer of 
 
28 REVIVAL UNDER VENN 
 
 his memoirs, that once on returning- home with an inti- 
 mate friend, they neither of them opened their lips to 
 each other till they came within a mile of Leeds, a dis- 
 tance of about fifteen miles ; so deeply were they impres- 
 sed by the very important truths which they had heard 
 from the pulpit, and the very impressive manner in which 
 they had been delivered. 
 
 At the distance of fifty years, the author of the life of 
 Venn went to Huddersfield, to ascertain how far the re- 
 collection of his labours had survived the lapse of nearly 
 two generations. We present a portion of the result of 
 his enquiries, which marks how solemn and lively a work 
 of the Spirit was carried on under his ministry in that 
 place ; and also proves that it was not a mere transient 
 excitement, but a solid operation of the power of divine 
 grace, bringing forth the fruits of righteousness in old 
 age. 
 
 Mr Brook of Longwood states, that there was a meet- 
 ing every Saturday night of the most pious people at 
 Thomas Hanson's, sometimes near twenty, who sang 
 and prayed together. " I was first," said he, " led to go 
 to Huddersfield church by listening with an uncle of 
 mine, Mr Mellor, at the door of the house in which this 
 meeting was held. We thought there must be some- 
 thing uncommon to make people so earnest. My uncle 
 was about nineteen — I was sixteen — so we went toge- 
 ther to the church one Thursday evening. There was 
 a great crowd within the church, all silent, many weep- 
 ing. The text was ' Thou art weighed in the balance, 
 and found wanting.' Mr Mellor was deeply attentive, 
 and, when we came out of church, we did not say a word 
 to each other till we got some way into the fields. Then 
 Mr M. stopped, leaned his back against a wall, and 
 burst into tears, saying, ' I can't stand this ! ' His con- 
 victions of sin were from that time most powerful, and 
 he became quite a changed character — a most exemplary 
 person, as you will hear from the old people, even if 
 they did not like his religion : he died some years after. 
 I was not so much affected at that time, but I could not 
 after that sermon be easy in sin, and I began to pray 
 
AT HUDDERSFIELD. 29 
 
 regularly, and so by degrees I was brought to know my- 
 self, and to seek salvation in earnest. The people used 
 to go from Longwood in droves to Huddersfield church, 
 three miles oif — scores of them came out of church to- 
 gether whose ways home were in this direction, and they 
 used to stop at the First End, about a mile oif, and talk 
 over for some time what they had heard before they se- 
 parated to go to their homes. Oh ! that place has been 
 to me like a little heaven below. I never heard a mini- 
 ster like him. He was most powerful in unfolding the 
 law. When doing so, he had a stern look that would 
 make you tremble — then he would turn off to the offers 
 of grace, and begin to smile, and go on entreating till 
 his eyes filled with tears." 
 
 George Crow, aged eighty-two, when asked if ever 
 he thought of old times, replied, " Ah ! yes, and shall 
 do to the last. I thought when Mr Venn went I should 
 be like Rachael for the rest of my days, weeping, and 
 refusing to be comforted. I was abidingly impressed the 
 first time I heard him, at an early period of his ministry. 
 He was such a preacher as I never heard before nor since 
 — he struck upon the passions like no other man. No- 
 body could help being affected — the most wicked and ill- 
 conditioned men went to hear him, and fell^ like slaked 
 limey in a moment^ even though they were not converted. 
 I could have heard him preach all night through. 
 
 " There were many used to go from Lockwood every 
 Sunday and Thursday — we had a meeting of the most 
 pious at Mrs Scholefield's, about twenty of us, where a 
 subject given out one time was discussed the next — one 
 of us was the leader, and opened with prayer — after- 
 wards he asked all round their opinions, and concluded 
 with prayer. It is kept up to this day, though now but 
 a few of us. The meeting at Longwood had more than 
 ours. There was another at Berry brow ; and one, a 
 kind of general one, at the town. 
 
 " I was one of those who went to Mr Venn with a 
 large body of people, just before he left Huddersfield, to 
 persuade him to stay. There were more than two rooms 
 could hold. * * After Mr Venn left, the people 
 
30 REVIVAL UNDER VENN 
 
 were all squandered away from the church, so some of 
 us determined to begin a subscription for a chapel. I 
 was one of the first who put their names down. I had 
 only £5, and gave that ; and I query whether I have 
 ever had so much in my pocket since, 
 
 " I knew Mr Riland well (Mr Venn's curate) — he 
 was an excellent man ; he used to visit much among- the 
 poor — he often came to me whilst I was at work, and 
 sat down upon the block, or any thing, and would say, 
 ' Well, George, how are you? Either ask me some- 
 thing or tell me something. Be quick ! for I have much 
 to do and little time.' " 
 
 The rehgion of this poor man was of a very advanced 
 and mature character. He quoted passages from Svve- 
 denborgh's writings, which, he said, he had read a great 
 deal of, but though there were some good things, " it 
 was chiefly random stuff." 
 
 Sally P , aged seventy-four, spoke of my grand- 
 father (Mr Venn), with great reverence, but with deep 
 emotion. I asked her, whether she often thought about 
 him ? She replied, '• Ah sir, I have often thought about 
 him, and the pains he took with us ; hut it was all lost 
 upon some of us. He had a most piercing tone, and 
 things that he said have ever since stuck to my mind." 
 " 1 remember, that just before he went, he told us all, 
 that he had broken up our fallow ground, and sown good 
 seed, but that if we did not watch over it, and it did not 
 become fruitful, it would be so much the worse for us ; 
 and so it has been with me. It is very sorrowful to 
 think of these things ; and sometimes it makes me very 
 low." 
 
 John Starkey, aged eighty, as I conversed v.ith him, 
 seemed gradually to wake up, till his countenance glis- 
 tened with joy. His faculties are still perfect, and his 
 recollection ready and distinct. There was in him an 
 uncommon warmth of affection and benevolence. He 
 said, " 1 esteemed Mr Venn too much for a man ; I 
 almost forgot that he was only a creature, and an in- 
 strument. His going away went nearer to my heart 
 than any thing since. I was very '.vild and careless when 
 
AT HUDDERSFIELD. 31 
 
 a lad, and would not go to church ; so Mr Whitaker 
 promised me sixpence if 1 would go three times, but 1 
 don't know whether I earned it, I was so careless about 
 every thing- ; however, soon after, I heard one sermon 
 which made me beg-in to think. The text was, ' God 
 is no respecter of persons ;' and he showed that it was 
 neither money nor learning-, nor any thing- else of the 
 kind which could make us happy ; but that without 
 holiness we were under God's frown and curse. I then 
 saw something of m}'^ real state ; and from that time I 
 did not want hiring- to hear him, I do not think any 
 thing- would have kept me from him. He was a wonderful 
 preacher. When he got warm with his sulvject, he looked 
 as if he would jump out of the pulpit. He made many 
 weep. I have often wept at his sermons. I could have 
 stood to hear him till morning-. When he came up to 
 the church, he used to g-o round the churchyard and 
 drive us all in before bin). About seven or ei?,ht of us 
 who lived at Cawcliff used to meet at each other's 
 houses once a-week, for reading- the Scriptures and 
 prayer, but all my companions are now gone ; and i 
 often think I am left alone, as David says, ' like a 
 sparrow upon the house-top.' It is a grief to me that I 
 have now no one to talk with about spiritual things, but 
 then I think, I am almost turned eighty, and God has 
 helped me hitherto — blessed be his name ! I cannot 
 he much longer here, and I must not faint at last. That 
 text h-as often cheered my spirits, — ' Be content with 
 such things as ye have ; for He hath said, I will never 
 leave thee nor forsake thee.' These words gave me 
 comfort, for He has not forsaken me ; and then there is 
 another, — ' With loving kindness have I drawn thee.' — 
 Oh blessed, blessed be His name, for His great loving- 
 kindness ! I often think time is too short to praise 
 him. Eternity alone will be long enough. I have 
 found it to be as the Scripture says, — ' We must through 
 great tribulation enter the kingdom of Heaven.' I have 
 been tried in many ways." * 
 
 * Life of Venn, p. 49. 
 
32 REVIVAL UNDER VENN. 
 
 [1771.] Mr Venn's bodily streng-th failed under his 
 ceaseless exertions. The gospel treasure retained its pre- 
 cious savour, but the earthen vessel was wellnigh broken. 
 He had a cough, and brought up blood, and was able only 
 to preach once in a fortnight, and even that exertion ren- 
 dered him incapable of rising for several days. He was, 
 therefore, induced to accept the rectory of Yelling, though 
 his feelings were deeply wounded by leaving a flock, 
 amongst whom he had laboured with so much success. 
 The last two or three months of his residence were pecu- 
 liarly aifecting. At an early hour the church was crowd- 
 ed when he preached, so that vast numbers were com- 
 pelled to go away. Many came from a considerable dis- 
 tance to take leave of him, and to express how much 
 they owed to him for benefits received under his ministry, 
 of which he had not been aware. Mothers held up their 
 children, saying, " There is the man who has been our 
 most faithful minister, and our best friend ! " The whole 
 parish was deeply moved, and when he preached his fare- 
 well sermon, neither could he himself speak without the 
 strongest emotion, nor the congregation hear him with- 
 out marks of the deepest interest and affection. Nor did 
 the impression soon wear away : twenty years after, a 
 stranger passing through that place, and enquiring about 
 their former pastor, heard blessings showered down upon 
 him and his family with deeply aifected hearts, whilst 
 they deplored their own loss. 
 
CHAPTER II. 
 
 REVIVAL UNDER WALKER, AT TRURO, IN CORNWALL. 
 
 [1746.] At the time when the Rev. Samuel Walker 
 entered upon the curacy of the populous town of Truro, 
 he was not himself acquainted with the doctrine of the 
 complete depravity of man, and with justification by faith 
 alone, but, like Mr Berridge, Mr Grimshaw, and many 
 other successful preachers in England, and like Dr Stew- 
 art, and Dr Chalmers, in Scotland, he had preached for 
 several years before he perceived distinctly that the object 
 of his work was the conversion of men- He was, from 
 the first, highly esteemed for the decency and regularity 
 of his conduct, as well as for his learning and gentlemanly 
 manners ; but it was not till a year of his ministrations 
 in Truro had elapsed, that he discovered the necessity of 
 " putting off the old man and putting on the new," 
 Being in company with some friends, the subject of 
 whose conversation turned on justification by faith, he 
 l)ecame sensible, as he freely owned afterwards, that he 
 was totally unacquainted with that faith which had beei^ 
 the topic of the discourse, and also convinced that he was 
 destitute of something which was of the greatest impor- 
 tance to his own salvation, as well as the salvation of the 
 people committed to his charge. He said nothmg at the 
 time of the concern he was brought under to any of the 
 company, but was ever afterwards, as opportunity offered, 
 ready to enter upon the subject. He began to discover 
 that he had hitherto been ignorant of the nature of gos- 
 pel salvation, inattentive to the spiritual state of his own 
 soul and the souls of others, and governed in all his con- 
 duct, not by the Christian motives of love to God and 
 man, but purely by such as were v/holly sensual and sel- 
 fish ; he found that he was a slave to the desire of man's 
 
34 REVIVAL UNDER WALKER 
 
 esteem, and, in short, as he himself expressed it, that all 
 had been icrong^ both within and without. 
 
 Upon this discovery, he applied himself with diligence 
 and fervent prayer to the study of the Holy Scriptures, 
 and having- by these means gained a farther insig-ht into 
 the nature of man's spiritual disorder, and of the remedy 
 afforded in the gospel, this necessarily led him to make a 
 considerable alteration in his preaching-, &c. &c. A 
 meditation written about this time, when he returned 
 from a meeting- of neighbouring- clergymen, expresses the 
 state of his mind in a way that must interest a Christian 
 reader. 
 
 " For my own part, I lived many years in entire igno- 
 rance of a corrupted nature, although I had learnt to 
 reason in a speculative and historical way upon man's 
 degeneracy. Since it hath pleased God in some measure 
 to enlighten the eyes of my understanding, I look back 
 upon those days of blindness, and plainly see, that while 
 I kept to an external customary decency, and in some 
 sense regularity, I was influenced and acted upon by two 
 hidden principles, as contrary to God as darkness is to 
 light. The one a prevailing desire and reputation of 
 being esteemed, which went through all I did, followed- 
 me into all companies, dictated all I said, led me to com- 
 pliance often in direct opposition to conscience, made me 
 above all things fearful of being thought little of, directed 
 all my sermons, both in writing and in speaking them, and, 
 in short, swayed my whole life, till, I hope, the latter 
 years of it. The oilier^ a desire of pleasure which ren- 
 dered me slothful, indolent, and restless out of com- 
 pany, eager after amusement, &c. ; but this was so su- 
 bordinate to the other, that I was always best delighted 
 with such entertainments as gave me opportunity of set- 
 ting off any excellence I might seem to have, such as 
 music and dancing. By these two the strong man kept 
 the palace of my heart, and all was peace ; and that in so 
 strange a manner, that I do not recollect the least suspi- 
 cion of my being out of the way, for I had learnt to rest 
 upon my freedom from the grossest vice ; and keeping a 
 sort of strictness in attending upon the forms of my 
 ministry, and especially in engaging others to attend 
 
AT TRURO, IN CORNWALL. 35 
 
 them. Were I to say with how many heartfelt pang-s of 
 fear and disquietude I have been brought, during- these 
 latter years, to any reasonable measure of indifference 
 about the esteem of the world, I should describe the pas- 
 sages which have most engrossed my mind. The love of 
 pleasure decayed first ; but yet, I could only part with it 
 by degrees ; and many things of that sort I continued in 
 when I had no pleasure in them, because I was ashamed 
 to leave them." 
 
 It need be no matter of surprise if many of the gay and 
 worldly follow their unsatisfactory pastimes long after 
 they cease to find them gratifying, the slaves alike of 
 their own evil habits and fear of " the world's dread 
 laugh," when a minister of the everlasting gospel confes- 
 ses himself so completely the bondsman of the opinions 
 of lookers on. No power, short of that which convinces 
 that it will profit us nothing to gain the whole world 
 and lose our own souls, can overcome the reluctance, the 
 supineness, the timidity, which, each in succession, pre- 
 sent themselves as obstacles to our chang-in< 
 and seeking new delights. 
 
 [1758.] Mr Walker pubHshed a letter to a clergyman 
 concerning the first question in the office for the ordain- 
 ing of deacons, in which he says of himself. 
 
 " As I was ignorant of the salvation that is in Christ 
 Jesus, and of my want of him in all his offices, so I had 
 not taken the least notice of the spiritual state of others. 
 It was to me as a thing I had no concern with, that sins 
 of the grossest kind were committed on every side of me. 
 And after I was ordained, I had no sight or thought of 
 the condition my parishioners were in, though I harl 
 some desire that they should come to church and sacra- 
 ment, and not drink, swear, and the like." Again he 
 says, " It was at least a year after the kind providence of 
 God brought me hither, ere I fell under considerable 
 suspicions or uneasiness about myself and my manner of 
 preaching ; when, by the frequent conversation o^ a 
 Christian friend (verily the first person 1 had met with 
 truly possessed of the mind of Christ), I became sensible 
 all v/as wrong within and without. My uneasiness vv^as 
 
36 REVIVAL UNDER WALKER 
 
 rather abiding than violent, possi))ly because my life had 
 been free of gross sins, having in a good measure been 
 used to follow the direction of ray conscience, and the 
 change wrought upon me was slow, till, under a variety 
 of means, I was brought to the knowledge of the truth 
 as it is in Jesus." 
 
 In speaking of his motives for undertaking the curacy 
 of Truro, Mr Walker often accused himself of the most 
 unworthy views. He confessed that he was not actuated 
 by the least measure of a ministerial spirit ; but that his 
 only motive for going to live in that populous town, in 
 preference to any other place in the country, was the 
 greater resort of company, and that he might take his 
 pleasure at the assemblies, particularly in dancing. He 
 proceeds — " As this work was going forward in myself, 
 the people were made partakers of the effects of it ; — by 
 and by I began to deal with them as lost sinners, to beat 
 dovv-n formality and self-righteousness, and to preach 
 Christ. The fruit of this, by the mighty working of the 
 spirit, quickly appeared. It was a new way to them. 
 They were surprised and grew angry, not without an 
 evident fear resting upon them, and an interesting curio- 
 sity to hear me ?.gain of this matter. I have reason to 
 judge that almost all of them have been one time or 
 other awakened more or less, although I fear many of 
 them have rejected the counsel of God against them- 
 selves. But, in the mean time, some more sensibly 
 pricked in their hearts, came to me enquiring ivhat they 
 must do ? The number of these continually increasing, 
 I thought my utmost diligence was needful towards them. 
 They were universally ignorant in the grossest degree. 
 I was glad to give them as many evenings in the week 
 as I could spare; appointing them to attend me after their 
 work was over at my house. As there was no knowledge 
 of divine things among them, and, in consequence there- 
 of, they were incapable of instructing each other, and 
 withal, as they were marked out by reproach, and had 
 every art tried upon them to draw them away, they 
 needed from me both instruction and cautions, which I 
 was obliged, for these reasons, to give them, either singly 
 
AT TRURO, IN CORNWALL. 37 
 
 or by two or three together. This I have continued to 
 do to the present time, with no other variation but that 
 of using- the help of those who had made any progress 
 to watch over beginners. I had, from the first, engaged 
 them frequently to converse together, and pray with one 
 another, as I could put them together ; and though the 
 far greater part of them fell away from their awakenings, 
 yet when a number of them seemed to be somewhat con- 
 firmed, they of their own accord met together in large 
 bodies in their own houses to read God's word, pray, sing 
 psalms, &c. This became pretty much practised about 
 two years ago, and herein I have left them to themselves, 
 only giving- them directions as need required. 
 
 " By the grace of God, the number of those whose 
 conduct seemed to express a lively faith began now to 
 be something considerable, for which reason, about the 
 latter end of last summer, it was thought advisable to 
 form them into a religious society, which, after some 
 delays, was effected in the beginning of February. The 
 number of members is now upwards of seventy." 
 
 The editor adds, it was afterwards considerably in- 
 creased. 
 
 " While I was deliberating- about this society, whicli 
 was to consist of such only as g-ave hope of an edifying 
 example, it was thought proper to call together as many 
 others as were willing- in my house once a-week as a 
 sort of nursery for the principal society, and, by talking- 
 and praying with them, we seem to have found some 
 establishment among those who are weaker. 
 
 " This hath been the progress of the work among our- 
 selves, wherein I have reason to believe we have been 
 much forwarded by the blessing- of the Spirit upon a free 
 and practical exposition of the Church Catechism, which 
 1 have, after my poor measure, read by word of mouth, 
 the Sunday evenings of half the year, an hour after 
 service. 
 
 " I have to add farther, which I doubt not will give 
 you pleasure, that, not long after the commencement of 
 this work at Truro, several clergymen of us in the 
 neighbor.rhood associated ourselves, under the name of 
 
38 REVIVAL UNDER WALKER 
 
 the Parsons' Club, for mutual consultation and direction, 
 in order to promote the g-reat end of our ministry." 
 
 In the formation of his societies Mr Walker followed 
 the plan laid down by the Rev. Dr Josiah Woodward in 
 his treatise published in the reign of Queen Anne, en- 
 titled, " An Account of the Rise and Progress of the 
 Religious Societies in and about London, and of their 
 endeavours for the Reformation of Manners." 
 
 For his parochial society and clerical club he formed 
 most judicious rules, some of which indicate his know- 
 ledge of the deceitful devices by which the conceit of 
 self-applause, and the deceit of hypocrisy, are both able 
 to mar a work which in itself seems simply edifying. He 
 arranged also forms of prayer for their use, selected from 
 Scripture, the Liturgy, the Whole Duty of Man, and 
 Jenk's Devotions. 
 
 Mr Walker also delivered many occasional sermons 
 and week-day lectures, which he thought produced the 
 effect of casting an awe over the minds of the most har- 
 dened of the people, so that cock-fightings, stage-plays, 
 &c., against which he bore an open testimony, were pre- 
 vented. " But his heart was most set on the much 
 neglected duty of catechizing^ in which he passed the 
 Sabbath evenings of several months in the year to a very 
 numerous congregation. * * It pleased God that in 
 the last two years of his ministry a considerable number 
 of young people were awakened, on which occasion he 
 set up a private lecture to them in his own room twice 
 a-week in the evening. This meeting was so crowded 
 and so hot that his friends evidently saw that his strength 
 was much impaired, and that his life would be shortened 
 by it ; yet the undertaking was so charitable a design for 
 the good of young souls, and he was so intent upon it, 
 that they did not care to press him to desist from it. 
 Indeed his compassion to the souls of perishing sinners 
 seemed to be his shining grace, insomuch that when in 
 conversation any hard and impenitent sinner was men- 
 tioned, he seemed to express an inward pungent distress 
 of soul. * * His room for private advice was daily 
 frequented, except on Saturdays, which he always reser- 
 
AT TRURO, IN CORNWALL. 39 
 
 ved for himself to prepare for the Sunday, so that from 
 first to last he thought about a thousand of the inhabi- 
 tants of the town, besides strangers from the adjacent 
 parts, had been with him for private advice regarding the 
 state of their souls. After he became so much engaged 
 he had little leisure for studying the works of others — 
 the Bible was then almost the only book he applied him- 
 self to — from this sacred fountain he drew that deep 
 and practical knowledge which his charitable heart was 
 always ready to communicate to others. After it had 
 pleased God to bless his ministrations at Truro in so 
 remarkable a manner that the number of people in whom 
 an appearance of a real change of heart and life was 
 visible became considerable, he felt that a new and spiri- 
 tual relation commenced between him and his flock, and 
 accordingly it became his settled judgment that he ought 
 not, on any worldly consideration, to leave them, unless 
 Providence should open to him a more extensive field 
 of usefulness to the church of Christ, or he should be 
 removed by superior authority. This may account for 
 his giving up the vicarage of Falland, to which he was 
 presented in 1747. Having the Bishop's leave for ab- 
 sence he held this vicarage for a time, till, growing dis- 
 satisfied in his conscience concerning the justifiableness 
 of non-residence, he resigned it, and could never after- 
 wards be induced to accept of another living, though he 
 had the offer of four. Yet he went not about this affair 
 with a precipitate zeal, but with his usual calmness of 
 judgment and deliberation, and after consulting some 
 able divines on the subject of pluralities and non- 
 residence, 
 
 " This circumstance, though often talked of between 
 him and his friends, was never mentioned without his 
 expressing at the same time how great a burden he found 
 himself delivered from when he gave up a charge of 
 souls whom he had it not in his power to inspect. After 
 this he was not only content, but even satisfied in his 
 low circumstances, though they became reduced beyond 
 what might have been reasonably expected ; and when he 
 was no longer able to support the expense of house- 
 
40 REVIVAL UNDER WALKER 
 
 keeping, he went into poor lodgings, where, though his 
 board and habitation were of the most ordinary kind, yet 
 as his mind M^as wholly intent upon spreading the saving 
 knowledge of tlie gospel, he lived in peace and calm- 
 ness." * * * 
 
 *' In the beginning of November, 1756, three com- 
 panies of General Anstruther's regiment of soldiers were 
 sent into winter-quarters in Truro. The zeal of our 
 pious minister engaged him to set to work to promote 
 the knowledge and practice of religion among them, and 
 it pleased God to give a peculiar blessmg to his labours 
 exerted on this occasion " 
 
 Mr Walker wrote on this subject thus : — " It is my 
 way, in writing to my friends, to speak what is most 
 nearly on my heart, and especially if it be any thing 
 which I may hope will excite their praises, and engage 
 their intercessions on my behalf. Such is the circum- 
 stance I have to communicate respecting the success of 
 the Gospel among the soldiers quartered in this town. 
 I endeavoured to lose no time with them from their first 
 arrival, but without delay preached a sermon -extraor- 
 dinary on their account on Sunday afternoon, called by 
 the people here the Soldiei^s^ Sermon. There was at 
 first great difficulty to get their attendance to hear it, 
 for though they were ordered to be at church in the 
 morning, and brought thither by their officers, yet they 
 used to turn off at the door. In this point I was helped 
 by the zeal of my dear people of the society, who made 
 it their business to speak to these poor creatures, giving 
 them proper advice, and prevailing on a few of them to 
 be at church as was wished. They soon became a larger 
 number ; and our labours were so blessed to them and 
 us, that in less than three weeks a full hundred of them 
 came to my house, asking ' what they must do ? ' This 
 was what I aimed at, an opportunity of personal and free 
 conversation. The effects have been very striking. One 
 or two of the whole only excepted, you would have seen 
 their countenances changing, tears often bursting from 
 their eyes, and confessions of their exceeding sinfulness 
 and danger breaking from their mouths. I have scarcely 
 
AT TRURO, IN CORNWALL* 41 
 
 heard such a thing- as self-excusing- from one of them ; 
 while their desire to be instructed, and uncommon thank- 
 fulness for the least pains used upon them by any of us, 
 have been very remarkable. Such promising- symptoms 
 gave me great confidence it would corae to something-, 
 and more so when I found that many of them were 
 greatly stirred up to pray. Many of them, as was to be 
 expected, soon went back. Nevertheless, thus far, both 
 they and the others who never came near me in private 
 are plainly influenced, so that a certain fear has restrained 
 them from swearing- and cursing-, which, when they came 
 hither, was universally the practice ; has engaged them to 
 attend public worship, and at least so far biassed their 
 conduct, that military punishments are grown much less 
 frequent among them. There are about twenty who have 
 kept close to the means of grace, and concerning whom 
 I have encouraging- hope that a good work is begun in 
 them. Indeed, conviction of sin appears to have gone 
 deep with them, and they are crying after Christ with 
 such marks of godly sorrow, as make me hope it is 
 indeed a sorrow which worketh repentance unto sal- 
 vation. 
 
 " These I intend shall be united together when they 
 leave us, under the name of the Soldiers' Society, having 
 already drawn up regulations for the purpose- While 
 they are here they make a part of our society, by the 
 exercises of which, as well as by meetings I particularly 
 appoint for their use, they seem to be much established. 
 What such a society of soldiers may produce amongst that 
 body of men, God only knows ; yet I would comfort 
 myself with the hope it may please the Lord it shall go 
 farther. It may be observed, that some of these, namely, 
 six Scotchmen and one English dissenter, have enjoyed 
 the benefit of religious knowledge in their youth ; the 
 rest, excepting two, 1 find totally ignorant of every thing- 
 relating to Christ ; and this their total ignorance has 
 made me lament the superficial use or entire neglect of 
 catechising among the Enghsh clergy, by which, more 
 than by any other thing, I am persuaded the kingdam 
 of darkness and sin is established in England." 
 
4i2 REVIVAL UNDER WALKER 
 
 The officers of these men waited on Mr Walker to 
 return thanks for the great obligations he had laid on 
 them, by taking so much pains with the men, and work- 
 ing such a reformation among them. 
 
 In August 1760, Mr Walker preached what, unex- 
 pectedly to himself and his people, proved his last ser- 
 mon. The solemn transactions of the day of judgment 
 formed his subject, and had he been aware that their 
 next meeting must be at the awful judgment-seat, 
 his address could not have been more solemn and appro- 
 priate. The reader may be glad to see one little specimen 
 of that preaching which was employed as the instrument 
 of arousing so many souls from the sleep of sin : — 
 " Well ; we shall appear before the judgment-seat of 
 Christ together. There the controversy between me, 
 calling upon you by the terrors of the Lord, and you, 
 determined to abide in your sins, will be decided. There 
 it will appear whether your blood will be upon your own 
 heads for your obstinate impenitency, or upon mine for 
 not giving you warning. Christ will certainly either 
 acquit or condemn me on this behalf; and if I should be 
 acquitted herein, what would become of you ? I tremble 
 to think how so many words of mine will be brought up 
 against you on that day. What will you say — what will 
 you answer — how will you excuse yourselves ? O sirs, 
 if you will not be prevailed upon, you will eternally curse 
 the day that you knew me, or heard one w^ord from my 
 mouth. Why — why will you die with so aggravated a 
 destruction ? O think of the judgment — think of it, and 
 you will not be able to hold it out against your own souls. 
 May the Lord incline you to do so ; may he cause this 
 work to sink deep into your hearts ; may he show you 
 all your danger ; and with an outstretched arm bring you 
 out of the hands of the Devil, and translate you into the 
 glorious kingdom of his dear Son, to his own glory and 
 your unspeakable happiness, in the day of the appearance 
 of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. Even so, most 
 mighty God, and most merciful Father, for the same 
 Jesus Christ's sake.'' These were the concluding words 
 of the ministry of this faithful minister of Christ. 
 
AT TRURO, IN CORNWALL. 43 
 
 The state of his health occasioned his being- removed 
 to Bristol for a time, and by and by to the neighbour- 
 hood of London, where he expired in July, 1761. His 
 removals brought him within reach of many pious per- 
 sons, both of the clergy and laity, who resorted to him 
 during his protracted illness, to whom his conversations 
 were blessed in a very singular manner ; so that, when 
 bodily weakness prevented hira from preaching, he was 
 instrumental in promoting the glory of God, and the 
 good of many souls, by his remarkable talent in experi- 
 mental and holy conversation. 
 
 His hours of languor and death were not marked by 
 lively joy, but by a quiet and firm confidence in that 
 Redeemer to whom he had invited so many souls. 
 Here, of course, his memoir and his work break off 
 together, and the compiler is left without means of 
 further tracing the work of God in the souls at Truro. 
 It is very affecting to observe that the good shepherd is 
 so frequently removed, not to make room for another his 
 equal in gracious attainments, but as a judgment on the 
 flock. We do not know if it was so in this case, or if 
 the Spirit of God still continued to be poured out upon 
 that people ; but this we know, that those of them who, 
 under Mr Walker's ministry, had joined themselves to 
 the Lord in an everlasting covenant, shall never be 
 cast out. 
 
 This brief narrative is extracted from a memoir pre- 
 fixed to an early edition of Mr Walker's sermons. 
 
[ 44 ] 
 
 CHAPTER III. 
 
 BERRIDGE, AT EVERTON. 
 
 [1754,] The Rev. John Berridg-e, who was born at 
 Kingston in 1716, had reached his 39th year before he 
 came to entertain any clear views of the pecuh'ar doctrines 
 of the Gospel. He had " lived proudly on faith and 
 works for salvation," as he himself stated in the quaint 
 and characteristic inscription which he prepared for his 
 own tombstone, till the year 1734 ; and preached, as 
 mig-ht be expected, with no visible eifect, at Stapleford, 
 near Cambridge, for several years. It was not, however, 
 till three years after his first awakening, that his heart 
 was fully interested in divine truth. He had then been 
 for a full year Vicar of Everton, where he began to preach 
 repentance and faith in the Lord Jesus Christ with fear 
 and trembling. After he had preached for some time in 
 his new way, he began to pause and consider whether he 
 was right, not having seen any particular effects from his 
 discourses. While ruminating on this subject, however, 
 one of his parishioners came to enquire for him. When 
 she was introduced, " Well, Sarah," said he : she replied, 
 " Well ! — not so w^ell, I fear." — " Why, what is the mat- 
 ter, Sarah ?" — " I do not know what is the matter; but 
 by those new sermons, I find we are all to be lost now. 
 1 can neither eat, drink, or sleep — I do not know what 
 is to become of me." Here is an interesting era in the 
 life of a bearer of good tidings. The first token of awaken- 
 ing among his hearers from the death of trespasses and 
 sins — the first consciousness of want or of holy fear. 
 With what anxiety must the faithful pastor, who looks 
 for the work of the Spirit, watch lor such a token of 
 quickening into life. With what fresh courage and zeal 
 must he go on to repeat his offers of salvation — how 
 
AT EVERTON. 45 
 
 much more frequent and hopeful will be his prayers ! 
 Mr Berridg-e was surrounded ])y those who were not 
 taug-ht as he was, and from the peculiarity of his opinions 
 and experience, he might have questioned his understand- 
 ing of Scripture. But in the same week with poor Sarah 
 came two or three more, on a like errand, which so con- 
 firmed him in the truth, that he resolved from that time 
 to know nothing- but Jesus Christ, and him crucified. 
 Having- chang-ed his principles and manner of preaching-, 
 he destroyed his old sermons. All things became new 
 to him. He was led soon afterwards, by a casual circum- 
 stance, to venture for the first time to preach extempore. 
 His stock of new compositions being- small, when he was 
 asked to preach what was termed a club sermon* in his 
 ueighl)ourhood, and findmg- that several of his own people 
 would follow him there, before whom he was reluctant 
 to repeat a recent discourse, he was drawn to adventure 
 this unwonted achievement in the presence of many of the 
 clerg-y. After struggling- with embarrassment in the be- 
 ginning, he was enabled to overcome it, and spoke with so 
 much freedom that he was greatly encouraged ; and from 
 that time felt a liberty and readiness in preaching which 
 proved of the greatest service to his ministrations in after 
 life. He was surrounded by a wide district, in which he 
 perceived that the gospel, as he had now received it, was 
 neither preached nor understood. He pitied the darkness 
 which so universally prevailed, and felt constrained to 
 devote himself to the service of his Divine Master in a 
 wider field than the bounds of his own parish presented. 
 He was well aware, not only of the bodily labour which 
 the functions of an itinerating preacher would entail on 
 him, but also of the obloquy and persecution which would 
 attend a practice so contrary to the rules of the Estal»lish- 
 ed Church. But he was impelled by a sense of duty too 
 powerful to be controlled by worldly motives ; and, hav- 
 ing counted the cost, he took his resolution piously, 
 strenuously, and perseveringly. Wherever he found an 
 opportunity for spreading the light of the Gospel, he did 
 
 * A sermon before a meeting of the clergy. 
 
46 BERRIDGE, 
 
 not hesitate to present himself; and where churches 
 were not accessible to hira, he addressed his hearers in 
 dwelling-houses, in barns, or in the open air. 
 
 The counties of Cambridg-e, Essex, Hertford, Bedford, 
 and Huntingdon, were the principal scenes of his labours, 
 and in this circuit he preached, on an average, from ten 
 to twelve sermons a -week, and not unfrequently rode on 
 horseback a hundred miles. He rented places for wor- 
 ship, maintained lay preachers, and travelled at his own 
 expense, — charges which his fortune inherited from his 
 father, and his income from his preferment, enabled hira 
 to bear. He spent his ample fortune, indeed, in the 
 service of religion ; and his resources were so exhausted 
 in his old age, that his friend Mr Romaine preached a 
 sermon in his behalf, in which he interceded " for the 
 support of two preachers and their horses, and several 
 local preachers, and for the rents of several barns in 
 which they preached." Those among whom he scattered 
 the seed of the word where chiefly a poor population of 
 husbandmen, who lived truly by the sweat of their brow. 
 This may serve to explain why they were unable to do 
 much in supporting the gospel among themselves. 
 
 This was a method of conveying religious truth which 
 had been rendered at that period common by the success 
 of Whitefield and Wesley. It was pecuharly appropriate 
 to the necessities of England at the time, the parishes 
 being occupied by beneficed clergymen, many of them 
 pluralists, who were strangers to evangelical truth. Mr 
 Venn seems to have been, for a long time, the only en- 
 lightened pastor within the acquaintance of Berridge, if 
 we except Mr Hicks of Wresthngworth, his neighbour, 
 who was among the first fruits of his itinerating la- 
 bours, and became a very useful man, and a companion 
 with him in his religious travels. It was not till the 
 year after he began to itinerate, that Mr Berridge was 
 led to preach in the open air. He says in a letter, — 
 " On Monday se'ennight Mr Hicks accompanied me to 
 Meldred. On the way we called at a farm-house. After 
 dinner I went into the yard, and seeing near a hundred 
 and fifty people, I called for a table, and preached for the 
 
AT EVERTON. 47 
 
 first time in the open air. We then went to Meldred, 
 where I preached in a field to about four thousand people. 
 In the morning- at five, Mr Hicks preached in the same 
 field to about one thousand. Here the presence of the 
 Lord was wonderfully among- us ; and I trust, beside 
 many that were slig-htly wounded, near thirty received 
 heartfelt conviction." 
 
 It is evident that there must have been a g-reat ex- 
 citement in the country, when four thousand people were 
 so easily assembled on the evening- of a working- day in a 
 not very populous campaign district, and one thousand 
 so early as five in the morning-. His numerous itiner- 
 ants went out from him with such apostolic instructions 
 as these, — " Never preach in working- hours, that would 
 raise a clamour. Where you preach at night, preach 
 also in the morning ; but be not longer than an hour in 
 the whole morning service, and conclude before six. 
 Morning preaching- will show whether the evening- took 
 effect, by raising- them up early to hear. 
 
 " Expect plain fare and plain lodging where you 
 preach, yet perhaps better than your Master had. Suffer 
 no treats to be made for you, but live as your host 
 usually lives, else he may grow weary of entertaining 
 you ; and go not from house to house. If you dare to 
 be zealous for the Lord of Hosts, expect persecution and 
 threats ; but heed them not. Bind the Lord's word to 
 your heart. The promise is doubled for your encourage- 
 ment. The chief blocks in your way will be the prudent 
 Peters, who will beg, entreat, and beseech you to avoid 
 irregularity. Give them the same answer that Christ 
 gave Peter, ' they savour of the things which be of 
 men.' — Heed them not. 
 
 " When you preach at night, go to bed as soon as 
 possible, that the family be not kept up, and that you 
 may rise early. When breakfast and morning- family 
 prayers are over, ^o away directly, that the house may be 
 at liberty. If you would do work for the Lord, as you 
 seem designed, you must venture for the Lord. The 
 Christian's motto is — Trust and go forioard, though the 
 sea is before you. Do then as Paul did, give up thyself 
 
48 BERRIDGE, 
 
 to the Lord ; work, and confer not with flesh and blood, 
 and the Lord be with thee." 
 
 These instructions, which are copied from a letter to 
 one of his subordinates, were to regulate their manners ; 
 and with regard to the matter of their preachings, we 
 find such as the following- : — 
 
 " When you state your commission, begin with laying- 
 open the innumerable corruptions of the hearts of your 
 audience ; Moses will lend you a knife which may be 
 often whetted at his grindstone Lay open the universal 
 sinfulness of nature, — the darkness of the mind, — the 
 frowardness of the will, — the fretfulness of the temper, 
 and the earthliness and sensuality of the affections. 
 Speuk of the evil of sin in its nature — its rebellion 
 against God as our sovereign — ingratitude to God as our 
 benefactor — and contempt both of his authority and 
 love. Declare the evil of sin in its effects — bringing- 
 on all our sickness, pains, and sorrows — all the evils we 
 feel, and all the evils we fear — all inundations, and fires, 
 and famines, and pestilences — all brawls, and quarrels, 
 and fightings, and wars, with death to close these present 
 sorrows, and hell afterwards to receive all that die in sin. 
 
 " Lay open the spirituality of the law, and its ex- 
 tent, reaching- to every thought, word, and action, and 
 declaring every transgression (whether of omission or 
 commission) deserving of death. Declare man's utter 
 helplessness to change his nature, or to make his peace. 
 Pardon and holiness must come from the Saviour. Ac- 
 quaint them with the searching eye of God, watching us 
 continually, spying out every thought, word, and action, 
 noting them down in the book of his remembrance, and 
 bringing every secret thing into judgment, whether it be 
 good or evil. 
 
 " When your hearers are deeply affected with these 
 things (which is seen by the hanging down of their 
 heads), preach Christ. Lay open the Saviour's almighty 
 power to soften the hard heart, and give it repentance — 
 to bring pardon to the broken heart, a spirit of prayer to 
 the prayerless heart, holiness to the filthy heart, and 
 faith to the unbeheving heart. Let them know that all 
 
AT EVERTON. 49 
 
 the treasures of grace are lodged in Jesus Christ, for the 
 use of the poor needy sinner, and that he is full of love 
 as well as power — turns no begg-ar from his gate, but re- 
 ceives all comers kindly — loves to bless them, and be- 
 ^,tovvs all his blessings tithe-free. Farmers and country 
 people chop at that. Here you must wave the Gospel 
 tlag, and magnify the Saviour supremely. Speak it, ore 
 rotundo, that his blood can wash away the foulest sins, 
 and his grace subdue the stoutest corruptions. Exhort 
 the people to seek his grace, to seek it directly, seek it 
 diligently, seek it constantly ; and acquaint them, that 
 all who thus seek shall assuredly find the salvation of 
 God." Of his own preaching, it has been said, that 
 " When he explained the nature, end, and use of the 
 law, he was very awful and affecting." " And now" 
 (to adopt his own words) " I dealt with my hearers in 
 a very different manner from what I used to do. I told 
 them very plainly, that they were the children of wrath, 
 and under the curse of God, though they knew it not, 
 and that none but Jesus Christ could deliver them from 
 that curse. I told them, if they had ever broken the law 
 of God once in thought, word, or deed, no future good 
 behaviour could make any atonement for past miscar- 
 riages. For, if I keep all God's laws to-day, this is no 
 amends for breaking them yesterday ; if I behave peace- 
 ably to my neighbour this day, it is no satisfaction for 
 having broken his head yesterday. So that, if once a 
 sinner, nothing but the blood of Jesus can cleanse me 
 from sin." 
 
 Jesus was a name on which he dwelt with peculiar 
 emphasis and delight- With what melting affection 
 would he extol the bleeding Lamb ! How would his 
 eyes stream when he pointed to His agonizing suffer- 
 ings ! How would they sparkle when he displayed the 
 exceeding riches of His grace ! And what a reverential 
 grandeur marked his countenance, when he anticipated 
 His glorious appearing ! 
 
 '< Nor was he less attentive to the gracious influence 
 of the Holy Spirit in the application of redemption. No 
 minister could with more judgment detect the human 
 
 D 
 
50 BERRIDGE, 
 
 heart in all its subtle machinations, or with greater ac- 
 curacy describe progressive religion in the soul. Com- 
 munion with God was what he much enforced in the 
 latter stages of his ministry. It was, indeed, his own 
 meat and drink, and the banquet from which he never 
 appeared to rise." 
 
 We have taken pains to collect these short notices, 
 which are all that can be now obtained of his method of 
 preaching, that those who desire like precious fruits may 
 go and do likewise. 
 
 " As to his usefulness, we learn from more sources of 
 information than one that he was in the first year visited 
 by a thousand persons under serious impressions ; and it 
 has been computed that, under his own and the joint 
 ministry of Mr Hicks, about four thousand were awaken- 
 ed to a concern for their souls in the space of twelve 
 months. Incredible as this history of his success may 
 appear, it comes authenticated through a channel so 
 highly respectable, that to refuse our belief would be un- 
 pardonably illiberal." 
 
 «' This work was at first accompanied with bodily con- 
 vulsions and other external effects on some of the 
 hearers very unaccountable to us ; a circumstance, how- 
 ever, not altogether unusual when God begins to sound 
 a general alarm in the consciences of men, as appears 
 from what took place in New England, Scotland, North 
 Wales, and other countries. Bnt those effects soon sub- 
 sided, as did these, and the interests of rehgion were pro- 
 moted more quietly and gradually. 
 
 " As his labours were prosperous, so they were op- 
 posed. It could not be grateful to the prince of darkness 
 to behold his kingdom so warmly attacked, and his sub- 
 jects in such numbers deserting his standard. Hence he 
 stirred up all his strength, and a furious persecution en- 
 sued. No opposition was too violent — no names were 
 too opprobrious — no treatment was too barbarous. Some 
 of his followers were roughly handled, and their property 
 destroyed. Gentry; clergy, and magistrates became one 
 band, and employed every engine to check his progress, 
 and to prevent him from preaching. The old devil was- 
 
AT EVERTON. 5l 
 
 the only name by which he was distinguished among- 
 them between twenty and thirty years. But none of 
 these things moved him ; he had counted the cost. The 
 clamours of the multitude had no more effect upon his 
 mind, in the regular discharge of his duty, than the bark- 
 ing of the cur has on the moon in her imperial revolu- 
 tions. Vengeance was not his. The only revenge he 
 sought was their salvation ; and when they needed any 
 good office, his hand was the first to render it." * 
 
 " He loved the world that hated him ; the tear 
 
 He dropt upon his Bible was sincere. ^ 
 
 As'^ailf d by scandal, and the tongue of strife, 
 
 His only answer was a blameless life. 
 
 And he that forged, and he that threw the dart. 
 
 Had each a brother's interest in his heart." — Cowper. 
 
 He was indeed a man of extraordinary benevolence — 
 his ear, his heart, his purse were ever open to hear 
 the tale of pity, to sympathize, and to relieve. On the 
 Sabbath his congregation was collected from various 
 parishes, and considerable distances. He had always a 
 stable or field for their horses, and a cold collation for 
 strangers. In itinerating, so far from being a burden to 
 the poor, they were generally gainers by his visits in a 
 pecuniary way. Besides the expenditure of all his in- 
 come, even his family plate was melted to support itine- 
 rant preaching. 
 
 Above all his other virtues, he wore the garment of 
 humility, and his language was remarkable for simplicity 
 and spirituality, accompanied with a natural vein of wit 
 and pleasantry. He was himself what he called his 
 friend Rowland Hill, " a Comet." In an extensive and 
 eccentric orbit he was found shining and producing a 
 lively sensation, then passing away, yet returning again at 
 his appointed time, with the same brilliancy and the 
 same impression as before. 
 
 To his Bishop it is not wonderful that he should have 
 been an object of displeasure and annoyance; for though 
 his character, both as a man and a Christian, might have 
 
 '&" 
 
 * Life of Berridge. Evan. Mag. Vol. I. 
 
52 BERRIDGE, 
 
 borne the strictest scrntinj, his hreach of Church order, 
 and his encroachment, as it was accounted, on the de- 
 partments of his brethren, excited the hostihty of those 
 whose indolence and unfaithfulness he thus silently re- 
 proved ; and notwithstanding the prudence with which 
 he conducted himself^ could scarcely escape the censure 
 of his ecclesiastical superior. The Reverend Mr Sut- 
 ciiife of Olney has recorded a remarkable and character- 
 istic conversation with Mr Berridg-e, which turned on 
 this subject, and which we feel induced to transcribe 
 without abridgement. 
 
 " AN INTERVIEW WITH THE LATE REV. MR BERRIDGE, 
 RELATED BY THE REV. MR SUTCLIFFE OF OLNEY. 
 
 " About two years ago,* a friend of mine wishing to 
 enjoy an hour or two of Mr B.'s company, rode over to 
 Everton for that purpose. He was introduced by a dis- 
 senting minister in the neighbourhood, with whom Mr 
 B- lived in terms of friendship. When seated, ray friend 
 requested Mr B., if agreeable, to favour them with a few 
 outlines of his life. The venerable old man began and 
 related several things as narrated in the first number of 
 the Evangelical Magazine. But as some are there un- 
 noticed, I select the following, which I think will not be 
 uninteresting : — 
 
 " ' Soon after I began,' he said, ' to preach the Gospel 
 of Christ at Everton, the church was filled from the 
 villages around us, and the neighbouring clergy felt 
 themselves hurt at their churches being deserted. The 
 squire of my own parish was likewise much oifended. 
 He did not like to see so many strangers, and to be so 
 incommoded. Between them both, it was resolved, if pos- 
 sible, to turn me out of my livingo For this purpose they 
 complained of me to the bishop of the diocese that I had 
 preached out of my own parish. I was soon after sent for 
 by the bishop; I did not much like my errand, but I went. 
 
 " ' When I arrived, the bishop accosted me in a very 
 
 * This was first printed in the year 1794. 
 
AT EVERTON. 53 
 
 abrupt manner : " Well, Berridg-e, they tell me you go 
 about preaching out of your own parish. Did I institute 
 
 you to the hving-s of A y, or E n, or P n ? " 
 
 " No, my lord," said I, " neither do I claim any of those 
 livings ; the clergymen enjoy them undisturbed by me." 
 " Well, but you go and preach there, which you have no 
 right to do." " It is true, my lord, 1 was one day at 
 
 E n, and there were a few poor people assembled 
 
 together, and I admonished them to repent of their sins, 
 and to believe in the Lord Jesus Christ for the salvation 
 of their souls ; and I remember seeing five or six cler- 
 gymen that day, my lord, all out of their own parishes, 
 
 upon E n bowling green." " Poh !" said his lordship, 
 
 *' I tell you, you have no right to preach out of your own 
 parish ; and if you do not desist from it, you will very 
 likely be sent to Huntingdon gaol." " As to that, my 
 lord," said I, " I have no greater liking to Huntingdon 
 gaol than other people, but I had rather go there with a 
 good conscience, than live at liberty without it." Here 
 his lordship looked very hard at me, and very gravely 
 assured me that I was beside myself, and that in a few 
 months time I should be either better or worse. " Then," 
 said I, " my lord, you may make yourself quite happy in 
 this business ; for if I should be better, you suppose I 
 shall desist from this practice of my own accord, and 
 if worse, you need not send me to Huntingdon gaol, as 
 I shall be provided with an accommodation in bedlam." 
 
 " ' His lordship now changed his mode of attack. 
 Instead of threatening, he began to entreat. " Berridge," 
 said he, " you know I have been your friend, and I would 
 wish to be so still. I am continually teased with the 
 complaints of the clergymen around you. Only assure 
 me that you will keep to your own parish ; you may do 
 as you please there. I have but little time to live ; do 
 not bring down my grey hairs with sorrow to the grave." 
 At this instant two gentlemen were announced, who 
 desired to speak with his lordship. " Berridge," said he, 
 " go to your inn, and come again at such an hour and 
 dine with me." I went, and on entering a private room 
 fell immediately upon my knees. I could bear threaten- 
 
54 BERRIDGE, 
 
 ing-, but knew not bow to withstand entreaty, especially 
 the entreaty of a respectable old man. At the appointed 
 time I returned. At dinner I was treated with great 
 respect. The two gentlemen also dined with us. I found 
 they had been informed who I was, as they sometimes 
 cast their eyes upon me in some such a manner as one 
 would glance at a monster. After dinner, his lordship 
 took me into his garden. '' Well, Berridge," said he, 
 " have you considered my request ?" "I have, my lord," 
 said I, " and have been on my knees concerning it." 
 *' Well ; and will you promise that you will preach no 
 more out of your own parish ? " " It would afford me 
 great pleasure," said I, " to comply with your lordship's 
 request, if I could do it with a good conscience. I am 
 satisfied the Lord has blessed my labours of this kind, 
 and 1 dare not desist." " A good conscience!" said his 
 lordship ; " do you not know that it is contrary to the 
 canons of the Church ?" " There is one canon, my lord," 
 replied I, " which says. Go preach the Gospel to every 
 CREATURE." " But why should you wish to interfere 
 with the charges of other men ? One man cannot preach 
 the Gospel to all men." " If they would preach the 
 Gospel themselves," said I, " there would be no need for 
 ray preaching to their people ; but as they do not, I 
 cannot desist." His lordship then parted with me in 
 some displeasure. I returned home, not knowing what 
 was to befal me, but thankful to God that I had pre- 
 served a conscience void of offence. 
 
 " ' I took no measures for my own safety, but Divine 
 Providence wrought for me in a way that I never ex- 
 pected. When I was at Clare-hall I was particularly 
 acquainted with a Fellow of that college, and we were 
 both on intimate terms with Mr Pitt, the late Lord 
 Chatham, who was at that time also at the University. 
 
 «' ' This Fellow of Clare- hall, when I began to preach 
 the Gospel, became my enemy, and did me some injury 
 in some ecclesiastical privileges which beforetime I had 
 enjoyed. At length, however, when he heard that I was 
 likely to come into trouble, and to be turned out of my 
 living at Everton, his heart relented. He began to 
 
AT EVERTON. 55 
 
 think, it seems, witliin himself, we shall ruin this poor 
 fellow among- us. This was just about the time that I 
 was sent for by the bishop. Of his own accord he writes 
 a letter to Mr Pitt, saying' nothing- about my Methodism, 
 but to this effect : — " Our old friend Berridge has g-ot a' 
 livin^^ in Bedfordshire, and I understand he has a squire 
 in his parish who g-ives him a deal of trouble ; has 
 accused him to the bishop of the diocese, and it is said 
 will turn him out of the living ; I wish you could con- 
 trive to put a stop to these proceedings." Mr Pitt was 
 at that time a young- man, and not choosing to apply to 
 the bishop himself, spoke to a certain nobleman, to 
 whom the bishop was indebted for his promotion. This 
 nobleman, within a few days, made it his business to see 
 the bishop, who was then in London. " My lord," said 
 he, " 1 am informed you have a very honest fellow, one 
 Berridg-e, in your diocese, and that he has been ill-treated 
 by a litigious squire who lives in his parish. He has 
 accused him, I am told, to your lordship, and wants to 
 turn him out of his living-. You would oblige me, my 
 lord, if you would take no notice of that squire, and not 
 suffer the honest man to be interrupted in his living." 
 The bishop was astonished, and could not imagine in 
 what manner things could have thus got round. It 
 would not do, however, to object; he was obliged to bow 
 compliance, and so 1 continued ever after in my sphere 
 of action.' 
 
 " After this interesting narration was ended, which 
 had alternately drawn smiles and tears from my friend 
 and his companion, they requested him to pray with 
 them one five minutes before they departed. ' No,' said 
 the good old man to my friend, ' you shall pray with me.* 
 ' Well ; but if 1 begin, perhaps you will conclude.' He 
 consented ; after my friend had ended, he, without rising 
 from his knees, took up his petitions; and with such sweet 
 solemnity, such holy familiarity with God, and such 
 ardent love to Christ, poured out his soul, that the like 
 was seldom seen. They parted ; and my friend thinks 
 he will never forget the favour of the interview to his 
 dying day." 
 
56 BERRIDGE, 
 
 It is impossible not to regret that so little has been 
 left on record of the life and successful ministrations of 
 this holy man ; and this regret is increased by the recent 
 publication of the life of the Reverend Henry Venn, in 
 which we find some detached notices of his character, at 
 once interesting in themselves, and indicative of the 
 spiritual intercourse and pious sentiments of these worthy 
 individuals. It is but a passing- glimpse which we thus 
 receive of a great outpouring of the Holy Spirit, with 
 which it would be both delightful and edifying to be 
 made familiar. With what we have been able to glean 
 from the work alluded to, this account must close. 
 
 [Nov. 11, 1771.] " Last Wednesday Mr Berridge 
 was here, and gave us a most excellent sermon. He is 
 a blessed man — a true Calvinist ; not hot in doctrine, 
 nor wise above what is written, but practical and experi- 
 mental. Summer differs not more from winter than this 
 dear man from what he was ten years ago ; he is now 
 broken in heart, though fervent in spirit." Again, he 
 says — 
 
 [1773, Dec] " Dear Mr Berridge preaches for me 
 every month. Happy am I in having such a loving 
 fervent minister of Christ." Again — 
 
 [1776.] " Mr Berridge is in London. He laboured 
 for three months above his strength ; he had the largest 
 congregations that were ever known for a constancy ; 
 and greatly was his word owned of the Lord. He is as 
 affectionate as a father to my son, and gives him many 
 valuable books. He is often telling me he is sick of all 
 he does, and loathes himself for the inexpressible corrup- 
 tion he feels v/ithin; yet is his life a pattern to us all, and an 
 incitement to love and serve the Lord with all our strength. 
 Thus did my affectionate brother resemble that burning 
 and shining light, who cried out, ' I have need to be 
 baptized of thee !' Thus I find it with him. Twenty-five 
 years ago, I was certain I should be able to reconcile 
 the word of God with all its parts, and be able to pray 
 v/ithout distraction. Now I v/ait for the light of eter- 
 nity, and the perfection of holiness, in order that I may 
 know any thing as I ought to know." 
 
AT EVERTON. 57 
 
 [1783.] We find the same excellent man rejoicing in 
 Christian fellowship with his brethren, and give a brief 
 extract, to show what are the enjoyments of those who 
 possess the Revival spirit. " I wished for your presence 
 with us on New-year's day. Princes have no such fare 
 to feast on I Mr Robinson, from Leicester, was in the 
 pulpit in the evening ; and in a manner, masterly, solemn 
 and affectionate to the last degree, he exhorted young- 
 men and maidens, old men and children, believers and 
 unbelievers, to awake out of sleep, for it was high time. 
 Many attended, and great was the seriousness of one and 
 all. Mr Simeon, and Mr Parish from Cambridge, were 
 here ; and we all set out for Everton the next morning. 
 The venerable father Berridge received us, though un- 
 looked for, with open arms ; and his prayer, and Mr 
 Robinson's, were again most edifying and animating. 
 We parted in fervent love, looking upward and forward, 
 till we shall meet to dwell together in love for ever. 
 Such is our present honour, to be with the excellent of 
 the earth, educating together for glory in the highest 
 heavens." 
 
 [1788.] Five years after, we find these faithful men 
 meeting, and comparing the Lord's dealings with them 
 when they are old and grey-headed. 
 
 " The Sunday before last, I preached in the afternoon 
 at Everton ; my brother Berridge in the morning. Pour 
 years have passed since we heard each other. We both 
 perceived how our voices are weakened ; but had a sweet 
 interview while we talked of the pity and tender love of 
 our adorable Master towards all his aged ministers when 
 they are almost past the service of their office. He told 
 me he could pray little out of his own mind ; but the 
 method he used was to read his Bible, and as he read, to 
 turn the word into prayer for himself." 
 
 [1792.] We present another glimpse of the sunset 
 of that glorious soul. 
 
 " I lately visited my dear brother Berridge. His 
 sight is very dim, his ears can scarcely hear, and his fa- 
 culties are fast decaying, so that if he continues any 
 time, he may outlive the use of them. But in this ruin 
 
58 BERRIDGE, 
 
 of his eartbly tabernacle, it is surprising- to see the joy 
 of his countenance, and the lively hope with which he 
 looks for the day of his dissolution. In his prayer with 
 me and my children (for two of them accompanied me), 
 w^e were much affected by his commending: himself to the 
 Lord, as quite alone, not able to read, or hear, or do any 
 thing, ' But if I have, Lord,' said he, ' thy presence 
 and love, that sufficeth 1 ' " 
 
 [179-3.] In January we hear from Mr Venn : — " My 
 dear brother Berridg-e is dying-, as a letter received last 
 nig-ht informs me ; and, at the same time, how supremely 
 happy he is in his God and Saviour. He goes a little 
 before us — we shall very soon follow after." February 
 14, Mr Venn writes to his family : — " I gladly embrace 
 an opportunity to send you an account of the last days 
 of my dear brother at Everton, who was most affection- 
 ate towards all my dear children ; and his regard for me 
 was very great indeed. His departure is to me a loss 
 unspeakable, and not to be repaired. The country will 
 appear very dreary, now I have no friend there to whom 
 I can unbosom my soul, as he was wont to do to me. 
 You know that I had promised to preach his funeral 
 sermon. My weakness of body and of mind prevent me 
 fulfilling that promise ; and I was, much against my in^ 
 clination, obliged to refuse the apphcation from Everton, 
 to perform the last office for this eminent man of God. 
 After increasing weakness, he was, on the I2th of Ja- 
 nuary, seized with a violent asthma, in which his friends 
 thought he would have died. He recovered, however, 
 and lived ten days, unspeakably favoured with the pre- 
 sence and love of his adorable Redeemer, often express- 
 ing his full assurance of being with him for ever. Mr 
 and Mrs Whittingham, Mr EUard, and Mr Hewitt, were 
 with him when he departed without a struggle or a groan. 
 His funeral was very solemn. Six clergymen bore the 
 pall. Mr Simeon preached from the very words I wished 
 him to do ; and showed how truly Mr Berridge might say 
 with Paul, ii. Tim. 7, 8, 'I have fought a good fight, I 
 have finished my course, I have kept the faith ; hence- 
 forth there is kid up for me a crown of righteousness, 
 
AT EVERTOS^. 
 
 59 
 
 which the LorJ the righteous judge shall give me at 
 that day ; and not to me only, but unto all them also 
 that love His appearing.' The church could not contain 
 more than half the multitude who came to the burial of 
 their beloved pastor. Nor is it easy to conceive what 
 tears and sighs were to be seen and heard from those who 
 had been called to Christ through the word of the dear 
 deceased. He is gone a very little before me. May I 
 patiently wait till I meet him above ! — an event which I 
 hope is not far oif ! " 
 
 As Berridge was never married, he left no widow to 
 deplore his removal, nor children to perpetuate his me- 
 mory ; but his bright example, and wise instructions, 
 will for ever live in the affections of thousands who de- 
 rived blessings through his ministry. 
 
 EPITAPH. 
 
 Here lie 
 
 The earthly remains of 
 
 JOHN BERRIDGE, 
 
 Late Vicar of Everton, 
 
 And an itinerant Servant of Jesus Christ, 
 
 Who loved his Master and his Work ; 
 
 And, after running on his <'rrands many years, 
 
 Was caught up to wait on him above. 
 
 Reader ! 
 
 Art thou born again ? 
 
 No salvation without a new birth. 
 
 I was born in sin, February, 1716; 
 
 Remained ignorant of my fallen state till 1730; 
 
 Lived proudly on faith and works for 
 
 salvation, till 1 754 ; 
 
 Admitted to Everton vicarage 1755 ; 
 
 Fled to Jesus alone for refuge 1756; 
 
 Fell asleep in Christ, January 22d, 1793. 
 
[ 60 ] 
 
 CHAPTER IV. 
 
 REVIVAL UNDER GRIMSHAW, AT HAWORTH, 
 YORKSHIRE. 
 
 Mr Grimshaw was born at Brindle, near Preston, in 
 Lancashire, on the 3d of September, 1708, and educated 
 at the grammar-schools of Blackburn and Hetlim, in 
 that county. He was admitted to Christ's College, Cam- 
 bridge, in his eighteenth year, where his intention was 
 to study for the church ; but the pursuits he followed, 
 and the manners of those with whom he associated, were 
 very unfavourable to such a design, and he soon became 
 a proficient in wickedness. Mr Grimshaw was ordained 
 deacon in the year 1731. Upon this occasion he was 
 not without some serious thoughts concerning the weight 
 of the ministerial office, but they were of short continu- 
 ance, and produced little effect. He removed to Tod- 
 raorden soon afterwards, from Rochdale, where he had 
 for some time associated with a few religious persons. 
 Being thus separated from them, his pious resolutions 
 quickly passed away, and he retained just a sufficient re- 
 gard for his character to restrain him from swearing and 
 excess of drinking, when in company who disliked those 
 practices. Thus he went on till the twenty-eighth year of 
 his age (1734), when the spirit of God wrought a great 
 change in him. He became alarmed for the salvation of 
 his soul, and prayed much ; but he waited long before he 
 experienced that peace of mind which is the effect of 
 lively faith in the Saviour. He was no longer a trifler. 
 He had now neither time nor taste for amusements ; he 
 attended diligently to his duties, warned his people to 
 flee from the wrath to come, and catechised their chil- 
 dren. But, from the painful state of his own mind, it 
 was some time before he felt himself able experimentally 
 
AT HAWORTH. 61 
 
 to invite the weary and heavy laden to apply to Jesus, 
 that they might find rest for their souls. He laboured, 
 he fasted, he prayed, he aimed at great strictness and 
 regularity of conduct. Yefc he was almost driven to 
 despair by new discoveries of the evils of his heart, and 
 by a torrent of wicked and blasphemous thoughts. The 
 Lord often causes those whom he designs to honour with 
 eminent usefulness in the ministry, to pass through deep 
 waters of soul distress, that they may, through humility 
 and watchfulness, acquire the ability to speak a word in 
 season to the weary. He continued praying earnestly 
 for some years in the midst of all his discouragements, 
 and in due time his prayers were answered. His progress 
 for a time was slow, till at length the sun of righteous- 
 ness arose with healing under his beams. 
 
 Then he gladly renounced all dependence upon him- 
 self either for righteousness or strength. He believed and 
 was made whole. As the season of his consolation ap- 
 proached, his preaching became more savoury, experi- 
 mental, and successful. How remarkably is the power 
 of the Holy Spirit of God shown in such a case as that 
 of Mr Grimshavv, when the views and habits of life are 
 changed at once, so that he who was vicious yesterday 
 becomes serious and prayerful to-day, the outward cir- 
 cumstances remaining the same ! 
 
 In the year 1742 he was removed to the perpetual 
 curacy of Haworth, near Bradford, in Yorkshire, to 
 preach to a people, who, when he first went among 
 them, were very ignorant, brutish, and wicked. But 
 very soon, by the blessing of God upon his ministry, this 
 wilderness assumed the appearance of a fruitful field, and 
 the desert rejoiced and blossomed like the rose. 
 
 Mr Williams of Kidderminster, who had learnt many 
 particulars of the distressing part of his experience from 
 himself, wrote a letter on the subject of his conversion, 
 dated in 1745, which was afterwards published in the 
 second volume of the Evangelical Magazine. In this 
 letter, having stated that after Mr Grirashaw had been 
 eleven years in the charge of souls, he for the first time 
 
62 GRIMSHAW, 
 
 came under terrifying convictions of iiis sinfulness and 
 danger, he proceeds thus : — 
 
 " Hereupon, being ignorant of God's righteousness, he 
 went about to estabhsh his own, reformed in every branch 
 and in every relation, said many prayers (but all in his 
 own strength), and resolving to leave nothing undone he 
 could possibly do, he kept two diaries. In one of these, 
 after daily self-examination, he recorded all the sins of 
 every day ; then confessed, renewed his repentance, 
 begged pardon, resolved, watched, and prayed against 
 them. Still he was conscious of many sins he had taken 
 no cognizance of, was buffeted with most horrid tempta- 
 tions. * * * * Fifteen months he groaned under the 
 spirit of bondage, and found, notwithstanding all his labo- 
 rious endeavours, he got no ground of his lusts or temp- 
 tations. Life became a burden, and he was sometimes 
 tempted to take it away. At last, the time of his deli- 
 verance came. He met with Owen on Justification in the 
 house of a friend, borrowed, studied it, and thus was led 
 into God's method of justifying the ungodly. He had 
 a new heart given him, and now behold he prayeth." 
 
 Mr Williams goes on to relate some particulars of a 
 very remarkable incident which occurred to Mr Grim- 
 shavv in 1744, and to which he himself alluded many 
 years afterwards, in a solemn and renewed dedication of 
 himself to the Lord's service ; * but as the judicious Mr 
 Newton evidently discredits some of the circumstances 
 mentioned by Mr Williams, we forbear to record them, 
 and shall merely state that Mr Grimshaw himself speaks 
 of it as " that wonderful manifestation " of the Lord to 
 him, which took place at church, and in the clerk's house ; 
 and Mr Newton refers to the testimony of an old servant 
 who was present on the occasion, and who stated that her 
 master had risen that morning before tive o'clock, and 
 had been much engaged in private prayer and in religious 
 
 * ]Mr Grimshaw made frequent dedications of himself to God. He 
 wrote one on 4th December, 1 752, which is that alluded to in the text, 
 and on 5th June, IV 60, he renewed it, and wrote upon it, " I pur- 
 pose to renew this dedication with a quarterly fast." 
 
AT HAWORTH. 6^ 
 
 exercises with some of his people ; that he had gone to 
 church, as she believed, without breaking his fast ; that 
 w^iile reading the second lesson he fell down, and was 
 carried into the clerk's house, where he lay for some time 
 seemingly insensible, with great coldness in his limbs ; 
 that when he came to himself he appeared to be in great 
 rapture, and exclaimed, " I have had a glorious vision 
 from the third heaven ;" and that, having, while leaving 
 the church, entreated the people not to dismiss, he en- 
 tered the pulpit again at two o'clock in the afternoon, 
 and continued the service so long that it was seven in the 
 evening before he returned home. 
 
 Mr Newton adds, that although he was on terms of 
 personal intimacy with Mr Grimshaw, and had long and 
 interesting conversations with him, he never heard him 
 mention the subject ; and 3ir Williams says that he did 
 not divulge the circumstance to every body, but only to 
 those who, he thought, had ears to hear. 
 
 Mr WiUiams then continues : " Since that he has never 
 lost sight of his evidences, has a flowing love to the Lord 
 Jesus Christ, and his ministry has been attended with 
 a wonderful success. He reckons, at least, one hundre<l 
 and twenty souls savingly renewed, whom he has formed 
 into little classes. Over each class presides one man, 
 who has the gift of prayer, whose business it is to con- 
 verse as well as pray with the others, and watch over 
 them ; and now and then he meets with these heads, who 
 give him an account of the individuals. Such a diversity 
 has there been in the manner of the spirit's operation, 
 that scarce any two of them all have been wrought upon 
 in the same manner. Some have cried out in the church, 
 under overwhelming fears and terrors ; while others have 
 been drawn with cords of love. Some have received a 
 sense of pardon in a few days or weeks, while others have 
 groaned several months under a spirit of bondage. He 
 has about four hundred families in his parish, of which 
 he visits ten or twelve every week in a ministerial way, 
 at the same time that, with the help of an usher, he pre- 
 sides over a numerous school. He has generally one 
 thousand or eleven hundred hearers. In summer about 
 
64 GRIMSHAW, 
 
 one hundred flock to his ministry from neighbouring 
 parishes, and scarce a Sabbath in which one or another is 
 not laid hold on." 
 
 This letter was written about sixy years after Mr 
 Grimshaw began to preach the gospel faithfully. He 
 lived to reap a much more abundant harvest, as we shall 
 see by returning to the narrative of Mr Newton. 
 
 The people of Haworth had not been used to faithful 
 preaching before Mr Grimshavv's time, and, as under such 
 a privation is always the case, many had become careless 
 about attending public worship at all. But the tenour 
 and energy of Mr Grimshaw's preaching soon attracted 
 the attention of his hearers. His heart was engaged, 
 he was pressed in spirit, he spoke with earnestness and 
 authority, as one who was well assured of the truth and 
 importance of his message. Nor did he long speak in 
 vain. A power from on high applied to the heart what 
 he could only declare to the ear. The effects were soon 
 visible upon many of his hearers, who not only changed 
 their views and sentiments, but their tempers and con- 
 duct. Many forsook sinful and vicious habits, and be- 
 came sober, industrious, and prayerful. Mr Grimshaw 
 was constantly labouring in his parish, going and decla- 
 ring the gospel to those v/ho either could not or would 
 not come to him. He often exhorted in private houses, 
 where people collected to hear him both from his own 
 and neighbouring parishes ; and being frequently request- 
 ed to go beyond the limits of his own parish, and not 
 daring to refuse, he gradually extended his range till he 
 had established two circuits, one of which he v/ent over 
 every week. In the one week, which he used to call 
 his idle week, he preached commonly twelve or fourteen 
 times, and in his busy one he preached above twenty, 
 and sometimes even thirty times. His church was 
 crowded with hearers from distant places, who attended 
 without regard to the weather. His sermons were very 
 long, sometimes not less than tuo hours, but they were 
 usually so animated, pertinent, and pathetic, that few 
 persons who had spiritual discernment and the command 
 of their time thought them too long. He preached with 
 
AT HAWORTH. 65 
 
 the impression that he was addressing perishing sinners 
 who might never live to hear him again, and he knew 
 not how to be explicit enough, or how to stop. His 
 congregation often consisted of many thousands, espe- 
 cially when Mr Wesley or Mr Whitfield was with them ; 
 on these occasions his communicants were more than the 
 church could hold. 
 
 While this zealous servant of God was preaching he 
 riveted attention by the earnestness of his manner and 
 the weight of his exhortations. All eyes were commonly 
 fixed on him, and not unfrequently the whole congrega- 
 tion were in tears. 
 
 But it was not in his public ministrations alone that 
 the power of his talents and piety was felt. Some re- 
 markable proofs are recorded of the hold which he had 
 obtained by the strength of his Christian character on 
 the minds of his parishioners, and it has been said that 
 his presence had more efi"ect in maintaining order and 
 decorum, and in suppressing vice, than could have been 
 produced by a whole host of justices and civil officers. 
 The manner in which he exercised the commanding in- 
 fluence he had acquired was characteristic and sometimes 
 eccentric. It was his frequent custom to leave the church 
 while the psalm before sermon was singing, to see if any 
 were idling their time in the churchyard, the street, or 
 the alehouses, and many of those whom he found he 
 would drive into the church before him. Mr Newton 
 mentions an amusing instance of the dread with which 
 he inspired transgressors. " A friend of mine," says he, 
 " passing a public-house in Haworth, on a Lord's Day 
 morning, saw several persons making their escape out of 
 it, some jumping out at the lower windows, and some 
 over a low wall. He was at first alarmed, fearing the 
 house was on fire ; but on enquiring what was the cause 
 of the commotion, he was told that they saw the parson 
 coming. His reproofs were so authoritative, yet so 
 mild and friendly, that the stoutest sinners could not 
 stand before him." 
 
 Mr Newton records another instance of a similar kind, 
 which shows still more impressively the ascendency he 
 
66 GRIMSHAW, 
 
 had acquired over his parishioners, and the pecuhar man- 
 ner in which he exercised it. There was a spot at some 
 distance from the village to which many young people 
 continued to resort on the Sabbath for their amusement. 
 Having often reproved them in vain for this unhallowed 
 practice, he at last disguised himself one evening, and 
 appeared unexpectedly among them, when he took down 
 their names with his pencil, and ordered them to attend 
 him on a day and hour which he appointed. They 
 punctually obeyed his summons, and after kneeling down 
 with them, and praying for them with much earnestness, 
 he dismissed them with a close and affecting lecture. He 
 thus entirely broke the custom, which was never after- 
 wards resumed. 
 
 Sometimes he had recourse to other and less dignified 
 means of influencing the minds of his parishioners. 
 Having an intimate knowledge of the spiritual state of 
 almost all his flock, he was fertile in expedients for 
 reaching their consciences. For example, to one pro- 
 fessor, whose charity to the poor he had reason to doubt, 
 he went disguised as a beggar, and, on asking for a night's 
 lodging, was driven avv^ay with abusive language — he 
 cautiously approached another, an old half-blind woman, 
 whose Christian temper he wished to try, and, placing 
 himself behind her back, he continued touching her with 
 his stick until she, supposing it was one of the children 
 of the village, began to scold and swear. On such occa- 
 sions he found an opportunity of addressing to them, with 
 more than ordinary effect, those powerful and energetic 
 exhortations which were so well calculated to reach their 
 hearts. These may be regarded as eccentricities, and cer- 
 tainly cannot be proposed for imitation ; but accompa- 
 nied, as they were in him, with unaffected piety and a 
 parental regard for the spiritual v/elfare of his people, they 
 were not only tolerated, but even tended to increase his 
 influence. Another proof is given of the extent of this 
 influence in a slight incident which happened to a travel- 
 ler, whose horse had happened to lose a shoe when passing 
 through Haworth on a Sabbath day. He applied to a 
 blacksmith, who positively refused to replace the shoe 
 
AT HAWORTH. 67 
 
 without the minister's leave. Mr Grimshaw was there- 
 fore applied to, who finding on enquiry that the man was 
 really on an errand of necessity, gave permission to the 
 conscientious tradesman to do what was required of him. 
 The extraordinary energy and deep-rooted piety of 
 Mr Grimshaw's mind are further illustrated by referring 
 to his daily habits. He had a meeting for prayer and 
 exhortation every morning when he was at home, in sum- 
 mer at five o'clock, and in winter at six, choosing these 
 early hours that the labours of the industrious might not 
 be impeded. Night and day were the same to him when 
 he was desired to visit the sick ; he has been known to 
 walk several miles in the night on this errand of piety in 
 storms of snow, when few people would venture out of 
 doors. The exertions, indeed, of the most industrious 
 man in trade, for his own worldly profit, could not exceed 
 his in promoting the cause of God, and the practice of 
 Christian duty. In all the actions of common life, in his 
 most familiar and common conversations, he intermingled 
 the spirit of his Lord and Master ; and, like this divine 
 pattern, would instruct his friends and hearers, by im- 
 proving the most ordinary incidents, and teaching them 
 lessons for eternity from the sea, the earth, and the sky, 
 from passing events in public and private life, from the 
 beasts of the forest, the birds of the air, and the flowers of 
 the field. His tender and anxious regard for the spiritual 
 welfare of his flock was evinced on one occasion in a very 
 striking manner. The late Mr Whitfield, in a sermon he 
 preached at Haworth, having spoken severely of those 
 professors who by their loose and evil conduct caused the 
 ways of truth to be evil spoken of, intimated a hope that 
 it was not necessary to enlarge on that topic to the con- 
 gregation before him, who had so long enjoyed the bene- 
 fit of an able and faithful preacher, and he was willing to 
 believe that their profiting appeared unto all men. This 
 roused Mr Grimshaw's solicitude, and, notwithstanding- 
 his great regard for the preacher, he stood up and inter- 
 rupted him, exclaiming with much emotion, " O sir, for 
 God's sake, do not speak so ; I pray you do not flatter 
 
68 GRIMSHAW, 
 
 them. I fear the greater part of them are going- to hell 
 with their eyes open." 
 
 It will not be known till the great day how many per- 
 sons received their first religious impressions from casual 
 interviews with this man of God, who embraced every 
 opportunity of conversing on spiritual subjects with those 
 whom he met on the road. If they were disposed to listen, 
 he would alight from his horse, and address them with 
 serious and pathetic exhortations, commend them to the 
 blessing of the Lord by prayer, and then resume his 
 journey. 
 
 It has already been remarked that Mr Grimshaw did 
 not confine his ministerial duties to his own parish, and 
 when we observe the minute attention he paid to his own 
 particular charge, and his unremitted labours abroad, it 
 seems astonishing that any one individual could accom- 
 plish so much. But he was exceedingly parsimonious of 
 his time, and prudent in his arrangements. He had good 
 health, a strong body, and a vigorous mind, and the seve- 
 rest weather made no alteration in his plans. He was 
 sure to be where and at the time he was expected. He 
 was so beloved, and so useful, that many people were not 
 prevented from coming ten or twelve miles, when they 
 heard he was to preach. He seldom staid longer in a 
 place than to deliver his message ; and, that he might 
 not be burdensome to the house that received him, and 
 to avoid loss of time, he frequently took some refresh- 
 ment in his hand, and posted away to farther services. 
 
 Mr Grimshaw's disposition was tried, and manifested 
 by the defection of many of his people, who, though 
 awakened under his ministry, withdrew from him, and 
 became dissenters. The occasion of this does not dis- 
 tinctly appear. No memoir of Mr Grimshaw's ministry 
 having been written till thirty-five years after its close, 
 few particulars have been preserved ; but it is probable 
 that the excitement produced by the itinerating labours of 
 Whitfield and Wesley about that time unsettled and drew 
 off many persons, who learned to estimate evangelical 
 preaching by his instrumentality, and did not find it in 
 
AT HAWORTH. 69 
 
 their parish churches. However trying to his feelings 
 their withdrawing- from his ministry may be supposed to 
 have been, yet if he had reason to believe that, though 
 they departed from him, they " cleaved to the Lord with 
 purpose of heart," and walked in the path of truth and 
 hoHness, their change seemed not in the least to abate his 
 regard for them. He saluted them with the same kind- 
 ness when he met them, and received them at his house 
 with the same cordiality as formerly. If good was done, 
 he cared not who was the instrument, and his unaffected 
 humility led him to hope that the ministers they preferred 
 to him were more useful to them than he could himself 
 have been. 
 
 Some idea of the extent of Mr Grimshaw's usefulness 
 may be conceived, from the account which Mr Newton 
 mentions having received from that worthy and simple- 
 hearted man of the change that had taken place in the 
 moral and religious aspect of the country around him in 
 the course of his ministry. One day when Mr Newton 
 and he were standing together upon a hill near Haworth, 
 and admiring the romantic prospect, Mr Grimshaw gave 
 vent to the grateful emotions which swelled his heart in 
 the following observations. 
 
 " When I first came into this country, if I had gone 
 half a day's journey on horseback towards the east, west, 
 north, and south, I could not have met with one truly 
 serious person ; and now, through the blessing of God 
 upon the poor services of one of the most unworthy of 
 his ministers, besides a considerable number whom I have 
 seen or known to have departed this life, like Simeon, re- 
 joicing in the Lord's salvation, and besides five dissenting 
 churches or congregations, of which the ministers, and 
 nearly every one of the members, were first awakened 
 under my ministry, I have still at my sacraments, accord- 
 ing to the weather, from three to five hundred communi- 
 cants, of the far greater part of whom, so far as man, who 
 cannot see the heart, and can therefore only determine 
 by appearances, profession, and conduct, may judge, I can 
 give almost as particular an account as I can of myself. I 
 
70 GRIMSHAW. 
 
 know the state of their progress in religion ; by my fre- 
 quent visits and converse with them I am acquainted with 
 their several temptations, trials, and exercises, both per- 
 sonal and domestic, both spiritual and temporal, almost as 
 intimately as if I had lived in their famihes." 
 
 " A stranger," adds Mr Newton, in giving this account, 
 " who had stood upon the same spot, from whence be 
 could see little but barren mountains and moors, would 
 scarcely think this declaration credible. But I know the 
 man well, and of all the men I ever knew, I can think of 
 no one who was less to be suspected of boasting than Mr 
 Grimshaw." 
 
 This zealous and courageous servant of God was seized 
 with fever, having caught the infection in visiting some 
 of his people while labouring under that disease. After 
 several, days of severe suffering in his body, during which 
 his soul was so sustained that he fervently said, " Never 
 have I had such a visit from God since I knew him,** he 
 was admitted into the presence of the Lord whom he loved 
 and trusted, in the month of August, 1763, in the 55th 
 year of his age, and twenty-one years after his settlement 
 at Haworth. 
 
[ 71 ] 
 CHAPTER V. 
 
 REFLECTIONS. 
 
 It is particularly worthy of observation, that these 
 last named eminent Christians and successful ministers, 
 Berridg^e and Grimshaw, were contemporaries of Whit- 
 field and Wesley, and ultimately became acquainted with 
 them, and received occasional assistance from them. But 
 it is an utter mistake that either of them derived their 
 religious opinions from, or adopted their plans of opera- 
 tion in imitation of these celebrated individuals, who, 
 though they were not the first, may be termed the Arch- 
 itinerants, 
 
 Berridge's powerful mind had struggled eleven long 
 years in laborious efforts to establish his own righteous- 
 ness, before he became aware that it is in the Lord Jesus 
 alone that a sinner can have righteousness and strength ; 
 and then, without communicating with flesh and blood, 
 he began to proclaim what he had learnt of the Spirit, and 
 an abundant harvest was given to him. 
 
 Grimshaw, a few years previous to that period, had 
 encountered, while he was " going about to establish 
 his own righteousness," and to make himself clean in 
 God's sight, a most fearful furnace of temptation. He 
 had truly experienced, that " out of the heart proceed 
 evil thoughts and blasphemies," so that he abhorred 
 himself, and feared continually ; till he was guided into 
 peace by learning the wdj of justification. He also 
 preached what he had been taught of the Spirit, and his 
 work was owned abundantly of the head of the Church. 
 That both these men were constitutionally of a remark- 
 ably energetic temperament, and would have been ob- 
 served as eccentric, whatever their professions had been, 
 is very obvious. That the world should have hated 
 them was to be expected, for it hated the blessed Lord, 
 whose messages of peace they carried ; and even Dr 
 
72 REFLECTIONS. 
 
 Southey, who has not been able to restrain himself by 
 a regard to the dignity and candour incumbent on a 
 historian, from emitting scornful expressions against 
 these good men* — even Southey is constrained to con- 
 fess, that " mad Grimshaw's oddities did not prevent 
 him from being very useful among a set of parishioners, 
 who are said to have been as wild as the bleak barren 
 country which they inhabited, and to have had little 
 more religion than their cattle." f 
 
 Berridge and Hicks were not " converted to Metho- 
 dism," as Dr Southey states it, but to the doctrines of 
 repentance and faith in Jesus Christ, and to the expec- 
 tation of the teaching of the Holy Spirit, years before 
 they became acquainted with the Father of Methodism ; 
 and it may truly be subject of wonder, that one spirit, 
 shut up in its own clay tabernacle, should feel so assured 
 of its having attained all experience of how other spirits 
 may be dealt with, or what may be revealed to them by 
 the Divine Spirit, as to set down at once, that a man of 
 prayer and of deep spiritual experience " mistook delu- 
 sion for reality," because consolation was poured into 
 his long wounded soul, by a method unexperienced by 
 the historian. " Why herein is a marvellous thing, 
 that ye know not from whence he is, and yet he hath 
 opened mine eyes ! " It may probably be true, that there 
 was much of mere human sympathy, or imitations — the 
 eye affecting the heart — in the strong emotions evinced 
 at first by the multitudes who flocked to hear Mr Ber- 
 ridge. There might also be some who received the 
 word with joy for a while, but who, having no depth in 
 themselves, anon withered away. Nay, there might be 
 a few who, from mere caprice or from interested mo- 
 tives, simulated convictions, fears, and hopes which they 
 
 * Southey, in reference to Berridge and Grimshaw, speaks of " the 
 violent influenza of fanaticism" with which they were infected, and 
 says, that " success made Berridge glorious in his own eyes as well 
 as those of the fanatics around him ; " that " he mistook delirium, 
 for reality," and allows himself to employ other opprobrious expres- 
 sions equally false and calumnious. 
 
 f Southey 's Life of Wesley, vol. ii. p. 397. 
 
REFLECTIONS. 73 
 
 never felt ; but he must be a man wise in his own eyes, 
 indeed, who will presume to deny, that, of the thousands 
 awakened under the preaching of Berridge and Hicks, 
 both before they had ever seen John Wesley, and after 
 he had come to witness the great work at and around 
 Everton, none were truly, under the influences of the 
 Holy Spirit, made new creatures. The brevity of the 
 gospel narrative does not indulge us with a minute de- 
 tail of the conduct of the multitude on that blessed day, 
 when, under the preaching of Peter, there were added to 
 the Church about three thousand souls ; but when they 
 were " pricked in their hearts " they spoke during the 
 service to the preacher and to the other apostles, saying, 
 " men and brethren what shall we do ? " We are not 
 informed that in that vast assembly some stood, some 
 sat, some wept, some groaned, some wrung their hands 
 in an ecstasy of grief and fear, and cried out, " what shall 
 we do ? " Nay, that some falling down on their faces 
 worshipped God, as was sometimes the case at Everton. 
 Yet we cannot suppose three thousand beings of human 
 mould simultaneously convicted of past sins and mistakes, 
 and embracing the newly revealed redemption, to con- 
 tinue all calm and tranquil and still under so powerful 
 an excitement. Man is a being capable of deep emo- 
 tions ; it is through his feelings that he is wrought upon 
 for good or for evil ; and he has the power not only of 
 expressing his emotions, but of obtaining relief from 
 their intensity by that expression. And on what subject 
 ought he to feel so profoundly as on that which indicates 
 his relation to his God, and his hopes and fears in refer- 
 ence to his eternal condition ? What would Dr Southey 
 say to the eccentricities or improprieties, as he might 
 perhaps call them, of King David when he complained, 
 under the pungency of his convictions of sin, " mine 
 iniquities are gone over mine head, as a heavy burden, 
 they are too heavy for me. I am troubled ; I am bowed 
 down greatly ; I go mourning all the day long. I am 
 feeble and sore broken, / have roared by reason of the 
 disquietness of my heart. Lord, all niy desire is before 
 thee, and my groaning is not hid from thee. My heart 
 
74 REFLECTIONS, 
 
 panteth, my strength failetli me : as for tbe light of 
 mine eyes, it also is gone from me." * This description 
 of the bodily effects of mental snifering in the Psalmist 
 is more nearly a description of the state of many under 
 the preaching of Berridge than we were aware of, till the 
 cases came to be compared. They were feeble and sore 
 broken, so that they fell to the ground. By reason of 
 the disquietness of their hearts, they roared, they groan- 
 ed, they panted, their strength failed, and for a time 
 they were so absorbed internally, that the light of their 
 eyes was gone from them. Will any one presume to 
 say that this is mere poetical description on the part of the 
 King of Israel? His description of his state also, when 
 his terrors were removed, seems as if it had been per- 
 sonally realized in the experience of many of those con- 
 victed souls : — " He brought me up also out of a hor- 
 rible pit, out of the miry clay, and set my feet on a rock, 
 and established my goings. And he put a new song in 
 my mouth, even praise unto our God : many shall see it 
 and fear, and shall trust in the Lord." f 
 
 In almost all the outpourings of the spirit of repent- 
 ance of which Great Britain affords us examples, we find 
 that the outward emotions were most violent in the ear- 
 liest periods of the visitation. After four months, the con- 
 vulsions and unwonted commotions at Everton had nearly 
 subsided. Such was also the case among the miners at 
 Kingswood, and in the awakenings in North and South 
 Wales, at Cambuslang and Kilsyth, in Scotland, and 
 more recently in the isle of Arran and the Hebrides. 
 The experience in revivals in the United States is simi- 
 lar to this, and it seems to be accounted for on reason- 
 able grounds. Many souls are, in the beginning of a 
 revival, arrested in the full career of thoughtlessness. 
 The mind is suddenly aroused to the consciousness of the 
 « horrible pit" on the brink of which it has been long 
 trifling. It becomes sensible of " the miry clay" of evil 
 habit and propensity which entangles it and impedes its 
 flight from the awful danger, and then it " roareth by 
 
 * PsaVns, xxxviii. 4, 6, 8, 9, 10. f Psalms, xl. 2, 3. 
 
REFLECTIONS. 75 
 
 reason of its disquietness." Being- swallowed up in one 
 fearful conviction, outward restraints have lost their 
 power, and self-control is for the time impossible. The 
 bodily frame fails under such dreadful agitations, that 
 those who have fled from church that they might not 
 expose themselves, have sunk down in the churchyard ; 
 and at Kilsyth, those who forcibly suppressed the cry 
 of anguish, which is nature's mode of unburdening her- 
 self, were seized with bleedings from the nose, which 
 annoyed and distressed their neighbours more than the 
 convulsions of others, and left themselves sometimes en- 
 feebled for weeks or months. That such emotions may 
 be simulated — that credulous persons have admitted 
 many things without sufBcient examination — that true 
 conversion and a lively work of the Spirit are not neces- 
 sarily accompanied by such external demonstrations, 
 every one must admit ; but that they are an unnatural 
 or unreasonable expression of feeling, especially amongst 
 uncultivated people, little used to the salutary discipline 
 of self-control, ought not to be asserted. We hear of 
 no such exhibitions when many hearts were melted du- 
 ring the seven days that John Wesley preached on his 
 father's tomb-stone, at Epworth ; and he himself accounts 
 for it. The converts were persons whose understandings 
 had been cultivated, and whose minds had been occupied 
 about religion before, under the preaching- of his father, 
 thoug-h till now their hearts had remained unaffected by 
 the truth. They received their convictions with still- 
 ness and tears. This becomes the case during the pro- 
 gress of a prolonged revival — the careless have had their 
 attention turned to their solemn responsibilities by degrees 
 — their minds have, by what is passing around them, 
 become more familiar with the subjects of judgment and 
 eternity ; so that when their own hearts are convinced 
 of sin, they are not so taken by surprise, and receive 
 the conviction in a more quiet frame. In America it is 
 perfectly understood that the excess of outward emotion 
 depends much upon the character of the pastors. When 
 they seem not to disapprove of it, the people stir up and 
 infect each other. When they rebuke it, the emotion is 
 
76 REFLECTIONS. 
 
 restrained, or rather chang-ed from outward signs to deep 
 inward and prayerful solemnity. The same result was 
 experienced in the isle of Arran, and at Rothsay, in the 
 isle of Bute, which latter place partook of a small portion 
 of that good g-ift, more plentifully distributed in its neigh- 
 bour isle. The ministers were there as new to such 
 sudden convictions as Mr Berridg-e, and knew not how 
 to deal with the subjects of them ; or perhaps feared to 
 put forth their hands rashly to touch the work of the 
 Lord. An eyewitness states, that sometimes, though 
 rarely, persons were seized with convulsions, so that four 
 strong men could scarcely hold the individual thus af- 
 fected. The agitation and distraction of attention from 
 the truths of the Gospel thus produced, was of course 
 very distressing ; but it had been allowed to pass with- 
 out notice from the pastor, because he was at a loss how 
 to proceed. However, on occasion of the preaching of 
 an aged and experienced minister, as soon as he observed 
 symptoms of a rising commotion, he made a solemn pause, 
 and then admonished his hearers that outward agitation 
 might be exhibited, when the heart, to which alone God 
 looks, remained hard and deceitful ; and that he thought 
 it became those who wished to deny themselves for 
 Christ's sake, to restrain these bodily movements, and 
 to pray for the power to do so. His address w^as accompa- 
 nied with the best effect, as from that day the more dis- 
 turbing part of the emotion was restrained, though the 
 deep and overpowering inward convictions were still ex- 
 perienced. 
 
 The work of conscience being invisible, and the ope- 
 rations of the Spirit without voice or sound, it seems 
 more suited to the recluse position of each soul that its 
 changes should pass without observation. Yet it is pro- 
 bable that more practical and realizing views of the dan- 
 ger of a perishing soul and of the joy of its rescue, would 
 lead all real Christians to sympathize with, rather than 
 to censure the utterance of overflowing emotion. It was 
 those who had no experience of the privation of blind- 
 ness, who rebuked Bartimius, when he cried out to Jesus, 
 and it was a personal sense of his own destitution which 
 
REFLECTIONS. 77 
 
 induced him to cry out the more earnestly, " Thou son 
 of David, have mercy on me ! " Would any one rebuke 
 a man who was suddenly aroused to behold his home in 
 flames, and perhaps his wife and children involved in the 
 conflagration, because his first expression of anguish was 
 an exceeding bitter cry ? Yet what is that sight in com- 
 parison with the sudden and spiritual view of the awful 
 truth, that his own soul is, at this very moment, under 
 divine wrath, and that he has been leading all whom he 
 loves in the very paths of destruction. Or what soul, 
 embued with kindly sympathies, could witness the smiles, 
 the tears, the ecstasies of joy which a mother or wife 
 might exhibit, on catching a view of the vessel in the 
 offing, which restores to her the long absent and long 
 pined-for object of her best affections, without pardoning 
 the extravagance of her emotion and partaking in her 
 joy. Yet how small and how short-lived is that happi- 
 ness, compared to the joy of a soul that is enabled to ap- 
 prehend Jesus, as its complete and willing deliverer ? — 
 to the peace of a soul which has passed from the dread 
 of God's just and inevitable indignation, to the inexpres- 
 sible peace of knowing him as a reconciled Father ? This 
 was the experience which put " a new song" into the 
 mouth of the King of Israel, and which led him to call 
 for the sympathizing attention of all who fear God, that 
 they might hear what he had done for his soul. 
 
 It has been truly said, that a feeble friend is often more 
 injurious than an open enemy ; and it seems to have been 
 the lot of the excitement at Everton to be narrated by a 
 weak-minded and single-hearted person, who seemed the 
 more gratified the more the agitation and disorders in- 
 creased. As a specimen of the cases he records, we select 
 that of Thomas Skinner, which may serve to illustrate 
 the above observations. 
 
 Mr Berridge had returned to his former charge, at 
 Stapleford, with solicitude, after his views of the gospel 
 were opened, that he might preach salvation to his old 
 hearers. This created a considerable excitement, and 
 Thomas Skinner seems to have been one of a party, 
 chiefly farmers, who came to hear him with a determi- 
 
78 REFLECTIONS, 
 
 nation to horsewhip any who might betray strong- emo- 
 tion. " He was," says the narrator, " the chief captain 
 of Satan's forces ; none was by nature more fitted for 
 mockery ; none could swear more heroically to whip 
 out of the close all who were affected by the preaching." 
 This man during the sermon was seized with most ap- 
 palling terrors. " His face became distorted. He roared 
 and clapped his hands together with his whole force. 
 Several lied from him. After a while he began to pray 
 aloud. Some of the triflers became very serious ; his 
 own kindred could scarcely believe the truth of what 
 they saw. They wished to take him away ; but he fell 
 to the earth, crying — ' My burden I my burden ! I can- 
 not bear it.' His brother scoffers were calling for horse- 
 v,'hips, till they saw him extended on his back at full 
 length ; they then said he was dead." 
 
 From this meagre account little can be gathered except 
 that a strong vulgar-minded man of violent passions was 
 under powerful agitation. We ought to know if he 
 really came to true contrition, or if a mere temporary 
 fear had surprised him. If from that day he became a 
 new man, we cannot question that " the Word, which is 
 stronger than a hammer breaking the rocks in pieces," 
 was, with such fearful accompaniments, at that hour 
 subduing his rebellious heart. But even if this were 
 not the happy result, we do not see how it can be regard- 
 ed as a mere physical affection, or called a "disease," in 
 the common acceptation of the word. We must look 
 higher than "influenza," or " epidemic," or sympathy, for 
 the cause. The mind, the conscience, were, for the time 
 at least, the seat of agitation ; and if this was the com- 
 mencement of a real conversion, perhaps it exemphfies 
 somewhat of the meaning of John the Baptist when he 
 said — " He that cometh after me shall baptize you with 
 the Holy Ghost and with fire." David said — " My flesh 
 trembleth for fear of thee, and I am afraid of thy righte- 
 ous judgments." Need we Monder that others should 
 experience equal terrors ? Is not the rational subject of 
 wonder rather that any who have opportunity to hear of 
 the terrors of the Lord should cease from trembhng till 
 
REFLECTIONS. 79 
 
 they have accepted the offers of pardon and sanctifi- 
 cation which are proposed to the sinner through Christ 
 Jesus ? 
 
 We introduce here an extract from Richard Baxter's 
 sermon on " Making- hght of Christ," which expresses 
 the deep wrought sense in a rescued soul of what it is 
 to be in danger for eternity. " Oh, sirs, they are no 
 trifles or jesting matters that the gospel speaks of. I 
 must needs profess to you, that when I have the most 
 serious thoughts of these things myself, I am ready to 
 marvel that such amazing matters do not overwhelm the 
 souls of men ; that the greatness of the subject doth not 
 so overcome our understandings and affections, as even 
 to drive men beside themselves, but that God hath always 
 somewhat allayed it by the distance. Much more, that 
 men should be so blockish as to make light of them. 
 Oh Lord ! that men did but know what everlasting glory 
 and everlasting torments are ; would they then hear us 
 as they do ? would they read and think of these things 
 as they do ? I profess I have been ready to wonder, 
 when I have heard such weighty things delivered, how 
 people can forbear crying out in the congregation, much 
 more how they can rest till they have gone to their 
 ministers and learned what they should do. Oh that 
 heaven and hell should work no more on man ! Oh that 
 everlastingness should work no more ! Oh how can you 
 forbear, when you are alone, to think with yourselves, 
 what it is to be everlastingly in joy or in torment ? I 
 wonder that such thoughts do not break your sleep, and 
 that they come not in your mind when you are about 
 your labour ! I wonder how you can almost do any thing 
 else ; how you can have any quietness in your minds ; 
 how you can eat, or drink, or rest, till you have got some 
 ground of everlasting consolation ! Is that a man, or a 
 corpse, that is not affected with matters of this moment ? 
 that can be readier to sleep than to tremble, when he 
 heareth how he must stand at the bar of God ? Is that 
 a man, or a clod of clay, that can rise and lie dou'n with- 
 out being deeply affected with his everlasting estate ; 
 that can follow his worldly business, and make nothing 
 
80 REFLECTIONS. 
 
 of the great business of salvation or damnation, and that 
 when they know it is hard at hand ? Truly, sirs, when I 
 think of the weight of the matter, I wonder at the very 
 best of God's saints upon earth, that they are no better, 
 and do no more in so weighty a case. I wonder at those 
 whom the world accounteth more holy than needs, and 
 scorns for making too much ado, that they can put off 
 Christ and their souls with so little. * * * And 
 for myself, I am ashamed of my dull and careless heart, 
 and of my slow and unprofitable course of life ; as, the 
 Lord knows, I am ashamed of every sermon I preach : 
 when I think what I have been speaking of, and who 
 sent me, and that men's salvation or damnation is so 
 much concerned in it, I am ready to tremble lest God 
 should judge me a slighter of his truths and the souls of 
 men, and lest, in the best sermon, I should be guilty of 
 their blood. Methinks we should not speak a word to 
 men, in matters of such consequence, without tears, or 
 the greatest earnestness that possibly we can ; were we 
 not too much guilty of the sin which we reprove, it 
 would be so." * 
 
 * Baxter's Sermon on Making Light of Christ, quoted from Prince*: 
 Christian History, No. 29. 
 
[ 81 ] 
 
 CHAPTER VI. 
 
 WESLEY AND WHITFIELD. 
 
 [1739.] In the history of British Revivals, the names 
 of Wesley and Whitfield stand pre-eminent, as men zea- 
 lous, prayerful, laborious, and successful. A few extracts 
 from their journals are enough to refute the assertion that 
 in England we have not seen any powerful and simulta- 
 neous awakenings of sinners. These journals are so 
 universally known, that it seems unnecessary to make 
 large extracts from them here. Besides, it may be as 
 well to avoid encountering the prejudice which, in many 
 minds, the name of Methodism does not fail to array in 
 arms against the reality and solidity of a work of grace. 
 We cannot, however, doubt that thousands have been con- 
 verted, have exerted themselves in the Christian world, 
 have walked consistently, and are entered into the joy of 
 their Lord, by this instrumentahty. The melancholy 
 truth must be confessed, that in times of strong excite- 
 ment there have been some partially awakened, who have 
 seemed to run well for a while, have fallen asleep again, 
 and have died in their sins. But happily man is not the 
 judge of the individual, while he is called upon soberly 
 and seriously to examine the broad features of those 
 remarkable occurrences in the history of the Church 
 which have been recorded as peculiar manifestations of 
 divine influence, and to exercise his best judgment with 
 regard to their genuine nature and Scriptural cha- 
 racter. 
 
 It is lamentable to examine with a minute eye the 
 general condition of Britain as to real Christianity. 
 Christian England, as we gladly say, when we observe 
 only the more prosperous spots, which are called into 
 view because the rays of glory rest on them~Cbristian 
 
 F 
 
82 WESLEY AND WHITFIELD, 
 
 England, which we fancy must send up supplications and 
 praises from all her hills and vales, however remote — 
 Christian England has, alas ! her long- tracts where the 
 light of the true gospel shines not, where the Satbath is 
 but lightly esteemed, and where the little religious ob- 
 servance that exists consists in superstitious and heart- 
 less externals. The whole district of the Mendip hills 
 might as well have been in a country where the sound of 
 the gospel had never been heard, at the time when the 
 energetic benevolence of Mrs Hannah More led her to 
 operate upon it by her schools. Yet it was then as now, 
 all divided into parishes, and each parish was decently 
 furnished with its church and its taper spire, piercing the 
 clouds to adorn the poet's description. But in these nine 
 parishes of Mendip was not to be found one resident clergy- 
 man ; and of those who galloped to the fane to " do duty" 
 on the Sabbath, there v,^as not one who understood the 
 message of reconcihation that he was charged with, or 
 cared for what saving results might proceed from his words. 
 There are still whole serieses of churches through which 
 a lover of the truth may pass without hearing a word of 
 that regeneration, without which we cannot enter the 
 Kingdom of Heaven. There are spots where, under the 
 guidance of teachers who know not the unbought pardon 
 offered in the New Testament, the people are laboriously 
 working out a righteousness for themselves, and seeking 
 repose in the number of their prayers and the regularity 
 of their family worship. O weary, stale, flat and unpro- 
 fitable ! — O heartless toil ! — O unheard of bondage ! — 
 a Christless family altar ! — a soul seeking to apprehend 
 God, without knowing the illuminating power of his 
 Holy Spirit. How beautiful upon the mountains, to such 
 people, must be the feet of the preacher who brings the 
 new and unexpected tidings of a justly offended God re- 
 conciled through Christ Jesus I What must be the glad sur- 
 prise of their souls, to learn that He who has paid their debt 
 is also at the right hand of God pleading for them now I 
 Such welcome messengers were Whitfield and Wesley 
 in their day to many a benighted soul ; and almost simul- 
 taneously with the revivals attendant upon their ministry^ 
 
AT KINGSWOOD. 83 
 
 did the Lord vouchsafe an awakening in the Church of 
 England also ; so that while they went to the highways 
 and hedges, their brethren within the vineyard began to 
 preach repentance unto life. Their successors in the faith 
 continue to this day ; and if we expect to discover any 
 very recent instances of revival among professing Christ- 
 ians, in the southern division of the kingdom, we must 
 look for them chiefly among the Methodists. 
 
 As it is not consistent with the plan of this selection 
 to swell it to a great extent, we shall take Kingswood as 
 a very fair example of the effects of the joint labours of 
 Wesley and Whitfield, who were, in the first instance, 
 nearly equally engaged in the work accomplished there. 
 Kingswood, which is a district near the city of Bristol, 
 had formerly been a royal chase, containing between three 
 and four thousand acres, but it had been gradually appro- 
 priated by the several lords whose estates lay round about 
 its borders, and their title, which, for a long time, was no 
 better than what possession gave them, had been legal- 
 ized. The deer and the greater part of the wood had long 
 since disappeared ; and coal mines having been discovered 
 there, from which Bristol derives its chief supply of fuel, 
 it was now inhabited by a race of people as lawless and 
 untaught as their forefathers of the forest, but far more 
 brutal, and differing as much from the people of the sur- 
 rounding country in dialect as in appearance. They had, 
 at that time, no place of worship, for Kingswood belonged 
 then* to the out-parish of St Philip, Bristol. Had the 
 colliers felt disposed to travel three or four miles, they 
 could have found no accommodation in the church of this 
 populous suburb; and if they could, would have felt 
 as much out of their element as a sailor does in a city 
 church. When Whitfield spoke of going to America to 
 convert the savages, his friends at Bristol replied, " What 
 need is there of going abroad for this ? Have we not 
 Indians enough at home ? If you have a mind to convert 
 savages, go to the colliers at Kingswood." Towards 
 these colliers, Whitfield, from this time, felt his heart 
 yearn, for they were very numerous, and yet as sheep 
 having no shepherd. On the afternoon, therefore, of 
 
84 WESLEY AND WHITFIELD, 
 
 Saturday, Feb. 17, 1739, he stood upon a mount in & 
 place called Rose Green, his first field -pulpit^ and preached 
 to as many as came to hear, attracted by the novelty of 
 such an address. " I thought," says he, " it might be 
 doing the service of my Creator, who had a mountain for 
 his pulpit, and the heavens for a sounding-board ; and 
 who, when his gospel was refused by the Jews, sent his 
 servants into the highways and hedges." Not above two 
 hundred persons gathered round him, for there had been 
 no previous notice of his intention ; and these, perhaps 
 being no way prepared for his exhortations, were more 
 astonished than impressed by what they heard. Yet 
 Whitfield was cheered by this first step, and says, in his 
 Journal, " Blessed be God, the ice is now broken, and I 
 have taken the field. Some may censure me, but is there 
 not a cause ? Pulpits are denied, and the poor colliers 
 ready to perish for lack of knowledge." 
 
 Having once taken the field, he was not only encou- 
 raged to persevere in such a course by the multitudes 
 that flocked to hear, but he was shut up to this as his 
 only opportunity of proclaiming the gospel, as these new 
 and irregular proceedings were the means of excluding 
 him from all the pulpits of the Established Church, in 
 which he held deacon's orders. He therefore soon went 
 again to Kingswood. His second audience consisted of 
 two thousand persons ; his third, from four to five, and 
 they went on increasing to ten, fourteen, and twenty 
 thousand. " To behold such crowds," he says, " standing 
 together in such an awful silence, to hear the echo of 
 their singing run from one end of them to the other, 
 was very solemn and striking. How infinitely more 
 solemn and striking will the general assembly of the 
 spirits of just men made perfect be, when they join in 
 singing the song of Moses and the Lamb in heaven? 
 Yet, as the scene was new, and I had just begun to be an 
 extempore preacher, it often occasioned many inward 
 conflicts. Sometimes, when twenty thousand people 
 were before me, I had not, in my own apprehension, a 
 word to say either to God or thera. But I never was 
 totally deserted, and frequently so assisted (for to deny 
 
AT KINGSWOOD. 85 
 
 it would be lying against God), that I knew by happy 
 experience what our Lord meant by saying, ' out of his 
 belly shall flow rivers of living waters.' " The first evi- 
 dence he observed of having made any impression on his 
 rude auditors v/as their deep silence ; the next and still 
 more convincing was, his observation of the white gut- 
 ters made by the tears which fell plentifully down their 
 cheeks, black and unwashed from the coal-pits. " The 
 open firmament above me, the prospect of the adjacent 
 fields, with the sight of thousands and thousands, some in 
 coaches and some on horseback, and some in the trees, 
 and at times all affected and drenched in tears together ; 
 to which was sometimes added the * solemnity of the 
 approaching evening,' was almost too much for, and quite 
 overcame me." 
 
 As might have been expected from people so utterly 
 untrained, except in the savage sports of bull-baiting, 
 cock-fighting, and other works of the devil, as were the 
 colhers of Kingswood, in no place was the preaching of 
 the gospel accompanied with more unrestrained outward 
 demonstration of feeling. Convulsions, cries, in some 
 few cases blasphemies which led to the idea of demoniacal 
 possession, were exhibited. Occasionally, even Wesley, 
 who was accused of being more prone to credulity than 
 his colleague, suspected that the emotions were feigned, 
 and treated them accordingly. But in general, a great 
 mass of the people were savingly converted, and stood 
 well the test of being tried by their fruits. Whitfield 
 was about to leave them in prosecution of his purpose to 
 visit Georgia. He prevailed on Wesley to come down to 
 Bristol to occupy his place, and introduced him to his 
 many congregations. Wherever he took his leave, there 
 was loud weeping. " Oh," he exclaims, " these part- 
 ings ! " An exclamation which, from the day when they 
 whose hearts were knit to Paul at Ephesus " wept sore, 
 and sorrowed most of all that they should see his face no 
 more," till now, has repeated its painful echo in the 
 hearts of Christians, and will continue to repeat it, till 
 partings shall cease for ever in the general assembly and 
 church of the first-born. When he forced himself away 
 
86 WESLEY AND WHITFIELD, 
 
 from Bristol, crowds were waiting at the door to give 
 him a last farewell, and nearly twenty friends accompa- 
 nied him on horseback. " Blessed be God ! " he ex- 
 claims, " for the marvellous great kindness he hath 
 shown me in this city. Many sinners I believe have 
 been effectually converted ; numbers of God's children 
 greatly comforted ; several thousands of little books have 
 been dispersed among the people ; about two hundred 
 pounds collected for the Orphan House ; and many poor 
 families relieved by the bounty of my friend Mr Seward. 
 Shall not these things be noted in ray book ? God for- 
 bid they should not be written on the tables of my heart." 
 His road lay through Kingswood. It must have been 
 very gratifying to him to find these people, so recently 
 possessed with all the selfish and stormy passions, waiting 
 to greet him with an entertainment prepared without his 
 knowledge. He had preached to them on the duty of edu- 
 cating their children, and urged them to subscribe for the 
 erection of a schoolhouse ; and he himself was surprised 
 to witness the cheerfulness with which they parted with 
 their money on this occasion. On his farewell visit, they 
 earnestly entreated Mr Whitfield to lay the first stone, 
 which he did ; after which he knelt, and prayed that 
 the gates of hell might not prevail against the design, to 
 which petition the colliers said a hearty Amen ! 
 
 Mr Wesley succeeded him, and after a considerable 
 struggle against his previous habits and ideas of order, 
 took to the highways and hedges, with as much success 
 as Mr Whitfield. His account, a part of which we ex- 
 tract, corroborates all that has been previously said of the 
 state of these people. [November 27, 1739.] " Few 
 persons have lived long in the West of England who have 
 not heard of the colliers of Kingswood, a people famous 
 from the beginning hitherto for neither fearing God nor 
 regarding man ; so ignorant of the things of God, that 
 they seemed but one remove from the beasts that perish, 
 and therefore utterly without desire of instruction, as 
 well as without the means of it. Many, last winter, used 
 tauntingly to say of Mr Whitfield, if he will convert 
 heathens, why does he not go to the colliers of Kings- 
 
AT KINGSWOOD. 87 
 
 wood ? In spring- he did so. When he was called away, 
 others followed to compel them to come in ; and, by the 
 grace of God, their labour was not in vain. The scene 
 i§ already chang-ed : King-swood does not now, as a year 
 ag-o, resound with cursing- and blasphemy. It is no more 
 filled with drunkenness and uncleanness, and the idle 
 diversions which naturally lead thereto. It is no longer 
 full of wars and fightings, of clamour and bitterness, of 
 wrath and envyings. Peace and love are there. Great 
 numbers of people are mild, gentle, and easy to be en- 
 treated. They do not cry, neither strive, and hardly is 
 their voice heard in the street, or indeed in their own 
 Wood, unless when they are at their usual evening diver- 
 sion, singing praise unto God their Saviour. That their 
 children, too, might know the things which make for 
 their peace, it was some time since proposed to build a 
 house in Kingswood ; and after many foreseen and un- 
 foreseen difficulties, in June last the foundation was laid. 
 The ground made choice of was in the middle of the 
 wood, between the London and Bath roads, not far from 
 that called Two-mile-hill, about three miles from Bristol. 
 Here a large room was begun for the school, having four 
 small rooms at the end for the schoolmasters (and, per- 
 haps, if it should please God, for some poor children) to 
 lodge in. Two persons are ready to teach as soon as the 
 house is fit to receive them, the shell of which is nearly 
 finished ; so that it is hoped the whole will be completed 
 in spring, or early in the summer. Thus we see that in 
 the middle of February Kingswood was a wilderness, and 
 that when the month of June arrived, it was already 
 blossoming like the rose. 
 
 The effect of the leaven which had been thus placed 
 in this mass of barbarism was made conspicuous in 
 the following year, in the case of a riot, of which Mr 
 Charles Wesley gives the following account : Being in- 
 formed that the colliers had risen in consequence of the 
 dearness of corn, and were marching for Bristol, he rode 
 out to meet them and talk with them. Many seemed 
 disposed to return with him to the school which had 
 been built for their children ; but the most desperate 
 
88 WESLEY AND WHITFIELD, 
 
 rushed violently upon tliem, beating- them, and driving 
 them away from their pacific adviser. He adds, " I rode 
 up to a ruffian who was striking- one of our colliers, and 
 prayed him rather to strike me. He ansvvered, ' No — 
 not for all the world,' and was quite overcome. I turned 
 upon another, who struck my horse, and he also sunk into 
 a lamb. Wherever I turned, Satan's cause lost ground, so 
 that they were obliged to make one general assault, and 
 the violent coUiers forced the quiet ones into the town. 
 I seized one of the tallest, and earnestly besought him to 
 follow me. Yes, he said, that he would, all the world 
 over. I pressed about six into the service. We met 
 several parties, and stopped and exhorted them to follow 
 us ; and, gleaning some from every company, we increa- 
 sed as we marched on, singing, to the school. From one 
 till three o'clock we spent in prayer, that evil might be 
 prevented, and the lion chained. Then news was brought 
 us that the colliers were returned in peace. They had 
 walked quietly into the city, without sticks or the least 
 violence. A few of the better sort of them went to the 
 mayor and told their grievance ; then they all returned 
 as they came, without noise or disturbance. All who 
 saw it were amazed. Nothing could have more clearly 
 shown the changes wrought among them than this con- 
 duct on such an occasion. I found afterwards that all our 
 colliers to a man had been forced away. Having learn- 
 ed of Christ not to resist evil, they went a mile with 
 those who compelled them rather than free themselves 
 by violence. One man the rioters dragged out of his 
 sick bed, and threw him into the fish-pond. Near twen- 
 ty of Mr WiUis's men they had prevailed on, by threat- 
 ening to fill up their pits and bury them alive if they did 
 not come up and bear them company." * * * « It; 
 was a happy circumstance that they forced so many of 
 the Methodist colliers to go with them, as these, by their 
 advice and example, restrained the savage fury of the 
 others. This undoubtedly was the true cause why they 
 all returned home without making any disturbance."* 
 
 * Watson's Life of Wesley, pp. 80, 83. 
 
AT KINGSWOOD. 89 
 
 And now, after nearly a century has elapsed, Kings- 
 wood has its humanized population, its Christian mini- 
 sters, its schoolmasters, its libraries. And it not only 
 cherishes the gospel in its own bosom, but it forms its 
 societies for extending the blessing, and possesses preach- 
 ing stations where collections are made for the behalf of 
 the heathen whom they themselves but recently resem- 
 bled. The school which Wesley here describes is not 
 now in the centreof a wood, buthas a high road running 
 close by it. It did not succeed well on his plan, per- 
 haps in part from the style of education being too high 
 for the inhabitants, but chiefly on account of the rules 
 of monkish austerity with which he caused it to set out. 
 For Wesley was in character a stern and high disciplina- 
 rian, and, mistaking the nature of youth, he exacted 
 rising at five in the rigour of winter, and ceaseless appli- 
 cation to some grave pursuit during all the waking hours. 
 This failure of Wesley's school is only mentioned lest 
 gainsayers should suppose the fact was purposely con- 
 cealed. It does not in the least detract from the evi- 
 dence that a great and sudden change was wrought, 
 and continues to be visible, among the coUiers of 
 Kingswood. 
 
[ 90 ] 
 
 CHAPTER VII. 
 
 WALES. 
 
 It has been remarked that our mountain districts are 
 those in which converting- power has been exhibited 
 more in the form of revival than on our plains and in 
 our cities. The history of Christianity in Wales is an 
 example of this. In 1649, the necessities of the Welsh 
 had attracted the attention of the British Parliament. 
 At that period the propagation of the gospel was so 
 much an object of care to the state, that Friday in 
 every week was devoted to consultation on the ways and 
 means of promoting; it. The language of Wales was 
 little understood, the clergy ignorant and idle, so that 
 there was scarcely a sermon in some places from one 
 quarter of a-year to another. The people had neither 
 Bibles nor Catechisms ; nor was there a sufficient 
 maintenance for those who were capable of instruct- 
 ing- them. The Parliament passed an act on the 22d 
 of February, for ejecting scandalous ministers and school- 
 masters, and for the redress of grievances. In pursuance 
 of this act there was placed one faithful minister in 
 every market-town and two schoolmasters, " able and 
 learned university men ;" and in the thirteen W^elsh coun- 
 ties there were placed one hundred and fifty good preach- 
 ers, most of whom preached three or four times a-week. 
 The tithes were recalled to their proper use of paying 
 godly ministers and schoolmasters ; and out of them was 
 made a provision for the wives and children of the eject- 
 ed clergy. 
 
 As it was impossible all at once to provide a full sup- 
 ply and regular succession of pious and well educated 
 ministers who could preach in the Welsh language, in 
 1654 they appointed six itinerant preachers for each 
 
HUGH OWEN. 91 
 
 county, to whom they allowed one hundred pounds a- 
 year. Besides this they sent out thirty ministers, of 
 whom twenty-four were university men, and some of the 
 rest g-ood scholars. But these, though indefatigable in 
 their pains, were too few for the work. To supply what 
 was further wanting, they approved of several gifted lay- 
 men, members of churches to travel in their neighbour- 
 hoods, and assist the people's devotions. This active 
 agency produced a sudden change in the moral aspect of 
 the principality, so that Mr Powel says, some hundreds, 
 if not thousands, had been converted and reformed by 
 the propagators.* 
 
 Mr Hugh Owen is an example of the Welsh itinerant, 
 — of his self-denial, exertions, dangers and usefulness — 
 whom we select as a specimen of a whole set of useful 
 men. He was a native of Merionethshire, and a candi- 
 date for the ministry, but it appears that he was never 
 ordained, by reason of the passing of the Bartholomew 
 Act. He fixed his residence on a little estate in his na- 
 tive county, and preached the gospel without price to the 
 ignorant people around him. His preaching was affec- 
 tionate and moving, and many were wrought upon by 
 it. He was a burning and shining light in an obscure cor- 
 ner of the world. He went about proclaiming the gospel 
 of salvation, through that and the neighbouring county 
 of Montgomery, and sometimes extended his labours to 
 Caernarvonshire and other parts. He had five or six 
 places where he used to preach in Merionethshire, some 
 of which were twenty miles distant from him. He had 
 as many in Montgomery, of which some w^ere about 
 thirty miles from his habitation. He performed his cir- 
 cuit in about three months, and then began again. Great 
 numbers of people attended his ministry, and were much 
 affected with it. He laboured indefatigably, and much 
 impaired his health, by riding often in the night and cold 
 rains over the mountains. His principal food was milk, 
 to which he had used himself by lodging in poor houses, 
 where they had no malt-drink, and only beds of straw. 
 
 * Neal's History of the Puritans. 
 
92 
 
 WALES. 
 
 He was a primitive apostolic Christian, eminently 
 meek and humble ; and would often style himself less 
 than the least of all the ministers of Jesus Christ. He 
 would say he envied no man's gifts, but desired faithfully 
 to improve his own little talent for the service of his Lord. 
 He was tender of grieving any one, and though strict 
 in his own person, was yet candid and charitable towards 
 those who differed from him. He used to say that he 
 valued no man for his opinions, or his adherence to this 
 or that party, but for what he saw of the grace of God 
 in him. His unblemished conversation, and inoffensive 
 deportment, procured him the esteem of the gentlemen 
 of the county, to several of whom he was nearly allied. 
 At one time, when he travelled to preach in a stormy 
 season, he was benighted on the hills ; the snow was 
 driven so violently in his face, that his horse could not 
 go forward. He let him move as he would, until he 
 found him in danger of the bogs, and that it was not safe 
 to ride farther. After he had committed himself unto 
 God by prayer, he left his horse to shift for himself, and 
 walked in his boots in a deep snow, until it was mid- 
 night, and he was so spent, and so nearly starved with 
 cold, that he despaired of life. But it pleased God that 
 in a little time he unexpectedly came to a cow-house, 
 which was at a distance from the dwelling-house of the 
 owner, as is usual in that country. When he got to 
 the door, he found it barred within, so that he could not 
 enter. He scrambled about the house for nearly an 
 hour, attempting to get in, but to no jjurpose. At length, 
 when all hope was gone, he discovered a hole at one end, 
 that opened to a hay-loft, which he got into with much 
 difficulty, and so lay between the cattle until morning. 
 When it was day he crept out of his miserable lodging, 
 •and discovered a house near, at which he knocked ; the 
 master of the house arose and opened the door, and 
 found his hair and beard frozen, his hands benumbed, his 
 clothes stiff with frost and snow, and himself scarce able 
 to speak. He made a good fire for him, gave him hot 
 milk, and put him into a warm bed, where he lay some 
 hours ; and then got up so well refreshed, that he ivent 
 
HOWEL HARRIS. 93 
 
 that morning to the meeting-place, and preached without 
 any sensible prejudice. All who knew him own him to 
 have been an Israelite indeed, without guile. He died 
 in 1669, aged 62.* 
 
 There seem to be no regular records of the state of re- 
 ligion in Wales ; but frequently, when any lively minis- 
 tration was blessed to the awakening of souls, an account 
 of it found its way into the Glasgow Weekly History, 
 or some similar religious periodical, and has thus been 
 preserved from oblivion. 
 
 From these, and from Wesley and Whitfield's Journals, 
 we are enabled to glean as much information as con- 
 vinces us that there was a very lively outpouring of the 
 Spirit for several vears, under the ministrations of Howel 
 Harris, a Dissenter, and Griffith Jones, a clergyman of 
 the Established Church, the one in North, the other in 
 South Wales. In a very interesting little work, " The 
 History, Constitution, Discipline, and Confession of Faith, 
 of the Calvinistic Methodists in Wales/' published at 
 Chester in 1834, we find the following sketch of the 
 lives and exertions of these holy men : — 
 
 " A gentleman of Trevecca, in Brecknockshire, Howel 
 Harris, Esq., had intended to take holy orders, and for 
 that purpose entered himself a student in one of the col- 
 leges at Oxford. He soon became disgusted at the dis- 
 orderly and immoral conduct which he witnessed there, 
 and consequently returned to his friends in Wales. He 
 was not long at home before he ventured to go from 
 house to house, in his native parish, to exhort sinners, 
 and gradually he extended his sphere of usefulness to the 
 adjoining parishes also. His fame soon spread itself over 
 the whole country, and great multitudes attended his 
 preaching. It is said that such w^as the authority and 
 power with which he delivered his discourses, that many 
 could not refrain from crying out aloud, being over- 
 powered by the awful exposition which he made of their 
 condition as sinners. Family worship was now set up in 
 several houses which hitherto had never heard the voice 
 
 * See Calaray's Life of Baxter, vol. ii. 
 
94 WALES. 
 
 of prayer. The enemy could no longer remain inactive ; 
 and now he showed every opposition in his power, by 
 mockery, derision, and threatenings. Nothing- daunted, 
 however, Mr Harris continued his ' labour of love,' with- 
 out suffering very great inconveniency by these hin- 
 drances, until the close of the year 1736. At this period, 
 by the desire of several individuals, he established a school 
 at Trevecca, and thence removed it to the parish church, 
 whither many of the youth Hocked to him, to be more 
 largely instructed in the things which concerned their 
 souls. He frequently attended the meetings which they 
 held for the purpose of teaching each other to sing the 
 praises of God, that he might thus have an opportunity 
 of impressing them with a sense of their eternal state. 
 It appears that, on these occasions, many were convinced 
 of their sinfulness. This encouraged Mr Harris to esta- 
 blish regular meetings of serious persons for religious 
 conversation in several other places ; and this was the 
 commencement of the private societies which have ever 
 since (taking into consideration the great importance and 
 strictness attached to their observance) formed a principal 
 feature by which the Welsh Calvinistic Methodists may be 
 distinguished from every other denomination of professing 
 Christians. The following year, 1737, a gentleman of 
 Radnorshire sent for Mr Harris, to preach at his house. 
 This was the means of bringing many of the higher order 
 of that county to hear him, and of causing him to be well 
 received by them. Up to this period, he had continued 
 to superintend the school, although he preached on week 
 nights, on the Sabbath, and on hoHdays. He was now 
 no longer allowed to take care of the school at the parish 
 church. This prohibition turned out for good ; for now 
 he was at perfect liberty to go whithersoever he was called, 
 day or night, to preach, which he frequently did, three, 
 four, and even five times a day ! 
 
 " As he became more and more successful, the oppo- 
 sition against him waxed stronger. The magistrates 
 threatened to punish him, the clergy preached against 
 him, and the common rabble were generally prepared to 
 disturb and pelt him. At this time, he was not accus- 
 
HOWEL HARRIS. 95 
 
 tomed to preach from any text, but merely to deliver to 
 the people what the Lord at that instant gave him to say 
 — generally in a thundering and convincing manner. 
 
 " The cause so greatly flourished, that, by the year 
 1739, he had established three hundred societies in South 
 Wales, about three or four years after he commenced his 
 pubhc labours." * * * a We must be permitted a 
 short digression from our own immediate history, to say 
 something of a very eminent clergyman of the Esta- 
 blished Church, the Reverend Griffith Jones, Llanddow- 
 ror, Carmarthenshire, who at this period was a true 
 friend to his countrymen, not only by the faithfulness of 
 his public ministrations, but also by his unbounded cha- 
 rity and benevolence. He was instrumental in procu- 
 ring for them two editions of the Bible, and in establish- 
 ing free schools for the children of the poor in almost 
 every part of the principality. For twenty-three succes- 
 sive years he published an annual account of these schools, 
 from 1737 until 1760. In the last mentioned place he 
 had 215 schools and 8687 scholars. He was an ani- 
 mated preacher well versed in scripture, diligent, labo- 
 rious, and very successful in his work. Though this re- 
 nowned champion for faith kept within the pale of the 
 Established Church, yet he frequently itinerated to 
 preach at many other churches besides his own, and was 
 a means of preparing in that part of the country the way 
 for the revival among the Methodists. He was in the 
 ministry about twenty-eight years before Mr Harris be- 
 gan to preach ; and we have been told, but cannot vouch 
 for the authenticity of the statement, that it was through 
 his ministry Mr Harris w^as called.'' 
 
 " The first minister of the Establishment who ventured 
 without her walls to assist Mr Harris in promoting the 
 Revival among the Methodists, was the reverend and 
 justly renowned Daniel Rowlands, of Llangeitho. His 
 popularity and eloquence were such, that persons have 
 been known to come the distance of one hundred miles 
 to hear him preach, on the Sabbaths of his administering 
 the Lord's Supper ! and it would appear that in the pulpit 
 he seemed more like an angel sent down from the imme- 
 
96 WALES. 
 
 diate presence of Jehovah, with a commission to fallen 
 man, than like a messenger chosen from among- the 
 children of Adam." 
 
 We subjoin an extract from a work, published by one 
 of another denomination, who was contemporary with the 
 above mentioned individuals, and acquiesced with them : — 
 
 " A great number of the youth and others in Wales 
 were wholly irreligious, and accustomed to meet for the 
 purposes of dancing, intoxication, and other sinful prac- 
 tices. These, for the greater part, reckoned themselves 
 among the members of the Church of England. Mr 
 Harris, in his journeys through the country, thundered 
 terribly against swearers, blasphemers, drunkards, fight- 
 ers, liars, Sabbath-breakers, &c., so that, if we may so 
 speak, he showered among them living sparks of the fire 
 of the bottomless pit. He exhorted in and out of doors, 
 he cared not where, so long as he could attract people to 
 listen to his message from God. In this respect he was 
 preceded by Mr W^alter Cradoc, and Mr Vavasor Powell, 
 about a century before. But, in our days, this was a great 
 novelty, and vast multitudes congreg^ated to hear him. 
 About the same time, the Reverend Daniel Rowlands, a 
 clergyman in Cardiganshire, began to preach in a very 
 extraordinary manner in the church. I recollect having 
 heard him, about the year 1737, in Carmarthenshire. 
 A great number were present, and I heard some of the 
 Independents, in returning home, say, — ' We never heard 
 any one to be compared with him in the Church of Eng- 
 land, unless it were Mr Griffith Jones. In our days there 
 has appeared no such light amongst the members of the 
 Established Church. Soon afterwards the Rev. Wil- 
 liam Williams and Peter Williams in Caermarthenshire, 
 Howel Davies in Pembrokeshire, and several others in 
 the principahty left the church and attached themselves 
 to the Methodists. They became itinerants through the 
 whole country, and many arose of different degrees of 
 usefulness to exhort the people ; some of very bright ta- 
 lents, and others who preached occasionally, so that the 
 country became greatly moved. The people forsook 
 their sinful pleasures, and began to converse about reli- 
 
HOWEL HARRIS. 97 
 
 gion, and to meet together as religious assemblies. Thus 
 a great revival took place in the country ; and from that 
 to the present period, the knowledge of God has been 
 wonderfully diifused through Wales, and multitudes who 
 were never used to approach a chapel, and seldom a 
 church, now v/ent gladly to hear the Word to dwelling- 
 houses, yea even to the highuays and hedges." * 
 
 Another author speaks of the revival in this man- 
 ner : — " This awakening was the means of not only esta- 
 blishing a new sect in Wales, but also of reviving the old 
 sects which had a previous existence there ; for, though 
 there were celebrated and useful men among the Inde- 
 pendents in the principality, yet a torpidity and listless- 
 ness in spiritual concerns had to a great degree crept over 
 every denomination. This revival by the Methodists 
 was hailed by all the Calvinistic sects in Whales and Eng- 
 land as the longed for dawn of day, and the rising of 
 the sun, after a protracted and wearisome and starless 
 night. * * * 
 
 " The revival, like a mighty conflagration, spread wider 
 and wider, in spite of all the torrents of opposition with 
 which it had to contend ; they served only to make it 
 burn brighter and stronger. Mr Harris, in a letter to 
 Mr Whitfield, dated October 15th, 1742, observes, " I 
 have heard most glorious news from Wales, of the suc- 
 cess which attends the brother Rowlands, and many 
 others. Sinners are pricked to the heart by scores, and 
 thousands assemble to hear the preached word. There 
 are ten clergymen now in Whales who are owned in a re- 
 markable manner of the Lord Jesus Christ."f 
 
 We find the following notice in Whitfield's Journal, 
 dated Cardiff, March 8, 1739: — "I was much refreshed 
 by the sight of my dear brother, Howel Harris, whom, 
 though 1 knew not in person, I have long since loved in 
 the bowels of Jesus Christ, and have often felt my soul 
 drawn out in prayer in his behalf. A burning and a 
 shining light has he been in these parts, — a barrier against 
 profaneness and immorality, and an indefatigable pro- 
 
 * Harris y Bedyddvvyr yn mhlith y Cymry, tu dal. 53. 
 f History of Calvinistic Methodists in Wales, p. 11. 
 G 
 
98 WALES. 
 
 moter of the true gospel of Jesus Christ. About three 
 or four years God has inchned him to go about doing 
 good. He is now above twenty-five years of age. He 
 is resolved to go on in his work, and indefatigable zeal 
 has he shown in his Master's service. For these three 
 years he has discoursed almost twice every day, for three 
 or four hours together ; not authoritatively as a minister, 
 but as a private person exhorting his Christian brethren. 
 He has been in seven counties, and has made it his busi- 
 ness to go to wakes, &c., to turn people from such lying 
 vanities. Many ale-house people, fiddlers^ harpers, &c., 
 sadly cry out against him for spoiling their business. He 
 has been threatened with public prosecutions, and had 
 constables sent to apprehend him ; but God has blessed 
 him with inflexible courage ; he is of a most Catholic 
 spirit, loves all that love our Lord Jesus Christ, and 
 therefore he is styled by bigots a Dissenter. He is con- 
 temned by all that are lovers of pleasure more than lovers 
 of God ; but God has greatly blessed his pious endea- 
 vours. Many own him as their spiritual father, and I 
 believe would lay down their lives for his sake. He dis- 
 courses generally in a field ; but at other times in a house, 
 from a wall, a table, or any thing else. He has established 
 near thirty societies in South Wales, and still his sphere 
 of action is enlarged daily. After I had saluted him, and 
 given an exhortation to a great number of people who 
 followed me to the town, we spent the remainder of the 
 evening in taking sv/eet counsel together, and telling one 
 another what God had done for our souls. We also took 
 an account of the several societies, and agreed on such 
 measures as seem most conducive to promote the common 
 interests of our Lord. Blessed be God, there seems to 
 be a noble spirit going out into Whales. They have many 
 burning and shining lights, both among the Dissenting 
 and Church ministers, amongst whom Mr Griffith Jones 
 shines in particular. No less than fifty charity schools 
 have been erected by his means, without any settled vi- 
 sible fund, and fresh ones are setting up every day. 
 People make nothing of coming twenty miles to hear a 
 sermon, and great numbers there are who have not only 
 
HOWEL HARRIS. 99 
 
 been hearers, but doers also of the Word ; so that there 
 is a most comfortable prospect of the spreading of the 
 Gospel in Wales. 
 
 [1742.] In a letter from a dissenting- minister in 
 Wales, published in the Glasgow Weekly History, Oct. 
 26, 1742, mention is made of the same zealous man : — 
 *' In Caernarvonshire there is one congregation of dissen- 
 ters, who are very devout and zealous people, as perhaps 
 any in the kingdom ; and three lecture places, all of 
 them on that promontory or narrow neck of land that 
 stretches out into the sea, and is the best inhabited part 
 of the county. The minister is Mr John Thomas, a 
 humble, meek, serious man, who preaches well. Mr 
 Howel Harris, and some Methodists, together with Jen- 
 kyn Morgan, the schoolmaster, have been made instru- 
 mental to awaken and convert many in these parts, but 
 were grievously persecuted ; they have even broke into 
 the meeting-house and committed strange outrages, the 
 devil, their master, being wonderfully nettled at his lo- 
 sing so many souls. 
 
 " Pembrokeshire has been lately mightily roused up, 
 and abundance of people convinced, reformed, and con- 
 verted, by means of the exhortations of Mr Howel Har- 
 ris, and other Methodist exhorters ; and contrary to Car- 
 diganshire, 'tis the upper part of Pembrokeshire that has 
 been roused and reformed, and that almost universally, 
 to a concern about religion. Certainly a very great work 
 has been done there. Among the clergy, Mr David 
 Jones and Mr Howel Davies are very eminent, especially 
 the latter, who is a mighty Boanerges, and very indus- 
 trious in preaching, both in churches, houses, and fields." 
 
 [I766.] This excellent labourer in the church is also 
 mentioned by Mr Venn, in a letter descriptive of a tour, 
 during which he sought out the zealous and faithful, and 
 refreshed his spirit by their holy intercourse. His infor- 
 mation refers to a period more than twenty years subse- 
 quent to Whitfield's, thus exhibiting that devoted man 
 as an aged, persevering, and still highly honoured mi- 
 nister of Christ. " From Bath, through Bristol and 
 Gloucester, we arrived at Trevecca, in Wales. Howel 
 
100 WALES. 
 
 Harris is the father of that settlement, and the founder. 
 After labouring for fifteen years, more violently than any 
 other of the servants of Christ, in this revival, he was so 
 hurt in body as to be confined to his own house for seven 
 years. Upon the beginning- of this confinement first one 
 and then another whom the Lord had converted under 
 his word, to the number of near a hundred, came and 
 desired to live with him, saying that they would work 
 and get their bread. By this means, near one hundred 
 and twenty men, women, and children, from very distant 
 parts of Wales, came and fixed their tents at Trevecca. 
 We were there three days, and heard their experience, 
 which they spoke in Welsh to Mr Harris, and he inter- 
 preted to us. Of all the people I ever saw, this society 
 seems to be the most advanced in grace. They speak as 
 men and women who feel themselves every moment 
 worthy of eternal punishment, and infinitely base, and 
 yet at the same time have such certainty of salvation 
 through the second man, the Lord from heaven, as is 
 indeed delightful to behold. My heart received a bless- 
 ing from them and their pastor, which will abide with 
 me."* 
 
 The Rev. Griffith Jones is made honourable mention 
 of in Whitfield's Journal, February 22, 1 739 : — " I went 
 with some Christian friends to Bath, where I was much 
 comforted by meeting with several who love the Lord 
 Jesus in sincerity ; — more especially, I was edified by 
 the pious conversation of the Rev. Griffith Jones, whom 
 I had desired to see of a long season. His words came 
 with power ; and the account he gave me of the many 
 obstructions he had met with in his ministry convinced 
 me that I was but a young soldier just entering the 
 field." 
 
 In the " Glasgow Weekly History," 1742, he is also 
 named. " Among the clergy is the famous Mr Griffith 
 Jones, one of the most excellent preachers in Great 
 Britain, for piety, good sense, diligence, moderation, zeal, 
 and a mighty utterance, the like whereof I never heard. 
 
 * Life of Rov. H. Venn, p. 122. 
 
GRIFFITH JONES. 101 
 
 He is so catholic-spirited and charitable, that he allows 
 his communicants to communicate with dissenters, and 
 them with him. He hath set up movable Welsh free 
 schools in every county in South Wales, and in some 
 counties in North Wales, to teach the poorer sort to read 
 Welsh, and hath thereby done unspeakable good." 
 
 So long- after as about 1770, we find a venerable dis- 
 ciple of Griffith Jones, named Rees Hugh, mentioned 
 as an important instrument in the conversion of Mr 
 Charles of Bala. Thus does the stream of heavenly 
 truth flow down through earthen vessels from one gene- 
 ration to another, and our God condescends to be glori- 
 fied in the faithfulness of his redeemed. The records of 
 gospel progress in Wales are scanty and indistinct, yet 
 from occasional glimpses it seems that its mountains 
 have been the scenes of repeated and lively outpourings 
 of the spirit, and that it has possessed a few pastors 
 abundant in labour and unshrinking in hardships as were 
 the Apostles themselves. 
 
 In the Rev. Edward Morgan's preface to his " Life of 
 Mr Charles," we have the following brief notice, which 
 excites not only earnest curiosity, but deep regret that 
 our information is so narrow, without the hope of ex- 
 tending it. 
 
 " The Welsh have been favoured during the last cen- 
 tury with a few individuals, the memory of whom ought 
 to have been preserved to the latest generation. The 
 efifects of their labours are still visible, and will probably 
 continue so for many ages, but their names will ere long 
 be forgotten, there being no records of their lives except- 
 ing a bare notice of them in some of the periodicals of 
 the day. This may be said of the Whitfield of Wales, 
 the Rev. Daniel Rowlands of Llangeitho, the father of 
 the Welsh Methodists, now by far the most numerous 
 denomination in Wales, and who no doubt have done 
 more towards evangelizing the country than all other 
 denominations put together, Rowlands was allowed by 
 all who knew and heard him to be a most extraordinary 
 preacher. He possessed in a very high degree every 
 qualification necessary for the purpose of arousing a 
 
102 
 
 WALES. 
 
 dormant people, sunk in ignorance and ungodliness. But 
 no detailed account of his labours has ever been publish- 
 ed. The same has been the case with respect to several 
 of his fellow-labourers, one of whom is entitled to parti- 
 cular notice as having been the Watts of Wales, the sweet 
 singer of our Israel. We allude to the Rev. Mr Wil- 
 liams, late of Pantycelyn, Caermarthenshire. His hymns, 
 for deep experience and glorious views of the Redeemer, 
 have few to equal them in any language ; and they have 
 been eminently blessed to the edification and comfort of 
 thousands." * 
 
 We have great pleasure in presenting a translation of 
 one of these beautiful hymns, furnished by the kindness 
 of a native of that interesting principality : — 
 
 ** Why should cruel beasts be sufter'd 
 
 To tread down the feeble vine ? 
 Why should blossoms young and fragrant. 
 
 Through the mighty drought decline ? 
 Bring the pleasant fruitful showers 
 
 That will cause the grapes to thrive ; 
 May a shower in the morning 
 
 And at even-tide arrive ! 
 
 *' Fix, O Lord, a tent in Goshen, 
 
 Thither come, and there abide ! 
 Bow thyself from light celestial. 
 
 And with sinful man reside. 
 Dwell in Zion, there continue, 
 
 Where the holy tribes ascend ; 
 Do not e'er desert thy people, 
 
 Till the world in flames shall end. 
 
 •' I am tired with Babel's rivers, 
 
 Nought but weeping there I find ; 
 The melodious harps of Zion 
 
 Every day attract my mind. 
 Out of Babel's dismal thraldom 
 
 Bring us forth, a loving band ; 
 And, until we come to Zion, 
 
 Let us not a moment stand." 
 
 By means of the generosity of the same friend, we 
 
 * Preface to the Life of Charles, p. v. 
 
W.WILLIAMS. 103 
 
 have been furnished with an autograph of Mr Williams' 
 account of the superintendence of one of the societies in 
 Glamorganshire, of which he was the secretary in 1743, 
 The total amount of members is 168. They tire arran- 
 ged under the names of their villages, and again divided 
 into married men, single men, married women, &c. At 
 the head of some lists the word " justihed" is written, 
 at others, the word " law," indicative probably of the 
 state of progress of the individuals. These terms are not 
 so employed now in the sect. Such notices as the fol- 
 lowing are interspersed : — " Mrs Amy Price died, May, 
 1743, in full assurance of faith." " 13r. William Lewis 
 died in Liberty, June y^ 4, 1743." Beside some names 
 is written "justified bondage," and beside others, "jus- 
 tified lav/," — marks nhich, though not distinctly intelli- 
 gible to us, conveyed to the diligent superintendent infor- 
 mation enough to guide him in his method of enquiry and 
 instruction to the individual when next his circling duties 
 brought him back to the same spot. 
 
 There are further notices of Daniel Rowlands in the 
 " Life of Charles," which we extract entire : — 
 
 " These av/akenings were new things at Bala and its 
 vicinity, but not so in South Wales, under the ministry 
 of Mr Rowlands. Many at different times had taken 
 place there, and some far more extensive than those in 
 North Wales ; for they extended generally over several 
 counties. They were not recorded except in Heaven, 
 and therefore v/e have now no particular knowledge of 
 them. The history of the labours of that extraordinary 
 man, had it been written, would scarcely have found a 
 parallel in the annals of biography. There are no doubt 
 thousands, yea tens of thousands, now in Heaven, who 
 acknowledge him as their father in Christ. But what 
 must we say of these extraordinary awakenings ? By 
 what power were they produced ? By human power ? 
 By human agency, no doubt, but not by human power. 
 If the preacher's eloquence, earnestness, and zeal, or what 
 the adversary would call vehemence and violent ardour, 
 had effected them, how was it that the influence of these 
 means was not universal, instead of being so occasional, 
 
104 WALES. 
 
 at the distance of several years, and confined at one 
 time to this part and at another to that part of the 
 country ? 
 
 " No, we must refer them to the power of Him who 
 ' worketh all things after the counsel of his own wilU 
 We are confirmed in this opinion by the character of the 
 impressions produced, and by their effects. Deep con- 
 victions of sin, heart-rending- concern for the soul, self- 
 abhorrence, self-abasement, earnest entreaties for mercy, 
 importunate supplications for reconciliation with God, 
 through the merits of the Saviour, followed, after perse- 
 vering prayer, by the enjoyment of peace, comfort, and 
 gratitude, — what are these but the genuine impressions 
 of that glorious Spirit who changeth the heart and renews 
 the soul after the Divine image ! And what were the 
 effects manifested in the life and posterior conduct? 
 Exactly such as bore the same marks and proofs of a 
 Divine power, — departure from iniquity, and humble 
 walking with God. 
 
 " These awakenings, then, were substantially the 
 same with what all true Christians undergo, however 
 gradual and varied in manner. The difference is only in 
 things that are circumstantial, — in the number awaken- 
 ed at the same time, and in the strength of the feelings 
 experienced. With the exception of these minor points, 
 there was nothing in them but what proved them to be 
 the common genuine operations of the Spirit — operations 
 without which there can in no case be any thing like 
 true religion. O that we could see such awakenings in 
 the present day ; such manifestations of the Divine 
 power ; such evidences of the Divine favour I O that 
 every part of the country could witness them ; England 
 as well as Wales ; and not only England and Wales, but 
 the whole world ! What is the * nation that is to be 
 born in a day ' but the effect of such simultaneous awa- 
 kenings widely extended ? The few extraordinary occur- 
 rences of this kind that have already been seen, are no 
 more than small specimens and preludes of those won- 
 derfully great and extensive awakenings, which, as we 
 hope, are on the eve of taking place when a second and 
 
DANIEL ROWLANDS. 105 
 
 still more glorious Pentecost shall be exhibited before 
 the eyes of a wondering world, to the exaltation of saints, 
 and the confusion of sinners. Great preparations pre- 
 ceded those awakenings which we have been recording ; 
 schools were established ; the people were instructed ; 
 the gospel had for some time been powerfully preached ; 
 earnest prayers were offered up to heaven for success. 
 
 " The Lord heard, and showers of blessings were poured 
 down, and a glorious harvest was vouchsafed. What do 
 we now see in the Christian world ? What but similar 
 preparations, but on a much larger scale. If there be 
 any thing wanting, it is the strong and earnest crying for 
 the powerful visitations of heaven, for the outpouring of 
 that spirit, without whose aid nothing effectual can ever 
 be done. May then the spirit of prayer be more univer- 
 sal ; may its entreaties be more ardent ; and its impor- 
 tunities increase until they prevail ! We shall then 
 witness ' the arm of the Lord revealed ; ' the almighty 
 power of his grace made known, and a nation born in 
 a day. 
 
 " These singular awakenings, as we have already said, 
 first began under the ministry of Mr Rowlands ; the very 
 first took place while he was officiating in the church, 
 and occurred, perhaps many will be surprised to hear, 
 while he was reading the litany. At that passage of it 
 which begins thus, " By the mystery of thy holy incar- 
 nation," &c. the effect was astonishing. The people were 
 melted into tears and wept loudly. The impression spread 
 widely through the whole neighbourhood. The most 
 powerful awakenings took place in the three churches 
 which he served, and many were savingly impressed. 
 The next, according to my information, commenced at 
 a prayer meeting held at Llangeitho Chapel. So that 
 the two first had their beginning in prayer, which of all 
 means is the most effectual to draw down upon us 
 the blessing of heaven. Not less than six or seven of 
 these extraordinary awakenings took place in the life- 
 time of Mr Rowlands, and were the means of large addi- 
 tions to his people ; most of whom usually stood their 
 ground, though not without some instances of defection. 
 
106 WALES. 
 
 And what is remarkable, several of tliem occurred at in- 
 tervals of seven years. There are now old people living 
 who have a perfect recollection of three of them succes- 
 sively occurring- at this regular distance of time. One 
 great awakening is mentioned from its having been more 
 extensive than any other, during which many hundreds, 
 and even thousands were, according to all appearances, 
 savingly impressed. Whatever may be thought of some 
 things that attended them (for whatever is done among 
 men, always in a measure partakes of their weakness and 
 depravity), yet they were most clearly the productions of 
 a divine power, and the evidence of divine favour." * 
 
 This venerable servant of God has passed into eternity, 
 and with him the great company who were, by his 
 means, led to repentance unto life ; but the seed of the 
 righteous remains where he reaped his rich harvest. 
 One who has heard of him from his forefathers, states, 
 that Daniel Rowlands was obliged to have a private 
 door from his house directly into his pulpit, that he 
 might avoid the presence of the multitude, to speak, to 
 look, to touch but his garments, which was inconvenient 
 and trying to his feehngs when he endeavoured to pass by 
 the ordinary way ; and that his preaching was with such 
 power that a few sentences of his sermon would not 
 have been uttered till hundreds were melted to tears. 
 His voice was like a clear and melodious trumpet, and 
 his manner full of energy and fervour. A few of his 
 sermons remain. One, translated from the Welsh, has 
 been published by the London Tract Society, called, 
 " The Redeemer's Voice." Its force, rapidity, might in 
 the Scripture, and careless richness in classical allusion, 
 give us some idea, though doubtless a faint one, of that 
 instrument so honoured of the Holy Spirit. 
 
 The Reverend Rowland Hill delighted greatly in 
 Wales. Its mountain scenery and its mountain Chris- 
 tians stirred all the poetry of his genius, and all the 
 ardour of his affections. In one of his last visits to the 
 Societies in South Wales, he was much touched by, and 
 
 * Life of Mr Charles, p. 292. 
 
DANIEL ROWLANDS. 107 
 
 often after spoke of the following- little incident. During- 
 the meeting of the Society, a man, verging towards a 
 hundred years old, raised himself from the corner in 
 which he was reclining-, and, while he aided his feeble 
 limbs by leaning- on his trembling hands, he raised his qui- 
 vering voice, and addressed himself to the young- ministers, 
 in his broken English, " Brethren, let me tell you this 
 — I have heard Daniel Rowlands preach, and I heard him 
 once say, ' except your consciences be cleansed by the 
 blood of Christ, you must all perish in the eternal fires.' " 
 Rowlands had been for half a century in glory, but here 
 was a voice, as from the grave, bearing- testimony to his 
 faithful doctrine. Probably this sentence, so deeply en- 
 graved on the memory of the aged man, was the very 
 one v/hich first subdued his heart and brought him to 
 his Saviour. It is with peculiar pleasure that we here 
 introduce some letters, copied from originals never be- 
 fore printed, which remove us from the public ministra- 
 tions, to exhibit to us the private thoughts and hourly 
 pursuits of these holy and lively Christians. We begin 
 with one from 
 
 Mr Rowlands to Howel Harris. 
 
 " October 20th, 1742. 
 
 " Dear, dear Brother, 
 
 " I bless you for your letters, they were like showers 
 of rain to a dry land ; indeed the Lord gave you the 
 tongue of the learned, but oh ! oh what am I ? A 
 painted hypocrite, and a miserable sinner ; I know all 
 the to's and fro's and up's and down's that are in reli- 
 gion, but the blessed liberty remaining for the children 
 of God is still hidden from me, I beheve you pray for 
 me ; God grant you may prevail. I wish I could skip and 
 leap over all mountains of pleasures, laziness, hard- 
 heartedness, unbelief, &c., and rest upon the breast of 
 the beloved, and never, never enough praised Jesus. 
 Oh come blessed time when all prisoners of hope shall 
 be released, and enter into the rest of their dear Imma- 
 
108 WALES. 
 
 nuel. I don't doubt but your soul joins with me to say 
 Amen, Amen. 
 
 " I've been now of late in Montgomeryshire; had g-reat 
 power there to convince and to build ; persecution in- 
 creases, some of the brethren were excommunicated. (I 
 hope you will consult with the brethren in London, and 
 send us what is best to do.) Afterwards, at Brecknock, 
 in several houses and churches, I preached with uncom- 
 mon power ; I heard since that I am put into the court 
 by Mr Phillips of Built for discoursing at an ale-house 
 there ; your sentiments about this would be vastly ser- 
 viceable. Brother Wm. Williams is put in too, for not 
 living in the parish where he officiates, 8zc. The last 
 week I've been in some part of Caremarthenshire and 
 Glamorgan ; and brave opportunities indeed they were ; 
 whole congregations were under concern, and such cry- 
 ing out that my voice could not be heard. Some per- 
 sons of quality did entertain me with uncommon respect. 
 Oh what am I that my ears and eyes should hear and 
 see such things ! Oh help me to bless the God of 
 Heaven ; I hope His kingdom begins to come ; oh, 
 Satan, be packing, fly, fly with trembhng, lest the God 
 of Israel come at thee. Oh Lord chastise him. Amen. 
 Lord, down with him ; let his kingdom shatter, and him 
 be trampled under the feet of Thy children. How long 
 shall he domineer over Thy little ones ? My dear bro- 
 ther, up with your arms, give not an inch, the God 
 whom you serve can, yea and will deliver us ; in His 
 might we shall win the field. Don't you hear all the 
 brethren in Wales crying out loudly, Help ! help ! help ! 
 help ! Brother Harris, thou bold champion, where art 
 thou ? What, in London, now, now in the day of 
 battle ? What, has not London champions enough to 
 fight for her ? Where are the great Wesleys, Cennick, 
 &c. Must poor Wales aff'ord an assistance to England ? 
 Oh, poor Wales ! it is thy ingratitude altogether has 
 been the cause of all this. Good Lord, pity poor Wales ; 
 send our dear brother among us with Thy power, and in 
 the fulness of thy blessing, and let the Devil tremble be- 
 fore him. Amen, Amen. My poor flock do increase daily ; 
 
GEORGE WHITFIELD. 109 
 
 they would be heartily g'lad to see and hear you. Brother 
 Win^. was here last Sunday, and a sweet day it was. I 
 love him more and more because of his simple, honest, 
 plain way of dealing with the people. His parishioners 
 are highly incensed against him. * * * Methinks 
 I hear you enquiring after Caernarvonshire ; Benj". Tho- 
 mas is there ; they come by thousands to hear. Brother 
 Howell Davis promised to go, but what detains him I 
 know not. I can't possibly go this winter, for want of 
 one to supply my room at my churches. The next 
 week I promised to be at Pembroke and the lower part 
 of Caermarthen ; shortly after at Convil, &c. Dear 
 brother, never fail to intercede for me, who am your 
 loving friend, well-vvisher, and unworthy brother, 
 
 " Dan. Rowlands.'' 
 
 George Whitfield to Howel Harris. 
 
 " Feb. 27, 1741. 
 
 " My very dear Brother, 
 
 " Forgive me for not writing to you — indeed the Lord 
 has not given me freedom. Besides, I waited for an ac- 
 count of your meeting, and the letter which brought the 
 account did not reach me till my coming up to London. 
 I am glad the blessed Jesus was amongst you. I ap- 
 prove of your determination, and hope yet to see a glo- 
 rious harvest in Wales. I fear I cannot possibly come 
 in March. The Lord will send me in his own due time. 
 I have been lately in Gloucester and Gloucestershire. 
 Such an awakening I never knew before in those parts. 
 Brother Charles followed me immediately, and I fear, 
 with his brother,* will sow tares, and set the poor souls 
 disputing. I have conversed freely with them both, 
 especially brother John. Oh that the Lord would lead 
 him into all truth I I hope you have dropt your notion 
 about the soul's receiving a kind of Pentecost, whereby 
 it shall be delivered immediately from all sin, as it were, 
 
 * The Wesleys 
 
1 10 WALES. 
 
 root and branch ? My dear brother, the work of sancti- 
 fication is a gradual work, and the Redeemer gently 
 leads on his children, step by step, till he brings them 
 to eternal glory. I know you will not be offended at 
 this plain dealing. Use the same liberty with me, I be- 
 seech you. I came hither" (supposed to London) " on 
 Wednesday evening. Brother Cennick has been ill of a 
 fever, but the Lord has rebuked it, blessed be his name ! 
 I have not yet seen Brother Rowlands, and indeed as yet 
 have not time to read it, for I believe forty letters now 
 lie by me unread. Glorious news from New England, 
 Scotland, Carolina, Szc. The Lord Jesus hath been plea- 
 sed mightily to bless my poor ministry — oh that I were 
 humble ! The inward trials and temptations my dear 
 wife and I have undergone are unspeakable. * * * 
 
 " I have had sweet conversation with some of the 
 Moravian brethren. Surely the time will come when all 
 God's children shall unite together — I know you say 
 Amen. God hath much blessed my preaching. At 
 every service the Lord hath been with me. To-night 
 he gave me to look into his bleeding heart. It inflamed 
 my heart, and out of the abundance of my heart my 
 mouth spake. The Holy Ghost was much amongst us 
 — O may it fill your dear soul, that you may be filled 
 with all the fulness of God, prays, my dear Brother Syms 
 and my dear Brother Harris, 
 
 " Your most affectionate, though most unworthy, 
 Brother and Servant in Jesus Christ, 
 
 " G. W." 
 
 " B'^. Rich^. Ellis is dead, as also B^. Kenchin and his 
 sister. The Lord prepare us for our great change." 
 
 We have an opportunity of presenting also a letter 
 from the Moravian Bishop Gambold to the same zealous 
 man. 
 
 Bishop Gambold to Howel Harris. 
 
 " My dear Brother, 
 
 " Your loving visit has left such an impression on me, 
 
BISHOP GAMBOLD. Ill 
 
 as I could not easily forg-et, though I have so long omit- 
 ted writing to you. I embrace the correspondence with 
 great joy and pleasure, as an acknowledgment of the 
 union subsisting between all those who love the Lord 
 Jesus, and have no other trust but his blood-purchased 
 righteousness, however distant they may seem to be in 
 respect of outward regulation or method. Indeed, this 
 distance always appears greatest to a shallow observer, 
 and least to those who are concerned about the central 
 point itself, and enter with all their heart and affections 
 into the mystery of the cross, the sufferings of Christ, 
 and the glory which not only shall follow, but lies al- 
 ready therein. There is nothing important but to pro- 
 fess them, enjoy our Redeemer, walk before him unto 
 all well pleasing, rejoice over other souls whom sin and 
 misery have driven, like us, to this remedy, the everlasting 
 righteousness of his blood, and apply by preaching the 
 indefeasible energy of his propitiation to the enlighten- 
 ing and quickening of many more who are still blind 
 and dead, and do not know what has been prepared so 
 long ago by the counsel of God for their relief. I am 
 well persuaded these are the things you are employed 
 in, the object of all your labour and comfort ; and 
 through grace they shall be mine also, according to my 
 small measures, while I am in the body. 'Tis really a 
 sweet truth to me that Jesus Christ has loved me, and 
 died for me before I was born, and that now I can have 
 access to him for every thing I want ; and I wish this 
 rich salvation could but enter into, and establish itself in 
 all human hearts and minds. * * * * I wish you 
 success in the Lord's work, and abide, 
 
 " Your poor fellow-believer and fellow-labourer 
 in his vineyard, 
 
 " J. Gambold." 
 
 " My wife desires her hearty love to yours. 
 
 " Mr Bowers, in Nevil's Alley, 
 
 Fetter-Lane. 
 
 Nov. 23, 1750." 
 
[ 112 ] 
 
 CHAPTER VIII. 
 
 CHARLES, OF BALA. 
 
 Mr Charles describes himself as having been the 
 subject of religious impressions at the age of twelve, 
 during his residence at school. His lively and suscep- 
 tible temper having thus early received a gracious bias, 
 he went on deriving additions to his stock of know- 
 ledge, and increasing in devotional feeling from all the 
 helps which Providence put in his power. 
 
 [1773.] In his eighteenth year he first heard Mr Row- 
 lands preach, and in his Diary, says of that time, " This 
 is a day much to be remembered by me as long as I live. 
 Ever since that happy day I have lived in a new heaven 
 and a new earth. The change which a blind man who 
 receives his sight experiences, does not exceed the 
 change which at that period I experienced in my mind. 
 It was then that I was first convinced of the sin of un- 
 belief, or of entertaining narrow, contracted, and hard 
 thoughts of the Almighty. I had such a view of Christ 
 as our High Priest, of his love, compassion, power, and 
 all-sufficiency, as filled my soul with astonishment, with 
 joy unspeakable and full of glory. My mind was over- 
 whelmed and overpowered with amazement. The truths 
 exhibited to my view appeared for a time too wonderfully 
 gracious to be believed. I could not believe for very 
 joy. The glorious scenes then opened to my eyes will 
 abundantly satisfy my soul, millions of years hence, in 
 the contemplation of them. I had before some idea of 
 gospel truths floating in my head, but they never power- 
 fully, and with divine energy, penetrated my heart till 
 now. The effect of this sermcn remained on my mind 
 for half a year ; during which time I was generally in a 
 comfortable and heavenly frame. Often, while walking 
 
CHARLES, OF BALA. 113 
 
 in the fields, I looked up to heaven with joy, and called 
 that my home, at the same time ardently longing for the 
 appearance of the glorious Saviour to take me for ever to 
 himself. At times doubts would come into ray mind, 
 and 1 would say within myself, — < Can it be possible 
 that these things are true? ' The Lord would reply, — 
 * I will not execute the fierceness of mine anger ; 1 will 
 not return to destroy Ephraim, for I am God and not 
 mail.' ' Praise the Lord, O my soul ! and forget not 
 all his benefits.' " * 
 
 Such is a specimen of the quickening exercises by 
 which this servant of God was prepared for the service 
 he was to be honoured to perform ; and, as was most na- 
 tural for his grateful heart, the time of this blessed expe- 
 rience, and Mr Rowlands, its instrument, are never al- 
 luded to, even at the distance of years, but with the 
 warmest thankfulness and most ardent admiration. For 
 example, in 1780, he writes, — " I think with you, that 
 not only Bala bach (dear Bala), but Wales itself, is a 
 highly-favoured country. That aged herald of the King 
 of Glory, D. Rowlands, is, and will be, an eternal honour 
 to it. I seldom can speak of him in moderate terms. I 
 love him dearly, and honour him as my father in Christ, 
 and not without reason ; for to him, under God, I am 
 indebted for whatever light I have into, and experience 
 I have of, the glorious salvation through Christ. I hope 
 to see him once more, if the will of God be so, before he 
 takes his flight. 1 shall never forget a sermon I heard 
 him preach, from Heb. iv. 15, January 20, 1773. I re- 
 member the blessed time with infinite delight."-]' 
 
 The remembrance of his early experiences seems, as 
 the Psalmist says, " sweeter than honey to his mouth." 
 As thus, on revisiting the home of his childhood. — " On 
 the 13th of August we arrived safe at my father's, and 
 found all my friends and relations w ell ; most of them 
 going on in their usual way. I looked on those little 
 corners of the house, and sequestered hedges of the fields, 
 where my soul in former days struggled with God in 
 
 * Life of Charles P. 7. f l^id. P, 57. 
 
 H 
 
114 WALES. 
 
 prayer and obtained his blessing, with inexpressible plea- 
 sure. I could not but view those spots in which I en- 
 joyed refreshing" communion with God, as holy ground. 
 My father's farm wore the appearance of Paradise. The 
 memory of the various blessings at different times en- 
 joyed filled my heart with joy and praise." * 
 
 Such was the preparatory work by which the Head of 
 the Church fitted his servant for labour and filled his 
 heart with matter ; so that not in the pulpit alone, but 
 in the schools, in the huts, and on the highways and 
 wild mountains, he was ever fraught with a prayerful 
 concern for souls. 
 
 '• If he met a poor man or woman on the road, he 
 would stop his horse and make the enquiry, — ' Can you 
 read the Bible ?' He was so much in the habit of doing 
 this, that he became every where known from this prac- 
 tice. The gentleman who kindly asked the poor people 
 about the Bible and their souls, was Mr Charles. His 
 fame reached far beyond the circle where he was person- 
 ally known. Meeting one day with an old man on one 
 of the mountains, he said to him, — ' You are an old man, 
 and very near another world.' — ' Yes,' said he ; * and I 
 hope I am going to heaven.' — ' Do you know the road 
 there ; do you know the Word of God ? ' — ' Pray, are 
 you Mr Charles ? ' said the old man. He suspected who 
 he was, from his questions. When asking the poor 
 people he met with about their eternal concerns, — ' Pray, 
 are you Mr Charles ? ' was often the enquiry which met 
 him. When he had time, he scarcely ever passed by a 
 poor man on the road without talking to him about his 
 soul, and his knowledge of the Bible. When he found 
 any ignorant of the Word of God and unable to read it, 
 he would represent to them, in a kind and simple man- 
 ner, the duty and necessity of becoming acquainted with 
 it, and feelingly and compassionately set before them the 
 awful state of those who leave the world without know- 
 ing the Word of God, and the way of saving the soul. 
 He sometimes succeeded in persuading them to learn to 
 read ; and the good he thus did was no doubt very great. 
 * * * Xhe example of an old man undertaking the 
 ♦ Life of Charles P. 22. 
 
CHARLES, OF BALA. 115 
 
 task, the unusual task, of learnings to read his Bible, 
 tended more than any thing- else to induce others to make 
 the same attempt. What could have been a more prac- 
 tical imitation of Him ' who went about doing- good,* than 
 this conduct of Mr Charles ? " * 
 
 A short extract from a letter to his wife exhibits his 
 strong faith in the work of the Holy Spirit, and his own 
 internal experience of those gracious influences which 
 sustained him in, and dictated, his abundant and multi- 
 form methods of fixing the attention of careless sinners. 
 
 LETTER TO MRS CHARLES. 
 
 " God is so rich, so powerful, so unchangeable, and so 
 near at all times and in all places, that those who are the 
 objects of his love cannot but be inexpressibly happy and 
 infallibly safe. I firmly believe that nothing so effectu- 
 ally promotes holiness as a true belief of His love to us 
 in particular. I have found this afternoon more comfort 
 and joy than I have experienced for some time past, in 
 reflecting on the love of each of the Divine Persons en- 
 gaging themselves respectively to accomplish the work 
 of redemption^ The Father loved us freely and gave his 
 Son. The Son loved us freely and gave himself for us. 
 The Holy Ghost loved, and still loves us freely, and 
 comes to sanctify and comfort us, and to dwell in our 
 hearts. The love of the Spirit aff^ected my mind most 
 particularly. As no un worthiness prevented the Son of 
 God from coming to redeem us, so also no depravity pre- 
 vented, or prevents, the Holy Ghost from coming to 
 sanctify and comfort his people, and to dwell for ever 
 with them. He has loved them freely from all eternity, 
 in all their sin and abomination ; he therefore comes to 
 them and abides with them for ever. Christ came 
 freely to do all for them ; the Holy Ghost comes as freely 
 to do all in them ; and all his workings in them are in- 
 finitely free from beginning to end. May the Lord help 
 
 * Life of Charles P. 265. 
 
116 WALES. 
 
 US to believe this ! I experience the difficulty of it at 
 this moment. This single consideration is all my pre- 
 sent comfort, when I think of the great work I am enga- 
 ged in. The Spirit can do every thing-, and He works 
 freely. The thought of being- an instrument in His 
 hand is comforting indeed ; but to think of the ministry 
 without that, is, beyond expression, dark and dismal."* 
 
 " Many parts of North Wales never heard the sound 
 of the Gospel. The work, therefore, in which Mr 
 Charles was now engaged, was in a great measure a mis- 
 sionary work. No more knowledg-e of God, or of his 
 Word, was to be found in most places, than in a hea- 
 then land. The immoralities and ungodliness which 
 prevailed were such as might be expected from this state 
 of spiritual ignorance. The Bible was almost an unknown 
 book, seldom to be met with, especially in the houses of 
 the poor. In many parishes, not even ten could be found 
 capable of reading it ; and in several parishes in Angle- 
 sea, not even two or three. Where darkness exists, the 
 works of darkness will be carried on."-}- 
 
 In 1785, Mr Charles first began to organize his cir- 
 culating* schools ; and twenty-three years later, he gives 
 the following account of them in a letter : — 
 
 *' Bala, September 1808. 
 
 " In my travels through different parts of North Wales 
 about twenty years ago (in 1785), I perceived that the 
 state of the poor of the country in general was so low as 
 to religious knowledge, that in many parts not one per- 
 son in twenty was capable of reading the scriptures, and 
 in some districts hardly an individual could be found who 
 had received any instruction in reading. I found then, 
 and still do find, daily proofs of the ignorance of the poor 
 people who cannot read, and have never been catecheti- 
 cally instructed, even where constant preaching is not 
 wanting. This discovery pained me beyond what I can 
 express, and made me think seriously of some remedy, 
 effectual and speedy for the redress of this grievance. I 
 
 * Life of Charles.— P. 216. f Ibid. 249. 
 
CHARLES, OF BALA. 117 
 
 accordingly proposed to a few friends to set a subscrip- 
 tion on foot to pay the wages of a teacher, who was to 
 be moved circuitously from one place to another, to in- 
 struct the poor in reading, and in the first principles of 
 Christianity by catechising them. At first only one 
 teacher was employed. As the funds increased, so in 
 proportion the number of teachers was enlarged, till they 
 amounted to twenty. Some of the first teachers 1 was 
 obliged to instruct myself, and these afterwards instruct- 
 ed others, sent to them to learn to be schoolmasters. 
 
 " The fruit of these circulating schools are our nume- 
 rous Sunday schools all over the country ; for without 
 the former, we could not have found teachers to carry 
 on the latter."* 
 
 * * " I also set up Sunday and night-schools for those 
 whose occupations and poverty prevented them from at- 
 tending the day-schools. Whatever we attempted of this 
 nature succeeded wonderfully ; till the whole country 
 was filled with schools of some sort or another, and all 
 were more or less under tuition. The blessed effects 
 were correspondent. A general concern for eternal things 
 was manifested in many large districts. Many hundreds 
 were awakened to a sense of sin and of their need of a Sa- 
 viour ; and are now, I have every reason to believe, his 
 faithful followers. The schools are still carried on, and 
 the effects are the same in a greater or less degree. The 
 numbers of teachers increase or diminish according to my 
 finances. All the income I derive from the chapel I 
 serve, I devote wholly to their support ; being supported 
 myself by the industry of my wife. I pay every teacher 
 L.12 per annum. They continue half a-year or three 
 quarters in a place, then they are removed to another. 
 Three quarters of a-year are found fully sufficient to teach 
 our children to read the Bible well in the Welsh lan- 
 guage. 1 visit the schools myself, and catechise them 
 publicly. I have the unspeakable satisfaction to see the 
 general aspect of the country most amazingly changed. 
 " The wilderness blossoms as the rose, and the thirsty 
 
 * Life of Charles P. 257. 
 
118 WALES. 
 
 land is become springs of water. Through the schools 
 and the preaching of the gospel the spread of divine 
 knowledge is become universal. Bless the Lord, O my 
 soul ! " * 
 
 What soon became a peculiar feature in these schools, 
 was the attendance of adults as scholars. On this subject 
 Mr Charles says : — " The attention is engaged with such 
 intenseness that in some instances which I have known, 
 the greatest part of the night is spent in learning chap- 
 ters, or in searching the scriptures on points given them 
 to be elucidated by scripture passages. All will easily 
 perceive how rapid the progress in the acquisition of di- 
 vine knowledge must be, when the mind is so attentively 
 engaged, if assisted by proper instruction. It has been 
 great and very rapid. I have known young people emerge 
 at once as it were from a state of idleness, profaneness, 
 and ignorance, to diligence, sobriety, and pleasing atten- 
 tion to divine things. They are delighted with the work, 
 and you may distinguish those who are thus engaged, 
 from the idle and ignorant, by the comfort and joy mani- 
 fested in their countenances. 
 
 " We have also this year held associations of the differ- 
 ent schools. They meet in some central place to be pub- 
 licly catechised. Three meetings of this kind have been 
 held in North Wales, and three in South Wales. A sub- 
 ject is given to every school, on which they are examined, 
 and which they are to elucidate by repeating appropriate 
 passages from the sacred writings. At the appointed 
 time — generally a Sabbath-day — the children of the dif- 
 ferent schools assemble, accompanied by their teachers. 
 Some of the schools have walked ten miles by eight in 
 the morning. The children being scattered in their dif- 
 ferent habitations over the country — for they dwell not 
 together in hamlets as in England — all meet at an as- 
 signed place, and at the appointed hour pray and sing a 
 verse of a hymn together, and then march cheerfully and 
 orderly for the place of destination. 
 
 " As no place of worship is spacious enough to contain 
 
 * Life of Charles.— P. 260. 
 
CHARLES, OF BALA. 119 
 
 the immense concourse of people who attend on these oc- 
 casions, we have been obliged to erect stages out of doors, 
 in the fields, a large one for the children, containing two 
 or three schools at a time, another for the catechists, op- 
 posite to that of the children, at fifteen or eighteen yards 
 distance — the space between is for the assembled congre- 
 gation to hear. We begin the work early in the morning, 
 and the whole day is spent in these examinations. Every 
 examination lasts three or four hours, and is generally 
 concluded by an address to the children and the congre- 
 gation. In the short intervals between the examinations, 
 the children of each school are conducted by their teach- 
 ers into a room engaged for the purpose, to partake of a 
 little refreshment ; and at the appointed time they are 
 reconducted to the place of meeting. Vv^e have had, on 
 these occasions, from fifteen to twenty schools assembled 
 together. Hitherto these associations have been most 
 profitable. The previous preparation gives employment 
 for two months to all the youth of both sexes, in which 
 they engage with great eagerness and delight. The pub- 
 lic exammations, we have every reason to conclude, are 
 also very profitable to the hearers assembled. This is 
 clear from their great attention, and the feelings pro- 
 duced by hearing the responses of the children. I have 
 seen great meltings, and tears among them. When the 
 work of the day is over, the children are reconducted by 
 their teachers to their respective houses, or committed to 
 the care of their parents. Every thing has been con- 
 ducted hitherto with great order and decorum, and the 
 utility of these meetings has been ascertained beyond a 
 doubt. The schools acquire publicity and importance by 
 these public exhibitions. They animate both teachers 
 and children. They bring others in who have hitherto 
 been negligent, and powerfully excite the people to set 
 up new schools where there are none. 
 
 « I shall conclude this long letter by adding, that many 
 children and also grown up persons have manifested a 
 serious concern for their souls, as the effect of the in- 
 struction they have received in the schools, and some 
 
120 WALES. 
 
 hundreds in different parts of the country have joined 
 our religious societies."* 
 
 " Thousands of young- people all over the country have 
 at this time their attention engaged upon divine things. 
 They are learning catechisms and chapters from the Bible 
 with wonderful facility. It has been my delightful work, 
 since I left London in December, to catechise publicly 
 every Sunday, and to hear thera repeating chapters before 
 thousands of people. Whole families, young and old, 
 the governors and the governed, learn the catechisms 
 and chapters of the Bible together." * * * 
 
 " The Sunday schools and the public examination of 
 thera have undoubtedly done wonders in Wales, and 
 have succeeded in some places in moralizing the people, 
 when all other means failed. One case, in particular, of 
 this kind was very remarkable. There was a certain 
 town which seemed to grow worse and worse, increasing 
 daily in all kinds of wickedness, though the gospel had 
 been regularly preached there for more than twenty years. 
 The people, young as well as old, became more and more 
 depraved. They ran into all manner of excesses, espe- 
 cially at the annual wakes. The most faithful and awful 
 warnings were delivered from the pulpit, but with no ef- 
 fect. The state of things here was mentioned to Mr 
 Charles. Having considered the subject, he made up his 
 mind to make an attempt to storm this stronghold of Sa- 
 tan in a way different from preaching. About two months 
 before the wakes, he sent word to the teachers of their 
 Sunday schools, requesting thera to get the children to 
 search the Bible for texts which prohibit, directly or indi- 
 rectly, such evil practices as dancing, drunkenness, forni- 
 cation, &c., and to commit them to memory ; saying that 
 they might expect him thereat the feast to catechise the 
 children. The young people set to work, and there was a 
 great deal of talk in the town and neighbourhood about the 
 subject. When the time arrived, Mr Charles went there ; 
 and most of the people of the place, led by curiosity perhaps 
 
 * Life of Charles.— P. 270. 
 
CHARLES, OF BALA. 121 
 
 in a great measure, went to hear what the children had 
 to say on these subjects. The meeting- began, as usual, 
 wath singing and prayer. Then Mr C. began to ask 
 them questions on the points given them to learn. < Is 
 dancing, my dear children, a sin ?' ' Yes,' said one, em- 
 phatically, ' it was owing to dancing that the head of 
 John the Baptist was cut off.' ' Is drunkenness set forth 
 as bad and sinful in Scripture ?' ' Yes,' answered an- 
 other, and repeated these words, — ' Wo unto them that 
 follow strong drink; that continue until night till the 
 wine inflame them, and the harp and the viol, the tabret 
 and the pipe are in their feasts ; but they regard not the 
 work of the Lord, neither consider the operations of his 
 
 hands/ Isaiah, v. 11, 12 In this way he proceeded 
 
 with them concerning the other sins, and the answers 
 were given with great propriety and seriousness. The 
 people began to hold down their heads, and appeared to 
 be much affected. Observing this, he addressed them in 
 the kindest manner, and exhorted them by all means to 
 leave off their sinful practices, to relinquish the works of 
 darkness, and to attend to the concerns of their never- 
 dying souls ; to learn the Word of God after the example 
 of the children, and to try to seek superior pleasures and 
 a better w^orld. The effect was so great that all went 
 home, and the houses of revelling were completely for- 
 saken. The following day the harper was met going 
 home by a person on the road, who, surprised to see him 
 leaving the place so soon, asked him what was the rea- 
 son. ' Some parson,' said he, 'with a black cap on' (Mr 
 Charles wore a black cap), ' has been catechising there, 
 and persuaded the young people not to attend the feast.* 
 Poor fellow, he went home quite disappointed ! " * 
 
 Such are some specimens of the preparatory work of 
 sowing the seeds of knowledge which was used before 
 the great revival of true religion which took place in 
 North Wales, beginning in the year 1791. We now 
 proceed to make extracts, exhibiting the seed springing 
 up and bearing the fruits of repentance towards God, and 
 
 * Life of Charles P. 275. 
 
122 WALES. 
 
 faith in our Lord Jesus Christ. We quote from Mr 
 Charles's own letters. 
 
 *' Bala, September, 1791. 
 
 " You inquire about the state of the churches in Wales. 
 I have nothing- but what is favourable to communicate. 
 We had lately a very comfortable association at Pwllheli. 
 Some thousands attended, more than ever were seen be- 
 fore. And here, at Bala, we have had a very great, 
 powerful, and glorious outpouring- of the Spirit on the 
 people in general, especially on the children and young 
 people. Some of the wildest and most inconsiderate 
 young people of both sexes have been awakened. Their 
 convictions have been very clear and powerful, and in 
 some instances so deep as to bring them to the brink of 
 despair. Their consolations have also been equally strong. 
 If the Lord should be graciously pleased to continue the 
 work, as it has prevailed some weeks past, the devil's 
 kingdom will be in ruins in this neiglibourhood. Ride 
 on, ride on, thou King of Glory ! is the present cry of 
 my soul, day and night. I verily believe that the Lord 
 means to give the kingdom of darkness a dreadful shake ; 
 for he takes off its pillars. Those that were foremost in 
 the service of Satan and rebellion against God are now 
 the foremost in seeking salvation through the blood of 
 the Lamb. It is an easy work to preach the Gospel of 
 the Kingdom here at this time. Divine truths have 
 their own infinite weight and importance on the minds of 
 the people. Beams of divine light, together with divine 
 irresistible energy, accompany every truth delivered. It 
 is glorious to see how the stoutest hearts are bowed 
 down, and the hardest melted. I would not have been 
 without seeing what I have lately seen, no not for the 
 world. 
 
 " These are the blessed things 1 have to relate to you, 
 my dear brother, respecting poor Wales- The charity 
 schools here are abundantly blessed. Children, that were 
 beforetime like jewels buried in rubbish, now appear with 
 divine lustre and transcendant beauty. Little children, 
 from six to twelve years old, are affected, astonished, and 
 
CHARLES, OF BALA. 123 
 
 overpowered ; their young minds, day and night, are 
 filled with nothing but soul concerns. All I say is mat- 
 ter of fact. I have not exaggerated in the least degree, 
 nor related more than a small part of the whole. The 
 Lord hath done great things for us, and to him be all the 
 praise." * 
 
 An eminent Scotch minister, hearing of the good 
 tidings from Wales, enquired of Mr Charles further par- 
 ticulars ; and in his letter says — 
 
 " Edinburgh, March 11, 1792. 
 
 " No doubt you know that a similar revival took place 
 in this country about fifty years ago. Many were at that 
 happy era brought to the knowledge and real experience 
 of the truth. But there were some who afterwards turned 
 away from feeding beside the Shepherd's tents, thereby 
 declaring that their former profession was not altogether 
 sterling, and giving occasion to many to condemn the 
 whole that was done, though I have seen several living 
 incontestible witnesses of the solidity of the work, whose 
 Christianity I doubted less than my own. It is amazing 
 how some, even of the Lord's people, love to cavil and 
 carp at that which others admire and praise the Lord 
 for." 
 
 To this Mr Charles answered — 
 
 *' Bala, May 2, 1792. 
 " That it was the work of God, I am not left to doubt 
 in the least degree. It carries along with it every scrip- 
 tural satisfactory evidence that we can possibly desire — 
 such as deep conviction of sin, of righteousness, of judg- 
 ment — great reformation of manners — great love for and 
 delight in the Word of God, in prayer, in spiritual con- 
 versation, and divine ordinances. These, even in young 
 persons, occupy the place, and employ the time, that was 
 spent in vain diversions and amusements. No harps but 
 the golden harps of which John speaks have been played 
 on in this neighbourhood for several months past. The 
 
 * Life of Charles P. 277. 
 
124< WALES. 
 
 craft is not only in danger, hut entirely destroyed and 
 abolished. The little sto7ie has broken in pieces and 
 wholly destroyed these ensnaring hinderances. But I am 
 far from expecting- that all those who have experienced 
 these impressions, are savingly wrought upon, and really 
 converted. If that were the case, all the country must 
 have been converted ; for at one time there were but 
 iew who had not felt awful impressions on their minds, 
 producing foreboding- fears respecting- their future exist- 
 ence in another world. It was a most solemn time, in- 
 deed ! I never saw a livelier picture of the state of men's 
 minds at the day of judgment, according- to their respec- 
 tive conditions. That awful dispensation lasted but for 
 a iew weeks. But the ministration of the Word is still 
 lively and powerful, and fresh awakenings take place, 
 though not so numerous as at first. Perhaps it will not 
 be known till the day of judgment how many of these 
 new converts are actually brought into a state of salva- 
 tion, nor who they are. But hitherto we have every 
 reason to be thankful for the good progress they continue 
 to make. Among- so many there must be great variety, 
 and we may have better hopes of some than others ; but 
 hitherto none have turned away from feeding- by the Shep- 
 herd's tents. 
 
 " As to the further spread of the work, the prospect 
 in our country is in general very pleasing. In Caernar- 
 vonshire and Anglesea the congregations are very nu- 
 merous. Thousands flock together at the sound of the 
 Gospel trumpet, and hear with great earnestness and 
 attention. Awakenings also are frequent ; but as to any 
 extraordinary outpouring of the Spirit, there is none at 
 present but in two places, besides this neighbourhood ; 
 and in those places it does not carry with it the strong 
 marks of irresistible power and convincing demonstration 
 which attended it here. The report of what had been 
 going on in this place awakened the attention of the 
 whole country, and filled the churches every where with 
 the spirit of thanksgiving and prayer. The beginning 
 was so glorious, that I cannot but think that it precedes 
 
CHARLES, OF BALA. 125 
 
 great thing-s. The churches every where are, if I may so 
 speak, in labour ; and I cannot but expect that a ' man- 
 child is to be born.' They are prepared, they are pray- 
 ing- ; they are waiting- and longing- for his coming-. He 
 has indeed done already g-reat things in this principality. 
 " Within these fifty years there have been five or six 
 very great awakenings — a land of darkness and the sha- 
 dow of death hath seen great light. O may we live to 
 see still greater things ! Your saying that a similar work 
 took place in your country about fifty years ago, has en- 
 kindled a spirit of prayer in me for the return of your 
 jubilee. I am persuaded that, except we are favoured with 
 frequent revivals, and a strong and powerful work of the 
 Spirit, we shall in a great degree degenerate, and have 
 only a name to live ; religion will lose its vigour ; the 
 ministry will hardly retain its lustre and glory, and ini- 
 quity will of course abound. I am far from supposing 
 this to be the case in your country. I am only speaking 
 of the thing itself. Scotland, I know, in ages past has 
 been a highly favoured country. I hope it still continues 
 so ; but I am perfectly ignorant of the present state of 
 religion in it. May the good Lord hasten that blessed 
 time when the kingdoms of the world shall become the 
 kingdoms of the Lord and of his Christ I I beg my love 
 to all Christian friends with you, and an interest in all 
 your prayers. Blessed be God that I have an Advocate 
 with the Father. He sees, commiserates, and can relieve 
 and succour as necessity requires. From this joyful 
 consideration alone proceeds my resolution to go on. You 
 may well suppose that while God is among us, Satan is 
 not asleep. He is alive, and goes about, possessed of his 
 usual diabolical dispositions. In the church and out of 
 the church, he is always plotting some mischief. I would 
 wish to be watchful, to observe all his motions and 
 machinations. The God of peace sha\[ hruise him shortli/ 
 under our feet. I am your unworthy companion in the 
 kingdom and patience of Jesus Christ." * 
 
 * Life of Charles— P. 281. 
 
123 WALES. 
 
 "Bala, Jan. 1794. 
 
 " I have received your favour of November 24, and 
 must request your pardon for being- so slow in ansv^'ering 
 you. My only apolog-y is my many avocations, which 
 are so numerous that I have not that time to pay proper 
 attention to friends which I could wish. As to the pre- 
 sent state of religion in this country, through distin- 
 guishing and unspeakable mercy 1 have nothing to 
 complain of unless I complain of myself,- for which there 
 is abundant cause. In the course of last year the al- 
 mighty power of the gospel has been most gloriously 
 manifested in different parts of our country. I think 
 that, in general, it never presented a more promising 
 aspect. There was, last year, a very great and general 
 awakening through a very large and populous district of 
 Caernarvonshire. In the space of three months some 
 hundreds were brought under concern about their souls. 
 I travelled last March through that part of the country, 
 and the prospect still continues dehghtful indeed. Ah, 
 my dear sir, it is a melodious sound, yes, in the ears of 
 God himself, to hear poor perishing sinners crying out, 
 * What must we do to be saved ? * But this was the 
 sound I heard in almost every congregation, as I lately 
 passed through that part of the country. The subjects of 
 this work are much the same as here at Bala ; children 
 and young people, from eight or ten to thirty years of 
 age. The effects also on the country at large are very 
 similar — a general reformation of manners — the most 
 diligent attendance on the means of grace, private and 
 public — thirst after Divine knowledge, such as is practi- 
 cal and spiritual. The sound of the gospel brings 
 heaven to their thirsty souls, whilst the miserable cap- 
 tives of sin and misery are set at liberty. Here at Bala, 
 through mercy, we go on well, and have much cause for 
 thankfulness ; though not favoured with the wonderful 
 scenes with which we were gratified two years ago. 
 Most of those of whom we had any satisfaction as to a 
 work of deep conviction on their minds, have stood their 
 ground amazingly well. We have lost very few of them ; 
 and many, respecting whom we had no satisfaction at 
 
CHARLES, OF BALA. 127 
 
 first, have come on well. At first, perhaps, only a 
 little terrified, yet being- by this fright brought to attend 
 the preaching of the v/ord, they have been gradually 
 enlightened and wrought upon, and are now hopeful 
 characters in our church. There is a work going- on 
 among us still, though not so powerfully as at the period 
 alluded to above. We are continually increasing-, and 
 our congregations continue as large, if not larger, than 
 ever ; and at times the Word seems to have a wonderful 
 effect. I must also add, with sorrow, that a great many, 
 who have felt most powerful impressions on their minds, 
 have been entirely lost ; they are quite fallen off. They 
 still come to hear; but hearing- is all. But some even 
 of these have been again visited by the Lord more 
 effectually than at first ; and we have received them 
 again with joy. We have had many instances of young 
 children who, having once experienced these powerful 
 impressions, have had them again renewed, and are now 
 in the church, comforting our hearts with very promising 
 hopes. ******* 
 
 " I have drawn up a little form, comprehending- the 
 first principles of Christianity, according to which they 
 are instructed. In some of the schools we have had ge- 
 neral awakenings among all the children. They have 
 been the means of sobering the minds of young people, 
 of drawing their attention to the Bible, and of giving 
 them a taste for reading ; and the next step will be to at- 
 tend preaching, which is seldom without producing some 
 effect on their minds. We take great care that the teach- 
 ers be men of piety, and of zeal for the conversion of sin- 
 ners. W^e have but one point in view in these institu- 
 tions, that is the salvation of souls. We endeavour to set 
 this point before them in all its infinite importance, as 
 far surpassing all other matters whatever. This is what 
 we aim to do ; but, ah ! how little would all avail, were 
 it not for the powerful agency of the Holy Spirit. Blessed 
 be God, we see Him evidently and gloriously at work 
 among us, — nevermore so than at the present time, taking 
 the country at large. Bless the Lord on our behalf, and 
 pray for a continuance of His loving kindness. My love 
 
128 WALES. 
 
 to all who love the Lord Jesus. He is our common 
 friend. O, what a friend ! Blessed be God for Him. 
 He is our all. Who would not serve Him, and live to 
 Him ! He deserves more than we can give Him to all 
 eternity." * 
 
 " Bala, 1813. 
 
 <' It is a high favour to be in any degree employed in 
 forwarding so important and glorious a cause. I rejoice 
 to find that your heart is so warmly engaged in it. I 
 pray the Lord that by fresh supplies from the fountain 
 of all good, it may continue warm, vigorous, and active, 
 till it ceases to beat. It is a very favourable season to 
 work, for the Lord, in these happy days, crowns the la- 
 bours of all, however weak, with some degree of success. 
 I have great expectations from the rising generation in 
 our country. They are trained up to activity and ex- 
 ertion. The old professors, many of them have accus- 
 tomed themselves to an idle way of spending their time. 
 They cannot, without great difficulty, break off old ha- 
 bits, and are not easily brought under the yoke ; but the 
 young work with skill, diligence, and cheerfulness. In a 
 religious and moral point of view, the state of our pea- 
 santry is gradually and continually improving. Fresh 
 advances are made every year. Hundreds of children and 
 young people have this year joined our societies. On 
 September 27, the children and young people of a whole 
 district were publicly examined by me in our chapel. I 
 never witnessed so aifecting a scene. They could hardly 
 make their responses, being so overcome with weeping, 
 and the whole congregation was similarly affected. All 
 these young people experienced religious impressions on 
 their minds within these nine months, and a very striking 
 change has taken place in their moral conduct. May 
 God make the work on their minds deep and lasting ! In 
 repeating scriptures descriptive of the misery of the un- 
 godly who die in their sins, they wept bitterly." t 
 
 This is amongst the last letters in print in which this 
 
 * Life of Charles.— P. 287. t Ibid P. 380. 
 
CHARLES, OF BALA. 129 
 
 servant of God expressed his ardent concern for the ad- 
 vancement of the King-dom of Grace. We give the very- 
 last within our reach, written Uttle more than three 
 months before his death : — 
 
 " Bala, June 24, 1814. 
 
 " I comfort myself much with the thought of Mr 
 
 A 's care and activity about the juvenile and adult 
 
 schools. It is a very important work, and its success 
 is connected with the welfare of immortal being-s for 
 ever ; therefore every exertion to promote it is import- 
 ant. Care for them is interwoven with all the feelings 
 of my mind ; and while my pulse beats at all, I cannot be 
 indifferent about their success. We had, last week, our 
 great annual (Association) meeting here. The congre- 
 gation, though always large, was more numerous by some 
 thousands than we have ever witnessed before. The 
 meeting lasted part of four days. There were fourteen 
 discourses delivered, and four private meetings held. 
 Great harmony prevailed in the private meetings, and 
 love, which is ' the bond of perfectness.' The public dis- 
 courses were edifying and powerful, and commanded the 
 attention of between 15,000 and 20,000 people without 
 intermission. The order and decorum which prevailed 
 among such a large concourse of people was great and plea- 
 sing. No signs of intemperance or disorder were perceived 
 among them. Nothing but the hand of God could have 
 preserved so much order among so many corrupt sin- 
 ners for so long together. It was the Lord's doing, and 
 it is marvellous, surpassingly marvellous, in our eyes. 
 When I was young, the Lord brought me into his house, 
 and goodness and mercy have followed me all my days ; 
 and I have been preserved by undeserved grace to see 
 these wonders of His kingdom. Great additions have 
 been made to our churches in general, last year, about 
 2000 in all. The Bible Societies, the schools, and every 
 good work set on foot, succeed among us ; and we hope 
 the kingdom of the little stone will soon fill our land. 
 May thy kingdom come speedily, O Lord I " * 
 
 * Life of Charles, p. 3 S3. 
 I 
 
130 WALES. 
 
 [1814.] In September, this year, tbis man of God 
 sickened, when from home. He was desh'oiis to reach 
 Bala once more ; and when that favour was granted him, 
 he said, on entering- his dwelling-, " Now I have nothing 
 to do but to die." This was the utterance of a heart 
 contented with all the divine appointments in reference to 
 him, and wiUing to lay his labours aside. He was not 
 yet old, and might have moved about among his populous 
 congregations for years, being aged only fifty-nine. But 
 he had lived a long life, compared to other men, of holy 
 contemplation, heavenly communion, and toilsome exer- 
 tion. Yet of this he made no account in the eye of the 
 Head of the Church, in whose sight all his works had 
 been carried on. He frequently said to the friend who 
 sat up with him, " Charles is only a poor sinner, a p»oor 
 unworthy sinner. I know I cannot be saved without 
 forgiveness ; but there is forgiveness with God." He 
 said several times, " I have settled the few things I 
 have in this world, and have committed my soul to the 
 Lord ; ' and I know whom I have believed, and am per- 
 suaded that he is able to keep that which I have com- 
 mitted to him against that day.' " Thus departed the 
 apostle of North Wales, and thus did " Bala bah " lose 
 the man who travailed for her souls. Yet though he be 
 fallen asleep, some remain until this day. Why should 
 it be that man is consistent only in his unfaithfulness ; 
 that when a great instrument expires, his work melts 
 away, and the stream of grace which fructified the region 
 and made the wilderness and solitary place glad, seems 
 to have sunk into the barren sand, or to have been 
 exhaled to its native heaven ? Is it to be ever thus, that 
 the Lord magnifies his respect for prayer, by sending 
 down blessings in reply to the petitions of his solitary 
 servants ? That, as he dealt with Israel of old, so now 
 he deals ? As long as Moses pleads he cannot but bless. 
 He says in his indignation, " Let me alone, that I may 
 destroy them, and blot out their name from under hea- 
 ven." Nevertheless, v/hen his servant cries mightily to 
 him, his avenging wrath is stayed, and his people are 
 blessed. Do those who believe on his name see this and 
 
CHARLES, OF BALA. 131 
 
 believe it, and are they yet slow to pray, and slack in 
 waiting- for a blessing- ? Are those g-ardens of the Lord 
 to have their walls broken down, and their fertile places 
 laid waste, for lack of faithful men to sustain them ? O 
 let it not be. Let our people sustain our teachers, and 
 uphold their hands in prayer, till all know the Lord from 
 the least to the greatest, and till the Spirit be poured out 
 on the young and the aged, and till the kingdoms of this 
 world become the kingdoms of our God and of his Christ. 
 
 We conclude the notices of this good man by taking 
 up the tender and mournful strain of the historian of the 
 Calvinistic Methodists in Wales. He mentions, that 
 when, in 1785, the aged Daniel Rowlands heard him 
 preach, he exultingly exclaimed, " Charles is a gift be- 
 stowed by the Lord on North Wales ! " " Yea," truly adds 
 his admiring biographer, " and on South Whales also." 
 
 " We cannot, however, pass on without saying some- 
 thing of one, the Rev. Thomas Charles, A. JB., of Bala, 
 who will not be forgotten when the billow of time shall 
 have cast many a generation yet unborn on the shores of 
 eternity; the loss of whose labours from the pulpit and by 
 the press has caused Wales to assume the widow's mournful 
 attire, and of which she can never be induced to divest 
 herself. Though we have mentioned him last, it is only 
 that we may the more uninterruptedly indulge our griefs, 
 and give full vent to our sorrows, when we contemplate 
 the removal of so excellent and so revered a parent. We 
 may with the greatest propriety say of him, as Solomon 
 does of the virtuous woman, ' Many have done virtuous- 
 ly, but thou excellest them all.' " * 
 
 We close this account, which gives but a few hints of 
 what the Lord hath wrought by reviving his church in 
 the Principality of Wales, by extracting a few stanzas 
 from a poem written by Mr Jones of Liverpool, first in 
 the Welsh language, and afterwards, at the request of 
 friends, translated by him into English, but still retaining 
 the measure which suits the beautiful old air to which it 
 is adapted ; and also retaining the Welsh rule of versiti- 
 
 * History of Calvinistic Methodists, p. 19. 
 
132 WELSH POETRY. 
 
 cation, which does not, as the English, require that the 
 penultimate syllable should rhyme as well as the last. 
 This renders it less harmonious to an English ear. The 
 burden of the verses, which is also the burden and name 
 of the old air, is retained untranslated, but admits of being 
 rendered, " By night" — " During the night" — or " All 
 through the night," as best suits the sense. 
 
 The poem is called " God's Defence of his People," 
 and, beginning with the earliest history, assembles toge- 
 ther the times when their deliverances and supports were 
 communicated during the night, till the reader feels asto- 
 nished by their multitude and truth. And one cannot 
 but feel, that, instead of driving the harpers out of the 
 land, as if they resembled the wizards and those who had 
 familiar spirits in Saul's days, we should rather anticipate 
 the time when the bards of the mountains shall minister 
 no longer to the levity and folly of their countrymen, but, 
 tuning their strains like David, sing to the glory of God 
 and the edification of his people. 
 
 The verses are taken almost at random ; and cheer us 
 with the thought, that, though W. Williams is now 
 tuning his harp in heaven, Wales is not left without a 
 bard whose songs still assist and enliven her devotions. 
 
 " Jacob once lay on a fallow, 
 
 Ar hyd y nos, 
 Far from home ; stones were his pillow, 
 
 Ar hyd y nos. 
 There he dreamed he saw a ladder 
 Joining heaven and earth together, 
 Angels on it passed each other, 
 
 Ar hyd y nos. 
 
 ** Where, said he, have I been lodging, 
 
 Ar hyd y nos. 
 What great wonders were unfolding ? 
 
 Ar hyd y nos. 
 Dreadful is this place and holy, 
 God's own house — the gate of glory ; 
 Yea, in Bethel I did tarry, 
 
 Ar hyd y nos. 
 
WELSH POETRY. 
 
 " la the lions' den lay Daniel, 
 
 Ar hyd y nos, 
 But his guardian was Gods angel, 
 
 Ar hyd y nos. 
 The fierce lions durst not harm him, 
 Safely with them he could rest him, 
 Though King Darius' sleep had left hin 
 Ar hyd y nos. 
 
 " Who doth fear the Lord among us, 
 
 Ar hyd y nos, 
 Harkening to the voice of Jesus ? 
 Ar hyd y nos. 
 Tho' in darkness he doth labour, 
 Sees no light and finds no succour, 
 Let him trust in God his Saviour, 
 Ar hyd y nos. 
 
 " None shall hurt or injure Zion, 
 
 Ar hyd y nos. 
 Her stronghold is God's salvation, 
 
 Ar hyd y nos. 
 For a cloud by day shall shade her. 
 Lest the sun or heat should harm her. 
 And a shining fire shall light her, 
 Ar hyd y nos. 
 
 '' While the wicked ever toileth, 
 Ar hyd y nos, 
 God's beloved safely sleepeth, 
 
 Ar hyd y nos. 
 When I wake I'll sing ' salvation,' 
 This is all my consolation, 
 And my reins give me instruction, 
 Ar hyd y nos. 
 
 " To see Jesus I am lonp;in?, 
 
 Ar hyd y nos, 
 
 And for Heav'n I'm always panting, 
 Ar hyd y nos. 
 
 133 
 
134 WELSH POETRY. 
 
 When I shall have passed o'er Jordan, 
 From the reach of sin and Satan, 
 I shall sing in happy Canaan, 
 
 ' Adieu to night.' " 
 
 A WARNING TO CARELESS SINNERS. 
 
 Oh, ye careless ones, consider 
 
 What of the night ! 
 
 Dreadful gloom awaits the sinner ; 
 
 How long the night ! 
 
 All your joy will turn to mourning, 
 
 And your mirth to bitter wailing ; 
 
 In Hell-fire there is no resting 
 
 All through the night. 
 
r 135 ] 
 
 CHAPTER IX. 
 REFLECTIONS. 
 
 In reviewing the few English and Welsh revivals 
 here presented, the most prominent fact is, that they were 
 all, excepting those under Walker and Venn, brought 
 about by methods differing considerably from each other, 
 though the truth which operated, and the ultimate effects 
 produced, were the same. The zeal of the pastors and 
 the necessities of the people, alike concurred to induce a 
 departure from common rules ; and those forms which, 
 at periods of supineness, are found sufficient and satisfac- 
 tory, become, under the urgency of fervent desires after 
 religious instruction, barriers and impediments, which 
 strong necessity overleaps. 
 
 Rowlands, Grimsbaw, and Berridge were suffered to 
 remain in the Established Church, though none of them 
 escaped his portion of rebuke and censure for irregulari- 
 ties ; and in the path of the Welsh Boanerges, as well as 
 in that of the eccentric apostle of Haworth, there sprung 
 up many dissenters of various denominations, yet all 
 of them adhering to the hope of salvation in Jesus Christ 
 alone. Whitefield, Wesley, and Charles were cast out of 
 the church solely on account of breaches of form. Their 
 influence was thus more widely extended, since by being 
 deprived of the hope of the usual promotion and support 
 to be derived from man, they had nothing to lose, and 
 were called upon the more zealously and fearlessly to de- 
 vote themselves to the service of God. And thus, what 
 Dr Chalmers has termed " the stationary apparatus of a 
 country where Christianity is established," was most 
 materially aided and quickened by what he calls " a mov- 
 able one," which he contemplates as adapted to mission- 
 ary exertion amongst the heathen alone. 
 
136 REFLECTIONS. 
 
 There was a period in the Church of England, from the 
 time of the restoration of the Stuarts, when conformity ^2& 
 so much the object of all those who wished to overcome the 
 confusion produced by the conflicts of Papists, Puritans, 
 and Episcopalians, that its pastors forgot the vital and spi- 
 ritual parts of religion in contending for its external order. 
 They passed by the poor soul dead in trespasses and sins, 
 while vvith a refined and cold style they addressed the 
 reason, and flattered the pride of man. They employed, 
 without comprehending it, a liturgy happily ardent with 
 the contrition, humiliation, and prayerfulness which the 
 Gospel alone can teach ; and immediately after presented 
 to their hearers a cold and motionless, but symmetrical and 
 complimentary essay, which must have led them to won- 
 der, if they reflected at all, at the humility of the ex- 
 pressions, and the intense earnestness of the appeals in 
 their previous prayers. Berridge, in his " Christian 
 World Unmasked," says, " men are rightly treated in the 
 reading desk, and called by their proper names of miser- 
 able sinners ; but in the pulpit they are complimented on 
 the dignity of their earthly, sensual, devilish nature; are 
 flattered with a princely will and power to save them- 
 selves, and are ornamented with a lusty badge of merit." 
 From this dead sea of soulless conformity, which might 
 tranquillize the fears of the mere lovers of order, the 
 Church was awakened by the instrumentality of such 
 men as Venn, Cadogan, Newton, Romaine, and Simeon, 
 among those who adhered strictly to her regulations. And 
 among those whose zeal or fearlessness led them to a 
 wider and more extended style of exertion, of such as 
 Berridge, Fletcher, Whitfield, Wesley, and Hill. And 
 however observers may have diff'ered in opinion as to the 
 modes of operating upon lost sinners, all have been con- 
 strained to confess, that the spirit of God owned the 
 work of each after his pecuHar manner. Whether the 
 first token of spiritual life was in many, as during the 
 early preaching of Berridge, and in much of Wesley's 
 course, an overpowering emotion which enfeebled the 
 frame, and produced fainting or convulsion; so that, 
 " falling down before the Church they worshipped God, 
 
REFLECTIONS. 137 
 
 and reported that God was in the preachers of a truth" 
 (1 Cor. xiv. 25) ; or whether it was by silent tears, or a 
 quiet and unobserved reception of saving- convictions, it is 
 certain that the spirit of all truth accompanied the word, 
 and that thousands of souls, after witnessing a good con- 
 fession, have, by their instrumentality, entered into the joy 
 of their Lord. Tens of thousands of British Christians are 
 at this day the offspring-, and have been trained by those 
 converts. Christians ought, from these varied operations, 
 to learn a lesson of distrust in their own opinions, and of 
 lowliness in the contemplation of their own mistakes, by 
 the conviction that many even of their cherished views may 
 be tinctured with error. The Head of the Church bears 
 with our folly, and will show it to ourselves when we are 
 delivered from this world of prejudice and misapprehen- 
 sion. And in the mean time, wherever regeneration and 
 justification by faith in Christ, and sanctitication by the 
 Holy Spirit, are taught, there He unites himself with his 
 ministers, as making them fellow workers with him ; 
 and there souls are won, in spite of all those minor dif- 
 ferences in doctrine, and those variations of Church 
 order, which have excited so much anxiety and heart- 
 burning among men. 
 
 Independent of the really weighty errors in doctrine 
 which have divided the Church from the earliest ages, 
 and assumed the form and name of such a variety of 
 isms, that both memory and imagination flag in recalling 
 them — and independent of the surprising emphasis laid 
 by some Episcopalians on the transmission of their divine 
 ordination from St Peter, through all the corruptions 
 and errors of Rome, to the present day — it is curious to 
 mark the power that habit has on even rational and sen- 
 sible minds. Men trained in college halls, and accus- 
 tomed to the magnificence of cathedrals, and to be sum- 
 moned by chimes of bells to their religious services under 
 roofs of consecrated cedar, scarcely feel themselves jus- 
 tified in using the canopy of heaven, or the amphitheatre 
 of a mountain side, or the free and direct light of the 
 blessed sun, for the purpose of worshipping the God 
 who created this glorious natural temple for the use 
 
138 REFLECTIONS. 
 
 of man. Their souls shudder at the disorderliness of 
 John Fletcher or John Berridge, in giving- notice of 
 a field-preaching- from their pulpits, and inviting their 
 hearers to attend. John Wesley's remarks on his first 
 attempts at field-preaching are genuine and simple, exhi- 
 biting- a mind overcoming- his taste, habits, and will, in a 
 conscientious pursuit of duty. 
 
 " March 31st, 1739. — In the evening I reached Bris- 
 tol, and met Mr Whitfield there. I could scarce reconcile 
 myself at first to this strange way of preaching in the fields, 
 of which he set me an example on Sunday ; having been 
 all my life-time, till very lately, so tenacious of every point 
 relating to decency and order, that I should have thought 
 the saving of souls almost a sin if it had not been done 
 in a church." 
 
 " April 1st. — In the evening, Mr Whitfield being 
 gone, I began expounding our Lord's Sermon on the 
 Mount — (one pretty remarkable precedent of field- preach- 
 ing; I suppose there were churches at that time also) ; — 
 to a little society which was accustomed to meet once 
 or twice a-week in Nicholas Street." 
 
 " Monday, 2d. — At four in the afternoon I submitted 
 to be more vile, and proclaimed in the highway the glad 
 tidings of salvation, speaking from a little eminence in a 
 ground adjoining to the city, to about three thousand 
 people." * 
 
 Men can hardly own that souls awakened under such 
 circumstances have been won by the same gospel, and 
 feel themselves obliged to form something very like 
 apologies for the blessed Lord himself, that mountain, 
 ship, or wilderness were as welcome to him for the pur- 
 pose of teaching perishing souls as were the synagogue or 
 the temple. Yet it appears that wherever a more than 
 usually powerful work of the spirit is vouchsafed, it is 
 either the result of extra-official eftbrts, or leads to them. 
 The Lord stirs up his people to watching, mutual con- 
 sultation, and prayer, as before that blessed revival at 
 the Kirk of Shotts ; and manifests his attention to their 
 
 * Wesley's Journal, vol. i. p. 178. 
 
REFLECTIONS. 139 
 
 petitions by a shower of blessings ; or he comes among 
 them unexpectedly, and arouses them suddenly, as by the 
 preaching- of Whitfield and Wesley among the Kings- 
 wood colliers ; and immediately watching, mutual consul- 
 tation, and prayer follow. Sabbath-day opportunities 
 then are felt to be too rare, churches too limited in their 
 capacity of accommodation, and usual religious services 
 too scanty to satisfy the hungering and thirsting after the 
 word of life ; and thus a necessity is laid on those whose 
 part it is to instruct and comfort, to use methods and 
 hours unemployed before. 
 
 These extra efforts, of which various examples are 
 here presented to the reader, have been the means of 
 drawing down more tokens of the favour of the divine 
 Spirit, or at least in a more remarkable manner, than the 
 beaten track of Sabbath and pulpit services. Need we 
 refer to the school examinations at Bala, and all over 
 North Wales, by Mr Charles and his coadjutors, where 
 much important truth was conveyed for the first time to 
 the grown up population, by means of the answers of 
 their children ; or to the tent-preachings and " speaking 
 to the question " in the Highlands of Scotland ; or to 
 the evening and early morning services of some of the 
 lively itinerants named above ? To these we might add, 
 what we have good reason to know of the fruits of 
 weekly prayer meetings in England and Scotland, where 
 the pastor has presided, and selected missionary intelli- 
 gence, or passages from authors, which have been refresh- 
 ing to his own spirit, or accounts of the answers to pra)'er, 
 and the manifest work of the spirit in other ages, or in 
 other churches. Of these unofficial and unusual methods 
 a very interesting example was witnessed by the Kev. 
 John Fletcher of Madley, when he was travelling on the 
 border country which unites France and Switzerland, in 
 1778. He describes it in a letter as follows : — " 1 was 
 better satisfied in passing through a part of the vale 
 which belongs to the King of France. 1 saw a prodi- 
 gious concourse of people, and supposed they kept a fair, 
 but was agreeably surprised to find three missionaries, 
 who went about as itinerant preachers to help the regular 
 
140 REFLECTIONS. 
 
 clerg-y. They had been there already some days, and 
 were three brothers, who preached morning- and evening. 
 The evening- service opened by what they called a con- 
 ference. One of the missionaries took the pulpit, and 
 the parish priest proposed questions to him, which he 
 answered at full length, and in a very edifying- manner. 
 The subject was the unlawfulness and the mischief of 
 those methods by which persons of different sexes lay 
 snares for each other, and corrupt each other's morals. 
 The subject was treated with delicacy, propriety, and 
 truth. The method was admirably well calculated to 
 draw and fix the attention of a mixed multitude. This 
 conference beings ended, another missionary took the pul- 
 pit. His text was our Lord's description of the day of 
 judgment. Before the sermon all those who could kneel 
 for the press did kneel, and sung a French hymn to beg a 
 blessing on the word ; and indeed it was blessed. An 
 awful attention was visible upon most, and for a good part 
 of the discourse the voice of the preacher was almost 
 lost amid the cries and bitter wailings of the audience. 
 When the outcry began the preacher was describing the 
 departure of the wicked into eternal fire. They urged 
 that God is merciful, and that Jesus Christ has shed his 
 blood for them. ' But that mercy you have slighted' 
 (replies the Judge), ' and now is the time of justice ; 
 that blood you have trodden under foot, now it cries for 
 vengeance. Know your day, slight the Father's mercy 
 and the Son's blood no longer.' I have seen but once or 
 twice congregations as much affected in England." * 
 
 The happy influence exercised by this superlatively 
 gentle and amiable Christian (Mr Fletcher) over young 
 persons is pleasingly described by himself, when he was 
 residing in Noyon, his native town, and could not be 
 employed to preach by the regular pastors. He says — 
 " The birds of my fine wood have almost done singing, 
 but I have met with a parcel of children, whose hearts 
 seem tuned towards singing the praises of God, and we 
 sing every day from four to five. Help us by your 
 
 * P. 243 and 244 of Benson's Life of Fletcher. 
 
REFLECTIONS. 141 
 
 prayers. * * * Grown up people stand fast in their 
 stupidity, or in their self-righteousness. The day I 
 preached I met with some children in my wood, walking 
 or gathering strawberries. I spoke to them about our 
 Father — our Common Father. We felt a touch of bro- 
 therly affection. They said they would sing to their 
 Father as well as the birds, and followed me, attempting 
 to make such melody as you know is commonly made in 
 these parts. I outrode them, but some of them had the 
 patience to follow me home, and said they would speak 
 with me : but the people of the house stopped them, 
 saying 1 would not be troubled with children. They 
 cried and said, ' they were sure I ivould not say so, for I 
 was their good brother.' The next day when I heard it, 
 I enquired after them, and invited them to come to me, 
 which they have done every day since. I make little 
 hymns, which they sing. Some of them are under sweet 
 drawings. Yesterday I wept for joy on hearing one of 
 them speak of conviction of sin, and joy unspeakable in 
 Christ which had followed, as an experienced believer 
 would do in Bristol. Last Sunday I met them in the wood; 
 there were a hundred of them, and as many adults. Our 
 first pastor has since desired me to desist from preaching 
 in the wood (for I had exhorted), for fear of giving 
 umbrage ; and I have complied, from a concurrence of 
 circumstances which are not worth mentioning. I there- 
 fore meet them in my father's yard." * 
 
 It is common to hear worldly people talk of the folly 
 of supposing that there is reality in the conversions of 
 children. " Poor little things, they repeated like parrots 
 what their mother taught them, and were exalted into 
 saints." As if the Holy Being who has created man 
 only takes cognizance of his spiritual condition at a cer- 
 tain age, or as if there is a period at which His Spirit is 
 not able to adapt itself to the instruction of a child. How 
 foolish, how daring is the thought I Such persons must 
 conclude Samuel to be a most unfit messenger to Eli, and 
 the selection of Jeremiah to bear the prophecies to Israel 
 
 P. 236 of Benson's Life of Fletcher. 
 
142 REFLECTIONS. 
 
 a most injudicious deed ; for Jeremiali said, 
 God, behold I cannot speak, for I am a child. But the 
 Lord said unto me, say not I am a child ; for thou shalt 
 go to all that I shall send thee, and whatsoever I com- 
 mand thee, thou shalt speak." There were many hun- 
 dreds of young- people drawn to the love of the truth by 
 the preaching- of Whitfield in particular. An eyewitness 
 has described them clustered round his station in Moor- 
 fields, listening with uplifted eyes, stretching their little 
 arms to prevent the vile missiles that were directed 
 against him by a viler mob, and shedding tears of love 
 and pity on one occasion when they saw him wounded 
 and bleeding. God has had many witnesses to his truth 
 amongst children, and even the noble army of martyrs 
 has been swelled by their numbers. In all revivals there 
 has been a proportion of children, and in the United 
 States we have heard of so solemn a spirit pervading a 
 town and neighbourhood where the Holy Spirit was 
 peculiarly poured forth, that the children would cease 
 from their sports, and be found on their knees under 
 hedges or in gardens, crying for mercy. 
 
 Missionaries employed by the Irish Society have found 
 the method of conveying instruction by holding a dia- 
 logue with some one of the company who has more gos- 
 pel knowledge than the others, a more potent way of 
 commanding attention than that of preaching. One who 
 passed several years in the vicinity of Cork states, that 
 he referred the opening of many minds there to his dia- 
 logues, chiefly with a pious female, who sometimes put 
 questions to him, and at other times the order of ques- 
 tion and answer was reversed. After the discussion of a 
 doctrine in this manner, he found the hearers more able 
 to comprehend a sermon on the subject. 
 
 In the East, the messengers of the gospel would not be 
 able to penetrate the minds of any native by regular dis- 
 courses. Our language of religion is all applied to other 
 meanings in the lands of idols. Preach to a Hindoo 
 about internal pollution, and his mind will run back to 
 some time when he ventured to eat something forbidden 
 by his Shaster. Tell him of transgressions of the law, 
 
REFLECTIONS. 143 
 
 and he will fix his contrition on the day when he touched 
 a dead body, or some carcase of an animal, or when his 
 humanity so far overcame his ideas of duty as to induce 
 him to draw a perishing- fellow-creature of another caste 
 out of a pit. Speak of the washing- of regeneration, and 
 he will think you mean to exhort him to set forth on a 
 pilgrimag-e to the cleansing- streams of Gunga. It is 
 obyiously then, not by formal discourses, but by con- 
 ference, by reiterated explanation, by questionings and 
 being questioned, that the missionary can discover mis- 
 apprehensions of his meanins:, and can convey distinct 
 instruction to the heathen. The scenes depicted by the 
 American teachers in the Burraan empire convey a hvely 
 picture of the conversational mode of instruction, as the 
 most successful method of breaking- up the fallow ground 
 and introducing the blessed word. Our ideas of a church, a 
 pulpit, a minister, and a congreeration, are so settled, that 
 we require an effort to emancipate our imaginations, so 
 as to place a church under a banyan-tree, and a preacher 
 submitting to all manner of interruption and enquiry, and 
 breaking off from the subject which he had purposed to 
 treat of, to diverge into that which may be occupying the 
 mind of one of his hearers. This, however, seems to 
 have been the method pursued by the blessed Lord him- 
 self, who was not only enquired of by bis disciples, but 
 by any one of the company, whether it were an ensnaring 
 Pharisee, or a sincere investigator of truth. These all by 
 their questions furnished occasions which Jesus never 
 failed to improve by his pertinent, weighty, and heart- 
 searching answers. We trust no reader can so far mis- 
 take our meaning, as to suppose that we esteem lightly 
 our privileges of well-ordered churches, and regular 
 opportunities of hearing the gospel. These are among 
 the highest gifts of a gracious Providence to our country. 
 They have been secured in return for the steadfastness, 
 the prayers, the sufferings, and the blood of our forefa- 
 thers. They have been the means of retaining a steady 
 ministration of gospel truth amongst ourselves, and have 
 enabled us to send forth messengers of good tidings to 
 our various colonies, and also to heathen regions where 
 
144 REFLECTIONS. 
 
 we had no previous footing. We would deprecate any 
 revolution in our church order ; but we earnestly desire 
 to impress on those who have charg-e of the altar, that 
 they ought to feel themselves at liberty, nay, urged to 
 apply other means, according- to the condition and local 
 circumstances of their flocks. If they desire great things 
 of the Holy Spirit, they must not expect them in return 
 for supineness, or the mere routine duties which the 
 ritual exacts. These are the " in season " operations 
 which command the common blessings. The " out of 
 season " operations draw down an uncommon or out-of- 
 season blessing. Truly we are not straitened in the 
 Lord, but in ourselves. Our want of zeal and courage 
 and industry confine our expectations, and act as dam- 
 pers to our hopes ; and thus, instead of " expecting 
 great things from God, and asking great things of God," 
 we are guilty of the sin of tempting Him to abandon our 
 Zion, by " limiting the Holy One of Israel." 
 
[ 145 ] 
 
 CHAPTER X. 
 
 IRELAND. 
 
 During the period when the house of Plantag'enet 
 reigned in England, a great portion of the north of Ire- 
 land was settled by Englishmen, who, in comparison 
 with the natives whose places they usurped, were a 
 people of high cultivation and moral advancement. 
 Many of the most able and influential of these English 
 settlers were recalled to assist in the protracted civil war 
 which devoured the prosperity of England during the 
 conflicts of the White Rose and the Red, 
 
 The native Irish, smarting under the usurpation of 
 their neighbours, seized the opportunity afforded by the 
 absence of the leading- men, to rise upon the defenceless 
 who remained, either exterminating whole families or 
 expelling them from the country. The natives of 
 Ulster, having thus recovered their original possessions, 
 were enabled exceedingly to molest the English settlers 
 in Leinster, Munster, and Connaught, so that many of 
 them also were glad to retreat from the island. These 
 Irish rebels, as they were called, were left pretty much 
 to themselves till the reign of Elizabeth, who took such 
 measures as the energy of her character dictated, and 
 presently brought them into subjection to her dominion. 
 Yet even then the north of Ireland was often a resort 
 for discontented persons, and the Highlanders of Scotland 
 joining them occasionally, the country was kept in a 
 state of turbulence entirely adverse to moral improve- 
 ment. 
 
 Till the accession of James VI. the English dwellers 
 in Ulster possessed but some towns and castles, places 
 capable of defence, while the adjacent and intervening 
 lands lay waste. la his reign, however, the desolate 
 
 K 
 
146 IRELAND. 
 
 lands were taken possession of, and many Scotsmen, 
 knowing at what an easy rate the fertile ground of Ulster 
 might be obtained, emigrated, taking with them flocks and 
 herds, so that the country obtained quickly a sufficient 
 population. Though centuries have passed since the 
 English first made a conquest of this beautiful island, 
 and though the religion established in England, whether 
 Popery or Protestantism, was nominally established also 
 in Ireland, it is matter of grief and humiliation, that to 
 this day, no general rational measures have been taken 
 to urge gospel truth into the remote and uncivilized dis- 
 tricts. It seems as if the " wild Irish," as they were 
 called, had been no more considered in providing the 
 ministrations of religion, than if they had possessed no 
 immortal part, and their language had not been capable 
 of conveying more rational ideas than the chattering of 
 baboons. Centuries have elapsed, and millions have 
 passed into eternity, who transferred their worship from 
 the gods of their forefathers, to the images of saints and 
 the virgin. And though they may have seen a crucifix, 
 they have known in truth as little of him who hung on 
 the cross, and of the God and Father of our Lord Jesus 
 Christ, as they might have done had they still retained 
 their Pagan names and observances. 
 
 Amongst the settlers in Ulster in James Sixth's time, 
 there was a mixture of characters ; there were some men 
 eminent for talents, education and birth ; but the majority 
 were persons whose spirit of adventure, or poverty, or, it 
 may be, loss of character, rendered a change of country 
 agreeable or convenient. It may therefore be supposed 
 that the propagatiou of religion was not much on their 
 minds, and that such preachers as followed them were 
 persons too generally of a character assimilated to their 
 own. It pleased God however, for the benefit of the 
 north of Ireland, to furnish some excellent exceptions to 
 the character of the mass of settlers — both amongst the 
 gentry and the clergy sent from Scotland, the fruits of 
 whose labours, and whose faithfulness in prayer, it is 
 delightful to dwell upon. 
 
 Ulster was under an Episcopal Establishment, like the 
 
ROBERT BLAIR. 147 
 
 other Irish provinces. But some of its bishops were 
 lenient persons, especially Knox, the Bishop of Rapho, 
 who reg-retted the wants of the uninstructed multi- 
 tudes in his diocese, and when either the scarcity of 
 clergymen of his own church, or the strong- preference 
 of the Scotch settlers for Presbyterian pastors rendered 
 it convenient, he winked hard at the admission of Scot- 
 tish ministers, nay, sometimes, omitted a portion of the 
 appointed service, which might have been offensive to 
 their consciences. 
 
 The Lord Clanniboy was a useful and zealous suppor- 
 ter of true rehgion, and under his protection a few emi- 
 nent men from Scotland w^ere tolerated for a time. It 
 was not long till the restless aim at conformity, or rather 
 uniformity in the church, was the means of disturbing 
 them from their stations, and leaving their poor flocks to 
 seek pasture where they might ; but during the time 
 they were suffered to remain, they were made useful in 
 conveying truth to many ; and though upwards of two 
 centuries have elapsed, the leaven of righteousness then 
 deposited in Ulster has not ceased to operate, and is still 
 productive of a higher tone of morals, a more correct de- 
 portment, and a clearer comprehension of divine truth, 
 than is to be found in any other part of the Island. In 
 1623, Robert Blair overcame a very strong aversion to 
 settling in Ireland, and accepted the invitation of Lord 
 Clanniboy to become minister of Bangor. He stated his 
 opposition to episcopacy and the liturgy, very distinctly 
 to Bishop Knox, expecting that this obstacle would 
 prove insurmountable. But the Bishop of Rapho was a 
 man of a truly Catholic spirit, and told Mr Blair that he 
 was so well satisfied of his piety that he would impose 
 no condition inconsistent with his principles, only he 
 must in conformity to the law ordain him. When the 
 staunch presbyterian objected to his sole ordination, the 
 bishop, who proved both his wisdom and humility by 
 yielding to informality when the exigences of perishing 
 souls demanded it, replied, " whatever you account of 
 episcopacy, I know you count a presbytery to have di- 
 vine warrant : will you not receive ordination from Mr 
 
148 IRELAND. 
 
 Cunningham and the adjacent brethren, and let rae come 
 in among them in no other relation than a presbyter ? " 
 This proposal Mr Blair accepted, and thus he was or- 
 dained minister of Bangor. 
 
 He found the people so ignorant, that besides preach- 
 ing twice in the week as well as on the Lord's day, he 
 found a more familiar method necessary, and passed as 
 much time as his strength would allow in exhorting and 
 catechising from house to house. A lively interest was 
 presently awakened, and he mentions two sermons in par- 
 ticular, one on the glory of heaven, and another on the 
 torments of hell, which so much affected the people, that 
 Lord Clanniboy requested him next Lord's day to repeat 
 them, reversing the time of the day when he did so, that 
 those persons who lived at a great distance and remained 
 but half the day might hear. As no part of these very 
 striking discourses had been committed to paper, he found 
 it impossible to repeat them. 
 
 A circumstance which he mentions as a " memorable 
 passage of divine Providence," which occurred in the 
 second year of his ministry, evinces a lively faith in the 
 efficacy of prayer, not only in himself and his neighbour- 
 ing ministers, but in the mass of the people, and in " the 
 wise heritors and whole possessors of the lands," who 
 gave glory to the Lord for hearing their prayers ; and 
 many after that set up the worship of God in their fami- 
 lies, who, previous to that event, had turned a deaf ear 
 to Mr Blair's exhortations on that subject. The " me- 
 morable passage " was this. There having been inces- 
 sant rain for a month in harvest, the corn was growing 
 a finger length in the sheaves, and the whole crop was 
 in hazard of perishing. " In this deplorable situation, 
 they resolved solemnly, by humiliation and fasting, 
 to beseech the Lord to avert the threatened famine. 
 When the day came it rained heavily from morning- 
 till night ; so that the Lord seemed to be thrusting out 
 their prayers from him. But that same night he sent a 
 mighty wind, which did fully dry the corn and check the 
 growing ; and this wind continuing to blow fair for two 
 days, the |;eople ceased, neither night nor day, till the 
 
SIX-MILE-WATER. 149 
 
 whole corn was got in. During- these two days, I and 
 two neighbour ministers, were continuing our suppli- 
 cations and thanksgivings to the Lord for this great 
 mercy."* 
 
 " The knowledge of God increasing amongst that peo- 
 ple, and the ordinance of prayer being precious in their 
 eyes, the work of the Lord did prosper in the place ; and in 
 this we were much encouraged both by the assistance of 
 holy Mr Cunningham, and by the good example of his 
 little parish of Holywood ; for knowing that diversity of 
 gifts is entertaining to the hearers, he and I did often 
 preach for one another ; and we also agreed to celebrate 
 the sacrament of the Lord's Supper four times annually 
 in each of our congregations ; so that those in both pa- 
 rishes who were thriving in religion, did communicate 
 together on all these occasions.-j- * *- * 
 
 " Mr John Rigg, the judicious and generous minister 
 of Antrim, perceiving many people on both sides of the 
 Six-mile-water awakened out of their security, made an 
 overture that a monthly meeting might be set up at 
 Antrim, which wa-s within a mile of Oldstone, and lay 
 centrical for the awakened persons to resort to, and he 
 invited Mr Cunningham, Mr Hamilton and myself, to 
 take part in that work, who were all glad of the motion, 
 and heartily embraced it. 
 
 " This meeting did continue for many years ; in the 
 summer day four did preach, and when the day grew 
 shorter only three ; and through the blessing of the Lord 
 on our labours, religion was spread through the whole 
 county and into the borders of some others. | Mr Li- 
 vingston, in his memorable character, mentions that Mr 
 Blair was a chief instrument of that great work at Six- 
 mile-water and elsewhere, in the north of L^eland, and 
 this not only by his own ministry, wherein he was both 
 diligent and faithful, but also by stirring up others. 
 
 " About the year 1630, Mr John Livingston, helper at 
 Torphichen, and who was greatly beloved by good people 
 there, having been oppressed by the bishops in Scotland, 
 
 * Life of Blair, p. 55. t Ibid. p. 56. X Ibid. p. 61. 
 
150 IRELAND. 
 
 came over to Ireland, and Bishop Knox of Rapho, re- 
 fusing" no honest man, Mr Livingston got in by this 
 chink, and was settled at Killinchie ; where, being- a man 
 of gracious melting spirit, he did much good, and the 
 Lord was pleased greatly to bless his ministry ; and much 
 about the same time, Mr Andrew Stuart, a learned gen- 
 tleman and fervent in spirit, was settled at Dunagor, and 
 was a successful minister during- the short time he lived, 
 for he died in the midst of his trials. The blessed work 
 of conversion, which was of several years continunace, 
 had now spread beyond the bounds of Antrim and Down 
 to the skirts of the neighbouring counties ; and the resort 
 of people to the monthly meetings and common occasions, 
 and the appetite of the people, were become so great, that 
 we were sometimes constrained, in sympathy to the 
 people, to venture beyond any preparation we had made 
 for the season. One time, I having been an assistant to 
 Mr Welsh at the administration of the sacrament in his 
 congregation, and having delivered one discourse on the 
 Saturday, I was to preach again on the Sabbath evening", 
 which exhausted all the provision I had made for that 
 time ; but many at a distance, who had been hindered by 
 the rising of the waters from coming- up on the Saturday, 
 arrived on the Lord's day ; so that I behoved to turn 
 aside, with a considerable auditory, to the court of the 
 Castle-yard, where I taught them as the Lord furnished; 
 and at night closed with the doctrine of thanksgiving. 
 
 " Having- already preached once more than I intended, 
 I was far from expecting that I would be more employed 
 on the occasion, but the Lord thought otherwise. For 
 on Monday morning many of the people having, on ac- 
 count of the crowd, gone into the kirk very early, some 
 of the elders came to me and entreated me that I would 
 go and read a piece of scripture to them if I could do no 
 more till the appointed preacher came in. My want of 
 preparation might have been accepted as an excuse, espe- 
 cially considering- how often I had been engaged already, 
 but they would take no naysay. So to the kirk they 
 went, and standing below the pulpit I offered such notes 
 as did cast up from the reading- of a portion of scripture, 
 
SIX-MILE-WATER. 151 
 
 not doubting of my being- relieved in due time. But 
 when the minister of the place (upon Mr Edward Bryce's 
 refusal to preach that diet) was entering- the church to 
 relieve me, the people without, who were generally those 
 who had heard me in the Castle-yard the day before, laid 
 hands on him, and without much ceremony or many 
 words, they carried him to the same place, and sent an 
 elder to acquaint me that I needed not expect any 
 preacher to assist me at that time. 
 
 <' This message troubled me so much, that some of the 
 spectators afterwards told me the blood went out of my 
 face in a moment. In this perplexity I knew not what 
 to do. But to frustrate the expectation of so many 
 people as had waited there since day, in expectation of 
 the word of life, grieved me exceedingly ; and to go to the 
 pulpit altogether unprepared as I was, especially at a time 
 when much was expected, and when there were several 
 persons present who were eminent for learning and know- 
 ledge, this looked like tempting Providence. Yet after 
 some short ejaculations, and looking to him who is a pre- 
 sent help in straits, I adventured to go to the pulpit ; and 
 in my preface before prayer, though I never durst do the 
 like before or since, I promised a blessing from God to 
 those who would seek the same and open their hearts to 
 receive it, seeing neither art nor industry had any part 
 in that exercise 
 
 <' After calling upon the name of the Lord, and earnest 
 wrestling for his presence with us, I read out a text ; and 
 the Lord so assisted, that, after a little explanation of 
 the words, a proposition to speak on was presented to 
 me ; and as I was just closing that, a second and after that 
 a third occurred to me, the discussing of which exhaust- 
 ed an hour-glass, and when that was run, three other 
 weighty points, all concatenated together, were offered to 
 me, the uttering of which might, I think, take as long- 
 time as all I had delivered. After I had ended speaking 
 to the people I closed with prayer and praise ; I then 
 hastened to my chamber to spend some time in admiring 
 the Lord's condescension. And though in all this I was 
 
152 IRELAND. 
 
 but the voice of one crying-, and he who sent me to preach 
 the g-ospel might have been seen to be my prompter, 
 yet so mnch applause was given me, that the next time 
 1 was invited to the like occasion in that country, I was 
 sore tempted to be wholly silent. But dear Mr Cunning- 
 ham, though he approved my jealousy, yet reproved 
 my hackdrawing, and did chide me out of that snare. In 
 my hiiste I had vowed not to set my foot in a pulpit at 
 that time, yet I yielded standing below to be doing 
 something, which 1 learned thereafter was followed by 
 no small blessing ; and indeed preaching and praying were 
 so pleasant in those days, and hearers so eager and greedy, 
 that no day was long enough and no place large enough 
 to answer their strong desires and large expectations." * 
 
 " One of the remarkable subjects of this work of grace, 
 was one Andrew Brown of the parish of Lern, who, 
 though he was born deaf and dumb, and had been of a 
 vicious loose conversation, yet of late years was so re- 
 markably changed to the better, not only in forsaking 
 his evil ways, but also joining himself to religious com- 
 pany, going apart at least mornings and evenings for 
 secret prayer, attending to the public worship of God, 
 and even weeping in time of sermons and the like, that 
 with the consent of all the ministers that dwelt at An- 
 trim, he was admitted to the Lord's table."-}- 
 
 [1642.] The faithful ministers who had been the 
 happy instruments of this work in the north of Ireland, 
 were silenced and driven away by the prelatical party in 
 1634, and the flocks were left without shepherds for 
 eight years, when the settlers from Scotland applied to 
 the General Assembly for a supply of ministers. This 
 request was complied with as far as the scarcity of useful 
 pastors at that time enabled them. Eight ministers were 
 sent annually, two at a time, who remained three months, 
 itinerating in the district of Ulster, estabhshmg sessions, 
 selecting elders, and ordaining such young men as offered 
 themselves to the ministry there. The Scots ministers 
 
 * Life ot Blair, pp. 65, 66, 67. t Ibid. p. 87. 
 
ROBERT BLAIR. 153 
 
 who had formerly been settled in Ireland were among- 
 the first who were sent back, and we find the following- 
 account of the contrition of the people who had been 
 diawn aside by false teachers, or driven away by the 
 llebeilion, in the Life of Robert Blair. 
 
 " During all the months Mr Blair was in Ireland, he 
 generally preached once every day, and twice on Sab- 
 bath, and frequently in the fields ; the auditories being- 
 so large that no house could contain them ; and in some 
 of these he administered the Lord's Supper. But be- 
 cause many of the people had formerly, through con- 
 straint, taken an oath imposed by the lord-deputy, abju- 
 ring the national covenant of Scotland, Mr Blair, after a 
 pathetic discourse laying out the guilt of that black oath, 
 charged all, whose conscience accused and condemned 
 them, to separate themselves from amongst those who 
 were not involved in that grievous provocation. And they 
 having willingly done so, and stood in a body on his left 
 hand, he, as a son, first of thunder, and then of consola- 
 tion, did, with great vehemency, energy, and warmth, 
 set before them the awful threatenings held forth by the 
 holy law against such transgressors ; and then endea- 
 voured to display the exceeding greatness of God's mercy 
 and grace, exhorting them to fiy to God for reconcilia- 
 tion and pardon through Christ. And after the guilty 
 had willingly, and with great expressions of grief and 
 sorrow, confessed their sin, they were received as sincere 
 penitents, and admitted to the holy communion. 
 
 " Of that solemnity several old experienced Christians 
 declared, that they never saw the like, nor ever heard 
 the gospel so powerfully preached, and pertinently ap- 
 plied, with such variety of threatenings, promises, exhor- 
 tations, motives, comforts, and cordials ; and that they 
 never saw such commotion and heartmelting among the 
 hearers, both guilty and innocent ; so that it might be 
 truly said, that • they gathered together' to that place 
 * and drew water and poured it out before the Lord, and 
 said we have sinned against the Lord.' — 1 Sam. vii. 6." 
 
 " During this short visit to Ireland, both ministers and 
 professors had many sweet and soul-refreshing- days of 
 
154 IRELAND, 
 
 the gospel, and some solemn hig-h Sabbaths ; the like of 
 which Mr Blair seltlom enjoyed in St Andrews." * 
 
 In the preceding extracts given from Mr Blair's Life, 
 mention has been made of Mr Livingston's translation 
 to Ireland. Some interesting particulars of the pro- 
 ceedings there, confirmatory of the previous statements, 
 are afforded by him, which we shall now quote. He 
 says, during the winter after his settlement at Kill- 
 inchie, " I was often in great heaviness, for although 
 the people were very tractable, yet they were gene- 
 rally very ignorant, and I saw no appearance of doing 
 any good among them ; yet it pleased the Lord that 
 in a short time some of them began to understand 
 somewhat of their condition. Not only had we public 
 worship free from any inventions of men, but we had 
 also a tolerable discipline ; for after I had been some 
 while among them, by the advice of the heads of fami- 
 lies, some who were thought most able for that charge, 
 were chosen elders to oversee the manners of the rest, 
 and some deacons to gather and distribute the collec- 
 tions. We needed not to have the communion often, 
 for there were nine or ten parishes within the bounds of 
 twenty miles, wherein there were godly and able minis- 
 ters that kept a society together, and every one of these 
 had the communion twice a year, at different times, and 
 had two or three of the neighbour ministers to help 
 thereat, and most part of the religious people used to 
 resort to the communion of the rest of the parishes. 
 These ministers were Mr Blair of Bangor, Robert Cun- 
 ningham of Holywood, James Hamilton of Ballywater, 
 John Ridge at Antrim, Henry Colvert at Oldstone, 
 George Dunbar at Lerns, Josiah Welsh at Temple- 
 patrick, and Andrew Stuart at Dunagor. Most of these 
 used to meet the first Friday of every month at Antrim, 
 where was a great and good congregation, and that day 
 was spent in fasting and prayer and public preaching ; 
 commonly two preached every forenoon, and two in the 
 afternoon. We used to come together the Thursday 
 
 * Life of Blair, pp. 96, 97. 
 
SIX-MILE-WATER. 155 
 
 night before, and stay the Friday night after, and con- 
 sult about such things as concerned the carrying on of 
 the work of God ; and these meetings amongst ourselves 
 were sometimes as profitable as either presbyteries or 
 synods ; and out of these parishes now mentioned, and 
 some others also, such as laid religion to heart used to 
 convene to those meetings, especially out of the Six- 
 mile-water, which was nearest, and where was the great- 
 est number of religious people ; and frequently the Sab- 
 bath after the Friday meeting, the communion was cele- 
 brated in one or other of these places. 
 
 " Among all these ministers there was never any jar 
 or jealousy, yea nor among the professors, the greatest 
 part of them being Scots, and some good number of very 
 gracious English, all whose contention was to prefer 
 others to themselves ; and although the gifts of the 
 ministers were much different, yet it was not observed 
 that the people followed any to the undervaluing of 
 others. Many of these religious professors had been 
 both ignorant and profane, and for debts and want, and 
 for worse causes, had left Scotland ; yet the Lord was 
 pleased by his word to work such a change, that I do not 
 think there were more lively and experienced Christians 
 any where than were at that time in Ireland, and that in 
 good numbers, and several of them persons in good out- 
 ward condition in the world. Being but lately brought 
 in, the lively edge was not yet gone off them ; and the 
 perpetual fear that the bishops would put away their 
 ministers, made them with great hunger wait upon the 
 ordinances. I have known them come several miles 
 from their own houses to communions for the Saturday*s 
 sermon, and spend the whole Saturday night in several 
 companies, sometimes a minister being with them, some- 
 times themselves alone, in conference and prayer, then 
 wait on the public ordinances the whole Sabbath, and 
 spend the Sabbath night likewise, and yet at Monday's 
 sermon they were not troubled with sleepiness, and so have 
 not slept till they went home. Because of their holy 
 and righteous carriage, they were generally reverenced 
 even by the graceless multitude among whom they lived. 
 
156 IRELAND. 
 
 Some of them had attained such dexterity of expressing 
 religious purposes by the resemblance of worldly things, 
 that, being at feasts and meals in common inns, where 
 were some ignorant profane persons, they would among 
 themselves entertain a spiritual discourse for a long time, 
 and the others professed that, though they spoke good 
 English, they could not understand what they said. In 
 those days it was no great difficulty for a minister to 
 preach or pray in public or private, such was the hunger 
 of the hearers, and it was hard to judge, whether there 
 was more of the Lord's presence in the public or private 
 meetings." * 
 
 Mr Fleming, in his work on " The Fulfilling of the 
 Scriptures," alludes to this lively work as follows : " I 
 shall here also instance that solemn and great work of 
 God, which was in the Church of Ireland some years 
 before the fall of Prelacy. About the year 1628, and 
 some years after, which, as many grave and solid Christ- 
 ians yet alive can witness who were there present, was a 
 blithe and hot sunblink of the gospel. Yea, it may with 
 sobriety be said to have been one of the largest manifes- 
 tations of the Spirit, and of the most solemn times of 
 the downpouring thereof, that almost since the days of 
 the apostles hath b.een seen. The power of God did 
 sensibly accompany the w^ord with an unusual motion 
 upon the hearers, and a very great tack f as to the con- 
 version of souls to Christ. The goings of the Lord 
 were then full of majesty, and the shout of a king was 
 heard in the solemn meetings of the people. As a judi- 
 cious old Christian who was there present did express it, 
 he thought it was like a dawning beam and ray of God, 
 with such an unusual brightness, as even forced bystand- 
 ers to an astonishment. A very effectual door opened, 
 with more than ordinary enlargement, which the mini- 
 sters of Christ there did find in preaching the Word ; 
 whilst the people might be seen hearing the same in a 
 melting frame, with much tenderness of spirit. Surely 
 
 • Life of John Livingston. 
 
 f " Tack," a Scotch word, implying a great draught offish. 
 
IRELAND. 157 
 
 this was the very power of God, a convincing seal to the 
 truth and ministry of his servants, who were then perse- 
 cuted by the prelates ; yea, a thing which, as it was 
 known, had an awful impression, and was a terror to their 
 adversaries. I remember, among- other passages, what a 
 worthy Christian told me, how, sometimes in hearing- the 
 Word, such a power and evidence of the Lord's presence 
 was with it, that he hath been forced to rise and look 
 through the church to see what the people were doing — 
 thinking, from what he felt in his own spirit, it was a 
 wonder how any could go away without some change 
 upon them. And then it was easy for Christians to 
 come thirty or forty miles to the solemn communions 
 which they had, and there continue, from the time they 
 came until they returned, without wearying or making 
 use of sleep ; yea, but little of either meat or drink : and 
 as some of them professed, they did not feel the need 
 thereof, but went away most fresh and vigorous, their 
 souls being tilled with the sense of God." * 
 
 The blessed time of refreshing at the Six-mile-water 
 was during the primacy of Archbishop Usher, and the 
 Presbyterian ministers, who were the instruments of that 
 revival, were indebted to the connivance or mollifying 
 counsels of that liberal and devout prelate for all the 
 indulgence which was extended to Ireland. During the 
 same period Bedell was bishop of Kilmore. This holy 
 man's industry in his diocese, but particularly the pains 
 he took to acquire the Irish language, rendered his ser- 
 vices peculiarly acceptable and influential. His biographer 
 relates, that " Every day after dinner and supper " (and 
 be it marked his table was often crowded by the poor in 
 rags, as well as by those who might have been deemed 
 more meet associates for a bishop) " there was a chapter 
 of the Bible read at his table, whosoever was present, 
 Protestant or Papist, and Bibles were laid down before 
 every one of the company, and before himself either the 
 Hebrev/ or Greek, and in his last years the Irish trans- 
 
 * " Fleming's Fulfilling of the Scriptures."— Vol. i. p. 337. 
 
158 IRELAND. 
 
 lation was laid, and he usually explained the difficulties 
 that occurred." * 
 
 His accomplishing his Irish translation, so as to have 
 it added to the number of copies of the Holy Scriptures 
 laid on his table at family worship, must have afforded 
 one of the purest satisfactions of his life. But the fear- 
 ful rebellion which broke out in the last year of his life, 
 and rendered that devoted country an Aceldama^ dis- 
 persed his flock, and rendered much of his work abortive, 
 so that many years passed away before his Irish Bible 
 was made available for Ireland. The impression made 
 by his character and preaching- was shown in the conduct 
 of the rebels at his death. It must be remembered, that 
 this took place at a time when every Protestant in the 
 vicinity of Kilmore had been destroyed, with the excep- 
 tion of those who fled or took refuge under the Bishop's 
 roof. " The Irish did him unusual honour at his burial, 
 in 1642, for the chief of the rebels gathered their forces 
 together, and with them accompanied his jjody from 
 Sheredan's house to the churchyard of Kilmore in great 
 solemnity, and they desired Mr Clogy to bury him ac- 
 cording to the office prescribed by the Church ; but 
 though the gentlemen were so civil as to offer it, yet it 
 was not thought advisable to provoke the rabble so much, 
 as perhaps that might have done ; so it was past over. 
 But the Irish discharged a volley of shot at his interment, 
 and cried out in Latin, ' Requiescat in pace ultimus 
 Anglorum^ for they had often said, that as they esteemed 
 him the best of the English bishops, so he should be the 
 last that should be left among them." f 
 
 In July, 1649, the celebrated Dr Owen went to Dub- 
 lin, where, by his own account, he was engaged in con- 
 stant preaching to a numerous multitude of as thirsting 
 people after the gospel as he had ever conversed with." 
 In February, 1650, Dr Owen having returned to London, 
 was appointed to preach before the Parliament on a day 
 of humiliation. His heart was full of anxiety about 
 
 * Life of Bedell, p. 222. t Ibid. p. 218. 
 
IRELAND. 159 
 
 Ireland, and he used the opportunity to plead for her des- 
 titute and thirsting- population. " God has been faithful 
 in doing great things for you, be faithful in this one — do 
 your utmost for the preaching- of the gospel in Ireland, 
 Give me leave to add a few motives to this duty. 1. They 
 want it. No want like theirs who want the gospel. 
 I would there were for the present one gospel preacher 
 for every walled town in the English possessions in 
 Ireland. The land mourneth, and the people perish for 
 want of knowledge ; many run to and fro, but it is upon 
 other designs — knowledge is not increased. 2. They are 
 sensible of their wants, and cry out for supply. The tears 
 and cries of the inhabitants of Dublin after the mani- 
 festation of Christ are ever in my view. If they were 
 in the dark, and loved to have it so, it might somewhat 
 close a door on the bowels of our compassion, but they 
 cry out of their darkness, and are ready to follow every 
 one to have a candle. If their being without the gospel 
 move not our hearts, it is hoped their importu7iate cries 
 will disquiet our rest, and wrest help as a beggar doth an 
 alms.'* The expressions in this sermon indicate a state 
 of lively hungering among the Irish Protestants after re- 
 ligious truth, and many such excitements have originated 
 and expired without obtaining the aid longed for in the 
 extent required. It is not the purpose of this work to 
 dwell on the neglected and desolate regions of the earth, 
 but rather to select the cultivated and prosperous spots 
 which have so well repayed the culture, so as to encourage 
 Christians to extend and redouble their labours. 
 
 About the end of the seventeenth century, the un- 
 settled state of the British Government, and of the 
 religious opinions of men, had occasioned a fearful aqd 
 daring exhibition of vice and practical infidelity ; but 
 still the Lord had a watching and praying people, who 
 groaned over the wickedness of the land. In London 
 first, that centre of the power both of good and evil 
 in this country, originated Reformation Societies, which 
 had recourse to the strong arm of the law for the re- 
 
160 IRELAND. 
 
 pression of proflig-acy, while to this they joinerl private 
 prayer and the dissemination of knowledge by conference 
 and by the distribution of little books and cheap tracts, 
 much in the form of the Tract Societies of the present 
 day, but with less publicity, and on a smaller scale. These 
 measures excited jealousy in the reign of James II., so 
 that the societies narrowly escaped being- dissolved by 
 authority of the Bishop of London ; and for their secu- 
 rity they found themselves obliged to have recourse to 
 the device of holding- their meetings in retired rooms of 
 coffee-houses, under the name of clubs. Even under such 
 impediments they were very useful, and by their inilu- 
 ence and exertions, swearing, drunkenness. Sabbath-mar- 
 kets, &c., were banished from the streets, and shops were 
 not permitted to be opened on the Lord's day. When 
 William and Mary came to the throne, a better spirit 
 was introduced in the highest quarter, and under the 
 influence of Dr Stillingfleet, the Queen set herself pub- 
 licly to patronize all these hitherto concealed societies, 
 by which means many joined them who were before un- 
 conscious of their existence. Churchmen and dissenters 
 united their streng-th, and worked indiscriminately in this 
 matter. The money which was levied as mulcts or fines, 
 was given to the poor, or expended in the dissemination 
 of tracts. Several evening- lectures, which still exist in 
 the city of London, had their origin at this time, and 
 various companies for visiting the sick poor at their 
 houses arose out of them. This excellent leaven extended 
 itself to many other cities in England, and (which is the 
 reason for mentioning- it here) Ireland also was made a 
 partaker in the blessing, so that Kilkenny, Drogheda, 
 Maynouth, &c., but especially Dublin, became the seats 
 of similar societies. The Bishop of Dublin and the in- 
 ferior clergy were not jealous of them as the London 
 clergy had been, so that at one time nine or ten were in 
 full operation at once. " These persons meet often to pray, 
 sing psalms, and read the Holy Scriptures together, and 
 to reprove, exhort, and edify one anolher by their reli- 
 gious conferences. They, moreover, carry on at their 
 
IRELAND. 161 
 
 meetings designs of charity of different kinds, such as 
 relieving the wants of poor housekeepers, maintaining 
 their children at school, setting of prisoners at liberty, 
 supporting of lectures and daily prayers in our churches. 
 These are the societies which our late gracious Queen, 
 as the learned bishop that hath writ an essay on her 
 memory tells us, took so great satisfaction in, ' that she 
 enquired often and much about them, and was glad they 
 went on and prevailed,' which, thanks be to God, they con- 
 tinue to do, as the Rev. Dr Woodward, who hath obliged 
 the world with a very particular account of the rise and 
 progress of them, hath lately acquainted us. And these 
 likewise are societies that have proved so exceedingly 
 serviceable in the work of reformation, that they may be 
 reckoned a chief support to it, as the late Archbishop 
 Tillotson declared, upon several occasions, after he had 
 examined their order, and enquired into their lives." * 
 
 It would appear from an expression of this author, in 
 his own quaint manner, that the Reformation societies 
 had an influence in Ireland more powerful than in Eng- 
 land, and thus ; — " very little honourable to the country 
 where they took their rise," the work began there among 
 persons of the lower orders, and of little influence ; and 
 the real vigour and wisdom with which they proceeded, 
 by and by drew in the archbishop, clergy, magistrates, 
 and gentry ; " some of whom have shown a zeal which, 
 if it prevailed the three kingdoms over, might soon pro- 
 duce a glorious reverse of the state they are now in, and 
 which, in less than two years, hath succeeded, though 
 not without such various opposition as might be expect- 
 ed from combinations of bad men, to that degree in 
 Dublin, that the profanation of the Lord's Day, by tip- 
 pling in public-houses, by exercising of trades, &c. &c., is 
 almost suppressed ; so that public disorders are remark- 
 ably cured, and, in short, vice is afraid and ashamed to 
 show its head where, within a few years past, it was 
 daring and triumphant." f 
 
 As an individual instance illustrates a matter, and in- 
 
 * Gillies's Collections, vol. i. p. 429. f Ibid, vol. i. p. 434. 
 
 L 
 
162 IRELAND. 
 
 terests raore than many general observations, we intro- 
 duce one example of the kind of benefits derived from 
 these exertions — " I was once present at one of their 
 conferences, when a poor man came with most earnest 
 aifection, to return them thanks for what they had done, 
 both for his body and soul. It seems he was a perfect 
 stranger to them all, and to every other person in the 
 place, where God cast him down with a sharp sickness, 
 in which, as he said, his body and soul had hke to have 
 perished together. He had lived a very ill life, and been 
 much disused to the ordinances of God by reason of his 
 seafaring life ; and being now come on shore sick, and 
 being about a hundred miles from his abode and acquaint- 
 ance, he fell into great want. Upon which some of this 
 society, perceiving his distress, recommended him to the 
 rest ; and they readily allowed him a weekly pension for 
 eight weeks together, till he was recovered. And one 
 of the society being a surgeon, carefully dressed a very 
 grievous sore which he had ; and, by God's blessing, re- 
 stored it to perfect soundness. Others of them went to 
 him, and read good books by his bed, which tended to 
 the improvement of God's visitation upon him. They 
 also fetched the minister of the place to him, and got a 
 collection from some charitable neighbours. And, upon 
 the whole, he recovered, and seemed to be a reformed man, 
 and came then to render his praises to God, and thanks 
 to his Christian friends. I mention but few, of multi- 
 tudes of such instances." * 
 
 Such strenuous exertion, and so much of the spirit of 
 love and of prayer, was not likely to limit itself to the 
 native land, and accordingly we find, that out of the 
 Reformation societies arose " The Society for Propa- 
 gating the Gospel in foreign parts," in 1701, William 
 III. being the patron. Their endeavours are chiefly to 
 promote Christianity, after the Episcopal form, in the 
 English colonies. And about the same time, the " So- 
 ciety for Promoting Christian Knowledge," the design 
 of which was the erection of schools in all parts of Eng- 
 
 Gii ies's CollectioDS, vol. i. p. 454. 
 
IRELAND. 163 
 
 land and Wales, and the dispersion of Bibles and other 
 tracts of religion, and to advance the honour of God and 
 the good of mankind both at home and abroad, by the 
 best methods that should offer. 
 
 In 1707, we find the General Assembly of the Church 
 of Scotland publishing- a paper, entitled, " Proposals 
 concerning- the Propag-ation of Christian Knowledge 
 in the Highlands and Islands of Scotland, and foreign 
 parts of the World ;" and, in 1709, royal letters-patent 
 were obtained, establishing- such a society. Thus is true 
 rehgion naturally disposed to propagate itself, and thus, 
 though the means seem weak, and the progress slow, we 
 can comprehend the method by which the Lord will 
 evangelize the world, and also, which is for us a very 
 solemn consideration, how our supineness and prayer- 
 lessness may impede the progress of the Holy Spirit's 
 work, and delay the glorious era when the whole earth 
 shall be filled with his glory. 
 
 It is particularly affecting to see places which once 
 have flourished as the garden of the Lord, allowed to 
 return to their wilderness condition. This has been 
 peculiarly the fate of poor Ireland, where, w henever the 
 Lord had a people, his dealing with them seems to have 
 been to " show them hard things," and whenever they 
 who feared him would have displayed their banner be- 
 cause of the truth, they have been trodden under foot of 
 savage men, or scattered abroad to seek freedom of wor- 
 ship in foreign countries. Yet one who knew them well, 
 and judged them kindly, said, " The native Irish have 
 passions the most susceptible of impression of any people, 
 1 believe, in Europe ; if, therefore, their warm affections 
 can be engaged on the side of truth, they will probably 
 become one of the most rehgious nations on the globe." 
 Dr Coke, who thus remarked, is surely right, for where 
 are there such zealous, frank-hearted, and laborious 
 Christians as the few Irish specimens that we have seen ? 
 And here and there, wdiere readers, missionaries, or 
 teachers have had room to make any impression, it is 
 affecting to hear how much danger they will encounter 
 
164 IRELAND. 
 
 from persecutors, and how much ardour they will dis- 
 play to spread " the Story of Peace " around them. 
 
 The Synod of Ulster, which, through many trials by 
 persecution, by false doctrine, and by false brethren, has 
 been for a century satisfied if it could maintain itself 
 undiminished, instead of making- inroads on the Popish 
 or heathen people who are mixed up in its borders, is at 
 last happily ahve to its position and its duties. Instead 
 of contenting- itself with keeping together its few sheep, 
 it has recently awakened to the conviction that it is a 
 Christian duty to gather in all those who are out of the 
 fold. A missionary, and consequently a prayerful and 
 a revival spirit, has of late been bestowed upon them ; 
 and in September, 1833, they met, in their united cha- 
 racter of a Synod, not in their usual places of resort, 
 but in Dublin, for the purpose of mutual counsel and 
 encouragement. Some days were spent in seeking- the 
 Lord, and advising with and cheering each other to the 
 honourable work. During this period four most anima- 
 ting- discourses were preached, and many speeches deli- 
 vered, which breathe so much of the spirit of grace and 
 of faithfulness, that the Christian world is on tiptoe to 
 see when the Holy Spirit shall pour out of his promised 
 blessings. The writer who reports this interesting con- 
 clave of servants of the Redeemer says — " The Lord in his 
 inexpressible mercy has visited our church with a season 
 of abundant refreshment from his presence. In every 
 direction there are evident signs of a revival. * * * 
 We bless God that he is raising- up men of the true 
 missionary spirit. Simple, self-denying-, energetic men, 
 of strong faith and fervent love, who seem to live for the 
 gospel. The Synod of Ulster, we rejoice to say, are 
 taking a prominent share in the heart-stirring operations 
 of the present time. They have made a more decisive 
 advance in spiritual life and power within the last few 
 years than in the previous half century." * 
 
 It were out of place here to recite much of the con- 
 tents of the report, but we introduce two brief extracts. 
 The one from the speech of the Rev. Duncan Macfarlane 
 
 * Introduction to Report of Special Meeting of Synod of Ulster. 
 
IRELAND. 165 
 
 of Renfrew, one of two clergymen from Scotland, who 
 went over, as in the old time, to take sweet counsel with 
 their brethren ; and the other from the speech of the 
 Rev. James Alfred Canning-, a youth whose zeal and 
 love seem calculated to encourage and excite very many. 
 " It was for the accomplishment of the conversion of 
 sinners, and the building up of churches, that the spirit 
 was specially given to the church. The words of our 
 Lord, as well as the history of the Apostles, are very 
 expressive on this point. He commanded his disciples 
 to remain at Jerusalem, and not to go forth preaching- 
 the gospel at large till they had received the promise of 
 the Father ; and then it is added, ' But ye shall receive 
 power after that the Holy Ghost is come upon you, and 
 ye shall be witnesses unto me, both in Jerusalem and all 
 Judea, and in Samaria, and unto the uttermost parts of 
 the earth' The spirit was given to the church to qualify 
 her for carrying- into effect our Lord's command, ' Go ye 
 into all the world, and preach the gospel to every crea- 
 ture ;' and it was affixed as an express condition that 
 the power thus obtained should be employed in bearing 
 witness to the truth in Jerusalem, Judea, Samaria, and 
 to the uttermost parts of the earth. So long as the church 
 did act upon this principle the power of the spirit in the 
 conversion of sinners was manifestly present with her ; 
 and is it to be wondered at, that when she ceased to 
 act upon it, this power should be withdrawn ? If it 
 were for this end that it was given, did not the very 
 pursuance of this end require that when it ceased to be 
 so employed, it should be withdrawn ? The power of 
 the spirit, as experienced by the church, is a talent 
 intrusted for a particular end ; while that end continued 
 to be served the talent increased, but when it was wrapped 
 in a napkin and b iried, it was taken away; or, like the 
 manna laid up contrary to the divine command, it gave 
 way to corruption in the church." * 
 
 *' If the nature of prayer be but imperfectly under- 
 stood in our day, I beheve that the necessity and the 
 
 * Speech of Rev. Duncan Macfarlane of Renfrew. 
 
166 IRELAND. 
 
 efficacy of prayer in promoting the interests of the 
 gospel are still more imperfectly felt and applied. I 
 fear, sir, that we have become so conversant in our day 
 with human prudence and human plans in spreading the 
 gospel, that believing and humble prayer has been jostled 
 out of that prominent and commanding station which it 
 ought ever to occupy among them all. If this be not 
 the fact, I would ask you, sir, to account for the compa- 
 ratively little success which has attended the operations 
 of our almost innumerable societies for diffusing the 
 light of the gospel ; why has so little work been done 
 by a power which seemed effective ? I know no other 
 answer which can be given to the question than this, 
 that while we have gotten together the strong bones of 
 prudent plans, and laid upon them the powerful muscles 
 of untiring diligence, and wound around them the nerves 
 of undying zeal, we have not been careful to prophesy 
 upon the frame we have thus constructed, and by believ- 
 ing prayer to get into it the breath and the blessing of 
 heaven. We have exercised our ingenuity, sharpened I 
 do believe by the Spirit's aid, in constructing splendid 
 machinery ; but we have too often forgotten, by earnest 
 and believing prayer, to bring down upon it the moving 
 power, which must still be the Spirit of God." * 
 
 We know of no church honestly and heartily engaged 
 in the great mission of converting the world which is 
 not itself a living church ; and they who do not occupy 
 themselves in enlarging their borders are sure to have 
 them straitened by reason of their own coldness. This 
 missionary movement in Ulster is not mentioned as a 
 solitary instance, for while Britain has at last, in many 
 ways, been seeking to act upon Ireland, Ireland has also at 
 various points been acting on herself. But if Mr Blair's 
 estimate of Ulster's influence on the other parts of the 
 kingdom be true, namely, that " Ulster being for suppo- 
 sition like the thumb in the hand, which is able to hold 
 against the four fingers," then we may anticipate power- 
 ful results from its present measures. 
 
 * From Rev. James Alfred Canning's Speech. 
 
[ 167 ] 
 
 CHAPTER XI. 
 
 SCOTLAND. 
 
 When the darkness of Popery first began to be dispersed 
 by the rays of truth, which feebly penetrated it, Scotland, 
 like other European countries, received occasional gleams 
 of the true light, which irradiated a scanty portion of 
 the land, and generally were smothered in the fires of 
 persecution. Early in the fifteenth century some of the 
 opinions propagated by Wickliff were carried to Scotland, 
 and so far does the church seem to have been ripe for 
 reformation, that it at least felt the burden of its cere- 
 monies, and was become sensible of its corruptions ; so 
 that no man lifted his voice against them without quick- 
 ly obtaining willing followers. 
 
 In 1422, James Risby was put to death for denying 
 that the Church of Rome was head of all other churches. 
 That the bishop of that See (meaning the Pope) had 
 pre-eminence over bishops in other countries, and that 
 the clergy and monks ought to possess temporal power. 
 These sentiments he adopted from Wickliif, and for his 
 propagation of these he paid the forfeit of his life. It 
 does not appear whether there was converting power 
 with his preaching, or what was the character of the ef- 
 fect produced among his followers. But his execution 
 seems to have been among the first of a series of scenes 
 of tyranny and bloodshed arising from papal animosity 
 against the truth. His fate is mentioned in the Records of 
 the city of Glasgow. 
 
 The most affecting case of all the early martyrs of 
 the Reformation was that of Patrick Hamilton, a man 
 had in admiration and reverence by many on account 
 of his learning, integrity, and singleness of purpose in 
 propagating the truth that he had been taught. His 
 heart could not find satisfaction in the German Univer- 
 
168 SCOTLAND. 
 
 sities, where the society of Luther and Melancthon 
 and the tuition of Lambert might have attracted him 
 to pass his days, " but the zeal of God's glory did 
 so eat him up, that he could not rest till he returned 
 into his own country, where the bright beams of the 
 true light which, by God's grace, were planted in his 
 heart, began most abundantly to break forth, both in pub- 
 lic and in secret/'* His influence was too powerful and 
 too hateful to such men as Beaton, Archbishop of St 
 Andrews, to be left long without a check. As he was 
 allied to the highest rank in the kingdom, and as his 
 holy life had filled many with reverent admiration, it re- 
 quired the stratagem of procuring the absence of the 
 King, and exciting the nobles into a ferment, before the 
 Archbishop dared to perpetrate his dark purpose. In 
 1527 this triumph of the enemy of all truth was accom- 
 plished, and the faithful, the noble, the valiant Patrick 
 Hamilton expired at the stake, because he denied the use 
 of pilgrimages, prayers to the saints and for the dead, 
 purgatory, &c. He died testifying that " though this 
 death is bitter to the flesh, and fearful before men, yet 
 it is the entrance into eternal life, which none shall pos- 
 sess who deny Jesus Christ before this wicked genera- 
 tion." He obtained the crown of martyrdom at the early 
 age of twenty-four. 
 
 The desire of this holy man's heart was fulfilled as much 
 by his death as it could possibly have been by his life ; 
 and the " wolves who had devoured the prey" found 
 themselves in a worse case than before. For men in all 
 parts of the kingdom began to enquire wherefore this 
 flower of the land had been put to a violent death — and 
 upon hearing the articles of faith for which he sufl"ered, 
 many began to question the truth and authority of that 
 which they had formerly implicitly believed. So that 
 presently not only novices, but the subprior even in the 
 popish seat of St Andrews, black friars and grey, began 
 to " smell somewhat of the verity, and espy out the va- 
 nity of the received superstitions." By this means the 
 
 * Gliries''s ColJections. 
 
GEORGE WISH ART. ]69 
 
 persecutors had soon more work on hand, and new con- 
 sultations were taken there that some should be burnt, 
 for men began to speak freely. " A merry gentleman, 
 named John Lindsay" (query, a jester?), " familiar to 
 James Beaton, standing by when consultation was- had, 
 said, my Lord, if ye burn any more, except ye follow 
 my counsel, ye will utterly destroy yourselves ; if ye 
 will burn them, let them be burnt in hollow cellars, for 
 the smoke of Mr Patrick Hamilton hath infected as 
 many as it blew upon."* 
 
 [1543.] Sixteen years after the death of this excel- 
 lent man, during which period many besides had showed 
 that they valued the truth as it is in Jesus more than 
 life, an act of Parliament was obtained, which rendered 
 it lav/ful for every man to use the benefit of the Scrip- 
 tures in the translation which they then possessed ; and 
 " thereby did the knowledge of God wondrously increase, 
 and God gave his holy Spirit to simple men in great 
 abundance.'^ 
 
 The next individual who commands our especial 
 esteem and admiration, and on whose faithful and un- 
 daunted labours the head of the church commanded a 
 blessing, is George Wishart. After learning the truth 
 at Cambridge, he began his ministrations in Ross-shire, 
 and afterwards in the populous town of Dundee. He 
 was listened to with great admiration, and the word was 
 with power to many souls, till Cardinal David Beaton, 
 nephew of James, and instigated by an equally persecut- 
 ing spirit, incited a leading man in the place to prohibit 
 his troubling that town any more by his preaching. 
 Wishart then went to the West, and made offers of God's 
 word to willing hearers, till the Cardinal induced the 
 Bishop of Glasgow (Dunbar) to pursue him to Ayr, with 
 a view to silence him. In our peaceful days of gospel 
 privilege, we can with difficulty imagine the state of 
 mind in which saving truth was offered and accepted, 
 when threatened arrest on one hand, and armed protec- 
 tion on the other, were the destiny and deliverance of the 
 
 * Knox's History of the Reformation, B. 1st. 
 
170 SCOTLAND. 
 
 preacher. The Earl of Glencairn and other gentlemen 
 hearing of the design of the Bishop, came also to Ayr, 
 and when the Reformer was excluded from the pulpit, 
 which was taken possession of by the Prelate, he bravely 
 went to the market-cross, where he preached such a ser- 
 mon that his very enemies were confounded.* For some 
 time after this Wishart preached in various places in the 
 West, and on one occasion, finding the church of Mauch- 
 line shut against him, he prevented those of his friends 
 who would have forced an entrance, saying, <' Jesus 
 Christ is as mighty in the fields as in the church, and 
 himself often preached in the desert, at the seaside, and 
 other places. It is the word of peace God sends by me, 
 the blood of none shall be shed this day for the preach- 
 ing of it." He then took his station on an earthen fence, 
 where he continued preaching to the people above three 
 hours, and God wrought so wonderfully by that sermon, 
 that one of the wickedest men in the country, the Laird 
 of Sheld, was converted by it, and his eyes ran down with 
 such abundance of tears, that all men wondered at him. 
 Presently tidings reached Wishart that the plague had 
 broken out in Dundee, and in spite of the importunities 
 of friends, this servant of God went thither, saying, 
 " They are now in trouble, and need comfort ; perhaps 
 the hand of God will make them now to magnify and 
 reverence the word of God, which before they lightly 
 esteemed." He chose his preaching station at the East- 
 gate, having the whole within and the sick without, and 
 adopted for his subject, " He sent his word and healed 
 them," Psalm cvii. " By which sermon he so raised up 
 the hearts of those who heard him, that they regarded 
 not death, but judged them more happy who should then 
 depart, rather than such as should remain behind." He 
 
 * Knox's Specimen of tbe Bishop's sermon is curious, and that 
 which was delivered at the market-cross must have formed a striking 
 
 and salutary contrast to the babblings of the poor dignitary " They 
 
 say we sould preich. Quhy not ? Better lait thryve, nor nevir thryve. 
 Had us still for your bischope, and we sail provyde better the nixt 
 tvme." 
 
GEORGE WISHART. 171 
 
 Visited without reserve all such as lay in extremity, and 
 so influenced the healthy to distribute to the afflicted, 
 that he was enabled to provide for all their wants. In 
 the very midst of these exertions, which could not have 
 been ventured upon except by one strong- in the faith, 
 the miserable Cardinal stirred up a wicked man, one of 
 his minions in the priesthood, to assassinate Wishart. 
 He waited to waylay him as he descended from church, 
 when the people had departed, but his victim being warn- 
 ed by the agitation of his manner, and spying^ the hilt 
 of the dagger, went calmly up and seized it. The caitiff 
 fell on his knees to implore forgiveness, but news of this 
 reaching the dispersing multitude, they would have torn 
 him in pieces, and burst in at the gate. The man of 
 God took the trembling- villain in his arras, saying-, 
 " Whosoever hurts him shall hurt me; for he hath done 
 me no hurt, but much good, in teaching me more heed- 
 fulness for the time to come," and thus he saved the 
 priest's life. After this he continued preaching in va- 
 rious places, the people every where flocking to hear him. 
 In 1346, the Cardinal had Wishart brought before 
 him, to give an account of his heretical and seditious 
 doctrines. And here, after the example of his blessed 
 master, he hid not his face from shame and spitting, 
 being exposed to the most opprobrious words and spite- 
 ful conduct that human animosity could suggest. A 
 priest, named Lauder, was set up as his accuser, and read 
 a scroll of bitter accusations and curses, which made the 
 poor ignorant auditors look to see the earth open and 
 swallow up Mr Wishart. He concluded his imprecations 
 by spitting- in the face of the faithful martyr, and said, 
 " What answerest thou, thou runnagate, traitor, thief," 
 &c. Then did Mr Wishart fall on his knees, and make 
 his prayer to God, and afterwards said, calmly, " Many 
 and horrible sayings unto me a Christian man, many 
 words abominable to hear have ye spoken this day, which 
 not only to teach, but even to think, I ever thought a 
 great abomination," &c. Then he entered on an account 
 of his doctrine, answering to every article as far as they 
 would give him leave to speak. IBut they, disregarding 
 
172 SCOTLAND. 
 
 the reason, sohriety, and godliness of his answers, con- 
 demned him to be bnrnt. After which sentence he ag-ain 
 fell on his kness, and prayed audibly : " O immortal God, 
 how long- wilt thou suffer the ungodly to exercise their 
 fury upon thy servants, which do further thy word in 
 this world ; whereas they on the contrary seek to des- 
 troy the truth, whereby thou hast revealed thyself to the 
 world. O Lord, we know certainly that thy true ser- 
 vants must suffer for thy name's sake persecutions, afflic- 
 tions, and troubles ; yet we desire that thou wouldst 
 preserve and defend thy church, which thou hast chosen 
 before the foundation of the world, and give thy people 
 grace to hear thy word, and to be thy true servants in 
 this present life," &c. His power over the people was 
 too well known, and had become too formidable to the 
 bishops for them to suffer him to be heard, in pleading 
 his cause either with man or God, and therefore the 
 crowd was driven out, and he hurried to the castle to be 
 kept till the executioners should have prepared their 
 torments. He requested in this interval to see the su))- 
 prior, who had been employed to preach before his pub- 
 lic accusation, and after some conference with him, the 
 man was melted to tears, and went to the Cardinal, not 
 to plead for Wishart's life, for that was beyond hope, but 
 to make known his innocence to all men. The captain 
 of the castle came to offer him some food, and having 
 accepted the offer, he used this occasion to discourse 
 with him and some friends about the Lord's last supper, 
 his sufferings and death for us, exhorting them to love 
 one another, laying aside all rancour and malice, as be- 
 comes the members of Jesus Christ, who continually 
 intercedes for us to his Father. After this he blessed 
 the bread and wine which had been prepared for the meal, 
 and distributed them in the name of the Lord, desiring 
 them to remember that Christ died for them, and to feed 
 on him spiritually. His companions at this solemn hour 
 must have been those who had received his doctrines ; 
 and strange and new was it to such as had been accus- 
 tomed to worship a wafer, and to believe that it was trans- 
 muted into the real body of Christ by the prayers of a 
 
WILLIAM COOPER. 173 
 
 priest, thus hastily to return to the simple ordinance of 
 remembrance, as it was instituted by the Lord himself, 
 and this too under circumstances of such close resem- 
 blance, when Wishart also was about to be oHered up for 
 the truth. He then gave thanks, and prayed for them, 
 and retired to his chamber to wait the executioners. 
 His prayers and his exhortations during- the slow pro- 
 gress of his death, are full of love, of forgiveness, and of 
 zeaL He earnestly exhorted that those brethren and 
 sisters whom he had so often taught should persevere in 
 their study of the Word of God, and not be driven away 
 by the terror of his sufferings, " for had he taught men's 
 doctrines, he should have had greater thanks from men," 
 but for the Word of God's sake he now suffered, not 
 sorrowfully, but with a glad heart. He called them to 
 observe that he should not change countenance, for he 
 feared not them who could kill the body, and after that 
 had no more that they could do. His prayers for his 
 accusers and murderers, and his tranquil joy to the last, 
 were like the death of the first martyr Stephen, tilling 
 the bystanders and all who heard of it with admiration 
 and wonder, so that, like Patrick Hamilton, his death 
 aroused more from a state of carelessness, and awakened 
 more distrust in the church which suffered not such men 
 to live, than all his public ministrations, numerous, faith- 
 ful, and efficacious as they had been. It w^as but two 
 years after his return from Cambridge, fraught with 
 divine zeal, that he was summoned by means of martyr- 
 dom to appear before his Lord in Heaven. 
 
 In pursuing the work of the Spirit, it is remarkable 
 that we are called upon not to follow it from district 
 to district, or from church to church, but rather from one 
 faithful preacher to another, for God is true to his pur- 
 pose of propagating saving truth by the exertions of his 
 servants. We are called, therefore, to attend to the re- 
 sult of individual labour rather than of general saving 
 impression. The next man with whose labours the 
 blessing seems to have gone in a prominent manner is 
 Wilham Cooper, who lived less than half a century 
 after Wishart. Scotland had, in 1560, held its first 
 
174 SCOTLAND. 
 
 General Assembly. Somewhere between 1580 and 
 1590, the Assembly appointed Mr Cooper to the charge 
 of the parish of Bathkenner, in Stirlingshire. When he 
 came there he found only four ruinous walls, without 
 roof, door, or window, for a church ; yet it pleased God 
 to give such a blessing to his ministry, that within half 
 a year the people, of their own accord, repaired and 
 adorned the church with great pleasure. During seven 
 or eight years of a very successful ministry in that place, 
 it pleased God to begin to acquaint him with his terrors 
 and with inward temptations, so that his life was almost 
 wasted with heaviness ; yet thereby he learned to know 
 more and more of Christ Jesus. He was afterwards 
 removed to the North of Scotland, where, for nineteen 
 years together, he was a comfort to the best, and a wound 
 to the worst sort. He had a public meeting in the even- 
 ings of Wednesday, Friday, and Saturday, concerning 
 which he says himself, " It would have done a Chris- 
 tian's heart good to see those joyful assemblies, to have 
 heard the zealous cryings to God among that people, 
 with sighings, and tears, and melting hearts, and mourn- 
 ing eyes." Of himself he says, " My witness is in Hea- 
 ven, that the love of Jesus and his people made continual 
 preaching my pleasure, and I had no such joy as in doing 
 his work." AH the time that this lively work was going 
 on, the Lord still exercised him with inward temptations 
 and great variety of spiritual combats, the end of all 
 which, through divine mercy, was joy unspeakable, as 
 himself testifies. " Yea, once," saith he, " in the greatest 
 extremity of horror and anguish of spirit, when I had 
 utterly given over and looked for nothing but confusion, 
 suddenly there did shine in the very twinkling of an eye, 
 the bright and lightsome countenance of God, proclaim- 
 ing peace, and confirmmg it with invincible reasons. 
 O what a change was there in a moment ! The silly soul 
 that was even now at the brink of the pit, looking for 
 nothing but to be swallowed up, was instantly raised up 
 to heaven, to have fellowship with God in Christ Jesus ; 
 and from this day forward, my soul was never troubled 
 with such extremity of terrors. This confirmation was 
 
WILLIAM COOPER. 175 
 
 given to me on a Saturday morning- ; there found I the 
 power of religion, the certainty of the word ; there was 
 I touched wuth such a lively sense of the divinity and 
 power of the Godhead, in mercy reconciled with man, 
 and with me in Christ, as I trust my soul shall never 
 forg-et ; glory, glory, glory be to the joyful deliverer of 
 my soul out of all adversities for ever." 
 
 Such are the joyful expressions of this holy man, when 
 delivered from conflicts of which half the Christian world 
 have only heard by the hearing of the ear ; and by such 
 severe discipline does the master of assemblies train his 
 servants for enduring hardness hke good soldiers of 
 Christ. In the midst of his inward w restlings Mr Cooper 
 was not without his combats with wicked men, but all 
 outward trial seemed small to him after his inward ex- 
 perience. He never had a controversy with any man 
 but for his sins, and the Lord assisting him, " the power 
 of the word did so hammer down their pride," that they 
 were all of them brought to acknowledge their evil ways. 
 " It was no marvel," says the quaint historian, " to see 
 Satan stir up his wicked instruments to molest him, for 
 he professed himself a disquieter of him and his king- 
 dom." Mr Cooper ceased from his labours in 1619.* 
 
 * Clark's Lives. 
 
[ 176 ] 
 
 CHAPTER XII. 
 
 JOHN WELSH. 
 
 Mr John Welsh, who was the son of a gentleman in 
 Nithsdale, was, in boyhood, cause of much affliction to 
 bis parents. Those fine mental energies which, when 
 sanctified by the Divine Spirit, made him a man eminent 
 for faithfulness in the church, in his unsanctified days 
 led him to various and strange excesses ; and so strong 
 was the spirit of adventure in him, that he actually joined 
 himself for a short time to the thieves who dwelt in the 
 Debateable Ground on the English Borders. His father 
 received him again, after much entreaty by a female 
 friend who acted as mediator, and he went to college by 
 his own desire, having said that if he should break oiF 
 again, he would be content that his father should disown 
 him for ever. He soon became a student of great pro- 
 mise, and selected the ministry as the profession of his 
 choice. His first charge was at Selkirk, and though but 
 for a short time there, his ministry in that place was not 
 without fruit, though " he was attended by the prophet's 
 shadow, the hatred of the wicked." A boy in the house 
 where he boarded was so affected by his holy conduct, 
 that till old age he never forgot it. It was Mr Welsh's 
 custom on going to rest to lay a plaid above his bed- 
 clothes, so that when he arose to his night prayers he 
 could cover himself with it. He used to say he wondered 
 how a Christian could lie in bed all night and not rise 
 to pray. From the beginning of his ministry till his 
 death, he reckoned the day ill spent if he staid not seven 
 or eight hours in prayer. 
 
 He was for a short time in charge of the parish of 
 Kirkcudbright, and was transported to Ayr in 1590, 
 where he continued till he was banished. 
 
JOHN WELSH. 177 
 
 The generation that had profited under the preaching 
 of Wisbart had passed away, and as was to be expected in 
 such a period of false doctrine, their faith had expired 
 with them, so that John Welsh found the hatred of god- 
 liness so great that no one would let him a house, and 
 he was thankful for a time to find shelter under the roof 
 of Mr John Stewart, a merchant, who was some time 
 provost of that borough, a man still had in remembrance 
 as an eminent Christian, who was a great comfort and 
 assistant to his young minister. On his first entrance on 
 his charge there, Ayr was the seat of faction and of bloody 
 feuds, so that no one could walk the streets in safety ; 
 and Mr Welsh there, like Bernard Gilpin on the Borders, 
 was often obliged to rush between parties of fighting men, 
 in the midst of bloodshed, his head shielded by an helmet, 
 but with no weapon except the message of peace. He 
 adopted this singular practice, which was doubtless recom- 
 mended by the custom and spirit of the times, and its 
 success prevents us from stigmatizing it as whimsical. 
 After having, by his personal interference, terminated a 
 skirmish, and done what he could to pacify the angry 
 passions of the combatants, he was accustomed to cause 
 a table to be covered in the street, and beginning with 
 prayer, he prevailed on the parties to eat and drink to- 
 gether, concluding the whole by singing a psalm. In- 
 deed, after the rude people had begun to hearken to his 
 doctrine, and observe his heavenly example, he obtained 
 such influence over them, as to become their counsellor 
 and pattern in all things, so that this town of blows and 
 animosities was presently converted into a scene of peace. 
 We cannot pass this unusual employment of a minister 
 of the gospel without observing on the deep plans of Pro- 
 vidence, which can turn even the experience obtained by 
 trangression to the glory of God. How little did the 
 youth think when, in rebellion against his father, and in 
 the love of adventure, he united himself with marauders 
 on the Border, that he was there at a school of training 
 to undaunted coolness in the midst of battles, that he 
 might overcome the violent, and shed abroad, in the name 
 of the Prince of Peace, the spirit of peace. 
 
178 SCOTLAND. 
 
 He was most diligent in labours, never preaching less 
 than once every day ; and, having a strong constitution, 
 he was enabled to devote all the hours he required to 
 prayer and study, without diminishing his time for ex- 
 ertion amongst his people. " But if his diligence was 
 great," says his biographer, " so it is doubted whether his 
 sowing in painfulness, or his harvest in success, was great- 
 est ; for if either his spiritual experience in seeking the 
 Lord, or his fruitfulness in converting souls be consider- 
 ed, they will be found unparalleled in Scotland — and 
 many years after Mr Welsh's death, Mr David Dickson, 
 at that time a flourishing minister at Irvine, was frequent- 
 ly heard to say, when people talked to him of the success 
 of his ministry, ' the gleaning grapes in Ayr, in Mr 
 Welsh's time, were far above the vintage of Irvine in his 
 own.' Mr Welsh's preaching was spiritual and search- 
 ing, his utterance tender and moving. He did not much 
 insist upon scholastic purposes, and made no show of his 
 learning. One of his hearers, who was afterwards mini- 
 ster at Muirkirk, said that a man could hardly hear him 
 without weeping, his mode of address was so aifecting. 
 Sometimes before he went to preach he would send for 
 one or two of his elders, and tell them he feared to 
 go to the pulpit, because he found himself so desert- 
 ed ; he would desire them to pray, and then would 
 venture to the pulpit. These painful exercises, which 
 were so calculated to empty him of self, it was ob- 
 served were ordinarily followed with unusual assistance. 
 He would retire to the church of Ayr, which was at some 
 distance from the town, and not find it an irksome soli- 
 tude to pass the whole night there in prayer. His choice 
 of this place does not seem to have arisen from any su- 
 perstition about its being a sacred edifice ; but he thus 
 obtained liberty to give full expression to his strong 
 emotions, and prayed not only in an audible, but often in 
 a loud voice. His wife, who was an excellent woman, a 
 daughter of John Knox, not unfrequently sought him in 
 his midnight watchings, and has found him lying on the 
 ground, weeping and wrestling with the Lord. On one 
 of these occasions, when his wife found him overcharged 
 
JOHN WELSH. 179 
 
 with grief, he told her he had that to press him which 
 she had not, — the souls of three thousand to answer for, 
 while he knew not how it was with many of them. And 
 at another time when she found him alone, his spirit al- 
 most overwhelmed with anguish and grief, upon her 
 serious enquiry he said, that the times that were to come 
 on Scotland were heavy and sad, though she might not 
 see them, and that for the contempt of the gospel."* 
 
 " On a certain night, being under an extraordinary pres- 
 sure of spirit to pour forth his hear: to God, he left his 
 wife in bed, and going out to a garden spent most of 
 the night in that exercise. His wife becoming at last 
 uneasy, went to seek for him, but missing him in his or- 
 dinary place, entered other gardens by such passages as 
 she knew ; at last she heard a voice, and drawing near to 
 it, could hear him speak a few words with great force and 
 fervency accompanied with audible expressions of inward 
 anguish, which were these, ' O God, wilt thou not give 
 me Scotland ? O God, wilt thou not give me Scotland ?' 
 She being afraid to interrupt him, went back, and heard 
 not the close. At length he came home, and having re- 
 turned to bed, his wife began to reprove his unmerciful- 
 nessto his own body, and then enquired what it was that 
 he prayed for, telling him that she had overheard him. 
 He replied she had better have been in bed, but since 
 she heard, he would tell her that he had endured a great 
 fight for Scotland this night, and hardly could he get a 
 remnant reserved, ' yet,' said he, ' He will be gra- 
 cious.' 
 
 " Another night he arose, but went not out of doors, but 
 in a chamber travailed and groaned so, that his wife se- 
 veral times called him to bed. He, however, waited his 
 time, and when he came she began a modest expostula- 
 tion with him for tarrying. ' Hold thy peace,' said he, 
 * it will be well with us, but I shall never preach another 
 preaching in Ayr.' He fell asleep, and before he awak- 
 ened the messenger was come who carried him prisoner 
 to the castle of Edinburgh ."f 
 
 * Fleming's Fulfilling of the Scripture, vol. i. p. 364. 
 t Ibid. vol. i. p. 381. 
 
180 SCOTLAND. 
 
 These examples of Mr Welsh's earnest importunity 
 in prayer, show us what must have been his influence in 
 his day. He wrestled, like Jacob of old, and had power 
 with God and prevailed. His discernment and sagacity in 
 studying- the dealings of God and the ways of men retro- 
 spectively, gave him skill to perceive the probable turn 
 that future events would take, in so much that his calcu- 
 lations were almost confided in as predictions ; while the 
 solemnity of mind produced by the emergency of his 
 country, and his deep communion with the God from 
 whom he looked for help, cast a mysterious grandeur 
 around his person, which conferred on him an influ- 
 ence far above the measure of Christians in g-eneral. 
 In our less exciting- times, there are not wanting- those 
 who impute to John Welsh *' monkish austerities," as if 
 a man could not arise in the night to prayer, but at the 
 summons of a midnight vesper bell and for the pui^ose 
 of telling a certain portion of his rosary. If we con- 
 sider his early history, we shall find that he was no monk 
 either in his own person and practice, or in the training- 
 of his pious father. His own spiritual condition, and 
 the state of his church, are not without precedent in 
 Scripture, for Judah exhibits the same experience. 
 " With my soul have I desired thee in the night ; yea, 
 with my spirit within me will I seek thee early ; for when 
 thy judgments are in the earth, the inhabitants of the 
 world will learn righteousness."* It was a time of judg- 
 ment and sore trial for the Church of Scotland, when 
 her faithful pastors were spared to their attached flocks 
 only by sufl"erance, and were in hourly danger of arrest, 
 imprisonment and banishment. Instead then of speaking 
 of " enthusiasm and fanaticism," let us rather consider, 
 that if he were beside himself it was in zeal for God, 
 and if he were sober or dejected, it was in the service of 
 his people and of his country. We ought to reverence 
 the character guided to superior spiritual attainment by 
 means of divine judgments, and contemplate him as one 
 of the few righteous for whose sake, and ib answer to 
 whose intercessions, our church has been preserved to us. 
 
 * Isaiah, chap. xxvi. v. 9. . 
 
JOHN Welsh. 181 
 
 ' Mr Welsh, and Mr Forbes, another g-reat witness for 
 the truth in those days of trial, were, in 1606, sentenced 
 to die at the assize at Linhthgow. While under that 
 sentence Mr Welsh wrote in this exalted strain of joy- 
 to his friends the Melvilles, then in London. " Dear 
 Brethren, we dare say by experience, and God is witness 
 we lie not, that unspeakai)le is the joy that is in a free 
 and full testimony of Christ's royal authority ; unspeak- 
 able is the joy of suffering- for his kingdom. We had 
 never such joy and peace in preaching it, as we have 
 found in suffering for it. We spoke before in knowledge, 
 we now speak by experience, that the kingdom of God 
 consists in peace and joy. * * Our joy has greatly 
 abounded smce the last day" (the day of their sentence 
 of death), " so that we cannot enough wonder at the 
 riches of his free grace, that should have vouchsafed such 
 a gift unto us, to suffer for his kingdom, in which there 
 is joy unspeakable and glorious, and we are rather in fear 
 that they" (the sufferings) " be not continued, and so we 
 be robbed of further consolation, than that they should 
 increase. Surely there is great consolation in suffering 
 for Christ ; we dow* not express unto you the joy which 
 our God hath caused abound in us." 
 
 His preaching in prison, both in Edinburgh and in 
 Blackness, was not without fruit — and we find his friend 
 John Stewart following him to his place of confinement, 
 with the love that became him to such a servant of their 
 blessed Lord. 
 
 James VL was induced to commute the sentence of 
 death into banishment, probably because of his aversion 
 to shed the blood of one whose reputation was so high, 
 and whose labours were so had in reverence of the church. 
 He therefore retired into France, and there learned 
 quickly to preach in the French language, and was hon- 
 oured to bear witness to the truth before the King and 
 his Court, and to win a rich harvest of souls. 
 
 After some time he obtained leave to return to Eng- 
 land, and languished in London till he died. The King 
 i '^ _ 
 ' ■ ' '^ * Are not able to. 
 
182 SCOTLAND. 
 
 was often entreated to suffer his return to Scotland on 
 account of his health, but never granted this boon. He 
 was afflicted with languor and great weakness in the 
 knees, occasioned by his continual kneeling at prayer; so 
 that though he was able to walk, yet he was wholly in- 
 sensible in them, and the flesh became hard and horny. 
 King- James had been much importuned to suffer him to 
 preach, but always refused the request till he was become 
 so weak that his friends thought it impracticable. Yet as 
 soon as he obtained permission, " he greedily embraced 
 this liberty, and having- access to a lecturer's pulpit, he 
 went and preached both long and fervently, which was 
 the last performance of his life ; for after he had ended his 
 sermon he returned to his chamber, and within two hours, 
 quietly and without pain, resigned his spirit into his 
 Maker's hands, in 1622, having lived fifty-tr/o years." 
 
 During- his prolonged time of lang-uor and feebleness, 
 he was so filled and overcome with the sensible enjoy- 
 ment of God that he was sometimes overheard in prayer 
 to use these words, " Lord, hold thy hand, it is enough, 
 thy servant is a clay vessel, and can hold no more." 
 
 The Josiah Welsh who was minister of Temple Pa- 
 trick in the north of Ir ^land, and one of the happy society 
 of ministers who were the instruments of the revival 
 there in 1629, was the son of this man, and the heir to 
 his father's g-races and blessings. 
 
 At this remote period, we cannot obtain much in- 
 formation as to the people who were called under the 
 revival at Ayr, though we have abundant evidence of 
 a great change being- wrought there, and many charac- 
 ters formed to holiness. But a few anecdotes are 
 still extant of individuals who were members of Mr 
 Welsh's flock, that furnish a sample of what fruit that 
 vintage produced. Hugh Kennedy, who was at the 
 time Provost of Ayr, and one of Mr Welsh's choice 
 friends, met a man in the town who had done a most un- 
 provoked injury to one of his sons, by throwing his sea- 
 chest into the water. The Provost said in wrath to the 
 man, " Were it not for the awe of God, and the place 
 that I bear, I judge that you deserve that I should tread 
 
HUGH KENNEDY. 183 
 
 you under my feet." About two o'clock next morning- 
 the Provost came to his friend John Stewart, and called 
 hini up, desiring- him to g-o with him, telling- him that 
 he could not eat or sleep because of the injurious boast- 
 ing- words he had spoken to that man ; and as he had 
 confessed his fault to God, he behoved now to g-o and 
 confess it to the man. They went together to the 
 house, and the man hearing who called at such an un- 
 timely hour, drew his sword in bed, to defend himself 
 from the attack of the angry Provost. His expected 
 assailant, to his astonishment, fell on his knees before 
 him, and said, " Brother, I wronged you and the office 
 I bear, in boasting and threatening you, and I can get no 
 rest till you forgive me ; " and he would not rise till the 
 man solemnly forgave him. It is also related of Hugh 
 Kennedy, that being- one day for many hours engaged in 
 prayer, he came out at last to his Christian friends who 
 had waited long- for him, his countenance beaming- with 
 unusual cheerfulness. When they enquired of him re- 
 lative to his long stay, he replied, " it was no wonder, 
 for he had that day got mercy to himself and all his ; " 
 and it was very evident, for each of his children gave 
 *' large ground '' to judge that they were truly godly. 
 
 Whilst he was dying, Mr Ferguson, a faithful minister 
 who stood by, said to him, " You have cause, sir, to be 
 assured that the angels of God are now waiting- at the 
 stoups * of this bed, to convey your soul into Abraham's 
 bosom." To whom his answer was, " I am sure thereof, 
 and if the walls of this house could speak, they could 
 tell how many sweet days I have had in secret fellow- 
 ship with God, and how familiar he hath been with my 
 soul." Mr Welsh wrote from France of this good man. 
 " Happy is that city, yea, happy is that nation that hath 
 a Hugh Kennedy in it ; I have myself certainly found the 
 answers of his prayers from the Lord in my behalf." 
 
 John Stewart, the only man who would give a lodging 
 to Mr Welsh on his first going to Ayr, was the fast 
 friend of Hugh Kennedy. It is interesting to look back 
 
184 SCOTLAND. 
 
 through centuries, and study the influences of Christian 
 friendship, in knitting hearts together, and causing them; 
 to walk to the house of God in company. This John 
 Stewart having come to the inheritance of his patrimony, 
 was so moved with the straits that many who loved the 
 Lord Jesus were reduced to, that he deliberately resolved 
 to distribute his substance to his distressed brethren. 
 He therefore called as many together in Edinburgh as 
 he had means to collect, — and having spent some time 
 in prayer, took their solemn promise not to reveal what 
 he was about to do Avhile he lived. He told them he 
 knew what straits many of them were in, and had brought 
 a little money to lend to each, but that they were not to 
 repay him till he required it of them. This deed of love 
 was not known till his death. Some time after he had 
 thus denuded himself, the plague broke out in Ayr, in 
 consequence of which, trade fell into decay, and Mr 
 Stewart himself got into difficulties. The profane of the 
 place began to upbraid him, saying that religion had made 
 him poor, and his giving to others, like a fool, now made 
 hira want bread. The good man, somewhat like Joshua 
 when he prayed, " what wilt thou do unto thy great 
 name," could not bear that his profession of rehgion 
 should bring the good Providence of God into disrepute 
 even with the wicked ; he therefore left the country to 
 conceal his straits, and went to Rochelle, in France, 
 When he was there, he found that the obstacles to trade 
 had reduced the price of salt and various other articles, 
 so as to encourage him to load a ship upon credit. This 
 he did, and hastened home through England to be ready 
 to receive his cargo. After long and anxious waiting, 
 he was informed that the vessel had fallen into the hands 
 of the Turks. This intelligence so overcame him, from 
 the fear that tfegst^OJouths of the wicked should be opened 
 to reproach his profession, that for many days he kept 
 his chamber. At last a maid, who heard among the 
 people that John Stewart's ship was arrived in the Roads> 
 came running, and called at the door that his ship was 
 come. " But he being at prayer, could not be moved 
 from his Master's company till he was satisfied, and then 
 
JOHN STEWART. 185 
 
 went forth and saw it was the truth." His deep exercise 
 of mind was not, however, to end here ; for a worthy 
 Christian, and his great intimate, John Kennedy (sup- 
 posed to be the seafaring- son of Hugh), had gone out in 
 a small boat for joy to meet the ship. A storm arising-, 
 his httle boat was carried out to sea, and in the judgment 
 of all who looked on, he was supposed to be swallowed 
 •up by the raging- ocean. The storm so increased that 
 the loss of the ship was hourly expected also, and this 
 gracious man was so overpowered with grief, that for 
 three days he could see no one. At last, having- gone to 
 visit the supposed widow of his friend, — while they were 
 mutually weeping and condoling with each other, John 
 Kennedy came home, having- been cast away on a dis- 
 tant part of the coast. The ship also at last came safely 
 into port. Thus God heard their cry and delivered them 
 out of their distresses ; and here at once did many mercies 
 meet. The sale of his cargo enabled him to pay all his 
 debts, and returned him twenty thousand merks besides. 
 Thus the bread on the waters was returned after many 
 days, and the liberal heart was made to rejoice in the 
 kind and watchful Providence of God. 
 
 On his death-bed, John Stewart exhorted all who 
 came to visit him to he humble ; and of himself he said, 
 *' I go the way of all tlesh, and it may be some of you 
 doubt nothing- of my well-being- ; yea, I testify, that ex- 
 cept when I slept or was on business, I was not these ten 
 years without thoughts of God so long as I should be in 
 going- from my own house to the Cross ; and yet I doubt 
 myself and am in great agony, — yea, at the brink of 
 despair." A day or two before he died, he turned his 
 face to the wall from the company for two hours, and 
 then Mr John Ferguson came in, a grave and godly mi- 
 nister of that place, who asked what he was doing, upon 
 which he turned himself, with these words, " I have 
 been fighting and working- out my salvation with fear 
 and trembling ; and now 1 bless God it is perfected, sealed^ 
 confirmed, — and all fears are gone." * 
 
 * Fleming's Fulfilling of the Scriptures, vol. i. p. 397. 
 
[ 186 ] 
 
 CHAPTER XIII. 
 
 ROBERT BRUCE. 
 
 Mr Robert Bruce began his ministry in Edinburgh 
 about 1590, so that he was a cotemporary of Mr Welsh. 
 He is thus described by Fleming : — '^ He shined as a great 
 light through the whole land, the power and efficacy of the 
 Spirit most sensibly accompanying the word he preached. 
 He was a terror to evil doers, and the authority of God 
 did so appear in his carriage, with such a majesty in his 
 countenance, as forced fear and respect from the greatest 
 of the land, even those who were most avowed haters of 
 godliness." Livingston, in his memoir, says, " He had a 
 very majestic countenance, and whatever he spoke in 
 public or private, yea even when he read the Word, I 
 thought it had such a force as I never discerned in any 
 other man. I heard him once say, ' I would desire no 
 more for one request, but one hour's conference with 
 King James. I know he hath a conscience, I made him 
 once to weep bitterly in his own house at Holyrood.' " 
 He was a man that had much inward exercise on his own 
 personal case, and had often been perplexed about that 
 great foundation truth, " if there is a God," which cost 
 him many days and nights of anxiety. When he had 
 ascended the pulpit, after being, as was his custom, for 
 some time silent, he would say, " I think it a great mat- 
 ter to believe that there is a God," telling the people it 
 was another thing to believe that than they judged. 
 But it was also known by his familiar friends how strong 
 and undoubting his faith became, and with what ardour 
 and joy his communion with his heavenly Father was 
 accompanied. Livingston mentions an incident which 
 occurred at Larbot, where he had frequent opportunities 
 
ROBERT BRUCE. 187 
 
 to hear Mr Bruce preach, that gives us a glimpse of the 
 spirit of those ministers who are generally honoured as 
 instruments to revive the church. " He used after the 
 first service to retire to a chamber near the church. Some 
 noblemen having come far to hear him, and having the 
 same distance to return to their homes, became impatient 
 from the minister's delay to return to church, and sent 
 the bell-man to hearken at his door if there were any 
 appearance of his coming. The bellman returned and 
 said, ' 1 think he will not come out this day at all, for I 
 hear him always saying to another that he cannot go, 
 except the other go with him, and I do not hear the 
 other answer him a word at all.' The foolish bellman 
 understood not that he was deahng with his God." The 
 great success of his ministry at Edinburgh, Inverness, 
 and other places whither Providence called him, is abun- 
 dantly known. Whilst he was confined at Inverness, 
 that poor dark country was marvellously enlightened, 
 many were brought in to Christ by his ministry, and a 
 seed sown in those places, which even to this day is 
 not wholly worn out. There are interesting anecdotes 
 still on record of his being made useful to individuals, 
 some of whom became themselves preachers of the 
 truth. The closing scene of his ministry is as remark- 
 able an example of the reviving influences of the Holy 
 Spirit as any preserved about that period. " A little 
 before his death, in 1632, when he was at Edinburgh, 
 and through weakness kept his chamber, there was a 
 meeting of divers godly ministers at that time assembled 
 on some special concern of the church. Hearing Mr 
 Bruce was in the town, they came together and gave 
 him an account of the actings of these times, the prelates 
 then being resolved to introduce the service-book. After 
 which Mr Bruce prayed, and did therein tell over again 
 to the Lord the very substance of their discourse, which 
 was a sad representation of the case of the church. At 
 which time there was such an extraordinary motion on 
 all present, so sensible a down-pouring of the Spirit, that 
 they could hardly contain themselves. But what was 
 most strange, there was even some unusual motion on 
 
188 SCOTLAND. 
 
 those who were in other parts of the house, not knowing 
 the cause at the very instant. Mr Weems of Lochacker 
 being- then occasionally present, when he went away, 
 said, ' O how strange a man is this, for he knocketh 
 down the Spirit of (jod on us all.' This he said, because 
 Mr Bruce did divers times knock with his fingers on the 
 table." This w^as related to Mr Fleming by a worthy 
 Christian gentleman, whose mother's house was the scene 
 of this visitation. 
 
 Six years after Mr Bruce began his ministry, there 
 was a lively movement from the Holy Spirit on the 
 whole General Assembly of the Church, while their de- 
 votions were conducted by an intimate friend and fel- 
 low-labourer of Bruce, the Rev. Mr Davidson. 
 
 This memorable occurrence is related by Mr Fleming 
 nearly in the following words : — " In the year 1596, upon 
 Tuesday the 30th of March, the ministers and other 
 commissioners of the General Assembly, met at Edin- 
 burgh, found it a duty by themselves to convene in the 
 church at nine o'clock, one of the doors being shut, and 
 the other kept open for the meeting only. Their object 
 was to humble themselves and wrestle with God, to pur- 
 sue a national as well as a personal reconciliation. The 
 whole number amounted to four hundred ministers, and 
 some select Christians and elders of the church with 
 them. After prayer, Mr John Davidson was chosen 
 to preside amongst them. He caused the third and 
 thirty-fourth chapters of Ezekiel to be read, and then 
 said, ' Since it pleased the Lord to move them to choose 
 him who was the unvvorthiest and unmeetest of the 
 number, for the place of a preacher that day, they were 
 not to look* that he came to be censured by them, but to 
 use the authority of a teacher to hearers, without any 
 prejudice to that liberty given them of the Lord, to try 
 the spirits whether they be of God or not.' 
 
 " He showed what was the end of their meeting, that 
 it was the confession of sins, and to promise a forsaking 
 thereof, to turn unto the Lord, and enter into a new 
 
 * Expect. 
 
GENERAL ASSEMBLY. 189 
 
 covenant and leag-ue with him, that thus by repentance 
 they might be the meeter to provoke others to the same. 
 In which he was followed with that power for moving of 
 their spirits in application, that within an hour after they 
 were entered into the church, they looked with another 
 countenance than that wherewith they entered. He 
 exhorted them to that retired work of meditation and 
 acknowledgement of their sins, even whilst they were 
 together, that for the space of a quarter of an hour they 
 were thus humbling themselves " (during which time it 
 is probable the preacher was silent), " yea, with such a 
 joint concurrence with those sighs and groans, and with 
 shedding of tears amongst the most, every one provoking 
 another by their example, and the teacher himself by his, 
 so as the very church resounded, and that place might 
 worthily be called a Bochim, for the like of that day 
 had not been seen in Scotland since the Reformation, as 
 every one that was present confessed. There have been 
 many days of humiliation for present judgments, or im- 
 minent dangers, but the like for sin and defection was 
 never seen since the Reformation. After prayer and 
 public confession, Mr Davidson treated on Luke, xii. 22, 
 ' Take no thought for your hfe,' &c., wonderfully as- 
 sisted by God's spirit, to cast down and raise up again the 
 brethren. The exercise continued till near one after- 
 noon. When the brethren were to dissolve they were 
 stayed by the Moderator, and desired to hold up their 
 hands to testify their entering into a new league and cove- 
 nant with God. They held up their hands presently 
 and readily, which was a moving spectacle to all who 
 were present."* And that afternoon, by the General 
 Assembly, was the renewing of the covenant in particu- 
 lar synods resolved upon.f 
 
 " On the 12th of May, in the same year, the covenant 
 was renewed in the synod of Fife, met at Dunfermline, 
 
 * Fleming's " Fulfilling of the Scriptures." 
 
 I This remarkable outpouring is also noticed in Calderwood's His- 
 tory of the Church. It was quickly followed by a similar visitation 
 in the Synod of Fife. 
 
190 SCOTLAND. 
 
 when Mr James Melville discoursed on the last chapter 
 of Joshua with such power and force, that all were forced 
 to fall down before the Lord with sobs and tears, and to 
 search their own waj^s in private meditation. Thereafter 
 he made open confession, in name of the rest, of unthank- 
 fulness, undutifulness, negligence, coldness, hardness of 
 heart, instability, vanity of mind, folly of speech, and 
 conversation fashioned after the world, &c. Finally, 
 trembling and weeping for the misusage of so honourable 
 a calling, and quaking for fear that such a weight of God's 
 wrath was lying upon them for the blood of so many 
 souls belonging to their charge, they weeped bitterly, 
 and sought grace from God for amendment. After this 
 confession, the Moderator proceeded in his discourse, — 
 and after diverse other points of doctrine, admonition 
 and exhortation, delivered for the purpose, every one, by 
 lifting up of the hand, testified before God mutually, one 
 before other, the sincere and earnest purpose of their 
 heart to study to amend, and serve God better in time 
 to come, both in their lives and in the great office of the 
 ministry. James Melville then discoursed further on 
 * ye are witnesses against yourselves this day,' and urged 
 their consenting to register the whole transaction in the 
 minutes of Synod as a testimony. He then invited some 
 of the ancient fathers, for the benefit of the younger bre- 
 thren, to declare what they had seen of God's Providence 
 in planting and preserving the gospel and the liberty of 
 Christ's kingdom in their country. 
 
 " < David Ferguson, the oldest minister in company, 
 discoursed how that a few preachers, viz. only six, where- 
 of himself was one, went forward without fear or care of 
 the world, and prevailed when there was no name of a sti- 
 pend heard tell of, when authority, both ecclesiastical and 
 civil, opposed themselves, and there was scarce a man of 
 note or estimation to take the matter in hand. But now 
 the fear and flattery of men, care of purchasing, or fear of 
 losing money or stipends, had weakened the hearts of a 
 number of ministers.' Mr John Davidson and Mr 
 David Black followed with powerful exhortations, and 
 the affecting service was closed with earnest prayer by the 
 
DUNFERMLINE. 191 
 
 Moderator, that they might be enabled to perform the 
 vows they had made."* 
 
 O, that Scotland would now take up the prayer of the 
 Church of old, and never cease till the petition is granted I 
 " Return, we beseech thee O God of Hosts •. look down 
 from Heaven, and behold and visit this vine ; and the 
 vineyard which thy right hand hath planted, and the 
 branch that thou madest strong for thyself. Let thy 
 hand be upon the man of thy right hand, upon the Son 
 of Man whom thou madest strong for thyself. So will 
 not we go back from thee : quicken us, and we will call 
 upon thy name. Turn us again, O Lord God of Hosts, 
 cause thy face to shine ; and we shall be saved." f 
 
 During the times of persecution Scotland was blessed 
 with various similar outpourings, which varied from 
 these only in being of a more extended character, em- 
 bracing not the clergy and elders only, but the whole 
 mass of the people. How glorious a sight, to witness 
 men, women, and children, with strong crying and tears, 
 lifting up their hands to Heaven, and swearing to adhere 
 to each other, and to suifer the loss of all things rather 
 than accept a religion which was contrary to conscience. 
 How solemn to hear the soldiers of a whole army, when 
 retired to their tents at night, engaged in reading the word, 
 in praise and in prayer ; calling on their God to witness 
 their sincerity, and to assist their just eiforts to defend 
 themselves from oppression in the great cause of his 
 truth. And what an admonition and example to those 
 who toil for worldly prosperity by earthly instrumen- 
 tality, — neglecting to seek the blessing of Him who 
 maketh rich and addeth no sorrow. What an admoni- 
 tion, in spite of the scorn and satire which talented men 
 of our days have tried to cast upon it — to see -whole 
 regiments prepare for battle, not by furbishing their arms 
 only, but by hearkening to their preachers ; learning at 
 their feet what doctrines they ought to reject and what 
 they ought to aim at establishing ; clearing their un- 
 
 * Calderwood's Hist. 323, 324. 
 f Psalms, Ixxx, 14, 15, 17, 18, 19. 
 
192 SCOTLAND. 
 
 (lerstaiidings about these affairs of eternal concern, and 
 willing- to sacrifice themselves, so that they might for 
 their children and for their country procure the unso- 
 phisticated waters of life. 
 
 War, we are aware, is a weapon which human corrup- 
 tion alone has brought into use. Victory, it is confessed, 
 proves no truth. But our God, knowing what instru- 
 ments the wicked would resort to, and what defences 
 those who fear him would be constrained to employ, has 
 condescended to be called " the King of Glory, the Lord 
 mighty in battle." He has declared that "the battle is 
 not ours, but God's," 2 Chron. xx. 15 ; and if ever 
 there was a war, which had neither pride nor ambition 
 for its basis, the conflict of " the Congregation "' was 
 that war. 
 
 Fleming, in his very peculiar but solemn manner, 
 alludes to these times : — " It is astonishing, and should 
 be matter of wonder and praise for after ages, to consider 
 that solemn time of the Reformation, when the Lord 
 began to visit his church. What a swift course the 
 spreading of the kingdom of Christ had, and how pro- 
 fessors of the truth thronged in, amidst the greatest 
 threatenings of those on whose side authority and power 
 then was. O ! how astonishing and extraordinary was 
 this appearance of the Lord there on all ranks, so that 
 they offered themselves willingly for the truth ; and upon 
 such of his servants as were sent forth on the work of 
 the ministry, with such zeal and oneness of spirit as on the 
 furthest hazard of their lives and estates, they did enter 
 into covenant for mutual defence, for the truth of Christ 
 and a free profession thereof, as is set down at large 
 in the history of the Reformation, first in the year 1557, 
 and after at Perth in 1559, and by the congregation of 
 the west country, &c. Their mutual bond was, to con- 
 cur, assist, and convene together, and not spare labour, 
 goods, substance, bodies aiui lives, to maintain the liberty 
 of the congregation, and every member thereof, against 
 whomsoever that should trouble them for the cause of 
 religion. Thus was this promise accomplished in that 
 age, " That they who wait upon the Lord, shall mount 
 
THE ARMY OF THE COVENANT. 193 
 
 up as with eagle's wings, and shall run and not be weary," 
 &c. * Knox, in his History of the Reformation, remarks, 
 p. 303 — " For what was our force or number, to bring- 
 so g-reat an enterprise to such a close ? Our very ene- 
 mies can witness in how great purity did God esta- 
 blish his true religion amongst us — and this we confess 
 to be a strength given us from God, because we esteem 
 not ourselves wise in our own eyes ; but knowing our 
 wisdom to be foolishness, we, before God, laid it aside, 
 and followed that which was only approved of him. In 
 this point could never our enemies cause us faint, whilst 
 for this we wrestled, that the reverend face of the first 
 primitive and apostolic church should be reduced to the 
 eyes and knowledge of men ; and in that point hath our 
 God strengthened us, till the work was finished as the 
 world may see." f 
 
 " That was also a remarkable time wherein the Lord 
 did let forth much of the Spirit on his people in 1638, 
 when this nation did solemnly enter into covenant, which 
 many yet alive at this day do know, how the spirits of 
 men were raised and wrought upon by the word, and 
 ordinances lively and longed after. For then did the na- 
 tion own the Lord, and was visibly owned by him. Much 
 zeal and an enlarged heart did appear for the public cause 
 — personal reformation was seriously set about, — and then 
 also was there a remarkable gale of Providence, that did 
 attend the actings of his people, which did astonish their 
 adversaries, and forced many of them to feign subjection. 
 Alas ! how is our night come on, for the Lord hath 
 in anger covered the face of our Zion with a dark cloud. 
 Must not we also say, since the land was engaged by 
 covenant to the Lord in these late times, what a solemn 
 outletting of the Spirit hath been seen, a large harvest 
 with much of the fruit of the gospel discernible, which 
 we may say with a warrant hath been proven in the 
 inbringing of thousands to Christ ; a part whereof are 
 now in glory, and many yet alive who are a visible seal 
 to this truth, some of whom I am sure will not lose the 
 
 * Fulfilling of Scripture, vol. i. p. 305. 
 t Knox's History of Reformation. 
 
 N 
 
194 SCOTLAND. 
 
 remembrance of tliese sweet refreshing times which the 
 land did for several years enjoy, of the gospel and of many 
 solemn communions, where a large blessing with much 
 of the Spirit was felt, accompanying the ordinances,"* 
 
 Livingston, the friend and coadjutor of Blair, in his 
 Memoirs, gives, in his brief and terse manner, a hint of 
 the great emotion with which the Covenant was signed, 
 which makes us long for a more detailed account. " I 
 was present at Lanark, and several other parishes, when 
 on Sabbath, after the forenoon's sermon, the covenant 
 was read and sworn ; and I may truly say, that in all my 
 life time, excepting at the Kirk of Shotts, I never saw 
 such motions from the Spirit of God. All the people 
 generally and most willingly concurred. I have seen 
 more than a thousand persons all at once lifting up their 
 hands, and the tears falling down from their eyes ; so 
 that through the whole land, excepting the professed 
 Papists, and some few who adhered to the prelates, peo- 
 ple universally entered into the Covenant of God."t 
 
 The Rev. Mr Aiton, in his Life of Alexander Hen- 
 derson, just published, a work exhibiting laborious re- 
 search, and much judgment in its interesting details of 
 the second Reformation in Scotland, presents an account 
 of the reception of the second Covenant in Edinburgh, 
 which must be a welcome addition to the hints we are 
 able to give on this subject. 
 
 The Presbyterians had crowded to Edinburgh to 
 the number of sixty thousand, and on the 28tli of Fe- 
 bruary, 1638, a Fast had been appointed in the Grey 
 Friars' Church. Two was the hour agreed upon for a 
 meeting of all the barons and gentlemen, with the clergy, 
 for the purpose of entering into the Solemn League and 
 Covenant. " Long before the appointed hour," says Mr 
 Aiton, " the venerable church of the Grey Friars, and 
 the large open space around it, were filled with Presby- 
 terians from every quarter of Scotland. At two o'clock 
 Rothes, Loudon, Henderson, Dickson, and Johnston ar- 
 rived with a copy of the Covenant, ready for signature. 
 
 • Fulfilling the Scriptures, vol. ii- p. 357. 
 f Life of Livingston, p. 22. 
 
SIGNING OF SOLEMN LEAGUE AND COVENANT. 195 
 
 Henderson constituted the meeting- by prayer, ' verrie 
 powerfuUie and pertinentlie' to the purpose in hand. 
 Louden then, in an impressive speech, stated the occa- 
 sion of their meeting-. After mentioning- that the cour- 
 tiers had done every thing- in their power to effect a di- 
 vision among the Presbyterians, and when thus weakened 
 to introduce innovation, and that they should therefore 
 use every lawful means for keeping themselves together 
 in a common cause, he said, that in a former period, when 
 Papal darkness was enlightened only from the flaming 
 faggot of the martyrs' stake, the first reformers swore in 
 Covenant to maintain the most blessed word of God 
 even unto the death. 
 
 " In a later period when apprehensions were entertained 
 of the restoration of Popery, King James, the nobles, and 
 people throughout every parish subscribed another Co- 
 venant as a test of their religious principles. The Cove- 
 nant now about to be read, had a similar object in view, 
 and had been agreed to by the Commissioners. In con- 
 clusion, he in their name, solemnly took the searcher of 
 hearts to witness, that they intended neither dishonour 
 to God, nor disloyalty to the king. The Covenant was 
 next read by Johnston, ' out of a fair parchment, about 
 an elne squair.' When the reading was finished there 
 was a pause, and silence still as death. Rothes broke it 
 by requesting that if any of them had objections to offer, 
 he would now be heard. They were told that if these 
 objectors were of the south and west country, they should 
 repair to the west end of the Kirk, where Loudon and 
 Dickson would reason with them ; but if they belonged 
 to the Lothians, or to the country north of the Forth, 
 they were to go to the east end, where he and Hender- 
 son would give them any satisfaction. < Few comes, and 
 these few proposed but few doubts, which were soon re- 
 solved.' These preliminaries occupied till about four 
 o'clock, when the venerable Earl of Sutherland stepped 
 forward, and put the first name to the memorable docu- 
 ment. Sir Andrew Murray, minister of Ebdy in Fife, 
 was the second who subscribed. After it had gone the 
 
196 SCOTLAND. 
 
 round of the whole church, it was taken out to be si^'iiec! 
 by the crowd in the churchyard. Here it was spread be- 
 fore them, like another roll of the prophets, upon a flat 
 g-ravestone, to be read and subscribed })y as many as 
 couid g-et near it. Many in addition to their name, wrote 
 till death, and some even opened a vein, and subscribed 
 with their blood. The immense sheet in a short time 
 became so much crowded with names on both sides, and 
 throughout its whole space, that there was not room left 
 for a single additional signature. Even the margin was 
 scrawled over ; and as the document filled up, the sub- 
 scribers seem to have been limited to the initial letters 
 of their name. Zeal in the cause of Christ, and courage 
 for the liberties of Scotland, warmed every breast. Joy 
 was mingled with the expressions of some, and the voice 
 of shouting arose from a few. But by far the greater 
 portion were deeply impressed with very different feel- 
 ings. Most of them, of all sorts, wept bitterly, for their 
 defection from the Lord. And in testimony of his sin- 
 cerity every one confirmed his subscription by a solemn 
 oath. With groans and tears streaming down their faces, 
 they all lifted up their right hands at once. When this 
 awful appeal was made to the Searcher of hearts at the 
 day of judgment, so great ivas the fear of again breaking 
 this Covenant, that thousands of arms which had never 
 trembled even M^hen dravv^ing the sword on the eve of 
 battle, were now loosened at every joint. After the 
 oath had been administered, the people were powerfully 
 enjoined to begin their personal reformation. At the 
 conclusion, every body seemed to feel that a great mea- 
 sure of the Divine Presence had accompanied the solem- 
 nities of the day, and with their hearts much comforted 
 and strengthened for every duty, the enormous crowd 
 retired about nine at night. Well, indeed, might Hen- 
 derson boast, in his reply to the Aberdeen doctors, ' that 
 this was the day of the Lord's power, wherein we saw 
 bis people most willingly offer themselves in multitudes 
 like the Aqm drops of the morning — this was indeed the 
 great day of Israel wherein the arm of the Lord was re- 
 
SIGNING OF SOLEMN LEAGUE AND COVENANT. 197 
 
 vealed — the day of the Redeemer's strength on which the 
 princes of the people assembled to swear their allegiance 
 to the King of Kings.'"* 
 
 Thus did a nation lift up their hands unto the Lord 
 the most high God, the possessor of heaven and earth. 
 It is in vain that politicians, poets, or prelatists, impute 
 such motives as they can comprehend. It has in vain 
 been asserted that the lords forced the people to sign, 
 that profane and ungodly men, as well as women and 
 children, added their names to this remarkable docu- 
 ment. Who ever heard of such an act of mere human 
 policy, or even of political or fanatical excitement? 
 When we hear of sixty thousand persons vohintarily as- 
 sembled in one place, on a great public call of duty, weep- 
 ing for their sins, trembling lest they should fail in the 
 performance of their vows, and under this awful feeling 
 coming deliberately forward to subscribe a document 
 which might be construed as treason, and seal their death- 
 warrant, and then holding up their hands to heaven and 
 confirming their Solemn Covenant by a still more solemn 
 oath ; and when after this sublime and soul exciting tran- 
 saction, we see the mighty crowd peacefully dispersing, 
 each to their several homes, and before nightfall leaving 
 the dwelling-place of the dead where they were assembled, 
 to its wonted loneliness and silence, it is impossible for 
 the candid mind not to perceive and to own, that this was 
 nothing less than a great act of national devotion, per- 
 formed under a divine and holy impulse. If the gene- 
 rous heart swells with admiring sympathy at sight of a 
 nation striving for mere political rights, or if joy fills the 
 soul when the bands of slavery are burst and the cap- 
 tive is set free, with what feelings, should we contem- 
 plate this wonderful scene ? We know of nothing to be 
 compared with it in moral grandeur among the national 
 transactions which earth has ever witnessed, except that 
 solemn assembly of the Jews when, after the seventy 
 years' captivity, on their restoration to the place of 
 their fathers' sepulchres and the city of their God, Ezra 
 
 * Life of Henderson, p. 254-5 and 6, 
 
198 SCOTLAND. 
 
 " blessed the Lord the great God, and all the people 
 answered, Amen, Amen I with lifting- up of their hands, 
 and bared their heads, and worshipped the Lord with their 
 faces to the ground,"* After their solemn fast and hum- 
 ble confession, " God made them to rejoice with great 
 joy ; the wives also and the children rejoiced. "f And so 
 was it with Scotland — and they were strengthened to do 
 and to suffer great things for His name's sake, after the 
 Holy Spirit was communicated to them at the time of 
 this solemn transaction. 
 
 We can spare but little space for the work of grace 
 in the army of the congregation, but make a brief ex- 
 tract from the Rev. Robert Blair's account of that which 
 he witnessed in person. Mr Blair was at that time a 
 placed and highly acceptable minister at St. Andrew's. 
 But so important was the edification of the army deemed, 
 that he was called from his charge in 1640, to share the 
 vicissitudes of battle with those who went to war. 
 
 " With this army the Church sent an able minister 
 attached to every regiment. The chaplains jointly were 
 vested with the powers of a presbytery." These were 
 not, as it appears, priests-errant, men of inflamed pas- 
 sions, half insane with religious frenzy, as they have 
 been represented by the man of whose talents Scotland 
 has so greatly boasted herself, but men tried and found 
 faithful in the private duties of the ministry, selected 
 carefully by the Church, and invested with the grave 
 powers of a church court. 
 
 " Mr Blair went with Lord Lindsay's regiment ; and 
 when the treaty was set on foot, the committee of estates 
 sent him up to assist the commissioners with his best 
 advice. 
 
 " Amongst all the Scots army, there was scarce a 
 man without a Bible ; a great part of them were devout 
 and religious persons ; so that when they came to their 
 quarters, there was little else to be heard but reading, 
 prayer, and solemn melody .";{: 
 
 • Nehemiah, viii. 6, 6. -|- Ibid. v. 6. 
 
 I Memoir of Robert Biair, p. 94, 95,. 
 
THE ARMY OF THE COVENANT. 199 
 
 Such is the short but very satisfactory account given 
 by Mr Blair of the religious condition of the Covenant- 
 ing- army. This eminent individual will be recognised 
 as the same man of God who was a chief instrument in 
 the deep religious impression which was made at the 
 Six-mile-water in Ireland, nearly twenty years before 
 this. He was, besides, honoured to revive his Master's 
 work in Glasgow and the west, in Ireland, and in St 
 Andrew's. Livingston describes him as " a man of a 
 notable constitution both of body and mind, of a majestic 
 yet amiable countenance ; one thoroughly learned, of 
 strong parts and solid judgment, and of a most public 
 spirit for God. * * * He spent many days and 
 nights in prayer alone and with others, and was one very 
 intimate with God."* 
 
 Mr David Dickson, whose ministry at Irvine was at- 
 tended with sd much fruit, was sometimes engaged at 
 Stewarton, where he says " The Lord had a great work 
 in converting many. Numbers of them were at first 
 under great terrors, deep distress of conscience, and after- 
 wards attained to sweet peace and strong consolation. I 
 preached often to them in the time of the college vaca- 
 tion" (of Glasgow where he was a regent), "residing at the 
 house of that famous saint, the Lady Robertland, and 
 had much conference with them, and profited more by 
 them than I think they did by me ; though ignorant 
 people and proud secure livers called them ' the daft 
 people of Stewarton.' Mr Robert Boyd of Trochrigg " 
 (principal of the College of Glasgow, and minister of 
 Govan) " came from his house in Carrick to meet with 
 them ; and having conferred with both men and women, 
 be heartily blessed God for the grace of God in them. 
 The Countess of Eglinton did much countenance them, 
 and persuaded her noble lord to leave his hunting and 
 hawking for some days to confer with some of them, 
 whom she had sent for that purpose. After conference 
 with them, his lordship declared he never spoke with the 
 like of them, and wondered at the wisdom they mani- 
 
 * Memoir of Robert Blair, p. 94, 95. 
 
200 SCOTLAND. 
 
 fested. Such of them as were able to travel went to the 
 Monday market at Irvine, the next parish, with such 
 little commodities as they had, but their chief design was 
 to hear the Monday lecture by Mr Dickson, the minister 
 of Irvine, which was so prudently ordered by him, that it 
 ended before the market began. And many of that 
 parish following- their example (their minister, Mr Castle- 
 law, encouraging them to it), and some out of other 
 parishes went thither also, whereby the power of religion 
 was spread over that part of the country." 
 
 " I bless the Lord," says Robert Blair, " that ever I 
 was acquainted with that people, and for the help I had 
 by corresponding with blessed Mr Dickson after he left 
 the college and settled at Irvine."* There is little mention 
 made of Mr Castlelaw, who was minister of Stewarton 
 during the revival there, but we may judge that he was 
 a man of an excellent spirit, from his encouraging his 
 people to wait on Mr Dickson's Monday lecture, and 
 also from a little incident mentioned by Robert Blair : — 
 " The day I left Glasgow, riding to Dumbarton in the 
 company of Mr William Castlelaw, minister at Stewar- 
 ton, in whose pulpit I had often preached, I was so tilled 
 with the consolations of the Holy Spirit, that I could 
 not conceal my joy ; and most part of the way, which is 
 about ten miles, he and I sang to the Lord's praise with 
 great cheerfulness." | 
 
 The revival at Stewarton, it appears, began in 1625, 
 and lasted for five years. " This," says Fleming, " by 
 the profane rabble of that time, was called the Stewarton 
 sickness, — for in that parish first, but after, through much 
 of that country, particularly at Irvine under the ministry 
 of Mr Dickson, it was remarkable. It can be said (which 
 divers ministers and Christians yet alive can witness) 
 that for a considerable time few Sabbaths did pass with- 
 out some evidently converted, or some convincing proof 
 of the power of God accompanying his word ; yea, that 
 many were so choked and taken by the heart, through 
 terror, the Spirit in such a measure convincing them of 
 
 * Life of Blair, pp. 18, ! 9. f Blair's Memoir, p. 47. 
 
 / 
 
IRVINE AND STEWARTON. 20l 
 
 sin in hearing of the word, that they have been made to 
 fall over, and thus carried out of the church, — who after 
 proved most solid and lively Christians. And as was 
 known, some of the most gross who used to mock at 
 religion, being- engaged upon the fame that went abroad 
 of such things, to go to some of these parts where the 
 gospel was most lively, have been effectually reached 
 before their return, with a visible change following the 
 same. And truly this great spring-tide, as 1 may call 
 it, of the gospel was not of a short time, but for some 
 years' continuance. Yea thus, like a spreading moor- 
 burn> the power of godhness did advance from one place 
 to another, which put a marvellous lustre on these parts 
 of the country, the savour whereof brought many from 
 other parts of the land to see its truth." * 
 
 Mr David Dickson was ordained in Irvine in 1618, 
 and continued minister there for about twenty-three 
 years, when he was removed to the College of Glasgow. 
 He was a man singularly gifted with an edifying way of 
 preaching, and his painful labours were eminently blessed 
 with success. His conversing with those persons in 
 Stewarton and other places in the west, on whose hearts 
 the Spirit of the Lord had wrought in an extraordinary 
 manner, enabled him, with much experience, to deal 
 with awakened consciences ; and therefore he was re- 
 sorted to by such from all parts ; yea. Christians from 
 many other places resorted to the communion at Irvine 
 twice in the year. Woodrow says of him, " Mr Dickson's 
 ministry was singularly countenanced of God — multi- 
 tudes were convinced and converted, and few that lived 
 in his day were honoured to be instruments of conversion 
 more than he. Not a few came from distant places and 
 settled in Irvine that they might be under his ministry. 
 Upon the Sabbath evenings, many persons under soul 
 distress used to resort to his house after sermon, when 
 usually he spent an hour or two in answering their cases, 
 and directing and comforting those who were cast down, 
 in all which he had an extraordinary talent. In a large 
 
 * Fulfilling of the Scriptures, vol. i. p. 35-1, 355. 
 
202 SCOTLAND. 
 
 hall in his house in Irvine there would have been, as I 
 am informed by old Christians, several scores of serious 
 Christians waiting for him when he came home from 
 church. Those, with the people round the town who 
 came in to the market, made the church as throng, if 
 not thronger, on the Monday than on the Lord's Day. 
 The famous Stewarton sickness spread from house to 
 house for many miles in the Strath, where Stewarton 
 water runs on both sides of it. Satan, indeed, endea- 
 voured to bring a reproach upon the serious persons who 
 were at this time under the convincing work of the 
 Spirit, by running some, seemingly under serious con- 
 cern, into excesses, — both in time of sermon and in 
 families. But the Lord enabled Mr Dickson, and other 
 ministers who dealt with them, to act so prudent a part, 
 that Satan's design was much disappointed, — and solid, 
 serious, practical religion flourished mightily in the west 
 of Scotland about this time." * Mr Livingston, who had 
 the privilege of this good man's acquaintance, used a 
 portion of the forty-eight hours spared to him by the 
 council before he was banished from Scotland to visit 
 David Dickson [1662], then aged and lying on his death- 
 bed. " He told me that, as our acquaintance had continued 
 near to forty years, he was glad that now we suffered 
 for the same cause " (refusing to take the oath of supre- 
 macy) ; " for he also upon that account was removed from 
 his own place in the College of Edinburgh. I enquired 
 how he found himself; he said, I have taken all my 
 good deeds, and all my bad deeds, and cast them together 
 in a heap before the Lord, and have betaken me to Jesus 
 Christ, and in him have full and sweet peace. Within 
 a few days after he died." | 
 
 * Wodrow's pr«»fa(;« to Dickson's Truth's Victory over Error, 
 t Livingston's Memoirs of Good Men of his Time. 
 
[ 203 ] 
 
 CHAPTER XIV. 
 
 JOHN STEVENSON. 
 
 Were it the object of an author to publish an account 
 of the righteous men in the army of that period, a vohime 
 of biographical sketches, both interesting and edifying, 
 might still be recovered from the stream of time, down 
 which they are floating to oblivion. When men of pacific 
 occupations and prayerful dispositions resign the plough- 
 share for the sword, we may rest assured that the influ- 
 ence of wrath and vengeance have no power over them. 
 John Stevenson, a farmer in the parish of Dailly, was one 
 of those who fought at Bothwell Bridge ; his own account 
 of his motives for joining the army is most satisfactory, 
 but before extracting that passage from his little memoir, 
 we shall more justly appreciate the character of the man, 
 by reading his account of his conversion and general prac- 
 tices as to spiritual concerns. This also gives us a view 
 of the style and power of the preaching of John Welsh, 
 not the faithful minister of Ayr, for he was banished long 
 before the birth of Stevenson, but one of the faithful men 
 who, driven to the fields by persecution, delivered the 
 message of peace there. John Stevenson relates that his 
 heart was " first sensibly engaged to the good word of the 
 Lord in his youth, when there was no open vision, be- 
 cause faithful pastors were driven into corners." He 
 heard Mr Kennedy in the Hall of Killechan, he being 
 thrown out of his church of Lass wade by the rage of the 
 prelates. " Then and there," says he, " I fell in love 
 with the ordinances of God, and, through grace, have, 
 through several tribulations, adhered to the purity and 
 doctrine, discipHne, government, and worship which is 
 now estabhshed in the church of Scotland." He then 
 relates his discouragements because of his ignorance, want 
 of Christian experience, and temptations to atheistical 
 
204 SCOTLAND. 
 
 thoughts, with which he had a grievous conflict, and was 
 only delivered from them as from a fearful pit and miry 
 clay. 
 
 '< After this, in the year 1678, August 12th, I heard 
 Mr John Welsh, on Craigdow Hill, who preached on 
 2 Cor. V. 20., and insisted chiefly on this, ' We beseech 
 you he reconciled to God' In speaking to which words, 
 the Lord helped his servant, not only to show what 
 it is to be reconciled to God, but also earnestly to press 
 reconciliation ; and to make a free, full, and pressing offer 
 of glorious Christ as mediator, and day's-man, and the 
 great peace maker who would make up the breach, and 
 bring about this much needed reconciliation. I, being 
 fully convinced how greatly I needed this reconciHation 
 and day's-man, who is the only way to the Father, with 
 all my heart and soul did cordially and cheerfully make 
 the offer welcom.e ; and, without known guile, did accept 
 of and receive Christ, on his own term.s, in all his offices 
 as mediator ; and did give myself away to the Lord in a 
 personal and perpetual covenant, never to be forgotten, 
 accepting of God for my Lord and my God, and guide to 
 death, and great reward after it ; resolving, though strange 
 Lords had had dominion over me, yet henceforth 1 would 
 be called by his name, whom I now avouched for my only 
 God and Lord. Upon which I took the heavens, earth, 
 and sun in the firmament that was shining on us, as also 
 the ambassador who made the offer, and clerk who raised 
 the psalms ; I say — I took all these to witness in the 
 judgment day, that I had uprightly and cheerfully entered 
 into this everlasting covenant, and resolved through grace 
 to be steadfast in it till death. After which my soul was 
 filled with joy and peace in believing ; it was a joy un- 
 speakable and glorious, having now got good hope through 
 grace, that though he was angry with me, yet his anger 
 was turned away, and he was become my salvation, I 
 rejoiced in the thoughts of my new relation to God the 
 Saviour, and felt the ravishing sweetness of a reconciled 
 state, and went away firmly resolving that I would walk 
 all my days in the bitterness of my soul, and never be 
 vainly lifted up, but would fear the Lord and his goodness, 
 
JOHN STEVENSON. 205 
 
 who bad so far condescended to stoop so low as to pardon 
 a rebel, and be reconciled and pacitied to me after all I 
 had done. And all my bones at this very time shall and 
 do cry out, ' Who is a God like unto thee, a God keeping- 
 covenant, and whose faithfulness and mercy endure to all 
 generations.' 
 
 " Though after this sensible and sweet covenanting with 
 God on the hill of Craigdow I always studied to improve 
 this covenant relation with God according to my various 
 cases, temptations, necessities, and distresses ; yet the most 
 memorabletime of my renewing this covenant was at Craig- 
 darroch, in Nithsdale, in the year 1686; where, in secret 
 prayer, the Lord determined me to renew that covenant I 
 had entered into with him on Craigdow hill, and wonder- 
 fully condescended, as it were, to bring me nigh to his seat, 
 and filled my mouth with arguments, and allowed me to 
 plead with him as a man doth with a reconciled friend. 
 There was I helped with great enlargement to renew and 
 adhere to the everlasting covenant ; and there the kind 
 God manifested himself to me otherwise than to the 
 world ; and I may say that truly my fellowship was with 
 the Father and his Son Jesus Christ, in as sensible and 
 eminent a degree as I ever met with before or since, 
 though many times since he has been kind to my soul. 
 
 " Soon after this, while at Craigdarroch, my spirit was 
 overwhelmed within me, on account of a rising genera- 
 tion, and for fear of a departing God and glory. I was 
 frequently obliged to retire to solitary places, and with 
 an aching heart, trembHng soul, and wringing of hands, 
 bewail the sad circumstances that poor posterity would be 
 in if God should leave these lands. I saw that the rage 
 of a prelatic persecution had banished many faithful shep- 
 herds — had put some of them to death, and that they 
 were restless in pursuing others — so that they had scat- 
 tered the Lord's flock, and made them wander on the 
 mountains in the dark and cloudy day ; which obliged 
 Christ's sheep, who know his voice and will not follow a 
 stranger, to wander from sea to sea, and from one part of 
 the land to another, to hear the pure and good word of the 
 Lord, and many times could not iind it. All this made 
 my soul cast down within me, for all flesh had corrupted 
 
206 SCOTLAND. 
 
 their way. Those who were in power and authority seemed 
 to bid Christ depart out of our coasts, and many also were 
 the provocations of sons and daughters. Our solemn cove- 
 nants, by which we had bound ourselves to the Lord, 
 were too little regarded by a great many. All this filled 
 my soul with fear, lest glorious Christ should be provok- 
 ed not to return again to poor Scotland. Then I thought 
 if he would not return wilh a preached Gospel, in plenty 
 and purity, we had been the cruel generation who had 
 sent him away from ourselves and poor posterity ; which 
 obliged me, in deep distress, to lament over a rising gene- 
 ration, and earnestly to entreat that glory might yet 
 dwell in our land, and that he would return to us with a 
 departed glory."* 
 
 " I shall only add one thing more, which is, that I fre- 
 quently came to Kirkoswald, to spend a day in the church 
 in prayer and meditation, that I might be at some distance 
 from the hurry and noise of the world, for my conveni- 
 ence was not great at home, that so I might serve the 
 Lord without distraction. It was my ordinary to set 
 apart one day in the month for fasting and humiliation, 
 prayer and meditation, and I found great quiet for it in 
 the' church of Kirkoswald. I staid in the minister's 
 when I was in that place, and went into the church in the 
 morning about sun-rising and came not out till sun-setting 
 in the longest summer day. And in case matters went 
 not well with me the first day, I usually spent the second 
 and sometimes the third in the foresaid duties, and found 
 this a great mean of holding my soul in life. Then I 
 could say, O how love I thy law ; it is my meditation 
 all the day, and it was ever with me ; and I rejoiced 
 when I found his word as one who findeth great spoil, and 
 could say that I esteemed the words of his mouth more 
 than my necessary food." f 
 
 Such was the state of self-denied and well disciplined 
 feeling with which Stevenson joined the army of the 
 covenant, and we have reason to believe that he was one 
 of many such Christians. He mentions being a soldier 
 incidentally, when relating to his children and grandchil- 
 
 * Life of Stevenson, p. 6, 7, 8. f Ibid. p. 41. 
 
JOHN STEVENSON. 20? 
 
 dren his experience of " remavkable providences^ and 
 returns of prayer'^ But he shall speak for himself. 
 
 " The first I shall mention is what I met with at Both- 
 well. I am not ashamed to own I was there ; and do 
 declare it was not a spirit of rebellion against the king 
 and government that took me there, as that rising up is 
 slanderously reported by many. That which moved us 
 to join together, yea appear in arms, was the necessary 
 defence of our lives, liberties, and religion ; for it is well 
 known how the enemies of God, and the enemies of our 
 holy religion did cut up the people as bread, and called 
 not on his name ; and wherever they met with honest 
 ministers or private Christians, they either shot them, 
 banished, or dragged them to prison ; and for no other 
 reason but because we worshipped the covenant God of our 
 fathers, according to our conscience, and in the way we 
 judged was appointed of God. We would have taken 
 cheerfully the spoiling of our goods, had not our enemies 
 sought to lord it over our conscience, while we could not 
 submit to them without incurring the displeasure of God. 
 I own many of us could not be edified, by a set of men 
 forced on us by the prelates. And it is well known how 
 scandalous and immoral the generality of them were ; and 
 yet for not joining in communion with men who were a 
 scandal to the Christian religion, we were hunted hke 
 partridges upon the mountains, and exposed to the rage of 
 the bloody soldiery, whose tender mercies we found to be 
 cruelty : yea, when we complained of our grievances to 
 those in power, in the most humble, dutiful, and loyal way, 
 we were the more harassed and oppressed, as if our per- 
 secutors had a mind to show to the world, that they were 
 entirely void of humanity. All which considered, it was 
 no wonder we joined together for our common safety. 
 And our uniting together was on the very principles 
 which our happy revolution was afterwards brought about, 
 namely the preserving ourselves and posterity from 
 Popery, slavery, and arbitrary power. 
 
 " Having shown you what moved us to take up arms 
 at Bothwell, I come now to let you know the providence 
 I met with there. While w^e lay at Hamilton before the 
 engagement, I observed all my acquaintances and others 
 
208 SCOTLAND. 
 
 providing head-pieces and breast-plates, and what was 
 necessary for their safety in the day of battle. I not having 
 money to spare on these things as some others had, looked 
 up to God, and took him for a covering to my head in the 
 day of battle, as he had been to David of old ; for I ob- 
 served that, whatever pieces of armour they had prepared 
 for their safety, there was still a possibility of their being 
 slain. Wherefore, I humbly told the great God I would 
 entirely depend on him for a covering in the day of battle^ 
 Accordingly, when our forces iled from before the enemy, 
 and all took what way they judged most proper for their 
 safety, I rode not through Hamilton with the rest, but 
 went about the town ; and having crossed a glen, when I 
 got to the other side of it, I espied a party of the enemy 
 just below me, and in the very way by which I behoved 
 to ride. I could not turn back without alarming them, 
 and therefore rode on. My comrade was riding just be- 
 fore me with his head-piece, and other pieces of armour 
 which he had provided for his safety. I saw him dismayed, 
 and that he could not well sit his horse from fear. On 
 which 1 whispered him to go on composedly ; and I went 
 before him with my carabine over my head, and my sword 
 drawn in my hand. The enemy came so close up to the 
 way, all standing under arms, that I could not avoid 
 touching clothes with them. On v/hich their commander, 
 in a threatening way, asked me the word. I had resolved 
 not to speak, whatever they asked of this nature, because 
 I knew not their word, and thought it would irritate them 
 the more if 1 told them what was not their word. As 
 1 spoke nothing but rode on, depending entirely on the 
 God whom I had chosen as my covering in the day of 
 battle, I got past them unmolested. But when my com- 
 rade came up, I heard the officer ask him the v/ord ' dog ;' 
 on which through fear he told them what was not their 
 word, which so provoked the commander that he struck 
 him over the head with his broad sword ; which, by 
 reason of my comrade's head-piece, was broken in two. 
 This so enraged the commander, that he ordered some 
 of his men to fire, which they did, and killed him on the 
 spot. I still stepped on without the least hurry or con- 
 
JOHN STEVENSON. 209 
 
 fusion, and they never in the least molested me. Just as 
 I passed by them, I saw Colonel Burns lying in his blood, 
 whom they had shot a little before. So that I must own 
 the Lord was my safety and the covering- of my head in 
 the day of battle. He hid me as in the hollow of his 
 hand, and set remarkable bounds to the wrath of the 
 enemy. So the snare was broken, and I escaped as a bird 
 out of the snare of the fowler ; and ray sure and all-suffi- 
 cient help was in Jehovah's name who made the heavens 
 and the earth. 
 
 " From this time till our happy Revolution I was 
 obliged for nine years to retire and hide myself as much 
 as possible from the rage of my persecutors ; and fearing 
 if I were taken by them I should be tempted through 
 my weakness to any sinful oaths which they contrived 
 to ensnare souls, or be exposed to dreadful sufferings, I 
 set apart time for prayer, and pleaded with God that he 
 would make out graciously to me what he had promised 
 to do for his church and people in days of fiery trial * * 
 " And I must own, he remembered the word on which he 
 caused me to hope, and preserved me remarkably from 
 the enemy." 
 
 " Some time after this a troop of the enemy were 
 quartered about Dailly, and five were quartered upon my 
 father in Camragen. As they came to my father's they 
 were informed that I was that morning come to the 
 house ; for there were many informers in the country, 
 who sold themselves to destroy innocent blood, and that 
 for a piece of bread; they had described me to the soldiers, 
 and it was so that I had come from my hiding-place into 
 the house to get some refreshment. I had not designed 
 to sit down, when all of a sudden my sister and I heard 
 a great noise before the door. We ran to see what was 
 the matter, and found three of the five dragoons, who 
 asked if I was the good man of the house, or if I belong- 
 ed to the family ? I answered I was not the head of the 
 family, but I belonged to it. I expected the next ques- 
 tion would be, ^are you his son ?' but the Lord restrained 
 them from it for his wise ends and my safety. They 
 told me they were to quarter with iis, and dismounted, 
 and were in g-reat ra2:e. The Lord ordered so that 
 
210 SCOTLAND. 
 
 neither my sister nor I were the least daunted before 
 them. I spoke civilly to them, and told them to be calm 
 and easy, and they should get for themselves and horses 
 in great plenty. I offered them straw, hay or corn, and 
 took them into the garden and made up a bundle for 
 each of them of what they desired ; and I made up also 
 one for myself. 1 let them take up their bundles first and 
 return to the stable, and I followed. But when they 
 entered the stable door, I skipped back, and got over the 
 garden ditch, and so escaped from them. They were in 
 great rage at the disappointment, and when they met my 
 father, threatened to have him ruined for entertaining 
 such as I in his house. But he turned the charge upon 
 them, and threatened to tell their commander, that they 
 had let me go after they had me in their custody ; upon 
 v/hich they held themselves quiet. And so the Lord 
 kept me from that hour of temptation, as I had begged, 
 and as he had made me hope. 
 
 " Some time after this, some of the dragoons being 
 quartered in my father's, I was lying out by night and 
 by day on a neighbouring hill, to which I had my «neat 
 sent me for /ordinary . It fell out that the several troops 
 which lay at Girvan and Dailly were all to rendezvous, 
 and they which were quartered at my father's went to 
 meet with the rest at Girvan. I, seeing them go oif, 
 came down from the hill where I used to lurk, and came 
 with a design to get some refreshment. Whilst I was 
 taking it, my father came in, and told me he saw some 
 dragoons coming back in great haste, and that they were 
 just at hand. He desired me to fly for my life, and he 
 would divert them at the entry till I could hide myself 
 in the garden. I told him I would lie on the other side 
 of the garden in a blackberry-bush till he had got them 
 settled ; and when he had done so, he might bring me an 
 account, and I would go off. Accordingly, I went out, 
 and hid me in the bush, while my father helped them to 
 lay off their furniture ; for they were the dragoons who 
 used to stay with him, and bad been sent back in haste. 
 Before they would go into the house, they would put 
 their horses to grass that night in the place where I lay 
 hid. Whereupon one of the dragoons, seeing the fruit, 
 
JOHN STEVENSON. 211 
 
 came to eat blackberries off the very bush at the root of which 
 I lay. My father, seeing- him at the bush where I was, 
 cried to him that he would poison himself, for in harvest 
 these berries were full of worms ; and in order to draw 
 him from the bush, he desired him to bring- a berry, and 
 he would show him a worm in it. The dragoon went to 
 him with a berry, and my father opened it, and showed 
 him a worm in it, which is not uncommon at that sea- 
 son of the year ; and thus he was persuaded to go into 
 the house with the rest, and take meat. When they 
 were set down, my father came out, as if to take care 
 the horses should not break in upon the corn, and told 
 me they were settled ; and so I stepped off to my ordi- 
 nary lurking'-place upon the hills. And here again it is 
 evident that I dwelt under the shadow of the Most High, 
 and lay in the secret places of the Almighty, when my 
 enemy was so nigh and did not discover me — and I may 
 call the name of that bush Jehovah Jireh, for there he 
 was seen to appear for me, for now, when in great danger, 
 he did not inclose me in the enemy's hand."* 
 
 It may be thought that a portion of these extracts 
 diverges from the purposes of the work. The reason 
 they are given is to prove more fully the spirit of prayer- 
 ful dependence in which such men lived ; and to exhibit 
 the minute and tender care of the God whom they served, 
 when for conscience sake they were reduced to great 
 straits. John Stevenson lived till 1728, so that he en- 
 joyed the rich reward of seeing- the church for which he 
 had fought, fasted, and wandered about, hiding in holes 
 and dens of the earth, estabhshed according to the desire 
 of his conscience. One cannot but sympathise in the 
 feelings of such a man, when from a position of security 
 he could " call to remembrance the former days in which, 
 after he was illuminated, he endured a great fight of 
 affliction, being made a gazing stock, both by reproaches 
 and afflictions ; and partly because he became a companion 
 of them that w^ere so used. He had taken joyfully the 
 spoiling- of his goods, knowing that in heaven he had a 
 better and an enduring substance." f 
 
 * Life of Stevenson, p. 21, 22, 23, 24. f Heb. x. 33. 
 
212 
 
 CHAPTER XV. 
 
 GUTHRIE, AT FIN WICK. 
 
 Mr William Guthrie was, in 1644, ordained to 
 the sacred office, and settled in the west, over the newly 
 erected parish of Finwick. But before the first year of 
 his ministry had elapsed, when his solemn and lively 
 representations of Christian truth had but just attracted 
 the attention of the neglected and barbarous people over 
 whom he was placed ; when also he had but just entered 
 into the holy bond of matrimony, a circumstance which 
 under the Mosaic economy would have formed an ex- 
 emption from that service, he was appointed by the 
 General Assembly to attend the army. He severed for a 
 time the ties of home, and obeyed with cheerfulness a 
 mandate to which duty and patriotism alone could have 
 reconciled him. After exercising an energetic influence 
 over his comrades, and sharing with them some perilous 
 encounters and some remarkable deliverances, he re- 
 turned to his people at Finwick, and recommenced his 
 exertions there with a powerful effect. 
 
 His biographer states, that " the heavenly zeal for the 
 glory of his great master which animated the labours of 
 this excellent minister, his fervent love to the souls of 
 men dying in their sins, and his holy wisdom and dili- 
 gence in reclaiming and instructing them, were so 
 honoured by God, and accompanied with the powerful 
 influences of his holy Spirit, that in a little time a noble 
 change was wrought upon a barbarous multitude ; they 
 were almost all persuaded to attend the public ordi- 
 nances, to set up and maintain the worship of God in 
 their families ; and scarce was there a house in the whole 
 parish that did not bring forth some fruit of his ministry, 
 and afford some real converts to a religious life. And 
 
WILLIAM GUTHRIE. 213 
 
 thus he was made the instrument of many notable tri- 
 umphs of victorious grace, which Jesus Christ leads 
 over the souls of obstinate transgressors, when he turns 
 them from their ways, and subdues the people under 
 him." * * * 
 
 The historian dilates with much pleasure on Mr 
 Guthrie's skill in attracting the young, his power in 
 opening the Scriptures in catechising, his industry in 
 private instruction, his experience in mental conflict 
 and temptation, which taught him to sympathise with 
 and to succour the tempted, his success and the divine 
 blessing on his endeavours to reclaim sinners even on 
 their deathbeds. Another feature of his zeal to recover 
 those who were out of the way, reminds us of Charles 
 on the mountains of Wales, and of Grimshaw in the 
 wolds of Yorkshire. 
 
 " The state of his health made it necessary for him to 
 use frequent and vigorous exercise ; and this made him 
 choose fishing and fowling for his common recreations ; 
 but as he was always animated by a flaming zeal for the 
 glory of his Master, and a tender compassion to the souls 
 of men ; and as the principal thing that made him desire 
 life and health was, that he might employ them in pro- 
 pagating the kingdom of God, and turning transgressors 
 from their evil ways, so the very hours of his recreation 
 were dedicated to this purpose. He knew how to make 
 his diversions subservient to the nobler ends of his 
 ministry ; he made them the occasion of familiarizing 
 his people to him, and introducing himself to their affec- 
 tions, and in the disguise of a sportsman he gained some 
 to a religious life, upon whom he could have little influ- 
 ence in a minister's gown. Of this there happened 
 several memorable examples. 
 
 " Some of the parish were so extremely rude and 
 barbarous, that they never attended upon divine worship, 
 and knew not so much as the face of their pastor. To 
 such every thing that regarded religion was distasteful ; 
 a minister would have been enough to frighten them ; 
 nor could he have access either to visit or catechise them. 
 But what Mr Guthrie might almost otherwise have 
 
214 SCOTLAND. 
 
 despaired of, he eflfected by his diversions. In the habit 
 which he then wore, he conciliated the esteem and love 
 even of those ignorant creatures, and made use of their 
 curiosity, as well as nobler arguments, to bring- them to 
 church ; so that the pulpit was the first place which dis- 
 covered to them that it was their minister himself who 
 had aikired them thither. So condescending- a method 
 of gaining them procured a constant attendance on pub- 
 lic ordinances : and was at length accompanied by the 
 fruits of righteousness, which are through Jesus Christ 
 unto the praise of God." * 
 
 Livingston describes him in the following- terms : — 
 a ]y[j. "William Guthrie, minister of Finwick, was a man 
 of a most ready gift and plentiful invention, with most 
 apposite comparisons, fit both to awaken and pacify con- 
 sciences, straight and steadfast in the public cause of 
 Christ. He was a great li^ht in the west of Scotland. 
 ***** 
 
 <' In his doctrine he was as full and free as any man 
 in Scotland had ever been, which, tog-ether with the 
 excellency of his preaching gift, did so recommend him 
 to the affections of people, that they turned the corn 
 field of his g-lebe to a little town, every one building- a 
 house for his family upon it, that they might live under 
 the drop of bis ministry," 
 
 Many men would have felt the loss of the corn field, 
 owing- to their straitened circumstances, enough to damp 
 their joy at being rendered so useful. But a bountiful 
 Providence enabled Mr Guthrie to welcome such en- 
 croachments on his field, as he was the owner of the estate 
 of Pitforthy in the shire of Angus. This crowding to 
 his ministry from great distances arose from the perse- 
 cutions, which had silenced, one after another, most of 
 the experienced men who were valiant for truth in those 
 days ; so that the scattered flocks thankfully took shelter 
 in the fold, at whatever inconvenience. Mr Crawford 
 says of Mr Guthrie, that " he was a burning and shining 
 light, kept in later than many others by the influence of 
 
 ♦ Life of Guthrie, p. 11, 12. 
 
WILLIAM GUTHRIE. 215 
 
 the old Earl of Eg-linton, father-in-law to the Chancellor. 
 He converted and confirmed many thousand souls, and 
 was esteemed the greatest practical preacher in Scotland. 
 
 " As God had designed and prepared him for eminent 
 and extensive services during- this period; his excellent 
 accomplishments now exerted themselves with the great- 
 est efficacy, and his usefulness was diffiised more univer- 
 sally through the whole country, which was in a great 
 measure deprived of pastors. Many there hungered 
 after the word of the Lord, and this made them with 
 more eagerness embrace the advantage which a merciful 
 Providence afi'orded them in Mr Guthrie's ministry. 
 Great multitudes resorted to him from all parts of the 
 west country ; his large church was crowded with hear- 
 ers from Glasgow, Paisley, Lanark and Hamilton, and 
 other distant places, and his strong and clear voice en- 
 abled him to extend the profit of his discourses to the 
 many hundreds who were obliged to stay without doors. 
 
 " An extraordinary zeal then enlivened the souls of 
 sincere Christians ; they were animated by a v/arm af- 
 fection to the truth, and an uncommon delight in hearing 
 the joyful sound ; and this made them despise the diffi- 
 culties that lay in the way, and bear cheerfully with 
 many inconveniences, which attendance upon the sacred 
 ordinances was then accompanied with, so that we are 
 assured by several worthy persons who enjoyed Mr Guth- 
 rie's ministry, that it was their usual practice to come 
 to Finwick on Saturday, spend the greatest part of that 
 night in prayer to God, and conversation about the great 
 concerns of their souls, attend on public worship on the 
 Sabbath, dedicate the remainder of that holy day to reli- 
 gious exercises, and then on the Monday go home, ten, 
 twelve, or twenty miles, without grudging the fatigue of 
 so long a way, and the want of sleep and other refresh- 
 ments, or finding themselves less prepared for any busi- 
 ness through the week, so much was their heart engaged 
 in the attendance they gave to these sacred administra- 
 tions. A remarkable blessing accompanied ordinances 
 that were dispensed to people who came with such a dis- 
 position of soul ; great numbers were converted to the 
 
216 SCOTLAND. 
 
 truth, and many were built up in their most holy faith. 
 A divine power animated the gospel that was preached, 
 and exerted itself in a holy warmth and sanctified affec- 
 tions, a ravishing- pleasure in divine fellowship, and a 
 noble joy and triumph in their King and Saviour, which 
 were to be visibly discerned in the hearers ; many were 
 confirmed in the good ways of the Lord, strengthened 
 and comforted against temporal fears and discourage- 
 ments ; and the fruits of righteousness discovered in the 
 excellency of a holy conversation, were a glorious proof 
 of the sincerity of their profession, and the wonderful 
 success of Mr Guthrie's ministry. Some of these at- 
 tested afterwards much more than is now said, and never 
 could think without an exultation of soul, and emotions 
 of revived affections, on the memory of their spiritual 
 father, and the power of that victorious grace which in 
 those days triumphed so gloriously." * 
 
 It was impossible that Mr Guthrie should have be- 
 come the centre of such a circle without exciting- pecu- 
 liar malice in the prelatical party. The wrath of the 
 Archbishop of Glasgow became at last so hot, that no 
 great man's patronage was sufficient to protect him. The 
 long- threatened hour approached, and in preparation to 
 meet it, Mr Guthrie and his flock kept a congregational 
 fast on the 20th July, 1664. He preached from the 
 words of Hosea, xiii. 9, " O Israel, thou hast destroyed 
 thyself." " And indeed," says the narrator, " the place 
 was a Bochim." His own people and many others met 
 him at the churchyard of Finwick next Lord's day, be- 
 tween four and five in the morning, when he preached 
 two sermons to them from the close of his fast-day text, 
 " But in me is thy help." He took leave of them, dis- 
 missing them before nine in the morning, commending 
 them to the great God, who was able to build them up, 
 and help them in the time of their need. Mr Guthrie 
 had much ado to protect the soldiers who came to take 
 him from the just indignation of his people. His influ- 
 ence prevailed, however, and the soldiers were permitted 
 
 * Life of Guthrie, p. 22. 
 
IRVINE AND STEWARTON. 217 
 
 to declare the church vacant. His sentence of suspension 
 was uttered, but he remained in the parish for more than 
 a year, his church being- shut up, as no curate was ever 
 settled. 
 
 In October, 1665, this righteous man expired, when 
 he was in Angus settling some aifairs relative to his 
 estate there. A contemporary remarks of him : " The 
 Presbyterian church lost one of its pillars in him, as he 
 was one of the most eloquent, successful, and popular 
 preachers that ever was in Scotland." * 
 
 To obtain the view required by this work, we are con- 
 strained to pass from point to point, with what may, to a 
 cursory reader, seem a neglect of dates and a confusion of 
 periods. But in fact, the desire of furnishing a glimpse of 
 the spiritual influences which accompanied the army 
 through a long period of vicissitudes, can only be accom- 
 plished by such hints as are here drawn together. The re- 
 newals of the Solemn Covenant, too, which arose and sub- 
 sided, — now, according to the political aspect of aifairs, 
 seeming little the subject of care, and again engaging all 
 hearts in the religious world, in proportion as the spirit 
 of devotion ebbed and flowed in the country, — occupied 
 such a variety of stations, and occurred at such a variety 
 of dates, that it has seemed best, as no accurate history 
 of that memorable period is contemplated here, to afl"ord 
 a specimen of the pervading spirit here and there as it 
 presents itself, Avithout solicitude as to binding it tO' 
 gether. 
 
 It has been objected, that the revivals which took 
 place in 1590, and afterwards under the preaching of 
 Welsh, Bruce, and others, arose so soon after the Re- 
 formation, and in times of such public excitement, that 
 they are not to be trusted, — as men's minds were in a 
 state of ferment on the subject of religion, and they 
 adopted opinions in the spirit of party, rather than prin- 
 ciples in the spirit of faith. Will any candid reader of 
 the fruit of the Ayr revivals, seeing a town of blows and 
 strife turned into a town of peace and love ; and such 
 
 * Life of Guthrie, p. 56. 
 
218 SCOTLAND. 
 
 examples of the power of Christian principle as are ex- 
 hibited by Kennedy and Stewart, persist in calling- this 
 a political excitement or a relig-ion of faction ? It is 
 true these events occurred during the progress of the 
 Reformation ; and had that been a mere human or poli- 
 tical work, it mig-ht be suspected. But did the Refor- 
 mation originate with man or with God ? Was there 
 not every thing- of earthly interest to quash enquiry, and 
 rivet people silently in their errors ? Were not tranquil- 
 lity, the esteem of man, property, country, life, often the 
 forfeit of enquiring into the truth ? Is it the Spirit of 
 God that alone can change the heart, and are we to cry 
 out enthusiasm and excitement at the news of a g-reat 
 conversion work, because it took place near the time of 
 the Reformation ? What constituted the Reformation ? 
 It was a poor imperfect work, indeed, if it only made such a 
 revolution in men's opinions as the introduction of the 
 Newtonian system did in science. No ; it is because the 
 Reformation touched souls — it is because it is the work 
 of the Holy Spirit, that it remains to this day. And 
 we oug-htto bless the Lord continually that he " excited " 
 men's souls at the time of the Reformation. Again, it 
 has been said that the revival at Stewarton was a mere 
 popular commotion against the purposes of Charles I. 
 and the court, who were attempting- to impose Episcopacy 
 on an unwilling people. And in the same spirit it has 
 been alleged that, because the great day of the Lord at 
 Shotts, the particulars of which we shall presently relate, 
 occurred when the people must have met under terror of 
 the High Court of Commission, which we feel disposed 
 to entitle the Scottish Inquisition, therefore the work 
 could not be genuine. It is true that minds agitated by 
 civil and religious oppression are more easily excited than 
 they are in ordinary times of quiet. But it is also true, 
 that the Lord takes advantage of times of affliction to 
 press the hearts of men into his peace ; and happily, in 
 these cases, the fruits have proved that they were not 
 the emotions of emulation, wrath, and strife ; but of love, 
 joy, and peace in believing-. 
 
[ 219 ] 
 
 CHAPTER XVI. 
 
 KIRK OF SHOTTS. 
 
 John Livingston, who was the immediate instru- 
 ment of the awakening- at Shotts, preached his first ser- 
 mon six years before. He had the happiness of early 
 religious training, and the advantage of attending the 
 ministry of many excellent men, such as Robert Bruce 
 and Patrick Simpson. It is interesting to observe the 
 progress of his mind. His own wish to study medicine, 
 and his father's wish that he should, for some politic 
 reason, marry, and settle early on his estate, both lost 
 their influence, when the desire to become a preacher of 
 the gospel took possession of him. In great perplexity 
 of mind he retired to a cave on the south side of Mouse- 
 water, to spend a day before God ; a place endeared to 
 him, doubtless, by the most deeply cherished associations, 
 as he takes pleasure in describing the spot minutely after 
 the lapse of years. After much tossing of mind, and 
 confusion and fear about the state of his own soul, it 
 seemed clearly his duty to preach Christ Jesus. " Upon 
 this," he says, " I laid aside all thought of France, and 
 medicine, and land, and betook me to the study of 
 divinity." 
 
 Mr Livingston, when a preacher, was affectionately 
 called by the people of Torphichen, but because of his 
 non-conformity, was refused ordination by the Bishop of 
 St Andrews. He was frequently engaged to preach 
 there, as well as in the parish of Shotts, which borders 
 on it. Of his last Sabbath at Torphichen he says, " it 
 was the sweetest, though sorrowful, that I had seen 
 there. The people were very desirous to hear the word, 
 and the Lord furnished the more to be preached to them." 
 
220 SCOTLAND. 
 
 In the memoir of his own life, Livingston gives a 
 brief account of the day at Shotts, which we are now to 
 record, but he omits some particulars which are related 
 by GilHes, while the others are exactly the same,* we, 
 therefore, extract from Gillies's Collections, rather than 
 from the memoir. 
 
 A few circumstances connected with the Kirk of Shotts, 
 previous to the memorable 21st of June, 1630, will put 
 us in possession of the state of the parish and neighbour- 
 hood, and prove again, what has been shown ever of old, 
 that when the Lord designs mercy to his people, he 
 awakens the spirit of prayer, so tliat their hearts may 
 be prepared to receive the blessing. It also proves that 
 there " is no restraint to the Lord to save by many or 
 by few ; " for it was not an experienced servant of the 
 church, nor a man possessing weight in a worldly point 
 of view, whom the Lord honoured in this affair ; but a 
 young preacher, as will be seen, who was so intimidated 
 at the idea of addressing an audience which contained 
 many experienced and prayerful members, that in the 
 morning he actually set out to absent himself from the 
 congregation, that he might escape the duty imposed upon 
 him. Gillies thus describes the parish and neighbour- 
 hood: 
 
 " As the Kirk of Shotts lies on the road from the 
 west to Edinburgh, and is distant from any convenient 
 place of entertainment, some ladies of rank, who had 
 occasion to pass that way, met at different times with 
 civilities from the minister, at his house, which was 
 situated where the public inn is now. Particularly once, 
 when some misfortune had befallen their chariot, they 
 were obliged to pass a night in the minister's house." 
 (This minister was Mr John Hance.) " They observed 
 that the house was much out of repair, and very incom- 
 modiously situated, and used their influence to get a 
 more convenient house built for him in another place. 
 After receiving such a substantial favour, the minister 
 waited on them to enquire if there was any thing in his 
 power by which he might testify his gratitude. They 
 replied, that he would oblige them much by inviting 
 
KIRK OF SHOTTS. 221 
 
 certain ministers, eminent in promoting- practical religion, 
 to assist at his communion. It is said that Mr Robert 
 Bruce was one of the number engaged by Mr Hance in 
 consequence of this request. The report of this spread- 
 ing far and near, multitudes of persons of different ranks 
 attended there, so that for several days before the Sacra- 
 ment, there was much time spent in social prayer. 
 
 " It was not usual, it seems, in those times, to have any 
 sermon on the Monday, after dispensing the Lord's Sup- 
 per, But God had given so much of his gracious pre- 
 sence, and afforded his people so much communion with 
 himself on the foregoing days of that solemnity, that 
 they knew not how to part without thanksgiving- and 
 praise. There had been a vast confluence of choice 
 Christians, with several eminent ministers, from almost 
 all corners of the land, who had been many of them 
 together several days, hearing and joining- tog-ether in 
 companies in prayer, praise, and spiritual conferences. 
 While their hearts were warm with the love of God, the 
 desire of a public service on the Monday became general. 
 John Livingston, chaplain to the Countess of Wigtoun, 
 aged 27, not ordained, was with much ado prevailed upon 
 to think of giving the sermon. He had spent the night 
 before in prayer and conference ; but when he was alone 
 in the fields, about eight or nine in the morning-, there 
 came such a misgiving- of heart upon him, under a sense 
 of unworthiness and unfitness to speak before so many 
 aged and worthy ministers and so many eminent and 
 experienced Christians, that he was thinking to have 
 stolen quite away, — and was actually gone away to some 
 distance. But when just about to lose sight of the Kirk 
 of Shotts, these words, ' was I ever a barren wilderness, 
 or a land of darkness ? ' were brought into his heart with 
 such an overcoming power, as constrained him to return 
 and comply with the call to preach. 
 
 " This he did with good assistance, for an hour-and-half, 
 on the points he had meditated, from Ezek. xxxvi. 25, 26, 
 ' Then will I sprinkle clean water upon you, and ye 
 shall be clean from all your filthiness, — and from all your 
 
222 SCOTLAND. 
 
 idols will I cleanse you. A new heart also will I give 
 you, and a new spirit will I put within you, and I will 
 take away the stony heart out of your flesh, and I will 
 give you an heart of flesh/ As he was about to close, 
 a heavy shower made the audience hastily put on their 
 cloaks and mantles. But instead of hurrying- to seek 
 shelter, they remained where they were, and the preacher 
 beg-an to address them to the following purpose : ' If a 
 few drops of rain from the clouds so discompose you, how 
 discomposed will you be, how full of horror and despair, 
 if God should deal with you as you deserve ? and thus he 
 will deal with all the finally impenitent. God mig-ht 
 justly rain fire and brimstone upon us, as upon the cities 
 of the plain. The Son of God, by tabernacling in our 
 nature, and obeying and sufl'ering in it, is the only refuge 
 and covert from the storm of divine wrath due to us for 
 sin. His merits and mediation alone are the screen from 
 that storm, and none but penitent believers shall have 
 the benefit of that shelter.' In these, and expressions 
 to this purpose, he was led on for about an hour after he 
 had done with what he had premeditated, in a strain of 
 exhortation and warning, with great enlargement and 
 melting of heart."* 
 
 In reviewing his life as a preacher, Mr Livingston 
 says, " I was often much deserted and cast down in 
 preaching, and sometimes tolerably assisted. I never 
 preached a sermon that I would be earnest to see again 
 in writ, but two. The one was at a communion on a 
 Monday at the Kirk of Shotts, and the other on a Mon- 
 day after a communion in Holywood (Ireland), and 
 both these times I had spent the whole night before in 
 conference and prayer with some Christians, without any 
 more than ordinary preparation ; otherwise my gift was 
 suited rather to simple common people, than to learned 
 judicious auditors." f 
 
 Fleming makes mention of the day at Shotts in his 
 own pecuhar manner of solemn joy and thanksgiving. 
 
 * Gillies's Collections. t Life of Livingston, p. 62. 
 
KIRK OF SHOTTS. 228 
 
 *' I must also mention that solemn communion at the 
 Kirk of Shotts, at which time there was so convincing- 
 an appearance of God, and downpouring- of the Spirit 
 even in an extraordinary way, which did follow the ordi- 
 nances, especially on Monday, 21st of June, when there 
 was a strange unusual motion on the hearers, who in a 
 great multitude were there convened of divers ranks. 
 It was known, as I can speak on sure ground, that near 
 five hundred had at that time a discernible change wrought 
 on them, of whom most proved lively Christians after- 
 wards. It was the sowing of a seed through Clyddis- 
 dale, so that many of the most eminent Christians of 
 that country could date either their conversion or some 
 remarkable confirmation of their case from that day. It 
 was the more remarkable, that one, after much reluc- 
 tance, by a special and unexpected Providence, was called 
 to preach that sermon on the Monday, Vvhich was not 
 then usually practised ; and that the night before, by 
 most of the Christians there, was spent in prayer; so 
 that the work of that Monday might be discerned as a 
 convincing return to prayer." * 
 
 Dr Gillies, with his usual caution, furnishes testimo- 
 nials to the credibility of Mr Fleming as a man of high 
 integrity and piety ; and also states, that his opportuni- 
 ties of information with regard to the revival at Shotts were 
 not to be doubted. His ministerial life was passed at 
 Cambuslang, within twelve miles of this interesting 
 spot, from 1653 to 1661, just twenty-three years after ; 
 and being a minister in the same presbytery, he must 
 have enjoyed frequent opportunities of conversing with 
 some of the subjects of that refreshing visitation, and 
 with others who had opportunities of observing their 
 consistent Christian demeanour during a course of years. 
 As particular instances are more edifying than general 
 statements, we again are called upon to regret the ab- 
 sence of more ample details, both of the effect of the 
 sermon at the time it was preached and afterwards. How- 
 ever, the evidence is indubitable that here, as in the 
 
 * Fleming's Fulfilment of the Scriptures. 
 
224 SCOTLAND. 
 
 revival at the city called Sychar, of old, the narrative of 
 which is as brief, many were brought to " know that 
 this is indeed the Christ, the Saviour of the world." 
 
 " The following- instances of sound conversion are 
 well attested, and were it proper, the persons could be 
 named. On that remarkable Monday, three gay young- 
 gentlemen of Glasgow were travelling to Edinburgh, for 
 the purpose of enjoying the pubUc diversions there. They 
 stopped to breakfast at Shotts. One of them proposed 
 to his associates to stay and hear the young man who 
 was to preach, while their horses rested. And that 
 they might not lose time, they agreed to quit the wor- 
 ship at the end of the sermon, and not wait for the con- 
 cluding devotional exercises. But the power of God 
 so arrested them, that they could not quit the spot till 
 all was over. When they returned to the public house 
 to take their horses, they called for some refreshment ; 
 but when it was placed on the table, they all looked to 
 each other, no one durst touch it till a blessing was asked, 
 and as it was not their manner formerly to be careful 
 about such things, one of them at last proposed, — < I 
 think we should ask a blessing to our drink.' The 
 others readily agreed, and put it upon one of the com- 
 pany to do it, which he at once agreed to. When they 
 had done, they could not rise until another should re- 
 turn thanks. They went on their way more sober and 
 sedate than usual, but none of them mentioned their 
 inward concern to another, only now and then they re- 
 marked, ' Was it not a great sermon we heard?' or, * I 
 never heard the like of it.' They went to Edinburgh, 
 but instead of plunging into light amusements, as they 
 had designed, they kept their rooms great part of the 
 two days while they remained ; and then, being quite 
 weary of Edinburgh, they returned home. They still 
 did not open their minds to each other on their way, and 
 when they reached home they kept their apartments, and 
 came little abroad. At last one of them visited another, and 
 discovered to him what God had done for him at Shotts. 
 The other frankly owned the concern he was brought 
 under at the same time. Both of them went to the 
 
GENERAL EFFECTS, 225 
 
 third, whom they found in the same case, and they three 
 agreed directly to begin a fellowship meeting- They 
 continued to have a practice suitable to their profession 
 as long as they lived, and some of them lived to an ad- 
 vanced age, and were eminent and useful men in Glas- 
 gow. 
 
 " Another instance, still preserved, is that of a poor 
 man, a horse-hirer in Glasgow, who had been employed 
 by a gentlewoman to carry her to Shotts. He was en- 
 gaged in pasturing his horse at a small distance from the 
 tent, not concerning himself about the occasion of meet- 
 ing at all. In the latter part of the sermon, when the 
 power of God was so much felt, he apprehended that 
 there was a more than ordinary concern among the 
 people ; his own mind was affected in a way that he could 
 not account for; he hastily rose up and ran into the 
 congregation, where he was made a sharer of what the 
 Holy Spirit was distributing among them that day." * 
 
 Mr Andrew Gray of Chrystoun, an eminently pious 
 gentleman, whose name has descended in sweet memorial 
 even to this day, states the following particulars of the 
 more diffused effects of this period of awakening, which 
 we select from some others. 
 
 " Two springs of the revival of religion in this cor- 
 ner were the famous sermon at the Kirk of Shotts, and 
 the labours of Mr Robert Bruce. As at the sermon at 
 Shotts, a good number of people were by grace made 
 acquainted with the life and power of religion, so several 
 of them were eminently good men, and remarkable not 
 only for a pious, inoffensive behaviour, but also for their 
 abounding in all those good fruits which pure and unde- 
 filed religion enables its sincere followers to produce. 
 This made them not only esteemed and revered by many 
 of their neighbours, but also produced some respect 
 for religion itself, from which they procured many ad- 
 vantages, its followers being readier to do them all kind 
 of good offices than other people. Among other good 
 fruits, you cannot doubt a strong inclination to promote 
 
 * Gillies's Collections, vol. i. p. 310, 311. 
 P 
 
22b SCOTLAND. 
 
 the spiritual goorl of others was a principal one. As 
 the labourers were then few in this part of God's vine- 
 yard, he seemed to have inspired these private Christians 
 with an uncommon degree of love to the souls of men, 
 inciting- them to labour by all proper methods, to bring 
 others acquainted with that grace which had produced 
 such blessed effects an themselves ; and their labours were 
 not without a considerable effect. They were called the 
 Puritans of the Muir of Bothwell, perhaps by way of 
 reproach, by those who were ill affected towards them." 
 
 Messrs Bennet, Ramsay, and Carstairs were cotem- 
 porary, shortly after the time of Bruce and Livingston, 
 and were mutually helpful in promoting a lively work of 
 grace in the west. And Mr Thomas Melvin of Calder, 
 of whose ministry it is stated, that in a few years the 
 worship of God was so generally set up in families in his 
 parish that it was counted a scandal to such as neglected 
 it, and the number of praying societies rose from one 
 to eight or ten. These men were blessed in extending 
 the knowledge of the gospel by the more ordinary means ; 
 but as we are in search of singular effusions of divine 
 grace, that, on a Monday after the celebration of the Last 
 Supper at Kirkintilloch, comes more under our particu- 
 lar notice. " The people being detained in church by a 
 sudden fall of rain, Mr Carstairs (not their own minister, 
 but the minister of Cathcart) stept into the pulpit, and 
 in an extempore discourse, wherein he described the na- 
 ture of faith, and cautioned them against mistakes about 
 it, especially against depending on a sort of faith that 
 they had all their days, and knew not how they came by, 
 declaring faith to be a work of the Spirit of God with power 
 — there arose a mighty commotion in the congregation ; 
 many were brought into a deep concern about their soul's 
 condition, the good fruit of which appeared in their after 
 life and conversation. A similar instance is remembered 
 at Calder, where the same Mr Carstairs officiated for Mr 
 Melvin, who had been taken with a fit of sickness during 
 the sacramental solemnities. While they were singing 
 part of the 24th Psalm, < Ye gates lift up your heads,' 
 Sec, before the blessing of the elements, there was a 
 
GENERAL EFFECTS. 22? 
 
 mighty melting of heart seized the congregation, and the 
 spirit of God, like a mighty wind, burst open the ever- 
 lasting doors, and took possession of the hearts of sin- 
 ners, several people from that day dating their first soul- 
 concern and conversion. Mr Carstairs used to say, he 
 had three days of heaven upon earth, and one of them 
 was at Calder. The exemplary life and conversation of 
 the clergymen we have mentioned, as well as their labours 
 and zeal for winning souls to Christ, raised the credit of 
 the ministry high among good people. They loved them 
 as their own souls, attended the ordinances with earnest- 
 ness and joy, and considered the want of them as the 
 greatest loss they could possibly sustain. This appeared 
 when, after their ministers were turned out at the Resto- 
 ration, multitudes attended their preaching in the fields 
 at the hazard of their lives."* 
 
 Gillies also affords some hints, which one cannot but 
 regret, for the benefit of later ages, he has not extended 
 to full and particular accounts — such as " I have seen 
 a manuscript in which there is an account of a remark- 
 able pouring out of the Spirit of God on a company 
 of ministers and Christians, at a private meeting at 
 Sheens, near Edinburgh, on the day when the five ar- 
 ticles of Perth were voted and passed in Parliament ; par- 
 ticularly when Mr David Dickson " (then a young man) 
 ^' prayed. I have often heard that the period between 
 1650 and the Restoration was a very remarkable one 
 in Scotland for the success of the Gospel. I have heard 
 old Christians speak of a remarkable reviving and un- 
 common power attending the word, immediately after the 
 Revolution, in the West and South of Scotland, in Fife, 
 Lothian, &c. Particularly I have heard of a remarkable 
 communion at Stow, near Galashiels, just about the 
 time of the Revolution." In short, there are abundant 
 and continually recurring evidences that the power of 
 the Holy Spirit has been manifested in this country, in 
 the revival form, and in no scanty measure. And again 
 a.nd again, the earnest enquiry returns. Why is it not so 
 
 * Gillies's Collections, vol. i. p. 314. 
 
228 SCOTLAND. 
 
 with us now ? It will be found that it is our infidelity 
 on the subject which straitens our expectations and stints 
 our petitions. We are so filled with suspicion and incre- 
 dulity, that we require more evidence to prove what God 
 has really done, what he has many times promised in his 
 word to do, and what a lively faith would lead us to be 
 daily looking and watching- for, than we should require to 
 convince us of any most improbable or unlikely thing. 
 Our eyes are so bent earthward, looking on the corrup- 
 tion of man and his inaptness to acquire a spiritual mind, 
 that we contemplate nothing but hypocrisy, delusion, 
 enthusiasm, and falling away. Why do we thus forget 
 the Almighty arm that upholds every faithful soul? 
 Why do we not believe the promise of the very God of 
 peace, that He will bruise Satan under our feet ? Why 
 do we lose sight of Christ the anointed King, who reigns 
 now in the souls of thousands, and who must reign till 
 all enemies are put under his feet ? Let us accept with 
 gladness the evidences that our King is still walking in 
 the midst of his church; and while we try the spirits, and 
 make sure work of conversion where our own influence 
 reaches, let us not, by our cold and thankless reception 
 of good tidings, quench the spirit of hope and the spirit 
 of prayer, and render ourselves unmeet for the reception 
 of so great a blessing. 
 
[ 229 ] 
 
 CHAPTER XVII. 
 CAMBUSLANG. 
 
 It is interesting, when entering- on the revival in this 
 parish, to remark that it was the scene of Mr Fleming's 
 labours for eight years ; and though that faithful man, 
 whose whole soul seems absorbed in observing the Lord's 
 goings in the sanctuary, and the progress of the know- 
 ledge of divine things in the world, was removed from 
 that place eighty years before the awakening in 1742, 
 yet we are disposed to think the societies for prayer, 
 alluded to in the narrative as having subsisted several 
 years before, might have taken their origin during his 
 ministrations. 
 
 The chtirch seems to have been so little in the atti- 
 tude of looking out for the conversion of souls, as the 
 effect of its own ministrations, or so many years had 
 elapsed since the Lord had manifested himself in great 
 power after that manner in it, that the good news from 
 Cambuslang is presented not in the simple and attractive 
 form of a plain and unsuspected statement of what the 
 Spirit had done, but in the more repulsive shape of at- 
 testations to its truth. This mode, however, has its 
 advantages, especially as regards those who may be in- 
 clined to be sceptical, and we retain it on account of the 
 well known names of eminent Christians which are 
 appended to the attestations, rather than weaken its force 
 by casting it into the shape of narrative. 
 
 Cambuslang is only four miles distant from Glasgow, 
 several parishes of which, but chiefly the Barony, were 
 made partakers of the good gifts dispensed at that period. 
 Many of the neighbouring clergy attested what they 
 witnessed ; M' Knight from Irvine, Webster from Edin- 
 burgh, and Willison from Dundee, also came to behold 
 
230 
 
 SCOTLAND. 
 
 that blessed sight. The first letter, dated May 8, bears 
 no signature : — 
 
 " Sir, May 8, 1742. 
 
 " As the report of the good work at Cambuslang, 
 which has for several weeks engaged the attention of 
 numbers in this city and country in the neighbourhood, 
 is now spread over a great part of the nation, it is no 
 wonder that one who lives at the distance you do should 
 be curious to have a true relation of it ; and as I would 
 be glad of any opportunity to serve you, it is very agree- 
 able to me to think that I can gratify you in this matter ; 
 especially in what concerns the people in that parish and 
 some other parishes near it, having had opportunity to 
 converse fully with the minister of Cambuslang, and with 
 many of the people there who are under this spiritual 
 exercise, and also with some other ministers who have 
 several in their parishes who appear to be under the 
 same happy impressions. 
 
 " There is one thing in the entry I must apprize you 
 of, viz., That I am to confine myself to a simple narra- 
 tion of facts, as the evidences on which the opinion of 
 many concerning the present happy change that is 
 wrought in that people is founded, without entering into 
 any reasoning, but leaving it to yourself to draw proper 
 conclusions from the facts, after comparing them with 
 scripture rules and instances. 
 
 " I must also acquaint you, as it was natural to expect, 
 when, on a singular occasion of this sort, great numbers 
 of people from adjacent towns and country came flocking 
 to a place that became so remarkable, that in such a 
 promiscuous multitude some counterfeits would readily 
 happen. It was the early care of ministers who interested 
 themselves most in that matter to enter into a strict 
 examination of those who appeared to be under more 
 than ordinary concern, so as to obtain satisfaction to 
 themselves whether the work was solid, being justly 
 apprehensive that the powers of darkness would not fail 
 to employ their devices to bring contempt on what would 
 tend so much to the honour of the gospel. 
 
CAMBUSLANG. 231 
 
 " In these watchful endeavours it must be owned, that 
 some impostors were found to have mixed with the sin- 
 cere ; but there is reason to bless God that, so far as yet 
 appears, they have been very few ; and as these have 
 been severely rebuked, so the most awful warnings have 
 been given against all such insincere pretensions, which 
 warnings, there is reason to believe, have had very good 
 effects. 
 
 " Now, sir, to give the short history of this matter : — 
 " The minister of that parish, in his ordinary course 
 of sermons for nearly a twelvemonth before this work 
 began, had been preaching on those subjects which tend 
 most directly to explain the nature and prove the ne- 
 cessity of regeneration, according to the different lights 
 in which that important matter is represented in holy 
 scripture : and for some months before the late remark- 
 able events a more than ordinary concern about religion 
 appeared among that people ; one good evidence of which 
 was, that about the end of January last a petition was 
 given in to the minister, signed by about ninety heads 
 of families, desiring a weekly lecture should be set up, 
 which was readily granted, and the day fixed on Thurs- 
 day, as most convenient for the temporal interests of the 
 parish. 
 
 On Monday, the 15th of February, 1742, there was a ge- 
 neral meeting at the minister's house ofthe particular socie- 
 ties for prayer that had subsisted in the parish for several 
 years before : on Tuesday there was another rjneeting for 
 prayer there, the occasion of which was a concert with 
 several serious Christians elsewhere about solemn prayer 
 relating to the public interests of the gospel ; in which 
 concert only a small number of people in Cambuslang 
 were engaged at first, but others getting notice of 
 it desired to join, and were admitted. The people 
 who met for prayer these two days apprehended they 
 had been so well employed, and found so much leisure 
 for it, that they had a third meeting on Wednesday ; but 
 on all these three days they returned timeously in the 
 evening to their own houses, so far is it from being true 
 
232 SCOTLAND. 
 
 that tbey rushed from some of these meetings to the 
 church, where they continued for some days and nights, 
 as was reported. 
 
 " Before Thursday, February 18th, they had week- 
 day sermons only on Thursdays, according- to the above- 
 mentioned desire of the parish ; and before that day, 
 though several particular persons came to the minister 
 from time to time, under deep concern for their salvation, 
 yet there came no great numbers together. But on that 
 day, after sermon, a considerable number of people, reckon- 
 ed by some present about fifty, came together to the mi- 
 nister's house, under convictions and alarming apprehen- 
 sions about the state of their souls, and desiring to speak 
 with him. 
 
 " From this unexpected number coming in an evening 
 in so great distress, and the necessity of the minister's 
 exhorting them in general, and conversing with many of 
 them separately, you will easily perceive that he behoved- 
 to spend that night with them, as he did the best part of 
 two or three more since this work began, which is now 
 about twelve weeks. 
 
 " After this, numbers daily resorted to that place, 
 some to hear the word, some to converse with those who 
 were under this remarkable concern, and others with 
 different views ; and the desires and exigencies of those 
 were such, that the minister found himself obliged, with- 
 out any previous intimation, to provide them with daily 
 sermon, a few days excepted ; and, after sermon, usually 
 to spend some time with them in exhortations, prayers, 
 and singing of psalms, being especially encouraged thereto 
 by the extraordinary success with which God was pleased, 
 from time to time, to bless his own ordinances; in so much 
 that, by the best information that could be had, the num- 
 ber of persons awakened to a deep concern about salvation, 
 and against whom there is no known exception as yet^ 
 has amounted to above three hundred. And through the 
 blessing of God, the work seems to be still making con- 
 siderable progress every week, and more for some weeks 
 of late than sometime formerly. 
 
CAMBUSLANG. 233 
 
 " Of the number just now mentioned, the far greater 
 part have already given, both to ministers and other se- 
 rious Christians, a good account of what they have felt 
 in their convictions and humiliation for sin, of the way 
 of their relief by faith in the mercy of God through 
 Christ, and of what they feel in the prevalent inclinations 
 and disposition of their hearts. 
 
 " As to their devotion and other parts of their practice, 
 which is that which chiefly attracts the attention and 
 regard of this country, there are comfortable accounts 
 given of it by those who have the best and most fre- 
 quent opportunities of knowing their daily behaviour. 
 
 " The parish of Cambuslang being of so small extent, 
 that most of the people live within a mile of the church, 
 and some who have the best intelligence being almost 
 every day with the minister, he and they have abundant 
 opportunities to know the practice of such of the people I 
 am speaking of as live within their bounds ; and the ac- 
 count they give of it is, that they appear to be in a very 
 hopeful way ; and the like good accounts are given by 
 several ministers and others of such of those people as 
 belong to the neighbouring parishes. 
 
 " Among the particular good fruits already appearing, 
 both in Cambuslang and elsewhere, the following instan- 
 ces seem very encouraging. A visible reformation of the 
 lives of persons who were formerly notorious sinners, 
 particularly the laying aside of cursing and swearing, and 
 drinking to excess among those who were addicted to 
 that practice ; remorse for acts of injustice, and for vio- 
 lations of relative duties, confessed to the persons wronged, 
 joined with new endeavours after a conscientious dis- 
 charge of such duties ; restitution, which has more than 
 once been distinctly and particularly inculcated in public 
 since this work began ; forgiving of injuries ; all desi- 
 rable evidences of fervent love to one another, to all 
 men, and even to those that spoke evil of them ; and 
 among those people, both in Cambuslang and other pa- 
 rishes, more affectionate expressions of regard than ever 
 to their own ministers, and to the ordinances dispensed 
 by them ; the keeping up divine worship in families 
 
234 SCOTLAND. 
 
 where it was neg-lected very often by some, and entirely 
 by others ; the erecting of new societies for prayer, both 
 old and young, partly within the parish, where no less 
 than twelve such societies are newly begun, and partly 
 elsewhere, among persons who have been awakened on 
 this occasion ; and, together with all these things, ardent 
 love to the Holy Scriptures, vehement thirsting after 
 holy ordinances, earnest desires to get private instruc- 
 tions in their duty from ministers and others, with com- 
 mendable docility and tractableness in receiving such 
 instructions. 
 
 " This thirst after knowledge is particularly remark- 
 able in those who were more ignorant, several who can- 
 not read, and some of them old persons, being so desirous 
 to be better acquainted with the word of God, that they 
 are resolved to learn to read, and some of the younger 
 sort actually putting themselves to school. 
 
 " I would farther add, that these good impressions 
 have been made on persons of very different and opposite 
 characters and ages — on some of the most abandoned as 
 well as the more sober ; on young as well as old ; on the 
 illiterate as well as the more knowing ; on persons of a 
 slower as well as those of a quicker and more sprightly 
 genius ; and, which seems to deserve special attention, 
 on persons who were addicted to scoffing at sacred things, 
 and at this work in particular at the beginning of it. 
 
 " The sum of the facts I have represented to you is, 
 that this work has been begun, and carried on under the 
 influence of the great and substantial doctrines of Chris- 
 tianity, pressing jointly the necessity of repentance to- 
 ivards God, of faith in our Lord Jesus Christ., and 
 holiness in all manner of conversation ; that it came 
 after such preparations as an extensive concern about 
 religion gradually increasing, — together with extraordi- 
 nary fervent prayer in large meetings, particularly relating 
 to the success of the gospel ; that great and successful 
 pains have been taken to discover and discountenance hypo- 
 critical pretences, and to warn people against what might 
 have the least appearance of enthusiasm or delusion ; that 
 the account given by a very large number of people of their 
 
CAMBUSLANG. 235 
 
 inward exercises and attainments seems to agree with the 
 Scripture standard, and they are bringing forth in practice 
 fruits meet for repentance, comprehending the several 
 branches of piety, and of the most substantial morality, 
 that can entitle men to the regard of friends of religion 
 and virtue. 
 
 " And now, sir, I have given you a plain and simple 
 account of the most material facts relating to this extra- 
 ordinary work at Cambuslang, and those awakened there 
 belonging to other parishes, — in all which I have avoided 
 disputing, and studied brevity. 
 
 " I leave it to you to judge how far such facts make 
 it evident that this work is from God, when (to use the 
 words of a pious divine treating of a subject of the same 
 nature) he that was formerly a drunkard lives a sober 
 life ; when a vain, light, and wanton person becomes grave 
 and sedate ; when the blasphemer becomes a praiser of 
 God ; when carnal joy is turned into heaviness, and that 
 professedly on account of their soul's condition ; when 
 the ignorant are filled with the knowledge of divine 
 things, and the tongue that was dumb in the things of 
 God speaks the language of Canaan ; when secure sin- 
 ners have been roused with a witness about the state of 
 their souls, those who were ignorant can speak skilfully 
 about religious things, and even the graceless are increa- 
 sed in knowledge ; swearers drop their oaths, and speak 
 reverently of God. Vain persons, who minded no reli- 
 gion, but frequented taverns and frolics, passing their 
 time in filthiness, foolish -talking, and jesting, or singing 
 paltry songs, do now frequent Christian societies (for 
 prayer), seek Christian conversation, and talk of soul- 
 concerns, and choose to express their mirth in Psalms, 
 and hymns, and spiritual songs. Those who were too 
 sprightly to be devout, and esteemed it an unmanly thing 
 to shed tears for their souls' state, have mourned as for 
 an only son, and seemed to be in bitterness as for a first- 
 born ; and persons who came to mock at the lamentations 
 of others have been convinced, and by free grace prose- 
 lyted to such ways as they formerlj- despised. 
 " I am, sir," &c. 
 
236 SCOTLAND. 
 
 Attestation hy Mr John Hamilton, Minister of the 
 Gospel in Barony. 
 
 " I understand it is expected from me, that I should 
 declare my sentiments of the extraordinary work at 
 Cambuslang-, as a good many of my parishioners have 
 lately been awakened there to a great concern about their 
 souls' happiness. 
 
 " As soon as I was informed of their condition, I made 
 it my business to wait on them, and found a good many 
 persons under the deepest exercise of soul, crying out 
 bitterly of their lost and miserable state by reason of sin, 
 of their unbelief in despising Christ and the offers of the 
 gospel — of the hardness of their hearts, and their former 
 gross carelessness and indifferency about religion ; and 
 though some of them said they had regularly attended 
 the preaching of the gospel, yet they acknowledged with 
 much regret their misimprovement of it. How many sweet 
 sermons they had heard without any benefit, and they came 
 to church without any design to be instructed, but only, 
 as they said, to see and be seen. 
 
 " I have heard them expressing a great deal of sorrow 
 for these things, and seemingly in the most serious and 
 sincere manner ; and not so much, as some of them have 
 told me, from the fear of punishment, to which they had 
 thereby exposed themselves, as from a sense of the dis- 
 honour they had done to God and the blessed Redeemer, 
 and frequently aggravated their sins, from this considera- 
 tion, that they had been the betrayers and murderers of 
 the Lord of glory. 
 
 " And though I have seen some of them under ex- 
 treme affliction and distress, 1 could never observe the 
 least disorder in their judgments ; but their complaints 
 are always suitable to their condition. Neither have I 
 found any of them carried away with despairing tJioughts 
 of the mercy of God, but all of them seemed to be seek- 
 ing relief in the method the gospel proposes, and express- 
 ed the warmest desires after an interest in Christ, to 
 obtain which they said they would cheerfully lay down 
 
CAMEUSLANG. 237 
 
 their lives, and part with every thing- that was dear to 
 them in the world 
 
 " I have at several times conversed with many of these 
 persons, and have received no small satisfaction from 
 such conversations. When speaking- of prayer, they have 
 told me how much that duty had been neglected by them, 
 and in what a cold, lifeless manner it had been perform- 
 ed, from which therefore they neither did nor could reap 
 any satisfaction ; but now, said they, it was an exercise 
 in which they found much sweetness and comfort. Their 
 love to the Holy Scriptures all of them express in the 
 most lively and moving manner, frequently calling it a 
 precious and invaluable treasure, greatly surprised how 
 they could possibly slight it in time past, and declaring- 
 they now saw many things in it highly useful and comfort- 
 able to them, which they never before imagined had been 
 there. 
 
 " They express a great love to and desire after the 
 public ordinances. When I asked some of them if they 
 had such affection as the Psalmist speaks of in the begin- 
 ning of the 122d Psalm, when it was said to him, ' Let 
 us go up to the house of the Lord,' they have told me, 
 that though it was quite otherwise with them before, yet 
 now they found a vast pleasure in attending- the church 
 and public worship of God, and a g-reat unwillingness to 
 withdraw from it when the service was over. They are 
 likewise exceedingly desirous of more private instruction 
 in their duty, and take all opportunities of waiting on 
 those that can be of use to them, and such of them as 
 are near at hand do frequently come to my house, and 
 receive my advice and assistance, and I never saw per- 
 sons more docile than they are. I must own, indeed, 
 that when I first conversed with them, I found some of 
 them pretty ignorant of the principles of religion ; but 
 this was what they seemed deeply grieved and afflicted 
 for, and much condemned their former sloth and negli- 
 g-ence, and since that time have been making- use of the 
 proper means of knowledge, and I think I can say with 
 no contemptible success, considering the short time they 
 have had. 
 
238 SCOTLAND. 
 
 " Some of them seem to discover devout breathings of 
 soul after God, and the blessed Redeemer, and resolutions 
 through grace to depend on him in the worst of circum- 
 stances, often making use of these words of Job, xiii. 15, 
 ' Though he slay me yet will I trust in him.' I have 
 been much surprised to see how readily, and even judi- 
 ciously some of them who had been formerly ignorant 
 and unconverted, have spoken of some of the most im- 
 portant points of practical religion, and with what facility 
 they have adduced passages of Scripture very suitable to 
 what they were speaking about. 
 
 " There is another branch of Christian duty that I do 
 think they are hkewise studying conformity to. And 
 that is love to mankind : I have often heard them wish- 
 ing, and desiring that all men might be brought to Christ 
 and the knowledge of the truth ; and particularly express- 
 ing a great regard for all that are the Lord's people. So 
 far as 1 have yet access to know them, they seem to be of 
 a meek and quiet spirit, and willing to forgive ; telling me 
 they desire to wish well and to pray even for the happi- 
 ness of those who had been injurious to them. 
 
 " More might be said on this subject, but I choose 
 rather to be sparing, till time make a fuller discovery of 
 them. 
 
 " The persons I have conversed with, were of different 
 characters, some of them had all along been pretty regu- 
 lar and sober in their lives, and duly enough attended the 
 ordinances of the gospel ; others of them were very care- 
 less this way, and addicted to many sins, but even those 
 who were more blameless in their lives, have declared 
 that their hearts till now were never touched with any 
 thing they heard from the word of God ; that they had 
 never lived under the influence of religion, and were 
 grossly unconcerned about their salvation. 
 
 " These now are some of the appearances I observe 
 among some of my people, who were awakened to a con- 
 cern about their souls at Cambuslang ; which do strongly 
 incHne me to think that it is the work of God. 
 
 '< John Hamilton. 
 
 •* Glasgoivy 26th April 1742." 
 
CAMBUSLANG. 239 
 
 Attestation hy Mr M^ Knight, Minister of Irvine, 
 
 " Rev. and dear Brother, 
 
 " As I had by information from letters conceived a 
 good opinion of the extraordinary and surprising work 
 at Cambuslang before I went thither upon an invitation 
 from you to preach there last Sabbath ; so my said opi- 
 nion has been very much confirmed by what I was eye 
 and ear-witness to during my abode with you, from Sat- 
 urday to Tuesday last ; being still more and more per- 
 suaded that it is the real work of the Spirit of God. 
 
 " While I joined with your congregation in public 
 worship, I observed among the vast number that flocked 
 to hear the gospel preached at Cambuslang, not only the 
 serious looks and the close attention of the multitudes 
 to what was spoken, but also the weeping eyes of many 
 that appeared to be in the greatest distress and trouble. 
 
 " Again, in the evenings after public worship was 
 ended, and when I had occasion to converse with several 
 of these afflicted persons, 1 found their wounds and an- 
 guish of soul, together with their tears, did proceed not 
 from a whimsical and enthusiastic imagination, but from 
 a deep conviction of the great evil and demerit of sin, 
 original and actual, particularly of their sin of unbelief, 
 and slighting precious Christ, and the gracious offers of 
 salvation by him ; and when I exhorted and directed them 
 to believe in the Lord Jesus Christ, as St Paul did the 
 convinced and troubled gaoler (Acts, xvi. 31), they 
 answered 'Lord help me to believe, gladly would Ibeheve, 
 but I cannot.' However, while under their soul exer- 
 cises for sin, and because of God's wrath, I heard them 
 expressing ardent desires after Christ, and an interest in 
 him, and salvation by him, and a great thirst after the 
 w^ord, the knowledge of God and divine things, and after 
 a saving faith in a crucified Jesus, which gave me ground 
 to hope that our dear Redeemer Jesus would soon ac- 
 complish these longing desires in relieving them from 
 their distresses of both body and mind. 
 
 " Likewise I conversed with others who were under 
 
240 
 
 SCOTLAND. 
 
 piercing and deep convictions for sin, and have felt the 
 sharp arrows of the Almighty sticking fast in their souls, 
 and to whom the Spirit of God had, upon their believing 
 in Jesus Christ, applied his precious blood to heal these 
 wounds, and herein had granted relief and comfort, hath 
 delivered their souls from death, their eyes from tears, 
 and their feet from falling; for which distinguishing 
 mercies they were exalting free grace, saying with the 
 apostle Paul, it is by grace we are what we are, and bless- 
 ed be the God and Father of the Lord Jesus Christ, who 
 hath blessed us with all spiritual blessings in heavenly 
 places in Christ. 
 
 " They, when I conversed with them, declared dis- 
 tinctly the way and manner how their convictions began, 
 and how the relief they got from soul-troubles came to 
 them. They also discovered the gracious work of the 
 spirit of God upon their souls, in their confession of sin 
 with shame, sorrow, and blushing ; in their professing a 
 hatred of it, and loathing themselves on the account 
 thereof, crying out, Behold we are vile, we abhor our- 
 selves and repent in dust and ashes ; in their love to 
 God and his ordinances, in renouncing their own righte- 
 ousness, and in relying wholly on Christ for righteousness 
 and strength ; in their high esteem of and ardent love to 
 their Redeemer, in their charity and love to one another and 
 to all Christians, and especially to those who are the real 
 disciples of the Lord Jesus, and bear the image of their 
 heavenly Father ; in their tender sympathy with, and af- 
 fectionate concern for, those that fall under distress and 
 anguish of spirit for sin, and in their endeavours to relieve 
 them, by good advices and proper exhortations, and to 
 comfort the dejected and disquieted in mind with the 
 consolations wherewith they themselves had been com- 
 forted. These are a few of the good fruits of the Spirit 
 of God I observed among several I conversed with at 
 Cambuslang. 
 
 " Therefore I cannot but bear testimony, that, in my 
 apprehension, the surprising work with you, dear brother, 
 for these several weeks past, is of God. And if the work 
 be of God, then neither the devil nor all his agents shall 
 
CAMBUSLANG. '241 
 
 be able to overthrow it ; yea, I hope through the divine 
 blessing- on the seed sown and to be sown, to hear more 
 of this remarkable success with you. As I desire to 
 join you in giving- thanks to God for this remarkable 
 countenancing of your sacred ministrations to many in 
 your parish and neighbourhood, so I entreat you may 
 constantly remember me and my flock at the throne of 
 grace ; and join with us in earnest and repeated prayers 
 to God, that the like observable outpourings of the Holy 
 Spirit may visit my congregation and the neighbouring 
 parishes to revive his work in this west country ; and 
 may it spread not only through all the churches in Bri- 
 tain and Ireland, but throughout all the churches in the 
 world for building Zion ; yea, that the heathen may be 
 given to Christ for his inheritance, and the uttermost 
 parts of the earth for his possession. 
 
 " That a rich and powerful blessing from heaven may 
 crown your ministerial labours with more and more suc- 
 cess, is, and shall be the earnest prayer of 
 
 " Your affectionate brother 
 
 " And servant in the Lord, 
 " William M'Knight. 
 
 " Irvine, 6th May, 1742." 
 
 It might be tedious to insert all the attestations given 
 by ministers who went to witness the great sight at 
 Cambuslang. A few examples, however, extracted from 
 the attestations of the effect of converting power upon 
 individuals of various characters and conditions will be 
 instructive. Mr Connell, minister of Kilbryde, relates 
 his interview with a young woman, who gave him a dis- 
 tinct account of her distress and outgate (deliverance). 
 She said, " ' I have lived about twenty years in the world, 
 and all that time the devil had possession of my heart, 
 and I am sure he is a bad guest ; but blessed be God, I 
 hope he is now in a great measure dispossessed, and shall 
 never, through the strength of Christ, recover that power 
 over me that formerly he had.' Mean time, I observe 
 to you, this person had always been of a blameless life, 
 Q 
 
242 SCOTLAND. 
 
 and not chargeable with any scandal ; yet she with tears 
 regretted her careless way of going- about secret duty, 
 reading the Scriptures and hearing sermons, or neglecting 
 these altogether ; but with much humility and serious- 
 ness, in the strength of divine grace, expressed her reso- 
 lution that she would do so no more, 
 
 " Upon the whole, in most of all I have seen and con- 
 versed with, I observed, and have daily occasion to ob- 
 serve, the effects of godly sorrow mentioned by the 
 apostle, 2 Cor. vii. 11." 
 
 Mr M'Laurin of Glasgow remarks : — " From the best 
 observation I could make on their dispositions and beha- 
 viour, compared with the observations made by others, 
 they seem in a particular manner to excel in meekness, 
 humility, self-denial, and charity ; in the wisdom from 
 above, described by James, iii. 17, as ' first pure, then 
 peaceable, gentle, and easy to be entreated, full of mercy 
 and good fruits,' &c., in aversion to things that tend 
 rather to strife than edification, and in ardent desire of 
 the conversion and salvation of others. 
 
 " An unknown person very lately wrote a letter to 
 Mr M'Culloch, dated 29th April, in which was enclosed 
 
 another letter with a twenty shilling note to Mr J. J , 
 
 merchant in this city, on account of wrong done to his 
 father of two or three shillings value, many years ago ; 
 and that unknown person desires, that in the printed 
 account that is expected of the work at Cambuslang, 
 there may be some instructions about restitution." 
 
 There is not in all the attestations one more instruc- 
 tive than that of Mr David Connell, preacher, as it ex- 
 hibits the manner in which the conversions of some 
 affect the bystanders, giving them the first conviction of 
 their dangerous position ; and also, how the present ope- 
 rations of the Holy Spirit spread a prayerful solemnity 
 even over the impenitent. This effect is continually 
 remarked during revivals in America, and so has it re- 
 cently been in more than one favoured spot in Scotland. 
 Mr Connell says, " I have conversed with a good many 
 in this parish (Kilbryde) that have been affected there 
 
CAMBUSLANG. 243 
 
 (at Cambuslang). Some have told me, that by what they 
 heard, they had great desire raised in their minds to be 
 burdened with sin, that so they mig-ht come to Chirst ; 
 and then have got so great a sense of sin and guilt as to 
 be more than they could well bear. Others that have 
 come to me in great distress, when I asked them how 
 they came to be in that condition, answered, that while 
 they were hearing some private exhortation of the minis- 
 ter, a great many of their sins were brought to their 
 remembrance. They thought they had been doing no- 
 thing but sinning all their days, that they were empty 
 of all good, and that they were undone without Christ, 
 Some have told me that they met with great opposition 
 in going to attend upon the ordinances, but they became 
 resolute and went ; and what parts of Scripture fastened 
 any sense of sin upon their minds ; how this was more 
 and more increased; and what texts kept them from 
 despair amidst the greatest terror one could readily be 
 under. 
 
 " Others told me that all things in the world were 
 now become tasteless to them, seeing the danger their 
 souls were in. I have seen some sitting alone all 
 in tears, and when I asked them what was the matter, 
 they said they were afraid lest their convictions should 
 go off without any good eifect, and expressed a strong 
 desire after Christ. Others that seemed to be under 
 great concern, on being asked what they wanted, said, 
 ' Conviction of sin, and faith in Christ.' I have been 
 greatly surprised to hear such a distinct account of the 
 provoking nature of sin, and the terms of our acceptance 
 with God, given by those that are reputed the most 
 ignorant, and who, I believe, knew scarce any thing at 
 all of religious matters till this work began. I cannot 
 say, that among all I have conversed with, I have found 
 one in despair, but have heard them expressing a great 
 sense of their inability to believe. I have heard them 
 expressing the highest esteem of the mercy of God and 
 the mediation of Christ. * * * I have heard them 
 expressing a sense of the evil of sin, and their own vile- 
 
^44 
 
 SCOTLAND. 
 
 ness by it ; earnest desires after perfection in holiness, 
 and fears lest they should fall back into their former sin- 
 ful state ; mentioning- the promises that supported them 
 under these fears. * * * Their earnest desires and 
 diligent endeavours after more knowledge ; the deep 
 sense and sweet relish of divine truth ; their readiness 
 to apply what they hear to themselves, even those things 
 that discover more of the corruption of their hearts, and 
 errors of their lives ; the pouring- out of their souls to 
 God in prayer," &c. In short, every mark of a genuine 
 work of grace, from its earliest to its closing stages, are 
 mentioned by Mr Connell as being evidenced in the con- 
 verts at Kilbryde, who had been awakened first under the 
 revival at Cambuslang, 
 
C 245 ] 
 
 CHAPTER XVIII. 
 CAMBUSLANG. 
 
 Mr M'Culloch's account of the second commemora- 
 tion of the Redeemer's death we shall give nearly entire, 
 as an example of the diligence, the liveliness, the delight 
 in ordinances which the Holy Spirit's presence gives. 
 Would that Scotland would place this in contrast with the 
 formal half-dead ordinances with which she has too fre- 
 quently and too long been satisfied, and never rest till the 
 Lord hears her cry, and returns to his church, and dwells 
 in the midst of it ! 
 
 " Rev. and dear Brother, 
 " You know that we had the Lord's Supper dispensed 
 here on the 11th of July. It was such a sweet and 
 agreeable time to many, that a motion was made by Mr 
 Webster, and immediately seconded by Mr Whitfield, 
 that we should have another such occasion again in this 
 place very soon. The motion was very agreeable to me, 
 but I thought it needful to deliberate before coming to a 
 resolution. The thing proposed was indeed extraordi- 
 nary,* but so had the work in this place been for several 
 months past. Care was therefore taken to acquaint the 
 several meetings for prayer with the motion, who relished 
 it well, and prayed for direction to those concerned to de- 
 termine in the matter. The session met next Lord's day, 
 
 * It may be necessary to explain, that, after the Reformation, it 
 had been the custom to observe this ordinance seldom, at first, perhaps 
 from the difficulties attending it in troublous times, and also from 
 the willingness i/i" devout persons to travel many miles for the purpose 
 of enjoying the privilege repeatedly in other parishes. 
 
246 SCOTLAND. 
 
 and taking- into consideration the divine command to 
 celebrate this ordinance often, joined with the extraordi- 
 nary work that had been here for some time, and under- 
 standing" that many who had met with much benefit to 
 their souls at the last solemnity, had expressed their 
 earnest desire of seeing another in this place shortly, and 
 hearing of many who intended to have joined at the last 
 occasion, but were kept back by inward discouragement 
 or outward obstruction, it was therefore resolved (God 
 willing) that the sacrament of the Lord's Supper should 
 be again dispensed in this parish on the third Sabbath of 
 August. And there was first one day, then another, 
 appointed for a general meeting of the societies for prayer 
 at the manse, who met along with some other Christians 
 from the neighbourhood. When the manse could not 
 conveniently hold them, they went to the church, and at 
 one of these meetings, when light failed them in the 
 church, a number of them, by their own motion, came again 
 to the manse, and continued at prayer and praise till 
 about one in the morning. The design of these meetings 
 was to ask mercy of the God of heaven on ourselves ; to 
 pray for the Seceders and others who unhappily oppose 
 this work of God here and in some other parts where it 
 takes place. That God would forgive their guilt in this, 
 open their eyes, remove their prejudices, and convince 
 them that it is indeed his work ; and that the Lord would 
 continue and increase the blessed work of conviction and 
 conversion here, and in other places where it is begun, 
 and extend it to all corners of the land ; that he would 
 eminently countenance the dispensing of the Holy Supper 
 here the second time, and make the glory of the latter 
 solemnity exceed that of the former. Much of the Lord's 
 gracious presence was enjoyed at these meetings for 
 prayer, returns of mercy were vouchsafed in part, and are 
 still further expected and hoped for. 
 
 " The second occasion did indeed much excel the for- 
 mer, not only in the number of ministers and people, 
 but, which is the main thing, in a much greater measure 
 of the power and special presence of God in the sensi- 
 
CAMBUSLANG. 247 
 
 l)le experience of multitudes that attended. Webster, 
 M'Laurin, Gillies, Robe, M'Knight, Bonnar, Whitfield, 
 and several others were among the clergy who partook of 
 and assisted at this solemnity. The venerable Bonnar, 
 whose frailty required him to employ three days in tra- 
 velling eighteen miles from his parish of Torphichen to 
 Cambuslang, when he was helped to ascend the tent, 
 preached three times with great life, and journeyed to his 
 home with much satisfaction and joy. Mr Whitfield's 
 sermons on Saturday, Sabbath, and Monday were attend- 
 ed with much power, particularly on Sabbath night about 
 ten, and that on Monday, several crying out ; and a very 
 great but decent weeping and mourning was observable 
 throughout the auditory. On Sabbath evening, while he 
 was serving some tables, he appeared to be so filled with 
 the love of God, as to be in a kind of transport, and 
 communicated with much of that blessed frame. Time 
 would fail me to speak of the evidences of the power of 
 God coming along with the rest of the assistants. The 
 number of people that were there on Saturday and Mon- 
 day was very considerable ; but the number present at the 
 three tents on the Lord's day was so great, that, so far 
 as I can hear, none saw the like since the times of the 
 Reformation. The lowest estimate I hear, with which 
 Mr Whitfield agrees, and he has been much used to 
 great multitudes, makes them to have been upwards of 
 thirty thousand. The number of communicants appears 
 to have been about three thousand. Some worthy of 
 credit, and that had opportunities to know, give it as 
 their opinion, that such a blessed frame fell upon the 
 people, that, had they possessed means to obtain tokens, 
 there would have been a thousand more." 
 
 This concourse of people was assembled from many 
 and remote places ; besides Glasgow, Edinburgh, and 
 Kilmarnock, even England and Ireland having furnished 
 a portion, it is interesting to see a hundred reckoned 
 from Irvine, and a hundred from Stewarton, the scenes 
 of similar divine influences in former days. 
 
 " One young man, who had a view to the ministry, 
 
248 SCOTLAND. 
 
 and had been for some time under great temptation to 
 believe that God's presence was no more to be enjoyed, 
 either in the Church or among- the Seceders, communi- 
 cated here, and returned with great joy, full of the love 
 of God. * * * The tables were all served in the 
 open air, beside the tent, below the brae. The day was 
 temperate, no wind or rain in the least to disturb. Se- 
 veral persons of rank and distinction who were elders, 
 most cheerfully assisted our elders in distributing the 
 elements. 
 
 " But what was most remarkable, was the spiritual 
 glory of this solemnity ; I mean the gracious and sensible 
 presence of God. Not a few were awakened to a sense 
 of sin, and their lost and perishing condition without a 
 Saviour. Others had their bands loosed, and were 
 brought into the marvellous liberty of the sons of God. 
 Many of God's dear children have declared that it was a 
 happy time to their souls, wherein they were abundantly 
 satisfied with the goodness of God in his ordinances, and 
 filled with all joy and peace in believing. I have seen a 
 letter from Edinburgh, the writer of which says, ' that 
 having talked with many Christians in that city, who had 
 been here at this sacrament, they all owned that God 
 had dealt bountifully with their souls.' Some who at- 
 tended, declared that they would not for a world have 
 been absent from this solemnity. Others cried, < Now 
 let thy servants depart in peace, since our eyes have seen 
 thy salvation here.' Others wishing, if it were the will 
 of God, to die where they were, attending God in his 
 ordinances, without ever returning again to the world or 
 their friends, that they might be with Christ in heaven, 
 as that which is incomparably best of all. 
 
 " I thought it my duty to record the memory of God's 
 great goodness to many souls on that occasion. * * * 
 May our exalted Redeemer still go on from conquering 
 to conquer, till the whole earth be tilled with his glory. 
 Amen. So let it be. 
 
 " In him, I am yours, &c. 
 
 " William M'Culloch." 
 
CAMBUSLANG. 249 
 
 We add here a brief extract from Whitfield's Journal, 
 where, in conformity with the openness of his character, 
 he states what he saw and heard, without the caution and 
 misgiving-s which rendered so many attestations necessary 
 before some could dare to believe that God had visited 
 his church of a truth. His frank credulity forms a curious 
 contrast to the circumspection of his associates. He 
 doubted not that the Spirit of power was there, and did 
 not stop the current of his thankful joy by questions if 
 there were some hypocrites and some enthusiasts ming-led 
 amongst the servants of the Lord. 
 
 " I preached at two to a vast body of people, at six in 
 the evening-, and again at nine. Such a commotion surely 
 never was heard of, especially at eleven at night. For 
 about an hour-and-half there was such weeping, so many 
 falling into deep distress, and expressing it in various 
 ways, as is inexpressible. The people seem to be slain 
 by scores. They are carried off, and come into the house 
 like soldiers wounded and carried off a field of battle. 
 Their cries and agonies are exceedingly affecting. Mr 
 M. preached after 1 had ended, till past one in the morn- 
 ing, and then could scarce persuade them to depart. All 
 night in the fields might be heard the voice of prayer and 
 praise. Some young ladies were found by a gentlewoman 
 praising God at break of day : she went and joined with 
 them." 
 
 At the second occasion he returned there to assist 
 as before, and says, in the month of August, " Scarce 
 ever was such a sight seen in Scotland. There were un- 
 doubtedly upwards of twenty thousand persons. Two 
 tents were set up, and the Holy Sacrament was adminis- 
 tered in the fields. When I began to serve a table, the 
 power of God was felt by numbers, but the people crowded 
 so upon me that I was obliged to desist, and go to preach 
 at one of the tents, whilst the ministers served the rest 
 of the tables. God was with them and with his people. 
 There was preaching all day by one or another ; and in 
 the evening when the Sacrament was over, at the request 
 of the ministers, I preached to the whole congregation. 
 I preached about an hour-and-half. Surely it was a time 
 
250 SCOTLAND. 
 
 much to be remembered. On Monday morning I preached 
 again to near as many ; but such an universal stir I never 
 saw before. The motion fled as swift as Hghtning from 
 one end of the auditory to another. You might have 
 seen thousands bathed in tears : some at the same time 
 wringing their hands ; others almost swooning, — and 
 others crying out and mourning over a pierced Sa- 
 viour." 
 
 It does not appear that this lively work was prolonged 
 beyond 1742, but during its existence, it was computed 
 that, by the instrumentality of the regular pastor, aided 
 by many pious ministers, about four hundred individuals 
 were brought to the knowledge of the truth as it is in 
 Jesus. It were tedious to recite the many testimonies 
 to the genuineness of this work of grace, which Mr Robe, 
 in his zeal and industry, has collected in his narrative. 
 It suffices to give a testimonial from Gillies, the well- 
 known author of the Collections, eleven years later. His 
 letter is directed to the hearers in the College Kirk of 
 Glasgow, dated Feb. 16, 1751. 
 
 " Many of you, from what you saw of that concern (at 
 Cambuslang), and some of you, from what you felt, were 
 convinced that it was the work of the Spirit of God ; and 
 blessed be his name I am now personally acquainted with 
 several of you who were subjects of it, and who continue, 
 to the glory of free grace, to bring forth the fruits of a 
 sober, righteous, and godly conversation. 
 
 I know there are some melancholy instances of back- 
 sliding ; our Lord has plainly taught us to expect such 
 things. But that the revival which was at Cambuslang, 
 and other places in the country, in 1742, has come to 
 nothing, has not heen followed with any good fi^uit in 
 people's lives (as I understand some in Holland,* who 
 are not as yet favourable to the work there, are in danger 
 to imagine), you and I both know this to be otherwise. 
 And I think it my duty to declare so much to his glory, 
 who I am persuaded was the author of that work." 
 
 * A revival began at Nieuwkerk, in Holland, in 1749, and spread 
 into the duchy of Guelderland, &c., extending to 1751. 
 
CAMBUSLANG. 251 
 
 There is also a most satisfactory attestation from Mr 
 M'Culloch himself, which is too long- for insertion. We 
 give an extract from the passage in which he describes 
 the highivay-side hearers. 
 
 " There were some that were gross counterfeits, who, 
 a little after the awakenini^ broke out here in 42, 
 crowded in among- the reaUy distressed, and observing- 
 and imitating their manner, pretended to be also in spiri- 
 tual distress, when there was no such thing-. But these 
 were detected to be mere pretenders, either by their own 
 confession soon after, or were plainly enough discerned 
 to be so by others. The number of these counterfeits, 
 for what I know, was never any way considerable, and 
 in a short time they disappeared. There were also num- 
 bers of idle boys in Glasgow, apprentices and others, who 
 pretending, or seeming to be under some concern about 
 their souls, came often out to Cimbuslang, as thev pre- 
 tended, to hear and join in prayer in the fields ; but 
 these appearances with them generally came to nothing, 
 and they brought much reproach on the work here, by so 
 often leaving their masters' work, and strolling idly 
 through the fields. 
 
 " There were those who came here in 42 with a 
 design to find matter of diversion or cavil, and to mock 
 such as were in spiritual distress. The bands of such 
 mockers were, no doubt, made stronger by their so 
 coming, and so behaving when they came ; and yet some 
 of these were made happy monuments of victorious grace, 
 and of sovereign preventing mercy themselves, a remark- 
 able instance of which I had lately sent me in a letter 
 from an aged and experienced Christian of great integ- 
 rity, whom 1 can fully credit, especially in testifying 
 what he cannot but certainly know. A part of this 
 letter I subjoin, because it serves to confute what some 
 opposers have asserted, that there are no instances of any 
 grossly vicious sinners reformed or converted at Cambus- 
 lang in 42. Glory to God, a number of other instances 
 of this sort can be given. ' I have to say, for my own 
 part (says the letter), that I ara able to go to death with 
 it, that the Spirit of God was so powerfully at work in 
 
252 SCOTLAND. 
 
 Cambuslang, that not only sinners who knew nothing" of 
 God before, were reached both by conviction and conver- 
 sion, but even saints themselves were made to attain 
 to that which they had been strangers to in religion. I 
 am able, if time would allow, to give a most satisfying 
 account of not a few, both men and women, who I hope 
 will bless God to all eternity for that happy time. Par- 
 ticularly there were, among others, two young men, 
 living not far from me, who came over to yon in 42, on 
 purpose to mock the work ; and as they had formerly 
 been horrid cursers and swearers, the one swore to the 
 other, he would go see the falling at Cambuslang-, ask- 
 ing his comrade if he would go with him. The other 
 sware that he would go too, but that they should not 
 make him fall, for that he would run for it. And upon 
 their going there together, they were both canght the 
 same day ; and for a quarter of a year afterwards they 
 continued under very deep convictions, and have ever 
 since kept fellowship-meetings weekly ; and I have been 
 sometimes with them, and heard them both pray and con- 
 verse in Christian experience, to my great satisfaction.' 
 
 " As to the contents of this letter, I only add, 1. That 
 the writer of it, a little after, sent me a very satisfying 
 account of a considerable number of the subjects of the 
 work, known to him, and living near him, as to their 
 blameless walk from that time to this. 2. And as to 
 these two youths, it is well known here, that instead of 
 being able to run away, if either found himself in hazard 
 of being affected, as they proposed, they fell both under 
 awakenings together, or nearly so, and were glad to get 
 into a stable hard by, and to get to their prayers there, 
 on their knees, among the horses ; and 3. As to what 
 these called the falling at Cambuslang, it was a way of 
 speaking among mockers at that time, occasioned by their 
 seeing some fall down in time of sermon." * 
 
 * Robe's Narrative, p. 302. 
 
[ 253 ] 
 
 CHAPTER XIX. 
 
 REFLECTIONS. 
 
 A REVIVAL of religion does not partake of the mira- 
 culous. It is a multiplication of individual instances 
 of conversion occurring- nearly at one time. Sir Henry 
 MoncreifF has made some philosophical and most dis- 
 passionate remarks on the subject of the revival at Cam- 
 buslang-. He says " a strong view of his own character, 
 and of the irreparable consequences of an irreligious life, 
 clearly stated and deeply impressed on the conscience, 
 may be conceived in very diiferent circumstances to pro- 
 duce the same effects on any individual who attracts no 
 public notice, and of whom nothing more is known, than 
 that from that time he exhibits in private life a different 
 character from that which before belonged to him. The 
 mental or bodily agitations occasioned by his first alarms, 
 from the apprehended effects of his unprincipled conduct, 
 may not have been essentially different from those which 
 occurred at Cambuslang, though his circumstances have 
 not subjected him to the enquiries or observations of others. 
 He may feel as much agitation as the converts of that 
 time, though the situation in which he has received his 
 convictions, has confined the cause of them to his own 
 bosom, or to the confidence of his intimate associates. 
 It is equally certain that the same feelings may exist, and 
 may even be experienced in the same degree, when they 
 are accompanied by no such agitation of body, and by 
 nothing but their moral effect to render them visible to 
 the eye of the world." * 
 
 In the notes to this volume, we find the author sug- 
 gesting a perplexing question which occurs to many minds, 
 
 * Moncreifr& Life uf EvL-kiae, p 11{>. 
 
254 REFLECTIONS. 
 
 on the subject of one solitary revival. *' Supposing 
 the facts related to have been correct, hovk^ do we account 
 for the narrow sphere within which the consequences of 
 all these extraordinary events were limited ? We see 
 many converts in the course of a few months. But very 
 soon we hear of nothing- more of the same kind, though 
 the same individuals continue to preach occasionally in 
 the same country for many years. We naturally ask, 
 supposing all that was extraordinary in the events related 
 to have been directed by Providence, why was the same 
 influence no longer continued by the same instruments, 
 or why did it not operate afterwards by means of others 
 in the same manner ? For what visible ends were such 
 remarkable events directed, of which we see no more than 
 the immediate effects on a few individuals? However 
 permanent their consequences with regard to them, they 
 were followed by none of the great and signal events 
 which so many anticipated, or by any change in the state of 
 the Christian church, which we can possibly connect with 
 them." 
 
 " All that can be said on this subject amounts to 
 nothing more than what resolves itself into the ignorance 
 of man with regard to the laws of Providence. It is clear 
 that no remarkable change on the state of the world was 
 designed. * But supposing the conversions at Cam- 
 buslang to have been real Tof which we can say nothing 
 more than has been related), the effects produced in the 
 progress of practical religion might go much farther than 
 we have the means of ascertaining. The converts of that 
 time who persevered to the end, would leave the impres- 
 sion of their characters on the society in which they lived, 
 on the families whom they left behind them, and on all 
 those who had the means of observing the effects of 
 genuine religion which they exemphfied; while the marked 
 and continued testimony given by them in private life to 
 
 * Dr Erskine had published a pamphlet entitled " The Signs of the 
 Times considered ; or the high probability of the present appearances 
 in New England and the West of Scotland are a prelude to the glorious 
 things promised to the church in the latter ages." Edinburgh, 1742. 
 His biographer's remarks form a reply to this pamphlet. 
 
REFLECTIONS. 255 
 
 tlie efficacy of genuine religion, might go much farther. 
 It might operate widely during their own lives, it may be 
 operating still in many forms which our observation can 
 never reach. " All these conclusions are conjectural. But 
 there is nothing more definite on the subject for which there 
 can be any authority." * 
 
 It is not for the unlearned and simple to confute the 
 learned and the wise, yet one mind may not, by years of 
 reflection, arrive at a conclusion which arises almost spon- 
 taneously in another. Independently of the " some 
 hundreds" whom even their enemies admit to have been 
 converted at Cambuslang, and independently of the pre- 
 cious leaven of Christian faith which has descended from 
 these converts and expands its holy influence over the 
 country to this day, we think we can see another weighty 
 reason why the Holy Spirit, under whose dispensation we 
 dwell, should appear in his sovereignty, and arouse us 
 to a conviction of his power by occasional, partial, and 
 brief, but lively outpourings in his church. 
 
 God, in his providential government, has not left him- 
 self without a witness, in that the ordinances of the sun and 
 moon remain. There is no tongue nor speech where their 
 voice is not heard. Even the benighted heathen gathers 
 some knowledge of a creating power, by the recurrence of 
 night and day, summer and winter, seed-time and harvest. 
 Then again, God, in his government of grace, by means of 
 his dispensation of prophecy, kept alive in the Church of 
 Israel the expectation and faith of what he designed to 
 accomplish. At some periods, two or three prophets 
 w^ouid at once be engaged in stirring up the people, and 
 preaching the coming of the Lord ; at other times, 
 " the word of God would become precious, because there 
 was no open vision ; " and after perhaps a long period of 
 silence, as if the Lord had forgotten his purposes, would 
 arise a solemn voice by the waters of Chebar, or a cry in the 
 wilderness, which aroused the people into awaiting attitude, 
 and taught them to look for the consolation of Israel. 
 Our dispensation is that of the Holy Spirit We are 
 
 * Moncreiff's Life of Erskiae, note, p. 600. 
 
256 REFLECTIONS, 
 
 privileged to expect His blessed influences, not only indi- 
 vidually, but collectively — in the church as well as the 
 closet — in hearing as well as in reading the Word. Our 
 promises embrace not only the lands already called Chris- 
 tian, but the dark places of the earth, which are full of 
 the habitations of cruelty. Our hopes are directed, not 
 only to the heathen, who have never heard the name of 
 Messiah, but to that unhappy and wonderful people who 
 crucified and slew him. The waters which at first only 
 issued out from under the threshold of the house east- 
 ward presently reached to the ankles of the prophet, then 
 they reached the knees, then they arose to the loins, and 
 at last they became waters to swim in, a river that could 
 not be passed over. " The waters go down into the 
 desert, and every thing shall live whither the rivers 
 Cometh."* 
 
 In his Word, on which he hath caused us to hope, our 
 God has given rise to the most expanded expectation. 
 We cannot desire or pray for greater things than are in 
 conformity with the purposes of him who teaches us to 
 ask for the coming of his kingdom, and promises that 
 " the whole earth shall be filled with his glory." " He 
 shall have dominion from sea to sea, and from the river 
 unto the ends of the earth." — Ps. Ixxii. 8. 
 
 Is it, then, improbable that he should, at his own 
 times, visit the world with somewhat of an anticipation 
 of those promised glories ? Would it be in conformity 
 with his providential dealings, and with his dealings with 
 the Church of Israel during the dispensation of pro- 
 phecy, that he should leave himself, in the Christian 
 Church, and under the dispensation of the Spirit, without 
 a witness which shall arrest the observation of the most 
 regardless. 
 
 The kingdom of God cometh not with observation, 
 and entereth many souls, but the world heeds it not. 
 The small still voice testifies in many spirits, but the 
 world hearkens not. Then comes the Spirit as a rushing 
 mighty wind, and shakes the house, so that, whether all 
 
 * Ezek. xxxvii. 
 
REFLECTIONS. 257 
 
 who are within hearing believe or not, certainly they are 
 all within reach of conviction, and it remains with them 
 whether they will hear, or whether they will forbear. 
 
 Besides the solemn testimony of the reality of con- 
 verting- power, which is thus laid before the unbelieving, 
 is not the Church, by this means, refreshed and strength- 
 ened ? The children of Zion learn to lift up their heads, 
 for the time of their redemption draweth nigh. They 
 seem, so to speak, to be admitted into the secret that is 
 with those who fear the Lord. They comprehend, that 
 though the time seems long, " the Lord will hasten it in 
 his time." To him there is no restraint, to save by many 
 or by few, and they see how He, who wrought on the 
 multitude at the day of Pentecost, can work still, so that 
 thousands shall be born in a day ; and they comprehend, 
 when the fulness of time shall arrive, how speedily He 
 will possess himself of all hearts, so that the uttermost 
 ends of the earth shall be the Lord's. In times of revival, 
 not only do new souls flow into the Church, but its for- 
 mer members are urged to more earnest prayer, and fresh 
 efforts after sanctification. Hearing from afar the good 
 tidings, has refreshed very many. The translation of the 
 Narrative of Cambuslang into the Dutch language, by 
 one of our Scottish pastors who was settled there, was the 
 remote cause of a revival of religion in Holland. The 
 tidings from New England Christians encouraged the bre- 
 thren here, while the good news which went forth from us, 
 revived and cheered them. Besides the many spots in 
 Great Britain which have been thus favoured, Holland, 
 Germany, Prussia, France, Switzerland, nay, even Italy 
 itself, have had their times of visitation, and each awak- 
 ening has had some useful effect on other Christian 
 countries. 
 
 The revivals in the United States, which have of late 
 years been more frequent and copious than those experi- 
 enced by any other region of the earth, have not alone 
 rescued thousands under their immediate influence from 
 the way of destruction, and placed them in the way of 
 life ; but they have fixed the attention of the multitude, 
 who are crowding from the haunts of civilized life, to 
 
 R 
 
258 REFLECTIONS. 
 
 form settlements in impenetrated forests. They have 
 been the occasion of many carrying- with them to the 
 wilderness impressions never to be forgotten. They have 
 awakened the zeal of those who dwell within the region 
 of churches to pursue the emigrants ; forsaking- the com- 
 forts of refined society, to dwell among them, that they 
 may convey to them like precious faith. And besides 
 all the powerful effects produced by these revivals in 
 their own country, which it would not suit our purpose 
 here to enumerate, their effect on the churches of Europe 
 has not been unimportant, and we may well expect that 
 it will be more important still. How many prayers 
 have ascended from England alone, how many works 
 have been reprinted and read with avidity, how many 
 have been written, in consequence of what we have heard 
 of the state of things in America ! If the religious 
 world, or any part of it, is on its watch-tower, looking 
 earnestly for the dawning of the day of glory, it is partly 
 in consequence of having good tidings from afar, and of 
 longing to partake of the abundant rain with which the 
 Lord has promised to confirm his inheritance when it is 
 weary. We cannot, therefore, accede to the question of 
 the eminent divine — " For what visible ends were such 
 remarkable events directed, of which we see no more than 
 the immediate effects on a few individuals ?" Nor can 
 we say with him, that " it is clear no remarkable change 
 on the state of the world was designed." Every revival 
 is as the voice of one crying in the wilderness, to prepare 
 our hearts, for the coming of the Lord draweth nigh. 
 And if no other results had followed but the establish- 
 ment of that concert of prayer, which took its rise in the 
 west at that time, and is observed by many still, though 
 nearly a century has rolled away, that one event is of an 
 influence in the spiritual affairs of many, which will only 
 be computed in the eternal world. 
 
 The most weighty objection urged against revivals is 
 whether such a system of things is right in itself. It is 
 alleged that the very term revival implies a periodical 
 relapse, which must be highly injurious and hardening to 
 the heart. This supposes what is not the fact — that the 
 
REFLECTIONS. 259 
 
 persons called in a new revival are backsliders from the 
 profession they made at some previous time. At such 
 an interesting period, without doubt the spirits of Chris- 
 tians are much stirred in them ; they experience more 
 zeal and more prayerfulness, — and if so be that there 
 exist backsliders among-st them, that is a promising time in 
 which their backslidings may be healed ; but, in general, 
 a revival is the flowing of new souls into the church — 
 the awakening of those who have bean dead in trespasses 
 and sins. Souls then make a shoot in the growth of 
 holiness, and become more quickly confirmed and esta- 
 blished ; so that, instead of lingering under doubtful con- 
 victions, and growing up tardily to a settled faith and 
 love, they, under this more lively work of grace, are made 
 decidedly, and in haste, living members of the body of 
 Christ. What an advantage is it to the faithful pastor 
 to have thus obtained a band of fellow-workers, who pro- 
 mote his views, and aid him with their prayers ! Even 
 the strenuous advocates of the more deliberate operations 
 of the Holy Spirit, to which we are accustomed, where 
 the perpetual dew of the Divine blessing fructifies and 
 matures the seed of the word by slow degrees, and some- 
 times at the expense of years, must admit, that in the 
 more rapid and lively operations of a revival, there are 
 abundant advantages, if the fruits be equally mature. 
 
 Nor let it be thought that the intervals between revi- 
 vals are all deadness and inaction. The work of con- 
 version is still proceeding throughout the church, and 
 every where individuals are silently added to those who 
 believe. Mean while, the faithful pastor is actively en- 
 gaged in sowing the seed, and his church are strengthen- 
 ing his hands by their prayers and example ; and as the 
 husbandman waiteth for the early and latter rain, so does 
 he till it shall come in its season, and cause the seed to 
 grow. 
 
 Another objection to the doctrine of revivals is, that 
 though this mode of the Spirit's operations may be in con- 
 formity with the circumstances of a newly-settled coun- 
 try, where nearly all the ground is lying fallow, or to a 
 republican government, or a voluntary church, where no 
 
260 REFLECTIONS. 
 
 particular form of religion happens to be supported by the 
 state, yet it is altogether inconsistent with the constitu- 
 tion of an established church. This difficulty we con- 
 ceive to arise in part from the imperfect notions derived 
 from descriptions of revivals written sometimes by ene- 
 mies, or at best by men who possess little of the lively 
 revival spirit. The technicalities adopted in some churches 
 in the United States — such as " anxious seats," " pro- 
 tracted meetings," &c. &c sound rather absurd in nar- 
 ration ; and yet an eyewitness might see circumstances 
 which may render such things both natural and useful. 
 This has been experienced at home, and we are forced to 
 smile at the futility of human devices in observing the 
 progress of matters in Robe's narrative. Considering in 
 his own mind what was done at Cambuslang, and hearing 
 the criticisms of the world on the week-day services, the 
 many hours spent in church, &c., Mr Robe, while he 
 prayed for a time of refreshing from the Lord on his own 
 people at Kilsythe, made various secret resolutions as to 
 how he would arrange matters to avoid censure, should 
 his prayers be answered. But when the time came, the 
 exigencies of the souls crying out, " What shall we do ?" 
 overset all his preconceived plans ; and though he used 
 not the names of " anxious seats " and " protracted 
 meetings," he adopted the things; for when the good 
 man had closed his services, and saw many of his people 
 sit gazing upon him as if they were still hungering for 
 more, he was constrained to begin anew. And when the 
 agitation among the people became overpowering, he was 
 forced to descend amongst them, and employ his elders 
 to converse with those whom he could not reach. Nor 
 was this all ; for when, at late hours, he retired to his 
 house, he was accompanied or followed thither by those 
 who were in tears, or in terror too deep for tears. In 
 these circumstances, his strength was wasted, and he na- 
 turally asked of his friends to come over and help him, 
 both that they might teach the people, and see the won- 
 derful thing that God wrought ; and thus, for many 
 months, he was doing daily what in his inexperience he 
 had resolved not to do. 
 
REFLECTIONS. 
 
 261 
 
 Another objection commonly broug-ht against the Trans- 
 atlantic method of conducting revivals is, that some con- 
 greg-ations are neglected and left, while their pastors are 
 called to assist the ag-itated souls in their vicinity. If 
 this were fact, in a case of extreme necessity, we should 
 say it had better be so. Nor would such neglect be with- 
 out precedent in England, where it not unfrequently hap- 
 pens that one curate has charge of the duties in three 
 parishes, and accomplishes one short service in each, by 
 means of galloping from church to church, without re- 
 siding in any of them. And in Scotland, too, it is by 
 no means uncommon, both in the Establishment and 
 amongst the Dissenters, to leave a place of worship vacant 
 a whole Sabbath, while the minister is assisting a friend 
 in the dispensation of the Lord's supper. These are less 
 excusable times of leaving a flock unfed, than when the 
 extreme distress of a neighbouring flock calls for the aid 
 of other pastors. The shepherd in the parable left ninety- 
 nine in the wilderness, while he went after one that was 
 in jeopardy. In the period when cholera was making its 
 ravages in one town, no one thought of censuring the 
 medical men of another, who left their regular station to 
 go to their aid. This, however, is meeting an objection 
 as if it were valid, which is not so. For, if an experienced 
 man is called to aid a flock under lively convictions, it is 
 to be supposed, that he not only appoints a substitute 
 for the period of his absence, but that he returns to his 
 post so quickened by what he has witnessed, and relates 
 so many affecting proofs of the Spirit's way in the church, 
 that his own people are much refreshed by the circum- 
 stance. This was decidedly the case at Cambuslang and 
 Kilsythe, for many were the parishes that tasted of the 
 good gift after their pastors had been assisting in the 
 congregations already under the visitation. Some writer 
 on this subject, in his unthinking inexperience, has accused 
 the American Churches of having a set of men, whom 
 he names " revival-makers," who, from their peculiar gift 
 at stirring the passions, go from place to place making an 
 excitement, which for the time assumes the appearance of 
 a genuine work of the Spirit, but subsides and leaves Lt€ 
 
262 REFLECTIONS. 
 
 sul)jects just as it found them, when the exciting cause 
 is removed. This seems too absurd to reason upon, and 
 imputes to Christians conduct like that of the poor bar- 
 barians in South Africa, who in time of drought send for 
 the rain-makers, and join them in all manner of noisy 
 invocations of the clouds. But it would seem we have had 
 revival-makers in England also — Whitfield, Wesley, Hill, 
 Fletcher, were revival-makers; and not only they, but some 
 of the more correct and orderly members of the Established 
 Church. — Bernard Gilpin was not only an itinerant in va- 
 rious counties around his vicarage of Houghton-le-spring, 
 but an awakener of sinners, so that robbers and thieves 
 made restitution, and men of blows and blood left their feuds 
 to follow him. Romain comes under the same descrip- 
 tion, in his movements from St Dunstan's to St Ann's, 
 whereas he was the instrument of arousing hundreds. Had 
 he entered more tenderly into the cases of distressed souls 
 in private, instead of referring all private applicants to his 
 public instructions alone for help, he would in all human 
 probability have been still more successful, and might have 
 arrayed a phalanx of dearly united and praying people 
 around him, who would have materially promoted his 
 work and strengthened his hands. Venn and Scott were 
 revival -makers. Alphonsus Gunn was a revival-maker, 
 for which trespass he was driven from the curacy of Farn- 
 ham, where the people had been used to live in pleasure, 
 and were dead in spirit. Yet those who were brought to 
 true spiritual life under his ministry, thought it not much 
 to walk nine miles to hear him every Sabbath when he 
 was removed to Odiam in Hampshire. From this place 
 also he was driven for the same cause. This holy and 
 faithful man was refused admission by the rectors to two 
 lectureships in London, after having been duly elected by 
 the people, lest he should make a revival ; and he never 
 found rest for the sole of his foot till he came to be curate 
 to John Newton, at St Mary Woolnoth, where many of 
 the people were revived already, and the rest were longing 
 to partake of the blessing. Charles Bridges, the well- 
 known commentator on the 1 19th Psalm, has won many 
 souls in every parish he has occupied, though they might 
 
REFLECTIONS. 263 
 
 have been dead before. Basil Woodd, who was for many 
 years actively eng-aged in preaching the gospel in London, 
 kept account of those who came to him in distress of soul 
 from Bentinck Chapel alone, till they amounted to three 
 hundred, and then his biog-rapher mentions that he left 
 numbering- them, not having- leisure for the interesting- 
 numeration. In short, we must plead g-uilty to the dis- 
 orderliness of having- revival-makers in the bosom of our 
 established churches. For where the truth is preached 
 in the spirit of prayer, there has the divine teacher often 
 owned his work, and acted on souls in the revival form. 
 In thus parrying- some of the objections which the 
 fears of many uprig-ht and sedate Christians have led 
 them to entertain, we would be reluctant to be under- 
 stood as advocating- mere excitement, or the adoption of 
 superfluous and unwonted arrang-ementsfor novelty's sake. 
 Even in this little volume will be found various examples 
 of nervous irritation being mistaken for mental convic- 
 tion. Deplorable cases have occurred in various revivals, 
 of persons under this mistake, fancying- themselves real 
 converts, because they could look back on a date at which 
 they wept or trembled, and thus they have settled down 
 in a state of insensibility in which they have died. Dr 
 Sprag-ue, in his very judicious and dispassionate work on 
 the subject, not only admits, but points out most of the 
 dang-ers which sug-gest the great difficulties to our care- 
 ful watchmen in this country. They are not unperceived 
 or undreaded by those who long for revivals here. All that 
 we would plead for is, that good men will not condemn a 
 name merely because it is new, or stamp a work as enthu- 
 siasm or hypocrisy, merely because it is not in the form to 
 which they have been accustomed. We have sat so long- 
 under the calm possession of Christian privileges in this 
 country, that we are apt to lose sight of the method by 
 which the gospel first gained access to Britain, of the many 
 lands yet unpossessed even of the name of Christ, and of 
 the immensely accelerated progress of the Spirit's work, 
 which must take place before we can enter on the pro- 
 mised course of millennial ages. We indulge a mistrust 
 of methods diverse from our past experience, forgetful 
 
264 REFLECTIONS. 
 
 how little we know of the endless variety of appliances 
 in the divine treasury, all in consistency with the pur- 
 poses of salvation, and in conformity with the dispensa- 
 tion under which we live, which may remain to be re- 
 vealed to us, and put into operation upon or arouud us. 
 It is discouraging-, nay, even alarming-, to hear men of 
 g-enuine piety, who know what the conversion of a soul 
 means, and who know something- of its immense value, 
 say that a system of revival is inconsistent with the con- 
 stitution of their Church. Is it consistent then with the 
 constitution of their Church that few should be convert- 
 ed — that those few should tarry long- in the unprofitable 
 debateable ground between the world and the cross — and 
 that their pastors should be content with this as the more 
 excellent way, thus keeping down their own hopes, dead- 
 ening- their own prayers, and limiting the Holy One of 
 Israel ? Are not such men like the good man of the house 
 whose door was shut, and whose children were with him 
 in bed, so that he did not wish to be disturbed ? O that 
 an holy quickening were imparted to all such, and then 
 should our churches behold the goings of the Lord in 
 his sanctuary ; we should comprehend better what is the 
 state of deadness in which we have been contentedly 
 resting, and see more clearly how the spirit must work 
 before all the ends of the earth are tilled with his glory. 
 Is it so that the kingdoms of nature are liable to all va- 
 rieties of excitement, and is man alone to remain insen- 
 sible ? Does the wind swell in all the degrees from the 
 gentlest breeze to the hurricane ? Do the clouds at times 
 sleep immovably in the moon-beams, and at times become 
 the rack driven by the tempest across the face of heaven ? 
 Does the ocean sometimes lie in breathing slumbers, 
 and again boil and toss his waves towards the skies? Nay, 
 does man himself yield to all the paroxysms of despair 
 and joy, of anger and of love, of ambition and of patriot- 
 ism ? But on this one subject, the eternal prosperity of 
 his soul, the achieving of the great purpose for which he 
 was born, and which, if he achieve not, he had better 
 never have been born, — on this one subject, is he to be 
 ever cool, ever deliberate, ever on the reserve ? Is he to 
 
REFLECTIONS. 265 
 
 care for his soul as it were by stealth, and banish from his 
 conversation the topic which ought to touch him most 
 nearly ? Is his pastor to be satisfied if he finds out by 
 accident, as it were, that lately such an one has begun to 
 study the holy Scriptures, and so he may hope well of 
 him — and again at a long interval, he discovers that 
 the same man has established a family altar, and anon 
 he sees him approach the Lord's table — and all this in so 
 cautious a manner that a question might seem intrusive, 
 and the physician of the soul, set there for the express 
 purpose, dares not approach to feel his pulse and ask 
 " how is it with thee ?" Such slow work may in the end 
 be prosperous, but how much of Christian enjoyment and 
 usefulness does its subject lose during its tardy progress, — 
 how much of what strikes upon the observation and 
 conscience of others ! The day of small things is subject 
 of gratitude to the God who bestows it ; but if it satisfies 
 us, if it makes us rest there, if it circumscribes our desires 
 in prayer, if it lowers our hopes, if it chills our zeal, it 
 becomes a snare. Our minds are more conformed to the 
 divine purposes as revealed in the Gospel, when we ask 
 of the Redeemer to take to him his great power and 
 reign, to take "the heathen for his inheritance, and the 
 uttermost parts of the earth for his possession." The 
 Lord said to his disciples shortly before he left them — 
 " Yet a little while, and the world seeth me no more ; 
 but ye see me^ * That is the distinguishing mark 
 of his disciples, the eye of faith sees him, sees his deal- 
 ings, sees his purposes, sees his promises. The stronger 
 is faith the clearer is its vision. O let us not lack the 
 plentiful aids of the holy Spirit, for want of faith to ex- 
 pect them and to pray for them. Truly we are straiten- 
 ed in ourselves and not in our gracious Lord — for he 
 says to us, " Hitherto ye have asked nothing in my name : 
 ask, and ye shall receive, that your joy may be full."| 
 
 * John, xiv. 19. f John, xvi, 24. 
 
[ 266 ] 
 
 CHAPTER XX. 
 
 KILSYTH. 
 
 Some Tracts on the subject of Revivals of Religion 
 have been published by Mr Gallie of Glasgow, and though 
 their number be few and their extent limited, their au- 
 thenticity is unquestionable. That entitled " Kilsyth^ 
 1742-3," contains an abstract of Mr Robe's Narrative, 
 so suited to our purpose, that we take the liberty to ap- 
 propriate it in part. The only alteration made, is the 
 omission of a passage or two, and inserting from the 
 book itself, a few particulars which the small compass of 
 a tract has necessarily excluded. 
 
 <' Among the many godly ministers who frequently 
 visited Cambuslang- on this memorable occasion was the 
 Rev. Mr Robe, minister of the neighbouring parish of 
 Kilsyth. Like Mr M'Culloch, he was a man of prayer, 
 deeply aware of the responsibility attending his office, 
 and anxiously solicitous for the eternal welfare of his 
 people. Every time he visited Cambuslang- he seems to 
 have returned to his own charge as if ' anointed with 
 fresh oil,' resolutely determined to know nothing- among- 
 them but ' Jesus Christ, and him crucified.' By this 
 time he had laboured in the parish of Kilsyth for the 
 space of thirty years, without being- aware of any remark- 
 able success having accompanied his ministrations. Dur- 
 ing- that period, the parish had been visited with a severe 
 fever, by which many, particularly of the godly, were 
 suddenly cut off. That visitation was followed by a fa- 
 mine, and shortly after, in the summer of 1733, great 
 loss was sustained by a destructive storm of thunder and 
 lightning ; but, instead of these judgments leading- the 
 people to think of God, whose displeasure they had in- 
 curred, and to seek Him ' with weeping and with sup- 
 
KILSYTH. 267 
 
 plication,' wickedness seemed to increase. Mr Robe, in '*' 
 his narrative, testifies that no one appeared to be affected 
 with sin, the cause of all the evils that were complained 
 of. On the contrary, the Societies for prayer declined, 
 the love of many waxed cold, the spirit of formality seem- 
 ed to prevail, and open transgression greatly abounded. 
 In these painful circumstances the good man betook him- 
 self to prayer in behalf of his people, and contmued still 
 most faithfully to set before them life and death — the 
 blessing and the curse. In the year 1740, he commen- 
 ced a series of practical discourses on the doctrine of re- 
 generation. He explained and applied, with all faithful- 
 ness and scriptural simplicity, the nature, the importance, 
 the necessity, the evidences of this spiritual transforma- 
 tion, and although these discourses were listened to with 
 apparent seriousness, yet no visible effects followed at 
 the time. When Cambuslang- and other parishes were 
 sharing so copiously of the Divine influence, it was mat- 
 ter of g-rief and discouragement to Mr Robe that not one 
 of his people seemed as yet at all to be awakened. He 
 continued to wrestle much in prayer, and still with af- 
 fectionate earnestness to exhibit to his people a full and a 
 free salvation. ' The effectual fervent prayer of a righte- 
 ous man availeth much.' Like Jacob, he wrestled ; and 
 like Israel, he prevailed. — The Lord did in due time send 
 a ' plenteous rain.' The first symptoms were the revi- 
 ving- of many of the meetings for prayer, the institution of 
 some new associations, and particularly of one composed 
 exclusively of females, from ten to sixteen years of age. 
 These movements were hailed as the harbinger of bright- 
 er days. 
 
 " Mr Willison of Dundee, ' whose praise is in the 
 gospel throughout all the churches,' being- on a visit to 
 Cambuslang, spent a few days at Kilsyth, on his way 
 home. Being requested to preach, he did so, on a Friday 
 morning, when a multitude of people met, though the 
 warning was short, and delivered ' a distinct, plain, and 
 moving sermon,' from these words : — ' He brought me 
 up also out of a horrible pit, out of the miry clay, and 
 set my feet upon a rock, and established my goings.' 
 
268 SCOTLAND. 
 
 Many of those who were afterwards effectually awakened 
 dated their first serious concern about their souls from 
 hearing that sermon. On the Sabbath following, 18th 
 April, 1742, Mr Robe preached from these words : — 
 « My little children, of whom I travail in birth again 
 until Christ be formed in you.' He experienced more than 
 usual tenderness in reading the text, and could not refrain 
 from tears. On the Sabbath immediately following, one 
 woman was awakened to a very distressing sight of her 
 sinfulness and consequent exposure to misery. She was 
 observed by some in the congregation to be under great 
 uneasiness. When the congregation dismissed, she was 
 not able to proceed on her way home, and soon after was 
 found in a field, crying out, like the jailer, < what shall I 
 do to be saved?' She was brought back to the minister, 
 who conversed with her for a considerable time. She 
 said that in hearing the sermon she was made to see that 
 she was unlike Jesus Christ, and like the Devil, and al- 
 together in a state of unregeneracy. She had strong 
 impressions of the greatness of the wrath of God, to 
 which, on account of sin, she felt herself liable. She 
 parted with Mr Robe considerably composed. She con- 
 tinued for some time to endure occasionally very great 
 mental anguish, but soon after obtained sensible relief 
 by ' an apprehension of the mercy of God in Christ.' 
 
 " On Sabbath, the 9th of May following, five persons 
 were awakened to a distressing sight of their sinful and 
 lost estate. Mr Robe, and the praying people around, 
 fondly cherished the hope that this might be but as a few 
 drops before a plentiful rain. 
 
 " And now the period of peculiar favour to this parish 
 was come, — the time that God had set. Mr Robe in his 
 narrative states, — <' On May 16th, I preached as I had 
 done for some time, on Gal. iv. 19 : ' My little children, 
 of whom I travail in birth until Christ be formed in you.' 
 While pressing all the unregenerate to seek to have 
 Christ formed in them, an extraordinary power of the 
 Divine Spirit accompanied the word preached. There 
 was a great mourning, as for an only son. Many cried 
 out, and these not only women, but some strong and 
 
KILSYTH. 269 
 
 stout-hearted young men. After the congregation was 
 dismissed, continues Mr Robe, an attempt was made to 
 get the distressed into some barn, but their number was 
 so great this was impossible, and I was obliged to con- 
 vene them in the kirk. I sung a psalm and prayed with 
 them, but when I essayed to speak to them I could not 
 be heard, so great were their bitter cries, groans, and the 
 voice of their weeping. After this, I requested that tliey 
 might come into my closet, one by one. I sent for the 
 Rev. Mr John Oughterson, minister of Cumbernauld, 
 who immediately came to assist me in dealing with the 
 distressed. In the mean time, I appointed psalms to be 
 sung with those in the kirk, and that the precentor and 
 two or three of the elders should pray with them. The 
 noise of the distressed was heard from afar. It was 
 pleasant to hear those who had been in a state of enmity 
 with God, despisers of Jesus Christ, and Satan's content- 
 ed slaves, crying out for mercy ; — some, that they were 
 lost and undone ; others, ' what shall we do to be saved ;' 
 others praising God for this day, and for awakening 
 them ; and not a few, not only weeping and crying for 
 themselves, but for their graceless relations. And yet 
 it would have moved the hardest heart, that many of 
 them, like the Israelites under Pharaoh's oppression, 
 barkened not when I spoke unto them, they were so 
 overwhelmed with anguish of spirit, because of the spiri- 
 tual bondage they felt they were under — There appeared 
 about thirty awakened this day, but afterwards 1 found 
 that the number was considerably greater.' 
 
 " On the Wednesday immediately following this day 
 of the Redeemer's power, there was a sermon for the first 
 time on a week-day. Mr Warden, minister of Campsie, 
 and Mr M'Laurin, one of the ministers of Glasgow, 
 preached on the occasion. The number of the awakened 
 this day was as great as on the Lord's day. Nor did this 
 movement of Divine grace soon terminate. The blessed 
 work of conviction and conversion went on. The Re- 
 deemer did ' ride prosperously because of truth, and meek- 
 ness, and righteousness.' — His < arrows w^ere sharp in. 
 the heart of the King's enemies.' 
 
270 SCOTLAND. 
 
 " When the revival commenced, such was the desire 
 of the people to hear the Word of God, that, as has been 
 just stated, it was found necessary to institute a week- 
 day lecture. Wednesday was the day selected for that 
 purpose ; and on that day there were sometimes two and 
 even three discourses. Monday, Tuesday, Thursday, 
 and Friday were appropriated for conversing with the 
 spiritually distressed. Notwithstanding such abundant 
 labours, Mr Robe was enabled to persevere — his bodily 
 health suffered not, and his inward man prospered day by 
 day. His friends sometimes tried to persuade him to re- 
 lax his excessive labours, but, — growing love to Jesus, 
 intense compassion for perishing souls, ardent zeal for 
 the promotion of God's glory, constrained him to perse- 
 vere in his arduous but interesting duties. ' It soon ber 
 came,' says he, ' the pleasantest work in which I ever en- 
 gaged. Though I was wearied when I went to bed, yet, 
 like the labouring man, my rest was sweet to me. The 
 Lord gave me the sleep of his beloved, and I was fresh by 
 the morning. The way of the Lord hath been my life 
 and my strength.' 
 
 <' The ordinance of the Supper was, as usual, dispensed 
 on the second Sabbath of June, and was attended by the 
 happiest results in the experience of many. The blessed 
 work of conviction and conversion continued greatly to 
 increase after that solemn communion service, and it was 
 intimated to the minister in the middle of September 
 following, that a general desire existed among the peo'ple 
 for another and an early opportunity of observing that 
 ordinance. After much prayer and conference on the 
 part both of the minister and the people, it was resolved 
 that the death of our Lord should be a second time cele- 
 brated that year ; which was accordingly done on the 
 third Sabbath of October. The account given by Mr 
 Robe of that interesting solemnity is truly heart-stirring. 
 Upon the Fast-day, sermon was in the fields to a very 
 numerous and attentive audience, by three ministers, 
 without any intermission, because of the shortness of the 
 day. Upon the Friday evening there was sermon in the 
 
KILSYTH. 271 
 
 kirk, and there was a good deal of concern among- the 
 people. Upon Saturday, there was sermon both in the 
 kirk and in the fields. Upon the Lord's day, the public 
 service began about half-past eight in the morning, and 
 continued without intermission till half- past eight in the 
 evening. I preached the action sermon, by the Divine 
 direction and assistance, from Eph. ii. 7. ' That in the 
 ages to come he might show the exceeding riches of his 
 grace, in his kindness towards us, through Christ Jesus.' 
 There were twenty-two services, each consisting of about 
 seventy persons. The evening sermon began imme- 
 diately after the last table service. And though I desired 
 that the congregation in the fields should be dismissed 
 after the last service, yet they chose rather to continue 
 together till all was over. During all the services there 
 was the most desirable frame and observable concern 
 among the people, that had ever been any where seen. 
 It began to be considerable, when Mr Warden of Campsie 
 preached, and it continued and greatly increased while 
 Mr Spiers preached, who conchided the public work of 
 the day in the fields. On Monday there were sermons both 
 in the kirk and in the fields. There was a good deal of ob- 
 servable concern ; and several were brought under spiritual 
 distress in the fields. In the evening, two ministers 
 preached to the numerous distressed convened in the 
 kirk. On Tuesday morning there was a sermon preached, 
 and a discourse by another minister, containing suitable 
 instructions and directions, both to the awakened and to 
 those who had never attained to any sight or sense of 
 their sin and danger. The spiritual fruits of this solemn 
 and extraordinary dispensation of Word and Sacrament 
 were truly animating. Many secure sinners were awak- 
 ened. Zion's mighty King brought the wheel of the law 
 over them, and sent them home with broken and contrite 
 hearts. Some who came hither in a state of spiritual 
 distress and law-work, felt such a time of the Mediator's 
 power as enabled them to embrace Jesus Christ with such 
 distinctness, as to know that they had done it. Many 
 had the love of Christ so shed abroad in their hearts by 
 
27-3 SCOTLAND. 
 
 the Holy Ghost, that they could not contain, but were 
 constrained to break forth in floods of tears, in the most 
 significant expressions of their own vileness and unwor- 
 thiness, and of the deep sense they had of the exceeding 
 riches of God's grace, in his kindness towards them by 
 Christ Jesus.' 
 
 '* It is delightful to contemplate the solid nature of 
 this work of revival. It was far removed from enthu- 
 siastic fanaticism on the one hand, and presumptuous 
 Antinomianism on the other. Although some who 
 seemed to be awakened ultimately fell away, yet the ex- 
 perience of many made it unequivocally manifest, that 
 ' the Lord himself had given the word.' Deep humility, 
 hatred of all sin, love of holiness, aspirations after con- 
 formity to the image of God, fervent prayers and endea- 
 vours that others might be brought to the same views 
 and the same enjoyments, characterised the greater num- 
 ber of the individuals with whom Mr Robe was called to 
 converse. Indeed, the views of sin, and of the way of 
 salvation, entertained by the individuals brought under 
 the power of this blessed work of the Spirit, were, gene- 
 rally speaking, of the most scriptural and enlightened 
 description. One man being asked ' what he took closing 
 with Christ to be ;' made this most intelligent reply : — 
 * I take closing with Christ to be, a receiving of him as 
 a Prophet, to teach me the way of salvation ; as a Priest 
 to atone for me, and to be my righteousness in the sight 
 of God ; and, as a King, to ruje over me, and to subdue 
 sin and corruption in me : and that without Christ's 
 righteousness imputed, I can never be accepted in the 
 sight of God.' One woman, after she was brought dis- 
 tinctly to receive, and rest alone upon Christ for salvation, 
 thus expressed herself: — 'Worldly thoughts are away from 
 me now, and oh ! that they would never return again. 
 Ten thousand worlds could not give me the love and joy 
 with which Christ now fills me.' When asked some 
 questions by Mr Robe, she said, ' Sir, though you put ques- 
 tions to me, as was done to Peter, Christ, who knoweth all 
 things, and who knows my heart, knows that I do love 
 
KILSYTH. 273 
 
 him, and I am resolved, in the strength of imparted pro- 
 mised grace, to show my love to him by keeping his 
 commandments.' She sometimes gave utterance to snch 
 words as these — ' He is my sure portion, whom I have 
 chosen for ever. O, what hath he done for me ! I de- 
 sire to have all the world brought to him, that they too 
 may partake of his rich and sovereign grace.' 
 
 '< Although the greater number, like the awakened at 
 the day of Pentecost, or like the convicted jailer at 
 Philippi, were made to cry out, under a sense of sin and 
 apprehension of coming wrath, and could not conceal their 
 distress, yet many were brought to Jesus in a more 
 gentle and silent manner, whose cases were not made 
 known to Mr Robe till they had obtained peace in be- 
 heving. One or two instances of this kind may be given, 
 nearly in Mr Robe's own words, from among the many 
 that might be quoted : — A woman who was brought to 
 concern on 16th May, waited upon Mr Robe the follow- 
 ing week, manifesting great anxiety for the salvation of 
 her soul. < I was,' says he, ' much pleased with the cha- 
 racter of her convictions, with her knowledge, and the 
 longing desires she expressed after Jesus Christ. I said 
 to her, ' essay to accept of Christ, bestir yourself, rise 
 up at his call, and invite him to enter into your heart, 
 into your soul.' Without intending or meaning- what 
 she did, she arose with great composure, stood and prayed 
 in a most scriptural style. She acknowledged sin origi- 
 nal and actual, her utter want of righteousness, the won- 
 derfulness of God's patience to her. She prayed for 
 mercy, to be drawn to Jesus Christ, and that she might 
 be clothed with his white raiment. Sometimes in her 
 address, she would say — ' Sweet Jesus ;' ' He is precious ;' 
 * He is altogether lovely.' She first came to sensible re- 
 lief from a sermon I preached on John, xvi. 10, 'Of 
 righteousness, because 1 go to my Father, and ye see me 
 no more.' In her return home that day, these words 
 were strongly impressed on her mind — ' My heart is 
 fixed, O God, my heart is fixed ; I will sing and give 
 praise.' She fell down upon her knees ; her heart being- 
 s 
 
274 SCOTLAND. 
 
 filled with joy in the Lord, and her mouth with his 
 praise. — 
 
 — " ' C. D. came first under convictions by hearing- 
 the doctrine of regeneration stated, as it is the writing of 
 God's law upon the sinner's heart, from Heb. viii. 10. 
 He was made distinctly to see that it was not as yet 
 written upon his heart, and that if he would be happy 
 hereafter, it was indispensably necessary that it should be 
 so. Upon the evening of the day when he received his 
 first impressions, he conversed with a friend concerning 
 the resurrection, the general judgment, and the sad state 
 in which impenitent sinners must be throughout eternity. 
 By such converse his impressions were deepened. Every 
 sermon and every awakening experienced by his neigh- 
 bours, was blessed for the same end. He told me that 
 he could apply to himself the greater part of a sermon he 
 heard from me concerning the Spirit's convincing the 
 world of sin ; such as, that he usually begins with one 
 sin, and after that proceeds to convince of particular sins. 
 He was convinced of the sins of his heart, and of the evil 
 nature of sin. He was not so much distressed about sin, 
 as exposing him to hell, but he felt particularly grieved 
 as it was an insult oifered to a holy God. He got such 
 a sight of the filthiness of sin, as to loathe himself on 
 account of it. He was also convinced of the great sin of 
 unbelief, of the sinfulness of the least thought of in- 
 iquity, though not consented thereto : of the evil of self- 
 conceit, a sense of the sinfulness of which stuck as long 
 with him, as he termed it, as any thing else. He was also 
 sensible of his inability to help himself, of his own want 
 of righteousness, and that he could not work out a 
 righteousness for himself. He was brought to see the 
 sufficiency of Christ's righteousness, and that he, to use 
 his own words, was always ready, if he would but trust 
 in him. Seeing that he had not informed any one of his 
 spiritual distress till he got relief by believing in Christ, 
 I asked what it was that kept up his spirit under fear and 
 trouble of mind, continuing so long? He told me that 
 when his heart was like to burst in prayer, that word 
 came constantly in his mind, and encouraged him to wait 
 
KILSYTH. 2^b 
 
 for the Lord with patience and hope : — ' I waited patiently 
 for the Lord, and he incHned unto me, and heard my cry/ 
 His first relief came in this manner. In the society for 
 prayer of which he had hecome a member, he enquired, 
 ' What was the most proper exercise for a person under 
 convictions ?' to which it was replied by a very judicious 
 Christian, ' That it was to behold the Lamb of God,' 
 which he essayed to do. — When I gave, in a public dis- 
 course, the marks of those who had Christ formed in them, 
 he said that by the help of the Spirit he could apply them 
 all to himself, and that during- prayer and after sermon he 
 was in a frame surprising to himself; that his whole heart 
 and affections went out in closing with Jesus Christ, and 
 that he was filled with rejoicing- and wonder at his love.' " 
 
 Mr Robe had, with wonderful care and diligence, re- 
 corded particular accounts of the cases of young and old, 
 male and female, of those who received conviction in 
 silence, and had the work of faith wrought in them be- 
 fore he was aware, and of those who could not refrain 
 from crying out for anguish of spirit. We add brief 
 examples, besides those given in the tract, to exhibit 
 how carefully it has been proved that this work was of 
 the Spirit of truth : — 
 
 " June 11, 1742. 
 
 " Because I know what joy and thankfulness it gives 
 you" (says Mr Robe, in a letter to a friend), " to hear 
 of our dear Lord's appearing- in his glory and majesty, in 
 conquering- his enemies to himself, 1 embrace the oppor- 
 tunity to write to you, that this hath been a good week, 
 one of the best I ever saw — though of the greatest la- 
 bour, yet of the greatest pleasure. I had a closet full of 
 little ones yesternight, making a pleasant noise and out- 
 cry for Christ, and two of the youngest, one of them but 
 ten, fainting and so distressed, they could scarce go home. 
 I cannot write unto you the wonders 1 saw — one of 
 eleven crying out she was sick of sin, with hands uplifted 
 to Heaven. When I told her that if she were willing to 
 take Christ he would heal her, — ' I am willing v/ith all 
 my heart, and from the bottom of my heart, to take 
 him ! ' I bade her wait with patience, and told her she 
 minded the 40th Psalm. She noted over the first twelve 
 
27G SCOTLAND. 
 
 lines with great calmness. I hear they have been very- 
 distressed last night and this day ; I would fain hope that 
 relief may not be far from them. O, pray for the poor 
 
 young babes. tells me just now she is come to joy 
 
 and peace in believing, for which I beg you will praise 
 
 the Lord, and employ others to do it. Poor little 
 
 speaks to the distressed like herself. This is a pleasant 
 countryside by it was. I wish you were here. Wed- 
 nesday was a wonderful day, when we were afraid that 
 the work was like to stop. There have been ten new 
 ones belonging to this congregation since last Lord's day; 
 so that, if I count right, they are about or near seventy, 
 besides those who belong to other congregations, of which 
 I can have no account." * 
 
 " R. S. was first touched with convictions on the 
 Lord's day. May l6th. He heard sermon on Wednes- 
 day at Kilsyth, and on Thursday at Kirkintilloch, but 
 struggled with his convictions till Thursday night, when 
 he could hold no longer, but getting up from his father's 
 fireside, ran out to the fields, where he cried out vio- 
 lently under his distress. Lie came to me on the morn- 
 ing of the 21st of May, with great outcries. He had a 
 distressing sight of particular sins, such as Sabbath- 
 breaking, cursing, swearing, evil thoughts. He was 
 grieved for sin as an offence against God, and said, with 
 great earnestness, he would give a thousand worlds for 
 Christ. May 24th, he said he saw he had a corrupt 
 nature, and the evil of despising Christ through unbehef, 
 and that he would, not for all the world, not have this 
 uneasy sight of sin, nor be freed from it, until he came 
 to Christ. 
 
 " [June 8th and 10th.] His spiritual distress conti- 
 nuing, and complaining of the hardness of his heart, I 
 endeavoured to instruct him in the nature of faith, and 
 the way of salvation ]>y Jesus Christ. 
 
 " [June 17th. J He said he was very uneasy in the 
 kirk on Tuesday evening, after he heard the valuable 
 Mr Whitfield preach. He said that his heart warmed 
 to Christ. 1 asked him why ? He replied, because of 
 
 * Robe's Nariative, p. 183. 
 
KILSYTH. 277 
 
 bis love to poor sinners, and to me the chief of all sin- 
 ners. I enquired, if it was accompanied with hatred at 
 sin ? He cried out, for having- offended such a just and 
 holy God, and that he hated every thing- that was offen- 
 sive to him. He said he had essayed to close with 
 Christ, and that his very heart warms when he speaks of 
 him. That this word came home to him, and runs con- 
 tinually in his mind, Mat. xi. 28, 29, ' Come unto me 
 all ye that labour and are heavy laden,' &c. 
 
 " [June 24th.] He said he was some easier since he 
 was last with me, and that he had endeavoured to close 
 with a whole Christ, and counts all things but loss and 
 dung- for the excellency of the knowledge of Jesus 
 Christ, and that he has now an inclination to Christ, and 
 that his heart flutters in him like a bird, when he thinks 
 of him. July 3d, he told me he is now well, for Sab- 
 bath last, while a reverend minister was speaking- of the 
 prodigal son, and that his father ran to meet him, he 
 thoug-ht what a prodig'al he had been, and that Jesus had 
 come to him. He was filled with such a sense of it, 
 that he was like to flee from the seat where he was 
 sitting-. He said he was filled with love to Christ from 
 a sense of Christ's love to him, and that he had closed 
 with Christ in all his offices, and laid the stress of his 
 whole salvation upon him. He said, < Sir, many a day 
 I have had a light heart in sin, but now my heart is light 
 indeed, and my love to Christ every day grows.' 
 
 " [July 13th.] When at the Lord's table, to which 
 he was admitted last Lord's day, he had the greatest 
 comfort in closing with a whole Christ in all his offices, 
 and his heart warmed in him. He had large views of 
 what a vile sinner he had been, and of the wonders 
 grace and mercy had done for him, particularly in bring- 
 ing him to his holy table. He blessed the Lord with 
 heart, and soul, and spirit, and all that was within him, 
 for Christ, and what he had done for him, and that he 
 had fears lest he should fall away, and made apphcation 
 to Jesus Christ to keep him ; and that it was a joyful 
 sight to him when he saw the bread broken, a sign of 
 Christ's body broken for him, which he believed." 
 
278 SCOTLAND. 
 
 " V. Z. was frequently under concern la<5t winter, while 
 the doctrine of regeneration was preached ; he examined 
 himself by the Scripture marks given of regeneration, 
 but could find none in himself. Yet his concern came 
 no length. He was brought under deeper concern on 
 Sabbath fortnight, in hearing the marks of unbelievers, 
 in a sermon I preached from John, iii. 36. These cut 
 him wholly oiF. He was convinced of particular sins, of 
 the evil of unbelief, the corruption of nature, and the 
 need of a new nature. He is sorry for sin, and would be 
 so, though it did not make him liable to hell, because he- 
 hath offended and dishonoured God by his sins. As to 
 self-loathing, he says that he hates himself for his sins, 
 and is convinced that no suffering of his can ever satisfy 
 the offended justice of God for the least of his offences, 
 and if he could abstain from all sin for the time to come, 
 and keep the law perfectly, it could not satisfy for the 
 evil of sin already past. This is only to be obtained by 
 the righteousness of Christ imputed to him. 
 
 " [July 6th.] By the account he gives of himself, I 
 am persuaded he hath closed with Christ. I endea- 
 voured to answer and satisfy many objections and doubts 
 he proposed to me. I advised him to receive the Lord's 
 Supper, but he durst not adventure, being doubtful 
 about his faith and interest in Christ, though he had 
 been formerly a communicant. He has since attained to 
 some satisfying Scripture marks of his interest in Christ, 
 has received the Lord's Supper, and continues to walk in 
 the fear of the Lord, and some measure of the comfort 
 of the Holy Ghost." 
 
 " B. A. came to me, June 18th. She had been un- 
 easy since the l6th of May. Her concern increased upon 
 her, Sabbath, Monday, and Tuesday last. She was con- 
 vinced of unbelief, and the evil of it, and was very un- 
 easy about the sin of unworthy communicatmg, but did 
 not seem to be convinced particularly of her other sins 
 against the law, nor of the corruption of her nature ; and 
 was sorry for sin only because of its making her lial)le to 
 the wrath of God. I gave her instruction and direction 
 suited to my view of her case. 
 
KILSYTH. 279 
 
 " [July 5th.] She then saw particular sins, but was 
 most of all uneasy about unworthy communicating^, and 
 the sin of unbelief. She professed that she was sorry 
 for sin because she had offended God by it, and also that 
 she loathed herself for sin. She did not as yet appear to 
 be convinced of the corruption of her nature. 1 advised 
 her to cry to God to convince her of it, to give her faith 
 to embrace Christ, &c. 
 
 " [July 9th.] She now saw that she broug-ht a cor- 
 rupt nature into the world, that is enmity to God and all 
 good, and that she is lost and undone by it. She had 
 accepted Jesus, in all his offices and his righteousness, to 
 be hers in the sight of God, seeing all her own righteous- 
 ness to be but filthy rags. After instruction and direc- 
 tion, I admitted her to the Lord's Table. [July 19th.] 
 She was under much fear and terror before she came to 
 the Lord's Table, but said, ' I will go in the strength of 
 God the Lord.' When she was there, she was filled with 
 joy in Christ, as a sufficient Saviour. She had a view of 
 her sins piercing him, and sorrow on that account. She 
 continues to live and to walk as becometh a good 
 Christian." Such are some of the fruits of the revival at 
 Kilsyth. 
 
 " It is emphatically said by an inspired writer, that 
 * the grace of God which bringeth salvation, teaches to 
 4ieny ungodliness and worldly lusts, and to live soberly, 
 righteously, and godly, in this present evil world.' This 
 declaration of holy Scripture, received remarkable illus- 
 tration at Kilsyth. The number of individuals who were 
 awakened, and who afterwards publicly professed the faith 
 of Christ, was about three hundred, and by various au- 
 thentic documents recorded in Mr Robe's Narrative, it is 
 ascertained that the conversation of all these was such as 
 became the Gospel. The moral influence on the parish 
 generally was remarkable. 
 
 " Mr Robe thus writes — ' Among the instances of the 
 good fruits of this work upon the people, may be men- 
 tioned visible reformation from many open sins, particu- 
 larly cursing, swearing, and drinking. In social meetings, 
 edifying conversation has taken place of what was frothy, 
 
280 SCOTLAXD. 
 
 foolish, or censorious. Instead of worldly and common 
 discourse on the Lord's day, there is that which is spiri- 
 tual and good to the use of edifying. There is little of 
 what was formerly common, strolling about the Helds, or 
 sitting idle at the doors of their house on that holy day. 
 There is a general desire after public ordinances. Before 
 this, I could never prevail with the best to attend the 
 preaching of the Word during the week, and therefore 
 could have no stated weekly meeting for expounding : 
 now, however, they desire it, and the generahty of the 
 people attend as regularly as upon the Lord's day. The 
 worship of God is set up and maintained in many families, 
 who formerly neglected it. There are many new societies 
 for prayer, composed of individuals of all ages, and not 
 only of those who have been lately awakened, but of 
 those who before had a character for seriousness. Former 
 feuds and animosities are in a great measure laid aside and 
 forgot, and this hath been the most peaceable summer 
 amongst neighbours that was ever known in this parish. 
 I have heard little or nothing of that pilfering and steal- 
 ing that was so frequent before this work began. Yea, 
 there have been several instances of restitution, and some 
 of these showing consciences of more than ordinary ten- 
 derness. The change of the face of our public meetings 
 for worship is visible ; there was never such attention 
 and seriousness seen in them as now. The change is 
 observed by every one who formerly knew the parish. 
 One observing person said to me, that if there was no 
 more gained by this wonderful work of the Spirit, there 
 was at least a great increase of morality.' " 
 
 In the revival at Kilsyth, nothing is more worthy of 
 remark than the character of Mr Robe himself. Thirty 
 years their pastor, he had prayed and pined in secret, and 
 watched with a discouraged spirit to see some token that 
 his words did not all fall to the ground. Pestilence swept 
 away many of his praying members ; and instead of others 
 coming up in the time of calamity to fill up the gaps and 
 cry to the Lord, it seemed that their hearts were dead- 
 ened by the stroke, and the praying companies dwindled 
 away. Famine succeeded, but with no better effect — 
 their hearts were not broken but hardened under the in- 
 
KILSYTH. 281 
 
 fliction. Yet, as it was with Israel of old, the Lord was 
 thus preparing his way in their hearts, and in the heart 
 of his servant who mourned over all that was lost, with- 
 out ceasing to supplicate that the Lord would return and 
 visit them. He was directed to a course of preaching on 
 regeneration, which, though he saw no immediate result, 
 he found when the set time was come, had been silently 
 working in the minds of many. When he heard the glad 
 news from Cambuslang he rejoiced exceedingly, and 
 hastened to obtain a portion of the anointing that was 
 shed on pastor and people there ; and then he inwardly 
 prayed and longed and watched more than they that 
 watch for the morning, to see the good gift extended to 
 his own dear people — and sometimes he told them to go 
 to Cambuslang, and sometimes he reproached them that 
 they came as unaffected as they went. O, that more of 
 those who look that the salvation of Jesus shall over- 
 spread the earth, were but on tiptoe as this servant of 
 God was, looking out for it, and urging it onward by all 
 scriptural means. What a period of hungering and 
 thirsting was that with Mr Robe, between Februrary, 
 when he heard of the first souls awakened at Cambuslang, 
 and April, when he saw the same blessed influences ex- 
 tending to Kilsyth. He exclaims in the simplicity of a 
 glad heart, " how pleasant a part of the country this is 
 by " (in comparison of) " what it was formerly." Pleasant, 
 because " the Lord was there." And again, " It became 
 soon the pleasantest work ever I was engaged in. I 
 found the distrest profiting under the means of grace by 
 the Lord's blessing, first coming to hate sin and mourn 
 for it, out of a regard for God, — and pressing after an 
 interest in the Lord Jesus Christ. It diverted" (delighted) 
 " me to see young and old carrying their Bibles with them, 
 and either reading some passage that had been of use to 
 them, or looking out and marking some that I recom- 
 mended to them. The world appeared changed to me, 
 and as I noticed to them, when I came to their doors to 
 catechise them once or twice in the year, the least trifle 
 hindered their attendance, but now they were glad to 
 come twice or thrice in the week, and greedy to receive 
 
282 SCOTLAND. 
 
 instruction ; and what cold soul would not have rejoiced 
 in such a change, and welcomed them in the name of the 
 Lord ? Though I was wearied when I went to bed, yet, 
 like the labouring man, my rest was sweet to me — the 
 Lord gave me the sleep of his beloved, and I was fresh 
 by the morning ; and now, after labouring so much for 
 these four months, and preaching more than at any time, 
 I mention it to the praise of my Great Master's good- 
 ness — my body is like those of Daniel and the three 
 children, — fatter in flesh than when I began, and my 
 bodily ails nowise increased — the way of the Lord has 
 been my life and strength." Happy man ! He waited 
 on the Lord till he gave him the desire of his heart ; and 
 four months of success made him forget thirty years of 
 prophesying in sackcloth. 
 
 We shall use No. HL of Mr Gallie's Revival Tracts 
 in the same manner as we have used No. 11., making 
 additions and omissions as seem convenient. It is plea- 
 sant to mention even the names of parishes, which could 
 produce their forty, sixty, or an hundred, who had been 
 made partakers of the gracious influences in 1742 and 
 1743 ; and the names of the men employed in promoting 
 the work, many of whom are honoured for their holy lives, 
 and for their writings. It is particularly worthy of re- 
 mark, that in the districts where a spirit of controversy 
 had got a footing, by means of the secession from the 
 church, which had recently taken place, neither church 
 nor secession partook of the good gift which God was 
 bestowing. Hearts hot with contention are not in a 
 position to receive divine truth. Conviction of sin will 
 not enter where party spirit rules, and the Spirit of Peace 
 hath no place in the bosom given to human strife. The 
 revival spread to the north and west of Kilsyth, but its 
 progress to the east was met by this evil influence, and 
 it stayed. The minds of many were strangely disturbed 
 by political projects and secret plots at the period. It 
 will be remembered that this was only three years before 
 the Rebelhon of 1745. But before that spreading evil 
 arrived many had been gathered into the fold, many esta- 
 blished in their faith, and many taught to pray for peace 
 
BALDERNOCK. 283 
 
 and the preservation of their privileges, — whose influence 
 must be counted among those things which prevailed to 
 produce a termination to that rebellion so favourable to 
 the confirmation of our Christian rights. 
 
 " In the parish of Torphichen, to the eastward of Lin- 
 lithgow, at that time under the ministry of Mr Bonar, 
 seven persons were awakened at the dispensation of the 
 Supper of the Lord, on the first Sabbath of August, 
 1742, who afterwards were enabled to give scriptural 
 evidence of being in Christ by a living faith. 
 
 " The case of the parish of Baldernock deserves to be 
 particularly noticed. Few of the people had visited 
 those places in which the revivals took place ; and al- 
 though for some years there had been no regular pastor, 
 yet about ninety individuals were brought under the 
 quickening influence of the Spirit of promise. Mr 
 Wallace, who had previously laboured amongst them in 
 holy things for about fifty years, had been faithful and 
 zealous ; and perhaps the many conversions that now 
 took place, might be remotely traced to his ministrations. 
 The seed which lies long concealed may spring up in an 
 abundant harvest. But in the absence of a regular 
 ministry, God, who can accomplish His purposes of mercy 
 with weak as well as with powerful means, raised up and 
 qualified Mr James Forsyth, who occupied the humble 
 but honourable station of parochial schoolmaster, as the 
 instrument of carrying forward, in that parish, the good 
 work that had made such advances in the surrounding 
 country. He was evidently a good man. He had been 
 long distinguished for godliness. His experience of the 
 preciousness of Christ, could not but prompt him to 
 embrace the opportunity, which his profession furnished, 
 of diffusing the knowledge of that Name, and of that 
 Salvation, which he knew to be so essential to the true 
 happiness of the people with whom he was brought in 
 contact. He partook of the joy with which the news of 
 God's dealings with his church was received by such as 
 had themselves tasted that the Lord is gracious ; and in 
 the peculiar circumstances of the parish, he endeavoured, 
 by every means in his power, to infuse the same spiritual 
 
 ^;^i:-;- 
 
284 SCOTLAND. 
 
 life among- the people. He ppoke, more especially to 
 the young-, with earnestness and affection about their 
 lost condition by nature and practice, about the love of 
 God manifested in the gift of his Son for the salvation 
 of sinners ready to perish ; and the Holy Spirit was 
 pleased to convey these simple but impressive truths to 
 the souls of his interesting- charge, who, in their turn, 
 were enabled to leave a testimony to the truth in the 
 consciences of the adult population. Would there were 
 many such teachers of youth ! Would that they felt 
 that they and their youthful charge shall stand together 
 in the judgment, and must render an account of their 
 important stewardship ! Religious instruction was made 
 to hold a prominent place in the school under the charge 
 of Mr Forsyth ; and for the encouragement of all in like 
 circumstances, these instructions were rendered instru- 
 mental for the conversion of many. God countenanced 
 his feeble endeavours, and made him the honoured in- 
 strument of winning many souls to Christ. His own 
 account of the matter is detailed in letters to Mr Robe, 
 and will be felt deeply interesting and animating-, by all 
 who have any love for ardent piety or disinterested zeal. 
 In a letter, dated 17th July, 1742, he thus writes: — 
 * Since the first of February last, I endeavoured, to the 
 utmost of my power, to instruct the children under my 
 charge in the first principles of religion — that they were 
 born in a state of sin and misery, and strangers to God 
 by nature. I pressed them, with every argument I could 
 think of, to give up their sinful ways, and flee to Jesus 
 Christ by faith and repentance ; and, by the blessing of 
 God, my efforts were not made in vain. Glory to His 
 holy name, that that which was spoken in much weak- 
 ness, was accompanied by the power of His Holy Spirit. 
 I likewise warned them against the commission of known 
 sin. I told them the danger of persisting contrary to 
 the voice of conscience, and the plain dictates of the 
 Word of God ; assuring them, that if they did so, their 
 sin would one day find them out. These exhortations, 
 frequently repeated, made at last some impressions on 
 their young hearts. This was used as a means in God's 
 
BALDERNOCK. 285 
 
 hand for bringing the elder sort to a more serious con- 
 cern, and a greater diligence in religious duties. One of 
 the school-boys, who went to Cambuslang in March, 
 was the first awakened. He, in a short time thereafter, 
 asked permission to meet with two or three of the other 
 boys in the school-room, for the purpose of praying and 
 singing- psalms. I had great pleasure in granting- this 
 request. Very soon after, a few more of the boys mani- 
 fested deep concern for their souls ; and in fourteen days 
 after the opening- of this youthful prayer meeting, ten 
 or twelve were hopefully awakened ; none of them were 
 above thirteen years of age — a few of them were so young 
 as eight or nine. These associated together for devo- 
 tional duties. Their love for these services increased ; 
 80 much so, that they met sometimes three times a-day, 
 — early in the morning, — at noon, during the interval 
 of school hours, — and in the evening-. These soon for- 
 sook all their childish fancies and plays, and were known 
 to their school companions by their general appearance, 
 by their walk and conversation. All this had a ha])py 
 effect upon the other children. Many were awakened 
 by their means. They became remarkable for tenderness 
 of conscience. A word of terror occurring in :tb^i*' 
 lessons would sometimes make them cry out and weep 
 bitterly. Some of them could give a most intelligent 
 account of their experience of divine truth. TLev were 
 sensible of the sin of their nature, of their actual trans- 
 gressions, and even of the sin of unbelief; for when I 
 would exhort them to believe in Christ, who was both 
 able and wilHng to save them to the uttermost, they 
 would reply, in the most affecting terms, that they knew 
 He was both able and willing-, but their hearts were so 
 hard that they could not believe aright of themselves, 
 till God gave them the new heart — that they could do 
 nothing for their hard hearts.' 
 
 " It has been often illustrated, that ' out of the mouths 
 of babes and sucklings God perfects praise.' What heart 
 that reads this narrative can feel unmoved at the strik- 
 ing illustration thus furnished of this scripture saying, 
 -in the case of the youth of the parish of Balderjiock, 
 
286 SCOTLAND. 
 
 under the care of Mr Forsyth ! Who would not praj 
 that all teachers of youth were blessed with piety like 
 his, with zeal like his, with success like his ! 
 
 " Respecting- the people in general, Mr F. thus writes : 
 < Some were awakened at Cambuslang-, others at Calder 
 and Kirkintilloch, but the greater number at the private 
 meetings for prayer held in the parish. These meet- 
 ing's were held twice a-week, and all were admitted who 
 chose to attend.' — These meetings were eminently coun- 
 tenanced. Many who attended were blessed with the 
 communications of Divine grace, and made to experience 
 the image and the earnest of the fellowship that is above. 
 ' Two young- women,' says Mr Forsyth, ' who had been 
 at Cambuslang, and who brought back an evil report, 
 saying, that they wondered what made the people cry 
 out, on the 22d of June, came to one of these meetings 
 in Baldernock, as was supposed, with no good design. 
 Before a quarter of an hour had elapsed, they were 
 brought under serious convictions, and continued in dis- 
 tress during the remaining exercises of the evening.' 
 
 " These details of the awakening in Baldernock furnish 
 an impressive commentary on these words of scripture — 
 * Not by might, nor by power, but by my spirit, saith the 
 Lord : ' 'I will have mercy on whom 1 will have mercy, 
 and I will have compassion on whom I will have com- 
 passion ' — and should stimulate every Christian, in his 
 own sphere, to labour for Christ, trusting that the 
 Divine Spirit will come * and leave a blessing behind 
 Him.' 
 
 " At the parish of Killearn, about sixteen miles north 
 from Glasgow, there was a considerable awakening at the 
 dispensation of the Lord's supper, on the third Sabbath 
 of July, 1742. This was particularly the case on the 
 Monday, when sermons were delivered by Mr Michael 
 Potter, professor of divinity in the University of Glas- 
 gow, and Mr Mackie, minister of St Ninians. 
 
 " There were about a hundred awakened in the parish 
 of Carapsie ; and about the same number in the parish 
 of Calder, in the immediate neighbourhood. The cir- 
 cumstances connected witl|s;the revival at Calder are 
 
CALDER. 287 
 
 somewhat remarkable. Mr Warden, the minister, was 
 accustomed to give a weekly lecture in a small village at 
 some distance from the church." 
 
 This lecture he intimated from the pulpit on the Sab- 
 bath day. He had kept his appointment Meek after week, 
 and found the congregation had dwindled away, so that in 
 a state of deep discouragement on the occasion, just before 
 the revival, he added, in a voice of tender pathos, after 
 his intimation, " But why should I tell you, for you will 
 not come." In this state of feehng he went to the place, 
 having resolved to discontinue the lecture. The people 
 having been touched with pity for the evident sorrow 
 and disappointment of their minister, said to each other, 
 " Poor body, let us go this time." He, unconscious of 
 this purpose of theirs, went unprepared with a sermon, 
 and was much dismayed when on looking into the room 
 he found it crowded. " Oh," cried he in the genuine sim- 
 plicity of his character, " I have often been here with a 
 sermon when there were no folks, and now when there 
 are plenty of folks I have no sermon." " He retired into 
 a wood at a little distance, earnestly to implore Divine 
 direction and blessing. Immediately he returned to the 
 people, and preached from these words which had been 
 suggested to his mind while in the wood — ' Unto you, 
 O men, I call ; and my voice is to the sons of men,' 
 Prov. viii. 4. From this text he opened up the fulness, 
 the freeness, the grace of the gospel proclamation. The 
 Holy Spirit accompanied the word spoken with power. 
 Many were brought under His humbling influence, and 
 ultimately made to bow to the sceptre of Jesus." 
 
 Tradition has not preserved any mention of a move- 
 ment on the minds of the people which led to this act of 
 pity, as it is termed on their part, yet it is probable that 
 tidings from the revived places around, or that the un- 
 seen influences of the Divine Spirit, or both, operated on 
 them, so as to prepare the way for the power with which 
 the sermon came to their hearts. The Lord condescends 
 to use such mixed motives as human beings are liable to 
 be aff"ected by, to do us good. The same compassionate 
 friend, who cast his eye up to the tree which Zaccheus 
 
288 SCOTLAND. 
 
 had climbed, perhaps from no better motive than curio- 
 sity, and said, " this day hath salvation come to thy 
 house," looked on the country folks, who assembled out 
 of pity to his humble and single-hearted servant, and that 
 night sent salvation to their hearts. 
 
 " In May, 1742, Mr MacLaurin of Glasgow, and Mr 
 Robe of Kilsyth, preached in Kirkintilloch on the Fast 
 day previous to the dispensation of the Supper. Mr 
 Burnside, the minister of the parish, preached in the 
 evening. The work of conviction that day was general 
 and powerful. In the words of Mr Robe, ' Zion's mighty 
 King did appear in His glory and majesty, and His arrows 
 were sharp in the heart of His enemies.' About a hun- 
 dred and twenty apphed to the minister, anxiously seek- 
 ing the way to Zion, evidently with their faces thither- 
 ward. About the same time there were fourteen or 
 fifteen awakened at Cumbernauld, under the preaching 
 of Mr Whitfield; and about eighty individuals by the 
 ordinary ministrations of their own pastor MrOugbterson. 
 
 " At the dispensation of the supper, in St Ninians, on 
 the first Sabbath of August of the same year, there were 
 several awakened by means of the sermons on the Satur- 
 day, many more on Sabbath, and a far greater number 
 on the Monday, which was, on the testimony of Mr 
 Robe, ' one of the greatest days of the Mediator's power 
 ever beheld.' On Thursday immediately following, at 
 the usual week-day lecture, a considerable number more 
 were awakened. Mr Mackie, the minister of the parish, 
 was instrumental in leading many of the enquirers to the 
 Lamb of God, who taketh away the sin of the world. 
 Some time after, Mr Mackie states, ' that impressions 
 upon the people are far from wearing off. Their be- 
 haviour is such that their enemies themselves cannot 
 find fault with it. It gives me great pleasure to hear them 
 pray and converse. Our audience is most attentive to 
 the preaching of the word.' 
 
 " In the parish of Gargunnoch there were about a 
 hundred awakened, the greater number of whom were 
 brought to a state of concern for their souls, while at- 
 tending the dispensation of the supper at Kilsyth, on the 
 
ST NINIANS. 289 
 
 second Sabbath of July, or the dispensation of that ordi- 
 nance at Campsie, on the last Sabbath of that month, or 
 at St Ninians, on the first Sabbath of August. At the 
 week-day lecture, on the 3th of August, there were 
 eighteen awakened ; and in the week following many 
 more. In a letter, of date 1 7th March the following 
 year, Mr V/arden, the minister of the parish, writes, — 
 * The concern in a great measure continues ; fellowship 
 meetings increase; and even the meetings for prayer among 
 the children. The impression among the people, in 
 general, is still apparent, by a diligent attendance upon 
 ordinances, love to our God and Redeemer, and to all 
 the children of our Lord's family ; crying to Christ, and 
 rejoicing in Him ; and all this associated with a sober 
 and blameless walk and conversation. A few are under 
 spiritual concern in the parish of Kippen, and there is 
 some stir in the parish of Monivaird.' " 
 
 Of the parish of Muthill, in Perthshire, there is a full 
 account by Mr Halley the minister, in Robe's Monthly 
 History, No. VI. p. 53. 1744. Extracts of the cir- 
 cumstances which most display the reality and pecu- 
 liarity of that work are all that we can afford. 
 
 " Muthill, Sept. 28th, 1742. 
 * * * "In general, for about a year, there has 
 been an unusual stirring and seeming concern in this 
 congregation, and some now and then falling under con- 
 versions. A closer attention to the word preached and 
 receiving it with apparent appetite was, by myself and 
 others, observed — until the Lord's Supper was dispensed 
 here, the third Sabbath of July, at which time I think 
 our conquering Redeemer made some visible inroads on 
 the kingdom of Satan. * * But whatever the Lord 
 was pleased to shed down of the influences of his Spirit 
 upon that solemn occasion, comparatively speaking, may 
 be accounted but a day of small things, in respect of 
 what he has been pleased to do amongst us since. I must 
 acknowledge, to the praise of our gracious God, that an 
 unusual power hath attended the word preached every 
 Sabbath day since ; few, if any Sabbaths have passed 
 
290 SCOTLAND. 
 
 without some having been awakened, and particularly last 
 Lord's Day, which I hope I may say was a day of the 
 Son of Man in this place ; for besides the general con- 
 cern that was seen in the congregation, about eighteen 
 persons which I came to know of that night, were pricked 
 at the heart, and deeply wounded by the arrows of the 
 Almighty. I have been very agreeably entertained with 
 the visits of distressed souls crying out for Christ, and 
 " what shall we do to be saved ?" The work of the lavr 
 has been severe and outwardly noticeable upon all that 
 I have conversed with, — their convictions have been 
 deep, cutting, and abiding. And yet I have not observed 
 the least tendency to despair, but giving satisfying evi- 
 dence of a kindly work of the Spirit, the law acting the 
 part of a schoolmaster, leading them to Christ, in whom 
 I hope a great many of them are safely landed, and have 
 had their souls filled with joy and peace in believing ; and 
 some have received such a measure of the joy of Heaven, 
 that the narrow crazy vessel could hold no more. 
 Though some old people have been awakened, yet this 
 work is most noticeable among the younger sort, — and 
 some within twelve years of age have been observably 
 wrought on, and the fruits are very agreeable ; among 
 others their delight in prayer, and their frequent meeting- 
 together for that end.'* * * " We have also seen a 
 down-pouring of His Spirit at our evening exercise on 
 Sabbath nights. Immediately after public worship is 
 over, such crowds of people come to the manse as fill the 
 house and the close before the door, discovering a great 
 thirst after the word, and such a concern in hearing it, 
 that their mourning cries frequently drown my voice, so 
 that I am obliged to stop till they compose themselves. 
 Many on these occasions fall under deep and abiding con- 
 victions, so that I am taken up in dealing with them 
 some hours after the meeting is dismissed. Many here 
 give such evidence of a saving real work of the Spirit, 
 that to call it in question,, would be to put old expe- 
 rienced Christians to doubt of their own state, yea, to 
 call in question the experience of the saints recorded in 
 Scripture. And yet there are here, as well as elsewhere, 
 
MUTHILL. S9I 
 
 who are contradicting- and blaspheming — they are objects 
 of pity and on^ht to be prayed for." 
 
 On the 29th of October, Mr Hally writes, — « It 
 gave me much pleasure to hear Mr Porteous and some 
 of my people giving such an account of the work of 
 God with you at your last sacrament. Sucli of my flock as 
 attended that solemn occasion, I hope have not lost their 
 travel. About seven-and-twenty of them, all in a com- 
 pany coming home, were, by a kind of Providence, over- 
 taken on the road by Mr Porteous, Mr David and 
 Mrs Erskine, who, by the blessing of the Lord, were 
 made eminently useful to them. Such was the distress 
 of many of them, that, to all appearance, they had lodged 
 in that desert place all night, if the Lord, by means of 
 these instruments, had not sent them some support and 
 relief. So much did their soul distress affect their bodies, 
 that they seemed not able to travel much further. The 
 same good work upon souls is daily advancing in this 
 parish. Every Sabbath day since I wrote to you last, 
 I may say, to the glory of free grace, has been a day of 
 the Son of Man. The arrows of the Almighty King 
 are still flying thick amongst us, and wounding the 
 hearts of his enemies. * * * For months past I 
 have observed a general and unusual concern upon the 
 whole congregation, their hungry attention to the word, 
 the serious and concerned air appearing on their faces ; 
 many being so deeply aff'ected in hearing, that frequently 
 the general sound of weeping through the whole congre- 
 gation rises so high, that it much drowns my voice. 
 Their carriage and converse in coming and going to 
 public ordinances, and the many prayers that are put up 
 through the parish — these make me, through the bless- 
 ing of God upon his ordinances, expect greater things. 
 
 " I told you in my last, what multitudes attend the 
 exercise on Sabbath evening. But now, though the day 
 be short, I am obliged to go to the kirk with them, 
 where almost the whole congregation (which is very 
 great) wait and attend ; many not regarding the diffi- 
 culty of travelling through a long dark moor under 
 night. A good number stay and retire to the school- 
 
292 SCOTLAND. 
 
 house, and spend some hours in prayer ; and the Lord 
 has signally owned them, not only to their mutual edi- 
 fication, but to the conviction of bystanders, and such as 
 have heard them without the walls of the house. Our 
 praying societies are in a most flourishing condition. 
 The meetings for prayer, both among boys and girls, 
 give me great satisfaction. One began soon after the 
 sacrament. Several of them falling under deep concern, 
 I was sent for to speak to them, where I found some of 
 them in tears. Since that time, that I may have them 
 near me, I give them a room in my house, where they 
 meet every night. And O, how pleasant it is to bear 
 the poor young lambs addressing themselves to God in 
 prayer ! O, with w^iat fervour, with what proper ex- 
 pressions do 1 hear them pouring out their souls to a 
 prayer-hearing God ! so that, standing at the back of the 
 door, I am often melted into tears to hear them. 
 
 " We have another praying society of young ones, 
 lately erected in another corner of the parish. They 
 desired leave to meet in the school-house, and there 
 about twenty meet twice a-week, though they have 
 some of them a good way to walk in the night. Such a 
 praying disposition as appears among this people, both 
 young and old, was never heard of before, which gives 
 me ground to expect more of divine influence to come 
 down amongst us ; for where the Lord prepares the 
 heart, he causes his ear to hear. 
 
 " In the parish of Madery, soon after the sacrament 
 at Fbwels, some few boys met in the fields for prayer, 
 and when observed were brought to an house, to whom 
 many others, both young and old, resorted since, and are 
 now, according to my information, in a flourishing con- 
 dition. 
 
 " This presbytery are resolved to divide themselves 
 into societies for prayer, for the progress of this blessed 
 work, and to have frequent meetings for that end. 
 " Yours, &c. 
 
 <« William Hally." 
 
INDIVIDUAL EXAMPLES, 298 
 
 In a letter to a friend in Edinburgh, 29tli August^ 
 1743, Mr Haily, among other statements, says, — 
 
 " I have been filled with wonder to hear some of them 
 pray, who, I had reason to believe, wholly neglected 
 secret duty till of late. Before this good work began, 
 we had but two praying societies, and now they are 
 increased to eighteen, to which many resort, both men 
 and women. We have six praying meetings of young 
 ones. One of them meets twice a-week in my house. 
 I have frequently wished to have had some of the con- 
 tradicters and blasphemers standing with me at the back 
 of the door, to hear these dear young lambs pouring out 
 their souls to a prayer-hearing God, with such fervour, 
 with such copiousness and propriety of expression, that 
 I have not only been filled with wonder, but melted 
 down into tears to hear them. With great satisfaction 
 I admitted forty of these young ones to the communion- 
 table this summer, which occasion the Lord signally 
 owned." 
 
 In February, 1751, the same good and energetic man 
 writes : — '' The remembrance of the glorious goings of 
 our God and King in his sanctuary in this place, in 
 1742 and 43, gives me still much pleasure, and cannot 
 but beget a longing to see such days of the Son of Man 
 again. I am fully persuaded that the gracious fruits of 
 that work will abide with many in this congregation to 
 eternal ages. I never did expect that all that were 
 awakened, should arrive at a real conversion. I doubt 
 not when the spirit of the Lord is in some extraor- 
 dinary way concurring with gospel ordinances for the 
 conversion of the elect, but others may feel of his com- 
 mon operations, which may evanish as a morning cloud. 
 About six of those persons that were the subjects of 
 that glorious work, are gone to partake of the rest re- 
 maining for the people of God. As they had a gospel 
 walk, so at their death they gave a noble testimony to 
 the truth and reality of religion. Some of them who 
 had been long in the dark about their state, with them 
 at eventide it was light, doubts and fears dispelled, and 
 an abundant entrance was ministered to the heavenly 
 
294 SCOTLAND. 
 
 kingdom of our Lord. There are a great many in this 
 and neighbouring parishes yet living, who were the 
 subjects of that work, to whom it has been saving, so far 
 as man can judge, if we judge the tree by its fruit." 
 
 " ' Godly sorrow for sin, universal hatred at it, re- 
 nouncing their own righteousness, and embracing the 
 righteousness of God, by faith in Jesus Christ, embracing 
 him in all his offices, universal reformation of life, a 
 superlative love to the blessed Redeemer, love to all 
 who bear his image, love towards all men, even to ene- 
 mies, earnest desires and prayers for the conversion of 
 all others:' — ' These,' says Mr Robe, ' are the happy 
 fruits of this blessed work, and sufficiently demonstrate 
 that it is of the operation of the Spirit of God.' 
 
 " This may be better illustrated by one or two exam- 
 ples of individual experience. ' L. M , aged about twenty- 
 eight years, and formerly of a blameless life, was awa- 
 kened by conversing with his brother under spiritual 
 distress. On that night he was so deeply affected, that 
 he could not sleep. Next morning, his distress was 
 increased by reading that passage of " Alleine's Alarm," 
 in which he discourseth of (jod's being an enemy to 
 unconverted sinners, which passage he met with at the 
 first opening of the book.' Mr Robe continues — ' He 
 was brought to me the following day, and though he was 
 a very strong man, I found his mental disquiet had 
 greatly affected his body. I observed that his reason 
 was clear and undisturbed, as he was able to give a dis- 
 tinct account of himself. He was impressed with parti- 
 cular sins, and in a lively manner felt himself to be a 
 guilty condemned sinner. He had a deep impression of 
 original sin and corruption, as rendering him liable to 
 eternal wrath, even though he had not been guilty of 
 actual sin. He had also a deep sense of the hatefulness 
 of sin, as committed against God, and of the sin of un- 
 belief, as hardening his heart against the voice of Christ, 
 in the reading or hearing of his word. He was struck 
 with dreadful fears of falling into the state of torment, 
 and saw the great goodness and long suffering of God, 
 in not cutting him off in the midst of his iniquity. He 
 
INDIVIDUAL EXAMPLES. 295 
 
 was supported sometimes by views of the remedy, Christ 
 Jesus ; that He had come into the world to save sinners, 
 which he desired to lay hold of, for the ground of his 
 hope. He soon attained to some composure of mind, in 
 essaying to close with Jesus Christ.' Conversing with 
 L. M. again eight days after, Mr Robe writes — ' He 
 declared that when engaged in prayer, he felt his soul 
 going out in the acceptance of a whole Christ as his onlv 
 Saviour; his Prophet to teach him by his word and 
 spirit ; his Priest to reconcile him to God by his sacri- 
 fice ; his King to subdue his sin, sanctify, and rule him. 
 He disclaimed all confidence in his duties, and desired to 
 rely on him alone for salvation ; withal, giving himself 
 to the Lord to be saved, upon his own terms, to live 
 unto him, and to serve him in newness of life — resolving 
 also, in the strength of Jesus Christ, to live a holy life 
 to his glory, and yet not to rest on it as a ground of 
 peace and acceptance. He said he was greatly afraid 
 lest he should fall back unto sin, and be a scandal to 
 religion, after what God had done for him. He was 
 exercised with the fears of hypocrisy and presumption 
 in receiving Christ, against which it relieved him to 
 look unto Christ anew, who came to save the chief of 
 sinners, and who is offered to him, in common with all 
 others." 
 
 " L. M.," says Mr Robe, " who was, before this 
 blameless in his life, is now spiritual, edifying, and exem- 
 plary in his ordinary conversation and deportment." 
 
 One other instance may be quoted from the narrative 
 of Mr Robe ; — 
 
 " After a sermon preached on the Monday of the sacra- 
 ment, by Mr Webster of Edinburgh, a young woman 
 was brought to Mr Robe, who found her so filled with 
 a sense of the love of God to her soul, and with love to 
 Jesus Christ, that she was all in tears, and could not 
 refrain from weeping with joy. She had been awakened 
 at Kilsyth about the beginning of July, but had obtained 
 no sensible relief till she heard Mr Webster. Before 
 her awakening, she was of a blameless life, but when 
 brought to feel the spirituality of God's law, she was 
 
296 SCOTLAND. 
 
 filled with alarm on account of the coming wrath. Some- 
 time after hearing Mr Webster, she was enabled to state 
 distinctly the consolation she experienced in taking hold 
 of Christ in all his offices. Her subsequent conduct in 
 life was of such a kind as to make it manifest that she 
 was now born from above." 
 
 We shall conclude this brief narrative, which exhibits 
 revival work as done in many parishes in the West of 
 Scotland, by a letter from a countryman to Mr Robe : — 
 
 " February 4., 1743. 
 
 " Indeed the going to Kilsyth and Cambuslang has 
 made me to be hated by some that formerly loved me, 
 but I desire to bless the Lord that led me by his Spirit. 
 I many a time think that such days of power have not 
 been seen since the apostles first preached the glorious 
 Gospel. O Lord never let my soul forget what I did 
 see at Kilsyth and Cumbuslang of thy glorious power ! 
 On Saturday night, before the Sacrament, after the ser- 
 mon was over, I went to the brae-head^ eastward, and 
 looked around; the candles were burning in every place ;* 
 that blessed echo of prayers and sweet singing of songs 
 made me almost faint for joy, and lament over my dead 
 heart that v/as so lifeless ; and put me in mind of the 
 sweet songs that are sung in heaven at God's right hand. 
 On Sabbath, at his table, the Lord did manifest himself 
 to me as he does not to the world ; I never did think to 
 see so much of heaven as I was eye and ear-witness to 
 on this side of time. " O Lord our Lord, how excellent 
 is thy name in all the earth, who hast set thy glory 
 above the heavens ; out of the mouths of babes and suck- 
 lings hast thou ordained strength," &c. &c. We will 
 but darken the light of thy power when we speak of it. 
 O Lord, let that cloud that has appeared in the West of 
 Scotland spread east, west, north, and south, that thy 
 glory may fill the whole earth. O Lord, let thy hea- 
 venly dew come down upon our souls, that we may grow 
 as the willows by the water courses. O Lord, let not 
 
 * Lighted by the cottagers only for the purpose of reading the 
 Scriptures. 
 
INDIVIDUAL EXAMPLES. 29? 
 
 our sins provoke thee to restrain the downpoiiring of 
 thy Spirit on these sinful lands. O Lord, for thy name- 
 sake, pass not by this poor parish ; and, O Lord, may 
 these that thou hast brought in to thyself, in a remark- 
 able way, evidence themselves to be thy children, by 
 their good works, they being the fruit of true faith and 
 love ; help them to forgive their enemies, and to pray 
 that their sins may be forgiven them. They have been 
 praying for the day of the Lord ; and now, because it has 
 not come in the way that they looked for, they are 
 grieved and wish it away again ; it is darkness and not 
 light to them. O dear sir, exhort them to beware of 
 carnal security, and the pride of humility^ for I have 
 found them to be two great sins." * 
 
 " It is now nearly a century since the revivals which 
 have just been related took place, but the traces still 
 remain — many prayer meetings exist, and not a few of 
 them in Glasgow, that can date their institution from 
 the period referred to. The work of the Lord has been 
 going on, though silently, in Scotland ever since. Many 
 have been the faithful pastors that have been instrumental 
 in gathering strayed sheep, in feeding the flock of God^ 
 which he has purchased with his own blood." 
 
 In 1744, a concert for prayer was entered into by 
 clergymen and others- in Glasgow, which was made known 
 only by private correspondence. In 1745, an account of 
 it was first printed in the Monthly History, and after 
 that the association was extended to many parts of the 
 kingdom. A memorial was then circulated, and the ori- 
 ginal concert, which had contemplated its continuance 
 for two years, was extended to seven. A part of Saturday 
 evening and Sabbath morning every week, and the first 
 Tuesday of each of the great divisions of the year (that is, 
 each quarter of the year), were the times appointed for 
 this exercise. The reasons and advantages of such a con- 
 cert are set forth in the memorial. Many years are now 
 past and this concert has descended through three or four 
 generations, without expiring, as merely human things 
 
 * Gillles's Collections; vol. ii. 
 
298 SCOTLAND. 
 
 ever do. It has been as the fire upon the altar of incense, 
 burning- on and on — and has within the last year (1835) 
 been stirred up afresh, and fresh fuel added, by remodel- 
 ling- the regulations, and again sending memorials to va- 
 rious parts of Scotland * 
 
 Almost simultaneously with, or shortly after, the ori- 
 ginal arrangement for prayer amongst the clergy was en- 
 tered into, there were partial revivals in many parishes 
 in the north-east, where such things had not been seen 
 before. In the parish of Nig, under the ministry of Mr 
 Balfour, the preaching of the word had not been without 
 visible fruit from 1730, and in 1739, there was a more 
 animated concern visible, so that each day of the week, 
 some who had been secure before, would be coming to 
 state their case and make private enquiries of the way of 
 salvation. The general meeting for prayer, which at one 
 time consisted only of the members of session and a few 
 others, became so numerous that it was necessary to 
 divide it into two — at these meetings the pastor always 
 presided. But presently the concern so extended, that 
 these meetings were not sufficient, either in frequency or 
 capacity of receiving- numbers, to satisfy longing souls, so 
 that ten societies sprung up who met every Saturday for 
 religious exercises. At all of these meetings an elder 
 was present, and each member, before admission, was 
 obliged to state his motives and desires to the minister. 
 There were but four families in the whole parish where 
 family worship was not kept up. After public worship, 
 neighbouring families joined in prayer, reading, and repeti- 
 tion of sermons, and yet care was taken that such exercises 
 did not interfere with private and family devotion. The re- 
 ligious catechisings were crowded by persons from other 
 parts. Neither the civil magistrate nor the kirk-session 
 had, for many years, any thing in the public deportment 
 to interfere with; and it was observed that the people 
 were so industrious in their secular aifairs, that the labours 
 of the husbandman were more advanced in Nig- than in 
 
 * See Dr Hamilton of Straihblane's posthumous sermon on the ad- 
 vantages of social worship, preached on this account. 
 
CONCERT OF PRAYER. 299 
 
 the neighbourhood. The people were much refreshed 
 with the accounts they had of the glorious work of God 
 elsewhere. They affectionately remembered their brethren, 
 both in prayer and conference, and were much afflicted on 
 account of the reproaches cast upon the blessed work, and 
 the contradiction and opposition of those from whom such 
 conduct would have been least expected. So far in 1 739? 
 and after, but in 44, after the concert of prayer was en- 
 tered into, Mr Balfour writes, 'the work of awakening- 
 proceeds on new subjects more currently, with several 
 it appears to be more distinct and lively, than formerly.' 
 The mass of the people were illiterate, knowing no lan- 
 guage but the Irish (that is to say, Earse or Gaelic), but 
 that is no hinderance to their edification and instruction 
 in religion. I never conversed with more intelligent, 
 savoury, and distinctly exercised private Christians than 
 some ilHterate men in this country, or that had more re- 
 spect, on a religious account, from their acquaintance. 
 They are industrious in learning to read, and some read 
 the Psalms without knowing or attending to the power 
 of the letters, by considering the words as complex cha- 
 racters, which are to be always pronounced in the same 
 way. Others assist them by reading the Scriptures and 
 other good books, which they translate currently without 
 any stop. This has become quite easy to those who un- 
 derstand both languages. It is astonishing to observe 
 what a copious and pertinent use of Scriptures many 
 illiterate persons have acquired, and with what readiness 
 and fluency they pray in Scripture language. The men of 
 letters dispute heaven, these live it. O what a sweet sig- 
 nificancy is in our Lord's words, " unto the poor the 
 Gospel is preached ! " 
 
 In January 45, Mr Balfour still continues his pleasant 
 tidings. " Things proceed in my parish as formerly. 
 New awakenings continue, and those formerly awakened 
 persevere, and 1 hope are making progress in Christian 
 experience," 
 
 Mr Sutherland at Golpy writes, in May 1745, " I 
 often regretted to you the wretched situation of my parish 
 in former times, but, since November last, the Lord has, 
 
300 SCOTLAND. 
 
 in his wonderful mercy, granted cause of praise ancl 
 thanksgiving-. From that time, upwards of sixty persons 
 have come to me under kindly awakenings of conscience, 
 many of whom have since that time been helped, so 
 to increase in knowledge and experience, that the work 
 appears to be from the Spirit of God. Sundry of them 
 have felt such shocking temptations, from the malicious 
 and spiteful enemy, that I must conclude this must be a 
 work destructive of Satan's interest. * * * I had a 
 thanksgiving day in the parish three weeks ago, on 
 account of this manifestation of grace ; and I began, at 
 their desire, a weekly lecture on Wednesday last ; and I 
 was told that the Lord gave countenance, by awakening 
 one on that day, who came not yet to me." The 
 parish of Golpy had formed a shelter for many refugees 
 in the troubles of 1688, and their posterity, at the time 
 of Mr Sutherland's admission in 1731, were many of 
 them devout and exemplary characters. But when most 
 of these had been called to the joy of their Lord, it seemed 
 that but few were awakened to till up their places. Their 
 minister mourned over this, and stated to them all that 
 he heard of the success of the Gospel elsewhere, in the 
 British American colonies, and at home. Especially in 
 43, when he attended the General Assembly, he visited 
 Kilsyth, Muthill, and Cambuslang, that he might be 
 revived himself, and report the happy change to his 
 people. This, however, produced no effect. When he 
 lamented this to his friend Balfour, he told him that he 
 had seen no decided work at Nig till he had instituted 
 societies for prayer. Mr Sutherland forthwith assembled 
 the few pious of his flock, stated the matter, and divided 
 them into three bands, to meet on Saturday night, for the 
 purpose of seeking a blessing on the Sabbath ordinances. 
 Still they were called on to wait for a year longer, — But 
 when their hopes were wellnigh gone, the great and 
 bountiful God, who is ever faithful to his promise, was 
 pleased to breathe on a number of dry bones, and to visit 
 them with his salvation ; for, from November to August, 
 upwards of seventy came to him under various exercises 
 of soul. " Some mentioned that they had been bowed 
 
ROGART — ROSEKEEN. 301 
 
 liovvn under a sense of guilt for months, but for various 
 reasons could not take courage to open their case to him. 
 About forty of them have, with weeping eyes and tremb- 
 ling hands, received tokens for the Lord's Table at the 
 late solemn ordinance, and it is hoped the rest will be 
 encouraged to follow their example in a little time. 
 Even the secure multitude attend ordinances better, and 
 seem to listen to the word preached with greater atten- 
 tion than before. The greater number of the awakened 
 are of ages from twenty to tifty ; few below twenty, and 
 but four from sixty to seventy. Many of them state, 
 that a course of lectures on the Gospel by Matthew, 
 especially the conclusion that narrates the sufferings and 
 death, and resurrection of Christ, were the means the 
 Lord had blessed to their edification." 
 
 In the neighbouring parish of Rogart, in 1740, fifteen 
 persons were awakened ; but they, and other serious per- 
 sons, felt themselves in a sad state of decay of soul during 
 the two following years. They also observed that all 
 around them continued in their former stupidity. They 
 then formed associations for prayer, and, at their meetings, 
 mourned and wept over the causes of the Lord's withdraw- 
 ing from their own souls, and prayed earnestly for power- 
 ful days of the Son of Man. In 43 and 44, there were 
 about fifty more awakened, who went on in a hopeful 
 way. 
 
 The parish of Rosekeen obtained its first Presbyterian 
 minister in 1717, and its first exhibition of the death of 
 Christ in the Last Supper was in 1721, when only seven 
 dwellers in the parish were amongst the communicants. 
 For nine or ten years after, there was a pleasant appear- 
 ance of good, tiie number of the pious increased, and 
 love and holiness was maintained amongst them. But from 
 32 to 42 things were at a stand, and a general state of 
 deadness seemed to overspread them, " though during 
 that space one and one was engaged to the Lord, and a 
 testimony left in the consciences of some which appeared 
 thereafter. From harvest 42 to 43, there came a sur- 
 prising revival and stir among that people ; about six- 
 and-thirty men and women fell under a concern about 
 
302 SCOTLAND. 
 
 their salvation, and were some weeks after received into 
 the monthly fellowship meeting, and are since admitted 
 to the Lord's Table. Their minister found that the sub- 
 jects which the Lord bad blessed for awakening them, 
 tog-ether with close catechising in his parish, were Hosea, 
 xiii. 13, " He is an unwise son, or he should not stay so 
 long in the place of the breaking forth of children ; " and 
 Gal. iv. 13, " My little children, of whom I travail again 
 in birth, till Christ be formed in you;" and John, iii. 8, 
 " Except a man be born again," &c. It is hoped the 
 Lord has not ceased to add to the number of these, for 
 some are still coming to the minister to communicate the 
 afflicted case of their souls, and others he hears of are on 
 the way of coming. 
 
 " A company of children, between nine and fifteen years 
 of age, began in winter to meet in the house of a godly 
 poor widow, every Lord's day and Monday night, where 
 they pray, sing, and confer about what they hear in pub- 
 lic. They keep strict discipline, and admit none but 
 such as undertake to pray with them. At first, some of 
 the serious people of the place came over to hearAvithout 
 their knowledge, who were greatly surprised and affected 
 with their massy sound expressions, and the savour they 
 found with them in prayer. And now one or other of the 
 serious people join often with them. They watch over 
 the behaviour of each other. They are constant hearers 
 of the Word, and examine each other about it. Their 
 outward deportment is grave and quiet, without any 
 childish levity. They are illiterate, but fond of learning." 
 
 Rosemarky also experienced a visitation in the same 
 blessed spring of 1744. Mr Wood, the minister, a man 
 of a humble and steadfast spirit, says it would ill beocme 
 them to despise the day of small things, or to conceal or 
 disown it. He had been groaning under the burden of 
 labouring in vain for some years before. His Christian 
 people had been gathering to their eternal home, and 
 their places were left empty. But since the communion 
 in the previous July 1743, the bulk of the congregation 
 seemed to have a desire of instruction. The winter and 
 spring examinations were crowded, not only by those 
 
ROSEMARKY. 303 
 
 whose turn it was to be catechised, but by persons from 
 other corners of the parish. After that, about thirty 
 persons of different ages and sexes came to their minis- 
 ter, under convictions and awakenings of conscience 
 through the Word. Some of them, though they had not 
 before discovered it, had been under a gradual work of 
 conviction for some time. Prayer-meeting-s were then 
 estabhshed in various quarters, weekly, or once in two 
 weeks, and one general monthly meeting, at which the 
 minister attended. Many more were mentioned by 
 friends as in a promising state, but they had not spoken 
 to Mr Wood, — it being the character of this work, that 
 its subjects never revealed their condition as long as they 
 were able to conceal it. The piercing looks, and serious 
 greedy desire of many of the congregation for instruc- 
 tion gave promising appearances that this was but the 
 iirst ripe fruit. But the Monthly History, from which 
 all the preceding extracts are taken, leaves the matter in 
 the midst. The names, however, are all written in Heaven, 
 and therefore we may rest satisfied, tbough we know no 
 more of them. Many other places are named as receiv- 
 ing divine influences at this time, but the particulars are 
 too brief to make it of use to note them. 
 
 Before closing this period of good things for Scotland, 
 it is to be observed, that this was the time when the 
 Wesley and Whitfield Revivals occurred in England, 
 which was immediately succeeded by a revival in the 
 Established Church there also ; so that it seems the Lord 
 of the harvest had his eye on our land for good, and shed 
 down his blessings, and gathered in his sheaves where he 
 would. The same exertions and the same prayers might 
 be expected to be followed by the same effects. Are we 
 then, who live at this day, at liberty to rest supine, or 
 are we blameless if our churches are not revived ? 
 
E 304 ] 
 
 CHAPTER XXI. 
 
 MOULIN. 
 
 1800. We have deep cause of thanksgiving that the 
 Lord hath not ever left himself without witnesses in the 
 Church of Scotland since its reformation, but we have 
 also reason to regret that there are no consecutive annals 
 to which reference can be made for accounts of the pro- 
 sperity of particular parishes. Had the Church adhered 
 to the useful arrangements pointed out by those who esta- 
 blished her order, we should not have found occasion for 
 this regret. If at the meetings of Synod, the clergy had 
 accustomed themselves to commune with each other on 
 the spiritual condition of their people ; if they had taken 
 counsel of each other in cases of souls' difficulties ; if they 
 had pointed out plans which they had pursued with good 
 effect ; if they had stirred each other up to zeal and love 
 in their profession ; above all, if they had prayed together 
 for the powerful coming of the Redeemer's kingdom in 
 their parishes-^then we should in each Synod have found 
 records of the progress of the truth ; wherever there had 
 been an awakening we should have found it stated. But 
 farther. than this — ah how much more weighty ! — we should 
 have had more faithful and zealous ministers, and more 
 conscientious and watchful hearers, and more enlivened 
 and affectionate churches. Those who formed this regu- 
 lation for the Synods, which has dropped not only out of 
 use, but almost out of mind, were guided by their know- 
 ledge of human nature, and were sensible of the power of 
 such a practice to influence and invigorate the exertions 
 of the clergy, of the utility of mutual consultation, and 
 gathered experience, and of the refreshing effect of united 
 prayer, and that holy emulation which is excited by hear- 
 ing of the work of the Lord prospering in the hands of 
 
MOULIN. 305 
 
 others. Shall we not see this most useful rule restored 
 to its authority ? Shall those who are spiritual ever be 
 borne down by those who are carnal ; and because some 
 might feel the exercise irksome, and some finding- they 
 have no work of the Spirit to state in their own parishes, 
 might cry out, of indelicacy, or boasting-, or hypocrisy in 
 those who have — is the arm of the Lord to be concealed? 
 Are those who are wise to win souls to hide what he 
 doeth, and be ashamed of being employed as his instru- 
 ments ? Are they to shrink from this cross, and hide his 
 glory ? No, let them rather, by their humble and affec- 
 tionate bearing under this honour which the Lord the 
 Spirit alone confers, by their wisdom and prudence, by 
 their zeal and fortitude, awaken their sleeping fellow-, 
 watchmen, and win not their own flocks only, but the shep- 
 herds of other flocks ; till all feel that they are stationed 
 at different points of the same fold, and the spirit of dis- 
 trust or criticism perish under the warmer and holier in- 
 fliuences of the Spirit of union and love. 
 
 It may be that there are other spots in Scotland, where 
 in the interval between 1745 and 1800 the ministering 
 of the word and prayer have been accompanied by general 
 awakenings. But no record of the kind is within our 
 knowledge, and as far as appears, nearly as long a period 
 elapsed between the livelier times of Cambuslang and 
 Kilsyth and those of Moulin, as formerly between the 
 revival at the Kirk of Shotts and that at Cambuslang. 
 
 The parish of Moulin, in Perthshire, contained a popu- 
 lation of respectable industrious habits, with little know- 
 ledge of any description, save what their agricultural pur- 
 suits required; they were most imperfectly instructed in 
 Divine things, and were in that condition of dead con- 
 tentment which accompanies a state of unreconciled 
 alienation from their Father in Heaven. In 1786, when 
 Mr Alexander Stewart was settled as their pastor, he 
 was like his people a stranger to vital godliness. In his 
 most unpretending narrative of the revival which took 
 place there afterwards, he mentions that he had reason to 
 believe that there were a very few spiritually-minded per- 
 son in the parish when he entered it, " but their life was 
 u 
 
306 SCOTLAND. 
 
 hid, and they had left the world all but one or two before 
 they could acknowledge me as a brother." 
 
 " While I was yet ignorant of the truth, and unac- 
 quainted with Christian experience, two persons, under 
 conviction of sin and terrors of conscience, applied to me 
 for advice. They supposed that one in the office of the 
 ministry must of course be a man of God, and skilled in 
 administering remedies for the diseases of the soul. They 
 were widely mistaken in their judgment of me ; for I had 
 learned less of the practice than of the theory of pastoral 
 duty. I said something to them in the way of advice, 
 but it afforded them no relief. They were, however, 
 under the care of the good physician. He applied his 
 own balm to their wounded spirits, and ' healed, and bade 
 them live.' Being progressively and effectually taught of 
 God, they are both now established, judicious Christians. 
 These are the first that appear to have been converted 
 since my incumbency, but they cannot be reckoned the 
 fruits of my ministry. 
 
 " The Lord was now preparing to gather to himself a 
 a fuller harvest in this place. He might have removed 
 me as an useless incumbrance, or rather an intervening 
 obstacle, out of the way, and subjected me to the doom of 
 the unprofitable servant ; but he was graciously pleased 
 to spare me, and visit me in mercy, and even to employ 
 me as one of his instruments in carrying on his own work. 
 Glory to his name who commanded light to shine out of 
 darkness.— The writings of pious men, which were put in 
 my hands by one or another Christian friend, were made 
 the means of bringing me acquainted with the truths of 
 the Gospel. Among these I may mention the works of 
 the Rev. John Newton and Thomas Scott, as eminently 
 useful to me« I was slow in receiving and embracing the 
 doctrines maintained by these writers. By degrees, how- 
 ever, I was persuaded that they were agreeable to Scrip- 
 ture, and that no doubt they must be admitted as true." 
 
 " The biographical sketches in the Evangelical Maga- 
 zine were principal means of impressing my heart, of 
 opening my eyes to perceive the truth, of exciting a love 
 to godliness, and a desire after usefulness. The power of 
 
MOULIN. 307 
 
 Divine grace appeared illustrious in the composure, the 
 triumph, with which many pious Christians left the world. 
 I saw their triumphant hope supported, not by a compla- 
 cent reflection on a well-spent life, but by a confidence in 
 the unmerited love of Christ, and in his power and willing- 
 ness to save even the chief of sinners. I was particularly 
 struck with the account of ministers who had laboured 
 with much diligence and success, and had died at an early 
 period of life, full of good fruits; while I, who had already 
 lived longer, and been longer in the ministry than they, 
 could not say that I had taken any pains with my people, 
 nor that I had been the means of reclaiming one sinner 
 from the error of his way, or of saving one soul from 
 death. The conversation and example of some persons 
 of a truly spiritual mind, to whose acquaintance I was 
 admitted, and who exhibited to my view what I found 
 only described in written memoirs, conduced much to 
 impress on my mind the truths with which I was gra- 
 dually becoming more acquainted. I cannot omit men- 
 tioning, in this connexion, the blessing I enjoyed in the 
 preaching, the prayers, and the conversation, of that much 
 favoured servant of Christ, the Rev. Charles Simeon, of 
 King's College, Cambridge. He was a man sent from 
 God to me, was my guest for two days in June 1796, 
 preached in my church, and left a savour of the things of 
 God, which has remained with us ever since. 
 
 " From that time, I began to teach and preach Jesus 
 Christ, with some degree of knowledge and confidence. 
 From August 1797 to January 1798, 1 preached a course 
 of sermons on the fundamental doctrines of Christianity. 
 
 " The novelty of the matter, and some change in my 
 manner of preaching, excited attention. People began to 
 think more, and sometimes to talk together, of religious 
 subjects, and of the sermons they heard. But I did not 
 yet know of any deep or lasting impressions having been 
 made. The two persons before mentioned as earliest 
 converted, had by this time got clearer views of the Gos- 
 pel, were enabled to derive comfort from the w^ord of sale 
 vation, and began to bear their testimony to the grace of 
 God their Saviour. They were in use of visiting occa- 
 
308 SCOTLAND. 
 
 sionally a poor infirm woman, who had long- walked with 
 God, and who now lived alone in a mean cottag-e in the 
 neighbouring- village. It was proposed that they should 
 come together to her house at a time appointed, and that 
 I and some of my family should join them, and spend an 
 evening- hour or two in reading-, conversation and prayer. 
 In process of time, different persons who were enquiring- 
 after the one thing needful, hearing how we were em- 
 ployed, and believing that God was with us, were at their 
 own request admitted of our party. In this poor woman's 
 little smoky hovel, we continued to hold our weekly meet- 
 ings, to August 1 799, when she was called away to join 
 the general assembly of the first born above. Her growth 
 in grace had been very conspicuous, and her death was 
 triumphant. 
 
 " In summer 1798, the Lord's supper was dispensed 
 in our congregation, at the usual time of the year. For 
 some weeks be fore, I endeavoured in preaching- to explain 
 more fully, and with more application to the conscience, 
 the nature of the ordinance ; and the character of those 
 who, under the denomination of disciples, were com- 
 manded to keep it. The exhortations and warnings then 
 g-iven, appeared to be accompanied with a divine blessing-. 
 Some of the ordinary communicants, judging themselves 
 to be in an unconverted state, kept back, of their own 
 accord, from partaking- of the sacrament. Others, after 
 conversing with me privately on the subject, took the 
 same resolution. Many of those who might otherwise 
 have applied for admission, forbore to apply. I inferred 
 this from the comparatively small number of persons ap- 
 plying-. For some years before, the number of candidates 
 for admission each summer amounted to thirty, forty, and 
 sometimes near fifty. In summer 1798, there were not 
 above twelve ; of whom nine were admitted. The sacra- 
 ment was dispensed the same year again in November, 
 on which occasion there were only six more new commu- 
 nicants admitted. 
 
 " Although the number of communicants was thus for 
 the time diminished, yet the number of those who were 
 brought under concern about their eternal interests was 
 
MOULIN. 309 
 
 increasing. This concern showed itself chiefly among 
 the younger people under tvventy-tive or thirty. Their 
 knowledge was yet imperfect. A natural shyness often 
 hindered them long from discovering to others what they 
 thought or felt. They had as yet no friend or intimate 
 whom they judged able, from experience, to understand 
 their situation, or to give them counsel. Some of them 
 began to visit one of the two earlier converts formerly 
 mentioned, from whose reading and conversation they 
 derived considerable benefit. By means of this common 
 friend, they were brought more acquainted with each 
 other. One might now observe at church, after divine 
 service, two or three small groups forming themselves 
 round our few more advanced believers, and withdrawing 
 from the crowd into the adjacent fields, to exchange 
 Christian salutations, and hold Christian converse to- 
 gether ; while a little cousin, or other young relative, 
 followed as a silent attendant on the party, and listened 
 earnestly to their religious discourse. 
 
 " As the sacrament of the Lord's Supper had been 
 much abused, by admitting, without strict examination or 
 special instruction, all candidates who could give a toler- 
 able answer to common questions, and who were free from 
 grosser immoralities ; so it must be confessed, that the 
 sacrament of baptism had been still more profaned. 
 Nothing but one kind of scandal was understood to pre- 
 clude a man from admission to this ordinance. Gross 
 ignorance, or immoral behaviour, only laid a man open to 
 some admonition or reproof; or at most laid him under 
 the necessity of procuring another sponsor ; but hardly 
 ever hindered the baptism of his child. Nothing subjects 
 a man to greater disgrace and obloquy among us, than to 
 have his child remain unbaptized. The dominion of cus- 
 tom in this matter is so despotic, that most parents would 
 choose rather to carry their children a hundred miles to 
 be baptized by a Popish priest, than be refused baptism 
 when they demand it. The superstitious notions, and 
 other abuses attending our celebration of this sacrament, 
 called loudly for reformation. Last year, I preached a 
 short course of sermons on baptism. At the same time, 
 
310 SCOTLAND. 
 
 agreeably to a recent resolution and recommendation of 
 the Presbytery to which I belong, I revived the laws of 
 the church which had fallen into disuse, relative to this 
 ordinance, particularly that which prohibits private bap- 
 tism. Acts of Assembly, 1690, X. Whenever I baptize 
 a child on a week-day, whether in the church or else- 
 where, I give previous intimation of sermon, and after 
 preaching I administer the ordinance in the presence of 
 the congregation. By these means many have been 
 brought to understand better the nature of this sacrament, 
 and to attend to it with more reverence. It had been 
 long customary for the parent to give an entertainment, 
 according to his station, to his neighbours and connec- 
 tions, immediately after the baptism ; by which means 
 this sacred ordinance, instead of being regarded as a most 
 solemn religious service, had degenerated into an occasion 
 of carnal mirth and festivity. The more religiously dis- 
 posed amongst us have set the example of discontinuing 
 this practice. 
 
 " The following month, March 1799, 1 began a course 
 of practical sermons on Regeneration, which I continued 
 to the beginning of July following. These were attend- 
 ed with a more general awakening than had yet appeared 
 among us. Seldom a week passed in which we did not 
 see or hear of one, two, or three persons, brought under 
 deep concern about their souls, accompanied with strong 
 convictions of sin, and earnest enquiry after a Saviour. 
 It was a great advantage to these that there were others 
 on the road before them ; for they were seldom at a loss 
 now to find an acquaintance to whom they could freely 
 communicate their anxious thoughts. The house of 
 one of our most established Christians became the 
 chief resort of all who wished to spend an hour in read- 
 ing or conversing about spiritual subjects. Some who 
 bad but newly begun to entertain serious thoughts about 
 religion, and who had not yet come so far as to speak 
 out their mind, would contrive an errand to this person's 
 house, and listen to her talk. She was visited at other 
 times by those who were drawn only by curiosity or a 
 disputatious spirit, who wanted to cavil at her words, or 
 
MUTHILL. 311 
 
 draw her into controversy. Such visitors she did not 
 avoid, and at last they ceased to trouble her. 
 
 " Other experienced Christians among- us have been 
 extremely useful to their younger brethren or sisters. 
 Their conversation and example have been principal 
 means of turning- the attention of the young to religion, 
 and of edifying those who have been already awakened. 
 Such persons I find most serviceable auxiliaries. If they 
 be neither prophets, nor apostles, nor teachers, yet their 
 usefulness in the church entitles them to the appellation 
 of helps, 1 Cor. xii. 28. Nor do I think an apostle 
 would hesitate to acknowledge them, both men and 
 women, in the relation of fellow-labourers, Phil. iv. 3. 
 Nor has success in this divine work been confined to in- 
 struments raised up among ourselves. The same happy 
 effects have, in a certain measure, attended the preach- 
 ing, the prayers, or conversation of pious brethren, who 
 have assisted at the celebration of the Lord's supper, or 
 made us other occasional visits. 
 
 " It is observable that the work of conversion has been 
 begun and carried on among this people in a quiet man- 
 ner, without any confusion, and without those ungovern- 
 able agitations of mind, or convulsions of the body, or 
 shrieking, or fainting, which have often accompanied a ge- 
 neral awakening in other places. One young woman was 
 so much moved in church, in March 1799? that she wept 
 bitterly, and her friends thought it prudent to convey her 
 out a little before the congregation was dismissed. She 
 was for five or six days unfit for going about her usual 
 work. In June following, at the time of our sacrament, 
 she felt emotions of joy, for a few days, to such a degree 
 as to withdraw her regard, in a great measure, from sen- 
 sible objects. Spiritual affections were unusually strong 
 in her, and spiritual objects appeared visible and near ; but 
 her sentiments were quite correct and scriptural. A few 
 days afterwards, when her emotions had subsided, she told 
 me that she was at the time sensible that her mind was 
 somewhat unsettled, but that she found comfort in recol- 
 lecting the apostle's words, ' If we are beside ourselves, it 
 is to God.' This was exactly her case. She continues a 
 
312 SCOTLAND. 
 
 humble lively Christian, and, except these two short in- 
 tervals she has regularly performed her ordinary work, 
 as a maid-servant, to the satisfaction of her master and 
 mistress, in whose service she still remains. Another 
 woman, the mother of a family, in April last, was so 
 much moved in hearing sermon, that of her own accord 
 she left the church. Excepting these two instances, I 
 know of none whose emotions under the preaching of 
 the word discovered themselves in any other manner 
 than by silent tears. 
 
 " Having lately made an enumeration of those of our 
 congregation, whom, to the best of my judgment, I trust 
 I can reckon truly enlightened with the saving know- 
 ledge of Christ, I find their number about seventy. 
 The greater part of these are under thirty years of age. 
 Several are above forty ; six or seven above fifty ; one 
 fifty -six ; and one above seventy. Of children under 
 twelve or fourteen, there are a good many who seem to 
 have a liking to religion; but we find it difficult to form 
 a decided opinion of their case. Of persons who have 
 died within these twelve months, three we are persuaded, 
 and we hope two or three others, have slept in Jesus.'* 
 
 In the Memoir of Dr Stewart published, in 1822, his 
 biographer has furnished us in his private letters with 
 more of the utterance of the heart than he had deemed it 
 right to pour out in his narrative. From these we make 
 a few selections, premising that they are addressed to the 
 Rev. Mr Black, at that time a pastor in Edinburgh, though 
 at the time of their first intmiacy he was settled in St 
 Madoes. " Mr Stewart always referred to a conversation 
 with his friend at St Madoes, as connected with the com- 
 mencement of his spiritual life. Mr Black, as they sat 
 together in an arbour in the garden, took occasion to de- 
 scribe the triumphant dying scene of a deceased sister. 
 Such a fact was not to be accounted for on Mr Stewart's 
 principles ; and the event made an impression on his 
 mind, never afterwards wholly eifaced." 
 
 Many years after this incident he writes — " The dear 
 name of Mr Black is always associated with my first per- 
 ceptions of divine truth and redeeming love. My thoughts 
 
MOULIN. 313 
 
 took a long flight backwards, and the parlour and the gar- 
 den of St Madoes appeared to me like an upper chamber 
 in Jerusalem, and like the garden of Gethsemane." * 
 
 To this beloved friend and estimable man his heart 
 turned in its fulness, when he had not only emerged from 
 the twilight into the noonday of Gospel light himself, 
 but when he saw his people flying like clouds, and flock- 
 ing as doves to their windows, to that gracious Redeemer, 
 of whom they were both erewhile so ignorant. 
 
 " TO MR BLACK. 
 
 " Moulin, Oct. 20, 1800. 
 
 " O my dear brother, had you but been with us for a 
 week past how your heart would have rejoiced ! Such 
 hungering and thirsting after communion with God ! 
 Such genuine humility and contrition for sin ! Such 
 devotedness to the Saviour ! Old converts quickened, 
 and new ones added to the Lord ! Yesterday was, I 
 trust, a great day of the Son of Man. I almost felt my 
 own nerves, rigid as they are, touched, and my sympathy 
 (my admiration, I am sure) excited, in various private 
 conversations which I had during the week. Glenbri- 
 achan, which I visited on Tuesday, I found blossom- 
 ing like the rose. I had observed, for some months past, 
 a kind of concern, a kind of ' voluntary humility ' appear- 
 ing among them, rather bordering on ostentation ; but 
 now their expressions of concern and humiliation are 
 fewer, more unaffected, and seem to come ' more directly 
 from the heart.' " 
 
 Afterwards he writes — " O for the pen of a ready 
 writer, to tell of the Lord's abundant goodness ! One 
 lad in the parish of Blair, whom I visited a few days ago, 
 and who seems to have walked with God for many years, 
 appears to be going home, bearing ample testimony to 
 the grace of God his Saviour. Several called here yes- 
 terday, hungering and thirsting as much as ever. Widow 
 M. entered joyfully into her rest. But what chiefly 
 
 * Life of Stewart, p. 42. 
 
314 
 
 SCOTLAND. 
 
 engag-es our praise at present, is the case of Robert R — , 
 tenant in Glenbriachan (still a favoured spot). His wife 
 was among the first fruits in the glens, and now the hus- 
 band, laid on a sick-bed, has been visited with the joy of 
 salvation, and proclaims thefreeness and fulness of divine 
 grace. It is a singular sight to see his wife, with the 
 near prospect of widowhood, and a family of small chil- 
 dren, his two sisters, brother-in-law, &c , all rejoicing by 
 his bedside. Mrs B. or you, I am sure, will not fail to 
 make our dear brethren partakers of our joy." 
 
 " The day Mr preached, I succeeded him, and 
 
 gave briefly in Gaelic the substance of his discourse, 
 which had been a long one. He staid here on Monday. 
 That day he and I took a walk to see John C , men- 
 tioned by my sister in her last letter to Mrs Black. This 
 man had been brought a few weeks ago to a clear and 
 comfortable knowledge of the Gospel, chiefly by means of 
 a young woman whom he had hired for the five weeks of 
 harvest, on purpose to enjoy her religious company. 
 About a month ago his wife was in great bodily distress, 
 but it was a season of love to her soul. She was en- 
 lightened with the knowledge of her Saviour, and enabled 
 
 to trust and rejoice in him. Margaret K , the young 
 
 woman whose conversation had been blessed to the hus- 
 band, was their constant attendent. The wife has been 
 much distressed since her illness, and her recovery very 
 
 doubtful. Mr and I found her in a very weak state, 
 
 but both she and her husband were quite resigned and 
 cheerful. Unfortunately, neither of them can speak a 
 
 word of English, so that Mr had no conversation 
 
 with them, but he was much delighted with the man's 
 animated and heavenly countenance. * * * I have 
 had calls from two young women, who spent one or two 
 half-years in service in this parish. They were in that 
 time awakened, I trust eff'ectually, and pretty well in- 
 structed in the truth. At Martinmas they quitted their 
 service, and returned to their native parish of Blair- 
 Athole, where they live in the same village, and are 
 mutual aids and comfotts to each other. They read and 
 
MOULIN. 315 
 
 converse much tog-ether, and not seldom bear their testi- 
 mony against the profanity of swearers and Sabbath - 
 breakers in their village. Their unusual manners and 
 sentiments draw upon them many taunts, and on the 
 Moulin people, among whom they learned such odd 
 notions ; but they have been enabled to abide steadfast, 
 and I hope humble. 
 
 " Such things having now, by the peculiar blessing of 
 God, and his abounding grace, become pretty frequent, 
 are much talked of. They have excited the attention and 
 wonder of many, and the diversion and hatred of some, 
 just as might have been expected. I hear of few scoffers 
 among ourselves, where the behaviour of our young- con- 
 verts is seen and known ; but I hear they are the subjects 
 of much obloquy in the neighbouring- parishes, where, on 
 account of the distance, there is more room for misrepre- 
 senting- their sentiments and conduct, and where they are 
 grossly misrepresented. Hitherto, the Lord has watched 
 over them most tenderly, so that I have not heard of one 
 who has fallen off, or brought a stain on his profession. 
 On the contrary, those who live nearest to this place, and 
 whom I know best, appear evidently to be growing in 
 grace and knowledge. We have many enquirers after the 
 truth, who are yet but exploring their way, and some 
 who, from opposing and reprobating its doctrines, are 
 brought to listen to them with acquiescence, at least, if 
 
 not with a desire to learn. S is attended every 
 
 day, and almost all hours, by persons of every description. 
 
 She and a tradesman in this village, W. W and 
 
 Margaret K , are my principal ' helps/ 1st Cor. xii. 
 
 28. Expositors would be at no loss to understand that 
 term, if they were a few weeks among us. What a trea- 
 sure has been distributed among us ! and in what frail 
 earthen vessels ! Truly the excellency of the power is 
 of God, and not of us. O that our hearts were more 
 enlarged, and our tongues more ready, and our voices 
 more tuned to praise Him who hath made the day spring 
 from on high to visit us ! But how dry ! how barren ! 
 I used to give little credit to the complaints of good men, 
 such as Mr Newton, when lamenting their want of love, 
 
316 
 
 SCOTLAND. 
 
 and their indisposition to labour ; but now I give them 
 full credit. I am sure they said no more than they must 
 have felt, and 1 dare say they felt no more than was 
 real." * 
 
 " When the news of those things had spread abroad, it 
 excited an uncommon interest among all those who loved 
 Zion's prosperity. Good men and good ministers could 
 hardly l)e satisfied, without repairing to the scene. After 
 a visit of Mr Black to Moulin, he wrote thus in his diary : 
 — ' My visit to Moulin was particularly gratifying. Such 
 a revival I never witnessed before. It is truly the doing 
 of the Lord, and marvellous in our eyes. Much as I had 
 heard of it before, it far exceeded expectation. I preached 
 on Matt. xxii. 42 ; the congregation attentive, and some 
 of them much affected. Had a great deal of conversation 
 in private with those under religious concern, and consi- 
 derably under the influence of doubts and fears. They 
 spoke feelingly of the hardness of their hearts, and of 
 their indisposedness for every thing that is good. At the 
 same time their hearts seemed to be much alive to God. 
 They have a keen appetite for the Word of God, and an 
 evident love for the Saviour, though they will not allow 
 it themselves. A deep sense of their own unworthiness, 
 and a strong affection for one another, are the most pro- 
 minent features of their character. Some are more ad- 
 vanced, and greatly enlightened in the knowledge of 
 divine truth. These serve as guides to the rest, and are 
 made exceedingly useful by their example and conversa- 
 tion. 
 
 " Dear Mr Stewart himself is mercifully preserved 
 humble amidst all the honour that God is conferring upon 
 him. O may the good shepherd watch over him, and the 
 flock committed to his charge ! And may the divine in- 
 fluence be spread abroad throughout all our congregations, 
 that every where there may be a shaking among the dry 
 bones, and that a great harvest of souls may be gathered 
 to the Saviour.' j- 
 
 " As an instance of his kindly affection to those around 
 
 * Life of Stewart, p. 161. f Ibid. p. 163. 
 
MOULIN. 317 
 
 him, it may be mentioned, that at the hour of evening 
 worship, a bell rang to give notice to the bordering vil- 
 lagers of the evening sacritice, when as many as were 
 disengaged and willing-hearted repaired to the place, and 
 in the kitchen, or, in fine weather, before the door, lis- 
 tened to the opening np of some passage of Scripture, 
 and joined in prayer and praise. His attention to the 
 cases of the newly av/akened was unremitting ; and if 
 some trial, or some unlooked-for mercy exercised the 
 hearts of his more established converts, their minister 
 took a lively interest in the dispensation.* 
 
 " What a fine picture Mr Stewart draws in some of his 
 letters, when, after an occasional absence, on drawing near 
 to the habitations of his beloved people, now one, and 
 now another, on discovering his approach, hastened to 
 salute him, and to welcome his return I And how interest- 
 ing must those Sabbaths have been, in which the Son of 
 Man showed his power, and sent forth the Gospel invita- 
 tion with an influence of grace which the called could not 
 resist ! No wonder that many resorted to such a highly 
 favoured spot, and that many were anxious to procure 
 for their own congregations the benefit of Mr S.'s occa- 
 sional ministrations." 
 
 We return to the conclusion of Mr Stewart's published 
 narrative for a few interesting particulars of the general 
 state of the parish : — 
 
 " The external effects of a general concern about 
 religion, have appeared in the behaviour even of those 
 who do not seem to have experienced a change of heart. 
 While the younger people attended a Sabbath school, 
 those who were grown up used to spend the evening of 
 that day in sauntering about the fields and woods in gos- 
 siping parties, or visiting their acquaintance at a distance, 
 without improving their time by any profitable exercise. 
 Now there is hardly a lounger to be seen ; nor any per- 
 son walking abroad, except going to some house or meet- 
 ing where he may hear the Scriptures read. Swearing, 
 
 * Life of Stewart, p. 167. 
 
318 SCOTLAND. 
 
 profane talking, foolish and indecent jesting-, have in a 
 great measure ceased. At late wakes, where people 
 assemble to watch by the body of a deceased neighbour, 
 the whole night used to be spent in childish noisy sports 
 and pastimes. Even the apartment where the corpse lay 
 was the scene of their revelry. This unnatural custom, 
 which is still pretty general over a great part of the 
 Highlands, is almost wholly discontinued in this part of 
 the country. They still assemble on such occasions, but 
 they pass the time in reading the Bible or some religious 
 book, and in sober conversation. 
 
 " In reply to your request of relating a few of the more 
 remarkable cases of conversion which have occurred 
 among this people, I must say that I have little uncom- 
 mon to communicate. I have mentioned already that 
 almost all our converts have been brought to serious 
 concern and enquiry in a quiet, gradual manner. To 
 an intelligent observer, the change in the conversation, 
 temper, deportment, and the very countenance of indivi- 
 duals, is striking ; the change, too, on the general aspect 
 of the manners of the people is conspicuous. The effect 
 is thus, on the whole, obvious ; yet there are few parti- 
 culars in the case of each person, which, taken singly, 
 will appear uncommon, or worthy of being detailed in a 
 separate narrative. We have no instances of persons re- 
 markable for profligacy of manners or profaneness of 
 speech, who have been reclaimed from such enormities ; 
 because there was none of that description to be found in 
 our society. The change has been from ignorance and 
 indifference, and disrelish of divine things, to knowledge, 
 and concern, and spiritual enjoyment. Neither are there 
 among us examples of persons suddenly struck and im- 
 pressed by some alarming event, or singular interposition 
 of Providence. The word of truth proclaimed in public, 
 or spoken in private, has been almost the only outward 
 mean of producing conviction of sin, and confidence in 
 the Saviour. In every single case, the power of God is 
 visible in the effect produced ; but there is little ' diversity 
 of operation.' Instead of endeavouring to paint the 
 
MOULIN. 319 
 
 beauties of holiness in the scene around me, I rather wish 
 to prevail with you and other friends, who know how to 
 enjoy such a spectacle, to ' come and see/ 
 
 " I have thus, my dear sir, endeavoured to give a con- 
 cise view of the prosperous state of religion in this con- 
 gregation for the last two or three years. We still have 
 the happiness to find, from week to week, that the same 
 concern and awakening is spreading around, and extend- 
 ing to some neighbouring congregations. Within these 
 few weeks persons from six and seven miles' distance 
 have called here on a Sabbath morning, under evident 
 concern about their souls. On a succeeding Sabbath, the 
 same persons have called again, introducing a relation or 
 fellow-servant, under similar concern. All of these, so 
 far as can be judged from present appearances, are in 
 a hopeful way. Such is the manifold grace and loving- 
 kindness with which it has pleased the Lord to visit this 
 corner of his vineyard. 1 trust that all our Christian 
 brethren, who may receive the joyful intelligence, will 
 join us in praying, that God may continue to water, with 
 showers of blessings, ' this vine which his own right 
 hand hath planted ; ' and that no boar from the wood 
 may be allowed to waste it, nor worm at the root to 
 smite it that it wither." 
 
 In the year 1805 the Providence of God removed Mr 
 Stewart from Moulin to take charge of the parish of 
 Dingwall. The blow was a severe one to himself and 
 his people, but Christian submission to the Divine 
 appointment was a grace which they were called upon to 
 exercise, and they were strengthened in the hour of 
 need. By his change of scene, his labours were much 
 increased, while his emoluments remained the same, — so 
 that even gainsayers were put to silence as to the purity 
 of his motives. 
 
 He writes, " Now that the time of my departure is 
 almost at hand, you will be anxious to know how it fares 
 with us. There is really much composure and quiet 
 acquiescence that prevail. Some weeks ago I used to 
 only make distant allusions to the situation in which we 
 stood. Of late I have thought proper to speak of our 
 
320 
 
 SCOTLAND. 
 
 situation more explicitly, and make the mention of it 
 somewhat familiar to our ears, so as to be able to think 
 and talk of it without overpowering- emotion. Our 
 evening- readings are crowded. The people seem to 
 swallow the word greedily, considering that their time 
 may be short." 
 
 It is an affecting fact that the patron of Moulin, who 
 condescended not to take counsel, however modestly pro- 
 posed by Mr Stewart, and considered not the desires of 
 the people, presented a preacher not according- to their 
 wishes, and the well-conditioned flock who were gathered 
 round the faithful pastor, fell off to find pasture where 
 best they might — so that the good work at Moulin has 
 melted away, and its church has returned to the stillness 
 of an altar forsaken by its priest, where the sacrifice is 
 chilled and the fire expiring. O, when will men be wise, 
 and Scotland awake to know where her strength and 
 safety lie ! 
 
 I 
 
[ 321 ] 
 
 CHAPTER XXII. 
 
 ISLE OF ARRAN. 
 
 1804— BUT ESPECIALLY 1812 AND 1813. 
 
 We are indebted to No. V. of the Glasgow Revival 
 Tracts for the only account of this Revival we have ob- 
 tained, which probably is the only one in print. It is 
 furnished by the Rev. xlngus M-Millan, successor of the 
 venerable Mr M' Bride, in the parish of Kilmorie, Isle of 
 Arran. We g-ive the narrative part of the tract without 
 alteration or omission. 
 
 " Thirty years ago, the state of religion in this island 
 was exceedingly low. ' Darkness covered the land, and 
 gross darkness the people.' But, through the tender 
 mercy of God, the day-spring from on high visited it. 
 Divine light arose on them that sat in darkness, and the 
 cause of Christ has gained much ground in this part of 
 his vineyard, since the year 1804. In that year, and the 
 year following, many were awakened at the north end of 
 the island, especially about the farms of Sannox and their 
 neighbourhood. And although this awakening, as to its 
 power and progress, was not of long continuance, } et a 
 considerable number of the subjects of it testified, by their 
 after lives and conversation, that they had undergone a 
 gracious change. This day of small things was the com- 
 mencement of the revival which followed. From this 
 time, a change for the better might be observed in the 
 religious sentiments and conduct of many am.ong the 
 people. Many seemed now to be awakened from the 
 slumber of spiritual death ; being disposed to attend to 
 the things which belonged to their everlasting peace. 
 Their eyes were now opened to see the evil of their for- 
 mer wicked ways, their perishing condition as sinners, 
 and their need of Christ as a Saviour, They no-.\ began 
 also to distinguish between truth and error ; to relish 
 
 X 
 
322 SCOTLAND. 
 
 evangelical doctrine; to attend with diligence on the 
 means of grace ; and, in general, to set up the worship of 
 Gody morning and evening, in their families. Religious 
 meetings were also set up in many places ; and, in the 
 course of a few years, a kind of reformation was thus 
 visible throughout many parts of the island. This was 
 the case more especially, though not exclusively, in the 
 parish of Kilmorie, which was at this time favoured with 
 the ministry of the late pious and laborious Mr M' Bride. 
 It may be remarked, respecting- his usual style of preaching, 
 that he was by no means what might be called an alarm- 
 ing preacher, but rather the opposite. His sermons were 
 frequently close and searching- ; but he dwelt more on the 
 consolations of the Gospel than on the terrors of the law ; 
 and the excitement seemed to be, in general, greater 
 under the sermons in which the riches of divine grace 
 and the consolations of the Gospel were exhibited, than 
 under such as were more awful, and apparently better 
 fitted to awaken. Mr M'Bride's manner of preaching 
 was very much distinguished for seriousness, fervour, and 
 g-reat zeal for the salvation of sinners ; and this often led 
 him to make very close appeals to the conscience. But 
 the revival itself was not of a sudden. It was gradual, 
 and spread from one place to another. Neither was it 
 in all cases saving as to its effects. Many under it 
 assumed a form of godliness, who were altogether desti- 
 tute of its power. In other cases, however, there was 
 something- more deep and precious — even the quickening, 
 saving, and soul-transforming influence of the Holy Spirit. 
 During its progress, a considerable number were accord- 
 ingly brought under deep convictions of their guilt and 
 unworthiness as sinners, of their liability to eternal 
 misery, and of their utter helplessness as concerned them- 
 selves. Now, they began in earnest to say, * What shall 
 we do to be saved?' — and to count all things but loss 
 for the excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus — for 
 an interest in him. And the God of all grace who thus 
 visited them with the awakening influences of his Sjnrit, 
 was pleased also to enlighten their minds as to the way of 
 salvation ; and thus to lead them, by faith, for peace and 
 
ISLE OF ARRAN. 323 
 
 rest to the only Saviour of sinners. And being thus 
 quickened, enlightened, and comforted, by the teaching of 
 the same Spirit, they were also united together in the 
 bonds of love and Christian fellowship, while they tra- 
 velled together Zionward. 
 
 " The subjects of these spiritual influences were, however, 
 only as a little flock, when compared with the multitude 
 who remained yet stout-hearted and far from righteous- 
 ness. And these, becoming impatient under the re- 
 straints which the late Reformation had laid upon them, 
 with regard to unholy practices, began to break out anew 
 with greater violence ; so that, in 1810 and 1811, many 
 were bolder in sin, and more abandoned to wickedness, 
 than they had been at any former period. The enemy 
 of souls now came in as a flood, and threatened to carrv 
 all before him. It is right, however, to ol)serve that this 
 was in no respect true of professors, or of such as there 
 was reason to believe had been the subjects of divine 
 grace. These were for the most part remarkably consis- 
 tent in their walk and conversation. The breaking out 
 of sin here referred to, was among the bulk of the people 
 who made no particular profession of religion, — and espe- 
 cially among the young, who had been brought under 
 temporary restraint. 
 
 " These circumstances, however, affected the tender- 
 hearted, and stirred up the pious zeal of Mr M' Bride, 
 and led him to be even more earnest in his warnings and 
 remonstrances from the pulpit and otherwise against 
 abounding iniquity. The little flock of tender-hearted 
 Christians scattered throughout his parish, were, at the 
 same time, moved with a sense of the prevalence of sin 
 and the desolations of Zion. They felt an increased con- 
 cern for the conversion and salvation of sinners, and a 
 deeper interest in the prosperity and enlargement of the 
 kingdom of Christ. They began to be more frequent and 
 earnest in their supplications at a throne of grace for a 
 time of revival — of refreshing from the presence of the 
 Lord. Several little parties of them, by mutual consent, 
 set apart some days for private fasting and prayer, send- 
 ing up their united supplications to the Hearer of prayer, 
 
324 SCOTLAND. 
 
 for the dovvnpouring- of the Spirit, in his awaL-ening- and 
 converting- influences on sinners around them. They 
 kept several such days for nearly a twelvemonth before 
 the commencement of what is generally called, ' The 
 Revival of Religion in Arran.' In these devotional ex- 
 ercises, some of them enjoyed uncommon nearness to 
 God, and great freedom at a throne of grace, when pour- 
 ing- out their hearts in earnest supplication for the mani- 
 festation of divine power and glory in the sanctuary, es- 
 pecially in the congregation with which they were them- 
 selves connected. Their minds were much stirred up to 
 press after these things in secret, — and at their fellowship 
 meetings, and also when attending public ordinances. 
 They seemed to be animated by the spirit of him who 
 said, ' For Zion's sake I will not hold my peace, and for 
 Jerusalem's sake I will not rest, until the righteousness 
 thereof g-o forth as brightness, and the salvation thereof 
 as a lamp that burneth.' 
 
 " While this little flock of Christ, and their pastor at 
 their head, were thus engaged, and about the beginning- 
 of March 1812, the Lord began to work in an unusual 
 way among them, in a way of which they had not till 
 this time any expectation, and which, accordingly, caused 
 some surprise. It was at this time that the outcrying 
 commenced, which was afterwards so common for a con- 
 siderable time. It began at first in some private meet- 
 ings, but afterwards extended to the public assembly 
 under Mr M'Bride's ministry. What made the thing the 
 more remarkable was, that it made its first apj^earance 
 among the people of God. Yea, the most tender, humble, 
 and spiritual-minded among them were the first affected 
 in this manner, and it continued for a short time among 
 them only. But the influence which appeared first moving 
 on them, in this unusual way, was soon extended to 
 others ; and the next subjects of it were those who had been 
 before seriously disposed, or who had been at one time or 
 other under serious impressions. But soon after it was 
 extended to the gay and thoughtless, the moral, and the 
 openly wicked. Persons of almost every description and 
 age, from nine years or under, to that of sixty or upwards, 
 
ISLE OF ARRAN. 325 
 
 were affected ; but the number of old people was small 
 compared with that of the young. The crying- at first — 
 and while confined to the people of God, was attended 
 with very little bodily agitation ; but after others were 
 affected, it was generally attended with these — such as 
 panting, trembling, and other convulsive appearances. 
 
 " The writer of these pages did not reside in Arran 
 till about six months after the commencement of this re- 
 vival ; but he enquired particularly concerning the begin- 
 ning of it, from such as were best able to inform him, 
 and is satisfied, in his own mind, that the Spirit of the 
 Lord was at work in preparing for it — that his mighty 
 power was revealed in the commencement of it — and that 
 he had a gracious and merciful design in ordering the 
 circumstances of it. Although this revival did in some 
 measure degenerate latterly, through the \\eakness and 
 folly of men, yet the beginning of it was truly the doing of 
 the Lord, and marvellous in our eyes. Some, who were 
 among the first affected, told the writer, that they had not 
 the most remote idea of crying out before they were con- 
 strained to do so. So much was this the case, that they 
 said they could not have refrained, even if they had been 
 threatened with instant death. They added, that their 
 outcryings and bodily agitations arose entirely from the 
 state of their minds, when powerfully impressed and af- 
 fected with a sense of divine truth. But it is proper to 
 observe, that the writer is here speaking only of such as 
 were lively exercised Christians previous to this revival. 
 On examining others, who knew nothing of Christian 
 experience before the beginning of this work, he found 
 that the first impressions of many of them were accom- 
 panied with deep convictions of sin, with a painful sense 
 of their helplessness and misery as sinners, and also with 
 earnest desires after an interest in Christ ; which it is to 
 be hoped many of them attained. But it must be ac- 
 knowledged, that the accounts given by all were not alike 
 satisfactory. Many were deeply affected externally, who 
 could give little account of the matter. Their afiiections 
 were moved, but convictions of sin did not take any deep 
 hold on their hearts and consciences, and so their awaken- 
 
326 SCOTLAND. 
 
 ing- soon passed away ; at least, it was so with some. But 
 if there be joy in heaven over even one sinner that re- 
 penteth, we have reason to think that there must have 
 been much joy, in that world of light and love, over many 
 that were brought to true repentance, in this place, du- 
 ring the progress of that work. 
 
 " About the beginning of 1812, the awakening- became 
 general, and continued to make progress about three 
 months. After this, it seemed to be at a stand, till the 
 beginning- of the following- December, when it again re- 
 vived, and continued to spread considerably for about 
 three months more ; during which period it extended 
 over a great part of the parish of Kilmorie, which is 
 nearly thirty miles long, and it extended also to some 
 parts of the parish of Kilbride. The writer cannot pre- 
 tend to give the exact number of the subjects of this 
 awakening ; but the number, from first to last, was very 
 considerable. It must have amounted to two or three 
 hundred persons, old and young taken together. He 
 may state them at two hundred and fifty ; which is rather 
 below than above the real number. But he does not 
 mean to insinuate that the whole of these proved true 
 believers. This will appear from the statements already 
 made. 
 
 " For some months after the commencement of the 
 awakening, the subjects of it manifested an uncommon 
 thirst after the means of grace. Both old and young 
 flocked in multitudes to hear the word of God. His 
 house, and the place employed for private meetings, were 
 frequently so crowded, that the people, as it were, trod 
 one on another. To travel ten or fifteen miles to hear 
 sermon, was considered as a very small matter ; and after 
 sermon was over, it was no uncommon thing for many of 
 them to meet together in private houses, or in barns, and to 
 spend several hours in religious exercises. Some of them 
 spent even whole nights in this way. They also longed for 
 the return of the Sabbath. They rejoiced when it was said 
 unto them, ' Let us go into the house of the Lord.' They 
 eagerly sought after renewed opportunities of receiving 
 spiritual instruction. Their desire was so great as not to 
 
ISLE OF ARRAN. 327 
 
 be easily satisfied. In our relig^ious assemblies, at this time, 
 some mig-ht be seen filled with divine love, others with 
 fear ; some rejoicings in hope of the glory of God, and 
 others trembling- lest they should come short of it ; some 
 crying out in accents of praise, and others indicating-, by 
 their cries, their dread of everlasting- wrath. At this time, 
 our meetings were frequent and well attended : and al- 
 most every sermon seemed to be effective in awakening-, 
 quickening, or refreshing. Satan and his agents, indeed, 
 made strong efforts to counteract the designs and opera- 
 tions of the Spirit of God, by throwing all manner of 
 stumblingblocks in the way of his people ; but, notwith- 
 standing all the opposition of earth and hell, the word of 
 the Lord grew and multiplied. Some who were lively 
 Christians before, enjoyed at this time much of the re- 
 freshing influences of the Spirit, and were often filled, in 
 an extraordinary measure, with peace and joy in believing. 
 As illustrative of this, I may mention, that, in the spring 
 of 181,3, I was catechising one day at a particular farm, 
 in the district of , and when speaking of the cha- 
 racter of Christ as the Redeemer of God's elect, and at- 
 tempting to describe the preciousness of his blood, and the 
 riches of his grace, an excellent Christian, who is now in the 
 world of spirits, cried out, in an elevated tone of voice, ' O 
 the infinite virtue of the blood of Christ — the preciousness 
 of his blood ! What am I, what am I, that he should ever 
 spend one thought concerning me ! O my nothingness, my 
 nothingness, my nothingness!' And, soon after, she ex- 
 claimed, < I shall soon be with thee — I shall soon be with 
 thee — be for ever with thee, Lord ! ' I have seen others, also, 
 on various occasions, affected much in the same way. And 
 these ecstacies of spiritual joy, among the people of God, 
 were generally accompanied with great humility and ten- 
 derness of spirit. Instead of being puffed up, they were, 
 on the contrary, bowed down to the very dust, under a 
 sense of their privileges. When the glory of the King 
 of Zion was manifested to their souls, in the light of the 
 Sprit, they were ready to exclaim, with Job, ' Wherefore 
 I abhor myself, and repent in dust and ashes.* I have 
 heard others, under awakenings of conscience, cry out, 
 
328 SCOTLAND. 
 
 < O what shall we do? what shall we do? Wash us 
 from sin ; let us not deceive ourselves, for we cannot 
 deceive thee.' It was pleasing thus to see many of them 
 really afraid of self-deception, and earnest in their enquiries 
 after the only sure foundation, the only hope set before 
 them in the gospel. 
 
 • " In the spring of 1 813, this awakening, however, began 
 to decline, and ceased very soon after ; but those who were 
 truly Christians, continued to enjoy, both in secret du- 
 ties and at public ordinances, renewed and manifest tokens 
 of the divine presence and favour. This was especially 
 the case on sacramental occasions ; at which they were 
 favoured with the assistance of some of the most pious 
 ministers of the day. Most of these having now departed 
 this life, I am enabled to name the greater part of them, 
 without making any reference to the living. The late 
 Rev. Messrs Bayne of Greenock, and Robertson of Kin- 
 gussie, formerly of the chapel at Rothsay, assisted here 
 constantly for many years. The late Rev. Dr Love of 
 Anderston assisted here occasionally, about the time of 
 the revival ; and the late Rev. Mr M'Kenzie of Gorbals, 
 formerly of the Gaelic Chapel, Duke Street, Glasgow, 
 assisted also occasionally, but chiefly before the com- 
 mencement of this work. These, along with the late Mr 
 M' Bride himself, were considered, and I beheve justly, 
 among the most pious ministers of their day : but they 
 have ceased from their labours, and their works do follow 
 them. The more regular or occasional labours of these 
 men were often blessed as seasons of refreshing from the 
 presence of the Lord. It is doubtless true, that, as the 
 awakening declined, some of those who appeared at one 
 time much affected, and much engaged in religious pur- 
 suits, began to grow cold and remiss in spiritual duties, 
 to fall into divers temptations, and to slide back into con- 
 formity with the world. Like the stony-ground hearers, 
 the religious impressions of many were slight and tran- 
 sitory — their convictions were not of a spiritual or abiding 
 nature ; and, having no root in their hearts, they soon 
 withered away, without bringing forward any fruit to per- 
 fection. But although many did thus turn, as the dog to 
 
ISLE OF ARRAN. 329 
 
 his vomit, and soon got rid of their religious inipressions, 
 a considerable number of the subjects of this work con- 
 tinue, to the present day, bringing- forth fruit meet for 
 repentance, and manifesting their faith by their works. 
 It is due, however, to acknowledge, that, even in respect 
 of the best of us, the zeal, fervour, and liveliness, mani- 
 fest during the time of our revival, have suffered some 
 decay ; and that, instead of these, coldness, deadness, and 
 formality in religion, are now too prevalent among us. 
 We have, therefore, much need to be earnest in our sup- 
 plications for another season of refreshing from the pre- 
 sence of the Lord — to pray, with the devout Psalmist — 
 ' Turn us, O God of our salvation, and cause thine anger 
 toward us to cease. — Wilt thou not revive us again, that 
 thy people may rejoice in thee ? Show us thy mercy, O 
 Lord, and grant us thy salvation.' 
 
 " As some enquiries have been made respecting the 
 bodily agitation and outcrying which were observable 
 during our revival, I may now state, that these did not 
 always accompany cases of conversion. There are some 
 among the subjects of that work, whom I consider serious 
 Christians, who, as far as I know, never cried out ; but 
 such cases were rare, after the excitement had fully set 
 in among us. The outcrying also ceased, with the greater 
 number, after a certain period, but not with the whole ; 
 for there are a few who still continue to be occasionally 
 affected in the same way, though not to the same height 
 as formerly. Then, as to the opinions of the people them- 
 selves, I am not aware that there are any of the truly 
 pious in this place, who consider bodily excitement as 
 necessary to a gracious operation of the Spirit; but there 
 is no doubt that some lay too much stress on powerful 
 bodily feelings ; and they are thus very ready to conclude, 
 that the Spirit of the Lord is at work when such effects 
 are produced. Still I do not think that any hold such 
 effects to be necessary to true conversion, or that there 
 can be no saving change without them. And they have 
 at least seen and heard much to convince them how erro- 
 neous such an opinion would be." 
 
 The influence of this revival was felt in other of the 
 
330 SCOTLAND. 
 
 western Islands, and we had occasion in another part of 
 the work to refer to its effects in the isle of Bute. Hav- 
 ing conversed with those who have recently passed sum- 
 mer weeks in the isle of Arran, it is very comforting- to 
 learn from them that the savour of its blessed days has 
 not yet, at the end of twenty-three years, expired. Some 
 aged people still live to tell of what the liOrd did for their 
 souls at that happy time ; and the descendants of others 
 are made partakers of like precious faith. One peculiar 
 habit of the inhabitants of this island took its rise at the 
 period of the revival, and exists to this day. When the 
 fishermen are out in their boats, and have set their nets 
 fur the night, they engage in the duty of family worship 
 with as much regularity and composure as they do when 
 on shore. How consoling to the wife and daughters at 
 home, to know that the husband and brothers have com- 
 mitted themselves to the keeping of Him who holds the 
 waters in the hollow of his hand. How sweet the har- 
 mony when the strain of praise and thanksgiving mingles 
 with the music of the billows that have tossed themselves 
 from the far Atlantic, and the scream of the sea-bird who 
 has made her home upon the waves. Not only does 
 Kedar's wilderness lift up her lovely voice, but the wil- 
 dernesses of old ocean send up their strains of joy to God. 
 O when shall all the world become the kingdoms of our 
 God and of his Christ ! How many acts of rebellion have 
 been the sins of the sea! How many whom the Ruler of 
 the waves has carried in safety to their desired haven, 
 have blasphemed His holy name in their precarious dwel- 
 ling places ! But the time is hastening, when not only the 
 poor fishermen of Arran, but all the men who do business 
 on the mighty waters, shall send up their hearts in prayer 
 to the God of all the Promises. 
 
[ 331 3 
 
 CHAPTER XXIII. 
 
 REVIVAL IN BREADALBANE, IN 1816 AND I8I7. 
 
 The following- account of the revival on Loch Tay- 
 side is extracted from the Life of William M' Gavin of 
 Glasg-ow, the jnstly celebrated author of " The Protes- 
 tant." He narrates that which he himself witnessed. 
 The character which he gives of the style of preaching 
 of John M'Donald of Urqnhart is most just and striking. 
 The effect of his preaching in Glenlyon is similar to the 
 results that have followed it in many a Highland glen, 
 where we have heard of persons travelling seventy miles, 
 attracted by the power of the Spirit which accompanies 
 his words. Even the remote and lonely St Kilda has, 
 through his zealous instrumentality, been made to "stretch 
 out her hands to God." His name and influence recur 
 continually when awakenings in the Highlands and Islands 
 are the theme ; but without his own authority, and with- 
 out evidences of the abiding effects of those great emo- 
 tions which have very generally accompanied his toilsome 
 labours on many a mountain side far from his own ilock, 
 it were imprudent, and perhaps presuming, to give any 
 details. Let us hope that great as his exertions are, his 
 energy still enables him to keep memoranda of the strik- 
 ing occurrences which follow his preaching, and that the 
 church will one day be refreshed by the detail of what 
 the spirit has wrought by him. 
 
 " Sir, " Glasgow, 1st Jan. 1818. 
 
 *' I presume most of your readers have heard of the 
 late revival of religion in Breadalbane, and some other 
 parts of the Highlands of Scotland. As information on 
 this subject must be interesting to every one who desires 
 
332 SCOTLAND. 
 
 the prosperity of the Redeemer's kingdom, and as it was 
 my lot, in company with a few friends, to visit some of 
 those parts in September, and again in December last, I 
 shall, without farther preface, proceed to relate such par- 
 ticulars as I was informed of on the spot, and what came 
 under my own observation. 
 
 " This revival began just a year before my visit in Sep- 
 tember, at the dispensation of the Lord's Supper at 
 Ardionick, on Loch Tay-side, and chiefly under the 
 preaching of the Rev. Mr M'Donald of Urquhart. Ar- 
 dionick is a missionary station, supported by the royal 
 bounty,, or by the Society for promoting Christian Know- 
 ledge, in connexion with the Church of Scotland. It is 
 on the south side of the loch, about half way between 
 Killin and Kenmore. There is no chapel here ; but a 
 tent, constructed of a few rough boards, serves to shelter 
 the minister while preaching, and the congregation stand 
 exposed in all weathers on the side of a hill. 
 
 " Here, at the above mentioned period, a great number 
 of people had assembled to hear the word, many of whom 
 had come from a distance. The preaching of Mr M'Donald 
 was accompanied by a power such as they had never wit- 
 nessed before. The whole congregation seemed affected 
 by a singular movement. I suppose it was something 
 like what the prophet saw in vision, — a shaking among 
 the dry bones in the valley. The first impression was a 
 deep conviction of sin in the minds of many, accompa- 
 nied by an earnest enquiry about the way of escape from 
 the wrath to come. Some indeed were agitated by strong 
 emotion when thus awakened to a sense of their guilt 
 and danger ; and it is not doubted that several were led 
 by the Holy Spirit to embrace Christ as the Saviour of 
 their own souls. The impression of that day was car- 
 ried in many a bosom to distant parts of the country, and 
 into remote glens, in which, perhaps, the sound of salva- 
 tion had never before been heard. 
 
 " The Rev. Mr Findlater, the minister on this sta- 
 tion, has his residence at Ardionick, and the tent is close 
 by his house ; but he preaches also on the opposite side 
 of the loch, where there is a small chapel, called Lawer's 
 
BREADALBANE. 333 
 
 Kirk. We had a letter of introduction to this gentle- 
 man, but regret we did not tind him at home, as he would 
 no doubt have communicated many interesting particulars. 
 We had some conversation, however, with a very intelli- 
 gent servant, who told us they had ' a great day' there 
 the week before. It was the time of dispensing the 
 Lord's Supper, and it might have been called the anni- 
 versary of the first revival. Mr M'Donald had preached ; 
 and many, chiefly among the young, seemed to be seriously 
 impressed. The congregation was estimated at between 
 eight and nine thousand, who were all able to hear the 
 preacher's voice. The place could contain ten times that 
 number ; and it is not easy to say how many might be 
 able to hear in such a situation ; for I was convinced, by 
 subsequent experience, that it is easv to speak so as to 
 make people hear upon the rising side of a mountain. 
 
 " About four miles east on the same side of the loch, 
 there is a tent erected for preaching by ministers or mis- 
 sionaries of the Tabernacle connexion. 
 
 " Mr Findlater preaches, I believe, everv second Sab- 
 bath at Lawer's Kirk, on the north side of the loch. In- 
 deed, this an<] Ardionick may be considered the same sta- 
 tion, the kirk being en one side of the loch, and the manse 
 on the other ; and such is his zeal and diligence, that 
 sometimes after having preached twice on one side of the 
 loch on Lord's days, he goes over to the other side and 
 preaches in the evening. The awakening has been chiefly 
 among people on the north side ; and Lawer's Kirk, as 
 might be expected, is well attended. To this place the 
 Glenlyon people resort, coming round the bottom of 
 Benlawers, a distance of fifteen or twenty miles, and some 
 a great deal farther ; and besides travelling thus far, they 
 must ferry acroi-s the loch, which is here about a mile 
 wide, when the preaching is at the tent. The country is 
 very populous on both sides of the loch, notwithstanding 
 the late emigrations ; and I believe there are as many 
 people on the north side alone as would fill five such 
 houses as Lawer's Kirk. 
 
 " There is an Independent church in Aberfeldy, the 
 pastor of which has laboured much, and been very sue- 
 
334 SCOTLAND. 
 
 cessful in preaching- the gospel in Glenlyon. We took 
 up our quarters fur a few nights at Weem, or Taybridge 
 Inn, as it is now called, which is about a mile from Aber- 
 feldy, where we found ourselves as comfortable as we 
 would have been in any inn in the kingdom. We got 
 ourselves introduced to Mr Kennedy, the pastor of the 
 church in the above village, who was kind enough to 
 offer to accompany us to Glenlyon on the following- day. 
 " When we came to Fortingale, which is a kirk town 
 near the opening- of the glen, we met an old man on 
 horseback, with whom our companion was acquainted. 
 Three of his children, we were told, had lately been the 
 subjects of a gracious change. The old man himself 
 seemed very desirous of hearing- the word ; and taking- us 
 for ministers, he said he hoped we were going- to the 
 glen to preach. Indeed he begged that we would, and said 
 we might depend upon collecting- a few, though most 
 of the people were at the hill working- with their peats. 
 All the male part of our company were indeed stated or 
 occasional preachers ; and the writer was chosen to do 
 duty on the present occasion. We rode five or six 
 miles farther to Invervar, which was as far as a carriage 
 could well go. This place is by the side of a wood, in 
 which Mr K. sometimes preaches on winter evenings, by 
 lights suspended from the trees. This gentleman had 
 left word at a few cottages as we passed that there was 
 to be sermon, and also made it known at the houses 
 which compose the small village. It was true most of 
 the people were at work on the hill, but in a short time 
 about forty persons were collected ; and, to our great 
 surprise, the old man whom we met at Fortingale had 
 rode two or three miles farther down the country, had 
 done his business, and was back at Invervar before the 
 worship commenced. After the discourse in English, 
 Mr K. gave the substance of it in Gaelic, chiefly for the 
 sake of the old people, who understood little English ; 
 for those of middle age, as one of them told me, under- 
 stood me pretty well. During the whole time they heard 
 with grave attention ; but I could not help observing the 
 ^iifference when Mr K. began to speak in Gaelic. Every 
 
BREADALBANE. 335 
 
 eye beamed with intelligence and interest ; and the very 
 children, who had been comparatively listless before, were 
 all alive the moment they heard the sound of tbeir own 
 dear lang-uage of the mountains. I never spoke in a 
 more interesting- and melting- situation. The gloomy 
 grandeur of the surrounding mountains — the rich verdure 
 of the valleys — the winding of a copious stream — the 
 numerous patches of corn waiting the sickle, and the 
 multitude of sheep on the hills, suggested the subject of 
 discourse, which was the last five verses of the 65th 
 Psalm, and which I endeavoured to improve, by directing 
 the attention of the people to the abundance of spiritual 
 blessings exhibited to sinners by the gospel. When I 
 saw the lively attention with which they listened to the 
 words of eternal life, and heard the rude fervour of their 
 music, I thought of the accomplishment of the prophet's 
 prayer, — ' Let the inhabitants of the rock sing ; let them 
 shout from the top of the mountains.' 
 
 " The appearance of the people indicated a state of 
 great poverty. They suffered much from the failure of 
 the crops in 1816; and it is worthy of remark, that it 
 was at the very time when this calamity overtook them, 
 that the Lord was pleased in so remarkable a manner to 
 visit them with the blessings of his gospel. Glenlyon, 
 like Loch Tay-side, is very populous. It is richer, in 
 point of soil and verdure, than most Highland glens. 
 We passed many fields of oats and barley nearly ripe, and 
 some in the process of cutting down. The people are, of 
 course, more dependent upon the weather than mere 
 graziers, or those who inhabit more barren spots. Their 
 ordinary fare is potatoes and milk, and they sell what 
 grain they raise for the purpose of paying rent, buying 
 clothes, and other necessaries. Having little grain the 
 preceding year, and losing even a great part of their 
 potato crop, they must have been reduced to great dis- 
 tress ; but amidst their deep poverty, the Lord was 
 pleased to visit them with the riches of his mercy. W^hen 
 1 visited the same place in December, I was happy to 
 find that all their crops had been safely got in. The 
 valley is well sheltered and warm ; and the grain was 
 
336 SCOTLAND. 
 
 sooner ripe than in many extensive districts of the low 
 countries. 
 
 ****** 
 
 " The character of those who appear to be under the 
 influence of the truth (and there are many such) is that 
 of affectionate earnestness with regard to their eternal 
 interests. So far as I could learn, there is not one, of 
 whose conversion there was satisfactory evidence, who 
 has fallen from his profession, or done dishonour to the 
 cause of truth. A visible change has taken place in the 
 temper and conduct of great numbers. As an instance, 
 there is a man who was so quarrelsome, and so noted a 
 fighter, that he was called the Lion of Glenlyon. He is 
 now as quiet as a lamb : and an acquaintance whom we met 
 with at Aberfeldy, told us that she had seen him a few days 
 before, driving along in his peat-cart reading the Bible. 
 
 " Highland fairs used to be scenes of revelling and 
 wickedness ; at least I used to find them so in other 
 places. It happened to be the fair-day when we arrived 
 at Kenmore ; and most of the people there must have 
 been from Loch Tay-side, Glenlyon, and the neighbour- 
 ing glens. Among the hundreds, nay, I may say the 
 thousands whom we saw there and met on the road going 
 home, there was only one who showed symptoms of in- 
 toxication. The inn was full of people transacting busi- 
 ness and taking refreshment. A number of tents were 
 erected for selling liquor. Many may have taken too 
 much, but the above was the only instance of having 
 drank to excess which came under our observation ; and 
 we mixed familiarly with the people, and entered into 
 conversation with many of them. Dancing had begun at 
 the inn, but it continued only for a few minutes, and the 
 musician sat idle in the lobby the remainder of the even- 
 ing. One of the ladies of our company gave him a few 
 tracts and some good advice to comfort him for his want 
 of employment, but I am not sure that he was satisfied 
 with the result of ^he day's business. The crowd retired 
 by degrees, and by nine o'clock there w^as scarcely a ves- 
 tige of the fair to be seen. 
 
 " It is one pleasing feature of this revival, that it is in a 
 
BREADALBANE. 337 
 
 great measure free from the extravagance which is said 
 to have accompanied a revival in some other places. 
 When the work began indeed under the preaching of Mr 
 M'Donald, it was attended by something of a similar 
 nature. Some were under violent agitation when first 
 awakened to a sense of their guilt and danger ; and 1 am 
 far from saying this is either extravagant or unnatural. 
 There was, however, so little of this, as scarcely to l)e 
 remembered. It was, in general, rather a silent melting 
 under the preaching of the word ; and those who did 
 appear under violent agitation at first, never exhibited 
 such symptoms after they believed and received the com- 
 forts of the gospel. I made particular enquiry, but did 
 not hear of one instance of periodical or mechanical agi- 
 tation, or any sort of indecorous behaviour during divine 
 worship, by those who made a credible profession of the 
 faith. It is not uncommon indeed to see a large congre- 
 gation melted into tears. This is not only consistent 
 with a sober reception of the truth, but it may be con- 
 sidered as a pleasing accompaniment of the tenderness 
 and ardour of first love ; and such has been the effect 
 upon the preacher himself, that he has had to stop and 
 weep with them. 
 
 " As Mr M'Donald has been honoured by the great 
 head of the Church to be eminently useful, we were at 
 some pains to ascertain the peculiar character of his 
 preaching. His strain is evangelical, and his peculiar 
 excellence is said to be that of bringing home the word 
 of God to the hearts and consciences of his hearers. He 
 shows them to themselves ; he turns their hearts inside 
 out ; he makes them see that they are ruined, perishing 
 sinners, and exhibits the finished work of Christ as the 
 only ground of hope to the guilty. This is the kind of 
 preaching which God has honoured, and will always 
 honour as the means of bringing sinners to himself. 
 
 " The origin of this work may, however, be traced to 
 a period somewhat more remote than the preaching of 
 this gentleman. There was, as usual, a dawn before the 
 morning — a few drops before the shower of blessing. 
 There was a Mr Farquharson, who preached here about 
 
338 SCOTLAND. 
 
 twelve or fifteen yt^ars ago. He was supported by the 
 Society for Propagating the Gospel at home ; and after 
 having- lal)0ured some time in Breadalbane, he went to 
 America, where he died. His labours were blessed to a 
 few, most of whom are still alive, and who have been 
 helpful to the more recent converts, by the instruction 
 which they have been enabled to communicate. 
 
 " 1 cannot allow myself to forget the gentleman who 
 accompanied us to Glenlyon, who, if he had no part in 
 the work at its commencement, has been eminently use- 
 ful in helping- it forward. He possesses more of the 
 spirit of a missionary than any man I ever knew. His 
 labours in Glenlyon are abundant, and they have been 
 wonderfully successful. On our return from the glen, 
 we met several young persons whom he introduced to us 
 as his children, and whose countenances showed the affec- 
 tion with which they regarded him. It is not easy to 
 conceive the privations he must have suffered while 
 labouring among the poor people. At one time he staid 
 among them three weeks, preaching once or oftener 
 every day ; and such was their eagerness to hear him^ 
 that he could scarcely get leave to return to his family 
 and charge. 
 
 " Glenlvon, which occupies about one-third of the 
 parish of Fortingale, is twenty-eight miles in length. The 
 plain at the bottom is very narrow, and some of the high- 
 est mountains in the kingdom rise on both sides of it. 
 Several villages are so embosomed on the north side of 
 the hills, that the sun does not rise on them for three 
 months in the year. There being- no carriage road 
 through the whole glen, it has not been much visited by 
 strangers, but I think it must now become interesting to 
 Christian travellers. Here they will find much to gra- 
 tify a taste for the sublime and beautiful, and they will 
 be delighted to witness the influence of the gospel on the 
 minds of the formerly rude inhabitants." * 
 
 We have heard of another account of the revival of 
 Glenlyon, as the Breadalbane country is commonly called. 
 
 * From the Memoir of the late William M'Gavin, p. 285. 
 
BREADALBANE. 339 
 
 but have not been able to obtain it. The report of the 
 present condition of that populous strath is not encou- 
 raging-, though in perfect conformity with the experience 
 of those who are conversant with revivals. It is said 
 that some zealous Christians, who were attracted to the 
 interesting spot, were so ill advised as to introduce a con- 
 troversial subject. Perhaps it was the baptismal contro- 
 versy. But, whatever it was, from the hour that atten- 
 tion was withdrawn from the condition of their own souls, 
 and occupied with controversy, the converting influ- 
 ence was arrested, meltings of heart ceased, and no new 
 souls were won in Glenlyon. It is matter of humble 
 gratitude that the old ones continue consistent and faith- 
 ful, honouring their profession as becometh saints. But 
 may this impediment to the progress of the Spirit's work 
 act as a caution to zealous Christians of all denominations 
 to adhere in their dealings with new converts to the 
 great points that touch salvation, lest they have to an- 
 swer for the loss of souls ! 
 
[ 340 ] 
 
 CHAPTER XXIV. 
 
 ISLE OF SKYE. 
 
 This is the largest island of the Hebrides, and in point 
 of produce and population is the most important of the 
 western group. It contains seven parishes, including the 
 small isles of Rassay and Scalpa, and, besides its paro- 
 chial clergy, has four missionaries, and two government 
 chapels, together with several catechists and Gaelic-school 
 teachers. 
 
 It is not easy to ascertain the date at which this dis- 
 trict professed to accept the doctrines of the Reformation; 
 nor is it of consequence, for the profession was the re- 
 verse of an enlightened acceptation of truth, leaving the 
 poor people under the influence of a fearful mixture of 
 Druidical, Papistical, and Protestant notions. Like other 
 rude and remote districts, they believed in witches, ghosts, 
 fairies, the efficacy of an evil eye, and ill-wishes. They 
 paid a small fine for the benefit of the poor on being 
 rebuked for particular sins ; and this was so much re- 
 garded in the light of purchasing an indulgence, or doing 
 a penance, that the omission to make this satisfaction 
 was deemed a greater scandal than the sin itself. Fune- 
 rals were conducted with great riot and excess, much 
 ardent spirits being consumed before lifting the dead body ; 
 and meat and drink, to such an extent as frequently to 
 impoverish the survivors or keep them in debt for life, 
 carried with the remains to the burying-ground, where a 
 feast was made — in the church, if the minister was so 
 generous as to grant it, he himself often mingling in the 
 excess — bagpipes played, songs sung, filthy tales and 
 jests recounted, pieces of meat flung amongst the attend- 
 ant children, to make a scramble for the diversion of 
 their seniors, till riot increasing to fury, clansmen ar- 
 
ISLE OF SKYE. 
 
 341 
 
 ranged themselves against neighbour clans ; fighting, 
 bloodshed, and sometimes even death was the conse- 
 quence. Before closing the grave, a cross was marked 
 upon the coffin, to insure the spiritual safety of the dead. 
 Whatever had been his life of profanity or lewdness, 
 after death it was the custom to say of him, " He is 
 well ; " and the more decency and decorum were outra- 
 ged at his funeral, the more was he honoured. 
 
 It is unprofitable to enter into a more particular de- 
 scription of the state of things then. Whatever corrupt 
 nature, aided by gross ignorance and sustained by false 
 precepts, could devise of evil and abomination, was prac- 
 tised ; and the crowning point of all was, that the minis- 
 ters were truly blind leading the blind, and wallowing in 
 the ditch together with the people. The profanation of 
 ordinances was awful. It was customary to proclaim all 
 the business of the week — such as sales, fairs, &c. at the 
 church-door, and to finish bargains there. At the sacra- 
 mental occasions, which often occurred only after inter- 
 vals of three years, the tents of pedlars and spirit-dealers 
 were pitched all around the churchyard, and a busy mar- 
 ket of all sorts of wares carried on during the week-days; 
 which market was confined to an immense sale of ardent 
 spirits on the Sabbath. Even elders were to be seen 
 carrying about the sacred elements with inflamed coun- 
 tenances, and sometimes with unsteady steps ; and, so 
 far as is believed, not one family on the island kept up 
 family- worship. 
 
 As a specimen of the doctrines taught, it may be men- 
 tioned that two ministers once went in company to visit 
 a dying man, whose conscience was awakened, and he 
 told them in great alarm he was mightily afraid he was 
 going to hell. His guides told him they knew him from 
 his youth, and saw nothing in his life deserving hell ; nay, 
 there were many good things in him^ and done by him, 
 that (besides God's mercy) would obtain heaven for him; 
 and if he went to hell, many had cause to fear. The 
 dying man replied, with a deep sigh, " Is there no word 
 of Christ ? Is there no word of Christ ?" 
 
 As far as can be ascertained, in 1805, there were but 
 
342 SCOTLAND. 
 
 two persons within the whole bonnds of the presbytery 
 of Skye, wlio might be counted upon as enlightened 
 Christians, having embraced the truth in the love of it. 
 One, a young lady who had profited by the ministry of 
 Mr M'Kenzie during a visit to Lochcarron ; the other, 
 a teacher who brought religious impressions from his 
 favoured native county of Ross. He was the instrument 
 of putting down the practice of swearing in Rassay, 
 where he taught. But both these lights in the surround- 
 ing gloom were extinguished by death in 1806. The 
 year before their death, however, Mr Farquharson, an 
 Independent, itinerated in the country ; and one who had 
 cause to bless the Lord for his messenger, says, " I heard 
 this worthy man four times. I believe his discourses 
 were accompanied with divine power. From this date I 
 got new views of Scripture myself, and of the practices 
 of the inhabitants of the island. I think it probable that 
 other two or three came under conviction by means of 
 Mr Farquharson's preaching." This man was catechist 
 in the parish of Portree at this time ; and before the end 
 of the year, two or three additional persons were by his 
 means brought under conviction. At this time there 
 was not one Gaelic Bible in the parish, and but two or 
 three copies of the New Testament. At the same time, 
 a man who came from Sutherland stirred up seven others 
 in the parish of Snizort to hold a monthly prayer-meet- 
 ind. This new thing appeared singular and odious in 
 the eyes of the people. Curiosity attracted many. Two 
 of its members made remarks on passages of Scripture, 
 which excited a few to prayer, and to abstain from gross 
 sin. In 1806, the rare and important occurrence took 
 place of the change of views in one of the pastors. The 
 Rev. D M , minister of Kilmuir, became a sub- 
 ject of converting grace. After having been for many 
 years in darkness, like Saul, he straightway preached 
 Christ, whom in ignorance he had persecuted. He che- 
 rished the despised members of the prayer- meeting, and 
 presently several of his own congregation began to study 
 a part of the New Testament, which was found with a 
 man who did not use it. It required but an application^ 
 
ISLE OF SKYE. 343 
 
 to the British and Foreig-n Bible Society, which he made, 
 to fill the hands of these hungering souls with the whole 
 word of God. At length Mr M was called to an- 
 other charge. He did what he could for the new con- 
 verts in Snizort, who desired the sincere milk of the 
 word, by providing- two pious catechists, one of whom 
 was also schoolmaster. The other was the first man who 
 was hroug-ht to serious reflection under Mr Farquharson's 
 preaching-, who often assembled the infirm and those at a 
 distance from the parish church, and expounded the 
 Scriptures to them. Good accompanied this, and his 
 reading of the practical works of Boston, Baxter, Bun- 
 yan, Willison, and Edwards, so that many were brought 
 under powerful convictions of conscience, and were made 
 to feci deeply their need of God's mercy in Christ. Their 
 meetings were not confined to the Sabbath ; and persons 
 of discernment, who were occasionally attracted to them 
 from the mainland, declare that they have heard poor and 
 illiterate men guided to speak with a discrimination and 
 force of truth, and with a spirituality of conception, 
 scarcely to be credited, even by spiritual persons. 
 
 " In 1812, by means of these meetings, an uncommon 
 awakening took place among the people, which was at- 
 tended with trembling and distress of body, and some 
 were even constrained to cry out. These emotions were 
 like summer showers, which move about, when the rain 
 falls on one field without a drop on another. They were 
 here to-day, and in another place to-morrow. Some 
 persons came under convictions when attending the meet- 
 ings — others when they came in contact with awakened 
 persons who attended them. The leaders of the meet- 
 ings were made deeply sensible of their own insufficiency, 
 and felt that their strength could only come from God. 
 This led them to cry to God day and night for his gra- 
 cious presence and support ; and with gratitude they had 
 to acknowledge, that at sundry times they were furnished 
 with strength, which enabled them to testify of Him in 
 public : and often they felt much life and refreshment 
 communicated to them by the reading of a chapter with- 
 out note or comment. These were days of power and of 
 
344< SCOTLAND. 
 
 sweetness to as many as had spiritual taste and discern- 
 ment, — so that, when they met, they were reluctant to 
 part. Very little sleep was sufficient to serve them. 
 They were much devoted to prayer, public and private. 
 ' Verily,' says one, ' there was here then such power 
 with the word of God as can scarcely be believed by 
 Christians who did not witness it, or feel it experimen- 
 tally.' 
 
 " Although these meetings and emotions commenced 
 in Kilmuir, they extended to Snizort. * * * * 
 
 " During the space of six months, a considerable num- 
 ber, who before were ignorant and careless, were awaken- 
 ed. Yet offences ensued, because of two reasons : First, 
 because many of those who were awakened apostatized 
 and went back to their former ways ; second, because 
 there were some among those who were awakened who 
 became fanatical in the proper sense of the term. They 
 pretended to dreams and visions, and to have received 
 a spirit of penetration, which enabled them to foretell 
 who should be saved, and who not. ***** 
 
 " We are not to affirm whence it was, whether from a 
 right spirit or a spirit of delusion ; but we have reason to 
 believe that most of it was from the latter, because of the 
 apostasy of some, and the divination of others. Probably 
 some men, from this conclusion, may be apt to infer that 
 the whole was from the wicked spirit ; but that was not 
 the case, as we believe, from the following reasons, viz. 
 
 " I. Because such as had been in some measure en- 
 lightened and quickened before these emotions commen- 
 ced experienced themselves refreshed, enlivened, and 
 benefited in attending to the means of grace at the 
 meetings. 
 
 " II. Because some of those who were awakened at 
 the time have continued steadfast and sincere, maintaining 
 a life and conversation becoming their Christian pro- 
 fession. 
 
 " III. Because many of those awakened at that time, 
 though they have not attained to firm assurance, seem to 
 have the law of the Lord in their hearts. They desire 
 the way of the gospel. Some of this description, after 
 
ISLE OF SKYE. 345 
 
 having lived in fears and uncertainty as to their salva- 
 tion for twelve or thirteen years, departed this life in 
 sweet serenity of mind, and in a blessed hope, relying- 
 wholly on Christ and on his propitiation. 
 
 " These reasons, then, prove sufficiently that those 
 persons who attribute these [latter] operations and awa- 
 kenings to the wicked spirit are avvfully mistaken. * * 
 
 " There can be little doubt but these operations were 
 in consequence of a downpouring of the Holy Spirit." f 
 
 The persons on whose minds salutary impressions were 
 made belonged to the parishes of Kilmuir and Snizort. 
 The late excellent Mr Shaw had by that time become 
 minister of the parish of Bracadale, and his instructions 
 were what these persons delighted to hear ; but distance 
 debarred many from frequently enjoying that privilege. 
 In consequence of having no minister within reach 
 who edified them, they were obliged often to meet 
 in the fields. About 1817> a gentleman who had a small 
 tract of land in the parish of Snizort, divided it into 
 crofts, or small tenements, which were rented by several 
 serious persons, who were attracted thither from the pa- 
 rish of Kilmuir. There they were permitted to build a 
 house for meeting, which will contain about two hundred 
 persons. It is honourable to the minister of this parish, 
 that he has never joined in the intolerant spirit which in 
 so many cases has led to the persecution of those who 
 were conscientiously concerned in holding such meet- 
 ings. These persons are attached to the Church of 
 Scotland, and have never separated from it. They have 
 other two or three meetings in farm-houses, which are all 
 conducted on the same plan ; two or three of confess- 
 edly superior knowledge and experience presiding al- 
 ternately. The meetings are not confined to the Sabbath, 
 but are held also during the week. These faithful per- 
 sons are not without their portion of trial, in their diffi- 
 culty of obtaining ordinances. In many cases baptism is 
 withheld from them ; and, indeed, were it not so, they 
 might not feel at liberty to receive the ordinance from 
 the hand of every man who might be willing to bestow 
 
 f Account of State of Religion in the Highlands, p. 64. 
 
346 
 
 SCOTLAND. 
 
 it ; neither could they with a good conscience mingle 
 themselves at the table of the Lord with the openly un- 
 christian and profane. The position in which these poor 
 Christian people are thus placed is most affecting, and 
 perhaps without example in any other church. Surely 
 the hearer of prayer will soon have pity on his children, 
 and bestow upon them the sincere milk of the word, which 
 they long for. 
 
 When Mr Shaw was placed in charge of the parish of 
 Bracadale, 1812, he proved himself a zealous and labo- 
 rious pastor. An arm of the sea dividing the parish, he 
 obtained Gaelic-school teachers, who, by means of their 
 exemplary lives, and pious instructions, have been en- 
 abled to work a striking general improvement in the 
 morals of the people, especially in the district of Ming"i- 
 nish. Many have become devout and intelligent Chris- 
 tians. 
 
 Mr Shaw confessed himself not to possess nerve 
 enough to stand forth against evils which he could not 
 expect to remedy, and thus yielded to administering or- 
 dinances to some contrary to the light of his conscience. 
 On this account the good man had many inward con- 
 flicts, which impaired his health, and hastened his death. 
 He said himself, with regard to the deplorable ignorance 
 of many of the inhabitants, that they ought to be viewed 
 and treated as the heathen, to whom missionaries are 
 sent to teach and to christianize them. Yet he baptized 
 children of parents who never sought the ordinance of 
 the Supper, and whose lives evinced how much they were 
 the children of this world. His excellent successor, the 
 Rev. Roderick M'Leod (whose induction to Bracadale 
 was hailed by all the pious), has manifested a commen- 
 dable zeal, though we do not know if it has often been 
 accompanied with success, by labouring- to promote true 
 and undetiled religion amongst his people, and by oppo- 
 sing wickedness of every kind. He has denied church 
 privileges to irreligious and ignorant persons, and for this 
 he has suiTered persecution in various forms, which it 
 may console him to know has excited the brotherly sym- 
 pathy of thousands who never saw his face. Would that 
 
ISLE OF SKYE. 347 
 
 those most active in this case would consider how " they 
 have made the heart of the righteous sad, whom God has 
 not made sad ; and strengthened the hands of the wicked, 
 that he should not return from his wicked way." * 
 
 There are now two, if not three small Baptist con- 
 gregations in Skye, whose members exhibit a conver- 
 sation according to their profession ; and there are a 
 number of serious people in the district of Vaternish, 
 in the parish of Durnish, who were first awakened to 
 a sense of divine things by the instruction and example 
 of the Gaelic-school teachers. It is a woful truth, that 
 some pastors in Skye have discouraged and discounte- 
 nanced the Gaelic Society's teachers ; and two parishes, 
 where they have not been admitted, and where no awa- 
 kening has taken place, are in general as ig'iujrant and 
 superstitious as was the whole island in 1805. The 
 bagpipe may still be heard at their funerals ; drinking 
 and fighting- still disgrace the hours of mourning ; and, 
 in March, 1827, the interment even of a lady was dis- 
 graced by a tight in the parish of Sleate. 
 
 It is a pleasing evidence of the influence of the gospel, 
 which has been reiterated a thousand times, though some 
 men's eyes are still closed against it, that wherever the 
 truth has found entrance, these barbarous and abominable 
 customs have been banished, and quietness, sympathy, 
 and purity of manners have occupied their place. 
 
 There has not, as far as appears, any religious awaken- 
 ing, in the revival form, occurred in the counties of Ross, 
 Sutherland, Caithness, Nairn, or Inverness ; and yet all 
 who are well informed, agree in the fact that true religion 
 prospers in a regular and consistent progress more in the 
 above counties than in any part of the Church of Scot- 
 land. Ministers from these districts never fail to mention 
 " speaking to the question" as one of their most success- 
 ful means of grace. The meaning of this unusual phrase 
 is but obscurely apprehended in the Lowlands. And 
 having found a very accurate description of it in a pam- 
 phlet, entitled " An account of the present state of 
 
 * Ezek. xiii. 22. 
 
348 SCOTLAND. 
 
 religion in the Highlands of Scotland," published in 1827, 
 we give it a place here. 
 
 It is to this pamphlet that we owe the little account of 
 the revival in Skye. The writer is speaking of the 
 practice in Ross-shire, but the description applies to the 
 other counties also. 
 
 " On the first Monday of every month a meeting is 
 held in the parish church for prayer, and what is called 
 in the north, ' speaking to the question ; ' which practice 
 is also attended to on sacramental and other occasions." 
 
 The Friday which occurs between the Fast-day pre- 
 vious to the communion and the preparation day, is, in 
 the north, called the examination day ; and on that day 
 they exercise themselves in speaking to the question. 
 
 " The congregation assembles as on other days. After 
 prayer and praise, the minister who presides enquires if 
 any in the assembly has ' a word of a question' (the 
 Gaelic idiom) respecting which he would like to hear 
 some of the brethren present give their opinion. One or 
 other generally rises and gives out a passage of Scripture, 
 such as the following : ' Except a man be born again,' 
 &c., or ' Blessed are the poor in spirit,' &c., or *= To be 
 spiritually minded is life and peace.' Supposing that he 
 gave out the first of these texts, he would add, ' I am 
 desirous to hear the opinion of the brethren on the nature 
 of the new birth, and the marks of it ?' Or should he 
 give out the second of these texts, he would add, ' I 
 should wish to hear the nature and marks of true poverty 
 of spirit?' The question being thus propounded, the 
 minister who presides gives a brief exposition of the 
 text, in order to lay it open to those who may be called 
 upon to speak. He then calls, by name, upon some well- 
 known and experienced Christian to rise and speak to 
 the question. Very frequently it is not without a good 
 deal of pressing that he prevails on some one to do this. 
 Often half-a-dozen of persons or more in succession speak 
 to the question proposed. The minister presiding reca- 
 pitulates the substance of what has been brought forward 
 by the various speakers ; and should any of them have 
 stated any thing which he conceives to be not according 
 
SPEAKING TO THE QUESTION. 349 
 
 to sound doctrine, he points it out and corrects it. The 
 person who propounded the question is generally called 
 upon to conclude with prayer, — and after singing of 
 Psalms, the congregation retires. People in the Low- 
 lands can hardly believe what immense multitudes as- 
 semble together in the north on the preaching days con- 
 nected with the dispensation of the Lord's Supper ; and 
 on no day, excepting the communion day, do more per- 
 sons assemble, than on the Friday on which the question 
 is spoken to. It is not uncommon in parishes in Ross-shire, 
 which may not contain a population of more than two or 
 three thousand souls, to witness a congregation of ten, 
 twelve, or even fifteen thousand present on a sacramental 
 occasion. The services in Gaelic are therefore necessarily 
 carried on in the open air, while those in English are 
 held in the church.'' * 
 
 The pastoral occupations of the people enable them to 
 secure time for this their greatest luxury. ♦' On such 
 occasions catechists, elders, and private Christians, who 
 are noted for their piety and talents, from parishes far and 
 near, in Ross, Sutherland, and Caithness, often meet to- 
 gether. Meetings for prayer and religious exercises are 
 held every evening during the preaching days in every 
 part of the parish. On Friday, when the question is to 
 be SDoken to, the catechist, and sometimes an elder, 
 stand beside the tent where the presiding minister is 
 stationed, to tell him what distinguished Christians from 
 other parishes they know to be present, in order that he 
 may call upon them to speak. 
 
 " It is most refreshing and instructive to listen to the 
 varied experience, the ready utterance, the clear illustra- 
 tions, the correct modes of thinking, and the striking 
 similies of many of these speakers, some of whom, though 
 they may never have learned to read, prove themselves 
 mighty in the Scriptures, and well acquainted with the 
 human heart in all its windings. * * * The ' speak- 
 ing to the question ' has many beneficial effects ; among 
 others, it is calculated to arrest the attention of the most 
 
 * Account of State of Religion in the Highlands, p. 21. 
 
350 SCOTLAND. 
 
 careless individual in the congregation, and to convince 
 him that many are in earnest in their religion, and that 
 he ought to be so likewise."* 
 
 The author of the State of Religion in the Highlands, 
 aware of the objection made by Lowlanders, who are ac- 
 customed to hear the illiterate use so poor a dialect as 
 would seem unworthy of a solemn or lofty theme, reminds 
 us, that in Gaelic there is but one style for the illiterate 
 and the learned ; and he assures us that those who speak 
 generally possess solid judgments, retentive memories, 
 and well-stored minds. Judging by the specimens of 
 Gaelic which we have heard translated, we cannot but 
 perceive that a more dignified tone, deeper feeling, and 
 more highly poetical illustration is common to their dis- 
 course than we usually meet with in English, except 
 when it is studied ; even in their common conversation, 
 especially when under the influence of powerful feeling, 
 this is remarkably the case. An example of this occurs. 
 When one of these Highland patriarchs was informed of 
 the death of a friend with whom he for many years had 
 walked to the house of God in company, he exclaimed, 
 as soon as he recovered voice to speak, " Ah, who will 
 brush the spots from my garment now ! " Whether he 
 meant who should tell him his faults ? who correct his 
 opinions ? or who defend him from the slanders of others ? 
 the expression was full of pathetic and poetical beauty. 
 The author above alluded to remarks, that in the Low- 
 lands, where true religion has flourished under a faithful 
 pastor, on his removal it generally dies away, and very 
 soon indifl'erence about divine things abounds. But in 
 the north their experience is very different, for if they 
 have the misfortune to have a careless pastor succeed one 
 who has been the instrument of a work of grace in the 
 parish, though he should live forty years amongst them, 
 the people are found to be as much alive to the concerns 
 of religion, and as earnestly desirous to obtain a good 
 minister, as their fathers were at his predecessor's decease. 
 This he ascribes, probably most justly, to the practice of 
 
 * Account of State of Ruli=jIon in the HigWands, p. '25. 
 
SPEAKING TO THE QUESTION. 351 
 
 " speaking to the question," which keeps not only know- 
 ledge, but the spirit of prayer in exercise. Its good 
 effects have been found by our missionaries in the Isle of 
 Cape Breton, whither they have followed our emigrants 
 from Ross and Sutherland. They inform us that the 
 aged men have kept up their home habits of prayer-meet- 
 ings, Scripture readings, and catechisings, — so that the 
 new generation, reared in the wilderness, are actually 
 thirsting for ordinances, and building themselves houses 
 in which to meet for worship, until the Head of the 
 church shall in mercy send them pastors. 
 
 Such examples are encouraging evidence of what lay- 
 agency may effect, and ought to make a strong impression 
 on the minds of those who object to the employment of 
 missionaries in reclaiming our city population from the 
 depths of ignorance and vice, unless they have received a 
 regular theological education. Other highly important 
 motives may doubtless operate in the preference which is 
 given to students and preachers of divinity when select- 
 ing persons for the useful work of our city missions ; and 
 it is scarcely possible to estimate too highly the advan- 
 tage which may accrue to the church by this species of 
 training being employed for preparing our future ministers 
 for the sacred office to which they aspire. But it ought 
 never to be forgotten, that, however desirable human 
 learning may be, it is not the " one thing needful ;" and 
 that an unspeakably higher qualification in the great busi- 
 ness of bringing men to the knowledge of Christ is the 
 teaching of the Holy Spirit. That man will be wise to 
 win souls who knows himself, his Saviour, and his Bible ; 
 although he may scarcely know even by name some of 
 those distinctions which are embodied in systematic theo- 
 logy. Had we but a company of those sedate and prayer- 
 ful Christian characters who shine as lights in the High- 
 lands set afloat in each of our cities, we might soon see 
 the scene of debauch turned into a place where prayer is 
 wont to be made, and the eye, inflamed with excess, raised 
 in hopeful contemplation to Heaven. 
 
 " In every parish within the bounds of the Synod of 
 Ross and Presbytery of Inverness frequent meetings are 
 
352 SCOTLAND. 
 
 held by pious persons for reading- the Scriptures, rehgious 
 conference, and prayer. Meetings of this description are 
 generally held on Saturday, sometimes during daylight. 
 Meetings for similar exercises are held on Sabbath even- 
 ings. And in some cases, that every house in a hamlet 
 may have equal advantage, and bear an equal proportion 
 of the expense of the light and fire, the meeting circulates 
 through the hamlet."* 
 
 Would witnesses but preserve records more authentic 
 than oral tradition, precious things might be stated in 
 that country to the glory of God and the encouragement 
 of his church. In one parish an awakening originated in 
 the following manner : — A woman who hungered after 
 the word of life had the misfortune to be so hard of hear- 
 ing that she could obtain little instruction from the public 
 services. She fell upon the expedient of placing herself 
 on a little knoll by the wayside, and there laid hold on 
 the first individual who came from church, requesting a 
 note of the sermon. Then she detained the second, and 
 the third, till nearly all the congregation who passed that 
 way were collected, and they went forward together re- 
 citing the things they had heard, and discoursing of their 
 faith and hope. When several miles from the church, 
 they reached the point where the road by the shore split 
 off into many paths, by which they must each pursue 
 their separate way to their dwellings, scattered on the 
 mountain. This point became their resting-place, and, 
 as if loathe to part, they sung a song of praise, after 
 which one of the seniors of the company presented their 
 prayers ; and being thus somewhat filled with each other's 
 company they sought their homes. 
 
 We could tell of a parish whose faithful pastor knows 
 that there is not a house without its altar, and without 
 some members of the family whose souls are enlightened 
 and growing in grace. We could also tell of a town in 
 the north, where a much-beloved minister can recount 
 from day-dawn to sunset, with tearful eyes, the examples 
 of exalted Christian attainment which he himself has 
 
 * State of Religion in the Highlands, p. 27. 
 
SPEAKING TO THE QUESTION. 353 
 
 seen, and where he can speak of a company of daily en- 
 quirers throng-ing- his house, which often on a Monday 
 morning" amounts to thirty or forty, and this including^ 
 persons of various ranks and ag-es. We might till many 
 pages with anecdotes drawn from his lips, all proving- the 
 integrity, the Christian simplicity, and the delight in re- 
 lig-ious exercises which he has witnessed. But we forbear 
 to do any thing- which might cause him to feel it less a 
 duty to record and preserve the many affecting- facts he 
 knows, by which we trust the church will one day be 
 cheered. Enough has been said to exhibit the Spirit of 
 God reviving- his church in our native land. And we 
 trust it may be perceived at the same time that this Holy 
 Spirit works not capriciously, but by consistent rules of 
 infinite wisdom, which, though often dark and mysterious 
 to our limited views, would yet, were our minds suffi- 
 ciently enlightened, entirely approve themselves to our 
 understanding-s. It is not as uninformed persons are apt 
 enough to imagine, that the Spirit comes in an arbitrary 
 fashion, to seize suddenly on a set of unthinking- persons 
 and put them into fear. We allege nothing that militates 
 against the divine sovereignty when we say that the 
 Spirit works by rules that may be observed, and upon which 
 the people of God may found expectations. Our readers 
 must have observed, that when a revival occurs, a new 
 and prayerful concern usually comes upon those who have 
 already embraced the truth. They are refreshed, and 
 speaking out of the abundance of their hearts, they urge 
 religion more on their friends, pray more for them, and 
 for their ministers, for the church, and for the world. 
 Prayer paves the way — prayer fills it with travellers — 
 prayer enlivens and confirms souls, for prayer has power 
 with God and prevails. Even in the case of such amazing 
 success as Wesley was honoured with, when he oifered 
 gospel truth in villages little raised above heathenism, it 
 must not be forgotten, that though the villagers had not 
 been accustomed to pray themselves, the man who ad- 
 dressed them was a man of prayer, and his labours were 
 kept continually before the Lord by the petitions of many 
 zealous souls* 
 
 z 
 
354 SCOTLAND. 
 
 It is a mark of God's chosen people that they " cry 
 (lay and night to hira." And if we will have our own 
 souls prosper, our own country prosper, or the church of 
 Christ prosper, — if we will have the kingdoms of this 
 world to become the kingdoms of the Lord, we must 
 double our earnestness and multiply our petitions, and 
 call on our God till he refresh us with a plentiful rain 
 that shall cause the desert to blossom as the rose, and fill 
 the world with songs of praise. 
 
[ 355 ] 
 
 CHAPTER XXV. 
 
 ISLE OF LEWIS. 
 
 The isle of Lewis, which is the most distant of the 
 Hebrides, is little known, and from its remote situation, 
 has escaped the researches of tourists — insomuch, that 
 the important events passing in its little world are scarce- 
 ly heard of. Yet it has for some time been to the Chris- 
 tian one of the most interesting spots in the British 
 dominions ; and the King of Kings has, out of his abun- 
 dant grace, selected for himself a dwelling in the hearts 
 of many of its simple inhabitants. 
 
 When the Edinburgh Gaelic School Society became 
 alive to the ignorant condition of many in the Highlands, 
 they sent out teachers and Bibles, and from the year 
 1811 they continued to supply gradually the most neces- 
 sitous districts. These means have been in many cases 
 eminently blessed, and it is peculiarly to be noted, that 
 the teachers were selected with most conscientious cau- 
 tion. Men who were not only moral in their habits, and 
 skilful as instructors, were sought for, but who had em- 
 braced gospel truth for themselves, and therefore knew 
 how to convey it to others. 
 
 Mr M'Leod of Uig remarks that " the directors are 
 firmly attached to vital piety ; and as long as they 
 will act thus firmly, and continue perseveringly attached 
 to the glorious cause in which they have the honour 
 to take a prominent lead, and by which, with the Di- 
 vine blessing, they have already been made so emi- 
 nently useful to thousands of their fellow-creatures, 
 there is every reason to hope that God will crown their 
 labours with his effectual blessing. Whenever they be- 
 gin to receive complaints from those callous to vital 
 godliness, to the prejudice of their own institution and 
 officebearers, they will then surely be walking in slip- 
 
S56 SCOTLAND. 
 
 pery paths. May the Lord keep their feet off such dan- 
 gerous paths 1" The Report for 1830 states, what recent 
 and more minute investigation corroborates abundantly — 
 " In broad and plain terms, we say that a mighty work 
 of the Spirit has been and now is carried on by means of 
 the men who teach your schools." And again, in 1831, 
 — " While the mists of ignorance are thus, through the 
 instrumentality of your schools, gradually retiring before 
 the beams of the Sun of Righteousness, the vices arising 
 from ignorance disappear along with them." 
 
 A correspondent in Stornoway, isle of Lewis, writes, 
 July, 1828, — " The beneficial effects of your society 
 struck me so forcibly on my return to this island, after 
 four years' absence, that 1 feel constrained to write you a 
 few lines on the subject. Before 1 left this country, I 
 remarked that the effect produced on the poor and unlet- 
 tered, by being enabled to peruse the sacred volume, was 
 in many instances a frantic consternation, similar to that 
 felt by a person on discovering himself on the brink of 
 destruction. But the frantic fever soon subsided ; and 
 in that infallible mirror in which they discovered their 
 disease, they also discovered the consolatory efficacy of 
 the Divine Physician's prescription. Now, many of these 
 poor people, whom you have been the means of snatch-i 
 ing from their state of darkness, present so exemplary a 
 spectacle as to be not only a cause of great rejoicing to 
 you, but to load those in whose hands the means of grace 
 have been long neglected with shame. The preaching of 
 the truth to these poor people, when incapable of peru- 
 sing the holy records, did not profit them much. It 
 must afford you great gladness to know that the work of 
 the Lord prospers in your hands." * 
 
 It was from the Gaelic teachers, then, that the first 
 rays of light dawned on these poor islanders, though 
 now, the set time to favour them being come, they have 
 several faithful ministers, whose declarations of the 
 truth are highly honoured to win souls. In 1820, John 
 M'Leod was sent as a teacher to Tolsta, in the parish 
 
 * Report for ,I8?9, p. %%, 
 
ISLS OF LEWIS. 357 
 
 of Uig. His heart mourned over the deplorable darkness 
 of the land ; and besides teaching to read, he explained 
 the Scriptures to all who came to him. The number of 
 persons who became concerned about their spiritual con- 
 dition continually increasing-, John was complained of to 
 the directors of the society, as infringing their rule, 
 which forbids any thing in the form of preaching or pub- 
 lic exhortation to their teachers. The good man recei- 
 ved his rebuke, but could not promise to desist ; for he 
 felt that souls wete in jeopardy, and that he had liberty 
 in speaking, and was made useful to them. The rule 
 was imperative, and, with whatever regret, John M'Leod 
 was dismissed from the service of the society. He was 
 reduced thus to penury, but not to silence ; and it plea- 
 sed the Lord of his vineyard, by an unknown hand, to 
 furnish the means of living to this excellent man, 
 though no longer connected with his society, and to keep 
 him in the employment so dear to his heart. He conti- 
 nued in this work till 18^2, when he died. His faithful 
 friend and pastor, the Rev. Alexander MLeod of Uig, 
 writes, — "1 have seen him on his death-bed, and brought 
 his remains from Tolsta (on the north side of Loch Roag) 
 to the burying-ground here, have settled his just debts, 
 and disposed of several things for the benefit of his wi- 
 dow and the Gaelic cchool Society." We quote the 
 whole of Mr M'Leod's letter to the Society on this sub- 
 ject, published in their Report for 1833 
 
 " A variety of circumstances prevented me hitherto 
 from transmitting to you a short account of one of your 
 Society's most devoted servants. On Monday, the 8th of 
 October, 1832, died at Tolstachilis, in this parish, John 
 M'Leod, teacher there. He was a native of Skye, and came 
 to the Lewis in 1820 as a Gaelic teacher, from the Edin- 
 burgh Gaelic School Society. He has all along been made 
 eminently useful in several districts of this island, not 
 only in the capacity of a teacher of youth, but for rou- 
 sing sinners to and convincing them of their fallen state, 
 both by nature and practice, and was at unremitting pains 
 to instruct his fellow-men in the whole doctrines of in- 
 spiration, with an understanding and feeling which evi- 
 
358 
 
 SCOTLAND. 
 
 dently gave satisfaction that these doctrines were made 
 spirit and life to his own soul. He had the glory of 
 God and the salvation of souls ardently at heart. No 
 Christian, indeed, within our knowledge or information 
 was a greater wrestler at a throne of grace for a crumb 
 of the hidden manna for his own soul, and for the pros- 
 perity of Zion at large ; and we have seen no fellow- 
 traveller to the heavenly city in our day who was so 
 pointed and tender, both in precept and example, as this 
 singularly devoted character during the time he taber- 
 nacled amongst us. He was, in fine, day and night 
 watching on the walls of Jerusalem, and giving no rest, 
 or ceasing not to plead, until the Lord should, to all 
 intents and purposes, make Jerusalem a praise in the 
 earth. 
 
 " Several promising individuals, who own that this 
 man's Christian labours were savingly blessed to them, 
 have, from every part of the island, accompanied his re- 
 mains to the grave. The removal of a person so emi- 
 nent in Christian attainments, is much felt by the whole 
 body of Christians, not only in this parish, but also in all 
 the Lewis. May the Lord mercifully add daily to the 
 number of his peculiar people, and fill up in the kingdom 
 of grace the late situations of departed saints. 
 
 " John M'Leod made his will a few years ago, in which 
 he orders the whole of his effects to be divided between 
 the Gaelic School Society and his widow ; the one-half 
 of said effects given to said Society, and the other half to 
 his widow ; ' but whatever of this money she may not use 
 before her death, I appoint to be paid to said society.' So 
 decidedly you see, his whole heart was interested in your 
 Society's prosperity, which he saw was productive of so 
 much good. I think when a few things are sold, and the 
 money received, that each share will amount to about 
 L.75 sterling. The principal part of the money is now" 
 in the hands of a Christian friend, to whom I wrote lately 
 on the subject. 
 
 " Be assured, as a friend of your valuable institution, 
 how much gratified I feel in having the honour of making 
 
ISLE OF LEWIS. 359 
 
 such a communication from the parish wherein the labours 
 of your Society, and the memory of the deceased shall 
 be had in edifying and sweet remembrance for many ge- 
 nerations yet to come. It is perfectly unnecessary to 
 make any comment upon the disinterested and holy mo- 
 tives by which the testator has been actuated, in favour 
 of an institution which he daily witnessed so productive 
 of efficient and active usefulness. Although circum- 
 stances took place which rendered it necessary for him to 
 operate in his Lord's vineyard under other Christian 
 friends, and in a situation which the Lord provided for 
 him in a remarkable manner, when duty led him to drop 
 the immediate service of the Gaelic Society, I would 
 remark that the deceased left this sum by means of much 
 Christian prudence and economy." * 
 
 The teachers are commonly in circumstances as poor 
 as those of their pupils, and this large sum was actually 
 saved out of the slender income of L.20 per annum. 
 Truly, " a little that a righteous man hath, is better than 
 the riches of many wicked ;" and thus was the benevolent 
 purpose of the donor doubly blessed. During the life and 
 after the removal of John iVl'Leod, it was still employed 
 in the way the parties most desired it should. We can- 
 not withhold a tribute of admiration to the character of 
 that man who was so entirely delivered from the sel- 
 fishness which cleaves to fallen humanity, as to bequeath 
 the half of all he possessed to the Society which years 
 before had rejected his services and cast him out. 
 
 The communications from the teacher of the school at 
 Barras are also of a very interesting character. We pre- 
 sent such extracts as we can venture to make room for : — 
 
 "December, 1828. 
 
 " Previously to my commencing teaching here, I as- 
 sembled the parents, male and female, and told them that 
 the object of the Society in sending me was not so much 
 for the purpose of teaching their children as themselves ; 
 and that if they would now promise to attend school 
 
 * Gaelic School Report for 1833. 
 
360 SCOTLAND. 
 
 two days a-week, besides Sabbath morning and evening, 
 I would be most willing to remain amongst them. As 
 they were anxious to secure a teacher for their children, 
 they promised to comply with this request, but I had 
 little expectation then that I would realize it to the ex- 
 tent that I afterwards did ; indeed, they now confess that 
 when they made the promise they were not in earnest, 
 but made it to secure a teacher for the time being. The 
 first Sabbath which I spent among them, I never ought 
 to forget, I suppose there were from 250 to 300 present. 
 After giving them an exhortation (which I conceived 
 suitable to the occasion), and relating to them a variety 
 of interesting anecdotes, calculated to stimulate them to 
 commence and persevere, I proceeded to offer them 
 copies of the Society's First Elementary Book in the name 
 of the Lord Jesus Christ, and told them that I earnestly 
 hoped none of them would think of taking one in His 
 name, but such of them as were fully resolved in his 
 strength patiently to persevere until they overcame every 
 difficulty. The scene which now presented itself to my 
 view, it is not easy for me to describe. The unlettered 
 mother received the First Book out of my hand, silently 
 shedding tears, while the sucking infant, unconscious of 
 what was going on, smiled me full in the face, hanging 
 at her breast ! I took particular notice of Widow Mac- 
 donald; she is a great-grandmother, sixty-eight years of 
 age. As I approached where she sat, she stared at me, 
 and, at length, in broken accents, spoke as follows : * Oh 
 — do you think, could I learn yet?' — ' Why nut?' — 
 * Because I am sixty-eight years of age.' — ' But though 
 you are, I have no doubt that you will still learn, if you 
 are spared and willing.' — But she continued to reply, 
 < Do you really think yourself that it is possible for me 
 to learn yet, seeing that 1 am sixty-eight years of age, 
 and, besides, I have great-grandchildren.' — ' But although 
 you have,' said I, ' and although you were 100 years of 
 age, providing you have faith in Jesus Christ, 1 am fully 
 convinced that you may still learn.' — ' Oh, then,' said 
 she, grasping the First Book out of my hand, ' I am 
 taking this book in the name of Christ.' Your Committee 
 
ISLE OF LEWIS. 361 
 
 will be glad to learn, that this interesting old woman is 
 now reading- the New Testament in her seventy-first 
 year. 
 
 " Widow Murray, aged sixty-five, had been confined 
 to bed a year when 1 opened school. She sent to me for 
 a First Book, and, by the help of her grandchildren, 
 learned the letters upon her bed. When she recovered, 
 her first visit was to the school-house, bending over a staff, 
 with a weight of infirmities. After I dismissed the public 
 meeting of the day, my time had been a little engaged by 
 taking up subscriptions for your Society ; she followed me 
 into my room and sat down beside me, and then said, 
 * Write down my name' (she reminded me of the beau- 
 tiful allegory in the Pilgrim's Progress), after which she 
 gave me a shilling. 1 asked her if it was not too much. 
 ' No, no,' she said, ' she only thought it too little, and 
 that if every one were as poor as she and her neighbours, 
 none would come to instruct the ignorant ; but blessed 
 be the name of the Lord, that he thought and saw other- 
 wise, and may his blessing rest upon the heads of those 
 godly people that are at such labour and pains in sending 
 out teachers to instruct blind sinners.' This old woman 
 is now reading the New Testament. 
 
 " Donald M' Ritchie is the father of a family. When 
 the school was opened here, neither he nor any member 
 of his family could read the Word of God. I have been 
 told that he promised and paid to a neighbour's boy a 
 lamb for going to his house every morning and evening 
 for the purpose of reading the chapter to him at the time 
 of family worship. This man and his wife are now able 
 to read a little in the New Testament, and a little daugh- 
 ter of theirs, about ten years of age, precents and reads 
 the chapter at family worship, whilst her father raises the 
 tune and prays." 
 
 The P. S. to this interesting letter, which contains 
 anecdotes of several other persons, states that the thirty- 
 six pairs of spectacles sent are all gone, and requests sixty 
 pairs with their prices to be sent to Stornoway quickly. 
 
 The parish of Lochs has been the scene of a consider- 
 able awakening, but of it we have not obtained particu- 
 
362 SCOTLAND. 
 
 lars. That of Knock, under the Rev. Finlay Cook, has 
 been also cheering and remarkable. Mr Cook being 
 aware that before 1824, during the ministrations of some 
 itinerant preachers, there had been great and unreason- 
 able excitements and violent agitations amongst multi- 
 tudes who, after the excitement subsided, brought forth 
 no fruit, but settled down into their former stupor, was 
 particularly careful to discountenance violent outward 
 demonstration of feeling, and thus preserved the people 
 from the deplorable delusion of mistaking agitation for 
 regeneration, and impeding the exercise of their minds bv 
 yielding to mere nervous emotion. By this means, there 
 was a solid and prolonged work in his parish ; only one 
 example of the fruit of this is within our reach at present. 
 The zeal of the inhabitants to enjoy the privilege of 
 attending family worship in the Manse, is such as to 
 induce some to walk a distance, which in the Low- 
 lands would be counted an obstacle, even to attending 
 church. In the parish of Knock three apprentices, who 
 were in the habit of meeting for Scripture reading and 
 prayer, had made an arrangement which enabled them 
 alternately to attend family worship at the Manse, five 
 miles from home. To accomplish this, he whose turn it 
 was, left work sooner than the regular hour, and the two 
 who remained worked an hour for him : (such arrange- 
 ments are said not to be uncommon). One of these 
 youths, who was the only surviving son of his parents, 
 had offended a maniac in the neighbourhood, by often 
 defending his mother from his insane violence. It does 
 not appear whether, in the Lewis as in Skye, they once 
 entertained a superstition that it is unlucky to constrain 
 maniacs and idiots — but however that was, the poor in- 
 sane creature was left to range at liberty, and having 
 vowed revenge, found means to fulfil it ; for he took an 
 opportunity, when the youth was in his house in a stoop- 
 ing position, to cleave his skull with a spade. His parents, 
 of his duty to whom many beautiful instances were re- 
 counted, had the great consolation, under this bitter 
 dispensation, to believe that their child was happily pre- 
 pared for his hasty enti'ance into the world unseen. His 
 
ISLE OF LEWIS. 363 
 
 two surviving friends agreed in future, to hold their ac- 
 customed meetings for reading and prayer in the house of 
 the bereaved parents, in hopes thus to contribute to their 
 consolation. 
 
 The Rev. Alex. M'Leod commenced his exertions as 
 Minister of Uig in 1824. The people attended public 
 worship tolerably well from the time of his admission ; 
 but he describes his painful conviction that the fixed 
 gaze with which they beheld him was not an intelligent 
 but what Wesley used to call " a stupid attention." This 
 lasted but one month, when he began to observe one and 
 another melt into tears, and a tender wistful listening, a 
 "living ear'' substituted for the former stupid one. Pre- 
 sently enquirers came to obtain private instruction, and 
 the exigencies of the people led to the extension of reli- 
 gious opportunities — such as a lecture on Thursdays and 
 many regular prayer meetings, which still exist, and are 
 attended with avidity. In 1827, upwards of 600 pupils, of 
 various ages, attended the schools — and in 1834, mention 
 is made of 13 Sabbath schools in that one parish. Auxi- 
 liaries were required to aid the teachers and catechists, 
 and every thing seemed to be in a state of lively move- 
 ment. When Mr M'L. first entered on his office all the 
 people of a certain age were accustomed to flock to the 
 table of communion. He had reason to apprehend that 
 few of them discerned the Lord in the feast, and preached 
 to them carefully for a year, before he ventured to cele- 
 brate that solemn ordinance ; and so much had their light 
 increased, that but a small portion of the old communi- 
 cants presented themselves, and they with silent tears. — 
 It is very remarkable, that in the course of years where- 
 in he has acted as their pastor, he has scarcely been obliged 
 to reject or keep back any one from this feast of love. 
 Indeed there are many whom their pastor would be glad to 
 admit, who keep back, perhaps from some erroneous ap- 
 prehension of the nature of the ordinance. This is the 
 case in several other Highland parishes. At the commu- 
 nion services of 1828, the island seemed to be moved 
 with one emotion, for 9000 people flocked to Uig on that 
 occasion. Then and subsequently the days and nights, 
 
364 SCOTLAND. 
 
 from the fast to the thanksgiving- days, have been occu- 
 pied in exhortation and prayer, by the various ministers 
 and elders, amongst whom the name of John Macdonald 
 of Farintosh or Urquhart stands pre-eminent. In 1833, 
 an immense concourse of persons attended, following and 
 seeking the truth, from the isles of Harris and Uist, as 
 they had done for a year or two before ; and the cautious 
 pastor, speaking of this and similar occasions, describes 
 to a Christian friend the " deep impression '' which was 
 then made, the " deepening work/' the " new and old con- 
 verts," the " liberty of the ministers in preaching," the 
 "refreshment of the people in hearing," aud the "fervent 
 longing for another such season," He also speaks of 
 "the knowledge and experience of the people," of "the 
 Gospel prospering in Lewis," of " many new converts 
 being brought in during the solemnities." It is not in 
 our power to give much particular detail, the honourable 
 and judicious caution of the faithful pastor, for the pre- 
 sent declining to bring into public view the cases of indi- 
 viduals in whose real devotion to God he has much com- 
 fort. General results, however, are in the possession of 
 the public, and may be thankfully and humbly stated, to 
 the praise of that blessed Spirit who has wrought such 
 changes. In proof of the minister's own enjoyment of 
 his scene of labour it is pleasing to state, that he remarks 
 in 1834 : " Ten winters have I passed here, all wonder- 
 fully short, pleasant, and delightful;'' and his teachers 
 are all so much interested in their occupation, that they 
 would rather expend their lives in that retired region than 
 remove to wealthier and more southern districts. We 
 hope the faithful records preserved by him who watches 
 for their souls as one who must give account, will, at no 
 distant day, be published to revive the drooping church. 
 In the mean time all that we are about to relate of the 
 general aspect of society there, we mention as detailed by 
 witnesses much interested in stating the truth correctly: 
 1. The prayer fulness of the people. — One gentleman, 
 who annually visits the Lewis, mentions that he has often 
 walked forth at eventide to have his spirit refreshed by 
 observing the devotional temper of the people of Uig- — 
 
ISLE OF LEWIS. 865 
 
 and that at all hours, from eight o'clock at night till one 
 in the morning-, he has passed by and overheard persons en- 
 gaged in pra\ er. Many a bush formed a shelter for a soul 
 communing with its God; and along the brown ridges 
 of the fallow, by stooping, so as to cast the figures be- 
 tween the eye and the clear margin of the horizon, dim 
 forms might be discerned, either alone, or two and three 
 together, kneeling and pouring out their wants at the 
 footstool of mercy. The Captain of a King's ship, which 
 lay for a considerable time off the island, who, in pursuing 
 his sports, has crossed and recrossed the lands in all direc- 
 tions, bears witness that he never met any intoxication, 
 any profanity, nor indeed a single person engaged in any 
 occupation which might tempt him to wish to shrink from 
 public inspection, except during their frequent retirements 
 for prayer. He mentioned, in particular, his having en- 
 tered a woodyard in the town of Stornoway to enquire 
 into the progress of some repairs making on his boat, 
 when he saw two men retire behind the logs to pray to- 
 gether, and though their Gaelic was unintelligible to him, 
 their occupation, and obvious abstraction from the world, 
 and solemn im[)ression of the divine presence, softened 
 and subdued the man of the sea, though not given to the 
 melting mood. 
 
 He said, " They are an extraordinary people here ; one 
 cannot but be struck with their honesty, kindness, and 
 sobriety. I am told they make a good deal of whisky for 
 sale. It cannot be for home consumption, for I think I 
 never met a drunk person out of the town. One hears 
 of religion elsewhere, but one sees it here in every thing." 
 We have pleasure in mentioning, as another example 
 of the devotional habits of these people, what a friend 
 who was rowed up the Loch Roag witnessed. The way 
 being long, it is customary to stop to rest and refresh the 
 oarsmen. When they had drawn their boat up into the 
 little bay, and ceased from their toil, the men, before they 
 tasted of their food, raised their blue bonnets, and united 
 in prayer. 
 
 It may be proper to state, that the cabins of the inha- 
 bitants, consisting of but one apartment, furnish no op- 
 
366 SCOTLAND. 
 
 portunity of retirement ; and this explains in part the 
 custom of praying in the open air. There is, however, 
 another and more affecting reason. The people want to 
 repair far more frequently to the footstool of mercy than 
 at morning and evening ; and as their occupations are in 
 general out of doors, or on the waves, so also are their 
 prayers. 
 
 There are five natives of the parish of Uig who were 
 enlisted when a regiment was raised on the island, and 
 having gone with the army to Egypt, lost their sight by 
 ophthalmy, and after their return have become acquainted 
 with the doctrines of the gospel. It is common with 
 them to bless God for having taken away their bodily 
 eyes, since they regard that as one of the instruments in 
 his hand for opening the mental sight, which was before 
 in a state of darkness. Three of them are active fellow- 
 helpers in the extension of Christian truth and consola- 
 tion. One is a most efficient and zealous elder in the 
 parish of Uig ; of another we shall have occasion to re- 
 late a curious circumstance under the head of liberality ; 
 and of the third we present the following well authenti- 
 cated narrative, under the head oi prayerfuhiess. 
 
 This blind man, whose name even is unknown to us, 
 had the affliction of losing a wife who was a very pious 
 character. She left a daughter old enough to distinguish 
 the excellences of her mother. In the course of time 
 the father took another wife, of a very feeble constitution, 
 who, though a good woman, had not attained to the 
 Christian advancement of the first. The girl was most 
 exemplary in all her duties, obeying and reverencing her 
 stepmother as if she had been her own mother. She was 
 in all respects a most promising and pleasing character ; 
 and her father having often enjoyed spiritual conversation 
 with her, was, from these mutual communings, fully satis- 
 fied of her happy state. On a Saturday, when the weather 
 w^as tempestuous, the young people, as was customary 
 with them, were going out a-fishing. The father 
 urged his daughter to remain at home, but she said her 
 mother liked a fish for her dinner, and she would try to 
 catch one for to-morrow, as it was the only sustenance 
 
ISLE OF LEWIS. 357 
 
 she cared for. They went to fish, when suddenly a hnge 
 billow swept the face of the rock on which they were set. 
 The boys of the company managed to scramlile up the 
 rock, but the beloved daughter of the blind veteran was 
 swept into the boiling ocean. The last view her terrified 
 comrades had of her, was sitting on the crest of a wave, 
 with her fishing-rod in one hand, and basket in the other. 
 They returned with the sorrowful tidings ; and from the 
 nature of the rocky coast, and the course of the tides and 
 currents, no one entertained a hope of finding the rem- 
 nants of her mangled body. The Christians around, 
 came as they did of old to Martha and Mary, to weep 
 with the afflicted father, and passed the mournful night 
 in prayer. His mind, though before so satisfied, became 
 filled with alarm and concern about her final state, now 
 that she was gone, and his soul refused to be comforted. 
 In the course of prayer he was led to reiterate the peti- 
 tion, that if she were one of the assembly of the redeemed, 
 he might know it by this token, that the sea should give 
 back his dead, and that he might bury her. In the morn- 
 ing those who passed along the shore in their way to the 
 house of God, found the dear girl gently deposited on the 
 sand, her limbs decently composed, as if she had been ad- 
 justed for burial, and in no way defaced or injured. Then 
 went the weeping father, and with solemn joy took up 
 his dead, witnessmg that " precious in the sight of the 
 Lord is the death of his saints;" that their very dust is 
 dear to him ; and also, that He is verily the hearer and 
 the answerer of prayer. 
 
 Are there some who read this fact, that count it the 
 extreme of credulous superstition, and stamp the work in 
 Lewis as of this character for its sake ? That is because they 
 do not know the sweet intimacy and communion that 
 subsists between the Father in Heaven and his reconciled 
 children. They cannot judge of a case in which they 
 have no experience. Perhaps even some of those who 
 believe in the efficacy of prayer, may say there is a want 
 of caution in narrating this story. Why then should we 
 be cautious to hide what God reveals ? His own spirit 
 dictated the narration of the prayers of Gideon, how he 
 selected his tokens himself once and again, and they were 
 
368 SCOTLAND. 
 
 granted to him. And if Gideon, who knew the Lord 
 only by the more obscure early promises of redemption, 
 could venture to ask so much, are those who have heard 
 all that we have of the benig'nity and the compassions of 
 Jesus, not to come boldly to the throne of grace in time 
 of need ? Is the divine character changed ? Is He not 
 the same God who filled the fleece with dew, and left 
 the earth around dry ; and again bedewed the ground, 
 and preserved the fleece from moisture, — that heard the 
 cry of his afflicted servant in the Lewis ? His mighty 
 billow swept the lamb from the rock into the engulfing" 
 ocean. His gentle wave restored her vacated tabernacle 
 to console her father, and answer his doul)t, by an as- 
 surance that she was that day with her Saviour in Para- 
 dise. If he hath done the great thing of dying for us, 
 will he despise to do the less of consoling- us, and proving- 
 that his eye is upon us still ? 
 
 Howe, in his " Living Temple," in treating of what 
 he terms " God's conversableness with men," has the 
 following reasonings, which appear so suited to the case 
 of the bereaved parent, that we introduce them. If" it be 
 a mark of superior talent in a man, that he can adapt his 
 converse to the comprehension and knowledge of a child, 
 why should we wonder when we behold the holy and 
 wise condescension of the Divine Being, who deals with 
 his creatures according, not only to their faith, but to 
 their state of cultivation, and to the habits of their coun- 
 try ? The dweller in tents is approached by three way- 
 faring men, who address him at his tent door. To the 
 Lawgiver, the Spirit that dwelt in the unconsumed bush 
 spoke in solemnity, while he kept his sheep at the back 
 of the desert. David, in the refinements of a court, has 
 a message by the lips of Nathan, a man like himself. 
 Solomon is visited on his splendid couch with a vision of 
 the night. The multitudes of Judea hear the voice of 
 one in rough garments crying in the wilderness. Cor- 
 nelius, in return to his olten presented petitions, has 
 Peter sent to guide him ; and the blind Highland soldier, 
 when his heart is overwhelmed M'ithin him, receives the 
 mark for which he ventures to supplicate from Him who 
 is his stronghold and present help in time of trouble. 
 
ISLE OF LEWIS. 369 
 
 Who shall limit the various methods of the Divine con- 
 verse with man, or stig^matize any one of them as un- 
 likely, because new to himself, and belong-ing- to a higher 
 degree of faith and prayer than he has attained ? 
 
 " As man immediately owes the peculiar excellences 
 of his intelligent nature to God only, it is apparently 
 consequent that having formed this his more excellent 
 creature according to his own more express likeness, 
 stamped it with the glorious characters of his living image, 
 given it a nature suitable to his own, and thereby made it 
 capable of rational and intelligent converse with him, he 
 hath it ever in his power to maintain a continual converse 
 with this creature, by agreeable communications, by letting 
 in upon it the vital beams and influences of his own lig:ht 
 and love, and receiving back the return of its grateful 
 acknowledgements and praises. Wherein it is manifest 
 he should do no greater thing than he hath done : for who 
 sees not that it is a matter of no greater difficulty to con- 
 verse with, than to make a reasonable creature ? Or who 
 would not be ashamed to deny, that he who hath been the 
 only author of the soul of man, and of the excellent powers 
 and faculties belonging to it, can more easily sustain what 
 he hath made, and converse with that his creature suit- 
 ably to the way wherein he hath made it capable of his 
 converse ? Whereto the consideration being added of his 
 gracious nature, it is further evident that he is not only 
 able, but apt and ready to converse with men, in such a 
 way as shall tend to the improving of their being to that 
 blessedness whereof he hath made them naturally capable, 
 if their own voluntary alienation and aversion to him do 
 not obstruct the way of that intercourse" * 
 
 We are well aware that the nature of the old and new 
 dispensations differs in regard to miraculous interferences, 
 as well as in various other particulars. But who will 
 venture to deny that what we term the ordinary opera- 
 tions of nature are so adjusted and arranged as to answer 
 the effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man ? In the 
 present instance, the extremity of the Christian man's 
 
 * Howe's Living Temple, p. 85. 
 2 A 
 
370 SCOTLAND. 
 
 distress, the working-s of a mind deeply imhued with a 
 sense of the overruling- providence of him who numbers 
 the very hairs of our heads, and his undoubting- reliance 
 on the promises made to those who ask in faith, removed 
 every obstacle to converse with God which alienation or 
 aversion so continually present, even in the hearts of those 
 / who do attempt to pray. 
 
 2. The uprightness of the people On occasion of a 
 
 year of famine, the natives were put to great straits, and 
 in danger of perishing for want. A vessel laden with 
 meal was driven upon their shores by stress of weather ? 
 Did the famine-stricken natives seize on the ship, and law- 
 lessly apply her carg-o to the supply of their necessities? 
 If they had, hung-er would have formed for them a plau- 
 sible excuse. Twenty years before, thev would doubtless 
 have done so, and held themselves g-uiltJess. But now it 
 was not so. Every portion was accurately weighed or 
 divided, and as their necessities were so great that they 
 had nothing then to pay, their affectionate minister gave 
 a promissory-note for it, knowing well that the excellent 
 lady, whose property the lands are, would not suffer him 
 to be impoverished. The people knew this also, but none 
 took advantage of it, all were occupied in economising to 
 the utmost till one after another they had repaid their 
 debt. Thus they obtained not only the great blessing of 
 necessary food, but preserved the still greater blessing of 
 integrity, and a spirit free from covetousness. 
 
 It is the rule in this and the other isles of the Hebrides, 
 that when a man meets a stray sheep on the moor, he is 
 entitled to carry it home as his own, and obliged to make 
 an equivalent offering in the collection for the poor on the 
 Sabbath day. After the commencement of the revival in 
 the Lewis, many came to confess to their minister the 
 trouble of conscience they experienced by reason of having 
 what they called a hlach sheep in their Hocks — some 
 having had them for several winters. The minister al- 
 ways directed them to make restitution now in the ap- 
 pointed way, and in one season the sum of L.16 was de- 
 posited in the plate. The number of sheep annually lost 
 has wonderfully diminished since the commencement of 
 
ISLE OF LEWIS. 371 
 
 the revival, leading- to the conclusion that the loss imputed 
 to accident arose from dishonesty. 
 
 3. The Christian liberality oi the people. — It has long 
 been the custom to make acollectionatthe Thursday lecture, 
 for the most necessitous persons in the district where the 
 lecture is held — and thus, without poor rates, these people 
 support ibeir own poor. For manj years they have con- 
 tributed L.13 or upwards to the GaeHc School Society, 
 sometimes L.16, and one year when the society was in 
 difficulty, the contribution amounted to L.'iO. On trans- 
 mitting L.lfi, which was the sum collected in Uig in 
 1830, Mr M-Leod remarks — '■ Considering the circum- 
 stances of the people, I bear testimony that their liberality 
 and zeal in this case have cause to provoke very many to 
 similar duties. It was most delightful to see the hoary 
 head, and the young scholar of eight or nine years joining 
 in this contribution. The will preponderates over our 
 purse, so that we cannot do exactly what we would." 
 In 1831, Mr M'Leod, while he petitions that a teacher 
 may not be removed from his present station for another 
 year, says, " A poor man in that station declared to me 
 lately, that should the directors demand one of his cows, 
 he would readily give one before he would part with the 
 teacher," 
 
 The journal of the superintendent, in stating the exa- 
 mination of one of the schools in Uig, mentions the case 
 of a man, named Norman M'Leod, w ho is one of the many 
 hundreds of souls in the isle of Lewis that have come out 
 of gross darkness into the sweet and blessed light of the 
 knowledge of God, })artly by means of the Gaelic schools, 
 and partly by the ministration of the truth :— " Norman 
 M'Leod is a native of this parish, and at an early age 
 enlisted into the armv, went abroad, and was in several 
 engagements.'' " Balls," says he, " whizzing about me in 
 numbers, but the Lord directed them so that they did me 
 no harm." He was in Egypt, and there lived in drunken- 
 ness and profligacy. " There," says he in his native 
 Gaelic, " the Lord took from me my bodily sight. I 
 came home and on the wav was wonderfully preserved. 
 At length I found myself in my native land. Here I found 
 
372 SCOTLAND. 
 
 tilings not as I left them. I found the Bible of God, of 
 which I was totally ignorant, among my friends ; and 
 schools amongst them for teaching the knowledge of that 
 blessed book. I found such a work among them with 
 Bibles and schools as was altogether new to me. * Nay, 
 the very children would correct and reprove me, though 
 an old man. In one of these schools, the Bible caught 
 my ear, it sunk unto my heart ; it there opened an eye 
 that sin had ever kept sealed ; it read to me my deeds, it 
 led me to trace my former ways ; yea, times, places, and 
 deeds that were quite banished from my memory, were 
 recalled into full view. It recorded a black catalogue 
 against me, and seemed to fix my portion amongst the 
 damned. I thought my case altogether a hopeless one, 
 but the same Bible brought to my ears tidings of unutter- 
 able worth — salvation through a crucified Saviour." 
 
 The superintendent mentions this as a preface to a little 
 ' story, " which were the honesty and simplicity of the old 
 man known to the reader, would be considered more inte- 
 resting still." 
 
 " I began," said Norman to his minister, " to think 
 how these Gaelic schools came to be planted in my 
 country. I thought on the state of my country when I 
 knew it before in my youth, and on the blessed fruits of 
 these schools among my kindred. I contrasted both, and 
 wondered, and thought, and wondered again. Said I, 
 what is this ? What a change of things I Blessed God ! 
 Blessed Bible ! Blessed people, that sent their schools ! 
 and blessed schools that teach the Bible of God to perish- 
 ing sinners ! and blessed teachers, men of Christ ! I 
 thought what would my poor country be, but for the 
 Bible and these schools. I was led into their history, 
 and traced them to a society in Edinburgh. They en- 
 grossed my attention, and I thought them really the 
 schools of Christ. I thought I would pray for them, 
 
 * The same astonishment was expressed by many of the disbanded 
 Highlanders of the 78th, on their return to tlieir native land, on find- 
 ing old and young going to school, and reading the Bible in Gaelic. 
 Norman caUs them in his native tongue, " The Schools of Christ." 
 
ISLE OF LEWIS. 373 
 
 and so I did ; but this, thoug-ht I, is not enough. When 
 the Lord took away my eyesig-ht, he gave me a pension. 
 I thought I should give some of that to help his schools. 
 A public collection was proposed by you. I felt happy 
 at this, and prayed that the Lord might open na sporain 
 dhuhhd (that is, the black purses, an appellation given to 
 the purses of greedy worldlings), and I myself gave two 
 shillings. When a collection was proposed this year, * I 
 think,' said I to myself, ' I shall give this year four shil- 
 lings, double what I gave last,' * It is enoug-h for you,' 
 said something within me, * to give what you gave last 
 year, two shillings.' " Here follows a long and most 
 original debate, between Norman with the enlarged and 
 melted heart, and the old worldly-wise Norman. Some- 
 times he would give double, then five, then ten, then 
 back to five. During all this debate he was in great 
 agitation, having, as he felt, lifted up his hand to the 
 Lord that he would give so much. He thought of Ana- 
 nias and Sapphira, and dared not go back ; while the 
 same inward voice asked him, " ' Ah, Norman, what 
 are you about; you are now going crazy altogether ; you 
 are a poor bhnd man, you cannot work, you have a 
 family of seven to support, and the money God gave you 
 as a provision for your family, you should apply to the 
 object for which it was given, which will be most accept- 
 able to Him,' &c. &c. 
 
 <' I then began to ruminate on the whole process, and 
 at length I thought my opposition might be the sugges- 
 tion of Satan to keep me from giving so much to the 
 cause of Christ. On reflecting on this for a while, I felt 
 convinced it was he. I started upon my legs, and lifting 
 up my hand with defiance, I said, ' Ah ! you devil, I will 
 give a score of them. I will give a pound note every 
 year I live, so the further you follow me, the more you 
 shall lose.' From that moment the temptation ceased." 
 
 " How interesting and encouraging it is to mark the 
 wonderful and merciful working of God in preserving 
 this poor blind man abroad, and in bringing him in safety 
 home to his native land, until, by your instrumentality, 
 he should be made acquainted with the ways and salva- 
 
374 SCOTLAND. 
 
 tion of God. Thus, from Egypt all the way, a blind 
 scholar has been brought to your schools. Thus, the 
 Bible having- been blessed to a poor blind man, in a 
 remote hamlet of your land, has drawn forth the prayer 
 ot his heart in its own cause, and as much out of his 
 small pittance for the cause of Christ, as out of the 
 purses of those who have their hundreds and their thou- 
 sands. Poor Norman contributed his ' score of shilling's' 
 both last year and the present, and says he means to do 
 so while he lives, 'unless the King- becomes bankrupt!'" * 
 We have pleasure in stating that Norman is not weary of 
 his liberality, as he adds one penny to his pound for every 
 year that God adds to his life. 
 
 Their pastor, knowing that, by losses at sea and a bad 
 harvest, they were one season unusually impoverished, 
 did not call in the collection as usual ; but they collected 
 it amongst themselves, and carried it to him. He said 
 he feared they could not afford it, but they would not be 
 excused. 
 
 In 1835, when, in addition to all their usual collec- 
 tions, they in one day at church gathered L.20 for church 
 extension, they were favoured with such a successful 
 fishing season, as enabled them to supply all the wants of 
 the winter. The fishing had for vnany years failed, and 
 the people observed that, by means of this wealth be- 
 stowed on them from the sea in 1835, they were amply 
 repaid for all they had been enabled to give. This is 
 another of those facts which we note to the glory of Him 
 who is nigh unto all them that fear him. He knoweth 
 what we have need of, and they who scatter in faith shall 
 still increase. Let not any of those contributors shrink 
 from this mention of the gracious dealing of God with 
 them. The effort of their liberality was known to those 
 interested in the church extension scheme, and the plen- 
 tiful fishing was told in the newspapers. May those who 
 see the divine hand give Him the praise I 
 
 Dr Chalmers, who is well acquainted with the amount 
 usually collected in such a situation, observed that L.7 
 
 • Gaelic School Report for 1628, p. 48. 
 
ISLE OF LEWIS. 37 3 
 
 would have been a handsome contribution for the parish 
 of Uig". The parish of Lochs must also be mentioned as 
 rivalhng- its neig-hbour in Hherality, having- contributed 
 as much as L.20 to the Gaehc School Society in one 
 year, influenced by the same feeling of gratitude and 
 concern for the ignorant. It is pleasing to be enabled 
 to trace this to the only genuine source of liberality. 
 The faithful pastor at Lochs has lately been cheered by 
 seeing- several new souls awakened, and the good work is 
 going on prosj)er.ously in the early months of 1836. May 
 the spirit of the Lord cause this thing to grow! 
 
 One feature of this revival peculiarly interesting is 
 that souls of all ages have been aifected, from the infant 
 of three years to the man verging on a hundred. We 
 present a notice of the youngest, and two of the oldest 
 within our knowledge. In Lewis, as in the American 
 revivals, the effects produced on the characters of others, 
 by the influences of the Holy Spirit, seem to occupy 
 many minds with an unwonted solemnity, the cause of 
 which they do not themselves always perceive ; and many 
 are excited to imitate pious neighbours, by establishing 
 fiamily prayer, who are not as yet walking in the true 
 light of the Gospel. This is said to explain some parts 
 of the conduct of the parents of the child whose little 
 history is here related. 
 
 Catharine Smith was a native of Pabay, a small island 
 in Loch Roag, where dwell seven families. From their 
 insular situation and poverty, it has not been in the 
 power of the parents to educate their children ; but little 
 Kitty is an example of the truth that all God's children 
 are taught of him, for when only two years old she was 
 observed to lay aside her playthings, and clasp her little 
 hands with reverence during family worship ; and at the 
 age of three she was in the habit of repeating the 23d 
 Psalm, with such relish and fervour as showed that she 
 looked to the good shepherd in the character of a lamb of 
 his flock. Her parents taught her also tbe I>ord's Prayer, 
 which she repeated duly, not only at her stated times, 
 hut often in the silence of night. She frequently pressed 
 the duty of prayer, not only on the other children, but 
 
376 SCOTLAND. 
 
 on her parents, and she told her father that, in their 
 absence, v/hen she would ask a blessing- on the food left 
 for the children, her brothers and sisters would mock at 
 and beat her for doing- so. At another time, when she 
 was probably about six years old, she was out with her 
 companions herding- cattle, when she spoke to them of 
 the comehness of Christ. They, probably to tempt her, 
 said he was black. She left them, and returned home 
 much cast down, and said, " The children vexed me very- 
 much to-day. I will not g-o with them, for they said that 
 Christ was black, and that grieved my spirit." Her 
 parents asked her what she rephed to that. " I told 
 them," she said, " that Christ is white and glorious in his 
 apparel." 
 
 It is probable that Kitty was sufficiently enlightened 
 to discern the moral comeliness of the gracious Redeem- 
 er, while her thoughtless conmrades did not extend their 
 ideas beyond personal beauty. They would have said 
 any thing that might produce the effect of provoking their 
 playfellow, whose more intelligent spirit grieved for 
 them that they " saw no beauty in him" whom her soul 
 loved, " that they should desire him." Perhaps no Chris- 
 tian character is truly confirmed in faith and patience, 
 without some trial of persecution, which both shows to the 
 heart its own corruption, by the irritating effects of gain- 
 saying, and affords an opportunity of proving that we are 
 not ashamed of the gospel of Christ. This dear child 
 had her trial adapted to her age and sphere, and came 
 forth on the Lord's side holding fast the word of life, in 
 as firm a way as a much more experienced Christian 
 might have done. 
 
 The Rev. J. Macdonald of Farintosh having preached 
 in the parish of Uig, Kitty's parents were among the 
 many who went to hear him. On their return they men- 
 tioned what he had said about the formality of much that 
 is called prayer, and the ignorance of many as to its spi- 
 rituality ; they stated, according to their recollection of 
 the sermon, that many had old useless prayers, and greatly 
 needed to learn to pray with the Spirit. The child ob- 
 served this, and two days after, said to her mother, " it 
 
ISLE OF LEWIS. 377 
 
 is time for me to give over my old form of prayer." Her 
 mother replied, " neither you nor your prayers are old ; " 
 but she rejoined, " I must give them over, and use the 
 prayers which the Lord will teach me." After this she 
 withdrew to retired spots for prayer. At one time her 
 younger sister returned Avithout her, and on being asked 
 where she had left Kitty, she said, " I left her praying." 
 Her father says that he has often sat up in bed listening 
 to her sweet young voice, presenting this petition with 
 heartfelt earnestness, " Oh, redeem me from spiritual and 
 eternal death." 
 
 From the remoteness of her dwelling, Kitty had never 
 attended any place of public worship, — but the Sabbath 
 was her delight, — and often would she call in her brothers 
 and sisters from the play in which they were thought- 
 lessly engaged, asking them to join in prayer and other 
 devout exercises, and warning them, that if they profaned 
 the day, and disliked God's worship, they must perish. 
 Her mother observing the intent gaze with which she 
 looked on a large fire, enquired what she saw in that fire? 
 She replied, " I am seeing that my state would be awful if 
 I were to fall into that fire, even though I should be im- 
 mediately taken out ; but wo is me, those who are cast 
 into hell fire will never come out thence." Another day, 
 when walking by the side of a precipice, and looking 
 down, she exclaimed to her mother, " how fearful would 
 our state be if we were to fall down this rock, even 
 though we should be lifted up again ; but they who are 
 cast into the depths of hell will never be raised there- 
 from." * 
 
 One day her mother found her lying on a bench with 
 a sad countenance, and addressed some jocular words to 
 her with a view to cheer her. But the child's heart was 
 occupied with solemn thoughts of eternity ; and instead 
 of smiling, she answered gravely, " O, mother, you are 
 vexing my spirit, I would rather hear you praying." In 
 
 * The reader is requested to observe that the child's words are 
 translated from the Gaelic, and thus have lost their infantine ex- 
 pression. 
 
378 SCOTLAND. 
 
 truth, eternity was very near her, and the Spirit of God 
 was preparing her for entering- it. As she got up one 
 morning, she said, " O, are we not wicked creatures who 
 have put Christ to death." Her mother, curious to hear 
 what one so young could say on such a sul)ject, replied, 
 " Christ was put to death, Kitty, long het'ore we were 
 born." The child, speaking with an understanding heart, 
 said, " mother, I am younger than you, but my sins were 
 crucifying him." After a pause, she added, " what a 
 wonder that Christ could be put to death when he him- 
 self was God, and had power to kill every one ; indeed, 
 they only put him to death as man, for it is impossible to 
 kill God." She used often to repeat passages from Peter 
 Grant's spiritual songs, such as, " It is the blood of the 
 Lamb that precious is." When she came to the conclu- 
 sion of the verse, " It is not valued according to its 
 worth," she would, in touching terms, lament the sad 
 truth, that His blood is so lightly thought of. Being 
 present when some pious persons spoke of those in vii. 
 Rev. who have washed their robes and made them white 
 in the blood of the Lamb, she said, " is it not wonderful 
 that, while other blood stains what is dipped in it, this 
 cleanses and makes white." 
 
 Murdoch Macleod being engaged in the valuable duties 
 of a Scottish elder in the little island of Pabay, Kitty 
 wished much to hear him, but from bashfulness was 
 ashamed to enter the house where he was employed in 
 worship ; she therefore climbed up to the window and 
 sat there till all was over. Being asked what she had 
 heard, she said she was amazed to hear that Christ offered 
 himself as a Saviour to many in our land who rejected 
 him, and that he was now going to other and more remote 
 quarters to win souls. She then added with the pathos 
 of a full heart, " O, who knows but he may return here 
 again." 
 
 Soon after she had completed her seventh year she was 
 attacked by that sickness which opened her way to the 
 kingdom of Heaven. When her father asked who she 
 pitied most of those she would leave behind, she replied 
 that she pitied every one whom she left in a Christless 
 
ISLE OF LEWIS. 379 
 
 state. She suffered much from thirst during- her illness, 
 and her mother, reluctant to give her so much cold water 
 as she longed for, fell upon the evil expedient of telling 
 her that the well was dried up. The following- day, 
 when she saw water brought in for household purposes, 
 poor Kitty's heart was grieved, and she said, " O, mother 
 dear, was it not you who told the great lie yesterday, when 
 you said the well was dry — O, never do so again, for it 
 ang-ers God." During- her illness, she was enabled almost 
 literally to obey the command, '' pray without ceasing-,'* 
 and was often interceding- with the Lord to look down 
 and visit her native place. On the morning of her last 
 day on earth, her father said, " there is reason for thank- 
 fulness that we see another day." Kitty opened her eyes, 
 and said, " O, Holy One of Israel save me from death," 
 a petition often used when in perfect health, and evidently 
 referring- to spiritual and eternal death. Throughout the 
 day she was generally silent, which her father remarked, 
 saying-, " I do not hear you praying as usual;" to which 
 she replied, "dear father, I pray without ceasing-, though 
 not because you desire me to do so." In her last moments 
 she was heard to say, " O, redeem me from death." Her 
 father, leaning over her, said, " Kitty, where are you 
 now ? " To which the reply was, " I am on the shore;" 
 and immediately her soul was launched into the great 
 ocean of eternity. In December, 1829, this lowly child 
 was carried from her poor native island to the blessed 
 region where the redeemed of the Lord find their home, 
 and her name has left a sweet perfume behind it. 
 
 From this most satisfactory and authentic account of 
 the blessed state of one of the youngest souls brought to 
 Christ during- the revival at the Lewis, which strongly 
 reminds us of the narrative of a child of equally tender 
 years detailed by Jonathan Edwards, we turn to two aged 
 men, who almost literally explain the anomalous ex- 
 pression, " a child of a hundred years old." 
 
 John M'Kae, faradv piper to the Earl of Seaforth, and 
 probably having inherited that rather dignified office from 
 a line of ancestors, stinndated by desire after the truth, 
 acquired the art of reading when very old. He applied 
 
380 SCOTLAND. 
 
 to the noble ladj, who is not only heir to her father's 
 lands, but acts as the patroness and friend of all the 
 Lewis, for a very large printed Bible, " as she must 
 remember that his eyes were nearly fourscore years old." 
 The lady remarked, that as there were no Gaelic schools 
 in his youth, she supposed it did not signify, as its being 
 a large print would not enable him to read it. " Ay," 
 said the patriarchal student, " but I've been to school, and 
 I have learnt to read her * myself, for that is better than 
 hearing her read." The large Bible was procured by 
 sending all the way to Dingwall, and when he received 
 it, poor M'Kae hugged it to his breast, while tears started 
 in his eyes, and he exclaimed, " Ay then, may be I may 
 read her through yet myself before I die ; I've heard her 
 read in the kirk, but I never thought to read her myself" 
 — and a diligent student did the old man prove himself 
 while he sat by the hall lire with the Bible on his knee. 
 In a few months after obtaining this treasure he was 
 called to the full enjoyment of all its blessed promises. 
 He had been a sober and respectable person during his 
 long life, but he was believed to have been but lately' 
 awakened to a deeper sense of eternal things, by having 
 his only son, who was celebrated as a fine swimmer, 
 drowned when crossing a loch. 
 
 Malcolm Macleod had attained the great age of 95, 
 without experiencing repentance unto life. Intirmity 
 had for some time prevented him from attending public 
 worship, and as far as man might judge, his decaying 
 faculties were fast shutting up the avenues to the soul, 
 and he was less likely than many to become the subject 
 of converting grace. But the Lord saw it not so. In 
 October or November, 1834, his pious daughter brought 
 home notes of a sermon she had been hearing, which 
 were made the means of serious impression to her father, 
 and he is going on in a very promising progress in the 
 divine life. Though he is becoming blind with age, his 
 
 * It is pretty generally known that Highlanders apply personal 
 pronouna to inanimate objects, and reverse the genders in using 
 them. 
 
ISLE OF LEWIS. 381 
 
 mental faculties are entire, and the whole man is enliven- 
 ed, having- received a stimulus which arouses his atten- 
 tion, sharpens his understanding, and interests his heart. 
 Instead of dozing- away his hours, he now sleeps very lit- 
 tle, prayer and praise have also become his principal food. 
 His glad pastor says of him, " He is a most interesting- 
 sight, caught at the eleventh hour; O how wonderful are the 
 ways of sovereign grace ! " With his usual faithfulness Mr 
 MacLeod ministers to him in private, and lately preached 
 at his bed-side on the man who was thirty-eight years at the 
 pool. And at the last season of communion the vener- 
 able man was borne by four friends and placed at the 
 table of his Lord, with tears of sorrow for past profana- 
 tion of that privilege, and of grateful love for present 
 blessings coursing each other over his furrowed cheeks. 
 The whole multitude were moved, every eye glistening 
 in sweet sympathy with his feelings. When we hear of 
 such things, may we not justly exclaim, " what hath God 
 wrought I" 
 
 In 1835, the Rev. A. MacLeod visited some of the 
 other western Isles to ascertain their state, and was much 
 moved to see the Isle of Tyree in particular, fortified 
 against gospel truth, by the opposition of those having 
 influence, and the natural ignorance and corruption of the 
 people. His heart has not found rest without suggesting 
 means to " assault the ancient garrison," so that they 
 may " in the Lord's good time subdue and drive the 
 Canaanite out of the land." But that which brings the 
 visit to Tyree under our peculiar notice, is the effect pro- 
 duced on the people of Uig, when their pastor again reach- 
 ed home, and related to them what he had witnessed. 
 He frequently had occasion to observe that after a short 
 absence, not only was the love of his people for himself 
 increased, but their zeal to run their Christian course 
 also. On hearing of the deplorable ignorance and wick- 
 edness to be met with in the Isle of Tyree, several of 
 Mr MacLeod's people who were then as careless as they, 
 were brought under concern ; and when they heard of the 
 religious views entertained by some of these islanders, 
 they were convicted with having secretly cherished simi- 
 
382 SCOTLAND. 
 
 Jar opinions, althoug-li they were daily favoured with 
 gospel ordinances. Since November in particular, there 
 has been much religious impression amongst the people. 
 Silent tears in general pervading the whole congregation. 
 This used to be the case during the long time when wor- 
 ship was held in the tield, while the church was building, 
 but had subsided in a degree since they occupied the new 
 church, till this fresh awakening has melted many new- 
 hearts, and refreshed many who had been previously 
 awakened. It is a fact much worthy of observation, that 
 during ten years in which this work of grace has made a 
 steady progress, there has not been one outbreaking of 
 enthusiasm, or delusion, or false doctrine, so that their 
 minister expressed great astonishment and thankfulness, 
 after reading Dr Sprague's work on American Revivals, 
 that they have been so graciously preserved from the ex- 
 travagance and error which has in some few instances 
 broke in to injure the integrity of the work in America. 
 
 In considering the state of things in the parish of Uig, 
 we are disposed to rejoice over it more than over any 
 other Scottish Revival. Its calm, and deep, and prolong- 
 ed flow, and its sincerity may be imputed to some natural 
 and obvious causes. God has vouchsafed to them for 
 ten years the ministrations of a man, whose method is 
 consistent and now well understood by them. He has 
 been preserved in prayerful humility as their watchman, 
 and saved from in any vvay casting a stumblingblock in 
 their way. The ministers who have been placed in the 
 neighbouring churches (two of which are government 
 churches that have within a few years been opened on 
 the island) are men who greatly strengthen his hands by 
 preaching not " another gospel," but the same doctrine 
 with himself, thus avoiding distraction and perplexity. 
 Though Uig be the most enlivened spot, the revival is 
 by no means limited to that parish. There has been no 
 variety of sects introducing controversy and strife, or 
 withdrawing men's minds from the essentials that con- 
 cern their own souls, to fix them on the less weighty 
 forms of church government, or questions of no profit. 
 In this respect, truth has had a fairer entrance to the 
 
ISLE OF LEWIS. 383 
 
 mind, and prayer has not been hindered. At Arran 
 there seemed to be a tendency in some to yield to bodily 
 excitement and nervous emotions which their results 
 proved not to have been genuine workings of the renewed 
 heart. In Glenlyon the spirit of controversy met and 
 drove back the spirit of contrition. At Moulin the re- 
 moval of the faithful instructor left the sheep to be scat- 
 tered. But in Lewis hitherto the Lord hath upheld and 
 sheltered his flock from such dangers, and the spirit of 
 faith and prayer and a sound mind is preserved amongst 
 them. May it never die away, but from this distant spot 
 of our empire may the blessed wave of salvation swell 
 and rise, till it shall overflow the land, and gather in every 
 county, every parish, and every soul to the kingdom of 
 our God and of his Christ ! 
 
 The point designed to be proved by this little work is, 
 that it is true that we have had revivals in Great Britain. 
 This, it is humbly trusted, has been accomplished by the 
 few unexaggerated facts here stated, which constitute but 
 a slender portion of the matter of a similar kind, that a 
 careful research would bring to view, as what has been 
 vouchsafed to our country since the Reformation. It is 
 pleasing to hear that Haworth, the scene of Grimshaw's 
 labours, and of a Divine awakening in the last century, is 
 again visited by a shower of the Holy Spirit, and that in 
 more than one of the congregations which took their rise 
 so many years ago, the Spirit of penitence and of prayer 
 is at present bestowed in a lively manner — especially in 
 one community of baptists, upwards of sixty members 
 having been added to them during the last few months. 
 
 " Be glad then, ye children of Zion, and rejoice in the 
 Lord your God : for he hath given you the former rain 
 moderately, and he will cause to come down for you the 
 rain, the former rain and the latter rain." — Joel, li. 23. 
 
APPENDIX. 
 
 FALSE APPEARANCES OF THE INFLUENCES OF 
 THE HOLY SPIRIT. 
 
 The occupation of searching for the Spirit's operations on 
 the souls of men, is calculated to have an effect the very 
 reverse of fostering credulity. The darkness of human igno- 
 rance, the folly and infirmity of human affections, the aptitude 
 of the mind which experiences some soliciiude about its eter- 
 nal welfare to catch up erroneous notions, and in its confusion 
 to accept pungent feeling and evanescent emotion as marks 
 of its reconciliation to God — not only these, but the excita- 
 bility of human beings when collected in multitudes, of which 
 the history of the world furnishes abundant examples, tend 
 to put the enquirer in an attitude of distrust. In matters not 
 connected with religion at all, we see periods of enthusiasm — 
 nay, we may say of fanaticism — either political, mercantile, 
 or philosophical, which, in the ardour they have excited, are 
 somewhat analogous to the emotion of a revival. The senti- 
 ment that continually furnished thousands to fight and to perish 
 in the Crusades, which partook, in the minds of many of the 
 leaders at least, as much of the nature of political as religious 
 fanaticism ; the spirit of revolution which so recently rendered 
 France callous to the horror of being deluged with blood ; 
 the spirit of cupidity or speculation which induced hundreds 
 to risk their all in the South Sea bubble and the Darien 
 expedition ; the spirit from which some of our countrymen 
 are to this hour smarting by means of their failure to gather 
 wealth from the mines of South America ; the spirit which 
 for a time pervaded the philosophers of Europe, so as to lead 
 them to consume their lives in lonely cells, concocting all 
 manner of baneful substances over gloomy furnaces, in search 
 2b 
 
386 FALSE REVIVALS. 
 
 of the philosopher's stone;— that same spirit has been at 
 work also in the progress of religion, and if for a while it has 
 lain in abeyance, it required but to be stirred to show itself 
 in all its vigour. Mind is a great enigma. It possesses sym- 
 pathies of an extraordinary nature, which, when the proper 
 chord is touched, seem to give a supernatural energy to the 
 human character. The knowledge of this renders it neces- 
 sary to " try the Spirits," and to guard steadily against mis- 
 taking false excitements for the genuine influences of the 
 Holy Spirit, which alone produces repentance unto life. 
 
 From the time when Theudas boasted himself to be some- 
 body, and about four hundred men joined themselves to him— 
 and Judas of Galilee, who drew away much people after him, 
 who also perished* — down to the present time, there seems 
 no century to have passed without having produced a leader 
 of delusions in some part of the Christian world. 
 
 The Montanists in Arabia, in 172, were seized with rap- 
 tures, fell into ecstasies, and uttered unintelligible sounds; 
 and even TertuUian, esteemed as one of the Fathers, was 
 drawn aside by them. 
 
 The soul sickens over the publications which recount the 
 extravagances of many who might be very sincere in the 
 midst of their delusions. *' The Cry from the Desert," the 
 " Prophetical Warnings," " The History of the Camizars," 
 " Lacy's Warnings," are almost sufficiently humbling and 
 disgusting, to excite distrust on reading the very best authen- 
 ticated accounts of the genuine works of the Spirit. The 
 mind is rather required to guard against rejecting truth than 
 against admitting folly and insanity. 
 
 When Martin Luther began his important work, there 
 was no lack of impediments thrown in his way in the form ot 
 false prophets and false reformers. Witness Thomas Munzer 
 and Nicolas Stork. We extract a brief passage from Luther's 
 letter to the Elector of Saxony, which, in his very energetic 
 and blunt manner, gives us his view of the cause of the false 
 excitements which impeded him. 
 
 1520. " It is Satan's method to attempt to crush every 
 revival of the Divine word, first by force, then by false spirits, 
 then by artful and mischievous teachers. It was so in the 
 first propagation of the gospel. He deluged Christendom 
 with the blood of martyrs. But this did not answer his pur- 
 pose. He therefore sent forth a tribe of false prophets, and 
 lilled every corner of the world with heresies, till at length the 
 
 * See Acts, v. 36, 37. 
 
NORTH OF IRELAND. 387 
 
 Papacy, that most powerful of all the Antichrists, completed 
 his design. It is so at this very time. They reckon little 
 of our teaching faith, charity, and the cross at Wittemberg. 
 * You must hear,' say they, ' the voice of God itself.' " 
 
 In our own country, from the visit of the Fifth Monarchy 
 men, and the ejaculatory denunciations of Eliza Barton, the 
 holy maid of Kent, in 1533, down to Joanna Southcote, we 
 have not failed to be tempted by lying spirits and extrava- 
 gances, the folly and profanity of which fill the mind with 
 shame and sorrow that any should be found to adopt them. 
 
 Of these we present one which seems distinctly a device 
 of the enemy of souls, purposely to impede the work of 
 revival which went on so prosperously in the North of Ire- 
 land during the ministry of the Scottish clergy about 1630. 
 
 ** At Craigfergus, in 1627, lived one Mr James Glendon- 
 ning, a lecturer, who met with great applause for his learning. 
 My curiosity being on this account raised, I" [Mr Blair of 
 Bangor] " went one day to hear him ; but perceived that he 
 did but trifle away the time in citing passages from learned 
 authors, whom he had never seen nor read. After sermon, 
 I communed freely with him on that matter, and he was so 
 much convinced that his ministrations did not edify the peo- 
 ple of that place, that he quickly retired to Oldstone ; where, 
 as it was a country place, and the people very ignorant, he 
 hoped to do more good. Accordingly, the Lord was pleased 
 to serve himself by him ; for no sooner was he settled at 
 Oldstone, than he began to preach diligently, and having a 
 strong voice, vehement delivery, and treating much of the 
 law and its threatenings, he roused up the people, and 
 awakened them with terrors ; but not having understood the 
 gospel well, nor been well grounded in learning, nor of a solid 
 judgment, lie could not pacify the conscience with the gospel 
 offers, nor silence the objections and resolve the doubts of 
 the awakened. 
 
 " Mr Glendonning was at first glad of the confluence of 
 people " [drawn together by the monthly meetings at Antrim], 
 " but we not having invited him to bear a part in the monthly 
 meetings, he became so emulous that to preserve popular 
 applause, he watched and fasted wonderfully. Afterwards, 
 he was smitten with a number of erroneous and enthusiastic 
 opinions — such as that persons turning in bed after they fell 
 asleep, was an evidence of their want of the truth of Chris- 
 tianity ; condescending upon a certain short day as the day of 
 judgment ; and affirming that whoever would join with him 
 in a ridiculous way of roaring out some prayers, lying with 
 
388 FALSE REVIVALS. 
 
 their faces on the earth, would undoubtedly be converted; 
 and the like. 
 
 " Some judicious gentlemen, to whom he had imparted 
 these conceits, having formerly received benefit from his 
 ministry, sent an express for me to repair to him with all 
 expedition. Accordingly. I made haste to visit him, and 
 found him so drowned in his delusions, that he endeavoured 
 to convert me to his opinions, and even adventured to put his 
 foot in the fire, in expectation of his persuading me by a 
 miracle, which I prevented by mere force. But finding him 
 resolute in his madness, I humoured him in the disclosure of 
 his notions, and then from his own mouth I convicted him 
 of contradictions and absurdities. Whereupon he made a 
 motion to pray, and ere ever I had considered well what to 
 do, he was flat upon the earth, roaring out his absurdities 
 and repetitions in such a way as surprised all who were within 
 hearing. Finding him thus add sin to his folly, I required him 
 in the Lord's name to be silent, and kneeling down (several 
 other persons occasionally present also joining in the duty), 
 I prayed with humble confidence for a considerable space, 
 and when I had made an end, Mr Glendonning took me 
 aside, and confessed he saw himself mistaken, and entreated 
 that the matter might be concealed. Yet this delusive dis- 
 temper was not at an end, for some time thereafter he feU 
 again into it, and embracing one error after another, he set 
 out at last on a visit to the seven churches of Asia." * 
 
 Mr Blair does not impute the extravagances of this man to 
 insanity, though from the recurrence of his delusions, that 
 was most probably the real cause of his unscriptural follies. 
 The pious men of that neighbourhood, who were instrumental 
 in producing a great work of God, did not doubt that it was 
 a deep design of Satan in this way to disgrace the real and 
 true conversions. They had reason, however, to thank God 
 for the display of his wisdom, power, and goodness in that 
 matter ; for neither man nor woman were stumbled by his 
 fall, but took warning thereby to avoid the extravagances 
 which he adopted, and were taught to work out their salva- 
 tion with the greater fear and trembling. What is particu- 
 larly remarkable in this man's history is. that " the Lord was 
 pleased to serve himself by him, as he roused up the people 
 and awakened them with terrors ;" and that '* judicious gen- 
 tlemen had received benefit by his ministry." Thus a man 
 full of follies and false conceits, and who did not himself 
 
 • Memoir of Rev. R. Blair, p. 60, 61, 62. 
 
NORTH OF IRELAND. 889 
 
 understand the way of salvation, was made the instrument of 
 commencing legal conviction in the minds of persons far supe- 
 rior to him in intellect, and who advanced under divine teach- 
 ing to the true knowledge of the plan of salvation, while he 
 adhered to his delusions. 
 
 Three years later, Mr Blair complains of a similar delu- 
 sion, but more pernicious, because more extended in its ope- 
 ration. " The gospel thus flourishing by the ministry of his 
 servants, and all opposition falling before it, we looked for a 
 respite ; but to our great grief, Satan was at last let loose, to 
 contrive a pernicious device to dishonour God. By this time 
 there were many converts in all our congregations, who, being 
 the objects of Satan's envy, he set himself to perplex them, 
 and discredit the work of God upon their hearts, playing the 
 ape by this stratagem. He counterfeited the work of the 
 Holy Spirit upon several people about Lochlearn, causing 
 them to fall a mourning and crying during the time of public 
 worship, and some of them were afflicted with pangs like con- 
 vulsions. Their number increased daily, and at first both pas- 
 tors and people pitied them, and had charitable thoughts 
 concerning them, hoping that the Holy Spirit was at work 
 with them. But thereafter, when they conferred with these 
 persons, they did never discover any sense of their sinful 
 state, nor any panting after the Saviour. Yet not content 
 with this trial, the minister of the place wrote to his brethren 
 to come and examine the matter ; and when we came and 
 had conferred with them, we perceived it to be a mere delu- 
 sion and cheat of the destroyer to slander and disgrace the 
 work of the Lord. 
 
 " The very next Sabbath, an ignorant person in my con- 
 gregation made a noise and stretching of his body ; but in- 
 contin^'ut I was assisted to rebuke that lying spirit which 
 disturbed the worship of God, and I charged the same, in 
 the name and authority of Jesus Christ, not to molest that 
 congregation j and, through God's mercy, we met with no 
 more of that sort." * 
 
 " The Bishops of Scotland sent information to the King, 
 informing against us by Mr John Maxwell, called Bishop of 
 Ross; and thinking that nonconformity would not be a crime 
 sufficiently heinous, they informed tliat we stirred up the 
 people to ecstasies and enthusiasms. There were, indeed, in 
 some parishes, especially in Braidisland, where was a godly 
 aged minister, Mr Edward Bryce, some people who used in 
 
 * Memoir of Rev. R. Blair, p. 73. 
 
390 FALSE REVIVALS. 
 
 time of sermon to fall on a high breathing and panting, as 
 those do who have run long ; but most of the ministers, and 
 especially those who were complained of, discountenanced 
 these practices, and suspected them not to proceed from the 
 working of the Spirit of God, and that upon this ground. 
 These people were alike affected, whatever purpose was 
 preached ; yea, although by one who had neither gifts noir 
 good affections to the work of God ; and accordingly few of 
 these people ever came forward to any solid exercise of 
 Christianity, but continued ignorant and profane, and left ofJ 
 that seeming emotion." * 
 
 Mr Blair and Mr Livingston being fellovz-labourers among 
 the Scotch settlers in the north of Ireland, these false ex- 
 citements which bear the same date, and gave ground for 
 their being falsely accused to the king, must be one and the 
 same. But Mr Blair mentions their existence in one place 
 only, while Mr Livingston speciks of " some parishes," as if 
 it were a more extended evil. 
 
 It was as long after this date as 1688 that France produced 
 a band of persons who made pretensions to supernatural reve- 
 lations and prophecy. They arose in Dauphiny among the 
 Protestants. They professed themselves inspired by the Holy 
 Ghost, and when the fit came upon them were accustomed to 
 swoon, to beat with hands and feet, while they lay on their 
 backs with closed eyes and heaving breasts. These convul- 
 sions were followed by twitchings, after w^hich they delivered 
 their utterances. They professed to see heaven open, the 
 holy angels, paradise, and hell. Their assemblies at times 
 consisted of three or four thousand persons — men, women, and 
 even very young children hurrying to the appointed place. 
 The burden of their prophecies was, " Amend your lives, re- 
 pent ye ; the end of all things draws nigh." The hills rebound- 
 ed with their loud cries for merer/. They also uttered loud 
 imprecations against the priests, the church, the pope, and 
 antichrist, with predictions of the speedy downfall of popery. 
 People of good understanding knew not what to make of it 
 when they heard boys and girls, of the very dregs of the peo- 
 ple, who could not so much as read, quote with fluency many 
 texts of the Holy Scriptures. 
 
 In 1706 four of these prophets made their way to England, 
 M'here tlie infection caught so quickly, that before the year 
 was out two or three hundred, in and about London, of both 
 sexes and various ages, had joined them. They made preten- 
 
 * Life of Rev. J. Livingston, p. 18. 
 
FRENCH PROPHETS. 391 
 
 sion to the gift of healing ; taught erroneous doctrines — such 
 as that forgiveness of sin may he obtained independent of re- 
 pentance ; and uttered prophecies, of the fulfilment of which 
 they were so persuaded, that John Lacy, who became one of 
 the most prominent amongst them, ventured to conclude the 
 preface to his last " Warning " with these words : — " If, in 
 six months now to come, the mighty power of God doth not 
 attest they were from him, I shall, before all the world, ac- 
 knowledge my delusion. Witness my hand, this 29th day of 
 October, 1707. John Lacy." 
 
 Their influence was much enfeebled by their having had the 
 folly to fix the 25th day of May, 1708, for the resurrection of 
 Dr Emens, a celebrated person amongst them. On the day spe- 
 cified, the public curiosity or credulity was so great, that not 
 less than 20,000 persons assembled near his grave, and a 
 guard of soldiers was required to prevent disorder. Of course, 
 the ignorant multitude were disappointed of the promised 
 spectacle, the remains of Dr Emens still retaining their dark 
 abode. 
 
 It seems strange that any were so perverse as to remain 
 unconvinced after such a disappointment as this. But as we 
 shall presently see, they obtained a footing in Edinburgh 
 during the following year ; and there is no reason to doubt, 
 that it was a remnant of the same folly which still lingered in 
 London thirty years later. There are in Wesley's journals 
 repeated references to it. His account of a visit he made to 
 one of these prophets, in September, 1739, we extract: — 
 
 *' I went, having been long importuned thereto, about five 
 in the evening, with four or five of my friends, to a house 
 where was one of those called French prophets. After a time 
 she came in. She seemed about four or five- and- twenty, of 
 an agreeable speech and behaviour. She asked why we came ? 
 I said, to ' try the spirits, whether they be of God.' Pre- 
 sently after she leaned back in her chair, and seemed to have 
 strong workings in her breast, with deep sighings intermixed. 
 Her head and hands, and, by turns, every part of her body 
 seemed also to be in a kind of convulsive motion. This con- 
 tinued about ten minutes ; till about six she began to speak 
 (though the workings, sighings, and contortions of her body 
 were so intermixed with her words, that she seldom spoke 
 lialf a sentence together) witli a clear strong voice, ' Father, 
 thy will, thy will be done Thus saith the Lord, if of any of 
 you that is a father, iiis child ask bread, will he give him a 
 stone? If he ask a fish, will he give him a scorpion? Ask 
 bread of me, my children, and I will give you bread. I will 
 
392 FALSE REVIVALS. 
 
 not, will not give you a scorpion. By this judge of what ye 
 shall now hear.' 
 
 •' She spoke much (all as in the person of God, and mostly 
 in Scripture words) of the fulfilling of the prophecies, of the 
 coming of Christ now at hand, and the spreading of the gos- 
 pel over all the earth. Then she exhorted us not to be in 
 haste in judging her spirit to be or not to be of God ; but to 
 wait upon God, and he would teach us, if we conferred not 
 with flesh and blood. She added, with many enforcements, 
 that we must watch and pray, and take up our cross, and be 
 still before God 
 
 " Two or three of our company were much affected, and 
 believed she spoke by the Spirit of God. But this was in no 
 wise clear to me. The motion might be either hysterical or 
 artificial ; and the same words any person of a good under- 
 standing, and well versed in the Scriptures, might have spo- 
 ken. But I let the matter alone ; knowing this, that if it be 
 7iot of God, it ivill come to nought." * 
 
 These persons ascended to very sublime heights in quiet- 
 ism, forbidding the preaching of the gospel the observing of 
 the Sabbath more than all other days for religious purposes, and 
 every other active duty of Christianity, conceiving their duty 
 and safety to consist in being still. A deputation of three or 
 four of them waited on Mr Wesley, and informed him that 
 they would not quit his roof till they had by prayer brought 
 him to the same possession of the hidden life with themselves. 
 It would ill have accorded with the temperament of the hvely 
 itinerant to sit on a stool all day in mute meditation. He 
 had neither leisure nor taste for tlie species of discipline his 
 visitors wished to subject him to; he therefore told them, as 
 such was their purpose, they would be most undisturbed if 
 they sat in the society room. There he left them from early 
 morning while he pursued his avocations ; the weather was 
 cold ; they had no food ; and feeling that in spite of their 
 quietism they had not overcome the necessities of nature, they 
 slunk from the house towards evening, and left Mr Wesley 
 to pursue his own way of propagating the gospel. 
 
 In connexion with the subject of false excitements, we have 
 the means, from most authentic and unpublished documents, 
 to give a representation of the manners and utterances of 
 some persons assuming to be prophets, who visited Edinburgh 
 in 1709 and who probably sprung from the "French Pro- 
 phets" above alluded to. Whether any of the persons de- 
 
 * Wesley's Journal, vol. i. p. 165. 
 
PROPHETS IN EDINBURGH. 393 
 
 scribed in these letters were natives of France or not, can 
 only be conjectured by the names. The letters are from 
 a highly respectable minister of the Church of Scotland, ad- 
 dressed to his brother, then a student of medicine in the Uni- 
 versity of Leyden, and afterwards, for more than thirty years, 
 a physician in the town of Haddington. We extract only such 
 parts of the letters as refer to this subject, and in mentioning 
 the names of those who united themselves with these prophets, 
 we do so, unconscious who may be their descendants, solely 
 to give the power of authenticating the facts to any who may 
 feel an interest in doing so. 
 
 " Saltoun, April 7, 1709. 
 
 " I know not if you have yet heard that some of the Eng- 
 lish prophets have lately come to Edinburgh. There are 
 three girls and a boy that take agitations, and utter warnings 
 that are truly very surprising. They have with them two men 
 that pass under the name of Believers, and they write what 
 the former do deliver when under these agitations. I have 
 been but once in town since their arrival, and my curiosity 
 led me to visit these strangers. I was conveyed to a room 
 where one of the believers was. His name is Mr Learner. 
 He seems to be a very modest and sincere man, and of a calm 
 and equal temper; which I could safely discover by his way 
 of answering the queries and arguments that were proposed 
 by some of the company. I had not the opportunity of dis- 
 coursing with him as I desired, or proposing what objections 
 I inclined to offer against their pretensions. There was a 
 mixed multitude in the room, and some of them so very fond 
 of disputing, that they interested themselves in every question 
 that was started, taking a sort of airy pleasure to show how 
 they could manage the argument both pro and con ; so that 
 I thought it best for that time to be silent. There were 
 present two of the girls, one named Ann Topham, about 
 fifteen or sixteen years of age; the other, Anna Maria King, 
 aged about twelve years. When some time was spent in a 
 loose kind of dispute, Mr Learner read a warning or two out of 
 one of Mr Lacy's books ; and a little after the oldest of the two 
 girls last mentioned was suddenly seized with the usual 
 agitations, and pronounced a short warning with which I was 
 indeed surprised. It was good sense and well connected, and 
 had a great air of piety. The agitation lasted about a quarter 
 of an hour, and was pretty severe ; yet I observed she was 
 not fatigued by it, for it neither altered her colour nor put her 
 
394 FALSE REVIVALS. 
 
 into a sweat. Mr Fletcher's * lady happened to be in town 
 next day, and heard her deliver another warning, wherein she 
 spoke of our Lord's coming to cleanse the whole creation offilthi'* 
 ness, so that no unclean thing should remain therein. The agita- 
 tion was sharp, and lasted about half an hour ; yet, as soon as 
 it was over, Madame Fletcher felt her pulse, and it went very 
 slow. She had no beating at her heart, nor was she in a 
 sweat, which is somewhat odd. She is, as I am informed, a 
 very dull, ignorant creature, scarce able to speak any tolera- 
 able sense when free of those agitations. When I go to town 
 again, 'tis like I may enquire more particularly about them ; 
 and if you think it worth your while, you shall have what far- 
 ther information I am able to give you concerning them in my 
 next. All I can now say is, that I am persuaded the warn- 
 ing I heard from the above-mentioned girl was none of her 
 own. So that of necessity it must either have been a conn'd 
 lesson — for which I apprehend there are some presumptions 
 not altogether improbable — or it must be ascribed to the influ- 
 ence of a spirit, whether good or bad I will not yet venture to 
 determine, though I must own there are several things about 
 them, which I do not see how they can be reconciled with the 
 character of the good spirit." * * * 
 
 "Saltoun, August 12, 1709. 
 * * " The three Enghsh prophets of the second mission, 
 whom I named in my last, came to Edinbun^h about the 
 middle of June. Mr Button is a man of a cleanly tight spirit, 
 though of no great learning. He was some time clerk to 
 Baron Scroop (now one of the Barons of Exchequer here), 
 who gives a very favourable account of his behaviour while 
 he served him in that post, before he joined the prophets. 
 The other tvi^o are men of no learning. Mr Nut had been 
 formerly a Quaker. He seems to be a plain, sincere man, 
 and to have a sense of religion beyond what is common. Mr 
 Glover was an Anabaptist. He is a simple, but, as far as I 
 can judge, an ingenuous man. Their behaviour at Edinburgh 
 has been much more prudent and cautious than that of the 
 former. They lived very soberly, without giving any ground 
 for the least surmise of what is scandalous and offensive. I 
 several times heard their warnings, which were indeed very 
 singular, particularly those of Mr Button. Several well-dis- 
 posed people have been much affected with them. But that 
 
 * The celebrated Fletcher of Saltoun. 
 
PROPHETS IN EDINBURGH. 395 
 
 which surprises me most is, that the agitations liave seized 
 about six or seven persons in Edinburgh already, and it is said 
 there are some others who have the previous symptoms, 
 though not so discernible as the former. Some of those who 
 were lately agitated are of your acquaintance ; viz. Mrs Ire- 
 land, Mrs Margaret Middleton (daughter of the Principal), 
 and Mrs Isabel Cameron, daughter to Mr Cameron, with 
 whom you boarded when at the College. You know these 
 persons were of an excellent character, which makes the thing 
 look more surprising. I cannot tell if ever you heard of one 
 Mrs Catherine Orum. She was an intimate friend of Bar- 
 nes's, and he gives her an extraordinary character. She was 
 the first that felt the agitations here. I had occasion to dis- 
 course with her since, and I must say I was more satisfied with 
 what passed in that conversation than with all that ever I read 
 or heard of the prophets. She is one that has been for a con- 
 siderable time engaged in the pursuit of a spiritual life, and she 
 gives a most distinct and surprising account of the interior 
 state of her soul vvhile under agitations. About fifteen days 
 ago one of the new inspired (tlie lady Abden) began to speak, 
 and delivered a warning, which ordered two of the English 
 prophets to return to their native country, viz. Button and 
 Nutt. This they have obeyed, leaving Glover behind with Mr 
 Noble the scribe, who might bear the brunt of the persecution 
 which is now raised against them since the spreading of their 
 spirit. These two last mentioned have lain these eight or ten 
 days in the most disgraceful prison — the Correction- house — 
 and it is not easy to have access to them. How long they 
 shall continue there nobody knows. They were committed by 
 an order of the Town Council, though it is said the Queen's 
 advocate (Sir David Dalrymple) refused to meddle in the mat- 
 ter, and declared he knew no law against them. They wanted 
 not some to appear for them, but in vain. Public thanks 
 have been returned to the magistrates of Edinburgh, from the 
 pulpit, for the godly zeal they have expressed on the occasion, 
 and they have been exhorted to go on as they have begun. In 
 the mean time the imprisoned bear the hardships and disgrace of 
 their present state very cheerfully, and are ready to suffer more 
 if called to it. The new-inspired, and all who are thought in the 
 least to favour them, want not a sufficient trial of their pa- 
 tience. They are most unmercifully lashed by the tongues of 
 all, and have the utmost contempt poured out upon them. 
 Many scandalous stories and tales are industriously spread to 
 defame them, though all who know any thing of the persons 
 agitated must own, that they were not only free of any thing 
 
396 FALSE REVIVALS. 
 
 that is scandalous hitherto, but had the reputation of gravity 
 and piety above the common rate They have their meetings 
 daily, though very private, and there is none of them that 
 speaks yet, except the Lady Abden. She is a very simple 
 creature ; but as I am told by those who know her well, she 
 has led a pious life, and was particularly remarkable for her 
 meekness and humility. She was some time married, but is 
 now a widow, and has but one child. I was surprised t'other 
 day to hear her deliver an excellent warning, and a prayer so 
 sublime, and in such a strain of humility and resignation, as it 
 will be hard to find any thing beyond in the profoundest mys- 
 tics. It is thought some of the rest will speak in a little time. 
 God knows what this will turn to It seems to be going for- 
 ward under all the clouds and difficulties that darken it May 
 the Father of lights give us light in darkness, and save every 
 sincere soul from the snares of a deluding spirit." 
 
 " Saltoun, 6th September, 1709. 
 * * * " Mr Glover, the English prophet, and his attend- 
 ant, Mr Noble, of whom I wrote to you in my last letter, 
 were some days ago carried from the Correction-house to 
 Newhaven, and from thence conveyed in a boat to the road 
 of Leith, where they were put aboard a ship that was to 
 sail for Newcastle. Thus they are sent back to their own 
 country I can as yet give you no farther account of those 
 they have left behind at Edinburgh, None of them have 
 
 spoken yet but , who delivers a great many warnings, 
 
 and has given several blessings. I apprehend in a little time 
 you may hear of some other of your acquaintances there 
 being seized with agitations." 
 
 " Saltoun, Feb. 5, 1710. 
 ***** As to our prophets, I have but little to say at this 
 time, but perhaps it will surprise you more than any thing you 
 have yet heard from me on this subject In short, those of 
 our acquaintances who have interested themselves in this 
 matter, are so far from being shaken by what has lately hap- 
 pened in the case of the Lady Abden, that they seem to be 
 more confirmed than ever. There are two things that have 
 contributed much to this. One is, that Mr Ingles (sometime 
 minister at Burntisland, who was deposed several years ago 
 by tile Synod of Fife for owning Jac. Behmen's principles) 
 has lately engaged in this dispensation. Now, they look on 
 him as one that is in the divine liglit, and that has had extra- 
 ordinary communication with God for the space of ten years. 
 
PROPHETS IN EDINBURGH. 397 
 
 And he affirms, that it is revealed to him that this is a legal 
 dispensation of the Father, in the spirit and power of Elias, 
 and therefore accompanied with agitations to awaken the 
 world, but that this willqiiiclvly cease, and be followed by that 
 of the Son, in which none shall be made use of as instruments, 
 but the regenerate only, and this dispensation shall be in the 
 small still voice. The other thing will surprise you yet more. 
 It is, that Barnes has owned his conviction, that this dispen- 
 sation is divine, which he thinks he has from the divine light, 
 having attained to it only by the method of silent prayer. He 
 is so firm and positive in this matter, that he says no external 
 argument can ever make him doubt of this dispensation. For 
 as his conviction was never bottomed on any outward thing 
 but (as he believes) on the Rock of Israel, so it is not in the 
 power of any thing but his own infidelity to destroy it. All 
 outward disappointments, and failings of predictions, yea, and 
 things more stumbling, if they should happen, would not in 
 the least move him. He needs but to have his silent recourse 
 to his Heavenly Father, sinking all his doubts and fears into 
 the inexhaustible abyss of his mercy, and he finds his soul 
 restored to its former peace and tranquillity, and his convic- 
 tion more bright than before. To this purpose he expresses 
 himself, in a letter to Dr G., of which I doubt not the Dr 
 will give you a more particular account. This has mightily 
 confirmed the late converts ; so that they are not only agi- 
 tated still, but begin now to speak. The Lady Clava has de- 
 livered several warnings in our language. Mrs Orum, they 
 say, speaks in an unknown tongue sometimes for an hour to- 
 gether. Mr Inglis supposes it to be the language of nature. 
 Their number has of late increased, by Jo. Moult and Mr 
 Giles, their arrival from Ireland — and about eight days ago 
 there arrived from London Mr Nutt and Mr Noble (who 
 were here last summer), together with Ann Topham and Anna 
 Maria King, who were two of the first set that came to Edin- 
 burgh. I hear that Ann Topham, in a blessing that she gave 
 to Nutt and Noble some days ago in the name of God, told 
 them that they were not now to keep within doors, but they 
 must prepare to go to the market-place and deliver their warn- 
 ings opjnly. I have now done wita what I have to say on 
 this head. I mightily dread the consequences of this mat- 
 ter, and shall be glad if my fears are disappointed." 
 
 " Saltoun, March 9, 1710. 
 ** Dear Brother, 
 
 " I should have answered your last presently upon the 
 receipt of it, but that you still require of me a further account 
 
398 FALSE REVIVALS. 
 
 of our prophets, which obliged me to wait till I had informa- 
 tion from Edinburgh, for I have not been in town myself. I 
 doubted nothing of your being surprised with the account I 
 gave you of our friend Barnes, his declaring so positively for 
 the prophets — and I assure you, it would give him no small 
 offence that you determine so peremptorily against them. He 
 is so firmly persuaded of the truth of this dispensation, that it 
 is in vain to attempt to undeceive him. If you read my last 
 over again, you may safely perceive it. He owns that he has 
 an inward illumination from God, to assure him that this dis- 
 pensation is divine, and therefore he must needs believe it to 
 be so, whatever any man can say to the contrary. He has 
 quite another view of the matter than you seem to have. You 
 look on it as an apparent delusion, so gross, so exterior, and 
 so opposite to all the design of the interior life, that you won- 
 der how a man of his character should be catched by it. But 
 he would tell you it is a dispensation so interior, so divine, so 
 pure, and so much subservient to all the designs of the inward 
 life, that he never felt iiis soul so powerfully touched, and so 
 mightily advanced in all interior virtues, as since he was ac- 
 quainted with it. Indeed, I thought it my duty to discourse 
 freely with him on this head, which I did without reserve, 
 and at great length, but nothing I was able to say could make 
 any, the least impression. He asked me several times if 
 I had any particular vocation from God that this was delu- 
 sion. Tliis I could not pretend to, and since I could not, 
 whatever else I could say was nothing. I happened to have 
 with me a letter I had received from Mr Ramsay, which con- 
 tained his to Mr P 1, together with Mr P.'s return. I 
 
 hoped the reading of Mr P.'s letter (which was on this argu- 
 ment) might have touched him, though what I said did not. 
 But still he was as firm as ever, and demanded if Mr P. af- 
 firmed that he had any interior light from God in this matter; 
 to which I could say nothing, only I told him that we were 
 to presume in charity that Mr P., in examining of this matter, 
 would have the same method, and follow the same rules he 
 recommends so much to others. In short, it is altogether in 
 vain to make any attempt to shake B., and therefore I am re- 
 solved to speak no more on this subject to him. I find his 
 letters are like to make impressions on some others. Dr G. 
 has translated some of them into Latin, and designs to trans- 
 mit them to Mr P. 'Tis like they may come to your hands 
 as soon as this, if not sooner. I hope you will let me know- 
 Mr P.'s sense of them. You need not doubt, after all this, 
 but that the rest of your acquaintances, formerly mentioned, 
 are still firmly in the belief of this new dispensation. They 
 
PROPHETS IN EDINBURGH. 399 
 
 have been not a little confirmed by what has lately happened 
 in Woolmote's family, where two persons having received a 
 blessing and a promise of the spirit from Mr Nutt, were some 
 days after seized with agitations, and spoke each of them under 
 the first agitation. The one is chaplain in the family. I 
 have not heard his name — the other is a servant maid called 
 Ramsay. This last uttered, they say, an admirable prayer 
 under her first agitation. What the chaplain said I know not, 
 but I am told that some time after at Edinburgh, under agita- 
 tions, he spoke somewhat extravagantly, which was like to 
 have shaken some of the new converts, but the rest made no- 
 thing of it, imputing it to the disorder of his imagination, 
 which, as they allege, often happens to the newly-inspired 
 in the beginning. Since that time they have met with a 
 new disappointment. Mr Nutt had, some considerable time 
 ago, blessed Mrs Orum, under the operation of their spirit, 
 and in the blessing there was a solemn promise that her mouth 
 should be opened to speak plainly on the first day of this 
 month of March. There were several other circumstances 
 which rendered this blessing more solemn than ordinary. This 
 raised a great expectation in all concerned ; but when the day 
 came, and they were duly convened, she spoke nothing but a 
 few broken words, so that they were all sensihle that the pro- 
 mise was not fulfilled, as they expected it should have been. 
 This is very uneasy to Mrs Orum herself, because she reckons 
 the disappointment is entirely owing to some failure on her 
 part, but the rest do easily digest it as a new trial of their 
 faith. You see how hard it is to make any impression on the 
 minds of these persons. Nothing but the powerful grace of 
 God can recover them. I hope he will have compassion on 
 such as are humble and sincere, and will not leave them under 
 the power of delusion. As for the English prophets, after the 
 appearances that they made once and again at the Cross, and 
 in the market place of Edinburgh, the magistrates made strict 
 search for them, and were like to treat them severely. At 
 last, they had warnings to go for Ireland, which they have 
 obeyed. Only Mr Gibs lies in prison at Edmburgh. I think 
 you have enough of the prophets for this time." 
 
 « Saltoun, May 1, 1710. 
 # * # " The affair of our prophets seems still to go for- 
 ward, notwithstanding all their disappointments. I had occa- 
 sion to see Barnes at Edinburgh since I wrote to you, and 
 though I had resolved not to engage with him on that argu- 
 ment again, yet he brought in the discussion, so that I could 
 
400 FALSE REVIVALS. 
 
 not handsomely avoid it. He is still firm as before, and (what 
 I knew not when I wrote my last) he has for some consider- 
 able time had agitations. Tliey who have seen him under 
 them, say they are very violent. I observed nothing of that 
 nature while I was in company with him, except some little 
 startings, which were not very perceptible. However, he 
 affirms, with the greatest assurance, that he feels these bodily 
 emotions, accompanied with such interior effects in the very 
 centre of his soul, as must either come from the spirit of God, 
 or we have no certain marks and characters whereby to dis- 
 tinguish the good spirit from the bad. He told me he had 
 lately received a long letter from Dr G. on that subject, but 
 it seems what the Dr says does not in the least alter his 
 thoughts. I reckon by this time he is at Roseharty. He de- 
 signed to give our friends there a visit about the beginning of 
 May. I have nothing else to add on this subject, but that 
 Robert Stuart is also agitated. His agitations, they say, are 
 violent, but they do not attack him while teaching his scho- 
 lars. I hear Sir Richard Bulkley died some time ago in Ire- 
 land. There were great promises frequently made to him, 
 which have not been accomplished, but this will be reckoned 
 no difficulty, because they take such promises to have been 
 conditional, though there was no condition expressed. It 
 seems the spirit of this dispensation has some part to act yet 
 amongst us. Time will, I hope, give some farther discovery 
 of it." 
 
 " Saltoun, May 31, 1710. 
 * * * *« I have scarce time to say any thing concerning 
 our prophets. I shall only tell you of another of your good 
 friends, who is so far engaged in that matter as to be seized 
 with agitations. 'Tis Mr Falconer — whom you know to be 
 a pious, well-accomplished gentleman. I hear also that a 
 boy, who serves Mr Kenneth Gordon, advocate, has for some 
 time been agitated. I am informed that Mr Button and Mr 
 Glover (two of those whom we had here last summer), to- 
 gether with their wives, and Mr Lardner as a scribe, are ordered 
 to prepare for a journey to Edinburgh. God preserve us from 
 the power of delusions, and check the progress of every de- 
 luding spirit ! I have seen a book lately published at London, 
 containing, among other things, a historical account of Mon- 
 tanism. I know not if ever you had occasion to ask Mr P. 
 his thoughts of Montanus and his prophetesses. 'Tis like he 
 may have considered that matter. 
 
 " I am, dear Brother, yours, 
 
 *• Arch. Lundie." 
 
PROPHETS IN EDINBUPiGir. 401 
 
 There are some letters missing in this narrative, neither 
 does it carry us to the termination of the story ; but it is most 
 probable that this delusion melted away, and that its extinc- 
 tion was scarcely observed, as has been the fate of most of its 
 fellows. The story is told with a simplicity and candour, and 
 with an absence of all epithets of censure, that seems to have 
 been formed on the model of the gospel narrative, and we 
 cannot but esteem the good man who so scrupulously honour- 
 ed all that was estimable about these persons, without scorn- 
 ing or contemning the folly which he so much deprecated. 
 The foundation of their error is obvious. Instead of regard- 
 ing the canon of scripture as completed, and expecting the 
 teaching of the Holy Spirit to consist in the apphcation of 
 the words already revealed to their souls, they expected in- 
 ward vocations or revelations, which were to their heated 
 imaginations of more weight than the word of God. Instead 
 of the Spirit taking of the things which are Christ's, and show- 
 ing them to their souls, they adopted the warnings, and pro- 
 phecies, and dictations of each other, " giving heed to seducing 
 spirits." The student of scripture is naturally impressed with 
 the care of Christ over his church ; in that he has told us 
 before, that " in the latter times some shall depart from the 
 faith," lest we be perplexed and drawn aside by such delu- 
 sions ; and of all the variety of form that apostasy has assum- 
 ed, there is not one which has not been foretold and delineated 
 as belonging to the perilous times which should come in the 
 last days. 
 
 No one can read these particulars of the prophets of 1709 
 and 1710, without recognising in almost each feature the opi- 
 nions, feelings, and pretensions of a party which was at its 
 height a hundred and twenty years later, when its founder, 
 Mr Campbell of the Row, was excluded from the Church of 
 Scotland. In both cases, it was not the profane and ungodly 
 who were seized with a set of new notions ; but it was those 
 who had some experience of the internal work of grace on 
 the soul— who seemed to be the very flower of the Church 
 for piety and prayerfulness — that were drawn aside. The agi- 
 tations, the utterances, the warnings, the prophecies, all 
 remind us of the hackneyed phrase, " Mutato nomine de te 
 fabula narratur." The resemblance is complete, except in 
 the article of miracles, to which the prophets of 1709 seem 
 to have made no pretensions. We cannot but presume, that 
 if some of those who yielded themselves with such unsus- 
 pecting devotion to these delusions in 1830, had been favoured 
 2c 
 
402 FALSE REVIVALS. 
 
 with a detail of the proceedings and expectations of those 
 who preceded them by a century, it might have had a salu- 
 tary effect in putting them on their guard. The hope that 
 such may be the effect of reading these statements, is the 
 occasion of now giving these curious letters to the public. 
 
 DIMSURGH : PBINTLD TY BALLA.N'J VNl. AKV (()., PAlLbWOIlK. 
 
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